Bridal Shower

Today was cousin Amy's bridal shower. This was the first bridal shower I have gone to since my own. I was actually pretty excited. I love the people that I was going to be spending the afternoon with and I got to reminesce about when I had my bridal showers and the excitement and anticipation I had for each one. I was excited to sit back and watch Amy get to experience that, too. It was a great shower with good food, fun games, and lots of gifts! Thanks to Melissa being the queen of bridal shower games I got to take home a potted gerber daisy since she won twice and I have it sitting in my kitichen on the shelf above the sink. I am going to try really hard to not kill it. amy got a lot of great gifts and you could tell she really enjoyed the time with her family since she lives in Chicago. One really touching moment for me was when she was opening the gifts from her Grandma. That was the one thing that was hard for me to deal with at my wedding and showers, not having any grandparents around. I feel so happy for Amy that she will be able to share that day with her grandma. Altough I had mementos of my Grandmas with me, (a guardian angel pin on my slip and my magic hanky) it obviously was not the same as having them there to share in the moments. Even though they were not there with me my wedding day was still special and I know Amy's day will be just as special for her. She is such a sweet soul and I am so happy I get to share in the joy of her day. So Cheers to Amy and Nick!!

Locked In at the Lock-in

Tonight I had to work at the YMCA for a Lock-in. We often do these as fundraisers for our Starlites Cheerleading Program. Usually they are not too terrible but Bryan hates them because he has to deal with me the next 3-4 days after them as I try to catch up on my sleep. My biggest concern was the fact that I needed to some how fit in a 2 mile run on Sunday. I woke up this morning and got in my 2 mile run for the day so that was out of the way.
Most of the lock-ins are the same. The pre-teens usually end up fighting amongst each other, the little kids head to the "quiet room" for movies and sleep around midnight or 1. There will be few bumps and bruises along the way, some crying, but all in all, it will be over in a short 12 hours it will all be over. We had a good group of kids this time, there was just a lot of strange things that happened.
Within the first 15 - 20 minutes of being there, we had the kids outside and one little boy came run/walking off the soccer field and holding his crotch. Then he would stop then he would start run/walking again. I quickly figured out this little boy was "having an accident" I went over to him and quietly asked if he had to go to the bathroom and he said, "I just did" with tears in his eyes. I told him everything would be ok and no one would even know what happened and we quickly went inside. We got his swim trunks and he changed into those and I washed his "ugly shoes" as he told me (they were Batman crocs) and then thru his pants in the dryer as he ran off to continue playing.
Next we moved the kids inside and took them to the gymnastics room. We basically let the kids run wild to burn off energy. As I was looking around the gym Iwatched a little boy on the trampoline do a flip off the end onto a map and take a knee (his own) to his face. As soon as he got up he beelined for me. He took it like a champ though once I told him that he may just have a little strawberry on his face and if anybody asks him what happened to tell them he got in a fight and that they should see the other guy. He liked this and ran off to continue playing.
When we opened the pool the lifeguard had to jump in and save a little girl during her swim b/c she couldn't make it back to the other side after swimming out to the lane rope.
Another little girl who had clearly cut her own bangs cried that she missed her mom and wanted to go home. I quickly got her mind off that by asking her about the Jonas brothers and Hannah Montana. Then asking her if she would go play for 30 minutes, after that time I would come find her and if she still wanted to call her mom she could. One hour later she came running past me, stopped turned around and said "hey, rememer when I missed my mom and I wanted to go home?" I nodded. "I don't miss her anymore and I don't want to go home. Thanks!" And then she gave me the thumbs up sign and ran off.
The only pre-teen problem we had was a little girl that told her boyfriend that the aforementioned pee in the pants boy wouldn't "leave me the f**k alone!" I looked at her and said, "Excuse me?!" She sarcastically said "Sorry" and I said "Seriously" and walked away. I got dirty looks from her the rest of the night.
Then around 5:40 a.m. I lost my mind and walked to my car, got my running shoes, put them on and went to the fitness center, turned on a treadmill and ran my miles while I watched and read (no headphones) Ruby. I got my run in! So proud!
That took me to 6am, only one more hour to go. We woke the kids up, swept, mopped, and vacuumed, and then shipped them off to their parents. Next I hopped in my car and went home to get some much needed sleep before cousin Amy's bridal shower. I had to run in to Wal-Mart first to get wrapping paper for the gifts, which proved to be an adventure in itself as I was too tired to pull the cart out of the cart holder and why did I need a cart anyway for a roll of wrapping paper, and then continued to run into shelves in the store. I was a walking zombie. I quickly checked out, drove him, put on pjs and jumped into bed for a 3 hour nap. Gotta love those Lock-Ins.

All Star Charity 5K

Today I started my day off with the MLB All Star Charity 5K. We got up very early and made our way downtown. I was a little nervous, but more excited than anything. I really wanted to beat my time from the last 5K I ran. There were 8,000 people at the run/walk so things were a little crowded, but I have run in the Race for Cure for the past 3 years and that is a ton more people. Bryan and I got as close to the starting line as we could and stretched and waited for the horn. I brought my ipod along for the run to help me take my mind off the 3 miles journey I was about to put my body through. They sounded the horn and I began on my way....walking....because there were so many people. This allowed me time to get my music going. So, I started with a little T.I. and Justin Timberlake. According to the them "the old me was dead and gone." What a great song to start with. That's right Justin and T.I., the old me is dead and gone and I am going to run 3 miles today. Next Britney Spears came on and sang to me about a womanizer. There was a guy running in front of me so I just imgained he was the womanizer and I needed to pass him. I succeeded so thanks Britney! Also, thanks for getting me past the first 1/2 mile. Next, I paced my run to "Chicken Fried". The beat was perfect to slow me down to a calmer pace that would help me to finish the remaning 2.5 miles. The only thing was I got a little distracted because they were singing about fried chicken and cold beer. I wold love some fried chicken, from KFC, with a side of mashed potatoes and a biscuit, please. And oh yeah, a cold beer or 6 sound good, too. then a new distraction popped up. I saw a sign for tattoos. But this wasn't just any tattoo parlor. The signage on the windows said "Tattoos, $15, any kind, any time" Really! Seriously, $15 tattoos. Are they stick on? Crazy! If anyone is interested let me know and I will tell you where its at. This distraction got me past the first mile. Yeah! Next my ipod started to tell me that I "could have whatever you like" Really? Whatever I like? Well, I would really like to stop, but I can't. So, can I have a bike or a scooter, or someone else's legs that will make me go faster? Just as I was really getting angry with T-Pain and my ipod because they were not giving me whatever I wanted and I wanted to stop, the song was over and my favorite woman, Christina Aguilera came on and sang my anthem. "Some days I'm a super bi*tch up to my old tricks, but it won't last forever. Next day I'm a supergirl, out to save the world, and it keeps getting better." This picked me up and carried me into mile 3. Only 1.1 miles to go. I can do this! I am superwoman! Then my ipod told me I was a "Crazy B*itch" GREAT SONG!!! I picked up the pace, I am crazy after all and got through to the 2.5 mile point. only .6 to go, but I really wanted to stop. Maybe I am not as crazy as I thought. Then the final pick me up came on. "The Way I Are" Those of you that were at my wedding know that this was the surprise song that my wedding party did a dance to. I thought about all the hard work my wedding party put into learning the dance for Bryan and I. And oh, Bryan, he is waiting for me at the end. I am on track to beat my 5K time from the last race I was in, he is going to be so proud. I dug deep, REAL deep and strode to the finish line. I found Bryan and told him I just PR'd! 28 minutes! Yea! And once I got some water in me, I felt ok. I think I can do this. No, I know I can do this. 13 miles, here I come!!!

Wedding Gift

Today was another 2 mile run. Bryan told me that I needed to take it slow due to the fact that tomorrow is the All Star Charity 5K and he doesn't want me to burn myself out. So, I went through my morning routine, which was clocked at about 1 1/2 hours. I had a hard time getting motivated. Then I had to wait because it began to downpour and I was not about to run in the rain. Although the fact that I was moving so slow and had to wait out the rain did not make my "coach" happy. I got a little scold and told that I needed to get moving. Whatever, buddy. ;)
So, I eventually got out for my run and had a rough go. I felt good right at the beginning but then I really had to push myself to keep moving. I thought I was slowing down, but honestly I do not think it is possible to go any slower than I already do. If I did, I am pretty sure it would not qualify as running. Probably not even speed walking. So, I just kept running. That's all I can do at this point, is just keep running I do not want to get to that half marathon and not be able to run farther than 2 miles. So, I keep running and running and pushing and pushing. I finally began to feel ok at about 1 3/4 mile. Convenient, right? My run is almost over. Actually, this is a good thing, because that means that my body is settling in and accepting that it needs to run. We will be running and this will not be stopping for awhile.
Today was a day for me to just take my time I guess. When I got back from my run I needed to get ready so that Bryan and I could get headed out to Fanfest downtown. I just couldn't get moving. I finally did and we headed down to Fanfest, where we saw Deb Do and Chuck as we were driving. Shout out to them! They were going to Crown Candy; jealous!
We walked around Fanfest for awhile, ran into a few people that we knew, of course, and then headed out. I drove Bryan to the Stan Musial statue to drop him off to meet his friend Brad to run the race course for tomorrow. I, however, drove home and took a nap.
I had to prepare for our big night with our old neighbors Josh and Jenny. They wanted to take us out for dinner and dessert for part of our wedding gift. What a great night. We went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Bryan and I were good and stuck to eating healthy. We both got the Mahi Mahi, Bryan by default because the waiter brought him the wrong fish. He actually ordered the salmon. We have so much fun with Josh and Jenny and we had tons of laughs and I am sure we were annoying the people next to us. I noticed the two girls sitting next to us kept looking over. If you have ever been to the Cheesecake Factory, you know that if you do not get a booth, you basically sit on the people at the table next to you and we did not have a booth.
After dinner we did something wierd; we did not stay at the Cheesecake Factory for dessert. We went somewhere else. Josh and Jenny said they had somewhere special to take us for dessert that we were sure to love. We went down to the loop to a new place called FroYo. It is all non-fat frozen yogurt and you pick your flavor (chocolate, vanilla, blueberry, strawberry, cheesecake, tart, and others) and then you pick your toppings and you put how much or how little. It is like at a buffet where you make your own ice cream dessert. Then you weight it and pay. It is 40 cents per pound and worth every cent. It was so good! We can't wait to go back.
We had a great night full of great conversation and lots of laughs. At one point I thought Josh was going to have to pull over we were all laughing so hard. We really miss having them right across the road, but true friendships last no matter what the distance, so I guess it is not all that bad. Our nights just end a little earlier because we can't come home and then go to one of the other's houses and then walk home. A 20 minute drive is a lot longer than a 20 second walk. Either way, thanks Josh and Jenny for an awesome wedding gift! We had a great time. I know my body thanks you for the sugar.

My arm is saved!

Today was another cross-training day and I did....not much of any cross-training. Unless, I want to count spotting at cheerleading cross-training, again. Today I had to work at the Y for a fundraiser for our cheerleaders, The Starlites. We were having an open gym and nacho night. So, basically anybody can come and pay $3 and we have open gym and then at the end they get nacho's. I had six of my cheerleaders there and then there were five girls from some of the gymnastics classes there. Luckily, there was another girl working the open gym with me. Well of course my girls wanted to work on the one skill that is sure to rip my arm right off my body one of these days when I spot them, the back bend kickover. If you remember, this was the skill that I tore my body up demonstrating on Wednesday. My shoulder has been bothering me a little bit ever since that night. So, we worked on back bend kickovers and I tried not to let my arm fall off. Towards the end of the night, I was getting kind of pissed off because this girl has been thisclose to getting her backbend kickover for months. And my arm creeps closer and closer to saying, "look I am out of here. first I had to push girls over repeatedly, ok, fine, now we have to run AND push girls over, I am done." Well, this little girl wanted to stop for the night and I told her she was so close can she just do three more for me. So, on the first one she does it! ALL BY HERSELF!! I didn't even have to use my arm! I think I was more excited than she was. So, we did another one, and she did it all by herself, again! Then, we did a third one and she did it all by herself, again! For the rest of the night she did them by herself as she showed everyone; me, her sister, me again, her mom, her dad, me again. She is excited and so am I and so is my arm.
So, all in all is great night. And not just because it ended with nachos.

Ticket to Party

Today was another 2 mile day. I felt really good on my run and had no knee or shin pain. My only problem was that it was pretty warm when I ran, so that is never fun. Maybe that is why I didn't feel too much pain, because my body was half melted. I did pass 4 Vianney summer help kids today who were working, but they must not have felt in a motivating mood as no words were uttered my way by them. Maybe they were scared by my evaporating body as I was running.
Later today I had to go to my woman doctor. I had been dreading this appointment, not because of the whole legs up, scooch to the edge of the table, squeeze, push , swab. No, I was dreading this for a far worse thing....getting on the scale. My appointment was in the late afternoon so I knew I definitely was not going to be the same low weight I was this morning when I weighed myself after I ran and was naked and had not consumed anything for the day. So, the nurse calls me back and tells me to step on the scale, so I set down my 10lb purse, and kick-off my sandals and step on the scale. I hesitantly look down at the numbers and lo and behold....WHOO HOO! I am 2lb lighter than I was this morning! I will take it! Point me to the room, I am ready to get naked!
When I got home I weighed myself on my scale to see if it said I weighed the same as my doctors office and it added the two pounds back on. Oh, I don't think so! I am going with the thought that my scale likes to add two pounds. As my uncle would say, "sneaky bitch!"
So, with this realization for today that I ran my 2 miles and am two pounds lighter than I thought I was I told myself I deserved to party. And how convenient that I already had plans in place to do so!
Once dressed, I headed to dinner than to meet my sis-in-law, Lauren and her boyfriend Eric and of course Bryan at Station Plaza in Kirkwood to watch a live band play and drink some beer. We were drinking the beer, the band was playing the music. Although, I would guess that during the break, the band also drank some form of alcohol. Two of our other friends, Pat and Lynne, met up with us later in the night, also. We had a great time and once the band was done we headed over to a bar/restaurant to have some appetizers and drink some more. It was ladies night, so the girls got to drink for free. We had to take advantage. And as I said earlier, I deserved it! I think I could get used to this running thing if it means I can eat and drink and not gain weight.

Cross Training

So, today was a rest day in my eyes, although my training plan said to cross train. Now, this is supposed to be some other type of muscle, endurance building activity that is not running. I guess it helps trick your body. Sort of like a, "Sorry body, about that 20 minutes of running yesterday, in the heat. I guess I got a wild hair up my butt and decided to try running. But, today, don't you worry, no running. Today we are just going to do a 25 minute video, in the nice cool air conditioning." Well, work got the best of me yesterday and there was no time for the above mentioned video. SIDENOTE: Work really did get the best of me and it wasn't just an excuse. I was marketing to some new, very interested referral sources of 10 orthopedic doctors, so the fact that I even worked right thru my lunch, was no big deal if I can get them to send their patients to my facilities. SIDENOTE OVER. By the time I got home, I only had time to cook up a quick dinner. (Shrimp over veggies and brown rice, yum!) Then quickly head off to the Y to coach my little cheerleaders. Once I got to practice, I realized, heck, I will fit in my cross training here with the girls. So, I stretched my old tired muscles with them, that counts as cross training. I stretch in my video. Next we worked on tumbling. On the squad there are four coaches, each of us with our own area of expertise. So, the fact that I am in charge of the tumbling portion should come as no surprise to you or I. What does come as a surprise to me is the days, such as today, when I decide that I am 12 again and can still do gymnastics. Some things are not too bad, like forward rolls, handstands, cartwheels, roundoffs. However, before I do any of these skills for/with the girls my mind can't help but flit back to the night I decided to do a back flip on the tumble track and then could not move my neck for the next 3 days. This was no minor injury, like oh I slept on my neck wrong I can't turn it to the right. This was, I can't lay down, I can't turn my head to the left or the right, I can't look up or down. It was terrible! Thank god for the wonderful therapists I work for and for the person that invented the ultrasound machine that saved my neck and most recently, my knees. However, I do not thank the man who invented the gel that they use for the ultrasound because that stuff does not come out of your hair easily. (Notice how I said "person" that invented the ultrasound machine, this is probably invented by a man, but could be a woman, but I said man for ultrasound gel. This was definitely a man, because a woman would not make that shit so sticky) So, I guess this memory did not stop me from thinking I could do a back bend walk my feet up a mat and then kickover. (I was trying to demonstrate to two girls how they could practice back bend kickovers at home without a spotter. You should try it if you too are trying to get your back bend kickover for YMCA Starlite tryouts or you just want to add some excitement to your life or you simply need a vacation from it all and think spending a few days in the hospital is the perfect place to go. You can use a chair, a wall, a large mat, a couch, etc.) I tried to pay no attention to the "pop, pop, pop, poppity, pop" of my back as I did the back bend or the fact that I couldn't breathe as I walked my feet up the mat and kicked over. See, then I have to act like it is no big deal and that the girls should have no problem doing this. But damn, that was really hard. I don't remember it being that hard when I was 8. Why is it so hard now? Oh yeah, you dingdong, you are 27!!! So, along with the tumbling I demonstrated for the girls and the hour and a half of spotting girls on various tumbling exercises, and the stretching, I feel as though this counts as my cross training. My body sure hurts like I did my 25 minute video, twice. I know this can't count all the time as cross training and not simply because we only have practice on Monday's and Wednesday's. I know I need to get some serious weight training action in with my plan. But for tonight, this counts. Right along with the nachos I ate at Tequila's with the coaches after practice.

DISNEYLAND

So, I have decided that it is time to conquer my fear and cross running a half marathon off of my bucket list. Knowing myself the way I do, I knew the half marathon I decided to run in was going to need to be pretty extraordinary; so the Disneyland Half Marathon it is! Bryan was excited that I actually wanted to run it and I was surprised that he agreed to the Disneyland half marathon due to the amount it was going to cost us to get there. So, we are officially signed up and our hotel and flights are booked. So, here goes nothin'.

I had already been running for a few weeks thanks to the Susan G Komen race and Bryan being in Eastern Europe. So, up until today I was doing my unofficial training. Which all things considering is probably a good thing, considering two miles was seeming impossible due to knee and shin pain. Oh, and I can't forget the two days I was convinced my calf muscle was going to pop right out of my leg. But, I got thru this pre-training period thanks to my trainer/tormentor/supporter/running partner/annoying "I'm a running coach" advice giver husband. As I posted one night on my facebook page after a particualrly terrible 5k Webster-Kirkwood YMCA Connection run, I was "Laying in bed with ice on my knees, watching a running movie with my husband. What has happened to me?!" SIDENOTE: After I posted this and re-read it to myself I pondered two things: Should I go back and let people know I was icing my knees from running earlier that day and not some other form of physical activity that would land me in bed with my husband this way, and should I let people know just how bad my pain actually extended and that before the ice packs got on my knees I was rubbing, yes rubbing, an ice cube, that cold block thing normally used to cool your beverage on my bare shin. I decided against changing my post to include the above, because A: it's nice to leave things to the imagination B: I was just too tired and C: the running movie was getting pretty interesting.
So, back to the present of today and my first "official" training run. Today was two miles (no big deal for me, I've been doing this for two weeks now) but I had to do it without Bryan since he decided to try to fit running camp, summer running club, his own training run, summer school class, and tutoring all in one day.

I have realized I am a morning runner. I like to get it out of the way so I do not have this "I still have to run two miles today" rain cloud over my head all day. I have also found I need to lay in bed and psych myself up for my run until I get almost restless and like I need, no MUST, get out of bed to run. Don't you worry, though. This feeling only lasts untl I get out of bed. Then I move in Matrix-like slow motion. I put my hair in a ponytail, wash my face, put my contacts in cuz I have to see where I am running, brush my teeth (I seem to have to do this no matter when I run. For me, minty fresh breath is a MUST when running), turn on the TV to check the weather (I can't have some surprise tornado or snowstorm ruin my big run), locate my running shorts, shirt, sports bra and smell them to make sure they are not too smelly already (hey, I try to save the environment and water, so I try to get at least two wearings of my "runnng outfit" before it goes in the wash), dig thru my sock drawer for my awesome running socks that have eucylyptus and aloe in them and apparantly when your feet sweat it reacts with the sock and cools your feet. These are a must for me, because when I run on asphalt and it is hot, my feet get hot to the point I have to keep looking down at them because I am certain they are going to burst into flames at any given moment.

After I am dressed, I stretch. This is important so I can avoid any injuries. I mean up until today I was "unofficially training" and who wants to get hurt during "unoffical training" much less during "official training". Plus, I am pretty sure with the money we plunked down on this little adventure, no injury I sustain will keep me from running these 13.1 miles. I say this not because I am that motivated, but because I am convinced that even if I lose a body part during training and have to c-r-a-w-l the entire way, Bryan will get my butt on the plane to Anaheim and will have me run this half marathon. No refunds, people.

Once I am stretched it is finally time to put on my shoes and running watch. Then I re-do my ponytail. Ok, now I am ready to go. I just want to point out that there used to be one more step and that was putting on makeup. Yes, I used to put on makeup to run. I guess I thought while out running some famous photographer would stop me as I am running through Vianney High School's campus and tell me I am beautiful and to stop this stupid running thing right now and we need to do a photo shoot for Vogue, right here. Fantasy over. Helllooo Liz! Not gonna happen because photographers for Vogue do not hang out at Vianney. Just wait until my longer runs at Grant's Trail. I am sure that is where the photographers are, so we will revisit the makeup then. Once I realized the above and that it was making me breakout and that it did not matter if I put makeup on because my face turns beet red when I run, I stopped wearing it.
So, I am finally out the door and running. I have a two mile run that is not too bad except it has a hill at the end of mile one/beginning of mile two and I have to run mile one on Big Bend and then Geyer, which has stoplights, which means peole sitting at those stoplights in their cars watching me ever so slowly, huff and puff, and run past them. When I am sitting in my car at a stoplight and I see a runner I quickly glance away so they have one less pair of eyes watching them. You should think of doing this, too. It could be your good deed for the day. The good thing about people watching me run, is it makes me run a tad faster than a snail because I do not want them looking at me. As a result of this today, I came thru my first mile at 9:06. So, for mile two, I had to remind myself to slow down as I ran my favorite one mile loop that I call "the Vianney loop". Yep, you guessed it, because I run through Vianney, luckily where, as pointed out ealier, there is no paparazzi to snap my makeup-less face. I guess because my first mile was so fast I really had to mentally push myself to get thru this second mile. When I was almost to the end a golf cart carrying a maintanence man and a Vianney summer help student, followed by a truck with another maintanence man and another Vianney summer help student passed me. Just as they passed me, the summer help student in the truck yells, "Don't stop!" Why thank you summer help kid. I needed that encouragement. Although I do not know if you were being a smart-ass or genuinely cared about my training, but either way I am gonna use it to push myself to the end. I finished mile two at 9:36 for a total time of 18:42. Go me!

Once back inside my house I stand over the A/C vent to cool off, drink some water, then jump in the shower to get ready for my day. And today seems great. This must be because of the runner's high they always talk about. I am sure it will go away soon, but I hope it doesn't.

Catching Up

Ok, So I know I have not posted in a while. A long while, but after the wedding, the honeymoon, a new job, a new nephew, etc., blogging just had to take a back seat to what I like to look at as a big long nap! So, now I am back. All is well on the homefront and to answer the age old question...Married life is exactly the same as pre-married life, except now I call Bryan my husband.
Another new thing that Bryan and I are trying is to eat healthy. As you will see in my next post I am conquering something and with Bryan's running we decided this was the best thing to do. When I say eating healthy I don't just mean our fruits and vegetables. We are trying to eat as much organic food as we can and cooking very healthy. So far it is going well and I do feel a bit different.