If you think you've done enough, do just a little bit more

Apparently that's what I like to do, after running a nice 5 miler yesterday with a dear friend, and then letting her talk me into running up a particularly steep hill, twice, just for kicks.  Kicks in the tookus.  And then, deciding I needed to lift, doing a powerful lower body set followed by 80 squats, and some abs for good measure.  Enough already, right?  Guess not.  When the husband got home later in the evening, he suggested the three of us go for a walk after dinner.  So we did.  Our walk turned into a trail run with the little guy who kept begging me to "run, Mama, run!"  How can I say no to that?  So, I probably tacked on another 2 miles running around with him, plus the walk back to our house.  Was I pooped last night?  A bit.  Was I sore this morning?  You betcha.  And it hurts sooooo good.

I've found that the times I see (er, feel) the most results shortly following a workout are when I've pushed myself beyond what I planned to do, or beyond what felt like enough.  How do we ever really know what IS enough?  In my opinion, you've gotta listen to your body.  If something hurts or feels off, it's probably a good idea to stop when you planned to stop.  But, if you're just feeling tired, 95% of the time your body can take more, so give it a little more and see what it does for you.  See you how feel the next morning.  See how you LOOK the next morning - you just might like what you see in the mirror.

Enough ISN'T always enough.  Push yourself and you'll be surprised at just how far you can go.

Making time for exercise

I am getting ready to run for the first time since my half marathon 6 days ago.  I promised myself a week of rest, and though I was on the verge of breaking that promise several times this week, I decided against it due to the insane amounts of pollen we've had.  Thankfully the rains came and finally washed most of it away!

This past week, with no running and very little other exercising on my agenda, I found myself spending lots of time doing the one thing that I tend to give up to make time for running and exercising - cleaning.  This week I have vacuumed, mopped, dusted, scrubbed, polished, washed, dried and organized 'til my hands are callused.  Unfortunately, with a husband, a small child and two cats in the house, the lovely luster won't last long, but I feel like I've given my best at a thorough Spring cleaning.

We don't live in squalor or anything like that, and I do tend to pick up and clean up in small amounts as I go.  If you came to my house on any given day, you may not even notice that the kitchen table could use a wiping or the hardwoods have leaky sippy cup stains.  But, do you really expect my house to be spotless all the time?  Truthfully, when I go to someone else's house who has a family, I am secretly relieved to see that it's not in tip-top shape.  Seeing a rogue stuffed animal tucked into the couch or a sprinkling of dust on a lampshade makes me feel better about my own less-than-perfect home, because it's REAL.  And, it helps me remember that there is no such thing as a Supermom; we're all just doing the best that we can.

In all honesty, giving up cleaning to make time for exercise makes me a BETTER mom and wife.  I'm more energetic, more patient and more happy.  Hail to the dust bunnies, I say! 

 I'm curious - what do you give up to make time for exercise in your busy life? 

Fast runs and an F1 - a surreal weekend

Something happened that threw a wrench in a beautiful 4 days of running and playing outdoors.  We had amazing weather here in Atlanta last Thursday, when I ran a near perfect 8 miler, solo, at sunset.  Nothing but me and the music.  It was glorious.  On Friday I enjoyed a much needed yoga class (the best kind of recovery), an afternoon of playing outside with the boy and our first family dinner on the deck.  On Saturday morning, I opted out of running the Vision Trek 10K Trail Race due to my left knee that's been giving me fits from time to time, and instead, volunteered at the halfway point aid station.  I had the pleasure of cheering on the runners and spending some fun quality time with the other volunteers.  Then today, my friend Stacey and I battled rolling hills and strong winds, and emerged victorious after a fast (for me) 10 miler.  Truly, a near perfect extended weekend.  Except on Friday night, an F1 tornado just barely missed our house.

Some of you who have known me for a long time may remember my intense fear of tornadoes.  They have always, in fact, been my biggest fear in life, for some unknown reason, and Friday night was probably the closest I've ever come to one.  The thing that freaks me out the most is that in the hours leading up to its touchdown, we had no rain, no storms, no wind, nothing really out of the ordinary, save for some lightning in the distance.  Then all of a sudden the hail hit, out of nowhere.  It was so loud and we moved so fast to get downstairs to the basement that we didn't quite realize what was happening.  The power went out, and our windows in the basement are covered so we had no idea what was going on outside.  Turns out, the tornado took out a few of our neighbor's trees and a big section of their fence in the backyard, and another huge tree across the street 2 houses down.  Then it took out 20 or so trees (if I had to guess) at the park just down the street that we walk to all the time.  All in a matter of seconds.  I think it's probably a good thing it happened so quickly that I didn't even have time to process what was actually happening, or I might've gone into full on uncontrollable panic and hysteria mode.  In fact now, 2 nights later, as thoughts creep into my mind about what happened, I push them away so as to not freak myself out even more.  Thank God everyone is safe and none of our homes were damaged.  I've said this before and I'll say it again: Mother Nature is a powerful force, a force to be reckoned with.  Respect her.  Don't question her.  And don't wait 'til the last minute to take cover from her.

The family that runs together...

Running is my thing.  Among other things.  It's also my husband's thing.  We don't discuss it often...just sometimes...and we never do it together.  I can say "never" because the last time we ran together was too many years ago to remember, back when I was just dabbling in it and before I felt worthy of labeling myself a runner.  Until today.  Today, when our boy was at a friend's house and the weather was nothing short of perfect, we were both itching to hit the trails and he had a novel thought: "Why don't we run together?"  Now, I have to admit I hesitated a bit at this suggestion because 1. my husband is fast.  A heckuva lot faster than me.  And 2. I was jonesing hard for a good long run, alone, the kind where you forget you're running and zone out, then feel completely spent and used up at the end.  Alas, I decided it best to take advantage of our  rare kid-free time and spend some quality time together, even though I still like to think of running as something that's just MINE.  Is that weird?  Probably.

So we headed over to Sope Creek - a beautiful trail system barely 10 minutes away - and hit the dirt.  I know he slowed his pace to accommodate mine, while he could've smoked me, but he also pushed me when I grew tired and started to slow down.  We ran 5.76 miles in 1:04, which I think is actually not bad for 2 novice trail runners.  It's amazing how I can pound out 6 miles no problem on the pavement, but I struggled with the ascents and descents and rocks and roots and twists and turns.  Trail running is a whole different ballgame.  It's intense and it takes intense concentration and focus, and it keeps you on your toes - literally - plus it's unforgiving.  Which is precisely why I love it.

I was being especially careful during our run to avoid injury (I'm registered for the Vision Trek 10K Trail Run and Publix Georgia Half Marathon in March!) and my beloved but sometimes clumsy husband fell twice.  Nothing major - he actually looked impressively graceful each time he fell - and he got right back up and took off again.  I think he was mildly annoyed at my gasps and cries of "ARE YOU OKAY?!  Do you need to stop?  Should you wear pants instead of shorts next time??"  Sorry dude, just lookin' out for you and your skinny, pale, bare legs.

The most interesting and curious thing about our run today was that while my dear husband is not exactly Mr. Social (read: he can go an entire day speaking less than 5 sentences), I discovered that he turns into Chatty Cathy on the trails.  Seriously!  From the minute we started 'til the minute we stopped, he talked.  I struggled to carry on a conversation period, but he chatted away.  SO BIZARRE!  Perhaps he was truly in his element and felt inspired?  Comfortable?  Happy to be amongst nature and beauty and the fresh, crisp air?  Or perhaps he was happy to be alone with his wife?  I'd wager that it's the former but secretly hope that it's the latter.  Either way, I'll take Mr. Chatty Speedy Skinny Legs Trail Guy on any day.