I’m in a mood today, the kind that makes me want to redo this entire site.

I need more color. Something a bit more festive.

So, I’m going to switch things up for today! I’ll work on changing my logo and fixing the site the way I want it. For now, hope you enjoy the color. I was getting a little bored with the black and blue. Besides, aren’t those the colors of bruises? Who wants a blog that resembles a bruise?!

Yesterday I had hoped to post about my run with the lightning and my Monday exercise, which I plan to do each week: Kettle Bell crunches.

A few things happened, though.

I got back from my fantastic run, which took me through the streets of town for 5 miles. In the distance, lightning crackled against the sky every few minutes, peeking behind a large cloud. This was really spectacular since we never have lightning here in Southern California. I stared at it like a person in the desert who has just stumbled upon some water: In awe. I ran toward it, rather than from it. I know, stupid, right? But it was far away, I could tell that, and it was incredibly beautiful, filling up the night sky, and then the pre-dawn as the sun came up over the mountains in the east. I’ll miss these mornings. I love the mountains, and it is going to be hard to say goodbye to them.

I looked for a video or picture of the kettle bell crunches I have been doing and couldn’t find one, and then the girls woke and we got started on our day. Our day consisted of ordinary Monday stuff, like grocery shopping, a Target run and a walk after quiet time in the afternoon.

Then my mom called. You know how you can sort of tell when people are pulling one past you? She was being very evasive about what she was doing today with her day off of work, and did say her doctor, the one who has taken care of her since her stroke in December, wants her to go to an ob/gyn appointment today because she hadn’t been since she had her hysterectomy about thirty years ago.

I agree with the guy. I have this thing: I go to the doctor for regular checkups, get my skin checked once a year. I am terrified of the big C, as she had it when she was my age and others I know have had it too. I remember my girlfriend telling me when I was just seven or so that my mom would probably die while in the hospital because she had cancer and that’s what happens. It was the girl I was staying with as my mom had the cancer removed.

So I offhandedly asked about her mammogram, which I figured had gone okay. Being a daughter raised by a single mother, we are really close. Then she said, “Well, they found something. Just a little something. I forget what they called it.”

Later she remembered they called it a nodule and that she goes in today for a sonogram.

So, that news fairly stopped me in my tracks.

I had planned to find that crunch video or at least sit down and post last night, since my husband went out to a going away party for a coworker and I had the evening, and the remote, to myself. Instead I looked up breast nodules.

Then I began to watch Oprah’s story about heroin in a small Ohio town and I about lost it. The entire video made me sick to my stomach. Haven’t seen it? You should. It’s about this community in Richland, Ohio where many of the people, families even, are addicted to heroin. They showcased two families. One, a family of five. The parents and two teenage sons, addicted. The baby, thirteen months old, along for the ride.

Okay, I totally get the fact that they are addicted and need help, but why is that child still in their care? He was in the car as they shot up, as they drove to Columbus to get more drugs. I really felt sick after watching this show.

So, that is why the post yesterday never materialized. I was so busy considering breast nodules and heroin that I totally forgot the beautiful lightning I saw in the morning sky.

I’m heading off this morning to swim. I hope that the exercise will make me forget for just a few minutes about this nodule thing. My mom says they are often non cancerous, and that is my hope. She has had so many health issues since last December that I think it’s time she take a break.

My favorite kettle bell/ab exercise. I actually enjoy this ab exercise more than most others because I can really feel it later that day.

Crunch with Kettle Bell:

Standard crunch holding the kettle bell. I start off with a 15 pound kettle bell, and I hold it over my head and back just a little as I’m down on the ground. I lift with my abs up, pulling up the kettle bell and ending up with the kettle bell above my head. Down. Up. Down. You get the picture. Talk about a fantastic burn later that day! Hope you enjoy it. If you don’t have kettle bells you should really get some.

Today we took the girls to see Playhouse Disney Live in Long Beach. It was a lot of fun. They didn’t know where we were going, so it was a total surprise. I have a photo of us pre-show, and I will post that tomorrow.

I really love doing things like this with the girls. I took my oldest to see the Nutcracker live last year; she loves plays, and singing and dancing, as I think all kids do at this age. I really believe she’s a natural and would be great acting and dancing, so we plan to get her involved with something like this once we get moved.

The show itself was really cute. Tigger was there, as was Pooh. Mickey and Minnie and Goofy danced. Little Einsteins zoomed in riding in their rocket ship. My girls danced and laughed and seemed amazed. I sometimes wonder if my four year old really believes that these characters are alive. She says she knows they aren’t, but I’m not so sure!

I ate a lot today. I love Sundays: No working out, and eating what I want. I also drank a few glasses of red wine last night while husband and I watched our shows on TLC and chilled. I did my nails, which I never do, and put some Vaseline on my feet and then some socks on so my feet would be silky smooth today. Not so much though. I have really dry skin and the running and swimming just irritates the heck out of my feet.

Now, off to bed early with my Shape magazine. I want to check out Desperate Housewives tonight but don’t think I will make it up!

When I first began running, I pushed myself. Hard.

If I felt tired, sick or just plain worn out I would still run the number of miles I had expected to run.

Through this I learned a few things about running. First, if you push yourself you get hurt. Secondly, if you push yourself too hard you don’t enjoy the run, and then the next run is harder.

Marathon training has really taught me to listen to my body. I call it conscious exercising. You have to be able to listen to your body. How are you feeling, both mentally and physically? Any aches and pains? How is your breath as you are running? How is your head? Are you enjoying the run or wishing you had stayed in bed? Do you really feel up to the allotted number of miles you had planned to do?

This morning I woke after a great night’s sleep. I felt refreshed and ready to go, but for some reason, once I slipped out the door I just knew that today was not going to be one of those fantastic runs like last Saturday’s had been.

Last Saturday I ran 11 miles. I didn’t put on my music headphones. I had a great time and felt strong the entire way.

Today, not so much. My legs felt like lead and I just didn’t have my head totally into the run. I enjoyed it. That is, I loved the way the fog cloaked everything in white. I loved the fact that it was cold and that I was covered in wetness by the time I got to the beach. I enjoyed seeing the same people I always see, particularly the two older guys that ride their bikes each Saturday morning.

Yet I still wasn’t ‘there.’ I had planned to do 13. The reality, I knew soon, was that I would be lucky to finish 10.

I finished 10, and I was glad that was all I decided to do.

At one time, I would not have stopped before the 13. I would have pushed myself though I would have known deep down I didn’t feel that I could do it. I would have ached after, both mentally and physically. The next run would have been harder.

Today, I listened. And I didn’t get angry with myself that I cut my run short. I can do a longer run next weekend if I am up to it. Those 13 miles will wait. Tonight, I feel great that I did 10. I took a long nap today and I am tired already and it is not yet eight, so I think my body just needed some extra rest today.

If you are training for a marathon or another event, or you are just beginning an exercise program, it’s important to work on listening to your body and then following that feeling.

It is easy to get overly excited about your routine and do too much, which will ultimately either fatigue your body, fatigue your muscles or, worse yet, cause an injury.

Rather, start slowly and build. Then, as you are building, make sure that you really pay attention to how you are feeling during your workout routines. How are your knees feeling as you do your squats? Any tension in your lower back? If so, stop and stretch it out. If you are running longer than normal, how are your feet, heels, knees, and legs feeling? What about your shoulders? I notice a lot of tension in my shoulders when I run, especially during distances over 6 miles. I try to stretch my arms out and do neck side-to-side stretches to lessen that tension.

Happy Running!

Fear keeps so many people from doing so many things.

I think about this as I’m starting on my personal trainer journey. I know that many people who are overweight have a fear of starting an exercise program and this fear can hold them back from doing anything.

It’s almost paralyzing. Afraid of something? Don’t try it, just in case.

In case what, though? In case it doesn’t work? For the most part, things do work as long as you give it the old college try. And if they don’t, then you change directions or try another approach. Failing at something does not mean that you aren’t doing a good job; it means that you are trying, and trying is better than not doing anything at all.

So here is my Friday story. I have been unhappy with my highlights for a while now. The girl that did them didn’t do them close enough to my scalp, leaving me with already a quarter inch growth in just about a month. Also, she didn’t tone it, because she said I didn’t need it. I should have insisted. I know I need it. What happens to my hair when not toned? Brassy. Red, gold, but brassy. Something like this, but not quite:

So . . . feeling frustrated (especially after my husband said, “Wow, your roots are really showing!” and he is so unobservant about things that I felt it MUST be bad!), I purchased a $7 box of hair coloring. Same company, different color:

I have never colored my hair.

I have always been scared of doing it on my own, afraid of, well, I’m not sure.

That my hair would look horrible and I’d have only me to blame?

That it would fall out because I’d done something wrong?

I knew, intellectually, I could always go to the salon and have them fix it if it came out bad; in the years of highlighting my hair, I’ve had to go back and have them fixed quite a few times.

Still, I was scared.

I stared at that darn box for almost a week. I hated my hair when I looked in the mirror and knew it would look better back in its original shade but I just didn’t have the guts.

I googled hair coloring at home and read horror stories, and then instructions about how easy it is to do it on your own.

I talked to friends who did their own and said it was no big deal.

Still, I did nothing.

Until today.

I took a deep breath and before I could think more I popped the top of that box and poured the coloring agent on my hair.

And you know what? I realized after I started but before the color came out that I was no longer afraid!

It was the anticipation of the event that got me, and not the actual event itself.

Same goes for the first big race, whether you run a 5K or a marathon. It’s the anticipation, the building up, that is sure to get your nerves going. Even the contemplation of doing such a thing.

When you get there, you realize you can do it. You will do it, because you are there. And if you don’t finish, or you don’t do well, you can always try again.

I think it is the same for weight loss, or taking on an exercise program, or joining the gym. You are scared because you don’t know what it will take out of you. You don’t realize how good it will make you feel when you do it and you succeed, and so you sit back and think up excuses or say Maybe tomorrow.

Eventually tomorrow will come.

Back to my hair: I am happy to report that it looks great! Darker than I originally thought, but back to my original color, so once these darned highlights fade (they are now a nice caramel color, so no brassiness there anymore), I will have a head full of dark hair yet again.

If you are contemplating doing something for yourself today, do it. If you want to start exercising but you don’t know what to do or you are afraid of failing, take a ten minute walk. Not sure you can commit to a gym membership? Try a weeklong pass, which most gyms will honor.

The first step is the hardest. Once you get over that fear during the anticipation of the event, you’ll be fine!

So today I did my weekly mini-triathlon. I started with a 25 minute run, going a little over the 2 mile mark I had planned, and then a 20 minute bike. I got the girls ready after, ate some breakfast and headed to the gym for a 30 minute swim. Overall I ran a bit slower than I wanted to do (I was hoping for 9 minute miles and it was a bit slower), the bike I have no idea how well I did or did not do, and the swim, well, let’s just say I need some help!

I love swimming, but I really don’t think I’m very fast. Or that I look very good. I haven’t perfected the whole flip and turn technique, which means I tap the wall and turn. I’m sure this is ineffective, but when I try to flip I wind up with water up my nose and I come up sputtering.

I think, too, I probably resemble a fish just learning to swim – only not that good. I have no idea where my hands should be placed, how I should stroke, if I should kick a lot, a little or none. I kick none because I read in tri you want to conserve leg energy for the bike and run.

A girl was in the lane with me, and then she moved to the lane beside me when it opened, and she got ahead. So of course I am so competitive I got this streak and started swimming as quickly as I could. I felt as though my strokes were not at all efficient. I stayed with her, but quite honestly had I been in open water I probably would have drown! I was out of breath and felt my technique was all wrong.

So . . . I came home and did some research on swimming. I read a few articles and then found this series of videos on You Tube. This one shows how to stroke with the arms. He has a series of videos on You Tube; I can’t embed them, but you can check them out there.

I’ll practice these techniques next time I swim, which should be Tuesday.

Going to do 13 miles on Saturday. Can’t wait; it is my favorite running trail around here and the turnaround point is awesome. Great ocean shots.

Happy Running!

This morning I did five miles. I started off thinking, “At least if I can do three, that will be good.” It wasn’t that I was tired or anything; I actually slept THROUGH THE NIGHT! (Way to go daughters!)

I have found, though, for some reason the thought of 5 miles mid-week seems difficult to do. 11 miles on the weekend? No problem. 5 on Wednesday? I don’t know, seems problematic. When I go in thinking if I do just three . . . I always do 5. And it worked!

It was a great run in the fog! I love this time of year, and this weather. Bring me cold, foggy mornings. Heck, bring me coldness all day long! I wish it would remain like that, but unfortunately it then heats up to 80 by noon. Go away sun! I’m ready for winter.

On another note, a reminder to hydrate. I was thinking this morning as I ran about the trip to Georgia and how I pulled the muscle in my leg the day after I got overheated and dehydrated. This happens frequently, which is why it is so important for people to remain hydrated (not to mention the other ill effects that can happen when you aren’t consuming enough water during a workout).

Anyway, a friendly reminder to drink your liquids! You don’ t need a sugary beverage like Gatorade unless you are going over an hour workout; water will work just fine (unless it is super humid, and then you may want to drink both water and Gatorade to ensure your replenishing the sodium you lose when you sweat).

Tomorrow I’m going to run 20, bike 20-30 and then swim 30. It’s my mini-tri day. I’m going to attempt the bike outside in the morning; we will see how it works, and how dark it is when I go. I think I’ll run first so that it has a chance to lighten up a bit before I get out the bike.