From the Ground Up

I've been quiet for quite a while now (who knew I could do that?) because I truthfully haven't had much to say.  But things have been going on.  I've started my new job and its really kind of awesome.  I've continued to lose weight, still at a slow pace, but that's what I'm going for, I never want to see those pounds again!  And I've been undergoing physical therapy to treat this silly injury that you've all heard more than enough about.

Out of all these developments, its the physical therapy that has made the biggest impact on me.  When I went for my initial evaluation, I was told nothing about the way my body is reacting right now is right.  I don't even stand right.  I doubted statement until presented with the evidence and well, my PT was right.  My running problems started literally under my feet.  

Upon further reflection, I've realized that I didn't only need a physical makeover starting at the soles of my feet, I needed a mental one.  

I hate to say it, but I think for the last year I've been running for the wrong reasons.  I started this blog about nine months ago, hawking it as a chronicle of my journey of healthy living.  But in retrospect I see race this, race that, training, training, training, race, race, race.  Do I enjoy training for and running races?  Absolutely.  But lately my training (even thinking about it, since my training is confined to bike and pool for now) has turned into a chore and an exercise in frustration.  I force myself out to pound out x number of miles and when I find I don't keep the pace I think I should or the pace I used to I get upset, I push to hard, make myself miserable and sometimes (often, now) I end up hurting myself.  

I'm not saying I want it to be easy.  I expect this sport to be hard.  I expect to need to force myself out the door some days and I honestly believe those runs you don't want to do are some of the most important.  This is a sport about dedication and discipline just as much as community and fun.  I want the whole package back and I think I'm starting to get there again.

Memorial Day weekend I walked (almost every darn step) of the Beverly Ridge Run with two friends (one injured, one pregnant) and we had a great time.  It wasn't a huge accomplishment or anything of the sort but I very much needed that race to refocus myself.

My body is being fixed, bit by bit, from the ground up.  At the same time, I am working on my mind.  I hope that by the time I'm physically ready to run again I'll be mentally ready as well.

Confessions of an (Injured) Runner

I’m a bad kid and its not because I haven’t blogged in way, way too long.  Want to know why I’m a bad kid?  Because I’m injured - but I did two races on consecutive weekends.

Granted, we’re talking about about a 5k or two, and I walked a good portion of both (no PRs here or anything) but I’m still limited to 15 minutes of walking everyday so I perhaps didn’t make the smartest choice.

I got really excited that I was able to finish those races with minimal pain and I maybe got a little cocky.  I damn near walked my foot off Saturday while I was with my family and guess what - this girl isn’t healed.  

But here’s the thing:  I haven’t been able to resolve this injury for years.  Its been a lot of patching it together and let’s do this race and that one and after two or three something else (all relating back to the same injury) pops up and I end up typing up a blog post like this.  This time is different though.

This time, there wasn’t much of a break between one injury and the next.  I only managed one race, and it wasn’t a very good one.  Today I saw an old woman limping down the sidewalk and all I could think was ‘that’s exactly how I feel.’  I’m not okay with feeling like an old woman who can hardly walk.  I have goals for my life and some of them are things that I’m afraid might have an expiration date and they all require me to be a strong, healthy twenty-something year old woman.

As a result, I’ve made a very difficult decision:  I will not register for anymore races until I am fully healed; until I’ve been given the all clear from my doctor and physical therapist and I’ve regained both the speed and stamina I’ve lost from previous injuries and I’m sure I’m losing right now.  

I don’t know how long this is going to take.  It might be a few months, it might be a year or even longer.  But I think its really the best and safest choice I can make for myself right now.   In the mean time, I’ll still be here, blogging about my progress and I’ll be volunteering at races - starting with Ragnar this weekend!  If you’re running Ragnar Chicago, I’ll be at the finish line, I hope to see you there.  I’ll be cheering on Team Online Relationship and wishing I was out there running with them!

A Few General Updates and a Dream

I've got a quick laundry list:

1) I did something to my peroneal tendon (no clue when, but its been going on a while).  Went to a new doctor and was diagnosed with tendinosis.  I'm out 3 weeks minimum and I'll be starting therapy this week.

2)  I may not have mentioned it before but I've been unemployed for 6 weeks.  I got laid off the beginning of March.  But I officially accepted a wonderful new job today.  Its a much, much better position than what I left and I really happy about it.

3) I will not be running the Illinois Half Marathon because of the aforementioned injury but since the job situation has stabilized, I'm still planning to go to Champaign to spend the weekend with Courtney, Aaron and Jenn.  I've appointed myself the official cheering section.

Which brings us to the dream....

As all my regular readers have probably figured out, Courtney and I have been friends since we were kids and have kind of been adopted into one another's families as a result.  Her mom is like a second mother to me....and I evidently haven't seen enough of her lately because I had two dreams about her this weekend.  The first was Friday when Courtney crashed at my house and it was weird and random, something about her making us ice cream.  But then Saturday night I had another dream about Momma Fran.

There's been some speculation that tomorrow RunDisney is going to announce a Tinkerbell themed half.  Courtney's mother loves Tink (so does Courtney, for the record).  So in my dream, the race is announced and Momma F. calls me and tells me she wants to run it but she wants to surprise Court at the start line so we can't tell her about it (what?)  No Problemo, Momma, I say.

We proceed to spend weeks training her in secret for this race and it angers Courtney to no end because she can never find us.  Momma F. and I make it to race day and are at the start (in the wee hours of the morning, it IS a Disney race, after all) but our plan falls apart because we can't find Courtney anywhere.  We start the race and finally at mile 10, we come across Courtney.  We're overjoyed, we've spent months secretly plotting this huge surprise.  And Courtney (brat!) turns, sees us, and says Oh hey guys, having a good race? That's it.

Do you think the Tink race is going to happen?  (I hope so!) Anyone interested in running a Tinkerbell Half Marathon with me?  And am I the only one who dreams about running?

Runners Wanted!

Last year I committed to run Ragnar Relay Chicago with a group of women I know through Twitter.  We formed Team Online Relationship.   Unfortunately, as we've gotten closer to the race several runners (myself included) have had to leave the team due to personal and work conflicts.  I will be volunteering for Team Online Relationship but my current work situation prevents me from running.  At this time, we have 4 runner slots open and they are as follows: 

In Van 1: 

Runner 2: Leg 2 (4.5miles), Leg 14 (4.5miles), Leg 26 (6.8miles): 15.8 miles

Runner 5: Leg 5 (6.3miles), Leg 17 (3.2miles), Leg 29 (2.9miles): 12.4 miles

In Van 2: 

Runner 7: Leg 7 (4.7miles), Leg 19 (3.7miles), Leg 31 (4.9miles): 13.3 miles

Runner 11: Leg 11 (5.5miles), Leg 23 (4miles), Leg 35 (8.3miles): 17.8 miles

Please keep a couple things in mind:

You'll probably need to take Thursday June 9th off of work for travel to Wisconsin and definitely Friday June 10th since the race starts that morning.  

Registration: $90

Hotel room in Madison, WI Thursday night before the race: $35

Van rental: $35

Gas for Van: $??

Food: ??

If you are coming from out of state, airfare: $200++

I'm not trying to scare you off but I want you to have all the details in mind! Now if you're interested and this sounds doable for you,  please e-mail Courtney ASAP at wannaberunnergirl@gmail.com

Thanks! I hope you can join us! :)

Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon Race Report

I honestly don't have too much to say about this one, guys.

I've gone into races unprepared and I'd feel a lot better if I'd been slacking during my training for this one.  I played by the rules, I stuck to my training plan but it was just a bad day.

The race was wonderful, the support was stellar and I would recommend it in a heartbeat to anyone.

I had wonderful personal support as well, Jenn was by my side every step and if it hadn't been for her I'm not sure I wouldn't be laying in a ditch somewhere in Springfield right now.

There are parts of the race I don't remember at all, which is probably just as well.

All I can say is that I finished and its behind me.

Illinois is next and it will be a better race.

Have you had a really bad race?  How did you get through it?  How did it effect your next race?

Seen On My Run...

You guys know the hash tag #seenonmyrun ? (Yes, I have a Twitter obsession, I'm sorry if you don't.)

Today I started with an awesome #seenonmyrun. (Jesus statue by the side of the path -awesome, right?) Then things got weird.

This morning was cold and snowing and miserable but I have a half next week so I had no choice but to brave the elements.  The other members of our group evidently didn't feel compelled to leave the warmth of their homes and I don't blame them at all.  It was just a group of two today, Michelle and myself.

Michelle and I decided to go the opposite direction on the path that we typically do just for a change of scenery.  We run in the Cook County Forest Preserve and some areas of the path run along side neighborhoods and busier streets.  Other areas are deeper into the woods and quite deserted.  The path is a 3.25 mile loop.  We planned to do two loops this morning.

I have to preface this by saying that we always stick together on these runs, we try to stay alert to our surroundings and we see a lot of the same people out on the path every week.  That said, we do not run with pepper spray.  I have always felt safe enough in a group that I never felt compelled to purchase any.  I never go out on that path alone, if I run by myself I run through the neighborhoods and check in at home or with a family member a few blocks away during that time.  I try to keep myself as safe as I can.

A mile into our second loop we were approaching an area that runs directly along side a neighborhood.  I saw a man approaching us, walking fairly slowly.  He wasn't wearing running clothes, he wasn't with anyone and he wasn't walking a dog - the vast majority of the people we see fall into these categories.  I did notice he had a phone in his hand that he was pretty fixated on, but nothing else about him seemed that strange.  After he passed us, Michelle said she thought he exposed himself to us.  I honestly hadn't given him that good of a look but I commented that he wasn't really dressed for a run.

We decided we would keep an eye on him.  Within a few moments, he turned around and started walking the same direction we were - still very slowly.  We had reached a neighborhood by then and got off the path and walked close to the houses to see if he would pass us.  We had to slow down almost to a crawl before he strolled past us.  Michelle was right:  He was walking around giving a show.

At that point we knew we would not be getting back on the path.  The next mile is the most deserted part of the path, there were few people out with the morning being so cold and he was walking so slow we would have no choice but to pass him - putting him behind us and out of our line of sight again.  We opted to walk through the neighborhoods to my parents house and got a ride back to pick up our cars.  I made a report to the police and they went to investigate but called me back a short while ago to let me know they didn't see anyone but they will be increasing patrols in the area.

There's every chance this man is a harmless flasher but people who exhibit that kind of behavior often progress toward other less harmless acts and I'm not going to lie, I just had a bad feeling about the whole situation.

I know most my readers are women and I really want to encourage all of you to be cautious when you run, even in a group.  Don't run alone in the woods and no matter where you run be sure some one knows your route, be sure they know about how long it will take you - check in with people - response time is critical in any abduction.  The first thing my mother said when we walked in the door was that she thought I'd been gone a long time for a six mile run - if our morning had ended in a different way her having that information could have been very important. Above all else, TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS.  If you have a bad feeling about a situation, trust it, get out as soon as you safely can.

If you're in the south suburbs of Chicago, be on the lookout for a white man in his twenties on the Forest Preserve trails that sticks out.  Today he wore jeans, a black coat, white (non athletic) sneakers and a white ski cap.  Cook County Forest Preserve Police have been notified and did check out the area but stated they didn't see anyone matching the description.

That's all for my public service announcement.

Lincoln is next week - be on the look out for race report Sunday!

A Short Note About Cross Training

I'm not going to beat around the bush here, guys.

I absolutely suck at cross training.

Its something I've been working on.  I logically know cross training with make me a better runner and a better athlete all around.  I also know that when I'm training for a triathlon I feel much stronger.

When it comes right down to it, I am lazy about cross training.  I tell myself its more important that I don't miss my running workouts.  But really, I should treat both as equals.

So this week I am being very intentional about cross training.  I have successfully cross trained both yesterday and today.  Three more days to go.  Tomorrow I think I'll swim and Thursday (technically my rest day) I'm planning yoga.

Do you struggle with cross training?  Are you more likely to skip a scheduled run or cross training work out?  How has cross training helped you?

One Week

Last Monday, I made a big change.  I did not blog about it, because I honestly had no idea what would happen.

One week ago, I went Gluten Free.

It has been suggested that eliminating (or severely restricting) gluten might relieve some symptoms of a minor medical condition I have.  I do not want to mention what this is or what sort of symptoms I have because I am not a medical doctor nor am I a nutritionist, and I don't want anyone to take this as advice in any way, shape or form.  I am just a casual blogger and runner trying to keep herself healthy - I'm not looking to be an example or offer medical advice.

So I went for it.  For one week now, I have been gluten free. And around the middle of the week, I started to feel a difference.

There have been challenges, especially with making my lunches.  I know there are gluten free restaurant options but I am trying very hard not to resort to that, opting instead to prepare my own fresh meals.  I hit one small bump on Tuesday and I'll be sure to share that story later (in retrospect, its actually funny).

I have essentially eliminated all processed foods from my diet.  And I like it!  I like that I can look at my meals and identify every ingredient.  I like that I've been cooking more this week (yes, using that silly crockpot).  And I like that my meals are more satisfying.

I don't feel restricted, to be honest.  I told myself this first week I wasn't going to stress about calorie counts, but to be honest, I haven't needed to.  I've actually lost a rather shocking amount of weight this week - most of which was probably just water weight, but still nice to not see the scale go up.

When I first made my decision, I commented to a friend that while I hoped it worked so I could physically feel better, I kind of didn't want it to because it seemed like such a chore.  This was a daunting task at the start.  But I'm feeling good about it now, I feel confident in my decision and while I do have a bit more work involved in meal planning now, I feel its totally worth the effort.

Have you ever made a big change to the way you eat?  Did it stick?  Why did or didn't it?

Meatless Meals

I just finished putting together dinner for my family.  There's a big pot of Tortilla Soup on the stove and the house smells really good.  Tonight, my family is going meatless (they don't know this yet, shhh!!!)

I want to say that I am not a vegetarian, vegan or even close.  I like meat.  I eat meat.  But I do not think you need to eat meat at every meal, every day.  I firmly believe that meat in moderation can be a part of a balanced diet.

I know I have a couple readers who have previously commented they do not eat meat.  I think this is a valid dietary decision as well.

Lately, I've seen a few too many documentaries and television shows about food.  I don't feel compelled to eliminate meat from my diet but I do feel I need to be more responsible in my consumption.

My family is not always very appreciative when I prepare meatless meals, they feel they are not healthy or incomplete.  I've provided vegetables, protein and even some carbs in tonight's meal, so I don't feel this is true.  Yes, I cook some things that are not healthy when requested (usually for a birthday or holiday).  On a day to day basis though, I try to provide my family with healthy, well balanced meals (that taste good) because I love them all and I want them to be healthy and live for a long time.  So tonight, I'll probably have some complaints about dinner.  I'll probably be a little grumpy about that.  But everyone in this house is an adult so they'll eat the meal that was provided - and I'll feel good knowing that tonight everyone ate a healthy dinner.

What's your take on meat?  Have you seen Food Inc. or perhaps Oprah's recent show about food?  Did either impact your views on what you put in your body?

Lesson Learned

I do a lot of cooking in a slow cooker.  I cook the majority of my family's meals but I'm almost never home from work before 6:30 - and I don't usually want to cook then.  So my solution is to throw everything in a slow cooker and let it simmer away while I'm out earning my living.

Mondays are almost always slow cooker days, the day is a bit more bearable when you stop and think that while you're working, your dinner is cooking itself and will be waiting when you get home.  Usually on Sunday afternoon or evening I do whatever prep is involved with my meal.  All I want to have left in the morning is to dump every into the pot and turn it on while I'm drinking my coffee.

Yesterday (Sunday) I was lazy.  Its extremely rare for me to have a Sunday with no family obligations or massive piles of laundry - or, well, anything.  I had nothing on the calendar this Sunday.  So I did what I wanted to do:  I finished my grocery shopping and I sat around reading food blogs.  All.  Day.  Long.

I started a new nutrition plan today and I had a lot of recipes to look up and research to do still.  So my Sunday afternoon slipped away. And so did Sunday night.  Then I did the one thing that for some reason usually makes me feel accountable - I tweeted I was going to get up and work on Monday's dinner.  Well Tweeps - I didn't follow through.   I fell asleep in my bed watching an episode of Gilmore Girls instead.

This morning, I had work to do.  I had breakfast to make.  I had lunch to make.  I had dinner to make.  Three meals all before work?  It all started pretty innocuously.  I poured my coffee, got breakfast started and then turned my attention to dinner.

It still wasn't too bad at this point.  Yes, it was cutting into my GMA watching, but there's consequences for being lazy, right?  I had picked an easy enough recipe, I had to cut up some veggies but really scrubbing potatoes and carrots was the most strenuous thing I had to do.  I was feeling darn proud of myself.  Until I started on the liquid portion of my dinner.  This is a stew like recipe (I'll share later) and it only has a little liquid - stock and white wine.

There is always wine open in this house.  We drink wine with dinner pretty much every night.  But today, when I needed just a half cup of wine, I couldn't find any open.  I kept digging through the fridge sure I'd find a half empty bottle of wine.  I did not.  So at 7a.m. on a Monday morning I had to open a bottle of wine.  As I was standing over the wine rack in my fuzzy slippers while my father questioned if I was drinking before work, I realized this all could have been avoided if I'd just quit procrastinating the night before.  Ah, hindsight.

Lesson Learned.  Procrastination: 1; Becca: 0

Spaghetti Squash

I'm way overdue for a recipe on here.  My stomach hasn't been feeling great this week though, so I don't really have anything clever to say about this recipe or food in general.  I usually grill up some chicken for my dad when I make this because he likes meat...but super low cal recipe, its basically just a big pile o' veggies.  


Oh, and please be super careful hacking into the squash, its tricky.

Spaghetti Squash with Feta

1 Spaghetti Squash
1 Medium Onion
4 Cloves of Garlic, minced
1 Zucchini, Sliced
1 Summer Squash, Sliced
4 oz. Feta crumbles


Halve Spaghetti Squash, remove pulp and seeds, and bake, face down on a cookie sheet for 45 minutes in a 375 degree oven.
Sweat onions in a saute pan with a bit of olive oil (if you have the time, go crazy and cook them down until they caramelize, its a nice addition) add garlic, zucchini and summer squash, cook until tender.
Remove cooked squash from oven (you will be able to easily puncture the rind with a knife or fork when its fully cooked).  Pull a fork through the cooked squash and scoop out.  Toss with cooked zucchini and summer squash, then add feta and toss again.

James

There is something you probably don't know about me:  I'm a musical theater geek.

Even after I abandoned my music performance major for the more 'practical' political science major,  I never truly lost my love for music or theater and I continued looking for ways to feed my need to perform after I finish school.  That's where this story starts, but this story isn't truly about me.  This story is about my friend, James.

Two years ago Courtney found an ad somewhere for auditions for Joesph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.  Joseph is an old favorite of mine and I couldn't pass up the opportunity.  During my dance audition I met a man named James.

I would be cast as Naphtali's Wife and James would be the star of the show - He would be our Joseph.  Rehearsals started in May and when I walked into the first rehearsal, James was the first person to greet me.  We quickly became friends and I learned James was a runner.

Like most shows, our cast quickly became a tight knit family and James was at the center of it all.

That was the summer I had to go back into a cast because my foot fracture hadn't healed.  It was a blow to me as a runner but also threatened my role in the show. That summer, James would become my support, not just physically - he was an athlete and I was grateful for his strength when I often found myself unable to get around - but also emotionally.  It was the emotional support I desperately needed.

James was optimistic, cheerful and caring.  His empathy and patience showed in the way he helped me around.  James had a big heart and he loved to make people laugh but he also was a wonderful listener and he was always willing to help anyone in anyway he could.  James kept me smiling that summer, assured me I would be running again soon and on the rare occasion our packed rehearsal schedule allowed him to squeeze in a race, he came back telling me I'd be doing that race with him next year. James gave me hope that summer.  But for James, there would not be a 2010 race season.

After the show I didn't see James as often.  He worked at the Apple Store and I'd stop in once and a while to say hello and we'd see each other at other local theater events but we didn't see each other every single day anymore.

In early September I went to the Apple Store with my brother and James was there but was training a large group of employees.  I was in hurry, he was busy, we only exchanged a wave before I left the store.  I have not seen James since that day.

On September 19th, 2009, James went for a run. That day, in the parking lot of a strip mall in his neighborhood, James was hit by a car.  He went through the car's windshield and suffered a traumatic brain injury.

James' condition has improved since the accident, however, he has never fully regained consciousness.

Like all of James' friends, I hope one day we will truly get him back.  But we also remember the things we learned from James, we remember his strength and compassion, how his smile lighted up a room and how magnificent he was on stage that summer.  We remember how he always put others before himself and how he encouraged us when we went through hard times.

I think about James a lot now when I run.  He gets me through the tough workouts.  Right now, James can't run.  But I can run again, just like he told me I would and now, when things get hard and the miles seem too long and my legs don't want to hold me up anymore, I draw on the strength James gave me.

One day, I hope to get the news that James has finally returned to us.  One day, I hope James will be there with us to run the Miles for James 5K with us.  One day, I hope we will run those races we talked about.  But now, I run for James because I know he would do the same for me.


If you would like to learn more about James Javier or the Miles for James foundation, you can go HERE.

You can also follow these links to see video of James as Joseph:

Joseph's Coat

Close Every Door to Me

Indecision

I've got a problem.

A couple weeks ago I pulled the Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon from my schedule because it just didn't seem like it was happening.  I had no travel plans, another race 4 weeks later, and worst of all, a baby shower was going to interfere.  The baby shower got moved but I just decided I would let this one go.  In the spirit of a true Cubs fan I decided I could wait 'til next year.  

I don't think I can wait 'til next year, though.  I've put off quite a few races this year because of costs, lack of travel time and scheduling conflicts.  Some of those were tough choices for me but for some reason, Lincoln is not letting go of me.  I thought I had settled down and moved on but I was asked about it at yesterday's Bad Girls group run and I can NOT get it out of my head.  

I'm fixated and I really don't want to wake up on April 2nd and regret that I'm not in Springfield.   I'm not putting Lincoln back on my schedule today.  And I'm not registering today.  But I'm not ruling it out.  

I don't understand it at all but I feel like I need this race.  Lincoln isn't a big, popular race.  Its not flashy, there's no on course entertainment, no fancy perks, there's more or less no race swag and no expo. But its 13.1 miles of historic Springfield sites and I think the simplicity is what's drawing me in.  I'm a history nerd.  I geek out so hard on this stuff, this race is my dream race.

I need advice, people.  Have you ever had a race eat at you like this?  What did you do about it?


****UPDATE****

Yeah, I'm running.  Thanks to Jenn, Lincoln is going to happen.  She jumped on an innocent tweet and short story long, she'll be meeting Courtney and I in Springfield to run Lincoln!  Massive props to Jenn for giving me the shove I needed.

Banana Blizzard Muffins

I woke up to this today:

The snow was still coming down and no one could go anywhere and even if we could nothing was open . . . so I decided to defeat the snow day by making these:

Don't they look tasty?  I promise they totally were.  And wait for it, kids: 77 calories per muffin!

Banana Blizzard Muffins: 

3 very ripe bananas 

1/2 cup Honey 

2 eggs 

2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce 

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour 

3 teaspoons Baking Powder 

1 teaspoon Baking Soda 

1 teaspoon Salt 

2 tablespoons Water

Preheat Oven to 375 and line or grease 24 muffin cups. Mash bananas and add honey, eggs and apple sauce. Mix in 2 tablespoons of water. Sift together dry ingredients and stir until combined.
Spoon into prepared muffin cups and bake for 10-12 minutes. Makes 24 muffins.

I hope everyone who was in the path of the storm is warm and safe!  It took a long time time and three adults to do it but we pretty well got the house dug out.  Now we just need a plow to come and take care of the street - its been over 24 hours and if one doesn't come by morning, I'll have no choice but to take another snow day!

What do you do when you have a snow day? (Feel free to fill in whatever crippling weather event happens in your climate if necessary)

Friday Fun

I registered for the Illinois Half Marathon today!  I'm so excited about this race, Courtney will be running the full - her first - and Jess from Jess Runs will be there to pace her.

While I was trying to distract myself from some craziness going on in my life this week, I gave a lot of thought to my race schedule for this year and what my goals are for next year.

Last month I toyed with the idea of completing my first marathon this year - there is a marathon very near me the weekend of my birthday...my 26th birthday, no less.  This got me pretty excited because if there's a year to run a full on your birthday, I'd say 26 is it.  That said, at this time, I don't know that I would be able to prepare myself both physically and mentally for a marathon by September.  I have a lot of races this year I want to complete and I've decided right now those races (and the people I'll get to run them with) are more important to my development as a runner and achieving the goals I have than taking the step of training for a full.

I'll be updating my race schedule this evening, deciding which races are staying and which are going.

This year my two major goals are to become a Half Fanatics member and to complete the Kansas City Half Marathon in under 3 hours.

I'm hoping 2012 is going to be my marathon year.  I want to do it, I want to do it before I turn 30 and well, time is running out!

Kansas City and Ragnar are my two really big (important) races for the year.  What races are you focusing on the most this year?  What made you decide you were ready for a marathon?

The Truth

"The internet isn't written in pencil, its written in ink." - Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

My name is Rebecca Jean Petro.  I was born at 8:35 a.m. on September 19th, 1985 at Ingalls Hospital in Harvey, IL to John and Beverly Petro.  I have one brother, a cat and one living grandparent.  I'm employed by DiaTri, Inc. I attended Olivet Nazarene University and Tinley Park High School.  I have a Facebook account I haven't used in well over a year.  I'm addicted to Twitter.  I own an iPhone.

Oh. My. God.  I put personal information on my blog.  The truth is, this information was already completely available to anyone that wanted to find it.

I'm sharing this information to prove a point: There is no such thing as anonymity on the internet.

My readers may notice I've never allowed anonymous comments on my blog.  I have two reasons for this:

1. I think people should take responsibility for their words and actions.
2. Nothing on the internet is anonymous.

I feel the first is fairly obvious.  When I write something, I sign my name to it.  I don't share anything with my readers that I wouldn't say to their face - and sometimes I do say it to their faces, because I know a good amount of my readers personally.

As to the second, I'm a pretty bright girl.  My IQ doesn't break the bank but I can follow directions pretty well and my reading comprehension and problem solving skills are (not to brag) out of this world.  And if this wasn't true; my brother's IQ DOES break the bank and he is actually educated in computer science.  If you really want to leave an anonymous comment on my blog you should be bright enough to figure out how to get around my blog's security (which isn't that stellar, btw).  If you can do this, you might be smart enough to cover your tracks well enough to actually leave an anonymous comment.  MAYBE (I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt; I'm kind of lazy, I'll probably get bored and find something else to do before I track you down.)  If you can't do this, your comment won't be anonymous even if I did allow them.  

This isn't the first time I've discussed anonymous blog comments but I hope its the last.  My final statement to anonymous commenters (all of them) is this:  I know who you are, Anonymous.  I know where you live and where you work.  I know the name of your spouse and your kids and your friends.  I know what you do for fun and above all, I know you're not that bright because you honestly thought you could be anonymous.  Remember in school when they talked about your permanent record?  The internet IS your permanent record.

So readers, do you allow anonymous comments on your blog?  Why do or don't you?  Do you ever leave anonymous comments on blogs yourself?  If you do: do you say things you wouldn't normally say if your name was next to those words?

And as I said, when I write something, I sign my name to it:  Rebecca J. Petro.

Civic (Blogger) Duty

I'm going to keep it short and sweet tonight guys.

Courtney at Run, Courtney, Run (who also happens to be my best friend) has been named one of the 2010 Top Ten Best Endurance Sports Blogs!

She's now in the running to be named THE Best and I hope you will all help her out by VOTING HERE.

And of course, if you you're interested in checking out her blog, you can go here.

That's all for today!

Obstacles

"Obstacles are the things a person sees when he takes his eyes off his goal." - E. Joseph Crossman

Happy New Year, everyone!   How is 2011 treating everybody so far?

I'm going to start my 2011 blogging year (not sure if that's a term, but I'm making it one) off with a confession.  This fall and winter I went over 2 months without running once.

Yes, I had a minor injury that briefly sidelined me but after I was cleared to run it seemed like I spent another month running into brick walls.  I won't get into the ugly details but let's just say December was a bad month for me.

I refused to start this year like that, so I was out the door early in the morning on New Year's Day, logging my first miles of the year.  It was a hard run but it felt good, so I didn't mind.

I have definitely found my fair share of obstacles in the last few months and as a result I've totally lost sight of my goals.  It took a terrible wake up call in the form of a pair of jeans that didn't want to button to even slightly disrupt my funk.  I've pretty well gotten my eating under control again.  That's a positive step. Unfortunately, I can't get myself motivated to move.

I don't believe in New Year's resolutions, so I won't make any.  However, I do believe in having goals and I also believe we need to have expectations of how we are going to conduct our lives.

My overall goal (short and long term) is to live a healthy life.    My health is my first concern.   Do I want to lose weight?  Of course.  But the most important thing is for me to be active and healthy.  I don't have the best genes working in my favor: Obesity, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Cancer, a whole host of autoimmune diseases. I don't want any of these.  I don't want anyone in my family to have them.   I expect myself to be an example to my loved ones of how to lead a healthy life.

I know WHAT my goal is, now I just need to keep my eye on it, rather than whatever I seem to think stands between me and that goal