10 Miles

Once upon a time, I ran 10-ish miles. It was hard, and it hurt, and it was really more like 11. That was about two weeks before my very first half marathon, and today, three weeks before my third half marathon I ran not walked 10 miles... without stopping. I wasn't terribly fast (it took me 1 hour and 57 minutes to do it) but it was the longest distance I've ever gone without stopping to walk! Milestone.

They say that the long runs are about covering the distance, and not the time that it takes you to do it. But I can't help but thinking, "why the heck am I so slow?!" I crunched the numbers, and today evened out to be slightly faster than a 12 minute mile. ...I'm pretty sure some people can walk that fast. Yes, I know it's faster than if I were at home in bed or sitting on my sofa, but it's slower than I was before running my first half marathon. But it felt better - a lot better.

Instead of getting frustrated and fixating on the things that aren't going quite how I'd like, I'm trying to recognize what's going well. Today, I didn't have to contemplate whether or not I could make it up the stairs on my own or ice my knees right away because they felt like they were being held together with old rubber bands. My hands and feet didn't swell, threatening to explode - and that's a serious improvement. Maybe one day I'll start running half marathons for time, but for now I'll be proud of the fact that in the past year I've gone from being a non-runner (who was terrified of just one mile) to running 10 miles at a time.

Here's to the impossible.

All That Vajiggle Jaggle

... is not beautimous.

I can already tell that spell check is going to be really unhappy with me on this one. So, I usually write about running or my dogs (yes, that's plural now!) and I thought I'd mix it up a bit - Honey Boo Boo style.

If you don't know who this little gem is, do yourself a favor and google her.

Here's the basic idea:
Alana "Honey Boo Boo Child" Thompson is a tiny, overcaffeinated pageant queen from TLC's Toddlers and Tiaras. Her crazy antics on the show have earned her and her (even crazier) family their own show: Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. The whole thing is horrifyingly awesome.


Ok. Technically, should I feel unethical for giving ratings to a show that exploits a young girl and her family for being self-proclaimed rednecks doing ridiculous things? Probably. But they make me giggle just enough that I can't stop watching it!

HoneyBooBooSay on Twitter
Honey Boo Boo Redneckipedia 
Honey Boo Boo and the GoGo Juice

Attitude is Everything

It really is. I know I've been writing about this quite a bit lately, but I write about the revelations as they come.

How do you get a plane full of sleepy (and most likely grumpy) airplane passengers to pep up and play nice at 5am? Pull yourself out of your own 5am funk and make people laugh. The security announcements on the first leg of my flight this morning included phrases like:

• If Atlanta is not part of your travel plans today, it's too late. It is now.
• Please be sure your seat belt is secured tightly, low across your hips... like J-Lo's pants
• The pilot has promised to fly the plane like he stole it, which should get us there on time. It may also result in losing some exterior paint, but that should help in our transition to Southwest Airlines.
• If the cabin loses pressure, once you have finished screaming, place the mask over your face... [may not inflate... put your mask on first before assisting others... etc] If you are travelling with more than one child, you may have to pick your favorite.

This seems a little silly now, but let me tell you, if you've been up since 3am it's pretty hysterical. One of the flight attendants on round two was cracking jokes also. The moral of the story is - you can choose to shake off the funk if you really want to. If you make the choice to give up the grumps in a situation where it's easy to just give in, it's truly infectious and brightens everyone's day!