Fur Trade

I just have to say that right now, all I want to do is go home and cuddle up with my dog and cat. My brother sent me a youtube video today that I have not been able to watch in its entirety, nor do I intend to. I will also not be posting the video on my blog.

I will, however, post links to the Humane Society and Swiss Animal protection reports on the fur trade industry.

Please be warned that the video that you can find on these sites is extremely disturbing. It's not as heart wrenching as the video my brother sent, but it is still very difficult to watch - and I must admit that I did more listening to the report than watching.

http://www.hsus.org/about_us/humane_society_international_hsi/cruelty_issues_around_the_world/dying_for_fur_recent_investigation_shows_cruelty_at_chinese_fur_farms.html

http://www.animal-protection.net/furtrade/chinafur.html


Please do not buy fur. Real or fake. Period. Hopefully, without a market to sell it in, these unspeakable acts will stop happening.

Girls Just Wanna Go Run...

Well, I went to the dr. on Friday to get my knee checked out. On the bright side, there isn't actually anything wrong with my knee - no tears or sprains or any of that other stuff that happens. On the not so bright side, it still hurts when I run. Apparently, the muscles on the inside of my thigh, just above my knee aren't quite strong enough, so the muscles on the outside are overcompensating and pulling too much on my patellar tendon, therefore completely pissing off my tendon. I guess this could have all been avoided if I would have put more effort into streching, but it hasn't been real high on my list of things to do. It really doesn't matter now, though, because I've been prescribed a pretty strict regimen of stretching, more stretching, and NO RUNNING!!!! AARRRGGGGG!!!!! I'm allowed to walk, bike, and use an elliptical machine, but it's just not the same! I haven't actually tried biking or the elliptical thing yet, but there is just no subsitute for running. I guess I'll give the bike a shot on Tuesday and see how that goes - I'm not looking forward to it, but I'll try it. Who knows - maybe I'll like it and decide to train for a duathalon...

Marathon Updates

Well, since I haven't been on here since before the marathon, I should probably update!

Overall, I had a pretty crappy "first marathon" experience. What was supposed to be a beautiful day ended up cold, drizzly, and downright yucky! The race started out well and my mom and I settled into a nice pace. After a few miles, I started to warm up and ditched my 'throw-away' shirt - only to have it suddenly drop in temperature a couple miles later. We continued on our way with surprise appearances by my mother-in-law every few miles. It was nice to have our very own cheerleader out there! By the time we reached the half-way point, it either wasn't very cold anymore, or I was so numb I couldn't feel it - I'm still not sure. I felt great! We were at 2:30 - right on track for a 5 - 5:30 marathon, and the aid station had oranges and bananas which were a welcome treat at that point. As we continued on through Jenks, we saw my grandma sitting on a bench waiting for us - another very welcome treat! She even left church early so she wouldn't miss us! After a quick hug we were back on our way, and at that point I felt the need to find a porta-potty (my husband calls them portalets-just fyi). I've never had to do that in a race before, but this is a race of many firsts apparently. So after a quick break, we were back on our way and still feeling good - until we reached a water stop around mile 17. I got my water bottle (they were out of cups) and walked and drank a little and got out my GU (Lemon-sublime is the only way to go!!). I had stopped at a trash can so I could do my GU and dispose of my litter properly, and then I was ready to go again - unfortunately, my knee wasn't. I felt a sharp stabbing pain, and my knee nearly gave out. Another first!! I've never had any problems in training - and I've never felt a pain like that. I decided to "walk it off" and tried to keep moving. It still hurt, but not nearly as bad as trying to run on it. About a mile later, I noticed that my feet were tingling - like when they fall asleep. I felt like I was walking on pins and needles, yet another first. I sat down on a curb and loosened my shoes and then kept walking - I had to finish this thing! A few minutes later, a couple of people that we occasionly run with caught up with us. One of them used to be a marathon coach, and she suggested that we try "running poles." In our language, that means that we walk from one telephone/light pole to the next and then we run to the next, walk to the next, and so on. The pain in my knee had subsided considerably, so I decided to give it a shot. It felt better on my tingling feet and seemed to be going pretty well. We continued on and around mile 20.5 we hit another water stop. After stopping at the trash can I once again felt the sharp pain in my knee. We were still with our runner friend and she told me that I shouldn't continue running. I think she could tell I was about to cry at that point and told me that I was still going to finish and that nobody could take that away from me. With that, I continued walking on... I was disappointed but I was still going to finish and that was more important than anything else. And lucky for me, I wouldn't have to run up any of the hills that were waiting for us in those last few miles! My dad and my husband were waiting for us around mile 21.5 and they decided to walk the rest of the way with us. Aside from a couple more surprise visit's from my mother-in-law, nothing particulary exciting happened after that - we just kept walking. We met up with my father-in-law and stepmother-in-law at mile 25, and they walked a little bit with us back toward where they had parked their car and once we got to mile 26 I decided I was going to run in the last 0.2 - I was NOT WALKING across the finish line. At this point, the finish line was in view, and I was ready for it to be over. It seemed like it took forever to actually reach the finish line and once I got there, I just started crying. It was a very overwhelming experience. I was glad that it was over, proud that I had accomplished my goal of finishing, disappointed that I spent all year training and it didn't go the way I wanted, and I was hurting. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't do anything differently. (Except for maybe the part where they ran out of beer and food before we finish - would have been nice to have some of that!) It was a wonderful and awful experience all at the same time, and I wouldn't trade it for anything!! Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to next to make up for it. I figure with a first marathon experience like that, next time has to be better, right???

Most of all, I am thankful that I had a great coach and made some wonderful new friends throughout this process. They each helped make this year fun, interesting, and worthwhile. I look forward to sharing more runs with them in the future!

Lexie

Well... I only have about a day and half left until my marathon. WooHoo!!! To keep my mind off it, I've been messing with some pictures of my most precious, adorable niece.


Here she is in her Halloween Costume. We took her to BooHaHa on Brookside!

After that, we took her to Hallowmarine at the Jenks Aquarium, so she could see "Nemo" and all the other fishies.

Creating a masterpiece at breakfast with Grandma and Auntie... She's concentrating very hard!

This one is from Krispy Kreme at one of thier Incredible Kids Days' over the summer. Yummy!!

Needless to say, I absolutely love and adore my niece!!! Isn't she cute?!?!?

Be Happy - part 2

So... getting up early to run yesterday turned out to be harder than I thought - so I didn't run, and I still went to happy hour. Still not so sure if it was the "right" choice or not, but after a Dirty Martini and some deep fried green beans, I really didn't care. I'm glad I went, and it was great to see my friends but not running is making me cranky! I've already cut back my mileage to taper for the marathon, so any miles I get in are good - and not running at all yesterday has left me feeling tired and sluggish (and no - it's not the alcohol!) My husband doesn't understand how I actually have more energy when my workouts are consistent, and how I can be more tired when I'm not running. I have a feeling this next week is going to be pretty rough! 11/18/07 just can't get here fast enough!!!

Don't Worry... Be Happy!

As I mentioned in my first post, I am training for my first marathon - which is on November 18. I only have 3 training runs left before the big day - tomorrow, Saturday, and next Thurdsay. This morning, one of my best friends invited me and my hubby to Happy Hour tomorrow night. A few months ago, I would have quickly told my friends that I have to run and would have to catch up with them another time, but now... I'm so tired of training for this marathon that I have to actually think about this. We haven't seen this group of friends in almost a month when 2 of them got married. The bride and I haven't had much time to catch up since we've both been so busy, and I would love to see her! On the other hand, how much is it hurting me if I skip a run? Maybe I could compromise and do my run in the AM (yuck!!) so that I can have a guilt free and happy "Happy Hour." I've worked sooo hard to get ready for this marathon, and I don't want to take a step back by skipping out on my runs, but at the same time these runs are so mind numbing that I feel like I need a break. So what do I do?? Keep running to keep my body in the game? or take a day off so I can keep my head in the game? Feels like a lose/lose situation to me. I'm just ready to wake up on the 18th and it be Marathon Day, so I can get this training over with and enjoy the fruits of my labor, so to speak. Yay!!! I'm running my first marathon in 11 days!!

Random thoughts...

This will be a blog about my random thoughts - whenever I get around to it! I'm currently training for my first marathon (and frankly quite sick of it), the holidays are upon us (and I'm hosting Thanksgiving- yay!), and my husband and I are beginning to talk about adding to our family (after the marathon of course!). So you just never know what you're gonna get!!

Be patient with me! I'm still trying to figure this blog stuff out!

Me and Randy at Air Force vs Notre Game in Colorado - November 2006