The Wannabe Athlete

Hi there. Remember me?

(Who am I kidding…most of you probably didn’t even realize I hadn’t blogged in a few weeks. But if you did notice my absence, thanks!)

I’ve missed you. I’ve missed blogging.

But life is good. So good, in fact, that blogging has fallen by the wayside.

Why is that an indicator that life is good? I used to find a great deal of fulfillment in blogging. I found affirmation. Companionship. Encouragement.

It’s nice to feel like I don’t need blogging anymore to find those things. I have a job I love (that keeps me VERY busy), companionship from my amazing family, and encouragement from people in my personal and professional life here in my small town. Sure, I had some of those things before, but it still felt like something was missing – and I filled some of those gaps through blogging. Now blogging is icing on the cake.

So I appreciate your patience. I appreciate you sticking around for the times I do find the time and desire to blog. I enjoy your friendship! I enjoy your encouragement and feedback. I love having my readers as a part of my life. So here’s a brief catch up on life…

My husband’s sports radio show is going strong! In fact you can listen online TODAY (Saturday) from 2-4pm EST here. If you or your significant other loves sports, tune in and/or give Nate a call to talk sports. He would appreciate your support!

The Mini Athlete is almost two (less than a month to go) – can you believe it? It feels like just yesterday I was tweeting through labor, waiting to bring him into the world. He is obsessed with baseball these days (although still has strong affections for basketball and football.) In fact, Daddy and son went to the first “full pads” practice of our local high school this morning – and had a blast I hear!

Little Miss Athlete is getting SO big.

She is 5 months old and is such a happy baby. She is still in love with her nanny (and her nanny’s whole family who has adopted her as their own). Here is Little Miss with her nanny’s father-in-law who came to visit for a week. I could barely walk in the door with her before he came over wanting to hold her! It makes this mama’s heart happy to know my little girl is so loved while I’m at work. And she sure seems happy too, doesn’t she?

I’ve had a good couple of weeks. About three weeks ago, I stopped eating food that had added sugar and started reducing my dairy intake. My goal was to start eating more healthy, natural foods. I started feeling SO much better and lost about 8 pounds in the process! I now weigh less than I have since college (and about 8 pounds less than I did on my wedding day!) I feel great. My next goal? Now that I have started figuring out how to eat a healthier diet, it’s time to get strong. My workouts have gone by the wayside due to a busy schedule (and lack of motivation.) I went for a run this morning though – hopefully this will start to become a more regular habit again!

One last thing – my little sister and her son are in town! That means all my sisters are together for the next few weeks. Such a blessing!

So that’s the latest around here…tell me something new about you!

Have you ever seen someone you love SO happy that you just can’t help but be happy too?

Today, one of my husband’s lifelong dreams came true. He co-hosted his first sports radio show.

Anyone who knows my husband knows that he is a perfect fit for this role. He has read every issue of Sports Illustrated cover to cover since the third grade. He retains more sports knowledge than most of us even realize exists. He is always ready to talk sports – anytime, anywhere.

My husband has a degree in journalism, and covers sports for a few local newspapers as a correspondent. It’s something he has done on the side for years, but he has always dreamed about making his way onto the radio.

You know how they always say it’s all about “who you know” – and who knows you?

That’s exactly how he found himself as the co-host of the Saturday afternoon show on 1280-WTMY. Nate is always talking sports with anyone who will listen – including people at church. One particular guy at church has been talking with Nate about sports for years. And that particular guy also happens to be the host of an afternoon sports radio show. A few weeks ago (on Easter Sunday actually), this guy asked Nate if he’d be interested in coming onto the show.

I wish I could have bottled up my husband’s smile as we walked away that day. Actually, it’s the same smile that’s been on his face all day. The kind of smile that comes when a dream becomes a reality.

And I couldn’t be more proud.

Nate will be co-hosting every Saturday from 1-3pm EST on 1280AM locally, with the live webcam streaming online http://www.wtmy.com/ for those of you out of town. Be sure to tune in next week and check him out on Twitter at @natetalkssports!

Ahhh…I love local races.

And I really love new post-2nd-baby PRs!

Official time: 32:04 (avg. pace = 10:21min/mile) and 6th out of 20 in my age group!

But let me start at the beginning.

I really thought about backing out of this race. Saturday was a HUGE day at work (that went GREAT by the way!) and I was pretty exhausted. Regardless, we set our alarms, my parents came over to watch the babies, and we headed to the race start. It only took about 10 minutes to get to the race and we were able to park about 20 yards from the starting line itself. Have I mentioned that I love local races?

I think they had about 300 runners and the morning couldn’t have been more beautiful.

We headed out to the starting line…

Nate came decked out in his work shirt to advertise his company, Smart Records Management. It’s not everyday you see a guy running in a button up shirt!

He made his way to the front of the pack…

And before I knew it, we were off!

I went out and felt GREAT. I didn’t wear a Garmin, but I did have RunKeeper going on my phone. But I didn’t wear an iPod, so I listened to my favorite radio station (the JoyFM) on my phone. I really think not over-analyzing my pace and distance helped me in the long haul.

I came out strong and ran the first half mile at a 9:05 min/mile pace. I literally said out loud, ‘WHOA!’

First mile? 9:30.

I had fleeting thoughts of finally getting that sub-30 minute 5k, and I held on as long as I could.

Second mile? 10:14.

And then…I fell apart. I let myself walk and, well, I had a hard time getting back up to speed after that. Third mile? 10:52.

I really need to work on my endurance, but quite frankly, given the fact that I have been running an average of once a week, I’m okay with my 32:04. Thrilled in fact.

And my speedy husband? He took second place in his age group with a time of 22:03.

I was so proud of him getting his medal!

He finished just 22 seconds behind our friend Larry – who also happens to be in our running group – the Island Running Club!

Guess who also came out to run this morning – my sister Shannon! She totally surprised me by being out there – and finished in 42: 17! I love that she is really claiming this running thing as her own. She is a middle school teacher and has started helping with Girls on the Run at her school. How awesome is that?!?

Fantastic weekend. A great start to my desire to start focusing a little more on me and my health. That new journey continues…

My goal? To cut out sugar for the next two weeks. I seem to have lost all concept of what is a “treat” and what is normal food. For instance, ice cream should be a treat, not a daily habit. So wish me luck. And please send me any suggestions you might have. Here goes nothing!

Life has been crazy busy lately. Long hours, trying to find time to spend with my family…and in the process, I have been neglecting myself.

I would be embarrassed to tell you what I’ve been eating on a daily basis. Seriously embarrassed.

I’ve been lucky to run once a week – maybe two miles – and haven’t done any other working out other than that.

Do I still fit in my clothes? Somehow, yes. By some miracle.

Do I feel good?

No.

Not at all.

I’ve been settling for “good enough.” I don’t look good…but I don’t look bad. My clothes fit…but not well. I look “good enough” – but my health is far from it.

It’s time to make a change.

Starting Monday, I’m shifting my focus. Something has to give. I’m not sure yet exactly what I’m doing, but my first focus is going to be to clean up my eating habits. Eating ice cream and drinking beer every night is not a recipe for long-term health and wellness. But alas, that’s what I’m doing tonight.

But starting on Monday, I’m focusing on my health. On my wellness. On me.

I’m going to try to check in more frequently. I need your accountability. I need your encouragement.

I’ve done this before…I can do it again…right?

You might remember that I started a new job about a year ago. I never really talked about what my new job entailed – I only mentioned that I am now the Executive Director of a nonprofit.

I love my job. I absolutely love going to work every day. And I wanted to finally tell you what I do.

I am the Executive Director of a pregnancy resource center. What does that mean? We help women who are facing unplanned pregnancies make life-affirming decisions for themselves and their babies.

I know I have a very diverse readership.  I won’t pretend to know your individual situation and what you have gone through. Everyone has their own story.

But I do know the reality facing the women I work with every day. Many of them weren’t expecting to get pregnant – but now they are. Many of them want to choose life for their babies, but they’re scared. They feel alone. Confused. Without help. Without options.

Far too often, these women feel like abortion is their only choice.

And that breaks my heart.

No woman should ever be put in a position where she thinks abortion is her only option. Maybe her boyfriend is pressuring her. Maybe her parents are threatening to kick her out of their house. Maybe she is afraid of what the future holds.

Our job is to be there for her. To connect her with resources. To let her know she is not alone.

Like I said, I love what I do.

I get to empower women every day. I get to give them hope. It’s a pretty amazing thing.

We charge our clients nothing for our services, receive no government funding for the work we do, and rely entirely on the generosity of individuals and charitable organizations to continue our work. This weekend is our biggest community fundraiser of the year – our Walk for Life.

The Mini Athlete and Little Miss Athlete will be “walking” – actually, riding in their stroller at the Walk this Saturday. If you would like to sponsor them, it would be greatly appreciated! Every little bit helps us continue our work. Email me at thewannabeathlete@gmail.com for more information.

Like I said, I know that everyone reading this post right now has their own story. This can be a touchy subject, especially if you’ve been walked that journey. Maybe you’ve never been able to talk to someone about what you went through. I want you to know I’m here. Not to judge. To listen. Email me.

And I hope everyone has the opportunity to someday find a job they love as much as I love mine. 

I feel like life is in fast forward right now. I have a big project going on at work right now and it’s taking up a lot of my time. And a lot of my thoughts. As excited as I am about it, I’ll be happy when it’s over so life can go back to “normal”. Whatever that is, right?

Yes, I still ran last Saturday with our Island Running Club. I covered almost 3 miles and it hasn’t gotten any easier. I ran with my Dad on Saturday and we went out FAST (for me.)

But I really slowed down from there. It was HOT and muggy out there – it’s going to take me a while to get used to the Florida humidity again!

Later in the day, our neighborhood had an Easter egg hunt. Love that they have activities and a park here for our little ones!

He is getting so grown up. I can’t stand it. He will be two in June. Unbelievable. You should hear him sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” – it’s pretty much the most adorable thing ever.

And can you believe that Little Miss Athlete is already FOUR months old? Like I said, it feels like life is in fast forward.

She finally rolled over from her back to front the other day and absolutely LOVES watching her brother doing anything. She has found her voice and loves screaming and squealing to make sure we all know exactly where she is.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go make the most of these precious moments with my little family.

Because I can already see…they grow up WAY too fast.

Ever stumble across a local gem and immediately know you’ve struck gold?

I started following Venetian Coffee on Facebook because I knew it was a local business and had seen them at some local events. Every so often, they would post an invitation to stop by their shop for a free cup of coffee – and one day I finally decided to take them up on it.

For the locals, their stop is located on Base Avenue on the Island, close to the airport. For the not locals, their shop is online here. It’s one of those places you would never know was there…unless you knew it was there.

Say hello to Joe the Roaster! What a nice guy.

It’s really not a “coffee shop” – it’s actually a “small batch micro-roaster” and you can smell the coffee as soon as you pull into the parking lot. True to their Facebook promise, they offered me a nice cup of coffee and we started chatting.

I love that they are a family-owned, local small business right here in my hometown. They sell their coffee at the local farmers’ market and in their shop and a few other stores in town, but have opened up their sales online as well.

I told them about my blog and asked if I could host a giveaway of their coffee – and they agreed! I knew you all would love their coffee as much as I did.

When I visited that day, I had the Cinnamon Vicki blend – absolutely delicious. I love that you could really taste the cinnamon! I cannot wait to try their other varieties like “Southern Pecan Pie” and “Chocolate Raspberry ” Don’t those sound amazing??

But the name of this one really caught my eye:

Umm…I’m pretty sure they named this one after me. “Crabby Breakfast Blend: Coffee for the Anti-Social. Help for those who don’t like to get out of bed.”

Yesssssssss.

They sent me home with a bag of this blend, and let me tell you, it will give your favorite coffee a run for its money. If you like a strong, robust coffee – this will get you going in the morning. It’s a little darker than the typical breakfast blend, with a richer taste. But don’t take my word for it…try it for yourself!!

Venetian Coffee was kind enough to offer a bag to one of my readers – and you don’t have to be local to win! Simply leave a comment declaring your love for coffee and you’ll be entered to win.

Want a second entry? Like the Venetian Coffee Facebook page and leave a comment letting me know you did!

On Friday, March 22 at noon, I’ll draw a winner and Venetian Coffee will ship you a bag of the Crabby Breakfast Blend!

If you’re looking to support small business, while enjoying a great cup of coffee, order a bag online today. Orders over $50 ship for free and their coffee would make a great Mother’s Day gift!

Disclosure: Venetian Coffee provided me with a bag of coffee to review and one to give away. All opinions are my own! 

What an awesome race. About 350 runners, all the free (green) beer you could drink, a beautiful (although slightly chilly) day and my new favorite running partner:

My little sister Ashlyn!

But let me back up a little bit. Remember the post I wrote the other day about not being able to find time to run? I was about to hit “publish” on that post when I got a random text from my 15 year old sister:

Would you like to go for a small run with me after work?(:

Please note that my sister has always hated running. She has never understood why people would run for fun. But apparently running with me was her compromise with our mom since she was missing basketball practice that day. I jumped at the chance and headed over to her house as quickly as I could. We ran a quick two miles to the beach and back. Well, “quick” might be an exaggeration. My little sister is in GREAT shape due to the fact that she plays varsity high school basketball. I would be out of breath, needing to walk, and she wasn’t even breathing hard.

I think it made her realize that if I think I can run, then surely she can run.

I told her how much I was dreading the 8k on Saturday and she offered to run it with me. Glory be! My little sister has NEVER run a road race. She did a mini sprint tri with me a few years back, but has never done a running race. Especially not an 8k! But I knew she could do it. And I think running with me made her realize she could do it too.

She really is the perfect running partner for me. She can run faster than me, but doesn’t turn into one of those annoying people who keeps saying “COME ON! You can do it!” when you feel like you’re about to die. She pushes me just  out of my comfort zone – so I’m “comfortably uncomfortable” as I told her.

My dad signed her up for the 8k, and actually even took her to get some running shoes this week. (Hers were in SAD shape and we didn’t think she should run 5 miles in basketball shoes.) She ended up with the Brooks Glycerins in blue in case anyone was curious. They match her iPhone case – what else matters?

That brings us to this morning. I feel bad for everyone who is in town for spring break because it has been abnormally cold around here this week! This morning? Mid 40s! The race started right next to the beach so things were really chilly.

After much debate, I decided to wear my Old Navy jacket over my tank top, along with my capris and knee high St Patty’s Day socks.

The crowd of runners lined up…

And they’re off!

Ashlyn and I fell into a nice pace from the very start. Don’t you love when you feel like you actually started at the part of the pack where you belong? Not too fast, not too slow – just right.

I’m not quite up for running 5 miles straight yet – I gave birth 3 months ago and have only been running once a week for the past ten weeks or so – and we decided early on to do a 4:1 run/walk ratio. I actually cheated and we ran the first 9 minutes without taking a walking break. We were feeling good, so why not?

The course is a big loop – very scenic, almost a nature preserve type of environment. And the last mile and a half is on the street right beside the beach. It doesn’t get much more scenic than that!

While we were enjoying the scenery, my husband was busy coming in FIRST place in his age group!

He ran the 8k (almost exactly 5 miles) in 37:35 – an average 7:34 min/mile.

Have I mentioned he only runs about once a week too? Natural athlete. Incredible.

Ashlyn stuck with me through the whole race, even though I knew she could have gone a whole lot faster. About a tenth of a mile from the finish line, I told her to go on ahead – and WOOSH! There she went. That girl had a WHOLE lot left in the tank. She flew through the finish line! Official time: 54:47 – avg 11:01 min/mile.

I tried to kick it into gear, but I didn’t have a whole lot left to give. My body was SORE and protesting, but I did what I could. There was one lady between me and the finish line so I made it my goal to pass her. I did! Official time: 55:04 – avg 11:05 min/mile. I’m pretty happy with that since my goal was to finish in under an hour!

In case you’re wondering, I was carrying Ashlyn’s inhaler in my back pocket.

What a beautiful morning. As always, I have to thank our cheering squad/babysitters. Thankfully this race started less than a mile from their house – nice to be so close to everything! We appreciated them coming out nice and early and braving the cold so we could run!

Oh and showing the Mini Athlete the birds off the Pier while we were running. Looks like he loved them.

Oh and remember that green beer I mentioned? This race had quite the after-party. And check out that view behind the cup!

Yes, that’s the beach. Who wants to come visit?

I am SO incredibly proud of Ashlyn for running her first race. Right after we finished she said, “I’ll do another race with you – maybe a 5k?” I’m already working on getting her to do the IronGirl 5k with me next month. I might turn her into a runner yet.

From my family to yours.

May your day be filled with lots of luck (and a few kisses!)

I have an 8k race this weekend.

My longest run in the past 10 months or so is 4 miles I ran this past Saturday. It wasn’t easy. I seriously almost called my husband halfway through to ask him to pick me up. But I did it.

Average pace? 11:40min/mile.

I haven’t run since Saturday. I’m averaging one run per week.

I keep thinking, “Oh I’ll run in the morning before work!” Then my almost 2 year old wakes up at 2am and 3am wanting to watch basketball. No joke.

Once we get him back to sleep, my 3 month old wakes up wanting to eat. And then I’m supposed to be somewhat coherant by the time I get to work at 9am. No, it appears that for the time being, morning runs are out. I need all the sleep I can get.

So maybe now that it’s light later, I can run in the evening! I only get about 2 hours in the evening with the Mini Athlete after I get home from work, so I want to maximize all that time with him. But now that it’s light when he goes to bed at 7pm, maybe I can sneak out for a run!

Oh wait. I have dinner plans tonight with my inlaws. I have a speaking engagement tomorrow night – and Thursday night too.

Hmm.

A while back, a few months after the Mini Athlete was born, I wrote a post “When Do Working Moms Work Out“. I’m trying to remind myself that things got better after I wrote that post, and hopefully things will get easier for me soon too. I wrote another post for Fitness Magazine on the topic, and I’m trying to take my own advice.

Yes, I need to give myself a break. There is no need to be hard on myself. But the fact of the matter is that I WANT to be able to run more often. And truth be told, I could find time. Somewhere. My mom has always said, “You can do anything you wanna do – you just gotta wanna.”

I need you to hold me accountable.

This blog has been such a source of accountability for me over the past few years. I need you to remind me to take time for myself. To set goals for myself – and work to achieve them. To remind me that I’m worth it.

In the meantime, think about me on Saturday morning when I attempt to run my 8k. This ain’t gonna be pretty – but I know I can do it.

Any advice for finding time to run despite a hectic, sleepless schedule?