Playing Catch-Up

Click here to vote for my photo of Miles for Shutterfly's Family Photo Days Holiday Photo Contest! If you don't want to vote, it's cool...just go look at the photo, it's still fun to see!

Side note: Sorry I have not been blogging lately. Catching up with life, tapering off anti-depressants, and there are more holiday things to be working on than I can think of at the moment. Tonight, the three of us will be trimming the tree while eating cookies and M&M's, listening to holiday music and wrapping presents. I'm sure a game of Chutes and Ladders or Wii something-or-other will make its way into the mix.

Oh, there goes the dryer! Back to domesticity. I did manage a workout, something I've been really getting into these days. My body is not happy with me, but too bad. The feeling has been mutual. Hope you're all having a blessed Saturday!

Who crushed a Red Nail and is now on the Roster? This guy!

When you're proud of a family member...you just gotta show it. Remember in my last post when you saw my brother Trevor crushing that Red Nail? He's on the official Red Nail Roster now -- first one in 2011!

IronMind, who made the certification, also posted a short article featuring Trevor. I love the picture of him -- he is standing in front of a Rhodesian flag. Too cool.

Watch my brother get his Red Nail Certification!

For those of you you might remember, I posted back in July '09 about my (haha) nail-bending abilities. The coolest part of the post was getting to talk about my brother Trevor and his red nail bending abilities.

There exists a 'Red Nail Roster' on which Trevor's name will appear in the next few days. He certified this past Saturday at 10 a.m. in Fort Worth, TX on his first attempt in less than 30 seconds. The person attempting is given one minute and up to three attempts. Nope, first time and in half the time for Trev.

Here is a picture of a Red Nail (piece of Cold Rolled Steel which measures 5/16" in diameter and is 7" long. It takes 500 lbs. of force to bend this piece of steel (this is not the nail Trev used):

Trevor is the 65th person in the world to certify in this feat of strength.

Here is the official video that his friend Malachi made:

I also wanted to share something that Trev emailed to me just three days before his certification. It will give you an insight into what he does...more than just a 'feat of strength' but something related to his faith in God:

There are many things that have inspired me to bend the Red Nail.  One of those reasons are all those people in the world who would never even have the opportunity.  So many people suffer from physical pain, injury, disease, sickness – even if they wanted to make that roster with all their might, they would have no chance.  And here I am, healthy and able to push myself with no restraint…I’ve often reminded myself that I am partly doing this for them.  Why should I sit on my couch and waste the opportunity? Many of those people would at least be happy to see someone rise up to the challenge out of the masses and conquer the impossible.  I want to give them something to celebrate.  I have endured many aches and pains and am actually in tremendous pain...I remember teaching the college class about claiming things in faith and how you cannot speak against what you claim by faith, no matter how long or difficult the path may seem.  Many if not all of them have now long forgotten what I claimed about the Red Nail.  But I haven’t and God hasn’t.  And when I certify, I will remind them that mountains can indeed be moved.  I never gave up.  And I had many odds stacked against me.  But my God is bigger than any mountain.  We have to learn to stop telling God how big our mountains are and start telling our mountains how big or God is!  I actually speak to each Red Nail now, I say, “Red Nail, you will bend to under 2 inches in under 30 seconds in Jesus’ name.”  And they do.  That’s bending by faith.  Jesus said, “If you say to this mountain, ‘move’, and believe with all your heart and do not doubt, then what you say will happen and nothing will be impossible for you.”

This Blog Post Has No Title

You would think, with all the time I spend on Facebook during the week, that I might be biting my nails down to the nub, but no! I sit down at the computer, check my few emails and I'm pretty much done. Of course I want to know if so-and-so's baby has rolled over for the first time, or to wish what's-his-name a happy birthday along with his other 5,000 friends, but you know what? My Facebook fast has me focusing on other things right now, and I have to say that it is quite freeing.

At lunchtime, Casey came home and I rushed out to the Healthplex for the first of two 30-minute massage therapy sessions I will be having this week. My very thoughtful husband put the gift cards for these massages in my Christmas stocking, and I saved them for when I thought I'd really need them, which is now. The lady who gave the massage was very nice -- a little talkative, but I am too, so it worked out.

Since we were in the Healthplex, a local gym, there were lots of different exercise classes taking place. The one next door to us was a strength-building class. I've taken something similar before, and it can get intense, but the guy leading this class was seriously yelling at these people! I'm all for motivation, but I think after five minutes of that I would be out. But for some reason, it wasn't really annoying while I was supposed to be having a relaxing massage. It was hilarious, and I'm sure I had the goofiest look on my face, which was resting on that open pillow thing, as I grinned at all the crazy yelling.

So the pan-flute-new-age music is going, I'm having the massage, but I keep hearing things like, "Come ON!" and one of the guys taking the class yelling, "I like it, I love it, I want some more of it!" and then the instructor saying something about pain and it being necessary. Yikes. Still, it was really funny, and I kept wondering if the woman giving the massages gets tired of the noise when her world is supposed to be presented as calming, soothing -- you know, the opposite of painful exercise.

My 30 minute (wonderful) massage over, I got up and first thing I did was look in a small mirror on the wall. Just as I suspected! Pillow lines all over my face, mascara smudged...oh well. Relaxation comes at a price, right?

Connecting

Last year, from January to May, I took Miles to a little gymnastics class. This was basically to get him out of the house during the cold months and doing something active. He was still a bit shy back then, but he warmed up to it and pretty much spent every week running and jumping, running and jumping.

At the last minute, we decided to put him in the 3- to 5-year-old class this time. I had forgotten that means 'no moms allowed in the room' but I think he actually did better without me there. And since the class is only 45 minutes long, it's not like I can leave the building. So last week I sat and talked with another mom. While we sat out in the gym, we saw a senior citizens exercise class going on the other side. I feel like that's who I want to be when I'm older: getting out, being active. I love seeing older people taking care of themselves and staying active.

Yesterday morning, Miles and I got there a little early. After I left the gymnastics room, I went to sit at my usual table -- only this time I'd brought a book. The older folks who were already there before their instructor were walking laps around the gym. As one woman walked by I smiled and said to her, "That's what I should be doing, walking." She immediately said, "Well come on!" and waved me over. I couldn't resist. It was just one of those moments you feel is going to be special, or you're going to make some kind of connection with a stranger.

Within minutes, Amelia and I were talking about our lives and our experiences. We were laughing and sharing stories as if we had known each other for years. I'm not sure how many laps we took around that gym, but we had to have walked for at least 20 minutes. I learned that Amelia is a retired first-grade teacher. She had to retire a little early because of health issues, but you would never know she has issues with her energetic walking and her joyful spirit. I had such a feeling of joy the entire time we shared with one another. It was one of those moments that feels so blessed by God, even though I'm not sure why.

The instructor arrived and we had to say goodbye -- meaning that Amelia had to go and start other exercises and I had to go and sit back down at my table and wait for Miles. It had only been a short time, but this woman and I shared a hug and a smile and expressed how nice it had been to talk. Next week I'll make sure to wear my walking shoes again.

My F-F-F-Freezing Four-Mile Walk

Happy New Year! We're nearing the teens of the 21st century, how bizarre is that? I hope they don't talk back and stomp to their rooms and slam the door. The 90's never treated us that way!

So anyway...today began my third week of training for the half-marathon in March. It's been going pretty well, with one or two workouts missed due to holiday travel. Last Friday, Casey, Miles and I traveled in our van for 12 hours from my folks' house to our house. My plan, though I wasn't excited about it, was to attempt my four-mile walk the next day. If the van travel wasn't tiring enough, my cedar pollen allergies had been on the attack for more than a week, to the point that my eyes were pouring water and my nose wouldn't stop running when I woke up on Saturday morning. I took a daytime allergy medicine but it made me a little woozy. At three o'clock I said, "Case, I just don't think I can do it!" Oh yeah, did I mention it was cold? And that I hate the cold?

Casey proceeded to look up the weather forecast and let me know that, even though Saturday's temperature was in the upper 20's with the wind chill, Sunday would be cloudy and a little colder. Not good. I decided to rest for 20 minutes (I totally passed out) and at 3:20 p.m., Casey woke me up so I could get started. It took all my willpower and determination to get up and get moving.

I drove to the nearby (awesome) walk park with the mindset that I would do as much as I could. Like...maybe two miles. Then I thought, 'But I walked three miles a week ago!' The problem was it was so cold! But with my walking playlist chock full of motivating tunes, I set off and tried to ignore my frozen nose. After the first mile I thought that maybe I would make it to two miles and go home. But I hated thinking that I wouldn't do it all. So I kept on trucking...By the time I got to three miles, I knew I was going to finish no matter what. I continued to ignore my cold nose and ears and sore legs. As I neared four miles, the last song was about to come on. I needed something good. Then I heard will.i.am's 'It's a New Day' start up and I was able to pick up the pace to finish strong.

I did my walk in just under an hour. The sun had started going down by the end, and even though I'd walked enough to warm up, the cold had seeped into my every pore. I was so glad to be done. At the same time though, I felt so good and renewed and refreshed. It's still hard for me to imagine walking that half-marathon in March, but at least I'm on my way.

I checked my status with my Nike + iPod kit, and I've covered more than 17 miles in just over two weeks, and that doesn't even count my cross-training workout days. I had a kind of letdown workout today, falling short of the required time. I plan on making it up though. Ruth (who has been leading the charge on this training) has been a great motivation, even all the way from West Texas!

12 Weeks to 13.1 : Day One

I did my first workout at lunchtime today. It's the best time with the weather, plus my wonderful husband comes home at lunch and watches our three-year-old, giving me the chance to get to a beautiful nearby walk park (I'll have to post a photo here sometime!).

I went a little over the 30-minute time for the walking workout, I walked nearly 35 minutes. When I checked my distance (I am using the Nike + iPod sport kit) I had gone 2.16 miles! When Ruthie said 'moderate pace' I made sure to keep it up as best I could, but I did get winded at times.

Overall, though, it was the perfect day to start this training. Fifty-five degrees, not a cloud in the sky...it felt great. I have made more of an effort lately to get out and exercise, but I tend to walk for about 15 minutes or so. I didn't know if I'd keep up as good a pace doing twice the time, but I felt so motivated and had my playlists all ready to go.

Tomorrow will be my cross-training day, and I'll most likely be doing yoga on those days. After the walk today I'll definitely need a good stretch tomorrow!

Training

Today I begin something new, exciting and...fun? I'm sure I won't think it's fun some or most of the time, especially considering the weather. I am joining (from afar) my friend Ruthie in training to walk/walk-run a half-marathon!

Ruth has been doing the running and marathoning thing for quite a while now. And considering she's a wife and a busy mom of three, that's very inspiring and gives me pause to think every time I have an 'I'm too busy' excuse for exercise.

Anyway, I saw on Facebook that Ruth was inviting other women to train for this half-marathon that's taking place in Dallas in March. Two key things for me were the word 'walk' (because I will want to mostly be a walker for this!) and the fact that, although Ruth is training with the women where she lives, she's okay with others of us doing a 'virtual' training with them. I'll even be doing the half-marathon here on my own instead of in Dallas, but I know I really won't be doing it all by myself -- just knowing that there are a dozen or so other women with Ruthie walking or running in Dallas on that same day will be an encouragement.

What I love most about this training is that Ruth has been sending out emails with inspirational videos and pep-talks -- she even started a blog just for this half-marathon training (click on her name in bold near the top of the post)! Another huge help is that she sent out a training routine, but broke it down for walkers, walk-runners, run-walkers, and runners. I'll be focusing on the first two, probably the walking most but I'm going to try to get some running in there. At least I'll stay warm!

Here's what my schedule looks like for this week:

Walkers:
Monday: 30 min walk Moderate Pace
Tuesday: 30 min cross training (anything but walking)
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 30 min walk Moderate Pace
Friday: 30 min cross training (anything but walking)
Saturday: 3 miles (Conversational Pace)

Walk-Runners:
Monday: 32 min walk 3 mins run 1 min Moderate Pace
Tuesday: 30 min cross training (anything but walk-run)
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 32 min walk 3 mins run 1 min Moderate Pace
Friday: 30 min cross training (anything but walk-run)
Saturday: 3 miles walk 4 mins run 1 min

This is the kind of physical challenge I've been wanting to try for a while, I just didn't know what it would look like. I'm so glad Ruth is helping others out and inspiring them. Thanks Ruthie!