A time to reflect

Another month has passed.  It’s unbelievable to me that half of 2010 is almost over! With the start of a new month I was thinking about what I have (and have not) accomplished so far this year.

The highlight for me has been running in my first 5K last month.  This is something I’ve wanted to do for years but kept putting off until now!  It was an incredible experience and I cannot wait to run another race.  I was planning on running in another 5K this upcoming Saturday, but due to lack of funds I have had to forgo any extracurricular activities until things change.  So, I will continue to train and when the money situation changes I will be ready for  my next race!!

Another accomplishment is spring cleaning.  I have been able to go through each room, clean it thoroughly, and dump a lot of stuff!!  I have reorganized and cleaned all of the nooks & crannies that I normally don’t have time for.  It is a great feeling!

I have been able to read.  One of my favorite pastimes has always been reading and throughout my life I have always made time for this hobby.  However, in the past few years I haven’t had time to read much of anything due to work.   So, I am playing catch-up.  Besides the stack of books at home calling my name, the library has become my second home.

I have started to blog.  This is all still new to me…I’ve only been doing it for a month.  I’m not used to putting myself out there, so this is truly a learning experience that anyone reading my posts can see.  So far I am enjoying the whole process and will get the hang of it soon.

I have a re-found love of cooking.  I have always been fascinated with cooking and enjoyed it growing up.  When I was in college I met my now ex-husband, who is a chef, so as an adult I never had to cook.  No, he rarely cooked at home but either he would bring something home from the restaurant or we would just go out.  The few times I tried to cook during our many years of marriage would be ridiculed so I finally just gave up.

But, thanks to Suzanne Somers and her books, I am enjoying the whole cooking process as well as understanding food.

One of  my biggest failings this year is not losing weight.  I started exercising again this year and have tried changed my eating habits but so far I am only down to 168 lbs (as of this morning).  It’s difficult to do this alone without any support, and I have to be realistic…I am alone in this.  My friends and family have not been supportive.  They say they are…but in practice, uh, not so much.

They all say they need to exercise, but when I try to engage them…they are “too busy” & want me to blow off my workouts to hang with them.  And, when it comes to eating my family and friends eat the worst possible foods and in massive proportions.  Honestly, it makes my life easier to just be by myself for now.

There are many other things I haven’t yet accomplished this year but that is because of one thing I haven’t been able, and need, to accomplish….getting a job.  I know many many people/friends who are unemployed like myself.  A few of them have recently gotten jobs so I know things are starting to look up.  Hopefully it’s just a matter of time before, I too, am an employed member of society again!!

So…..here’s to the start of a new month.  I hope it’s successful for us all……..

Running shoe woes

This morning I left my house and found out my car battery was dead! It’s not how I wanted my day to start!  So, I called around to find someplace to replace it and Sam’s Club had the best price. Then I called AAA to come out to jump start my car. The rep on the phone told me a driver would be out within 35 minutes. I swear to you….he was there in 5 minutes!! He jump started my car, I signed the form, and I was on my way to Sam’s Club for a new car battery. I love AAA!!!

Well, I haven’t run since the Loop the Lagoon 5K race on May 1st. My left ankle swelled a little after the race—actually if I hadn’t been looking for it I would never have noticed!!  I could/can walk on it fine and it never hurt. But, I was smart enough to know I shouldn’t be running on it!!

My friend, Leslie, told me I should take my shoes in to my local Fleet Feet store to have them checked. The owner, Carol, was my trainer/coach when I first started running back in 2005. She fitted me with my first pair of running shoes.  Leslie told me she talked to Carol and she wants to check the shoes out. The shoes in question are ASICS GT-2140. They are the updated version of my previous ASICS. And, no, I didn’t get this newest pair at Fleet Feet!  Below is the running shoe in question:

If this were the first time my ankle swelled I would already be out there running. At first when Leslie suggested having the shoes checked I thought it couldn’t be the shoes, it had to be me and how I was running. But then I really started thinking. I bought the shoes mid September 2009.  I ran in them for a couple of weeks when I noticed my left ankle swelled. It never hurt, so I never felt anything and only realized the swelling by accident! I stopped running and treated it (R.I.C.E.) and it went away. Then I totally forgot about it. Well, in February I started training again and a few weeks later I realized my ankle was swollen again. Again, it never hurt, but I stopped running and treated it….and it went away. Well, third time’s the charm….

Since I have never had this problem with my previous shoes I think the new ones may, in fact, be the problem. So, I will be taking them in to Fleet Feet as soon as I can. But in the meantime I’m not running and I’m so anxious to continue my training since there is a 5K I want to run in on 6/6/2010– the Nike Women’s Fitness Festival in Sacramento. I haven’t signed up yet and they have a limited amount of runners they’ll allow, so I need to figure things out asap!!

I spent this evening looking online to find 5K’s I want to run in this year. There are three races I already know I’m running in: Lagoon Valley Trail run 5K in September, the Walk & Roll 5K in October, and Solano Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving Day. All three are local races. But I want to run in other races too.  For now, my goal is to participate in one 5K race a month for the rest of the year.  At the same time I will be training to eventually run in a 10K, probably not until 2011.  My ultimate goal is to run in the San Francisco Marathon!