Extra Holiday Motivation

One of the blogs that I follow is RunToTheFinish. Author, Amanda is hosting the 2nd annual Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge and I decided to enter. So far it has been very motivating. The rules are pretty simple; the challenge runs from Nov 23 to Jan 8, we get points for exercising, 1 point for every mile run or walked, 1 point per 3 miles biked and points for other types of exercising, like elliptical, Yoga, Pilates etc. and 1 point for eating 7 servings of fruit and vegies per day. So far . . . so good. It is wonderful to have a little extra motivation during the holidays.

I have been very good about icing and stretching my plantar fascia ligament daily. I also did a lot of Google searches about plantar fasciitis and remembered that I have a pair of orthotics. Searched in my closet and what do you know – I found them, and have been wearing them in my work shoes and running shoes. Although I still feel it – it does feel better. I am also taking the many suggestions that say you should make sure that you stretch it before getting out of bed in the morning. So I have a stretch band next to the bed and make sure that I do that for a couple of minutes before rising.

So far this week, I took Sophie for a walk on Monday morning and evening and ran 3.2 miles at lunch. On Tuesday I walked Sophie in the morning and rode the Elliptical at work yesterday evening after work. I ran this morning and will take Sophie for a walk tonight. And I have been eating 7 servings of fruits and veggies each day. Yea for me. -J Looking forward to a long week end and getting some longer runs / walks in to boost my points. I had thought about running the Berbee Derby, a 5 or 10 k run on Thanksgiving Day – but decided against it since my foot is still bothering me . . . the competitive side of me would find it hard to run an easy race. So I will continue with my comfy 2-3 mile runs and try to extend it this weekend to 5-6 milers.

My son Joe, 21 and a senior in college, is coming home tonight. It will be nice to spend some time with him – maybe he will run a couple of times with me. He runs way faster than me – he ran the ½ marathon with me in August, he ran it in 1:28, while I ran it in 2:12 – oh well. He has talked about running a marathon and would love to qualify for Boston – which at that pace – I think he would be able to pretty easily. While I would love to try and run another marathon – the training time commitment is just too much for me. My one and only marathon was in 2000. It was as a result of my year 2000 New Year’s Resolution. I ran the Madison Marathon in 4:15. Anyway – it would be more fun to cheer for my son than train for another marathon. My younger son, Charlie is a senior in high school and finally submitted 4 college applications last night. I had been reminding him and reminding him that we had set a goal of getting them submitted BEFORE Thanksgiving and he did. Way to go Charlie!!!

Have a great day and enjoy family and friends over the long weekend.

Enjoy the day
Happy Thanksgiving

Sometimes life just gets in the way

I haven't written in a week and I have only run twice this week. hmmmmm . . . there just might be a correlation. Anyway - I had a lot of things going on this week and work has been really hectic. I have been spending 10-11 hours at the office - not getting home until around 7:00.

AND my foot has still been bothering me. My self diagnosis of Plantar fasciitis is not going away. I have been wrapping my arch for support when I run or take my goldie Sophie out for a walk. That certainly helps - but I can still feel the burning, especially afterwards. Boy the other day I wore a pair of slip on penny loafer flats that just about killed my foot. I won't be wearing them again until my foot feels better.

Last night I went to dinner with a friend from my church. I picked an Italian restaurant close to my work - that I haven't been to in years. The restaurant is in an old church, yes - she is a friend from church and we had dinner in a church ;-) The church was built in 1897. It is a beautiful interior and exterior with what appears to be all of the original woodwork and lovely stained glass windows. Some of the pews are used for booth benches. The food was delicious. I had the Fettuccini pasta with shrimp, red peppers, gr. onions and garlic in a vodka tomato cream sauce. Yummmmm I am happy to say that I brought some home and will get to enjoy it for lunch today.

Speaking of today - Todd (husband) and I are going to look for a new snowblower today. Our snowblower of 25 years died this year. He tried to fix - took the carburetor apart - but no such luck - he took it to a small engine shop yesterday and left it there as a gift to be used as spare parts. I told him that could be his Christmas present. ;-) Our luck we won't need it this winter. Living in wisconsin, sometimes we get a lot of snow and sometimes - not so much. Oh well.

Well I smell the coffee - it is done brewing - I am going to have a cup, look at the paper and net for news and then head out for a walk with the dog. I am going to take my camera - it is extremely foggy this morning and I would like to get some nice pic's.

Enjoy the day!