Gratitude

Tomorrow I will be savoring every moment of many of the things I am thankful for with my family, so today I will share some of my gratitude with you. While it is easier to think about all these things around Thanksgiving, I am overwhelmingly grateful for so many of my blessings and gifts every day.

Just some of that things I am thankful for...

• two healthy beautiful daughters
• a kind, generous, hard-working husband
• a warm home and good food
• amazing parents
• my Rowdy boy
• getting to spend Thanksgiving with my awesome little brother and his equally awesome wife
• my health
• strong legs
• sleep
• music
• the seasons
• good books
• my talents
• my friends and support system in the blogging world

And since this is a running blog, some of the more running-related things I am thankful for...

• strong legs (some things are worth repeating)
• bananas
• Garmin
• perfect weather
• Runner's World
• the perfect shoes
• races
• my friends (you) and support system in the blogging world (what did I say about repeating things???)

Good luck to all those racing tomorrow!

And have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Sweat Smell

I was snuggling my 3-year-old at bedtime last night (post-run, pre-shower) when she said,

"I like your sweat smell, Mom."

Maybe there is something wrong with me (or maybe it's because I am a runner), but it made me smile and totally made my day!

Yesterday's four miles turned into three because I got out the door a little later than planned; the sun was going down and it was getting cold ("Mom, my face is freezing"). I have been watching just my mileage lately, so I haven't had any idea what my pace or time has been on my last few runs. I plugged my Garmin into the computer last night and was happy to see that my pace is getting back to where it was pre-injury and pre-children-with-ongoing-sickness. And it was especially nice to see the numbers improve again yesterday in spite of pushing the double jogger.

However, you may have noticed my next scheduled race has disappeared from my upcoming races list. I ran a 4-mile race on Thanksgiving the past two years and was looking forward to seeing my improvement this year. The first year I ran it, four miles was still considered a "long run" and the second year I just had a baby and had only been back to running for about two months. Even with a full year of good running behind me, I have decided to skip it this year. I don't feel prepared to run it. I can run four miles next Thursday morning on my own and save myself the money, time and likely disappointment that would result. (They have race day sign-up so I can always change my mind...)

Good Weather

Three easy treadmill miles on Monday were the perfect start to my week. I have four planned for this afternoon when the girls get up from their naps. The weather is perfect to take the girls out in the double jogger!

I prefer to run on Tuesdays and Thursdays while my oldest is at preschool, but it just isn't working out this week. Yesterday she didn't go to school, and tomorrow I need to take Rowdy (even with Addison's disease he is the perfect dog) to the vet and finish some shopping for our family pictures on Saturday. For once I am hoping for good weather for a reason that has nothing to do with running. We really need a good picture of all of us, since this is the closest thing we have to "a family picture" since the birth of my second daughter:

(And yes, this is a huge step for me, putting a picture of my girls and hubby on here ... even if it is from a year ago!)

Movie stars, memories, mistakes and more

My oldest little girl is sick (again) with a scary fever (104.8 at its highest) and vomiting, so I am going to post something I finally finished last week but never got around to putting on here. I figure we are due for good health all around at our house, so hopefully I will be back to regular blogging (and running) soon!

So, better late than never, Katie (Miles of Kate) tagged me to share some fun things...

1. Who is the hottest movie star?
This is hard! I am really liking Gerard Butler right now. And Ryan Reynolds has grown on me lately (especially after The Proposal).

2. Apart from your house and car, what is the most expensive item you have ever purchased?
Probably our TV; or if you add it all up, running is probably the most expensive "item" in my life.

3. What is your most treasured memory?
Giving birth (so I guess that is two memories)

4. What is the best gift you ever received as a child?
I spent way too much time thinking about this without coming up with an answer. I have wonderful, generous parents who gave me many wonderful things while growing up. That in itself is a gift!

5. What is the biggest mistake you ever made?
I try not to look back. I just try to learn from my mistakes and look forward.

6. Four words to describe yourself.
Mom, wife, runner, writer

7. What was the highlight and lowlight of your 2008?
Highlight - the birth of my little girl
Lowlight - my other little girl's oral surgery

8. What is your favorite film?
My Fair Lady

9. Tell me one thing I don't know about you.
I have the perfect dog, a Boston Terrier named Rowdy.


10. If you were a comic book/strip cartoon character, who would you be?
I guess Phoenix in X-Men. My knowledge of comic book charaters is somewhat limited.

I haven't had much luck tagging people, and I took so long to respond that I will leave it up to you if you want to share these same things about yourself...

If you're happy and you know it...

Mel (Tall Mom on the Run) had a great post on happiness yesterday. It went along perfectly with some of my recent thoughts. On Wednesday night, I read an article on the happiest states in the U.S. When I found out I live in the "happiest state," I posted about it on Facebook. My post was straightforward and had absolutely no underlying sarcasm: "Candice just found out she lives in the happiest U.S. state!"

Maybe it was just my ongoing runner's high, but I thought it was pretty great and was proud to be one of the people adding to the state's happiness. However the responses I got on Facebook were surprisingly not as positive and included two people saying it is also the #1 state for antidepressants.

This was my response at the time:

Wow!!! Interesting reactions. I think the article has some great points: "In these places, residents enjoy their jobs, express deep optimism about future prospects and even manage to stay healthy. Utah earned the highest marks. Here residents reported a high level of satisfaction in several areas, including work environment, emotional health and their local communities."

I love my work environment, am as happy as I have ever been emotionally, and couldn't ask for a better community. But maybe it's just those natural antidepressants (aka runner's high) running through me...

I wish I would have also pointed out that maybe the state is #1 for antidepressants because people here WANT to be happy and will do something about it when they are not, instead of just being resigned to being unhappy.

Who knows how accurate the findings in the article are? I don't really care. It's like Mel said: You have a choice to be happy!

I choose to be happy.

All Good

I have one pair of jeans that I really love. I'm sure you all know what I am talking about. I am wearing them today. And although after three years of wear they are looking a little tired, I still love them. I think I love them a little extra today because I just feel good. That is what running does. It makes me feel good (and maybe a little skinnier than yesterday).

The perfect jeans in 2006, brand spankin' new

I didn't make it on my 3-miler Monday but got out there yesterday. IT. WAS. AWESOME. I set my Garmin to show only the miles, and then I just ran. I didn't worry about time or pace. I stopped when my little girl wanted to look at the horses. I walked part of the last mile just to enjoy being outside and to give my baby a little extra time to sleep in the stroller. I just enjoyed running. The legs felt strong and healthy, only a little sluggish after almost two weeks off. My shoes made my feet happy. The weather was perfect. And I felt great all day. It was good. All good.

Running Buddies

I have been neglecting many things in my life over the past few weeks. This blog is proof of that neglect; so are my dirty toilets, the piles of clothes waiting to be washed, and the bare state of my house as it awaits the transition from Halloween to Christmas (a several day process that is now in progress). The neglect is the result of two very sick little girls. My 3-year-old came down with the flu on the Thursday before Halloween. My baby followed on Sunday night. Two doctor visits, a positive influenza culture test, three ear infections, four prescriptions, one pre-pneumonia diagnosis, 11 nights (and counting) with an extra little person in my bed and lots of feverish snuggle time later, both my girls are on the mend and life is getting back to normal. Which means I am back to the blog (the toilets will just have to wait). However, there hasn't been much (any) running since my girls got sick. So instead I am here to introduce you to my new running buddies:


I tried on SO MANY different shoes, but ended up with Sauconys (again). They just feel right. My last (first, only) two pairs of running shoes were Sauconys as well. I love, love, loved my first pair: ProGrid Ride. Never really felt the love for my second pair: ProGrid Jazz. Saucony changed the Ride, and the Jazz were supposedly more like the original Ride than the new Ride 2. Ummm, not so much. At least as far as my feet are concerned. So the new kicks: Saucony ProGrid Ride 2. After waiting several weeks for them to arrive, they have only joined me for one short run. Our second run together is on the schedule for this afternoon. I am a little nervous about feeling totally out of running shape, but at least I have given my legs a little extra time to get totally healthy.

So for extra healthy legs, I am grateful. And for my recovering little girls!! Over the past few weeks, I was reminded how precious good health is and have renewed gratitude for my own strong, healthy body.