2010 in Review...

In less than 48 hours it will be 2011.  Can you believe it?  2011, no way!

So as I sit at my desk and wait for others to finish their work, so I can in turn finish my own, and as the temperature soars to 71 degrees outside, I thought I'd try to recap my year.

2010 didn't seem very promising when it started.  First I had to deal with knee problems and high cholesterol, then in March we had to say goodbye to Lucy.  Not a very good start for us.  Luckily things got much better.

In May, a wonderful new friend introduced me to Skinny Bitch and I became a vegetarian.  Since then I can count on one hand the number of times I've had meat this year, and I honestly have never felt better.  I have lost weight, gotten my cholesterol back to under 200 and have had to buy new clothes in a size that I don't think I've ever worn.

2010 is also the year that I officially became a runner.  I have a "Runner Girl" sticker and a 13.1 sticker on my car now.  I have run over 400 miles since April this year, would would have thought that?  I was a member of the Brooks I.D. program and I won a free pair of shoes.

My girls started their last year of elementary school this year, and their second year of Concert Chorus, they also got a pool for their birthday.  While it is not a fancy pool, it was big enough for us to spend lots of time in this summer, and we discovered that Penny is quite the swimmer. 

I officially became a baker this year.  I have made hundreds of cupcakes, and have even sold some.  I even had a marathon baking session for a wedding in September.  I see lots of cupcakes in my future.

Josh and I chipped away at our debt snowball this year, paying off around $20,000 in debt.  Who would have though that?  We even sold our Mazda yesterday and have cut another huge chunk out of it as well. 

So what will happen in 2011?  Here's what I'd like to see happen:

• I will raise money for Komen for the Cure and participate in the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Dallas in March.
• I will do my first trail run race in February.  Will we do 7 miles or 14?  We probably won't know until we get there.
• I will run my first full marathon at the OKC Memorial Marathon on May 1st, and through our Y I will even help others train for it as well.
• I will get a better bike and become better on it.  Maybe even participate in the Hotter than Hell 100 mile bike ride in August. 
• Redman half?  That's all I am going to say about that right now.

2011 marks 30 years since my mom passed away, and I hope that I can do something this year to honor her memory and celebrate the life I have because of her.  It will also mark 15 years of marriage for Josh and I.  It's been a great 15 so far, not always easy, but very interesting.  I will also officially have 12 nieces and nephews at some point in 2011.  I was lucky enough to add three new ones this year, and I'll get to add two more maybe around May, and I have a nephew on his way now that should show up sometime in February.

So here's to a Happy New Year!  I am sad to see 2010 go, because even with it's rocky start, it's been great.  I have meet some great people this year, and have done some fun stuff.  I am sure there is more to come.

My Girls...

These are my girls.  My babies.  They probably would dispute that though.  These are my babies that lived in my tummy for 8 months.  While they were in there they made me absolutly miserable, the worst 8 months of my life gave gave me heartburn, nausea and vomiting, stretch marks, and these two girls.  Luckily things have gotten better since then.  I remember wondering what kind of people they would turn into.

They have turned into girls that love to sing.  Not sure where they get that, it's surely not from me.  The only singing I do is in my car, mostly by myself, and I never wanted to be in any kind of chorus when I was in school.  At Eisenhower, in 4th and 5th grade they have the opportunity to be a part of the Concert Chorus and they both jumped at the chance.  The fact that they start each semester with a donut party and end each semester with a trip to Perfect Swing or Hey Day doesn't hurt either.

Last night was their Winter Concert, and it was great!  We got to hear a little but of music from Shrek (they even sand the song that the little puppets sing at the beginning when Shrek and Donkey first travel to Duloc), an Oklahoma fold song, and a medley of Christmas tunes.  Today they got to perform for their school and travel to two other elementary schools in Norman to perform as well.  After that it was off to Hey Day for pizza and laser tag, which my kids probably didn't participate in.

When we were trying to find space to record the performance last night on our camcorder, we watched a little video from around Christmas probably five years ago.  Man, I had not realized how they have grown!  They seemed so little!  Carson just spazzed around for most of it, while Camy was showing off the dance from the Christmas ballet recital.  So cute, and did I mention how little they were.  Lucy even made an appearance on the video, oh how I still miss that crazy dog.

Now I have big girls.  Girls that sing, and they love it. 

More New Shoes...and a Trail Run...

So last fall I applied to be a part of the Brooks I.D. program.  The I.D. stands for Inspire Daily.  I am still stunned that they even let me in, but I have worn my Brooks shoes all year, and some of the gear that I got from their pro site at a discount, logged my races on the online community website, and didn't expect anything else from it.

I got an email today that said:

Hey Becky,

Congratulations, you are the OK State Runner Up for the Brooks 2010 ID Race Series! You can expect to receive your Hoodie in the mail soon. The following code can be used on the pro site for one free pair of shoes:
Please place your order before December 31, 2010. If you have any questions please send them to Steve DeKoker at steve.dekoker@brooksrunning.com. Thank you for participating!
Happy running!

Seriously, I actually won something?  I guess the race series awarded points for the number of races and personal records and all that.  I am stunned that I actually placed for anything.

On the other hand, seriously?  I just bought my new shoes a week ago!  Oh well, they had the newer version of the shoes I just bought so I got them.  These have red on them too, so they'll match other things.  Ha!  I am a girl.

The program this year is invitation only, and I haven't received an invitation, so I am going to assume that they don't need me back.  Oh well, it was a nice discount while it lasted, and I got a free pair of shoes and a hoddie is on the way.

Speaking of running, I got up the guts and did a little trail running this weekend.  I am definitely not what you would consider "Outdoorsy" in the least, but I seem to be up for new challenges lately so I said what the heck.  The fact that it's too cold for bugs or snakes didn't hurt the situation either.  We ended up doing 9 miles total, and I must say it was lots of fun.  The miles seem to fly by when you are staring at the ground or the feet directly in front of you so you won't trip and fall.  The trees offer a nice break from the cold wind and I managed to stay on my feet the whole time.

I have new respect for the trail runners.  As a road runner, I know my stride, but when you are running on the trails it's completely different.  Kinda felt like learning to run for the first time.  My only complaint is that the trails aren't as marked as I would have liked them to be.  Kim and I got turned around at the end, but luckily there were lots of people in the group we were out there with and we got pointed in the right direction.  We made it through all 9 miles with not falls and no search parties.  Well we did have one fall, and I guess one guy ran into a tree on his bike.  I am not as comfortable as I would like on my bike on the road, there's no way I would take one on those trails.

My first trail race is coming up in February so we'll hit the trails some more between now and then, but I'm still a road runner!  I am really excited to sigh up for the Rock N Roll half marathon in Dallas in March, it's part of the Komen Marathon for the Cure series.  But more on that later.

New Shoes...Finally!

Finally, after running for as long as I could in my old Brooks Arials, I bought a new pair of real running shoes this weekend.

They are super light and so cute!  I was so excited when they fit me in something that actually came in pink and purple.  They don't seem as big and bulky as my old shoesand they fit really well.

I got to test them out for four miles on the treadmill last night and was very happy with how they feel.  Though my toes have not completely healed from the half they didn't feel any worse for the wear after the run last night.  I am expecting a lot of great miles out of these.

The First Half

I have officially earned my 13.1 sticker that resides in the back window of my car.  Though it wasn't exactly pretty I ran for 13.1 miles on Sunday morning.  2 hours and 16 minutes after I started it was over.

We could not have had better weather for it, it was cloudy and even though it was a little windy, especially when we ran over the river, the temperature was great.  I didn't even have to wear a jacket, just my short sleeve pink (of course) shirt.  I was feeling pretty nervous as Josh drove me to Veteran's part at 6:45, but once I got there I felt much better.  Choon, Kim, Bob and I were all assigned to corral C for our start, so we got to wait for our start 10 minutes after the first gun, and being among all the other runners really calmed my nerves.

It was pretty crowded at the start, with 9,000+ runners registered to race it was to be expected.  My goal was to finish under 2:20, and I just wanted to run my own race.  Bob didn't stay with Kim and I for long, and Kim and I stuck together for about 8 miles, except for when she took off for a potty break and then caught back up with me.  After about 5 miles my hips started killing me, and I had a hard time working through the pain for the remainder of the race.  I remember running over the river the first time, but I cannot for the life of me remember when we crossed back over.

At one point the marathon runners had an out and back off the course for the half and I saw a sign that said 10 miles and then one that said 16 miles and had a partial freak out for the next two miles thinking I'd gone the wrong way.  Apparently I passed Bob in the last two miles, but I didn't see him, it all seems like a blur.  Near the end I did feel like my legs were going to give out on me and that last small hill up to the finish line about killed me.  But aside from walking into the four water stops I took I ran the whole time, and I finished it.

Here's a picture of Kim and I after we finished.  Even though my hips hurt, and my feet have blisters, and it was a long walk back to the car that smile stayed on my face most of the day.  I am so glad I did it, and so glad that I got to run with a great group of people that helped me every step of the way.

So now I only have to decide what is next.  After this I feel like I can accomplish almost anything.  I'm taking a few days off and then I plan to be back at it, pounding the pavement in preparation for where ever the road takes me next.

Route 66 Half Marathon

Well this year definitely didn't turn out like I thought it would, but it has turned out so much better.

Who would have thought that in January that I would be where I am right now?  Certainly not me.  Finding out I have high cholesterol and was going to have to have knee surgery in the span of two weeks in January really helped the year turn out so much better, really.

So on Sunday I am going to be running my first half marathon in Tulsa, and even though it has taken about eight months longer to get to this point than I thought it would I think the race will be so much better because of everything I've gotten through to get here.

I can't say that I am not completely terrified, although being super busy at work all week and working really long hours have not left me much time to think about it.  I do feel completely lazy for not having worked out since Tuesday.  I think this is the most days off in a row I've taken since boot camp in April.  The added stress from would would have been much easier to handle this week if I had been going to the gym, but oh well.  I should be able to work out plenty of stress on Sunday.

All there is left to do is pick up my race packet tomorrow, decide what I am going to wear (Gotta look good if Kim is going to have a camera handy), and do a little carb loading tomorrow.  The weather is supposed to be beautiful and I can't wait to put that 13.1 sticker on my car!

Free to a Good Home...Maybe.

Free to a good home, one two-year-old French Bulldog.  Goes by the name Penny and comes with her own hand made tutu.

She is a delightful and loving dog, who is a bit stubborn at times.  Guess that's the bulldog in her.  She does have a tendency to pretend that she is house broken for months at a time and then for no reason at all start peeing and pooping in the house.

She has a tendency to intestinal issues, probably because she was over fed as a young pup, so she requires canned pumpkin in her food daily.  Don't worry she'll eat organic pumpkin if there is a shortage on canned pumpkin.

She loves to swim, although she is built alot like a brick with little stumps for legs, so we'll throw in her pink and white polka dot life vest for her aquatic adventures.

Oh Penny, how you frustrate me so!  My sister had a cat once, Spanky, that all of the sudden started going to the bathroom RIGHT NEXT to his litter box.  Once he started he never stopped.  Might have been the trauma of the two kittens we acquired, but who knows.  Maybe he just decided that he wanted to think outside the litter box.

The bad part about Penny is that she is so darn cute.  She will sit when you tell her to, and she is a very good snuggler.  I feel that she is mostly my dog now, since Lucy is gone, but I just don't get her.  She can just snuggle up when it's time for bed, go outside in the morning when she gets up and then come in and crap on the floor when no one is looking.  Maybe she thinks our steam cleaner isn't getting as much uses as it should.

I guess dogs are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get.  We have one very lovable, cute little dog with some strange tendencies I guess.  We will probably keep her.