May 11, 2013

The first mile

Today was a rest day, my kids spent the night with my parents, and Jerry was at work this morning; so naturally, I would be wide awake at 5:00 AM! Whenever I have the perfect opportunity to sleep in, I wind getting up super early. Oh, well, at least I got some reading in.

Yesterday, after my long run, I only had two episodes left in Season 4 of Sons of Anarchy. Season 5 isn't on Netflix yet, so I really should have saved those episodes for a rainy day (literally), but I really wanted to see what happened. So last night, I walked on the treadmill for 45 minutes and watched one of the episodes.

This morning, with just one episode left, I finished the season. I wasn't crazy about the way it ended, but now I'm really disappointed that I don't have anything to watch when I'm on the treadmill. It has to be a show that REALLY sucks me in, like Sons of Anarchy. Breaking Bad was another one that I really liked. Any suggestions? For reference, some other shows that sucked me in like that are The Shield, Nip/Tuck, 24, and Prison Break.

At noon, I had a date with "That Loud Redhead" friend of mine, Stephanie. When I reached goal (on 12-12-12... easy to remember!), I asked her if she might want to take some goal photos for me. She did such a great job with the photos I needed for Fitness magazine that I was hoping she'd be willing to do more. She was thrilled that I asked, and suggested we wait for warmer weather.

Over the past week or so, we've had some really great days--in the 60's and 70's with full sun. Today, however, it was in the 40's and overcast. But Steph assured me that the pictures would look just fine.

I wanted to get some pictures with Jerry and the boys, too, so I cut the boys' hair this morning and got myself ready to go. I wore the lace shirt and dark blue jeans I just bought at Kohl's with my gift card. As I was walking out the door, I noticed that my shirt was ripped. Bummer! I was in a rush to meet Stephanie, so I just hoped it wouldn't show in the pictures. I'm going to try and bring it back tomorrow--I just took the tags off this morning, and I know I didn't rip it.


We met at my parents' house, because they live on the lake, and that would make a good backdrop for the pictures. We got a bunch of my family, a few of Jerry and I, and just the boys. Then Jerry took the kids home and Stephanie and I went to a couple other spots for pictures. I wore my red dress for some, and jeans and a red top that I really like for others. I'm excited to see them!

When Eli got home from school yesterday, he was SO excited to give me a Mother's Day present that he made for me. He didn't want me to wait until Sunday, so I opened it right away. It was homemade strawberry jam that his class had made at school. So cute!

I told him we would use it today for dinner, on a childhood favorite of mine: grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! (I make it just like a grilled cheese, only with PB&J instead of cheese). On homemade bread today, they were even better than I remembered.

I don't make them very often, because they're a lot of PointsPlus. This one was 10 PP. It was really filling, though, despite its size.

I am so glad to have made it through Saturday without going into the negative on my PointsPlus this week. For the past few weeks, Saturday has been my big downfall day. It's been really hard to stay on track. I almost caved tonight (to eat peanut butter right out of the jar), but I just made a cup of tea to hold me over until my wine and chocolate before bed. I'm going to do my best not to go into negative PointsPlus this week!


At around 8:00 tonight, Noah got really tearful and said to me, "I really wish I could run better, like you." He's been having a rough time lately at school when they do the mile run. He's always in last place, and he can't do it without walk breaks. I keep telling him that to get better, he has to practice, and that I'll go run with him ANY time he wants. He never takes me up on it.

After he cried about it for a couple of minutes tonight, I said, "Do you guys want to go for a run right now?" It had just gotten done raining, and it was getting dark, but I wanted to boost Noah's confidence. I told them they would have to stay with me, and we were going to go very slow. Noah was really nervous, and said we should just do around the block.

I knew he could go farther than that, but I just said we'd take it easy and see how it goes. So we headed out (I was wearing my pajama pants!) and ran very slowly down the street. It was SO awesome--I could see Noah's confidence growing with each stride. About a quarter mile in, he said he thinks we should walk, that it feels hard. I told him, "Noah, I KNOW you can do a whole mile today. We're going nice and slow, let's get to a half-mile at least." So we kept running.

A couple more times, he suggested we stop, but I kept encouraging him. When I told him we'd gone 3/4 of a mile, he was really excited. And then with just a tenth to go, I pointed to a telephone pole ahead and said, "That will be one mile--there's your finish line!"

When we got to the telephone pole, I heard the Garmin beep--HE DID IT! He ran his very first mile without stopping, without walking. He was so excited and proud. Eli was excited too, but it didn't mean much to him; not like it did to Noah. Now both of the boys are talking about running a 5K with me ;)  When we got home, we took a picture to remember the occasion:

Noah, me, and Eli

57 comments:

  1. Homeland (on Showtime) is really good and so is The Following (on Fox). I've also heard that The Americans (on FX) is really good. Hope that helps!:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I second that. If you can find Homeland or The Americans, they are great shows. I highly recommend Damages as well. It is super addicting, suspenseful and gives lots of WHAAAAAT!!!! moments. Plus Glenn Close does an awesome job and is quite scary but if she were really a lawyer I'd hire her immediately lol.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousMay 11, 2013

    I think this might be my favorite post yet. Since I have never run a mile I know exactly how noah was feeling. How great to share that victory with him!! All the shows that you mentioned are favs of mine too except nip/tuck which I have never seen. One show that's like those ones is the new Nikita starring Maggie Q...at first I thought it was gonna be corny and was shocked by how much I loved it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's so awesome! Great job, Noah! Last year my son started wanting to run with me, and would come with me every now and then. He's gotten pretty good and was so proud of himself when we ran a 5k together. It's something I'll always remember. I remember in school I was usually one of the last finishers at the mile, if not the last. In high school I think the fastest I ever did it was like 12 minutes or something like that, and now I can run under 10 minute miles. I never thought I'd see the day.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I recommend "White Collar" and "Sherlock." Both are on Netflix.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You should watch scandal! Season one is on Netflix and am watching season 2 on Hulu plus.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a special run with your boys! Awesome :)

    And I second the "White Collar" recommendation. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Soooo sweet, Katie! This made me tear up! Good job, Noah and Eli!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I would suggest The Walking Dead. I know, it's zombies, but it really is good. You actually care about the characters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YES! Walking Dead is my favorite as well. I can't wait for it to start up again!

      Delete
  9. If you want a new show to watch (8 seasons), check out "Weeds".....AWESOME, funny and well written. I was hooked on the first episode.

    And, your one mile with the boys....PRICELESS.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good Job Noah. Very well done.
    You givee back my motivation to hop on the treadmill.
    Katie you rock...Happy Mothers Day too all the moms.
    I love that the school made them make jam.
    Our school took us to dominos though.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Shows you might like
    The Good Wife
    Suits
    Both are lawyer series;)
    and you could tyr Switched at birth..

    ReplyDelete
  12. Katie,

    Tell Noah great job! And if you liked the Shield, I highly recommend Southland. Not sure that it's on Netflix, but I think you can watch it on the channel's website, which is either TNT or TBS.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousMay 11, 2013

    Thanks for writing about Noah's struggles...some days I feel just like him! I remember being the last one to finish the mile in school and it wasn't a happy feeling. You are such a great mom. Do you like to watch comedies? Have you watched Happy Endings or Modern Family? Both are really funny. What about the Walking Dead?

    ReplyDelete
  14. AnonymousMay 11, 2013

    Great job boys! My girls 9 and 7 are training for a 5k (2nd week in). Similar situation...the girls walked 2 5ks with grandparents, finishing last, and were defeated also. I told them the same thing, you need to practice. So proud of these kids.

    I love Nikita and Bones. Male leads in both draw me in for different reasons. Many seasons on netflix. I also looooove Merlin, male leads are kids, but storylines are so unique.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Congratulations, Noah!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Yay for Noah! That is so great that you were able to boost his confidence like that. Kids (and lots of adults) are often ready to quit the moment it's "hard." But you showed him that even though it's hard, he can still keep going and he can do it! I dreaded the mile run in middle school and high school because I couldn't get more than probably 50 feet without needing to walk. I wish I'd had someone to help and encourage me then. Glad you could do it for him now!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Awesome Noah!

    I also always finished last in the mile run, and walked a lot of it. 8th grade was the last year we had to do it in PE class, and I was determined to meet the prescribed time (9 minutes). My parents took me to the river path to run while they walked (for a couple months, maybe? I should ask them if they remember how long I trained), and I ended up beating the time by either 4 or 6 seconds! That's one of my goals now that I'm back into running as an adult, to get a mile under 9 minutes again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "4 or 6 seconds" = I can't remember now if I did it in 8:56 and beat it by 4 seconds, or 8:54 and beat it by 6 seconds.

      Delete
  18. This is such a sweet post! The boys are lucky to have you as a mom. Great life lesson for them.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Does your son tend to take off as fast as he possibly can and then have to walk when he's at school? My nephew would do that. I ran with him at their end of the year mile run which started and ended in a minor league baseball park. Before we started, I talked to him about pacing and running at a pace that he could keep up for a whole mile. I reined him in at the beginning and he ended up running the mile in 8:35!! The race ended by coming into the ball park and running the bases, adults had to veer off at 3rd base and not go across the finish line at home plate and I was actually glad to be able to stop!!
    How neat that they made homemade jam!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I meant to also say that before that end of year run he was never able to run a mile without stopping!

      Delete
  20. AnonymousMay 11, 2013

    I enjoy watching Nurse Jackie. Each episode is 30 minutes. Noah did a fantastic job running!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Six Feet Under, Shameless, I second the Walking Dead, True Blood

    ReplyDelete
  22. We like all the same shows!

    This story about Noah brought tears to my eyes! What lucky boys to have you for their mom. :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. The Walking Dead, Weeds, Scandal, and White Collar. All very entertaining and addicting!

    ReplyDelete
  24. AnonymousMay 12, 2013

    I agree with everyones comments of the walking dead - however it took me a bit to get into it. The first episode I was like "really, whats the hype about?" but try and stick with it.

    You can also watch the rest of SOA on the internet - sites like project free tv.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I recently started watching The Vampire Diaries on Netflix. It sucked me in badly.. I know it's about vampires and teenagers, but it's really addictive. It has 66 episodes on Netflix right now.

    I am a 34 year old who read the books back in 1991 and never thought I'd watch the show, but I needed something to watch while running on the treadmill, and I've been addicted ever since.

    I started The Walking Dead, also on Netflix. That could be really good as well.

    I've also heard The Killing is really good. That's on Netflix. I haven't seen it yet.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Way to go Noah & Eli! Grilled PB&J is the best! Sometimes we will have them for lunch and its like having dessert as a meal :-)

    ReplyDelete
  27. AnonymousMay 12, 2013

    Great job Noah! How about Modern Family, New Girl, CSI, Criminal Minds?

    ReplyDelete
  28. Super Job Noah!! Great post Katie and perfect for Mothers Day. You are such a wonderful Mom. Keep up the great work and Happy Mothers Day!!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Happy Mother's Day! I love what you did for Noah, and it's awesome that they want to do a 5k with you.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Great job, Noah!
    I'd say Walking Dead, but I remember you writing about that back several months ago. Have you watched Dexter? That's a good one!

    ReplyDelete
  31. They only ran two seasons of it on FX, but the show, "The Riches" totally sucked me in when it was on several years ago. It stars Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver. The first season was better than the second, but I was still very bummed when they didn't bring it back. And since the canceling wasn't planned, the second season will leave you hanging. But still worth watching!

    ReplyDelete
  32. The Killing is only two season long but it was meant to be that way. It sucks you right in beginning to end and is just crazy.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Awesome job Noah!!! When I was younger I had the same issue. I just couldn't run that mile and would be so winded and had to stop many times to walk. I just felt so bad all the other kids could do it so effortlessly and I couldn't. At 31, I still can't do it, but Noah has given me much motivation to keep trying! Way to go Noah :D

    I agree with many of the shows above, Homeland, Walking Dead, Weeds, and check out Damages. I'm not sure if Netflix put the final season up yet, but it is a great show to watch. It's not a typical lawyer show.

    ReplyDelete
  34. That's so sweet, I hope he was super proud of himself!! Now I don't watch it but apparently everyone else in the world does, how about Walking Dead?

    ReplyDelete
  35. The run with Noah reminds me of the motivational story you tell about what inspired you to lose weight....trying to teach Eli to ride his bike and you couldn't keep up. What a great role model you are now! Happy Mother's Day!!

    ReplyDelete
  36. You should watch Scandal! It's addicting and the writing is excellent; always unpredictable and I love every minute. Season one is on Netflix, two is on Hulu Plus.

    ReplyDelete
  37. I got really hooked on "Medium" and "Lost".

    Congratulations to Noah!

    I think the pictures will turn out just fine. Overcast is actually much better for pictures than bright, direct sunlight. Nobody squints, you don't have to deal with glare and shadows, and colors tend to be more "true". If it's dark and almost rainy, that's different, but those partly/mostly cloudy days that Michigan gets are perfect. :)

    ReplyDelete
  38. Supernatural! There are seven seasons of it on Netflix right now. The first two seasons can be a tiny bit scary, but the character development is so good, and Sam and Dean are both very easy on the eyes =)

    I would say Walking Dead might be a little slow for running. I didn't find it particularly engaging, and it really went downhill on the second season.

    Also, a lot of people are really into House of Cards -- I haven't seen it but maybe it would work well?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right on Supernatural! I just recently got into and I didn't like the scary stuff from season 1 & 2 but it's one of my favorite shows.

      Delete
  39. Congratulations, Noah! Reading that made me tear up. I'm so glad you were able to build his confidence about running. He seems like such a sweet kid.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Like Carly, this made me tear up a bit. What an awesome job encouraging your boys. It really shows running is so mental.

    ReplyDelete
  41. I LOVE your blog, for so many reasons. I admire you so much, and as you've probably heard many times before, you give people like me hope for our own success. I can't believe the first time I'm posting it's to give you TV suggestions, but it is what it is! Shows that sucked me in were LOST, Lie to Me, and Dexter. Everyone that knows the types of shows I like (24, Prison Break and the ones above) has recommended Mad Men. I haven't checked it out yet though. I also LOVED Downton Abbey. VERY different from the others, but a great show. Hope you find something you like!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  42. I think you should watch 'Justified.'

    It's GOOD. And OMG if you can watch without swooning over Timothy Olyphant...then good for you! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  43. AnonymousMay 13, 2013

    Dexter from showtime is the best! I finish a whole season usually in 1-2 nights (this is before starting to run, so I can't wait to get the next season on DVD and see if it makes me run like 9 days in a row!!)

    ReplyDelete
  44. Katie, if you want to keep watching SoA, you can find ALL the episodes for it (and a lot of other shows) on CokeandPopcorn.ch There are a lot of ads you have to click through, but we've had a lot of success with it. Where we live, there is no cable and no satellite, so this is the only way we have to keep up with our shows! :)

    ReplyDelete
  45. My husband and I just started watching Fringe and we are hooked - it is definitely a suck you in kind of show!! All but the current season is on Netflix streaming. I watched a season of 24 in three days once...SO hard to stop clicking "next episode!!!"

    ReplyDelete
  46. WE enjoyed The Wire and Oz= NOT for kids!!!

    ReplyDelete
  47. Have you watched Dexter? I find it intense like Breaking Bad.

    So excited to read about your son & his running! What a great activity your family can share.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Awww! How awesome! I've debated asking my 8 year old daughter if she'd like to go for a run...I honestly think she'd love it and it would encourage me to get OUT there! And what a wonderful thing to bond over!

    Love that smiley pic of you and the boys! :)

    ReplyDelete
  49. How awesome is that?! Macayla (my 4 year old) is running her first 1 miler with me on Saturday- or rather I'm running with her :) She's so excited, she done a few kids dashes but this will be the first "grown up" event. Being a good example is one of the highlights of a journey like this. Sure losing the weight is a huge plus, but seeing the kids forming good habits is the BEST reward!!

    ReplyDelete

I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

Featured Posts

Blog Archive