Michigan Beer Mile

First, I just want to say that the following is a very light-hearted post; but I am not trying to ignore what's going on in Paris right now. I'm just not sure what to say about it. I'm sad and tired of these horrible things happening. It makes me afraid for my kids and the world they have to grow up in. Each time something like this happens, it just plants another seed of fear in my stomach. So, while it may seem insensitive to go on like nothing is happening, I'm just not sure how else to react. My thoughts and prayers are with all of those people affected by the tragedy in Paris.

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I've heard of people doing "beer miles" before, but I'd never seen one or even knew of any around here. The thought is completely unappealing to me: Drink a 12-oz beer, run a quarter-mile lap; repeat three more times, for a total of four beers and four laps (one mile). No vomiting allowed ;)

My brothers are stupid crazy enough to do it, though. And of course, I had to go watch!

I picked up Nathan, and my mom drove Brian there. It was at Flat Rock Speedway, which normally has car races. I was surprised at how many people were there, because it wasn't heavily advertised. My brothers registered on the spot, and we stood around for 40 minutes or so while we waited until the race started (3:00 pm).

Nathan said his plan was to run his best, while Brian said he was just going to run for fun--and clearly, he wasn't planning to try and win the race, considering his choice of clothing ;)

Brian is in the jorts and boots

I was very curious about how the whole race would work. For the $45 registration fee (it was $35 yesterday, but when you register on-site, it's $45), you get a shirt, hat, a couple of beer koozies, and the four beers for the race. Not bad!

To keep all the runners' beers organized, they gave each runner a piece of paper with their bib number, so you could set your cans on top of that:

I think there were a total of about 25-30 runners. There was a 10-meter area just before the official start line, and that was the "beer drinking" area, that didn't count toward the quarter-mile lap. Everyone started just before that line, and then when the announcer started the race, everyone opened their beers, moved into that area, and drank them. Then they had to turn the beer upside down over their head, to prove that they drank the whole thing, and then they could start their first lap.

Nathan was actually the first person to finish his beer and cross the official starting line! I knew he'd be pretty fast, but there was a guy that blew past him in the first lap. The race was fun to watch! There were some people who took it pretty seriously, but there were also a lot of people that were obviously there just for fun. Brian was one the latter:

I watched a couple more people pass Nathan. He said he started feeling pretty crappy for the last two laps, and the hardest part was running with all that carbonation in his stomach. Brian was running at an easier pace, but he said it was harder than he expected it to be.

Nathan came cruising through the finish line in 8:07! (Drinking four beers AND running a mile in 8:07? That's really fast!) He placed fourth overall. The winner finished in around 7:30.

I'm not sure what Brian's finishing time was:

Both of them said the race was much harder than they expected it to be, and that the worst part was the carbonation of the beer making them burp as they started each lap. It was fun (and interesting) to spectate, but I still have no desire to do a beer mile!

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Memories and organizing photos

I spent pretty much all day yesterday organizing my photos on iPhoto. I went through and deleted a ton of pictures that I didn't want (pics of food or double photos, or whatever). I started with 22,000 and narrowed it down to 15,000. That's a LOT of pictures!

I still haven't gotten the hang of the new Photos app on my Macbook (Photos is different from iPhoto), so I haven't switched over to using it yet. It was a big problem for me when trying to do a Motivational Monday post, because while I could save photos from emails to Photos, they just disappear when I go to upload them on my blog. I hoped it was an issue that would eventually just fix itself, but it still doesn't work. So, I have been taking screen shots of photos in the MM emails, which is a really lame way of doing it, but I can't figure out any other way (there is no option to save directly to iPhoto). If Apple phases out iPhoto altogether, I will be totally lost.

Anyway, it was fun going through tons of pictures! I like looking at pictures of the boys when they were really young. Here are a couple of favorites:

Aunt Jeanie bought a skeleton and torso with removable
parts for Noah, because he LOVED learning about anatomy!
He could name all the bones and organs in preschool, haha.

Eli's adorable smile

Here is a video of Noah that is absolutely ADORABLE. We used to take videos to email to Uncle Nathan while he was in Iraq, and this one was for Halloween. I didn't quite expect what happened ;)

His voice completely melts my heart now. You don't even realize how much they change until you look back at pictures or videos and see such huge differences!

I have an iPhoto folder called "Motivation", which is full of pictures of when I was at my goal weight. They are pictures that motivate me to stay on track (that was the purpose of the folder, anyway). While going through them yesterday, I realized that I am the same size now that I was in those photos, which was kind of exciting. I also found some pictures from before I lost the weight that would make good "before" pictures ;)

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I had to drive up to Detroit today to go to the orthopedist's office, and I drove right by the hospital that I stayed at when I broke my jaw. It reminded me that yesterday marked five years since the day I broke it. There are a lot of things that remind me of November 2010... When I see Pumpkin Eggnog in the stores, I am reminded of all the quarts of it I drank while my jaw was wired shut; when I use bouillon cubes for any recipe, because I drank so much broth for a couple of months;  a pair of black pajamas that my mom bought me, and I wore a lot in the couple of weeks after coming home; and some other random things. Surprisingly, I have good memories of the whole thing. It was awesome to see my whole family together (my brothers and sister stayed for several days when I got home).

This was taken exactly five years ago today. I was trying to smile ;)

Tomorrow marks four years since I had my skin removal surgery! That anniversary feels even stranger, because I blogged about that whole experience--from the time I went to my first consult to the recovery and follow up. Maybe I'll have Jerry take some new pictures of my abdomen, to show what it looks like four years post-op. I'm still so happy that I had the surgery, and if I were to go back in time, I'd do it all over again.

Anyway, I love looking through pictures, and it feels so good to have them organized now. My next project, which will take a long time so I'm not sure when I'll do it, is to go through and pick out my favorite photos of each of the kids (probably 100 or so) and get them printed to make an album. When they were babies, I did scrapbooking, so they each have a nice scrapbook. But I don't do that anymore, and I can't even remember the last time I got photos printed.

We have a pretty low-key weekend planned, with the exception of Sunday morning. Jerry signed us all up for the Hot Chocolate 5K. I totally forgot about it until yesterday. It's one of the races that his employer pays for, so all four of us get to do it at no cost to us, which is nice (racing as a family is expensive!). Eli asked me to run with him this time (last year, for a Halloween 5K, I ran with Noah). Noah may be running solo, unless Jerry can keep up with him! haha. Hopefully we have good weather!

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Week 13 Weigh-in

I want to start by saying a huge thank you to those who have served or are currently serving our country in the military! I know what a huge sacrifice it is to leave your family (whether it's for a couple of days or a couple of years), and I am so grateful to those who allow us the freedom that we take for granted. I know that "thank you" is never going to be enough, but please know that I really am appreciative!

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Today's date is my favorite date: 11/11. Eleven is my favorite number, and I'm a big numbers person, so today happens to be my favorite day of the year ;) It was also Wednesday Weigh-in. I missed a weigh-in post last week, because I had just gotten home from NYC on Tuesday night and my days were all confused. But I had a great week, and it showed on the scale today!

I weighed in a 136.5, so I was down 3 pounds from last week. I didn't measure my body fat or my waist last week, so I'm not sure of the change there; but from two weeks ago (my last measurement), my body fat is down by 1.0%, and my waist was actually up a tad (less than 1/4 inch, so it may have just been where I was holding the measuring tape. I'm not worried about it.).

I definitely feel the loss in my clothes this week! I tried on all the jeans I couldn't wear two weeks ago, and they all fit now. Even my tightest jeans (they don't have any stretch to them at all) are wearable (actually, I wore them today).

My average daily calorie intake was an even 1600. My average daily steps were about 7,000, which isn't great--but not terrible, either. On the days that I don't run, I find it really hard to get in 10,000! I'm lucky to get in half that. Maybe I'll try and focus on that this week.

It's so strange to think that I'm only 3.5 pounds from my goal weight. It feels like it's been forever since the last time I saw 133 on the scale. I may even see it in the next couple of weeks, which would be awesome. I had a few challenging weeks lately--Thomas was visiting, then we went to Jeanie's house in Illinois, then I went to NYC for a couple of days. With all of those happening right in a row, I was worried about falling off track, but I managed to at least maintain my weight through it all.

I'm starting to think about a plan for maintenance, but I think I'll just keep doing what I'm doing. Counting calories works really well for me, so I can just experiment to see how many calories I need to eat to maintain my weight. Maybe I'll add another high-calorie day to my week, and see how that works. Regardless, I want to be prepared when I hit my goal weight so that I don't backslide.

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I went for a three mile run this morning, and true to my word, I let myself run at a very easy pace. On Monday, I had promised myself that if I hit three sub-9:00 miles, I could run easy for the rest of the week and not feel guilty. I really enjoyed running without purpose today. It was super nice outside, too.

I'm not sure if it's the recent weight loss, or the way things have been turning for me physically (running again, no injury), but I have been in a great mood lately! The weather has been fantastic recently, so I hope it stays this way for a while longer. I'm not ready for winter yet ;)

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A lesson from Chef Isabella

Yesterday, I decided to try and hit a newish running milestone: run three sub-9:00 miles outside. I hadn't done that since last Thanksgiving when I ran the Turkey Trot 10K. I watched my pace get slower and slower as I dealt with my stress fracture and weight gain. In the spring of this year, I had a hard time even hitting sub-10:00's for three miles.

Last month, I ran a sub-9:00 mile. Then, I ran three miles with a sub-9:00 average pace (one of the miles was 9:17 or something like that). And yesterday, my goal was to hit all three miles at an 8:something pace. It was pretty cold outside, so I wore running tights, long sleeves, and a jacket over that.

Yesterday's run reminded me of the old days, when I was always working on getting faster. I would play mental games with myself to stick it out to the end. During the first mile, I kept thinking about how hard it was and that I didn't want to try to do three. I was thinking of excuses to just do one. When I reached one mile (8:57), I told myself that if I could do just one more, then it would be okay to jog the last mile.

That whole second mile, I was tired and just trying to focus on completing it. That second mile felt like forever. As I got close to the end of that second mile, I started thinking, "Do I jog home? Should I keep going and try for three?" And I decided to aim for three. I knew if I *didn't* try then that little goal would be hanging over my head all week long. So I told myself that if I could do all three at a sub-9:00 pace, then I could do the rest of my runs at a very easy pace for this week. I knew I'd feel a big sense of accomplishment in doing it, so even though it was tough, I pushed through another mile. As soon as my watched beeped (about a block from home), I stopped the Garmin and started walking. I managed to hit all sub-9:00's AND negative splits.

Ideally, I will continue to push the pace until sub-9:00's are comfortable again (at least for three miles). I'd like that to happen by the end of this year. Then in January, I can start to increase distance ever so gradually until I'm running six miles comfortably (I don't have plans of doing more than a 10K distance for next year). I love doing these little short term goals (and mind games) to improve my running.

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This morning, I took Joey to Lucky Puppy (his doggy daycare). He hadn't been there in a couple of months, so he was super excited when we pulled up! I went from there to Weight Watchers, because I hadn't been there since late September. The time just keeps going by so fast! I could have sworn I was just there a couple of weeks ago.

For the meeting, Chef Isabella Nicoletti was going to speak. Chef Isabella is Florine Mark's personal chef, and she was hired by Weight Watchers to create dishes that are more WW friendly. Even though I'm not doing WW anymore, I found her absolutely delightful to listen to (that's an odd word to use, but it describes her perfectly). She's Italian, with a strong accent, and I could just listen to her talk all day long--she's hilarious in a sarcastic sort of way.

She talked about how you can make any recipe to work for YOU--by swapping ingredients, or playing around with different types of ingredients to personalize the recipe. She said that recipes are really just a guideline, but you should change things to make them how you want them. This is something I've been doing for years now; I rarely follow recipes exactly as written. Anyway, I was jotting down notes to write about on my blog later, so here are a few tidbits:

• When you first start swapping things out in recipes, you can make changes based on what you have in your house or what you enjoy, and swap things from the same category--protein for protein, veggie for veggie, carb for carb, etc. Even to make something vegetarian, just swap the animal protein for a vegetarian protein. 

• Look at the recipe, and if there are ingredients you don't like, just take them out and swap them with something you do like, in the same category. 

• Lean meat, which is what most people who are losing weight are eating, tends to be dry (she used the boneless, skinless chicken breast as an example). If you find that your meat is always dry, it's overcooked, and you should cut down on the cooking time.

• She emphasized that it's worth spending an extra point or some extra calories to eat bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, because they aren't nearly as dry and they are more flavorful. A lot of WW members sacrifice flavor for lower points values, and "that's boring". She also suggested trying chicken thighs for more flavor (even if it is a little higher in calories or fat).

• Around Thanksgiving, you can use turkey instead of chicken in all sorts of recipes. You don't necessarily have to roast a whole turkey for Thanksgiving--you can find pretty much any chicken recipe you like and swap out the chicken for turkey.

• She kept stressing how important it is to know the points (or calories) in everything in your kitchen. It make take a while to learn them, but once you do, you can make lower calorie swaps, and you can add up the points in a recipe while you're cooking. 

• This is a no-brainer, but she said if you're a volume eater, then to add veggies to your meal--you get to eat more volume, but without adding any points.

The meeting was really interesting, and it made me excited to try some new recipes! Here is a video of Chef Isabella if you want to see how delightful she is ;) If you happen to be a WW member in Southeast Michigan, she does a lot of meeting room demos, which you can find a list of here.

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Motivational Monday #128

Happy Motivational Monday! I've had a few NSV's this week (non-scale victories) that have really made me feel good. When I went swimming with the kids on Saturday, it never even occurred to me that my bathing suit would be too big... but when I put it on, I realized it was actually kind of baggy! Early this year, when I started doing deep water running, the suit was really tight, and I was afraid I'd have to get a new one. Now, it's really loose, and I do need a new one ;)

Also, today on my TimeHop was a photo of me before I did the Monroe Half last year. I had just gotten those clothes from Eddie Bauer to review, and I loved them. So today, when I was getting ready for my run, I decided to wear the same clothes. I was excited to see just how much roomier they are! Here is a comparison from a year ago and today:

Running tights are running tights, and they'll always look tight. But the shirt and jacket were very form-fitting last year, and now they are both baggy. I remember loving the zippered pockets on the jacket, because I could easily carry my phone with me during runs and not have to wear a belt. I didn't have any trouble with the phone bouncing around, because it was snug against my body. Today, however, the phone was bouncing all over the place! I'll consider that a win ;) It feels really good to be back here, where I feel really good about my body!

Here are a few stories to motivate you this Monday. Enjoy!

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Christina recently hit two major milestones: running a mile without any walk breaks, and completing her first 5K race! She started incorporating running intervals into her walks earlier this year, but wasn't following a specific schedule, so she wasn't seeing much progress. She decided to sign up for a 5K, and in mid-September, was able to run a whole mile without stopping! Her 5K was on October 31, and she and her husband ran/walked it together (with kids in strollers!). They had a great time, and she already signed up for another 5K next weekend. (Christina blogs at Love Yourself Healthy)

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Amy completed her first half-marathon! She did the Gobbler Grind in Kansas City, and crushed her goal of finishing under three hours, crossing the finish line in 2:26:27. She even wore a shirt that said "My First Half" on it--a great idea! You'd be surprised how many people encourage you when they realize it's your first.

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Julie's new year's resolution was to "be brave", and it's been her mantra all year. Last weekend was a huge test, and she nailed it--she got on a plane for the first time in 10 years, and ran her first half-marathon in a city she'd never been to! She trained hard for it, but actually going there and doing it was crazy for her. Julie reached a peak weight in December 2012, and is now down 80 pounds!

Congratulations on all of your hard work, ladies!! Keep it up :)

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Monroe Half Marathon Volunteer report

Jerry was off work today, so we had a few glasses of wine before bed last night. I woke up feeling, well, not my best ;) I was signed up to volunteer at the Monroe Half Marathon this morning, but thankfully, the race didn't start until 9:00. Since I was up by 5:30, I had plenty of time to relax before heading out.

Jessica signed up with me to volunteer (actually, it was her idea), so I told her I'd pick her up at 8:30. We had to be at our station by 8:45. Just as I was heading out the door, I had the idea to grab a small portable speaker so that we could play music for the runners. I tore through the kids' bedrooms, but couldn't find their speakers anywhere, so I wasn't able to bring one. I will definitely keep that in mind for next time, though! I did grab some cowbells and signs.

Our official volunteer position was "course marshal", which basically meant we just directed runners to turn, and we had to stop traffic for the runners at an intersection (the course was not closed to traffic). The traffic issue was terrifying to me, because I know that some drivers get really pissed when they get stopped or rerouted for a race. I've nearly been hit by an angry driver during a race before, for that very reason!

We were at mile 3.5, which was nice--we were early in the race, so once the last person passed by us, we were free to leave. There was a church on one corner of our intersection, which was a little concerning, because of the traffic when the service was over. But we just set up with our cowbells and signs, and waited for the runners to come through.

I had to come up with a sign on the fly, because the ones that I had didn't make much sense for a half-marathon. I brought a marker and just wrote on the back of one of the signs: "1,300 CALORIES BURNED... WHAT'S FOR DINNER?" Jessica and I were talking about what motivates us when we run races, and we both like to think about what we're going to eat later, so I thought something food related would be appropriate.

It was a GORGEOUS morning for a run--despite being 35 degrees, it was sunny, not at all windy, and  just great running weather. At around 9:15 or so, there was a hand cyclist that came through. Shortly after, the first runners started trickling through as well. This is a very small race (I would guess maybe 400 or 500 people?). Jessica and I rang our cowbells and cheered for everyone that went by. The sign I threw together last minute was a hit, too--lots of people shouted out what they planned to eat later!

I saw Stephanie and Meg, who were running together. Stephanie is my friend, of course, and Meg actually reads my blog--she and Steph met up at a race before, and made plans to run the half together today!

The traffic situation wasn't as bad as I imagined. I stood in the middle of the street, hoping that when cars saw me, they'd turn instead of trying to go straight (where the runners were coming from). When I saw them coming, I would just point to get them to turn anyway, and that worked well. I got a couple of dirty looks, but most people didn't seem to mind at all (we were in a neighborhood, so it wasn't a huge inconvenience).

When we were getting down to the last runners/walkers, there was an older man shuffling along, and Jessica and I talked about how we thought it was awesome that he was out there doing a half-marathon. When we cheered for him, he said that he was registered for the 5K, but mistakenly started with the half-marathoners, and didn't realize it until mile three. Yikes! He kept going, but I felt awful, and didn't know if he realized how long a half-marathon was. I chased after him, and then told him that he had almost 10 MILES left. I offered him a ride to the finish line, but he said he was sure he wanted to keep going. I just hoped he'd finish.

After he came by, the sweeper came through, so we knew there was no one left on the course. We packed up and headed out. It was super fun being a course marshal! It's basically just spectating, and making sure that runners know where to turn. I would definitely do it again.

I was really curious about the man who was supposed to do the 5K and not the half, so I tried looking up race results at home, but they must not be posted yet. I did find a post on the race's Facebook page that made me happy, though:

So, it turns out that he made it! Can you imagine planning and training for a 5K, only to mistakenly complete a half-marathon instead? I wish I could tell him congrats.

I am happy that I was able to participate in this race in some way, since I decided not to run it this year. Jessica and I had a lot of fun cheering on the runners!

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Tomorrow is Motivational Monday, so please send in your submissions tonight!

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A run on coffee

Remind me to never, ever drink coffee again.

As you may know, if you've been reading my blog for a while, I used to drink coffee every day. During my entire 20's, I would have two cups every morning. In 2011, when I was contacted by The Dr. Oz Show to be a guest on an upcoming weight loss episode, I was extremely nervous that whole week. I knew that coffee has a tendency to raise anxiety, and because I was so anxious about the show already, I decided to stop drinking coffee for the week prior to the show.

I never thought I was "addicted" to coffee; I only had two cups a day, and I didn't feel like I "needed" it to function. But that week was awful! I had a constant headache that I knew was from caffeine withdrawal. I hadn't been planning to give up coffee permanently, but when I felt the awful withdrawal symptoms, I decided I never wanted to feel that terrible again. So I quit for good.

At first, it was really difficult--I used to love the smell of coffee, so when Jerry would make it in the mornings, I was really tempted to drink it. I did drink some decaf coffee once in a while to help with the mental part of quitting. The mental part is the most difficult part. There is something so romantic about the idea of drinking a cup of coffee in the morning while catching up on the news or email. Eventually, though, I quit craving it altogether. And over the last year or so, I got to the point where the smell of it was disgusting to me.

So, I have no idea why I thought it would be a good idea to drink some this morning! I was going to make some tea, and when I opened the cupboard, I decided on a whim to grab the coffee instead. I brewed two cups, which was enough for one of my mugs, and added a couple of tablespoons of half and half. Took a sip. It tasted terrible, but I sipped it for half an hour anyway.

The caffeine made me feel really jittery, and I hate that feeling, so I figured going for a run would at least get it out of my system faster. I changed into my running clothes and headed out (it was great running weather, 48 degrees). I started running, and felt really good. About halfway down the street, I looked at my watch and saw I was running a 7:45 pace! I knew that wouldn't last long, but I was still happy with how good I was feeling.

By the end of the street, I started to feel my stomach cramping up. At first, it was just a few twinges; but it got worse, and a mile into the run, and I started thinking I was going to vomit on the side of the road. I was SO nauseous. I had been hoping for three sub-9:00 miles, and I did the first in 8:57, but after that first mile, I decided to just slow to a jog. I was really tempted to turn around and go home, but I kept hoping that the cramping in my stomach would stop any minute.

Second mile was 10:11. I wanted to slow to a walk, but then it would take even longer to get home, so I kept going. Mile three was 9:53. I sat on the porch for a couple of minutes, doubled over with stomach cramps. I'll spare you all the gory details, but I spent most of the morning making trips to the bathroom, cursing that coffee the entire time.

It's interesting how my body has gotten so used to not drinking coffee that just 12 ounces or so made me so ill. I have no desire to ever try it again. I love my tea! ;) I don't necessarily think there is anything wrong with coffee, but clearly my body doesn't love it.

I had no pictures for this post, so this will have to do. Love David's Tea!

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This afternoon, I took Noah, Eli, and one of Eli's friends swimming. My mom had a Groupon for a fitness center (not the recreation center one we normally go to), and it was going to expire soon. The pool looked like a lot of fun for the kids (waterslide, lazy river, and splash park). Thankfully, my stomach was recovered by the time we headed to the rec center ;)

I actually swam a bit with the kids. I did the waterslide (the only adult to go on it, which was a little awkward) and the lazy river, and then sat for a little while in the hot tub. The kids had a blast! I had a really lazy day at home yesterday (productive, but inactive... I was paying bills, working on a budget, etc.); so, it was good to have an active day today with the kids.

Jessica gave me a molasses cookie from the farmer's market to try (I'd never had a molasses cookie before), so I ate that for dessert tonight. Holy cow, it was so good!! I was totally missing out all these years, and I never knew it. Jerry is off work tomorrow, so we made homemade pizza for dinner and are going to have a movie night with the kids. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

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A run with Joey

I am having such a hard time believing that it's November--the weather has been absolutely GORGEOUS for the past several days. It's been in the 60's and even the low 70's and sunny! A couple of weeks ago, it was snowing at the starting line of the Detroit Marathon. Go figure ;) #PureMichigan

This morning, the kids were ready for school pretty early, so I found a documentary on Netflix to watch while we waited to head to school. It was called "Fed Up", and I could have sworn I watched it before, but once I started it, I realized I must have been thinking of something else. It was a really good documentary! It's about the food industry and how the changes in ingredients are making Americans fatter--the use of sugar, in particular. I'm glad my kids found it really interesting. Watching it made me want to cut back on sugar (not eliminate it entirely, but at least to be more conscious about how much I'm eating).

After the kids went to school, I got ready to head out for a run. Joey always gives me "the look" when he knows I'm going for a run:

I used to take him with me, but he still doesn't do well on a leash (he zig-zags in front of me), and it was really irritating to my injury when he would pull on the leash during a run. I decided to take him with me today, because that look he gives me is too much to resist sometimes ;)

He was SO excited when he saw me pick up his no-pull harness. We drove to the State Park to run the 5K loop there. First, I let him get all of his sniffing and peeing in, before we started the run. As soon as we started the loop, he began his zig-zagging, and I thought, "Oh, no, why did I think this would be a good idea?!" But I hoped that he would get in a rhythm after a few minutes.

Thankfully, once he realized that we were running and not doing a start-and-stop walk like usual, he did much better. The first mile was hard (physically) for me, because I was working on controlling Joey, but after that, it got easier. He was so excited to there!

Mile 2; we stopped for a picture. What were we looking at?
I have no idea!

When we hit the three mile mark, I stopped the Garmin and we walked to the water. I let Joey off his leash for a couple of minutes so he could swim and cool off, and then we walked back to the car. Our pace was 9:31, but it felt so much harder than that!

Taking Joey with me was fun today; I don't plan to run with him all the time, because it is a big mental and physical challenge, but once in a while is okay.

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Sunday is the third annual Monroe Half Marathon (my hometown race). I ran it in 2013 and 2014, but this year I'm not going to be doing it (for fear of injury). Instead, I'm going to volunteer! Jessica asked me if I wanted to volunteer with her, so we are going to be course marshals at mile 3.5. The race changed the course this year, and it doesn't go through the State Park anymore. I'm not crazy about the new course, so I don't feel too bad about not running it.

I don't think I know anyone that's running the race, but I'm excited to volunteer. The temp is actually supposed to drop this weekend (high of 50 on Sunday), which will be good for racing. I'm glad that it will feel like fall weather!

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NYC and Purina's Better With Pets Summit

Well, I have to start by saying that I totally forgot to do my Wednesday weigh-in this morning. I got home from New York last night at around 10:30, and was completely exhausted. My alarm woke me up this morning, and I hurriedly got the kids ready for school, forgetting that today was Wednesday. I did hop on the scale though, like every morning, and I was the exact same as last week: 139.5. On Monday, before heading to the airport, I was 138! I overdid the Halloween candy on a couple of days this week, so hopefully I can get it back down this week.

On Monday, I got up at 3:00 am to head to the airport--why I chose a 6:00 flight is beyond me! ;) I had plans of meeting up with my friend Mike, who lives in NYC (Jerry and I spent the day with him when we were there in July). The Better With Pets summit wasn't until Tuesday, so I had all day on Monday to do whatever I wanted in the city.

I really didn't want to spend $50 on a cab to get to my hotel from the airport, and Mike told me that I could take a bus and subway, for a total of $5.50. We all know I'm terrified of trying to figure out public transportation, because it's incredibly intimidating to me; but Mike actually showed up at the airport at 8:00 on Monday morning to go with me! That was super nice of him. We took a bus to a train to another train, and then walked to my hotel, where I just dropped off my bag (all I brought was a backpack, because it was just for one night). Then, we headed out into the city.

I've done a lot of the touristy stuff in NYC, so I ended up spending the day "shadowing" Mike--he's a music composer/pianist/singer/songwriter/DJ/producer all rolled into one, and he does a little of it all to earn a living. We went to a recording studio, which was in a really nice building (I can't remember where in the city it was, though). We also walked to Tribeca, where Mike had a piano lesson with a five year old boy. "Upscale" is an enormous understatement when describing the massive, beautiful apartment where this boy lives. I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped when we went inside. His mom was super friendly, and it was cute to watch the piano lesson.

We did a LOT of walking, which was great--28,520 steps--and Mike taught me what he could about the subway system. I felt confident enough that I decided to use the subway (and bus) to get back to the airport on my own Tuesday night! Mike's wife, Renee, met us for a beer around dinnertime, and then I headed back to the hotel. After I'd showered and gotten into bed, a couple of the friends I've met through Purina texted me and said they were going downstairs for a drink, so I threw on my clothes and went down to meet them. It was a busy (but very fun!) day.

Tuesday started bright and early with the Better With Pets summit. It was at the Brooklyn Expo Center, and rather than take the shuttle to the venue, I ended up braving the subway--to "practice" for when I went to the airport later. I made it! I even had to transfer trains, and I didn't get lost. Google Maps is the greatest invention ever.

The main focus of the summit this year was about how our mental health is better with pets in our lives. The venue was amazing! Purina did a really nice job getting it ready for the summit.

I spotted a few people that I got to know at the Meet Purina event this summer, so I sat with them.

Left to right is me, Melissa, Dan, Phil, and Lindsay. Melissa and Phil have an adorable vlog on YouTube (they are really one of the cutest couples ever!); Dan coordinates the blogger events for Purina, and is an all-around super nice and fun guy; and Lindsay blogs at Life of Mulligan about her adopted shelter dog. Lindsay also runs a non-profit that raises money for shelter pets with medical needs to make them more adoptable.

There were three panels in the morning, each speaking about a topic related to mental health and pets. I never realized just how strong of a correlation there is between pets and lower rates of depression and anxiety, which was interesting to me, in particular. One of the things I learned (that I found very interesting) is that pets can be used to help kids with reading disabilities, autism, or developmental disabilities.

When kids have a stutter, for example, it can really help them if they read to a dog instead of a person; dogs will just sit and listen, without getting impatient or judgmental, and kids feel more comfortable--which improves the stutter. Also, kids who have anxiety or depression can make serious progress when they have a pet to confide in or just having a pet as a constant in their lives. If kids have high stress, like parents who are divorcing, or they are moving to a new school, or something like that, pets are one thing that is always there for them and not judging them.

After the panels, we had lunch, and then there were several interactive sessions we could check out. The first place I visited--and where I spent the majority of my time--was the cat room! It was a room that was designed for cats' best interests, and there were lots of cats in there.

A little play house with a huge rug made of rope for scratching

There were lots of kittens with tons of energy to play

I want one of these in my house! Estelle and Phoebe would love it.

So many places to scratch!

I sat on the floor and played with the kittens for probably an hour. They had endless energy, and then one of them plopped himself right on my lap for a short break. My heart melted.

LOVE the wallpaper!

That was my favorite part of the whole day. I love kittens, and I can't even remember the last time I got to play with or hold one!

After the summit, Lindsay and I headed to the airport. She had never been on a subway before, so I was a little nervous about getting us lost (or missing our flights!) but she wanted to come along for the adventure. We took one train to another and then transferred to a bus, which took us to the airport. I didn't make any mistakes getting there ;)

The security line was pretty much non-existant, which was odd, but I ended up getting to my gate with 90 minutes to kill before boarding. I walked around the airport for a while and ate a piece of pizza. When I got to Detroit, I had to take a shuttle to my car, and then drive home. I was SO exhausted from two very busy days. It was a great trip, though! The Better With Pets summit was a lot of fun, just as I knew it would be. And having figured out how to use the subway made me look forward to going back to NYC again someday. I used to hate going there, because it was way too overwhelming for me; but this trip, and the last, were really fun!

(In full disclosure, Purina covered my airfare and hotel expense, but I was not compensated for this post. All opinions are honest, as always.)

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Motivational Monday #127

Happy Motivational Monday! As you know, I am in New York City right now for the Better With Pets summit tomorrow. It's been a super fun trip (although very short--I just arrived this morning, and I leave tomorrow night). Despite being in NYC, I am doing my best to stay on track and not go overboard with the food!

I won't be home until late tomorrow night, so I won't have a blog post until Wednesday. Hope everyone had a great Monday! Here are a few motivational stories. Enjoy!

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Des has been playing on local tennis leagues each season, and when she was asked to join a mixed doubles league as a relatively new player, she jumped at the chance. She feels like her game has improved quite a bit since playing with these men and women, and over the course of the summer, her team actually went undefeated (10-0) in their local league. They went to the Sectional Championships in Chattanooga, and ended up making it into the finals! (Des blogs at Finding the Skinny Geek Within)

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Sharon (on left in photo) recently completed her first double digit race! Michelle, her daughter, wrote in the accomplishment because she is super proud of her mom. The two of them worked together to create a training plan, and over the last 12 weeks, Sharon learned all about distance running--long runs, fueling, discovering what works for her body. Michelle said that when Sharon crossed the finish line of The Perfect 10-Miler, she was glowing. She had such a great race that she is now thinking about tackling a half-marathon in the spring! (Michelle blogs at The Slow Sheep)

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Cathy recently completed her first marathon! The five hour time limit was intimidating to her, but she finished in 4:38:04, which earned her third place in her age group. Her entire family was extremely supportive, and leap frogged her the whole length of the race (she never had to run more than two or three miles without seeing them). Because she was so worried about finishing the last four miles, her 17-year old son even joined her! (Cathy blogs at Running the Dream)

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A year and a half ago, Sarah and Lauren (friends for 15 years!) decided to get healthy together. They joined a gym, started using the My Fitness Pal app, and started attending Zumba and Body Combat classes together. Since then, they've lost a combined 175 pounds!! Taking on the challenge together has made the entire journey easier and more enjoyable.

In May 2014, Amanda ran her first half-marathon--she didn't train, and it was painful. She decided to start training after that, and eventually, she started following the Hansons' Half Marathon Method. Recently, she decided to try again, and totally smoked her time goal! She wanted to finish in 2:20, but was secretly hoping for 2:10. She ended up finishing the half in 2:00:18! Needless to say, she is incredibly proud of her two-hour half-marathon time.

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Rebecca recently ran her first full marathon! She just started running two years ago, in order to get healthy. She lost over 140 pounds and became literally half her size! During the marathon training, she was tempted to quit; but she took it one day at a time (not looking any further ahead than that). Before she knew it, it was race day. It was a difficult race, but she was thrilled to have finished in 4:48:37. Her husband met her several times along the course to cheer her on!

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