2016 Purina Better With Pets Summit recap

(This post is sponsored by Purina, who invited me to the Better With Pets Summit. As always, all opinions are honest.)

I had a jam-packed couple of days! I only had one night in NYC, so I wanted to make the most of it. I bought a plane ticket for Jerry to come with me, and we arrived in the city at 8:00 on Monday morning. We took the subway to Brooklyn, which is where our hotel was.

The hotel that Purina chose for this event was stunning. It's called The William Vale, and it just opened about six weeks ago. Maybe it's just because I'm from a little country town, but I couldn't stop exclaiming how amazing everything was. We went up to our room, and the view from the balcony couldn't have been more perfect. Here is a nighttime photo, because the lights made it even prettier:

I wanted to just sit on the balcony all day, but of course we decided to go explore the city. Jerry and I went to Manhattan to meet up with our friend Mike, and then had lunch with him. We walked all over the place, and bought each of the kids a souvenir, then went back to the hotel for a welcome reception that Purina was hosting on the terrace. I saw some familiar faces of people that I look forward to seeing at each Purina event, and I met several new people as well.

Jerry and I ended up going to bed that night at around 11:30, even though we wanted to stay up longer with everyone. We'd gotten up at 3:00 AM for our flight that morning, so we were exhausted!

Yesterday was the main event, the Purina Better With Pets Summit, at the Brooklyn Expo Center.

I've written about this event before, because I attended in 2014 and 2015. It was the 2014 Summit that made me want to adopt a dog, and we got Joey a few months later. Better With Pets involves several people (some experts, some ordinary pet owners) giving presentations, all with the common theme of how and why our lives are better with pets involved. Several of the influencers bring their pets to the Summit, and getting to see all the dogs and cats is probably my favorite part!

ALWAYS thrilled to see little Ruby Roo! She's the
sweetest dog in the world. 

My pets would never sit that still for a photo!

I was SO excited to see a glass room just waiting to be occupied, because I knew that in a little while, they'd be putting puppies and kittens in there! We would be able to go inside for "puppy and kitten therapy" ;) (The pets were adoptable; and thankfully, I don't live nearby, because I may have gone home with another pet).

I should've taken a photo once the pets were inside, but I was too busy holding kitties!

This sweet little kitty is Sparkles, and she's missing an eye,
but she was SO curious and energetic. 

I tried to get a picture of the puppies, but they were running around like crazy and my photos just look like a blur ;)

We had breakfast and then sat down in front of the stage to start the program. Dan, who works PR for Purina (and is also a friend of mine thanks to these events), was the emcee. (His voice sounds EXACTLY like Marc Summers. When he started talking into the microphone, all I could think of was Double Dare--remember that show?)

Anyway, there were a few panels throughout the day, as well as a couple other presentations.

My favorite presentation was about the Purina Family Pet Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital. I think it's pretty well known that pets can help with depression and loneliness, so having a pet is great therapy. However, there are very strict rules about having pets in hospitals, so when kids have a long term stay in the children's hospital, they aren't able to see their pets. Flip Becker, the Senior Director for Corporate and Foundations at St. Louis Children's Hospital Foundation, thought it would be ideal if they had a special room where patients could go (with doctor's permission) to have a visitation with their own pets from home.

The funding just wasn't there, so he approached Purina about it, and Purina gifted the Pet Center that is now at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Flip shared a few stories of kids who were able to be reunited with their pets after being in the hospital for so long (one little girl hadn't seen her dog in over a year!). There was one boy who was not very communicative and he spent all his time in his room. Once he was able to visit with his dog, his mood changed for the better, and he began communicating more and showed more energy. These are just a couple of examples of how our lives can truly be "better with pets"!

Another story that really touched my heart was from a woman named Roben Harris. She has a daughter with Spina Bifida, and her daughter has had 28 surgeries, so she has spent significant time at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Roben and her husband had three kids, and then decided that they wanted to open their home to foster children. With just two hours notice, she took in three abused and neglected siblings, and ended up adopting them, turning her family of five into a family of eight!

Here's where pets come in: to show her adopted children just how a "forever home" works, they adopted a dog. She explained that this was the dog's forever home, no matter what--he may pee on the rug, or chew up furniture, but regardless of what he may do, they would never send him away. And she said it was the same for the kids--they were in their forever home, no matter what they may do or say, they were going to stay and be loved and cared for.

Isn't that an amazing way to show unconditional love? I can't even tell you how many times I teared up while she shared that story. What an amazing woman.

Nathaniel Fields, president and CEO of the Urban Resource Institute (URI), one of the largest domestic violence shelters in NY, gave a moving presentation as well. He said that 48% of domestic violence victims stay in abusive situations because they don't want to leave their pets behind. They fear that their abusers will then abuse the animals, and the victim won't be around to protect the animal. URI launched URI-PALS--People and Animals Living Safely--making it the first co-sheltering program in NYC, and one of only a few across the U.S. Their goal is to keep families safe together, which includes the pets. Such a great program!

After the panel discussion, all of the attendees put together boxes of goodies for URI-PALS. After assembling the boxes, we filled them with blankets, t-shirts, food/water bowls, collars, and food. All of the boxes will be donated to the URI-PALS program.

Finally, something that was announced yesterday that I'm very excited about is that Purina is teaming up with Mayo Clinic for a study that will measure the benefits of animal-assisted therapy as a way to reduce pain and depression while improving quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia. This makes me excited because a very good friend of mine has fibromyalgia, and I have seen firsthand just what that can do to a person (mentally and physically). Coincidentally, my friend just adopted the sweetest dog for the very purpose that Mayo Clinic is studying, so I'm eager to see the results of the study.

I learned so many things and heard so many great stories that it would be impossible to fit it all in, but these were my favorite/most memorable. As always, I came home feeling inspired (I will not be adopting another pet any time soon, however! haha) If your pet inspires you to "live big", feel free to share on social media using hashtag #LetsLiveBig!

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Spectating at the Detroit Marathon

I was SO excited today to go to Detroit and cheer on the runners for the marathon (and half marathon). My sister-in-law, Becky, came over at 6:00 this morning to head to Detroit with me. We really didn't have an agenda, other than to go to mile eight (just outside of the tunnel that comes back into the U.S.) and cheer on the runners.

We were going to park at the casino, which is where I always park because it's free--but they were charging $40 for parking!! That is crazy. We ended up finding a nearby lot for $20--still crazy, but I guess only half-crazy.

The weather this year was MUCH different than last year. Last year, it snowed at the starting line; and this year, it was nearly 70 degrees! I actually wore a t-shirt and was very comfortable--and I wasn't even running. It was great weather for spectating, but probably a little too warm for the runners and walkers.

We took the People Mover to the tunnel, and found a good spot to hang out for a few hours. The hand cyclists started coming through just as we got there, so our timing was perfect. We got out our cowbells, and watched as the runners started coming through.

One thing I noticed right away was that the bibs were smaller than last year, and because of that, each persons name was too small to read. I always like to cheer for people by name, so it was awesome to have names on the bibs! But, since they changed the bibs, I couldn't read the tiny lettering. Bummer.

We were watching for my brother, Nathan, who was running the half-marathon. He'd told me he was going to "take it easy" today and just run whatever pace felt comfortable. We finally were able to pull up his name on the tracking app, and his "easy pace" is apparently about 7:40/mi--haha. He was pretty easy to spot, considering he was wearing short American flag shorts, patriotic socks, and nothing else ;)

I was also on the lookout for a few other people: my cousin, who was running the full; the parents of a couple of my cross country kids; and a couple of readers who said they were going to be there. I ended up seeing the parents of my cross country kids, but missed the others, unfortunately.

We stayed there until a little bit after the 6:00 pacer came through. Then we headed over to the finish line to look for Nathan. The sidewalks around the finish line were CRAZY--so many people. It was impossible to see the finish, and it took us what felt like forever to get to the spot where we were planning to meet Nathan.

We chatted with Nathan for a while, and then Becky and I headed to Redsmoke for lunch. I got my "usual" of a Caesar salad with pulled pork. It was delicious, as always!

Meanwhile, our new furnace was being installed--and the guys finished it just as I got home. I'm so relieved not to have to worry about the furnace constantly going out during the winter. This winter is supposed to be harsh, so it'll be nice to have a reliable furnace.

Well, tomorrow, Jerry and I are heading to NYC for the night. I'm looking forward to it!

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Getting back to speed work

What a crazy week! Cross country is coming to an end soon, so things will calm down a bit then. Right now, it keeps me pretty busy, though. Thankfully, it's super fun and I love coaching!

I had a really great run yesterday, too. It's been SO hard for me to get back in the habit of having a running schedule. It's kind of odd--for six years, since I started running, I NEVER had a problem with getting in my runs. But the past couple of months have been so difficult getting back in the groove. I've been lacking in discipline and motivation.

Anyway, I was dreading doing any sort of speed work, so I found myself procrastinating again. Yesterday, I promised myself I would do it... and I did. On the schedule was a 10-minute warm-up, 4 x 5:00 with 2:00 recovery walks, and 10-minute cool down. Translation:
Jog 10 minutes.
Run 5 minutes fast then walk 2 minutes (repeat for a total of four times)
Jog 10 minutes.

After my humbling race pace run last week, I wasn't expecting this to feel "easy". I should have checked what pace to aim for, but I guessed it would be right around 9:00/mile. So, I wasn't even going to try to go much faster.

After the warm-up jog, I started the first interval. I was right--it felt tough! I used to do those at a 7:30 pace, and now I'm having a hard time with 8:45. I even started to doubt my ability to pace Stephanie to a sub-60 10K next month; but, when I first started 10K training for my sub-50, my pace was nowhere near where it "should have" been, because I just wasn't able to do it. As I continued to try, though, eventually I was able to hit the pace. Hopefully, that will be the case here! Of course speed work is going to feel hard when I haven't been training much all summer ;)

I had to bribe myself a little throughout the run, but I did end up getting in all four intervals at my target pace. And I felt WONDERFUL. Truly, I need to remember that feeling for the next time I'm having zero motivation to run. I love love love the feeling after nailing a hard run!

I had to stop and take a picture of the lake. The clouds over the lake looked so cool! The picture doesn't do it justice (they never do).

At cross country practice yesterday, I made a new game for the kids to do after their running workout. I set up an obstacle course for them, and after the last obstacle, I had a bucket of the tokens for Connect 4. They would grab a token and run it back to the starting line, where the Connect 4 game was set up. Then they would drop in their token for their team to try and Connect 4. Repeat until one of the teams wins.

It worked out really well, and I think the kids had fun with the obstacle course! We played a couple of games of that and then headed home. It was actually 41 degrees when we left practice! It's been pretty cold for a few days, considering it was 80 degrees last week. Michigan weather is crazy.

Today, I met up with an old friend from high school. Andy and I were pretty close friends back in the day, but I hadn't seen him since we graduated, so it'd been 16 years. (I can't believe I graduated 16 years ago--wow.) He's been living in San Diego, and he just came home for the weekend. It was really great to catch up with him! We took a journalism class in school, where we worked on the school newspaper together (coincidentally, when I was writing a story for the paper one day my junior year, I went to another school to interview some students, which is how I met Jerry).

That journalism class was my favorite class I've ever taken (high school or college), and I was telling Andy today how it is one of the only things I learned in school that I put into use in real life. When writing my blog, I think of so many things that we learned in that class--even when I named my blog, I thought of the "headlines rules" for journalism. We had a really awesome teacher in that class, and sometimes I can still hear his voice in my head when I'm writing. I never would have guessed how useful that class would be in my future! ;)

The Detroit Marathon is this Sunday. I just decided (yesterday) that I'm going to go spectate this year. The only person I know that is running is Nathan (my brother), and he's doing the International Half. I really love that race, though, so I'm going to go to Mile 8 (just after the tunnel coming back into the U.S.) and cheer people on. I think Becky (my sister-in-law) is going to come with me.

And then on Monday (super early!) I'm heading to New York City for a short overnight trip. Purina invited me to their annual Better With Pets Summit again, and I'm super excited for it. I've gone the last two years, and I've learned so many awesome things about pets and people. It was even what inspired us to adopt a dog last year!

Jerry is going to come with me to NYC, which will be fun. He'll probably hang out with our friend Mike while I'm doing the Summit. Then we fly back home on Tuesday night. So, it'll be a short trip, but I'm looking forward to it!

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Motivational Monday #137

Even though I stopped doing Motivational Mondays, I received an email a few days ago that made me very excited. After getting permission from the woman who wrote it, I decided to post it here, because I'm sure you will find it motivating as well. 

This email came from Amanda, who had written me before this to ask a couple of running questions. She had decided to follow my "Your Best 5K" plan for a series of 5K's this fall. I was thrilled when she wrote to let me know how the plan was going...

"Thank you SO MUCH for your 5K training plan!!  I followed it pretty much to the letter, although my heart rate is a little higher than it should be at my age on my easy runs. 

July 4 and July 16 I ran 5Ks at 31:15 and 31:08.  I stopped racing and followed your plan with the goal pace of running under 30 minutes, then I revised it to 29:00, then in the last few weeks realized I might be able to do it in 28:00.  In my last race pace workout, I averaged 8:45 for the three miles.   Today I finished my 5K in 26:52!!  I am thrilled!  It was a small race so I even placed 3rd in my age group!  I may or may not have sworn out loud in front of children when I saw the clock at the finish. I did lose 10 more pounds over the course of this training, and I hadn't run for that long before those other races, but I credit your training plan for most of the success because I never got injured (and I'm 40 and a new runner), and I enjoyed it and felt good and felt motivated, and I could feel/see the improvement from week to week. I look forward to many, many more runs and I'll use your plans whenever possible. Best of luck and success in your own goals,Amanda"

I only post plans that I am very confident about, because I would hate to be the cause of someone not reaching their goals after following my plans. But I do love to get feedback (good OR bad) about the plans so that I know what to modify in the future. I've gotten quite a bit of good feedback about this 5K plan, but I was very excited to read this update from Amanda.

26:52!

When I emailed Amanda to ask if I could share her email on the blog, she wrote back that she also has a weight loss story--and I found it very inspiring!

"I started WW in December 2015 at 190 pounds (5'6", 40 years old).  I lost 35 pounds and then started a Couch to 5K program.  The 60 second runs in the beginning were hard for me!  In the next 7 weeks (I compressed it slightly) I completed that program and ran my first 5K on June 4 in 35:15.  I was hooked.  Later that month a friend from WW told me about your site.  I had already planned the other 5Ks, though, so although I read all about the plan, I didn't start it formally until July 17. 

In the meantime, I continued losing weight on WW and am now down 65 pounds to 125.  About 6 weeks ago I increased the amount I eat because of my running, but still lost quickly.  I'm now at a happy place in terms of my weight and running -- but there are always other goals on the horizon and I'm starting to think about more speed and longer races.  Who knows what the future holds??"

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I also got this email from reader Katie, who had a fun idea to celebrate her 30th birthday:

"I know you haven't had Motivational Monday's in a while but my mom, Claire, and I are longtime readers of your blog and did something fun together over the weekend. We live in different states and love to plan and do walks, races. We've enjoyed training separately for half marathons in the past but found a new event we wanted to share.  

I'll turn 30 in a few weeks and was researching a race / event weekend a few months ago and came across the "Locomotion" event in greater Hilton Head, South Carolina's "low country". It's a 10 mile run / walk each of three days (if you choose all three!) to raise money for breast cancer treatments and research in South Carolina. Thirty miles in three days for my 30th birthday! We had a fabulous time each of the days on the different courses (Daufuskie Island, Callawassie Island, and Hilton Head Island) and loved meeting new people who all have personal stories and experiences of their own or a loved ones' breast cancer. "

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I received an email update that I am excited to share as well. Remember Atticus, the little boy with special needs who was hoping to get an accommodating bicycle? Well, his mom shared some great news!

"Hi Katie,
I just wanted to give you and your readers an update on Atticus. In July, he began walking all by himself. Typically, when Atticus first achieves a skill, it takes him a very long time to master it. Not this time! Just last week, we donated his walker...and we could have done it a month ago. (I wanted to make sure he did ok in school.) I really think his bike deserves some of the credit. It enforced the pattern of reciprocal motion, and of bending and straightening his knees. He is such a happy kid now that he can walk. I owe you such a big thank you!"

Hope this helps motivate you all for the week ahead! :)

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Jeans and sweatshirts

Well, Eli doesn't seem to be giving any more thought to the Quiz Bowl stuff now, so I'm glad about that! A few people commented that sometimes when things like that happen, something better may be in store for him--so I hope that's the case with this. Eli's a sensitive kid (in a good way--he has a lot of empathy for others), and I just want him to be happy and feel good about himself.

He was nervous to go to church today because his Sunday school class was going to be standing in front of the congregation to sing and recite some Bible verses. I went to church so that I could watch, and he did great! I think he felt good about himself for doing it, even though he was embarrassed to go in front of all those people.

It's been pretty cold here the past couple of days! Michigan weather is so odd. It was 80 degrees a couple of days ago, and now it's topped out in the high-50's. I really do LOVE this jeans-and-sweatshirt weather, though. I wore jeans and a sweater today!

Speaking of jeans, I really regret donating all the jeans that were too big on me in April. At that point, I wasn't even trying to lose weight, but I was having no problem maintaining my weight in the low-120's. Most of my jeans were way too big, so I donated them, thinking that I'd have no problem keeping my weight in the 120's. I don't know why I thought this summer would be any different from every other summer when I gain weight, but I didn't plan for summer weight gain.

And now that it's cool enough to wear jeans, the ones I have are too small. I went to the thrift store last week to get jeans that are a size up, and I only ended up buying one pair, which is what I wore today. I may need to go buy a few more, because my weight isn't really moving much (at least not nearly as quickly as it was last year). I'm sure this is due to the fact that I've been doing more than one high calorie day each week--not on purpose, but I've had a lot of social things going on lately that involve food/drinks.

I would like to get my high calorie days down to ONE per week, so that I can drop the summer weight; but, I honestly don't mind if it takes a while. That whole realization about the summer weight gain has changed my attitude toward it quite a bit, and I don't resent it anymore. Each fall, I used to beat myself up about having gained weight yet again over the summer, but this fall is different. I've been viewing it just as part of a cycle that my body has been following for several years now.

My friend sent me this quote that she's been living by, and she's very happy with her lifestyle right now (even though her weight is up a little from what she used to maintain):

That's pretty much what I was thinking of when I started losing weight, and I said I wasn't going to make any changes that I wasn't willing to live with forever. I didn't want to make a super strict weight loss regimen, because I wouldn't be happy! I knew I'd have to make some sacrifices in order to get healthy and lose the weight, however, so I chose things that would allow me to enjoy life, but get healthy at the same time.

There have been times where I've been tempted to do a short fad diet to drop a quick 10 pounds. But I know that to keep it off, I'd have to maintain that regimen... and I'm not willing to do that. I'd rather do it the slow way and still be able to enjoy life.

Wow, I wasn't even planning to write about that today, but it all came spewing out. Haha! I hope everyone had a great weekend. It went by way too fast for me!


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Try-outs

Yesterday was the toughest parenting moment I've had since I had my first child over 12 years ago.

Eli doesn't have very high self-esteem, so I'm always trying to encourage him to do things that he's good at. He's super creative, and very good at fishing and art, which don't get recognized very often. A few weeks ago, he asked if I thought he should try out for the Quiz Bowl team, and I said sure.

He went to tryouts for a couple of hours each week, and then on Thursday, he and three other kids were called to do a "practice". I asked him if that meant he made the team, and he wasn't sure. Yesterday, all the kids who tried out were given letters of acceptance or rejection. The letter was in an envelope, and there was a pack of Smarties taped to it. It said, "You're a smartie!"

When Eli saw me after school, he excitedly ran up to me, saying, "I made the Quiz Bowl team!" I got very excited and told him how proud I was, and then I realized he hadn't opened the letter yet. He saw the "You're a smartie!" stamp and assumed it meant that he made it. He opened the letter and started reading.

As soon as he got to the "I'm sorry, but..." part, his voice broke and he realized he actually didn't make it. He tried to shrug it off like it was no big deal, but he had tears in his eyes and his voice was thick when he talked. My heart felt like it just shattered into a million pieces. I felt absolutely terrible. I told him that I was so proud that he tried out, and I hoped it wouldn't stop him from trying out for other things in the future.

Thankfully, I had good news that I could tell him right away, to soften the blow. For cross country, we give a prize to the boy and girl who improve their times the most after each meet; and Eli desperately wanted to win. I had just calculated the numbers while he was at school, and Eli was the boy that improved the most! He ran the same course two weeks in a row, and shaved 1:24 off his time--that's a HUGE improvement. Normally, I would have waited to tell him with the rest of the cross country team, but I was desperate to make him feel better about Quiz Bowl.

I went in my bedroom and cried, because I just felt so bad and there was nothing I could do to make it better. It's not the fact that he's not on Quiz Bowl that is upsetting to me--but the fact that he decided to try out for something and then was told that he wasn't good enough. I tried out for things when I was a kid, and I was never chosen, so I know how it feels. After not being chosen several times, I just quit trying out for anything. I really don't want that to happen with Eli! He is truly one of the sweetest kids I've ever met (and I'm not being biased).

Today, we had another cross country meet bright and early. It was only 45 degrees! It was 80 degrees yesterday, and then today it's supposed to top out at 60. The whole team did great at the meet! I don't have their results yet, but I was really impressed when I saw how hard they were running. Eli (again) ran his fastest mile time to date--9:16! He was very proud of that :) My phone died as soon as I got to the meet, so I didn't get any pictures, unfortunately.

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Thanks for the suggestions on treadmills! As it turns out, I'm not going to be buying a treadmill for a very long time. The furnace estimate nearly gave me a heart attack, and we actually have to borrow money to pay for it. I just wrote a couple of sponsored blog posts and I was planning to use the money toward a treadmill, but now it's just going toward a boring old furnace.

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Today, after getting home from the meet, I could hear shotguns in the woods across from our house--nothing unusual, especially this time of year. There were a few REALLY loud blasts, and then I heard a spray of bb's hit the windows of our house! I was stunned. The windows didn't break, but the bb's definitely hit our house. The kids had been sitting on Noah's bed right next to the window when it happened. After making sure everyone was okay, I called the police.

The police came out here and basically said there's nothing they can do. He said there were about 30 hunters across the street at the time, and there was no way of knowing who shot the house. I called the DNR, and they said all their officers were at a goose hunting thing. I was just really frustrated, but there isn't anything anyone can do about the issue. We've lived here for 13 years, and this is the first time that's happened, so I'm hoping it'll never happen again.

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I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend! Things have been so busy lately. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

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What happened to my fitness?!

As I mentioned, I'm following my "Your Best 10K" plan to pace my friend Stephanie to a sub-60 race in November. When I told Steph that I'd like to pace her, I was thinking that training would be pretty easy for me, considering I ran a sub-50 10K in April. Well, today's training run was followed by a big slice of humble pie ;)

I am jumping into week six of the plan so that it coincides with the race Stephanie chose. In week six, there is a key workout that looks like this:

10 minutes easy

3 miles at race pace

10 minutes easy

For a sub-60 time goal, that would make the race pace miles at 9:39/mile. When I saw 9:39, I was relieved because compared to my training in the spring, it sounded pretty easy. Well, a 20-pound summer weight gain and very little training certainly caught up with me! haha

I headed out at around 10:30 this morning, and I immediately wished I'd gone earlier. It was 73 degrees with 70% humidity! That's not bad at all when you compare to it summer; but, for October in Michigan, that wasn't very comfortable running weather. I did the warm up at a nice, easy pace, and then as soon as I started the race pace miles, I knew I was in for a real workout.

It felt tough! I held a 9:30-ish pace, and even just half a mile in, I started thinking of excuses that I could use to stop early. Stephanie had just nailed this workout a couple of days ago, so I kept that in mind as I was running. I certainly don't want to let her down. It was just kind of amazing that six months ago, my race pace runs were at a 7:55 pace; and now, a 9:30 pace feels just as hard as that 7:55 did then.

It was hard, but I pushed myself to get in all three miles at 9:30. (I totally forgot about doing a cool down mile). 

Even though it was tough, it felt kind of nice to have a pace goal today. I've been running without purpose for about six months, and having a purpose to this workout was nice.

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Today, we have someone coming to look at our furnace. It needs to be replaced :(  I had NO idea just how expensive furnaces are! Ours was new with our house back in 2003, so it's now 13 years old. I'm sure it was a very cheap model (we have a manufactured home, and I didn't know better at the time to upgrade the appliances), and I'm actually surprised it lasted as long as it did.

Thankfully, my brother knows a guy who installs furnaces, so he will give us a good deal on the the labor; but the furnace itself is a necessary, yet really boring, expense. (By "boring", I just mean that it's not fun to buy. Spending money on a vacation or a new car or something is fun; a furnace just isn't exciting.) It seems like every time we finally start getting some money saved in an emergency fund, something goes wrong (like the water heater recently) and we have to spend it!

We've been having problems with the furnace for a few years now, so it will actually be nice to not have to worry about it. Rumor has it that we're going to have a very harsh, cold winter, so I would hate to have to deal with this a few months down the road! Better to get it done now.

Speaking of a harsh winter, I really need to starting thinking about a new treadmill. The timing is terrible, because of the furnace issue, but my treadmill is going to die any day. I haven't even used it in a long time because it's rickety and it's had issues with slowing the speed instantly while I'm running, which is scary. I've been looking online for one, but it's totally overwhelming! Do any of you have a treadmill that you absolutely love and recommend? I want one that is good quality and will last a long time. I don't need all the bells and whistles of TV screens, internet, etc. Just regular old speed and incline (and, preferably, a quiet motor). I appreciate any suggestions!

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Musical Hula Hoops (a fun running game for kids)

I think I am finally over my cold! My voice is pretty much back to normal, and I haven't had to blow my nose at all today, so that's good. My hearing is about 95% back to normal, too. Hopefully I'll go another three years or so before getting sick again!

On Monday at cross country practice, I wanted to play a new game with the kids. For our practices, we do a warm-up, then about 30 minutes of running laps around a park, and then we play a game for about 20 minutes. The games are fun ways of getting them to run more without really realizing it, or to sneak in hill work (the park that we practice at has a hill).

I went to the dollar store before practice, and bought eight hula hoops for a game. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with them, but I figured I could use them for something! On the way to practice, I figured out a really fun idea--musical chairs, only with hula hoops instead of chairs.

We spread out the hula hoops in a huge circle in the field. This is a terrible diagram, but you get the idea...

We had 23 kids at practice, so we decided to allow two kids per hula hoop. When I blew the whistle, the kids began to run in a circle around the huge circle of hoops, while I turned my back. Then, when I blew the whistle a second time, the kids had to hurry up and get inside of a hula hoop (maximum two kids per hoop). If they didn't get in a hoop, they were out. Then, we took away one hoop and did it again, until there were just two kids left. 

It was really fun, and the kids loved it! One of the things I liked about it was that the fast kids didn't really have an advantage over the slower kids, because it just depended on where they were in regards to the hoops when I blew the whistle. In fact, the first round eliminated two of the fastest boys on the team! 

We had our third cross country meet yesterday, and I gave the kids an incentive to do their best. The course was the exact same as the second meet, so I told them that the boy and the girl who improved their time the most would get to pick a prize out of the prize bag at practice (I bought some little toys at the dollar store to use as prizes). I don't know about the other kids, but Eli loved that idea, and he gave his very best effort at the meet yesterday. His pace ended up being 9:22, which was his fastest ever! I'm still waiting for the official results to see who made the biggest improvement. 

After practice, I helped Renee load stuff into her car, and then Eli and I left. I got about halfway home when I realized that my phone wasn't in my pocket. I was wearing a hoodie, and the pockets were kind of shallow for a phone. I pulled over into a gas station, and frantically started digging through the car to find my phone. It was starting to get dark outside, so I turned around and went back to the park to look for it.

Eli ran into the field and up the hill to look, while I thoroughly combed the car. I was panicking; then I heard Eli yell that he found it! It must have fallen out of my pocket when I ran down the hill at practice. I was SO glad to have found it. I even let Eli choose a prize from the prize bag as a finder's fee ;)

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Yesterday, I had a doctor's appointment in the morning, and then on the way home I stopped at Sam's Club. When I left Sam's, I was about a quarter mile from the expressway when I noticed a cop sitting in his car to my right. As soon as I noticed him, our eyes locked and his lights went on. I knew he was pulling me over. 

I pulled into a gas station, and sure enough, he followed me. Ugh! I hadn't been pulled over since I was a TEENAGER. I guessed I was probably speeding, but I really didn't realize it because I was just driving with the flow of traffic (there were cars in front of me doing the same speed I was). When he walked up to my window, I said, "Hi there!" and he was very to-the-point, and didn't return the greeting: "License and registration." I figured it wasn't a good sign.

I gave him the papers, and he informed me that I was, in fact, speeding. The speed limit on that road was 35, and I was going 47 (in my defense, I actually thought the speed limit was 45). He went back to his car, and judging by the amount of time it took for him to come back, I just knew he was writing a ticket. He handed me the ticket, and said he was going to "do me a solid" and only write it for 40 mph in a 35 zone. 

I was super bummed! I know I was actually speeding, so I probably deserved a ticket; but, my driving record was perfect, and I hadn't even been pulled over in nearly two decades. He left, and I burst into tears, haha. I cried for a couple of minutes, and called Jerry. Then when I backed out to get back on the road, he had already pulled over someone else in the same spot and was writing a ticket!

On my way home, the more I thought about it, the less upset I was. It sucks that I got a ticket, but is it the end of the world? Not at all. The fine is $125 and it will put 2 points on my driver's license. I'm more bummed about the points than I am the fine, because it will raise my insurance cost. The ticket gave me the option to admit responsibility and mail in the fine; admit responsibility with explanation; or go to court to deny responsibility. I decided to try the second option, because I figured it wouldn't hurt. I wrote a letter to the magistrate, and asked if they might consider reducing my fine or removing the points from my license. Hopefully it'll help! I'm normally a really careful driver.

To add insult to injury, my ticket states my (incorrect) weight:

The DMV never changed my weight when I renewed my license, so it still says that I weigh 220 pounds--I haven't weighed that much in seven years! And honestly, I probably weighed 250 back then when I claimed to be 220 (not that anyone even cares!). I think I need to renew again next year, so I'm hoping they'll change it ;)

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My running buddy

This head cold is so frustrating. I've been getting a little better each day, but I still can't hear very well out of my right ear, and I'm still having to blow my nose frequently. I debated going to the doctor for an antibiotic, because I'm pretty sure I developed a sinus infection, but hopefully it'll go away on its own soon. Like I said, it's been getting better, but just so slowly!

It's finally feeling like fall here, and I'm loving it. I took Joey for a run today. I was feeling bad because I neglected our walks last week when my cold was at its worst, and Joey LOVES running with me. It's been easier since I got the hands-free leash, but it's not typically a very "relaxing" run when I go with him ;)

Where most dogs would probably take off after a squirrel, Joey does the exact opposite--when he sees as squirrel or rabbit, he just stops dead in his tracks, staring at it. Occasionally, he'll then take off full-speed after it, but as long as I get him out of his little trance immediately, I can avoid being dragged! Whenever I see a squirrel, I tell him to "leave it" before it even catches his attention.

Anyway, it was super nice running weather this morning--55 degrees and overcast. Like I wrote a couple of days ago, I am going to start following the 10K training plan I wrote, using the sub-60 pace goals as a target, so that I can pace Stephanie in November. I have to start on Week 6 to time it correctly.

The plan is written for time rather than distance, but I didn't take the time to set up my Garmin for today's workout, so I just translated it to distance. Three miles at easy pace, and one mile at tempo pace (which is 9:45-10:00). I couldn't remember what the tempo pace guidelines were for a sub-60 10K, so I just guessed it was around 9:40. Close enough.

I had originally planned to take Joey for three miles, then drop him off and run the last mile on my own, but Joey was doing so well that I changed up my route and let him come with me for the whole run. Even though I didn't feel very good physically (my head felt stuffed up), I absolutely loved my run today. The weather makes a world of difference in my attitude toward running! If I wasn't sick, I probably would have turned it into a long run today.

There was a lot of fog over the lake this morning, so I stopped to get a quick picture. Joey was focused on some geese ;)

I finished the run with splits of 11:05, 11:09, 11:08, and 9:36.

Speaking of Joey, October 1st was National Black Dog Day. I didn't know it until after we adopted him, but apparently, black dogs and cats aren't as desired as other colors, and they don't get adopted as frequently from shelters. That makes me feel so bad! I think black cats are gorgeous; and I honestly didn't care what color dog we got, as long as his personality was a good fit for my family. Eli requested a black dog, so he was happy ;)

Anyway, yesterday, Jerry was going through some old photos on his phone, and he came across a couple of pictures he took of Joey on our way home from the shelter the day we got him. We'd stopped at PetSmart so that I could run in and get the things we needed for him, and while I was in there, Jerry took a couple of pictures of Joey, who was lying in the back seat. I gasped out loud when I saw the picture--he looked terrible!

Winter 2015 (adoption day) vs Summer 2015

I had to add a comparison photo underneath, because it's amazing what a difference there is. (The yellow rope in the top picture was just a makeshift leash that the shelter gave us to get him home.) I hadn't realized it then, but his spirit wasn't as lively or happy when we first adopted him. Looking through pictures, you can see that he just got happier and healthier very quickly.

I'm looking forward to cross country tonight... the kids have been so used to running in heat and humidity, today will feel like a cake walk!

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Hello, October!

I'm finally starting to feel better! I rarely get sick, but when I do, it's always so rough. I spent the last couple of days with a horrible sinus headache, and it was gone when I woke up this morning, so I hope that is probably the last of it. I'm still a little congested, but it's definitely better than it was.

My eating has been thrown so off track since getting sick about 10 days ago. My head has been really congested, and I haven't been able to taste anything. Normally, you'd think that would mean that I wouldn't have an appetite, right? Well, because I can't taste anything, I never feel satisfied with my food! So, I just kept looking for satisfaction by eating more. I feel like I undid the progress I spent all month making.

Last night, I was starting to get my sense of taste back a little, so I wrote up a food plan for today and I am determined to stick with it!

For lunch, I made Quinoa Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing--it's flavorful and spicy, so I was hoping I'd be able to taste it. I still couldn't really make out the flavors, but I did get the spiciness, which was good.

I'm also making a spicy dinner (I love this Spicy Taco Gnocchi Skillet) so that it will hopefully have a strong enough flavor for me to be able to taste it.

I ran five miles today. I hadn't run in over a week because I've been coughing so much. Generally, if cold symptoms are above the neck (a head cold) then I'll still run; but once I feel it in my chest, running is really uncomfortable. Today, I really had the urge to go for a run, so I figured if I was really miserable, I could just quit early. I did an out and back, and I felt really good. I kept my heart rate low, so my pace was very slow, and that's probably why I felt so good.

Found the nickel on my run

Speaking of running, I actually have a mission for this fall! My friend Stephanie is hoping to run a sub-60 10K in November, and I offered to pace her. She's following my "Your Best 10K" training plan, so I am going to follow it as well. I think this will be a fun way to train right now--since I'll be training at a sub-60 goal pace, I won't have to train as hard as I did for my sub-50, but it will still give me a goal to focus on (I don't want to let Steph down). I'm not interested in training very hard right now, but I do like following some sort of plan, so this is perfect. And hopefully, I'll help Stephanie hit her goal!

Can you believe it's October?! This is my very favorite month. There is something about the weather during this time of year that just makes me feel so happy!

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