Speaking of racing, Seth, Daddoo and I ran the Happy Trails 5K last weekend. Nerves were in check, race was super fun… and got my celebratory ice cream afterwords. It was a good morning.

(The only cameras we had were our phones.. and of course there had to be a pointing picture!)

My main goal for doing the race  was the experience of it. Not speed or rank. Whenever I have a scheduled event I need to be a part of, I tend to get very anxious and nervous, specially when there are a lot of people involved. Plus I wasn’t completely sure how these things are organized, this being my first race. Sooooo I decided to not worry about anything other than just going there to have a nice run. 5K distance is about my usually run distance  so it wasn’t anything difficult. Repeatedly telling myself that its a normal run, in a pretty park, with people who love doing something I do, helped tremendously.  And it WAS fun. I loved being able to run next to someone, then pass them and fall beside or behind someone else. It was interesting… thinking about what everyone’s stories might have been… if they trained, what their goals are, and how many races they have run.
My new goal is to try and get over this threshold of 3.5 miles i find myself running. I’ve gone farther, but only when I’ve felt I was able to and the decision was only made during great feeling runs. I want to be able to go longer more often and more reliably. I would love to do a 10K next. When trying to run longer I start to feel very heavy. I know I am not overweight, but I do carry around a certain amount of ‘puffiness.’ Plus, I need to do more strength training.

Speaking of puffy… look what I found!
GIANT MARSHMALLOWS
OMG they are the awesomest things EVER.

(I know I know… this MAY be why I am puffy) 

Oh yeah, here are my stats for Happy Trails 5k.
I think there was about 523 people who participated, 255 of which were female.

One of my favorite lunches. Avocado, tomato, corn (from the cob) with cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper.
I <3 avocado and cumin.

Rowan being a good studio cat today.

Summer times by the river.

I know I haven’t posted in a LONG while.  I miss you, and I will try and keep it up.

Ive finally been running regularly. Feels awesome, and I got some new gear today, but of course its raining, and it may rain most of the week. Blech! New running underpants, tank top, and a dress for this summer that is SUPER comfortable. The underpants and dress were on sale YAY!
However, I do NOT have the shoes. They are Newtons and are uber expensive. I really want to try them, but can’t spend the money. I would also like to try a pair of Vibrams. Keyword, try. I don’t think I would want to run in them all the time.

Why do I run?

Me: “Ma, I ran 6 and a half miles today.”
Mom: “Why?”
Me: “…”

Hmmm… whats the point of it all? I’ve been struggling with this lately. Sometimes I run to be alone, to be outside, to vent my frustrations, to cheer myself up, to physically feel as bad as I mentally do, because I think I have to, and/or to make myself look better. There are more reasons and each run is motivated by a mix of them. My problem is… should I be taking things further?  I don’t do races, or search out running groups to be a part of. If I raced, would I feel more accomplished and more motivated? Feel like I am part of a team or community of people? I know one main reason why I don’t is because  I have to much anxiety. For one, I am nervous around groups of people, and two, even more so having to participate in something organized. Maybe someday I will try a race. Someone will talk me into it. Maybe I could get some nifty t-shirts.
But for now, I will concentrate on using it as a personal therapy.

This is Beesy. One of Grandma’s 4 cats. There is also Lishka the husky. Tuesday we spent the day with Ma, Grandma and Grandpa as Grandma was transferred from the hospital to rehab. It is amazing how much faster she is recovering than her surgery last year. Being able to spend the day with everyone was great. It’s hard not living close enough to visit more often.

It is FINALLY warm. For the most part. Went kayaking for the first time this spring. The current was strong and the river was infested with fisherman, but we made it work. Decorated a few eggs for Easter. I found out that mineral spirits dissolves wax off eggs which is more efficient than burning it off. However, I then found that the dish soap I used to get rid of the turpentine takes dye off of eggs. Oh well, lesson learned.

We spent Easter day at Seth’s parents, Easter egg hunt, food, candy, and family!

It started to get warm, then it snowed on Friday. This next week is supposed to warm up and I’m ready. Ive been airing out my summer shoes, and taking walks when it’s warm.

Had tons of fun this weekend with the Family for Easter egg dying, cookie painting, sugar egg construction, and candy eating.

So… I may have complained to the boy that I’m always the one taking pictures when we are out and about so there are always a ton more pictures of him and only a few of me. Now I understand why this is,

Oh well. At least I’m ‘interesting’… sorta