Wasatch Back 2012

This was my second Wasatch Back. For me, it was not a total success in the running department. But something I learned last year that was reaffirmed this year is Ragnar encompasses sooo much more than running. It really is difficult to put into words what the experience of Ragnar really is but I think my teammate and friend Caryn summed it up very nicely:

"Here is what I learned this weekend! Utah is an amazingly beautiful state, I love having a huge a**, killing people is fun, getting killed sucks, squirt guns are NOT just for kids, hills suck, back seat drivers know best and LOVE hills and food, everything is funny at 3am, Seattlites make the BEST mountain drivers, I can run under a 10 minute mile and enjoy the scenery, the calm one does curse and freak out, it's ok if you cannot read or write, underwear is not necessary but deodorant is, Van 2 isn't cooler than Van 1, nothing is more beautiful than a row of honey buckets, people who wake up at 3am to check on you should always be a part of your life, NY has the best cheerleaders, my legs are strong but my heart is stronger, white people burn and the big breasted chafe, sleep is overrated but if your gonna sleep with anyone make it sister-friend, #185 is my favorite number, I heart food, basketball coaches are f***in tough as hell, exchange #19 rocks, everyone should take minutes for later review, the shwag is great but the experience is life changing! Thanks ladies!"

Yes!!! Thank you Adrianna, Amie, Angie, Becky, Brenda, Caryn, Chris, Jen, Kim, Meja, Stephanie, Tanya, and Vicki!!! I am grateful to have had such an amazing experience with equally amazing women!

Two Weeks Notice!

Race for the Cure is TWO WEEKS from today! I'm very excited to be participating as a runner, team member and fundraiser! My team is in the Top 10 for fundraising! BUT we haven't reached our goal, YET! Please, please, please contribute or join our team ASAP!
If you register by MAY 6 then your bib and t-shirt are mailed to you! Woohoo! You can actually contribute money up until May 31 for it to count as Race for the Cure funds, but I will stop bugging people about it after the race.
Once again, here is the link to my team page: http://slc.info-komen.org/site/TR/RacefortheCure/SLC_SaltLakeCityAffiliate?team_id=204249&pg=team&fr_id=2479

You can donate to the team in general, or to any of the individual teammates listed. Porter and Parker each have a goal of $5.
The Race for the Cure will be my FIFTH race since turning forty, and it celebrates 5 years of being a survivor! We are also dedicating this race to my dear friend Lee as she starts her fight against cancer!

On a slightly different note, I did my third race today, Color Me Rad. It was a family and friends effort and way too much fun! Parker was able to volunteer through the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation, and Dad and Porter were his volunteer buddies. Fun was had by all!

I've Come A Long Way, Baby!

I just finished a 5 mile run in under an hour! That's a HUGE achievement for me. I started running a little over 2 years ago for my heart, then my health, and now my life. I began with the Couch to 5K program. I was mostly an interval runner, meaning I would run for 30-60 seconds then walk 60-90 seconds. The first non-stop distance I ran outside was .6 miles and it took me over 8 minutes. When I finally got up to running a full mile, I was able to do it in 15 minutes. People could walk faster than I ran! Luckily, a former classmate of mine that I ran into at our 20 year reunion is now a personal trainer. Steve gave me a personal work up to help me with my cardiovascular endurance. It was the guidance for the gradual and sustained improvement I needed.

Fast forward 2+ years. If I run harder than usual I can sustain an 11 minute mile for 2 miles.  Today, running at a normal pace, I averaged 11:52 for 5 miles. Actually, for the first 4 miles I averaged 11:38; mile 5 was a killer! This was my second 5 mile run of the year, and I'm thrilled with the results! I can't believe that I used to say that I would never be a runner, and I'm so glad that it isn't the truth.
This past weekend I finished the first of my 40 races to celebrate turning 40. My 5th scheduled race is going to be the Race for a Cure. My team name is 5 for 5, and that's because I'm running a 5K to celebrate my 5 years of being a survivor. I'm also running for my dear friend Lee, who is a member of the team too. She just recently started her fight with this disease. If you're reading this post, and you haven't already, please consider joining our team and/or donating to Komen SLC. The only reason I can do extraordinary things is because of the extraordinary support I have from the extraordinary people in my life! THANK YOU!

Learn Something New Everyday!

I actually don't see how you couldn't do this. Instead of making it a point to learn something new everyday, I think you'd have to make a point of stopping yourself from learning something new. I'm not only considering academics or book learning, but also career knowledge (which for me happens to be a lot of academics and book learning), social, political and pop culture, personal life lessons, intended and unintended, and the list could go on and on.
Here are three new things I learned yesterday:

At work, with the help of a colleague, I learned more about My Access. I learned how to import students, set up groups and assign a prompt. The day before, with the help of another colleague, I learned how to use the student results to know what types of lessons/teaching I should focus on. End result: I will learn more about what my students know and also learn what to do to help them learn more! Win win!

At a social function with friends, I learned that kids only have to be "shielded" from seeing alcohol depending on the type of liquor license you have. I'm surprised that parents aren't given some sort of partition to place around the alcoholic beverages on their table to keep their children "unaware." Speaking of children and alcohol, here's a previous post about Porter playing "bar." I already knew that Utah's liquor laws were a little quirky, but I learned last night that they are actually totally absurd. For example, you can't "travel" with your beverage, meaning that if you are at one table and move to another with your drink, then set it down, you've broken the law. And that it takes two people to order a pitcher of beer, but one person can order an entire bottle of wine AND a shot of tequila and be served both at the same time because that is considered only two drinks.

My awesome friend Vickie also tried to teach us the proper way to take a great picture, as in pose for a picture. Something like sit up straight, one shoulder down, chin towards that shoulder, head tilted to opposite shoulder, chest out, and something about creating an S? Still learning.

One last thing I learned from Instagram is that KPop is all the rage, or will be all the rage. Basically it's VERY popular Korean pop music by Korean girl and boy bands. Feel free to check it out!

PHEW! I wonder what new things I'll learn today? Tomorrow? Next week? Next year?

June 16, 2009 "Mommy Wars"

I’ve just started the part of the year in which I am a stay at home mom. The other three quarters of the year I’m a working mom. Since I do both, I feel that it’s pretty safe for me to comment on the Mommy Wars. For those of you who may not already know, the war that I speak of is between stay-at-home moms and working moms. Sounds silly doesn’t it? Why aren’t moms supporting one another? Moms are moms, 24/7, whether they stay at home or work. But we’ve somehow twisted that reality into an us against them mentality.

Just the other night I was involved in a conversation with a group of women, the topic was infidelity. Unfortunately, one of the women is currently having marriage difficulties in part because of her husband’s “cheating.” The consensus of the group was that none of them would put up with that from their husband. So of course the question of “Why doesn’t she just leave?” comes up to which the reply was, “Well, she’s been a stay-at-home mom for the past umpteen years, and what would she do?” Then for my benefit, I was told that that’s probably not something I would really get since I work, so I guess working moms as having an easier out. Maybe so, maybe not.

I have friends that stay at home, I have friends that work. I have friends that have stayed home for a few years until their children reached school age, and I have friends that are still at home with all school aged children. Once again, I’d like to say that moms are moms 24/7. As a teacher, I have had students with stay at home moms that have done great, others that haven’t. The same goes for students with moms that work. Some women work because they want to, some because it’s a financial necessity, and for anyone else to judge whether that desire or that necessity is valid really isn’t fair.

One of the least favorite things I hear from stay-at-home moms is that their children are their priority. I try not to take that as them saying that working moms’ children are not their priority. Of course my children are my priority. I take them to appointments, stay home with them when they’re sick, go on school fieldtrips, cook them dinner, read with them, take them to afterschool activities, etc… And what do I do with them when I’m home in the summer? I take them to appointments, stay home with them when they’re sick, provide them with a tutor, cook them dinner, read with them, take them to activities, etc… Not much different, at least in my view.

I’m also annoyed by one other topic that some stay-at-home moms bring up, and that’s the “chore” of being home, which literally includes the chores or duties that consume a mother’s day. I often hear, “Well, at least you get to do something different during the day.” Yeah, and then I get to come home and do all the other things, like the cooking, cleaning, laundry, bills, yardwork, etc.. that go along with being a parent and having a family. Working full time in no way gets you out of the “chores” of running a household. Again, moms are moms TWENTY-FOUR SEVEN.

From my experience, I believe that it truly does take a village to raise a child. And thank goodness that my village includes all kinds of mothers and parents (there are stay-at-home and working dads too!). I just wish we could support each other in motherhood, and in all the unique ways that it’s represented. In fact, I bet we have much more in common than we don’t, starting with our biggest priority, our children!

Check out this fun little song celebrating motherhood.