Why I'm not a Runner

Sorry it has been awhile since I've written a new blog, time just got away from me. Lots has happened since then, but I'll have to catch you up later. This is just about today. :) 

So, last November I walked a 5k for Veterans Day and it was terrible. It took forever I was in terrible pain and I had to buy new shoes after that. Lol. So since I've been going to boot camp, I decided to run the Race for the cure this morning. I worked diligently at ordering my playlist just right, putting some great songs in the middle and the very end cause I knew those would be the hardest parts. Also running this race with me was my roommate, my brother and my dad. We all stood together waiting for it to begin. I had tried to warm up by walking around and bobby and I even danced around a little. Minutes before I got really nervous. I wanted to walk away and just forget it. But I knew that wasn't an option. I started out with a nice jog. I've been walk/jogging my treadmill time at the gym and knew that I would have to do the same for real. After two blocks, my shoe came untied because the new pink laces were too short. But I didn't want to stop. After the next block, my nasal cavity instantaneously filled with snot. This always happens when I run outside. It's incredibly frustrating. This magical substance made its way into my chest which just made it super easy to breathe...I'm not sure if this is because my sinuses are all kinds of screwed up it if this happens to everyone. If you have a solution though, I'll take it! Nevertheless, I kept on. They were only timing the first 45 minutes and I wanted to finish before that. So there was a turn around spot about halfway and that's where I got a side cramp. I kept my jogging intervals even though I really wanted to just keep walking. My toes started hurting, the side cramp was still there.Then it got worse and I was about to just say screw it and walk the rest of the way. And then Jennifer, aka Poptart, sent me this text: "Just keep running, just keep running (imagine my best Ellen voice) proud of you!!!" Which gave me a push for another jogging interval. There were people standing in front of the American Red Cross cheering and that gave me another push. Of course, at this point I had google maps up so I could keep track of how much further I had to go. I started to realize that I wasn't going to get there in 45, but I wanted to get as close as possible. So I tried to keep a light jog for a while. And then we turned the corner for the home stretch that seemed so far away!!! There were 7 blocks left. So I jog one walk one, but i was jogging with two blocks left and decided to just jog the last two blocks. Of course, it helped that my friends and family were on the other side of the finish line also.   I crossed the finish line at 47:30, which I'm really proud of. Since everyone else was walking I decided to turn around and walk with them again, so I jogged a 5k and then turned around and walked it. I have plans to attempt another 5K in October and repeat the November Veterans day race. I am confident and hopeful that I will be able to take off 2 and half minutes by the November race. Oh, I've also started a race tradition cause my friends came over after the race for mimosas which was a fabulous idea!! I think post-race mimosas are now something that will have to be done. Or something similar at least. I'm really glad that THIS race was my first race. I've walked it before but never did it have as much meaning as this year. I did it for my mom, my nanny, whom I miss sooo much right now, but mostly I did it for myself. This blog post may have a subtitle. Maybe the full name should be "Why I'm not a runner, but I'm damn sure going to keep trying" thanks to everyone for the encouragement!! Only way to go is up!!! 

Day 10,595

I think just about everyone has figured out that I'm a math nerd. So I figured it more exactly than last week and today is the 10,595th day that I have been alive! That's pretty cool! So last weeks birthday adventures were so great that I just wanted to get them "down on paper," and say thanks to a few folks. Sunday started with lots of the staff and campers wishing me a happy birthday week, it was hard not to though, really. Haha. Monday was topped with a visit out at camp by my great friend Janet! She brought me snacks for the road trip I would be taking later that week. Tuesday's gift was another dear friend that brought birthday brownies, peanut butter and chocolate! Thanks Poptart! I know the staff enjoyed those as well. 

Now Wednesday is where things really pick up. Wednesday I arrived at Tim and Annette's house at 8 am SHARP, yes we were all a bit shocked, to begin our trek to D/FW! Since Tim has taught next door to me for several years, and has also served as the Math Department Head, he is like a big brother or uncle to me, really. I call him for advice, he's just a fabulous friend/coworker that I'm lucky to have around. He also happens to be a Yankees fan! So Wednesday afternoon, we checked into our hotel and started looking for restaurants for dinner. So I start checking my old email address that is only on my iPad now while we are looking and there was lots of emails claiming "Happy Birthday" in the subject line. One happened to be from Boston's and there happened to be one across the street! So I got a free flatbread for dinner! Note: I have NO CLUE how I got that email, I had never heard of Boston's Pizza until that day. Then the Yankees game!! I am glad we went to two because Wednesday I was so star struck. I mean, I SAW DEREK JETER! He wasn't playing but there he sat!!! Laughing with his teammates! Did I mention our seats were 20 rows behind Yankees Dugout??? So Yankees lost but I really didn't care, just being there was awesome. I got to see Mariano Rivera walk to the dugout too!!! Oh, so I also randomly ran into my cousin and his wife who were also at the game! That was crazy! So Thursday, I wake up to hear my mom sing happy birthday via phone, a tradition my grandmother started many years ago. The hardest part of this is that I can't remember what her voice sounds like anymore. I'm sure we have it somewhere on tape, I just don't remember anymore. I also got texts and facebook posts and calls all day long. Then I face-time chatted with my mom during her last chemo treatment! I am so glad that I was able to surprise her with something since I couldn't be there. It was fun talking to my mom and dad too. Then my sister and the kids showed up at the hotel, they were there on vacation. Brought me a gift, a NY YANKEES JERSEY!! Oh and I got to face-time chat with one of my marvelous friends Betsy in Austin! Then it was off to game number two!! We got there in time to see them warm up, including Derek JETER! The Rangers honored Mo Rivera before the game and the game started with the Yankees ahead. We knew that if the Yankees were ahead by the end, we would get to see Mo pitch! Tim and I looked in the bullpen to see someone warming up, just as he turned you could see the number "42" and we both said "There he is" it was exciting. When he came out, the entire stadium was in their feet cheering for him, Yankees andRangers fans alike! I'm so glad I was able to see him live and in action. I mean he threw 12 pitches, 1 ball and 11 strikes to end the game! It was AWESOME!!! After a short plane delay, I arrived back at camp just in time for the staff to sing Happy Birthday around the campfire! Friday night included Taco Villa, Singing in the Rain and an early bed time! Lol. Saturday included a quick visit with my family and adoration. I went to church and it was nice to see people I knew there, very home-like! Then a few friends came over for some fajitas grilled out and some GREAT times! I haven't really hung out with some of my friends for a really, really long time. So that was GREAT! So now, I'm starting my 30th year of life. That seems ridiculous but just right at the same time! Just have to thanks for everyone for all the memories, not just of this birthday week, but of my 29th year--and the 28 before that! I hope I've brought as much laughter and joy to your life as you have to mine!! 

Finished with 4 minutes to spare of today! :) 

Things that should be real

1. Crystal Balls

Crystal balls are really just the first thing I thought of to describe telling the future. But I think there should be a way to see what your life would look like if you took this path compared to that path. For example, when I switched schools in the 7th grade, my mom registered me because I was in Houston visiting my aunt. My mom told me there were three options: Athletics, Pep Squad or P.E. My mom signed me up for athletics but I told her that was silly and made her switch to Pep Squad. I'm not sure why I made that decision, I did enjoy cheering in Elementary, but I liked playing sports too. But there's a few really important people that I don't think I would have been friends with today had I not chosen pep squad. But I often wonder what high school, or even my current life, would have looked like for me had I not asked my mom to switch. Even if it were as simple as those things they have in museums, where you push a button and it lights up this part of the time line with a quick voice over. Anyone know what I'm talking about? I would like one that allows me to plug in my current life and current choices and lets me see what life would look like. 

2. Friendships 

Not that these aren't real, I just felt like reminding people that they should be. I'm pretty sure that at this point in my life, I can mostly pick out what's real and what's not. I've made a few mistakes here and there, but who hasn't, right? 

3. Go-go gadget legs

I can't tell you the number of times that I have dreamed about having go-go gadget legs and thought that at times they would be pretty darn handy. 

4. Laughter

I know I've said it before, but laughing is one of my all time favorite things to do, EVER. Especially when it is completely uninhibited laughter, oh man that's the best. Not caring if you snort a few more times or you look like a chimpanzee at the zoo during feeding time, clapping your hands and knees and smiling like an idiot. Oh man!! That's my favorite. I feel like I judge my week, days, etc, by the amount of laughter they are filled with and not just by me. 

5. Tradition

I don't know if this just comes from being a Catholic or just being a control freak, or both. All I know, is I LOVE tradition, which is one of the BIG reasons, I love Christmas. Christmas, and other holidays, are FILLED with traditions. Honestly, that's one of the things I respect about married people and new families and such. I have a hard time imagining not doing holidays the way that my family does them, but the other person has traditions, too. How do you blend them enough to keep people happy and create a few traditions that your children can one say pass down? 

So Easy

Some of you may notice that I've started a new blog! There's a few reasons for it. I started the blog in 2009 at a time when I was terribly unhappy with my life, all aspects of it. Unfortunately, it was for no real reason either. But this blog isn't about that time of my life. Another reason for the new blog is that in 12 short days, I will turn 29. I feel like this is like RIDICULOUS! I should not be 29 soon...I was just 22..wasn't I? Plus, my old blog had 100 posts and it just seemed right to leave it at that!
So here we are: The new blog! Similar to the old blog, I got the idea for this new blog name and it's first post while driving in the car. So I felt like sharing something that I've been doing for the past few months, I've shared it randomly in conversation, but now I'm putting it "on paper."
To start, I'm a big fan of signs, especially if they're repeated. So a few random friends suggested a book to me earlier this year, "When God Writes Your Love Story" by Eric & Leslie Ludy. In February, I bought it for my iPad and started reading it during adoration. Before I go any farther, let me say that I highly recommend this book. I wish the 22 year old Lizzy would have read it, or even the 18 year old one. So each chapter has questions for you to think about and occasionally some "assignment" to do. Well, one chapter had the assignment to "write a love letter to your future spouse." Well, as evidence of this blog, I enjoy writing, so I did it. I've heard of this before and have even heard of blogs dedicated to this sort of thing. (Don't worry, that's not what this is...)So the concept is that your future spouse is someone who is actually real and instead of finding a "temporary replacement" you just write a letter sharing whatever it is you would share with that person if they were actually reading that letter: joy, happiness, loneliness, sadness, fear.  So my first letter is probably kind of awkward, but I started doing it every week in Adoration and a few times not during adoration. One Saturday after adoration, I was driving around thinking about the idea of this, of someone out there that I have or haven't met yet that could one day be my husband. It was oddly liberating. I could stop worrying about whether or not I was ever going to meet him. I think especially in this time of engagements and weddings it can be hard, and I'm not saying writing this letters has solved all my problems. But I feel like I don't worry about it any more, which if you're a worrier, you understand how huge this is! This song by Phillip Phillips kind of reiterated this new found feeling of freedom. I used to think I had achieved "freedom" from the society's idea of dating/marriage/whatever, but really I was just ignoring it. This is much different. I can be sarcastic and dramatic about the number of friends who are engaged or newly married this year (9, but I'm not keeping track or anything....) However, I feel actually happy for them now and I'm also not trying to "look" for anything anymore. I'll find it one day, or it'll find me, or it won't. 


However, I'm not going to be sharing the letters with you cause that kind of ruins it. Some are short, some are long, some are about absolutely nothing and others about absolutely everything. But isn't that kind of how life is some days. Some days seem rather insignificant, while others you know will stick with you for a while.