Five for Friday: October 12

1.  My husband, Dave, finished his first marathon last Sunday at the Twin Cities Marathon!!!  Official time 4:58:47.  So proud of him!

Dave, our son Liam, and Dave's dad Tom on the way to packet pickup.

2.  At the marathon expo, I met the ladies behind chicked.com.  I first heard of them through fellow GOTRIbal Ambassador and pro triathlete, Gillian Clayton. 

Photo from chicked.com

My first thought after seeing their awesome shirts and cycling kit was, "I probably should get faster before I wear that..."  But then I saw this...

Not me... picture from chicked.com

the Minne-skirt!  Um, LOVE at first sight!  Plus I find out that this is a Minnesota company?  How could I not buy one of these?!? 
So, of course, when at the expo, after meeting Jennifer and Gretchen ( and then walking around the expo, trying to convince my hubby why I just HAD to have one),  I purchased my very own Minne-skirt. 
This turned out to be a great decision when it was only 30 degrees on race morning!  GREAT running weather, COLD spectating weather!  My new skirt kept me nice and toasty warm!

3.  A friend linked this recipe on Facebook earlier this week.  These will be made in my house before the week is over.  They look delicious!

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Pancakes via Girl Cooks World (photo: Girl Cooks World)

4.  Work on the "new" house is going well.  Today I played with my new toy... a brand new shiny miter saw!

Ain't she purty???

I also picked this find up off the curb during Windom's "junk days" with the idea of turning it into an entertainment center.  Painting is in progress.  I will post "after" pictures when I get it done.

A fresh coat of paint and some cord holes in the back should make her good as new!

5.  I am seriously considering taking a Facebook vacation until this election is over.  Presidential election, gay marriage on the ballot in Minnesota... political comments abound in my news feed (making me wonder sometimes why some of my friends are my friends).  I try not to use this blog or my Facebook page to discuss politics or religion, so this is the one thing I will say...  It makes my heart cringe to hear or read comments of bigotry, intolerance and hatred and then have them justified by the person giving the opinion with "because I am a Christian". 
I do not attend church regularly, and my belief may not be as strong as some, but I do know this:

Matthew 22:34-40

34But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, gathered themselves together. 35And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, trying him: 36Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? 37And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets. 

(Source: Bible, American Standard Version.)

There is no clause afterward that says, "except for homosexuals", except for (insert race or religion here)", "except for..."  Well, there just are no exceptions.  These commandments are given in Mark (12:28-31) and Luke (10:25-29) as well, so it seems to me that if you identify as a Christian, this would be a pretty important lesson. 

And that's all I will say about politics and religion for now. 


May you have a wonderful weekend free of political commercials! 

Need a Swift Kick?

...in the ass? 

Yep, GOTRIbal is doing it again... not only inspiring women to try endurance sports, but giving them the tools to do it!!!

GOTRIbal's new "Swift Kick" program is designed for those who want to try running.  Already a runner?  How about passing this info on to a friend, co-worker, sister, mom, etc...  Maybe even commit to doing it with her or "gift" the program to her!



From the GOTRIbal website:

"In The Swift Kick [in the ass!] 8-week program, you will receive:

•  A formal training program, beginning Oct 29, that is designed to help you commit to doing something you’ve never done – Run/Walk 3 miles, or run the whole 5K!  This program will get you there with our Expert Coach, Wendy Mader!

•  Access to a GOTRIbal Expert Coach to get your questions answered during the first week, middle week and last week of the program.

•  A 24/7 exclusive online Tribe where you can meet and communicate with other women in the program; including your Coach!

• Weekly Tips and inspirational notes from elite athletes like ultra-runner Dean Karnazes, GOTRIbal Ambassadors, and women just like YOU.

• Special surprise gear for you to wear during the 5K event on January 1!"

Instead of waiting until you make a New Year's Resolution (I mean, c'mon... those things never work for most people anyway!), get started NOW and reach your goal THIS YEAR!!!  What are you waiting for??? 

Check out the GOTRIbal website for more details and to join this AMAZING program!

Now you may ask, aren't you a GOTRIbal Ambassador?  Why, YES, I am!!!  Does that mean I get compensated in any way for posting this? No!!!  I am a GOTRIbal Ambassador because I believe in GOTRIbal and what we, as a community, can do when we connect and inspire each other through sport!  Everything I do for GOTRIbal, I do for free. 

Five For Friday: Oct. 5

Short on time lately, thus the lack of posting. I've been busy, busy, busy working on the farmhouse so we can get moved in before the snow flies.  Therefore, this week's FFF will be in pictures...

I tore out the shag carpet and found these tiles.  Still not what I eventually want, but better than the shag and will do for now!

Tore up the floor in the dining room and kitchen and replaced with vinyl tile.  This is the dining room floor before and after.

Why don't I update my blog at night?  Because I'm busy doing things like refinishing furniture at 11PM.

My cousin's wedding:  Don't worry, it was water.  I know because I gave it to him :)

Me and the monkey man!

My hubby is running his first marathon this weekend at Twin Cities!!!  Make sure to wish him luck, I know he'll appreciate it.  Liam and I are looking forward to a great weekend of race spectating and cheering!

Posted with Blogsy

Five For Friday: Sept. 21

If I get this posted before midnight, it still counts as a Friday post, right?  

1.  River Valley Fitness - (I couldn't find a website or Facebook page - if anyone does, please let me know and I'll link it!)
This new fitness center just opened in Windom September 1st.  I waited a long time for a real fitness center to come to town.  Sure, there is the Hospital Wellness Center...but they have a lot of cardio and are short on real weight-lifting.  Then there was Curves...ummmm, yeah, not for me.  (The one saving grace for me in this town was Sky Blue Yoga- Kris is awesome!)
River Valley is a real gym with cardio, weights, classes, and available personal training.  Too bad for the owner that since I waited so long I now own all my own equipment.  But if you are local, definitely check it out!!!

2. Girls Night Out - A new campaign by the downtown businesses here in Windom.  Every third Thursday of the month, from 4-8pm, there will be specials, refreshments, and giveaways.  Now if only Dave didn't have a meeting that same day...

3. Windom Area Girls Fastpitch Association 5K/10K  Yep, this is tomorrow morning.  I'm late posting this.  Sorry!  But here's the info:  This is Windom's second running event of two for the year.  Especially in this inaugural year, PLEASE support it!  We need more local running events and it supports women in sports.  Really, a no-brainer. 

4. Breast Health Walk  If you ever want to hear an inspiring story about how regular people get things done, this is it.  A local woman (my insurance agent) had an abnormal mammogram and was ultimately diagnosed with breast cancer.  Frustrated with the wait time for follow-up mammograms (we previously had a truck from over an hour-and-a-half away come to perform mammograms in Windom every few weeks), she and her daughter started a fundraiser walk last year to  raise funds to purchase mammography equipment for our local hospital.  Less than 1 year later, our local hospital has their own equipment.  This year's walk (and subsequent events) will promote their other goal- to help women struggling with breast health/cancer financially when needed. 
If you don't know anyone who has been affected by breast cancer, count yourself lucky.  If you do,  please support this event, or others like it in your own community. 

5. Dude, it's a small town... I'm lucky I can come up with four in one week!   Let's hear from you... What exciting things are happening in your own community?  

Five For Friday: Sept. 14

1.  I am starting to get my motivation back!  And none too soon...I have a 10K tomorrow and a half marathon in a little over a month. 

2. Great little article on why your triathlon races may not be going as well as you'd like.  (Thanks to Gillian Clayton for sharing this on FB!)
"Top Ten Reasons Why You'll Never Peak For Your Triathlon"

3.  My latest endurance event?  Remodeling and redecorating the family farmhouse before we move in this fall. 
Work on the "new" house is going well.  The upstairs is more than half done space-wise.  The biggest holdup is the bathroom.  Dave has been working 6 days a week, leaving him little time to work on it.
I'm holding off on the hallway and stairs until we are done with the bathroom and have all our large furniture moved.  I'd rather avoid the frustration of getting dings in my newly painted walls & floor!

Today's project: moved that furniture to the other side of the room and painted the other half of the floor.  Next?  New baseboard (salvaged from another old house).

4. After having Liam gone for a week and eating a lot of quick, not-so-healthy food, I felt pretty crappy.  I've been back to my normal eating since we got back Tues night and, after only three days, already feel much better.  Let that be a lesson to me...

5.  The September Meditation Challenge is working well for me, also.  During the week of eating crap it was harder.  My brain felt full of cobwebs.  The last couple days I have set an intention with each morning's mediation.  Yesterday it was for energy.  It worked almost too well... I couldn't sleep last night and was wide awake and full of ENERGY!  So I did another meditation with an intention of restful sleep and drifted right off.  The power of the mind is amazing. 

*And a bonus sixth thing I saw just before I was about to post!
6. An article on competitor.com from Susan Lacke entitled "Out There: Be Happy With Your Body". I think I'm bookmarking this one for when I'm have "one of those days".  I forget that my aesthetically imperfect body has powered me through a half-iron triathlon, 3 marathons, about a dozen half-marathons, and countless other races.  Certainly, something I need to remember more often!

September Meditation Challenge

This month I will be participating in RunToTheFinish's Meditation Challenge.  This challenge is a little different than a lot of the blog challenges that are out there.  There are no set guidelines, no prizes... the goal is simply to progress over the course of the month.  And hopefully for me, instill a new healthy habit into my routine.

As a mother to a two-year old that keeps me going from sunup to sundown most days, I can definitely see how daily meditation could benefit me.  Taking time every day to slow down, to invite peace, to center myself, can only make me a better mother/wife/person.

Coincidentally, I saw this picture linked through a friend on Facebook the day I decided to commit to this challenge.  It speaks to what I hope to achieve by taking the challenge and making meditation a part of my daily life.  

I saw this on Facebook here, not sure about original photo credit.

I invite you to join the Meditation Challenge hosted by RunToTheFinish by signing up here. 

Five for Friday

1.  Sister Madonna Buder, Oldest Woman to Finish an Ironman  Sister Madonna Buder is so inspiring, becoming not only the oldest woman, but the oldest person to finish an Ironman with her finish in Canada.  If you have not read her book, The Grace To Race, I highly suggest it.  

2. Controlling migraine through diet:  I have checked out several books from my local library about controlling migraines naturally.  I have been having a lot of them lately and, well, I just don't have time for that.  I am very interested in using diet to reduce my incidence of migraines as that is something I can easily take control of.  I am hoping to have all of the books finished by the end of the holiday weekend.  I will then take a week to form a plan, based on the information gleaned from all of the books and implement it the following week.  I hope this works...

3.  I won a pair of Oakleys!!!  I entered a raffle from Amanda at RunToTheFinish to support Run10Feed10 and I won!  I chose the Drizzle sunglasses.  I LOVE them!!! 
I also won Love Grown Granola as part of my prize package.  I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the granola as I have heard wonderful things about it (and it's gluten-free!).  I can't wait to try it!

4.  Why I Also Almost Died During the 2012 New York City Ironman Triathlon  A good article about listening to your body and symptoms of distress while training and racing.  I had never heard of SIPE (swimming induced pulmonary edema) before this article. 


5.  My Rev3 decision:  And finally, I have decided to not go to Ohio to compete at Rev3 Cedar Point.  I decided that although it would most certainly be fun,  the potential after-effects on my body when I am not prepared are more than I want to deal with.  After last year's half-iron it took me a good 6 weeks to recover... it was miserable.  Better to not completely trash the body and be able to have fun another day! 

Have a great weekend!!!