Me And My Running Analogies

 

The winners of the Inspirational Jewelry giveaway are Shannon and Heather! The winners have been emailed – thanks to everyone for entering.

I had the pleasure of attending parent/teacher conferences this week to meet with four of my son’s middle school teachers now that the first quarter of middle school is behind us.

In between waiting for my turn to speak with each teacher, I took the liberty of cleaning out my son’s locker.

Yes, I was the only mom cleaning out a locker and yes I am realizing that I might not be normal but if I didn’t do it, how else would his class pictures make it home?

I really like all of his teachers. And they really like my son which makes my life that much easier. It’s always nice when a teacher can appreciate an outgoing/social student. My phrasing for class clown.

In all seriousness, my son is super bright and I am really proud of that.

However, in talking with his lovely English teacher, she said she is recommending that all parents enforce how important it is for the children to continue reading outside of the classroom.

I have never had to get strict with the reading thing because my son loves to read but even for him lately, reading has been taking a back seat to modern technology and that’s just not okay.

I spoke to him about it last night and I made a superb analogy:

Reading is like running.

If I suddenly stop running or slack on my frequency, I am going to lose fitness which means, I will not be able to run as fast or as long as I am used to without it becoming difficult and needing some work on my part in order to return to my current level.

He was shocked.

Yes, little boy, if mommy were to give up running for a month and then one day wake up and head outside, it would feel hard.

My comfortable pace would be a struggle and it would take me time again to run the amount of miles I do right now which I know you think seems effortless.

The more you read, the better you get at it. The more regularly you run over time, the better you get at it.

The more you read, the stronger your vocabulary, the better you comprehend words and their meaning.

If you aren’t reading enough, the rest of your learning will suffer.

If I am not running, everyone around me will suffer because I need endorphins to keep me friendly.

Wait! You know what else I need?! I keep meaning to tell you about it all week!

This shirt from Wild Fox.

I mean, hello — Is this shirt not the story of my morning?

It really should include warm bowl of oatmeal though.

Have you seen the latest phone cases by the way from Marc Jacobs?

Do kids today even know what the heck a cassette tape is? I mentioned a “mix tape” to my son the other day (as I was singing Debbie Gibson’s Only In My Dreams at the top of my lungs in the car) and he hadn’t a clue what I was talking about.

And how about this as a purse?

Looks like the Walkman my dad described in his New York City Marathon memories post.

So another running analogy was needed yesterday after we got in trouble at the orthodontist.

It was supposed to be my son’s last appointment before having his braces off but since he has failed to wear his rubber bands, he now has another five weeks.

Do you think he will wear the rubber bands? He isn’t sure is what he informed me so I informed him of the following life lesson:

You have one month left! I know you don’t want to wear them, I know they are annoying and bother you but it’s like that last half mile in a race!

You can see the finish line!

So you pick up that pace, you get a little more uncomfortable, you do what you have to do because the faster you cooperate, the faster you cross the finish!

And on that note, I think he is ready for the weekend with his dad where he can steer clear of the running analogies for a few days.

Have a terrific weekend!

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If you are running a race this weekend, is today your rest day or tomorrow?

Do you remember making “mix-tapes”?

Are you a big reader? Do you use a Kindle type thing or like an actual book? I enjoy a real book, I am old-fashioned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Running to the Beat of my Feet

Today started out nicely. I was up early, got a list of things accomplished well before the little boy was up and well before the phone starts ringing to interrupt me. I was packed for the gym and ready to go for the day before even putting him on the bus. I even prepared my lunch (a chopped salad and roasted sweet potato wedges with a little  bit of crunch time peanut butter) to bring with me for after the gym since I was heading straight to my hair appointment.

I wasn’t quite sure what my workout plan was going to be this morning  and just figured I would feel it out when I got there. Maybe the treadmill, maybe an elliptical. Maybe both.

Well..I arrive at the gym and noticed once I was in the locker room that I had no phone to plug my ear phones into. Hmm. I know I had the phone while walking into the gym. I looked everywhere, asked the front desk. No phone. Hmm.

I never lose things. I looked around some more and decided perhaps it is in my car and I didn’t ever take it out. I was in a hurry so I chose to run on the treadmill and deal with the phone issue after.

A missing phone = no Pandora or itunes.

Running on a treadmill with no Pandora, no itunes and an MIA iphone = extreme running dedication.

I ended up doing speed intervals to get 4 miles done as quick as possible.

I hate the treadmill. Even when I have fabulous music. It is simply close to torture with nothing to listen to but the noise of the gym and the sound of my feet on the belt.

The lack of music allowed me to be even more in tune with my body. Sure, that may sound great but it gave me ample time to think about how “not right” my sneakers are still feeling. I am not ready for new sneakers according to my plan.

Anyway, even after I finished and showered I couldn’t locate my phone.

I couldn’t even call to cancel my hair appt since I had no phone. I couldn’t call Verizon to let them know I was missing my phone because I had no phone.

I was lost. Completely lost.

So, I did what any normal girl would do, I went to get my hair done.

You all I know I believe in looking your best even when you are in a less than wonderful mood.

Awesome hair = Happy

Later in the day I went back to Lifetime Fitness and to make a long story short, they had my phone.

What does one learn from this experience?

Well, one learns how much the world has changed and how dependent we are on cell phones. We are all so connected that being without our smart phones, our little worlds do not function correctly. I kept hearing other people’s phones ring thinking it was mine. Other people’s texts going off thinking it was mine. I kept reaching for my phone to check email, facebook, texts, and missed calls.

Even weirder, I kept thinking I felt it vibrate in my bag.

While I was running on the boring treadmill, I decided we are all way too connected. That is part of the reason I kept my hair appointment. We all functioned years ago without all this connected technology.

I see it with my son and his friends. All too connected to these iproducts. I do not consider myself old but I will sound it when I say, “What happened to toys? What happened to playing outside? What happened to reading a real book that has paper pages and a hard cover?”

The truth is, the world could wait a few hours to reach me and I could go a few hours without seeing facebook and emails.

My hair on the other hand, was in need of attention.