Category Archives: running

tuesday tidbits

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1. I woke up this morning from a horrific nightmare; kissing someone who a) I never want to kiss and b) is married. It was a horrible way to start the day. How come the only kissing dreams I ever have are nightmares? It’s so not fair! Not to mention the fact that I got very little sleep due to this horrendous cough that I have that will not go away.

2. Both my receptionist and I were in bad moods…and somehow we played off each other to the point of feeling better. Don’t ask me, but something about the emails we sent back and forth…emails that are totally unnecessary since we sit across from each other, made the day much, much better.

3. I had J-Dawg’s for lunch…for the second day in a row. Of course, I didn’t tell any of the people I met there that I had eaten there yesterday. Where’s the fun in that? And for those of you who have yet to eat there, you should really try it. The dawgs are delicious and a great value, I think. I like mine with special sauce, a little bit of mayo (which normally I find kind of repulsive) and kraut. I know, it’s weird, but sooo good.

4. I “met” two very cool bloggers (Cropstar and Annie) today. They are both training for different races, so we got to exchange some running tips. You should check out their sites. I love the way the blogging world works. I get to “meet” and interact with people I might otherwise never meet. I love it!

5. I hired someone today for an open, part-time position, which is nice since I will be down two employees come Tuesday. But then I had to call the other five people I interviewed and tell them they didn’t get the job. That part sucked. There two of the “rejects” that I wish I could have hired. The other three? Well, they were all good. I just wish I could have said to them, “remember when you told me that you have a problem with this or that? Yeah, that’s why you didn’t get hired.” Or, “You know how you didn’t make eye contact with me through the entire interview? That’s why you didn’t get hired.” Not only that, but most of their resumes were turned in on plain white paper and the formatting was pretty bad. Why don’t they teach interviewing and resume writing in high school as a required class? I think that would be a lot more useful than several of the classes I took, like calculus, for instance.

6. I couldn’t wait until work was over so that I could head up the canyon and take some pictures before going on my run. Taking pictures was the motivation to get me up the canyon so that I would go running…and even then, I almost didn’t.

7. While I have almost no control when it comes to spending money, I really enjoy my “toys”, so I guess I’m okay being out of money all the time (even if it does keep me up at night on occasion). Today I was all about my camera and my iPod, although, technically I didn’t spend any money on the latter since I used points from my credit card to get it (I guess I did spend a lot of money to get the points)…but the Nike+ I did purchase, which is 90% of the reason I love my nano.

8. My dad emailed me to give me the confirmation on my motel room in St. George for Friday night (I have an extended family reunion). My dad is hilarious. He listed the info, and the price and then he put in the discount, the “Good Ol’ Dad” discount. Basically, I pay nothing. I then emailed him back and whined about being broke and asked if G.O.D. (yes, that’s the acronym) might want to give his daughter some money for gas. And, surprisingly, he said ‘yes’. I don’t know what his deal is lately, but I’m definitely appreciating his generosity. And, while you all may be thinking about pathetic is for a 29-year-old to ask for gas money from her dad, I have no problem with it.
9. Today, I was loving that fact that I live in Utah. I know, weird. While I wasn’t necessarily loving the “happy valley” aspect, I was loving the fact that I can drive 10 minutes and be in a beautiful canyon with a river and waterfalls and a great biking/running trail . It’s amazing!

10. I attended a forum today on campus. The lecture was entitled “Coaxing the Muse: Thoughts on the Creative Process.” It was fantastic. I love working for a University that offers devotionals and forums and I love that I get paid to go to them. The lecturer gave several pieces of advice for writing, but the two that stuck with me are that you need to read voraciously and write regularly. I wish I had the lecture recorded. It was just that good. He also shared a quote from Picasso that I absolutely love, “I don’t know what inspiration is, but when it comes, I hope it finds me working.” Part of why I love blogging is that it gives me an opportunity to write almost daily.

11. Veronica Mars is now over and I now have no reason to ever watch the CW again. And, while I did enjoy the episode last night, because the CW just decided to cancel it, there was absolutely no closure, zero, zilch, nada. Seriously disappointing. And I loved that they were just calling it the “season finale” and not the “series finale”. Who are they kidding? I loathe the CW. The CW is dead to me.

Running with Angels

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Running with Angels is a book that was written by Pamela Hansen. Admittedly, I have not read the book (although I hope to soon). Dianne, one of the psychologists with whom I work, was telling me about it one day as we were discussing running. (I ran my first 5k with her and her friend, Ruth). It’s a story of a woman’s “triumph over tragedy” through running. There’s a great article that reviews the book, if you want to read about it.

Today was the 3rd annual Running with Angels 5k at Thanksgiving Point and I am happy to say that, even though I have gotten very little sleep over the past week, I managed to drag my butt out of bed and run it. I was a little concerned about how not fast I would be running, but I decided not to worry about it. I ran into Ruth and Dianne at the race and ended up running with them for about 4 of the 5 km. These two women are so inspirational to me and I absolutely love running with them. They have been running together for years and have all kinds of fun stories to tell, so running with them is always entertaining.

Today was my fourth 5k, but it was the first one where I just let go and really enjoyed myself. I didn’t set a PR, but it wasn’t my slowest 5k, either. And considering that I have hardly run at all in the last month and that I’m still getting over strep throat, I felt great about it. Not only that, but I don’t know how many of you have been to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point, but this was my first time. It was absolutely amazing! And to be able to run in such a beautiful setting on such a perfect day…well, that’s what it’s all about for me.

If you have never participated in a race before, even if you’re not one for running, I highly recommend it. There is this unbelievable energy. I don’t really know how to describe it. And runners have to be some of the nicest people out there, along with the people who organize the races. I love how people just cheer you on. I love that it doesn’t matter if it takes you 30 minutes or an hour, people cheer for you either way.

I can’t wait for my next race, my first 10k.

"so what?" she says

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Tyra Banks is not exaclty someone I idolize. While, I will admit that I did enjoy the season finale of “America’s Top Model” last night, I didn’t live and die by it. I have never watched the Tyra Banks show…or whatever it’s called. But the other day, Shape magazine came in the mail (free subscription for registering through Active.com for a 5k) and Tyra was on the cover, with an article about body confidence and her So What? campaign. The actual title of the article was “why I love my body…just the way it is”.

I read the article and it made me a fan (still no idolizing). She has some great “love-your-body tips” and, while I haven’t felt the need to incorporate them all into my life, since I read the article, I keep having these “so what?” moments. And let me tell you, it feels good.

I was in Nordstrom last Friday, shopping, which I mentioned in here. What I didn’t say…because I really do have issues…is that not only did I buy two pairs of shoes, but I also found a dress. I found this great dress and grabbed the size that I thought would fit, and it did, not that I was happy about it. But then, I looked in the mirror and it looked great and I thought to myself, “I don’t love this size, but so what? It looks fantastic!” One of Tyra’s tips is to buy an article of clothing/outfit that makes you feel fabulous, so I went ahead and purchased the dress.

Another moment, the one that acted as a catalyst for this post, happened today. I finally sucked it up and went for a run. I haven’t been running for a few weeks. I went walking a couple of times last week, but no running and with a 5k to run on Saturday, I thought now might be a good time to make sure that I was not going to die.

I got in my car and headed to the canyon. I was proud of myself for finally going, but I was not looking forward to the run…and there began the negative self-talk. “You know, three months ago you could run ten miles. Three months ago you weighed ten pounds less,” etc. Well, it was in that moment that this voice piped up (a voice I am still getting used to) and screamed, “So what?”

I got out of my car, put my headphones in, turned on my nano, got my nike+ rolling and I was off. It felt so good. I just ran…and then walked…and then ran some more. Normally, I become very frustrated when I start walking, mainly because I have a very hard time running again due to my somewhat obsessive “all or nothing” tendencies which tell me that, once I start walking, I have failed. But yesterday was different. Before I even set off, I decided that I wanted to do five miles, and if that meant walking, “so what?” I was outside, moving my body, enjoying nature. I ran a mile, walked a mile, ran a mile, walked a mile and finished out running the last mile. I wasn’t frustrated or upset. I didn’t feel like a failure at all. For an hour yesterday, I just loved my body and what it was capable of. It was amazing!

st. george, here i come

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So, I found out that I made it into the St. George Marathon. It’s a lottery and I kind of entered it on a whim. When I wasn’t able to run the Canyon Lands Half-Marathon, I was kind of bummed, so I thought I’d sign up for the full in St. George…probably hoping, somewhere deep inside of me (or perhaps on the surface), that I wouldn’t get in.

After I registered for the lottery, I mentioned to a friend that I had done it and he asked, “Is this your first time?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Then you’ll get in for sure. They always let first-timers in.”

Well, that would have been helpful to know about a minute before I registered. I might have thought about it a little bit more.

Not only did I get in, but it was one of the counselors at work who told me that I had. He came up to me and said, “I saw your name on a list. Looks like you’ve got some work ahead of you.”

My response: “What? I have no idea what you are talking about. What list?” I was truely at a loss, and this particular counselor likes to ‘banter’, so it took a few minutes to finally get him to tell me what the heck he was talking about.

This is my first year of running in races, and so far, I have been emailed whenever I have gotten in to a lottery, but there was no email this time, so I was grateful someone else was watching out for me. I am excited and nervous all at once. Running a marathon is on the list, and now I will get to do it before I turn 30 (yep…the big day is this year). I’m also glad that most training programs run about four months, so I have a month to get back into running daily.

And in true Andersen form, as soon as I found out, I decided it was time to purchase a running skirt. (This is a great blog post with lots of comments about the pros and cons). My voice instructor told me about them…so I did a little online searching and found these ones that have two pockets (how convenient! I can stick my iPod, gels, etc. right there in my skirt) and have received lots of positive reviews. I can’t wait for it to arrive!

Any words of wisdom or advice? Yes, I’m actually soliciting advice, so take advantage, as this rarely happens.

Running in Vegas…

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So, I don’t know why I didn’t realize just how hot it would be Saturday morning, but I didn’t. I’ve lived in Phoenix for the last five years, so you would think that I would remember, but I didn’t. However, our little family 5k went splendidly well. I’m sure that my little brother (funny that he’s almost 28 and 6’3″ and I still refer to him as “little”) could’ve kicked my trash, but he stuck with C and me so that we all finished within seconds of each other. It probablay also helped my cause that J was pushing the stroller the majority of the time.
There was quite the spread afterward…you can see T enjoying (or at least being intrigued by) a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie.