Race Report - Women's Half Marathon

I am so excited to be writing ANOTHER race report!!!

I knew immediately following my first half marathon that I would do another one and that I would be faster.  I am only a little bit competitive, so I was all over the thought of another challenge.  I had already eyed the Women's Running Magazine Women's Half Marathon

 Even better... It was local and had an amazing looking course... Much better than the more popular local Rock and Roll series Half.  On paper it looked to be mostly downhill.  Reality proved to be a bit different, but I will save that story.

When I made the decision to do this race, I started to talk it up at work, because I knew from being a part of Team Shrinking Jeans, that it was WAY more fun to train with a team!  Well, in the end our TEAM CARDON (Cardon Children's Medical Center) included all four of us nurses from the clinic, our phlebotomist, three nurses from our out-patient treatment center, one nurse & unit clerk from our in-patient unit, one of my friends, the parent of one of our patients and my sister in-law.  

Here are some of us in our Team Cardon shirts:

The runner figure on our shirts is in the shape of a yellow ribbon - the ribbon for Childhood Cancer.

My training went well.  Slow and steady without much drama.  I did a fair amount of my short runs on the treadmill and had to either run my long runs up north in a cooler climate or get up before the sunrise to get finished before it was too hot.  I did have some issues with my right thigh on my longer runs, especially near the end carrying less weight with a body that was ready to go faster and faster.  During the course of training, I released 15 pounds and went from averaging a 14-15 minute/mile to averaging a 12-13 minute/mile.  I continued to do run/walk intervals and couldn't believe how much time started ticking of my totals! I set two goals for the race... One realistic and one a "reach" goal

1.  Finish in under 3 hours

2. Finish in 2:45 or less

It was great to feel prepared not only from a training perspective, but also from a logistics perspective.  I knew what I needed to take and what worked and didn't work for me.  We arrived bright and early with much excitement.  Several of us were running or run/walking and the rest were walking - Most completing their first half marathon!

Still Dark Out!

Lara & I - adrenaline flowing!

7:00 came and it was time to get the show on the road... There were only 5 corrals, and we were in corral 4, so we were under way within a couple of minutes.  The first three miles were a great warm up and moved pretty quickly.  After mile three we spent about a mile on the canal and started our several miles of downhill running.  My right outer thigh and outer knee started to hurt around mile four, but it was manageable and would subside during my walk intervals.  It also held up pretty well on the downhills.  By mile 6.5 I was ahead of pace to finish in 2:45 and felt really, really optimistic that I would meet or beat this goal.  It was amazing to feel myself running at a comfortable pace and look down at my Garmin to see that I was running at an 11 min/mile pace... What a great feeling!  I maintained this pace through mile eight.

THEN came miles 9-12... This was the surprise of the course and the most grueling section of the course.  It was a loop that went past the finish line area, went over and under freeways and looped back around to the finish line.  It was fun to see friends that were ahead of me as I was going into the loop and then great to see the walkers as I was looping back towards the finish line.  This picture was taken as I was coming back towards the finish...

 There was a lot of up and down and right as I was going into the loop, my leg really became very painful and every time I started to run it literally screamed at me!  I fought it for a bit and really got pissed, but then I settled down and realized that I had already accomplished so much and that this setback wasn't because I ran out of energy or because I couldn't DO IT per se, but because my leg was holding me back.  So I walked a lot and ran a little, maintaining a 14 minute/mile pace, enjoyed my music and pushed through.  According to Garmin I finished in 2:53 and my chip time was 2:54.  Pretty darn impressive to take 20 minutes off my time from San Diego!

Here are several pics from the finish line...

 My sister-in-law Tierra and I - she is a running machine - finished in 2:22!

Sam and I - He was so proud and took such good care of me and my sore/aching body!

 Showing off my medal - COOLEST MEDAL!!! In the center there was a charm that came out and went on a necklace.  Very cool!

All of us from the clinic!  ALL Half Marathon finishers - Three, for the first time!


It was an amazing experience personally... It was also an amazing experience to watch a team that I put together ALL cross the finish line.  Ten of the thirteen finished their FIRST Half Marathon!  I was reminded of the BondiBand that says: "Run, walk, crawl... Finish" because our last walker came across the finish line at 4:23.  She was so proud of herself and so amazed that she DID IT!  THAT was incredibly satisfying for me!


This has become such a journey for me. While at the Expo on Saturday, I decided to buy a shirt that I had seen in San Diego and passed on, but that now held infinitely deeper meaning for me now.  On the back it reads this:

Whether you are 16 or 67,

the desire to hit the road

is not easily explained to those who

do not run.

We understand the pull of the road.

The joy of losing yourself in the solitude

of a good long distance run, 

or the sisterhood you experience

when you find that great running partner ~

Running is more than a feat of athleticism,

it is therapeutic. There is an unexpected

exhilaration that we experience

having challenged our personal limitations...

Finally proving to ourselves

that we can indeed make it to the finish line!

Whether you are here to win,

or here to experience a little more of who you are...

We salute you!

What a race!  I can't wait for the next one!

Shrinkvivor Weigh-In #8

I made it to the FINAL SEVEN competing for the SHRINKVIVOR title!

I am still pinching myself and cannot believe I did it.  Yet in the same breathe, I set out to do this from the very first day of the challenge.  I have been so focused on getting to the finish line and accomplishing a big win!  I am thrilled to be in the last days and whether or not I take home the official title, I have absolutely WON!  I am blown away by all I have accomplished and all of the new and healthy habits I have created in my life.  You can hear all about it HERE on the vlog I created to "plead my case" for all who would be voting.

Selfishly, I absolutely want to win, but I have to tell you that I am surrounded by some amazing, amazing women in the top 7!  These gals have also created awesome results and have truly taken the opportunity to change their lives over the past 7 weeks.  It is great to be surrounded by motivated women who are taking on their lives!

This past week I have started to take it easy as I prepare for my race on Sunday.  I did six miles instead of eight for my last training run and really took the opportunity to listen to my body and stop while I was ahead.  I have been doing some yoga and lots of stretching.  I will do a bit of elliptical, but other than that I am focusing on hydration, rest and getting enough carbs loaded to feel great for the race. 

Eating has continued to go well and I am still amazed by how good I feel!  I was derailed a little bit on Halloween and did indulge in a few pieces of the pounds of candy that came into my house in the hands of my children and out of my house as I passed it out.  I got right back on track Monday morning and am doing well now, though.

The fitness challenge this week was to try something new and my "something new" was a new yoga video - Jillian's Yoga Melt Down and Holy WOW... as usual, she doesn't mess around!  She always means business and the way my body felt the next day was proof!  Sore, sore, sore - good sore, but SORE!

That is about it for this week...

I do have ONE last request... Go HERE and vote for ME!!!  I would love to have your vote!

Without further ado, it is time to share my stats!  Another great week!!!

Here are my stats:

Starting Weight

215 lbs
Starting Weight for this Challenge
197.6

Today's Weight

182.4 lbs

 WOOOO HOOOO!

Change from last week

-2 lbs!!!!

Difference for the challenge
-15.2lb!!!!

Total Difference

 -32.6 lbs

 

Shrinkvivor Weigh-In #6

Let me just say, right here and now I want the SHRINKVIVOR title!

I have to say that my awesome tribe is STILL outfiting, outlosing and outlasting so far...  We are down to two!  We are a strong little team!

It has been quite the week... It started with my incredibly emotional journey in creating my Exposed post.  What a cathartic, cleansing and freeing experience it was!  I highly recommend it if you haven't done your own.  I have continued to adjust to my eating plan and am feeling great!  I have a ton of energy and can't believe how amazing food is tasting.  I made an incredible recipe that I saw on Biggest Loser last week.  If you didn't see the episode, Bob took some of the contestants to his house and cooked a completely vegan meal for them.  One of the recipes was Roasted Tri-Color Cauliflower and it was absolutely delish!   I am still having some sugar cravings, but feeling good and releasing this weight is worth it!

Our fitness challenge was MINUTES again.  I love this challenge.  Amazingly enough, my slower pace works to my benefit in this case!  My crazy long run on Saturday definitely helped my minute count.  It was brutal!  I hit my first wall at eight miles and then my BIG wall at ten miles, leaving me to leisurely walk the last two miles back to my car, with a very sore leg.  Needless to say I went almost straight to my lifesaving Sports Chiropractor friend and he set me up.  He adjusted the heck out of my back that was way out, lasered my leg and taped my knee and thigh with Spider tape.  Let me just say that Spider Tape is THE BOMB!  My leg felt better by evening and has been great since.  I had a phenomenal run yesterday!  Here is the miracle tape...

My total minutes rounded out at 458!!!  I am very happy with that number!

So... 19 days until my Half Marathon and in light of the disaster training run, my doctor has given me a plan to add complex carbs for one meal/day, several days before my last long training run and before the race.  We think that I just didn't have enough reserve given how low carb my eating plan is.  Stay tuned... Hopefully that will do the trick!  I am looking forward to shattering my time from my first Half!

Without further ado, it is time to share my stats!  Another great week!!!

Here are my stats:

Starting Weight

215 lbs
Starting Weight for this Challenge
197.6

Today's Weight

188.4 lbs

 188.4!?!?!  I can't remember the last time I saw the 180's - WOOOO HOOOO!

Change from last week

-3 lbs!!!!


Difference for the challenge
-9.2lb!!!!

Total Difference

 -26.6 lbs
Holy Crap!  I get to add this

to my sidebar!

 

Putting It All Out There - Exposed

I had never heard of The Exposed Movement until this week.

Everyone has been much a twitter about the one year anniversary of the beginning of this amazing movement.  It has given incredible individuals, like Roni & Mrs. Fatass the permission and freedom to "let it all hang out" and embrace the bodies they have been gifted with and that have supported and carried them through their life's journeys.

Some of my greatest mentors and friends from The Sisterhood have joined in and exposed themselves as well.  At first, I thought "oh, yeah, I can do this... especially if all of these women whom I respect so much are doing it too.  Then, as the day went on and I thought more and more about it, the reality of "putting it all out there" became much more real and I thought seriously about whether or not to go forward.  The conclusion I came to was that it was a logical next step in my amazing journey to accept, love and honor myself and the body that God gave me.

So, here I go...

I have had a love/hate relationship with my body for almost as far back as I can remember.  The first seven years of my life were carefree with little thought about my body other than the fact that I insisted on always wearing dresses (even in the 20 degree winter days of Colorado).  During second grade, my parents separated and my body became my battlefield and the recipient of much self-imposed abuse in the form of eating.  Rather than expressing my fear, sadness, sorrow and anger in their natural forms, I ate to numb the pain and to give myself the strength to be the caretaker and mother to my own mother who was crumbling before my eyes.  Fortunately, my parents reconciled and remain married to this day.  Unfortunately, damage was done and negative patterns emerged.

In the beginning, I just became the "chubby girl".  I went to fat camp, participated in sports and tried my best to live up to the skinny expectations that I knew my father had for me.  I decided in my mind that his love was conditional and depended on my being a certain weight - a weight that always seemed to be an enigma.  (We have done much work throughout my adulthood to repair much of this, and currently are closer than ever...).  I yo-yo'd up and down through high school and college.  I read books and I did counseling, but the pattern of eating my emotions still exists and I think will always be present in my life, but hopefully not in control of my life.

Ironically, my greatest challenge in learning to love my body has come in my marriage.  I always had the fairytale dreams of being completely vulnerable and comfortable before my husband and dreamed of being unabashedly open with my body.  Funny thing, once married, the REAL work began.  I married a man who love, love, loves every inch of my body and every fiber of my being - AMAZING, right?  Right... Well, it is amazing if you are willing to embrace and accept it.  I have officially spent ten years learning to do just that because nothing about it has come natural to me.  I am learning from him about unconditional love and appreciation for my body and my soul in EVERY SINGLE FORM they take and at every stage in life.  Another curious observation... I have come the farthest in acceptance of my body over the past couple of years - a period of time that I have weighed more than ever.

Going through and living to tell about my dark winter has given me new appreciation for the here and now.  Being dependent upon medication that has made it very difficult for me to release weight has forced me to come to an acceptance of what I look like HERE and NOW.  Being in touch with the fragility of life on a daily basis through my work, has caused me to stop wallowing in my own self-pity and self-loathing and appreciate who I am and what I have.

Finding the Sisterhood has pushed me to new levels in terms of what my body is capable of.  After finishing a half marathon at 200 pounds, my belief in myself and in the beauty of my body soared to new heights.  And so here I am, embracing my body and another funny thing... finding my way through releasing and letting go of the pounds.

This is the beautiful body, given to me by God and NOW it is the body that I am daily choosing to honor, respect and embrace...

This is the same bikini I bought and wore on my honeymoon (but was too embarrassed to share pictures of me wearing - at a weight that I would today be giddy to weigh!).  The same bikini that I will put on again when I reach my goal weight to see how far I have come.

This is the body that allows me to compete with athletes half my size, simply because I push it and ask it to do so.

This is the body that allows me to work on my feet every day, being at the bedside of families in their worst nightmare, lifting them up and carrying them through the journey.

This is the body that created, carried, gave birth to and nourished the two pieces of my heart named Sam and Noah.

This is the body that allows me to laugh until I snort and to cry and grieve with others in pain.

 This is the body that carried me 13.1 miles across the finish line of my first Half Marathon. 

This is the body that will allow me to complete 3 Half Marathon's in a year.


This is the body that continues to carry and support me even though I abuse it.

This is the body that allows me to dance for hours.

This is the body that hugs others and accepts love in return.

This is the body that God Gave me

and

THIS IS THE BODY I CHOOSE TO LOVE & EMBRACE

Shrinkvivor weigh-in #2

What a week this has been!  I am so excited about SHRINKVIVOR!

I am so lucky to be part of an awesome tribe...

We are rocking already!

  
Moxie Maroon Mavens,

How is that for a name!  These are some super gals, who are motivating me and challenging me daily.  I am so proud of our tribe!

This was a pretty darn amazing week... I accomplished a HUGE milestone and broke through YET ANOTHER WALL!  I LOVE a challenge and when I found out that the fitness challenge was a miles challenge, I was excited!  Then, I had to step back and realize JUST how much my life had already changed... I, Tiffany Zook, was excited about a MILES challenge?!?!  What on earth was that?!?! I have come so far... I set out to knock it out of the park and I did!  My total miles between Thursday morning and last night:

24  TWENTY FOUR!!!

On the eating front, I did pretty well.  I have really watched my portions and water, oh the water... I have been drinking enough water to propel me across the ocean afloat.  100 + ounces every day to be exact!  I have also been watching my sugar intake.  Those things combined with the exercise have made for a successful week.

I am looking into some medically supervised eating plans, doing research and weighing the benefits of going that route given the fact that much of my weight gain and difficulty losing is medication related.  Until having medication related weight gain, I never had any difficulty losing weight when I wanted.  I dropped 40 pounds after my first son in less than six months without much struggle and was still able to "indulge" here and there without much impact.  I am currently at FOUR years of carrying 60 extra pounds from the weight I was at after my first son, 50 of which packed on within several months of going on medication for post-partum anxiety/depression.  I have tried WW, calorie counting, South Beach, Blood Type Diet with an average of 1-3 pound loss in the first month to six weeks.  The only positive has been that I seem to have mastered maintaining my weight give or take 5 pounds... Just not the optimal weight. I finally found success using an appetite/craving control supplement with following a low carb/low calorie (1200/day) eating plan combined with training for my first half marathon and dropped 19 pounds over the course of six months.  This was great, but slow, slow.  I know the saying... slow and steady wins the race... Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I also know how this 197 pound body feels running.  It feels like I am carrying another person with me.  I have been making incredible strides with my speed and breathing, being able to run at and 11-12 minute/mile pace... as long as I continue on with my walk intervals.  I am mentally ready to drop the walk intervals... My body just isn't seeming able to maintain the pace.  It is a lot to ask of my frame carrying this much extra.

Anyway, all that ramble to say that I am looking at a medically supervised program that incorporates a similar medication to the supplement I was taking before.  This program has been very successful for others with medication related weight gain.  Part of the program is a year of maintenance to assist/ensure that patients are supported to implement lasting/effective habits.  I have a few more questions to be answered before making a final decision, so stay tuned...

Here are my stats:

Starting Weight

215 lbs
Starting Weight for this Challenge
197.6

Today's Weight

196lbs

 (I can't believe I actually took a picture...)

Change from last week

-1.6lb 
(feel like it should have been more, given the exercise...)
Difference for the challenge
-1.6lb

Total Difference

 -19 lbs

 

Shrinkvivor - Openning Weigh-In

I am so excited that today is the day I start the BIGGEST and CRAZIEST challenge ever at the Sisterhood...

I love that they have taken a familiar concept to most of us and have turned it into one HUGE challenge!

I love a challenge, I love a group challenge AND I love a challenge with AMAZING prizes!  Look what we are playing for HERE.

So, what does all of this mean for me?  Well, I am a part of an awesome team... Team Maroon, and in just the time I have had to get aquainted with them over the past day or so, I can tell you that I don't want to let them down as much as I don't want to let myself down.

It has been a very "bumpy" couple of months and it is time to get serious, get my act together and shed some more of this baggage I am carrying around!  On Monday, I started back to calorie counting, cutting my eating off two hours before going to bed, and exercising the way I know works well for me. I have not been on the scale since before my birthday trip to Vegas that included a lot of eating and drinking, so I am sure that this number will reflect just that.  I am ramping up my mileage as I train for my next Half Marathon on November 7th and adding Shred or Yoga 2-3 days/week.  

The weather here on the surface of the sun (AKA the desert southwest) is finally starting to cool off, so I am able to run outside, which is a huge PLUS for me!  My medication increase has fully kicked in and I feel human again, with some drive and feeling that I can do what I need to do for myself again.  So all in all I say...

BRING IT ON!!!

Here are my stats:

Starting Weight

215 lbs
Starting Weight for this Challenge
197.6

Today's Weight

197.6lbs

 (I can't believe I actually took a picture...)

Change from last week

N/A
Difference for the challenge
N/A

Total Difference

 -17.4 lbs

 

Down & Dirty in 30 Weigh-In #4

This was a good week from an exercise standpoint and I am feeling more and more like myself... 

 

I had a GREAT run on Saturday - 7 miles and this time and I was finally at a long enough distance to do my favorite trail.  The last three miles are a gradual downhill!  Who doesn't like that!?!?!  My body hurt quite a bit, but I was very happy with my run and finished with the best pace in a long run yet.


My eating has continued to teeter.  As happens when I increase my medications, my cravings for sugar and chocolate have really gone through the roof.  It has been difficult, but after getting on the scale this morning,  IT.IS.TIME!!!  I am going back to what worked so well for me to release this last 19 pounds.  I started back on my appetite supplement that really helped with cravings.  I am continuing to give myself the grace but it is time to stop making it an excuse to eat whatever I want...


You can check out my fabulous team the The Cute Calorie Cutting Challengers, HERE 

Starting Weight

215 lbs
Starting Weight for this Challenge
196.2

Today's Weight

196.4 lbs

Change from last week

+1.4 lb
Difference for the challenge
+0.2 lb

Total Difference

 -18.6 lbs

 

Down & Dirty Weigh-In #3

This week has been another rollercoaster of emotions.  I blog in depth about it HERE.  It was again cleansing to put it all out there.  

I had a GREAT run on Saturday - 6 miles and this time I brought my husband along with me... AND fared much better than he did.  I officially decided that he can be the sprinter, but I am the DISTANCE RUNNER of the house!  He finished before me, but felt horrible after three miles and had to walk the remainder.  It was pretty gratifying to be "better" at something in the area of athletics...


My eating has continued to teeter.  It has been difficult, but I am continuing to give myself the grace I need to start fresh every morning...


You can check out my fabulous team the The Cute Calorie Cutting Challengers, HERE

I will take maintaining!  So much better than going up!

Starting Weight

215 lbs
Starting Weight for this Challenge
196.2

Today's Weight

195 lbs

Change from last week

-0 lb
Difference for the challenge
-1.2 lb

Total Difference

 -20 lbs

 

Dark Winter

I have been a bit absent lately...

I have officially entered what I UNaffectionately call my Dark Winter.

I have entered my Dark Winter every summer for the past four years.  The heat of summer comes and I survive for the first month or so and then it catches up with me.  Each year I spend the spring gearing up and doing new things with hopes that the Darkness will be a bit lighter.  This year I began running and began to exercise more frequently and with greater intensity.  I also released nearly 20 pounds.  Unfortunately, it has been the most stressful winter and spring I have ever had at work.

So here I am... In the depths of my fourth Dark Winter...

Why four?

Four years ago, my life changed forever.  I went from being a busy, working mom of two boys and wife to an amazing husband one day, to being riddled with panic, anxiety and depression the next.  Literally overnight, my world fell apart and I entered a personal hell so fierce and so scary that there were moments that I wondered if I would make it to the other side.  I went 72 hours without more than an hour of continuous sleep and landed in the Emergency Room, believing they would help me.  I was wrong, the ER doctor ruled out a heart attack and pulmonary embolism, looked at me and said "Why are you so anxious?!?!", gave me something to help me sleep and a few days worth of Ativan.  That was it.  Two days later I made David take me to the psych unit at the hospital so that I could check myself in.  They wouldn't help me either because I wasn't suicidal or homicidal... Great... the reward for not wanting to hurt myself or anyone else was a list of psychiatrists that all had a minimum 2-3 week wait.  As almost an afterthought and really our last hope, we went to my family doctor (the one I had listed on my insurance but had never met). 

We walked into the clinic and both kept looking at each other wondering why we were there because no one had helped me yet, but at the same time we both desperately hoped that we soon would receive some answers.  THANK GOD, we went.  After spending almost 45 minutes going through what was happening and thoroughly through my medical history, the doctor (a resident, mind you...) looked at both of us and said the words that I hadn't anticipated hearing...

"I have no doubt you are dealing with Delayed Severe Post-Partum Anxiety"

What?!?!  My baby was eight months old... I had almost no baby blues after he was born... I thought that only happened in the early months... My hormones can cause THIS?!?!?!

He went on to explain that PP Anxiety/Depression can happen anytime in the first year after having a baby.  I am a nurse and this was news to me.  He said that before anything else, I needed to start medication.  The first medication I tried gave me horrible hot flashes, so a week later I started another medication and within another week they added a second medication to offset some of the "dopamine release" side effects I was having.  It was another two-three weeks before the "cloud lifted" and I started to feel some "flashes of me".

During this four weeks of medication adjustments and waiting for it to take effect, we moved in with my parents & I alternated my days between laying on the couch in David's office while he worked, unable to sleep because I was so jittery yet really unable to do much else because I was so tired, and going with the kids to their sitter, who took care of me along with the boys.  I became utterly dependent on others to make nearly every decision.  When I wasn't laying on the couch, I had loved ones making me walk... Walking really helped when the jitteryness increased.  I barely ate, and when I did, food really didn't have any taste.  I lost 15 pounds in the first two weeks.  I could barely interact with my children. 

To this day, I have very little recollection of anything having to do with the boys during that month, and because I am the family photographer, I have no pictures.

That was July 2006.... My first Dark Winter.

Things did get better.  Medication, exercise, prayer, counseling and loving/committed family & friends literally saved my life.  I gained a sense of appreciation of life and physical functioning that I had never known.  I learned to rest, to pace myself and to take care of myself in ways that I had never known.  I eased back into the work I love. Within six months I was able to take only one of the three medications I needed initially.

For most people with depression and anxiety, the cold, snow, less sunshine/daylight and endless time indoors triggers symptoms.  For me, the stifling heat, artificial air (air conditioning), lack of time outdoors triggers my symptoms.  Its like the opposite of seasonal affective disorder.  I have always struggled with heat and spending any extended period of time in a hot climate, but it has been immeasurably worse since 2006 and every summer I have to tweak my medication or take extra steps to keep from completely going crazy.

This is why I call the summer, My Dark Winter.

I am right in the middle of it. I started to have symptoms about a month ago, getting jittery before having to leave and go home from the cooler mountains where I spend my weekends... anticipating my return to the heat.  I have also been abnormally irritable and hormonal. Almost two weeks ago my doctor increased my medicine, so I hope to start feeling a bit more like my best me soon. I also cut my work week (same number of hours) to four days, so I could have an additional day up north.  In the meantime, I am exhausted, short fused and really want to eat all of my comfort foods.  I have continued to exercise, though my runs in the last week have been grueling.  My kids have been making me crazy and the littlest things set me off.  I feel like a failure at motherhood and marriage.

My husband told me two weeks ago that we may need to move.  I know it is agonizing for him to ride this roller coaster every summer and that he would do anything for me.  My first reaction was sorrow because I feel different enough as it is and to make a change that big, causing him to leave all that he has built with his ministry because of my health was too much for me to handle the thought of.  We have continued to discuss it and he challenged me to change my thinking to think in terms of the fact that he loves me so much that he would be willing to make any change necessary for me to be as healthy as possible.  Wow.  That is pretty amazing.  So I am thinking more and more about it.  For so long, I didn't want to think about living in a different city from may parents, but honestly, now that the boys are getting older, we depend less and less on them and the thought isn't nearly as scary.

So, here I am, trudging through the days... As the clouds lift and life returns to normal, I am committed to continue the discussion of a move, to return to the eating habits I know make me feel the healthiest and to continue my efforts as a competitive runner (can't believe I just typed that...).  For now, bear with me as I survive.  

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all my girlfriends at The Sisterhood... All of you in your own special way are making the days bearable and your endless words of encouragement, humor, banter and love mean more than you will ever know.