A bonus Christmas Eve post

I'm popping back in to write a quick version of "Friend Making Monday," a questionnaire I borrowed from Cathy at Living the Dream. So here are my quick and dirty answers to this week's questions....

1. I want to...run faster again.
2. I've never...run a full mile under seven minutes.
3. I believe...I could run a mile under seven minutes if I worked hard at training for it.
4. My mind often wonders if...I will ever lose weight. (This could also have a direct correlation to my ability to run faster!)
5. Last night I dreamed...but I can't remember about what.
6. This morning for breakfast I had...(okay this is bad)...pre-run - a cookie and a piece of Danish Kringle. Post-run - a piece of Kringle. At work - Starbucks egg white, spinach & feta wrap, grapefruit wedges.
7. My love life is...good.
8. I enjoy...food. Too much.
9. When I was I was a child...I used to play school and I was the teacher and my sister and friends were the students.
10. When I'm in the kitchen...I nibble too much.
11. My favorite exercise is...running. Of course.
12. When I travel I...overpack.
13. My friends would tell you I am...quiet.
14. If I had to eat a a fast food restaurant today, I would choose...Gordito's (Mexican food).
15. My favorite...place to travel to is England.
16. My home is messy 100 years old.
17. I read...lots of good books. Some mediocre books.
18. The last movie I saw was...The Hobbit. (Before that, Ted.)
19. Music makes me...run faster!
20. All I want for Christmas is...honestly, there is nothing I want. I am happy with what I have already.

There you have it! Once again, Merry Christmas to all!

Merry Christmas Eve

I couldn't let Christmas come and go without a post for almost three weeks! It is truly because I am still not able to blog from my iPad, and I have been too busy at work to use my computer there. Not that I would ever work on a blog post during the work day, of course. (I am my own boss, and I would never allow that. Ha.)

Anyhow, the trip to Hawaii and the Honolulu Marathon went well (in its way). I did manage to achieve a new personal slow (don't like the term "personal worst"), but I'm okay with that. I pretty much let it happen. I will tell the story soon, I hope. I do have a lot of good pictures from the marathon and the trip! And I have some travel tips for people planning to run the Honolulu Marathon in future.

After Honolulu I took five days off running to let my legs rest a little. I am back to running but still very slow. I'm letting that happen through the rest of the year before I start thinking about plans for 2013. Well, I'm thinking about them now, but I'm not putting them into place until January.

I am easily on track to go over 2000 miles for 2012. I will update on the final totals in a week!

Today is Christmas Eve (obviously) and that is my family's primary day of Christmas celebration. After I leave work in a few minutes I am going to head to my parents' house to hang out there before the festivities begin. Tonight we will have a traditional Norwegian Christmas Eve dinner with lutefisk and lefse. Not everyone loves lutefisk (a type of cod), including me, so we will have some other things as well. I made the lefse on Saturday (a soft flatbread made with potatoes and flour). Here is Eva helping me make lefse....(Eva and I are both wearing black shirts, not smart when you are working with flour!)

 

And now it is time for me to take off and get on with eating cookies my other tasks for the day.

Merry Christmas, everyone!



And then it was December

I have been silenced over the last couple weeks by a non-working Blogpress app on my iPad. Since most of my writing opportunities are on the iPad, there has been very little writing!

I am now five days out from the Honolulu Marathon, and I feel like I am ready. For the running part, that is...hopefully the packing and trip part will be easy. Packing is always stressful for me!

I did my last "long" run on Friday, November 30. Eight miles at "goal marathon pace" of 10:18. I would have liked it a little faster but that wasn't happening at 6:30 a.m. on a rainy Friday morning. Actually I would also have liked it to be ten miles, but that wasn't happening at 6 a.m. on Friday morning! 6:30 a.m. start = 8 miles and still a close call to get to work on time.

Originally my last long run was going to be on Sunday, but I cleared Sunday just in case we went skiing. As it turns out, there was too little snow and too much rain for skiing on Sunday morning--which was fine with me. I'm just not feeling the ski bug yet. I still kept Sunday as a non-run day, though. My heel and ankle had been a little sore and stiff all week, so I didn't want to push it, since I had also run a little bit hard on Saturday.

On Saturday, December 1, I ran my last 5K of the year (probably my last 5K of the year), the Jingle Bell Run in Mount Vernon. I was not too excited about this run, as the weather was supposed to be rainy and stormy, and it was hard to get myself out of the car to check in, let alone do any warm-up running! But I twisted my arm, and got in just about two miles before the race began.

It never did rain, although it was windy at times, especially during my warm-up (and after-miles). I squeezed in just under two miles before lining up at the start. I had hoped to have a slightly faster 5K for my final race, but it was not to be. Well, my finishing time was faster, but that was because the course was a little short, just under three miles by my watch. My time was 25:28, so I figure if I had done the whole 3.1 miles I would have had the same time as all my other 5Ks this fall, around 26:30.

Afterwards I ran about 2.25 miles more, to give myself a total of seven miles for the day.

Then we went to my parents' house and I made blueberry pancakes.

My final week of running before the marathon looks like this...

Monday - about six miles (I did 7.37 at 10:18 average pace. 10:18 average means the first two miles at 11 minutes and the rest around 10 in order to try and shore up the average.)

Tuesday - cross train (elliptical at the Y--done)

Wednesday - about six miles with 4-6 x 400 m repeats. I'm not sure if I will do those intervals on the track or on the road. With all the rain we've had I suspect the track will be flooded or at least too muddy to run on. If I do them on the road they will be slower than on the track, I just can't help that.

Thursday - a few miles--5, 6, whatever--hopefully at marathon pace or faster. This is the day we leave for Hawaii. I'm working in the morning and we fly out in the afternoon.

I'm not planning on doing any running in Hawaii before the marathon. This is not ideal, as I would like to try a little running in the climate, but I do like to have two days of rest before the marathon.

My great paranoia of the day is fear of getting a cold. I am not feeling 100% right now. I am trying to fend off any lurking cold by drinking Emergen-C and tea with honey. (I started this morning.) I got a cold right before TCM--this cannot happen again!

A final note...the pictures from the Seattle Marathon & Half Marathon are out. Apparently I only finished the race, but did not run it, because there are no on-course photos of me! Here are a couple of decent pictures of me...the rest can remain unseen.

This picture is from about a mile in, when I ran by my parents and threw them my jacket (which was meant to be a throwaway, but now I can keep it for another use!).

NHBPM 22-25 (catching up again)

November 22 - Thanksgiving Day - Thankful post

Today I am supposed to write about what I am thankful for. I have read many blogs (and Facebook posts) where people are posting thanks every day in November (at least through Thanksgiving). I am glad I didn't do that because obviously it is impossible for me to keep up with anything on a daily basis!

I have many things to be thankful for. I am thankful that I am healthy, and that everyone close to me is relatively healthy as well. Several family members have various conditions or complaints, but nothing that really interferes with their lives or makes them suffer. I am thankful to have a good relationship with my family, and even though we have our squabbles and disputes, we have never had major feuds that cause long-lasting damage to our relationship. I am thankful for my boyfriend Rod, who is an important part of my life. I am thankful for my dear cat Libby, the remaining member of our feline family. (Yes, I include myself as one of the feline family.) I am thankful for my job that provides a good living, is fairly stable, and the great people I work with. I am thankful to live in Washington, where there are no hurricanes or tornadoes, and although there could be earthquakes, that the Big One hasn't hit us yet. I am thankful that I am able to run without having incurred any serious injury, and that I have continued to explore and expand my runnign experiences over the years.

November 23 - Clean out your fridge in written form. What's in there? How does it reflect your personality?

The alternative was to clean out your closet, and I just can't face that.

My fridge is always pretty full, but I try to eat everything I put in there. The only things that tend to stick around too long are ingredients I buy for a special recipe that only needs a portion. Unfortunately those tend to get shoved to the back of the fridge and eventually grow hair. Right now there's some evaporated and condensed milk in that category, and probably some sour cream somewhere. Every once in a while I throw out the junk. Otherwise...

There are a few bottled dressings and sauces, including barbecue sauce, Frank's hot sauce, ketchup and mustard. I always need to keep at least a jar of dijon mustard on hand. I always have a few containers of plain Greek yogurt. Right now I also have a bag of spinach, probably a few bell peppers, some cucumbers and apples, and leftover mashed cauliflower from Thanksgiving (I'll be eating it tonight). There's a carton of salsa that I hope is still good. My leftover food is low right now because of Thanksgiving and being in Seattle for a couple of days. Oh! There is usually an open can of cat food for Libby.

My fridge reflects my personality because it is usually stocked with healthy food, but there is also extra clutter that I can't bear (or be bothered) to clear out!

November 24 - If I had more than 24 hours in a day....

I would sleep more. No question. I think that getting plenty of sleep is so important, yet I almost always cheat myself of sleep because it is the one thing that I can stint on without noticeable consequences.

November 25 - How have your goals as a person evolved?

Ten years ago I could never have imagined I would have goals like running a marathon or a 50K. Back then my goals involved things like antique collecting, home decorating, and gardening. (As well as career/job goals, of course.) I'm a little regretful that the home and garden goals have been put on the back burner as much as they have, actually. Now that I've achieved most of my running goals (not that there aren't always more to explore), I would like to move toward some balance where I fix up some of the things I've let slide with my house and continue to train and run as well. I tend to be a serially obsessive person...that is I give my all to one interest, then move on to something else. It would be nice to do a little bit of everything.

That takes me through the weekend...and I don't have the energy to start this week's topics yet!

I'll come back soon with a post about the weekend's running activities (Seattle Half Marathon), and my thoughts as taper progresses and the Honolulu Marathon approaches (less than two weeks!).

NHBPM #18-21

I have fallen a little behind because I didn't connect with the topics over the weekend. Then last night I was going to write, and the blogging app on my iPad kept crashing...what's up with that? I have no idea how to fix it. I am just going to mush all those days together here today with a hodgepodge of topics that may or may not be from the list.

My New Marathon Playlist aka My New iPod Shuffle aka I am a Technology Dunce
Remember my Election Day playlist that I did on my iPhone? Well I added a bunch more songs to make sure it was more than five hours long, then I wanted to figure out how to transfer the playlist to my iPod Nano which is easier to deal with than the iPhone for playing music on runs. (This is NOT going to be instructions on how to do that properly!)

My laptop that has my iTunes on it and my HUGE library of music that makes up the playlists currently on my iPod has died, and all the music is trapped, although our computer guy may be able to get it off sometime. We'll see. Anyways, I downloaded iTunes to the crappy laptop I've been using at work and plugged in my phone. What happened then was that all the music I have on the phone got backed up on the computer (good), but my actual Election Day playlist was deleted (I still have most of the songs, just not gathered together). The reason I didn't even get all of the songs (I guess) is because some of them are from home CDs rather than iTunes and apparently that doesn't get copied. Or something.

Anyhow, I reconstructed the playlist and downloaded a few more to make up for the missing ones. However, I didn't want to try to load it onto my iPod because I'm afraid I will wipe out everything else that's on there. So I made an emergency trip to Target and got a new iPod shuffle for this playlist alone (it's 100+ songs). While there I succumbed to Target's siren wiles and this happened....

Those gloves are touch screen friendly. And the scarf! Love. I wish it were going to be cold during the Seattle Half on Sunday so I could wear it. But it's not. It may be wet, though.

Alternative Treatments and Medicine

I am all in favor of alternative treatments and medicine, as long as it is not at the peril of rejecting life-saving medical treatments.

For example, I believe that obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and Type II diabetes (and pre-diabetes) should all be addressed with diet and exercise, either before turning to medications or in conjunction with medications if they are needed. I know this isn't a radical position, in fact I believe it is the standard of care for these types of conditions. I don't think that medications should be rejected, if they are needed.

I am curious about, but have never tried, hypnotherapy and acupuncture. I am all in favor of massage therapy and in support of chiropracture (though I've never tried it).

My bottom line position is that when a person has a medical condition, all the possible methods of treating it, medical and non-traditional, should be considered. However, I would be leery of any sort of wacky treatment (for example if Suzanne Somers endorses it) for a life-threatening condition.

Calling B.S.--again

I already used this topic some time ago, but today I am a little fired up and ready to take another swing at it.

Today my target is Mr. Eat This Not That, David Zinczenko. You know who he is, right? He's a writer for Men's Health, and he has made a new career out of his books which tell you how to choose the healthier options, primarily from chain restaurant menus, I think. He also appears regularly on the Today Show to blow the top off of everyone's fatty food restaurant meals (or home meals).

Now let me say that I do not mind him showing us the calorie bombs from Applebee's and P.F. Chang's and so forth, and actually most of the time he offers alternatives that are pretty good (besides not going to the restaurant, which would be my choice, usually). But his methodology really gets to me. (I'll explain in a minute.)

This morning he was on the Today Show to address Thanksgiving foods, of course. We all know that many Thanksgiving favorites are full of butter and carbs, no surprise there. But even Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie seemed a little frustrated with his examples of "this" and "that."

One of Zinczenko's gimmicks is to take the subject food item, and show a "comparable" other item that has the same amount of bad stuff in it. For example fat. The problem is, sometimes his comparison just doesn't seem to matter. Sometimes he compares fat, sometimes saturated fat, sometimes sodium, sometimes carbs, and only sometimes calories. And really, bottom line, only the calories matter. Or at least, you have to put the other things in context with calories. This morning two of his comparison items were a whole pile of Nilla wafers, and a bunch of gingerbread men. Who cares if your Thanksgiving dish has the same (something bad) as 20 Nilla wafers? There's no context there. Expecially since Nilla wafers and gingerbread men are not inherently bad!

So please shut up, David Z.

Health and Fitness Apps I like

I really only use a few. My main one is the Livestrong app (used to be Daily Plate). I track my food and exercise on it religiously. The exercise record is just for balancing with the food; I keep track of my mileage separately. Not in an app, but on paper! I haven't updated my runner's journal for months, but all my mileage is written on my training plans. It's going to be a job getting that stuff together if I want to figure out a total for the year!

Map My Run. I do have this app on my phone and iPad, however, to actually map routes I have to use the website. I'm not sure why I can't do it with the app. Isn't that what the app is for? I don't really use the app at all. However, the website is fantastic for planning various lengths of runs.

Garmin My Connect. I only use this on my computer...I don't know if there even is an app. I love looking at the data, and route and elevation and all that good stuff. I have also gone there to check my mileage on days when I forgot to write it down.

IPod. Obviously I have used the iPod app on my phone. I like it! :)

Audible.com. I use this app to listen to audiobooks during long runs (and sometimes at other times). It does help pass the time, but I tend to run a little bit slower than I do with music. I like to switch to music for the last few miles to get a final kick.

Radio apps. I have the apps for a couple stations (NPR and a local newsradio station) on my iPhone, and sometimes I listen to the radio instead during long runs. I also use the radio app when I'm getting dressed in the morning. It's the 21st century version of a transistor radio (little portable radios we used to have back in the 70s).

Runner's Log app. I don't have this one yet, but it's a free download through iTunes over the Thanksgiving weekend. I might download it and check it out!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Peak Weekend

This was my last higher mileage weekend before the Honolulu Marathon. Now it's all taper, baby. And the Seattle Half Marathon next Sunday, of course.

Let's recap this mini-training cycle, shall we?

October 7 - Twin Cities Marathon

October 8-11 - rest and recovery (with cross training)
October 12 - first run back!
October 14 - Poulsbo Half Marathon (back on the horse)

From then on I was back to running four days a week. I cut back from five days a week during the summer ultra training. Since I've been doing 5Ks and long runs most weekends, that means two weekday runs most weeks. I'm mainly recapping the weekend runs here. During the week I've done some speed work, tempo, and marathon pace runs (also using the weekend races as tempo).

October 20 - 12 miles
October 21 - Goblin Gallop 5K (plus two miles warm-up and one mile after)

October 27 - Fall Fun Run in Monroe (5K)
October 28 - 15.6 miles

November 3 - 18 miles
November 4 - Get Your Rear in Gear 5K

November 10 - Fowl Fun Run 10K
November 11 - 15.25 miles

That brings us to this week, in which I squeezed in an extra run due to the day off on Monday. That was a good thing, since I kind of skimped on the distance of my other two weekday runs.

November 12 - 8.5 miles
November 14 - 6.25 miles with four miles at goal marathon pace (sub-10)
November 15 - 6.6 miles with 10 x 400
November 17 - 20.05 miles
November 18 - Green Lake Gobble 5K

This week I dealt with my mild frustration over rarely making my paces on the 4:15 training plan, by switching over to the 4:30 plan. I am happy to say that my paces are pretty much already consistent with that plan. Actually the marathon pace under that plan is 10:18...I'd still like to go closer to 10-minute pace (if possible) to allow for bathroom stops and other delays.

I'm really pleased with how my 20-miler went. The designated goal pace was 10:30. This was my perfectly executed pacing plan--

Miles 1-8 - average 10:30. My individual miles were all over the place (I had a one-mile hill on Ingraham) but my average after eight miles was 10:32.

Miles 9-13 - pick up the pace a little on the Centennial Trail, maybe 10:15? Actually my miles in this section were 10:00 or under. During each mile I ran easy for half a mile (10:15-10:30), then pushed it in the second half (9:30-9:45). After 13 miles my overall average was 10:20.

It would be nice to have picked up the pace again for the last seven, but I knew I would slow down, due to tiredness and shoulderless roads. So my plan was to do 10:30-10:35 or so. I didn't calculate but I think those miles did average in that range My overall pace at the end was 10:24.

Best of all, I didn't feel too tired at the end and I even had a slight finishing kick. And even though my legs got a little stiff in the afternoon and night, they were never really painful or crampy.

So this morning I got up early, picked up my parents and headed to Seattle for another 5K, the Green Lake Gobble. I was not excited about this. Not because of tired legs, but because of the depressing grey skies and steady rain which persisted pretty much until I finished. I said things like, we should just turn around, or go out to breakfast, and I was only half joking.

At least we arrived early enough to get a good parking spot. I put on a raincoat and ventured out to get my bib and chip. Then I huddled in the car until 9:00 (the race started at 9:30). So I didn't have time for a three-mile warm-up.

Instead I dressed myself in a garbage bag, jogged two miles along the lake, used the porta-potty, and threw my bag in the garbage just before I joined the crowd at the start.

I've always liked 5Ks at Green Lake. The route was mostly on the road circling the lake, and finished on the lakeside path. (The 10K included a second loop on the path around the lake.)

So my tired legs didn't give me any trouble, but they didn't go above and beyond either. I pretty much ran an 8:30 pace throughout. My first mile should have been a little faster, but I probably lost about ten seconds due to crowding at the start. I slowed a little in the third mile (even though I thought I was pushing harder!), but sprinted in the last .1 to finish at 26:31 chip time. Still haven't gone under 26 minutes this fall...only the Jingle Bell Run Mt. Vernon remains.

I'm not too horribly disappointed, though, I'm actually pleased to do this well on the day after a 20-mile. It wasn't the most fun trip for my parents, though. Because of the rain they didn't get out of the car at all at Green Lake. I think my dad still regrets that. As we drove away we could see the 10K runners still running around the lake. I was not sorry to miss it.

My planned long runs for the next three weeks are:

November 25 -13.1 miles
December 2 - maybe 10 miles
December 9 - 26.2 miles, Honolulu Marathon!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

NHBPM #17

Day 17 - My Strengths and Weaknesses

I kind of love this topic because I love making lists. And lists about myself? Double love. I think I'm going to make the strengths and weaknesses pretty general, and relate them to health and fitness where it makes sense.

And my weaknesses are not going to be job-interview-style weaknesses...you know, things like, "I'm too much of a perfectionist." Actually, that one is pretty interesting as it used to apply to me but probably doesn't anymore. I think I used to be a perfectionist and want everything just so. Now in my middle age I am much more satisfied with good enough. Maybe it's because, being out of school, performance is no longer measured by grades, just results. Just get 'er done.

Okay, here we go. I'll start with the positive.

STRENGTHS

*I am an optimist. Seriously, I am a glass half full person and I pretty much expect things to turn out okay most of the time. This is in contrast to my mother who always expects the worst. "Turn out okay" are the key words here. I am not unrealistic. I don't expect things to turn out great all the time. but not ending in disaster? I'm all over that.

-->Health and fitness connection - I think my optimism is what gets me through all the marathons and races I do. As I said, I'm a realist (perhaps another strength), and I don't expect a PR every time (or ever, these days--perhaps a hint of pessimism there), but I am confident I'll get through it and pretty sure it will be in a way that's okay to me.

*I am easy going. I get along with most people, I don't anger easily (although I do get ticked off now and then), and I don't hold a grudge.

*I love vegetables and eat lots of them. This is a strength, right? Eating healthily must be much harder for people who don't like broccoli.

*I have very good taste. Believe me, I do. Life is much better when you have the ability to discern between what is nice and what is tacky. And how to use a touch of tacky to make "nice" more interesting.

*I am smart. Or intelligent, whatever you want to call it. I did well in school and I'm good at academic stuff. This makes life easier, especially when you are a little bit lazy (see weaknesses). And yes, you do use algebra in the real world. You don't use calculus, though. You probably could, but that would require remembering how it works, which I don't.

-->Health and fitness connection - ever tried to figure out how fast you would have to run to finish a race or run in a certain time? Ever tried to figure it out mid-race, when pulling out a calculator would be awkward? I rest my case. (This applies to the math element, not so much general academic ability.)

*I am a reader. Is this a strength? I think so. Reading adds such a richness to life. It is a pretty cheap form of entertainment, and can fill as much or little time as I wish. Reading makes me a more rounded, informed person.

-->Health and fitness connection - well, there are a lot of diet and exercise manuals and memoirs out there, and I've read most of them!

*I am kind-hearted. I care about people and try to help them when I can.

WEAKNESSES

*I am lazy. Yes, I really am. I am trying to reconcile that with the running and exercise thing. Perhaps I am lazy except when I am running or working out? I like to be active. I like to walk and bicycle and do active things besides running. But I am terrible about activities that are not fun. I don't like to clean house, or do difficult yard work, and I like to park close to the entrance of a store. After a weekend long run I spend most of the rest of the day sitting around reading (or blogging or watching TV or movies). And one of my running goals is to improve so that my target paces feel easy. Yes...I am lazy.

*I procrastinate. This is probably a sub-category of lazy. I put things off until they absolutely need to be done...then I wait a little longer. Examples, bill-paying, cleaning (see above), anything I find unappealing I wait as long as possible to do.

-->Health and fitness connection - actually, this is one category where I don't procrastinate too much. Can you imagine if I waited until the very last minute to train for a marathon? Disaster. But I do procrastinate over getting up in the morning to run (contributing to my lateness issues). And I have seriously procrastinated over some fitness goals...getting back to weight training (six years since I've done it regularly), resuming yoga after my summer break (only a few months, but I haven't started yet), signing up for some personal trainer sessions (I've been thinking about it for a few years, but haven't figured it out yet).

*I am persistently late getting places when I have things to do beforehand. This means, mostly, getting to work a little late every.single.day. And after lunch. So twice a day. Sometimes three times if I have mid-day meetings.

Before I try to explain myself, let me add that I am never late to races (except for a couple of incidents with traffic). I always plan to be there really, really, early and the only thing I have to do before I leave is get dressed and grab my gear (all of which I laid out the night before). And I almost always over-estimate the amount of time it will take to get to the location.

With everything else, the exact opposite is true. On workdays, I always run or work out before I leave for work, and since I struggle getting up, I have less time than I need to run my planned distance. So I might cut the distance, but I still inevitably run a little further than I have time for. And I have to stop at Starbucks for coffee and a wrap on the way home. I get ready super fast, but drying my hair takes some time, and throwing my clothes on. Then I always underestimate how long it takes to drive to work (I live less than two miles away!), park, and get through security into the building. During the day I am dragged down by eating lunch, phone calls, people who need to talk to me, and again the amount of time it takes to drive short distances and park. It makes me tired just writing about it all.

-->Health and fitness connection - well, obviously, health and fitness makes me late to work. So, obviously I need to stop...going to work. Just kidding!

*I am a sucker for sweets. Cakes, cookies and candy are definitely a weakness for me. I think I manage it pretty well, but I would probably be better off eliminating sugar from my life entirely. Probably not gonna happen (entirely), no matter how many times I announcing that I am eschewing all sweets.

-->Health and fitness connection - I think this one speaks for itself.

*I am messy. I accumulate clutter. I am a poor (and lazy) housekeeper. I am a borderline hoarder, but what I hoard is clothes (too many), shoes (too many), running and exercise clothes and gear, BOOKS, mail that I haven't purged or somehow organize if I need to keep it. By hoard I mean I have a hard time getting rid of stuff and seem to be unable to store it in an organized fashion.

-->Health and fitness connection - My mother thinks I would be a better runner and lose weight if I purged excess possessions and cleaned up my life. She may be right.

*I shop too much and spend too much money on things. (Not individual things necessarily, but the collective "things" that I shop for.) Obviously this also contributes to the clutter and excessive stuff in my life. Sadly, there are many things I've bought that I have never even used (yet), or removed the tags and packaging from (yet). Some of the stuff will probably be given away or donated brand new. Which would be fine, if I just got my act together and did it (and/or got rid of old stuff to incorporate the new).

-->Health and fitness connection - Well, a lot of my shopping is for running clothes and running shoes. I have one brand new pair of Asics Kayano 18 that I will probably break out for the Honolulu Marathon. I have three pairs of the new Kayano 19 that I have designated my 2013 shoes. No. More. Running. Shoes. Right? Right?

*I have self proclaimed adult ADD. My concentration tends to flit from one thing to the next. Then, thanks to my middle-aged induced memory problems, I forget what I was doing before I got distracted. As a variation on this, I tend to need at least two activities going at one time. TV and blog/magazine/book reading (if I want to pay closer attention to the show, I play Bookworm on my iPad). Running and music or audiobook. Elliptical and TV with earphones plus blog reading (I need multiple distractions on the elliptical). It's a wonder I can sit through a movie in a theatre (it helps that it is dark, and if the movie is good...otherwise I fall asleep).

*I am obsessive. What I do, I overdo. Sometimes in a positive way (running and exercise), sometimes in a fairly negative way (food). Shopping, clothes, books, see above. I am pretty sure if I could manage to get myself hooked on house cleaning, I would overdo it. (What, you don't think so?) I must add that I manage my obsessiveness pretty well. Obviously I am not an over-exerciser, but I am obsessed enough to do it faithfully and adhere to a training plan. I have transfered most of my food obsessiveness to vegetables, and I have never been a binge eater, just an overeater. I spend too much money, but I am financially stable.

I think that pretty much covers it for the major weaknesses in my life. I don't think any one of them can be called a strength in disguise. (Although I don't mind the multi-tasking. The ADD tendencies and memory loss can be irritating, though.) The quality of my life would definitely improve by improving some or all of these weaknesses. It's in the works.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad