trains for a relay. A really long relay....

About three years ago I sort of hit bottom depression-wise. Big messy bottom with lots of casualties. As I slowly put myself back together I decided I wanted to start running. My goal: to complete a 5k (3.1miles).

I looked around on the internet and found a program called "Couch to 5K." It is a beginning running program to help those with little to no weekly exercise work up to running a 5k.

I remember my first work out. I was at Liberty Park and was armed with my old running shoes and a timer. The first work out is to walk briskly for five minutes, and then alternate jogging one minute and walking a minute and a half for 20 minutes. I thought i was gonna die. No lie. I couldn't breathe. My legs barely shuffled along. I thought of when I ran the HURDLES in high school and wondered how I could have fallen into such horrible, pathetic shape.

I had a goal...to run the Deseret news 5k on July 24th. I think I started my running program around mid April. It was cold and rainy and even snowed a few times but I kept at it. And my stamina improved and the distance I could run without stopping increased. After that first day I never thought I would ever be able to work up to a 5k...but I did it. I remember the first time I finished my 3 miles around the East High track...I was fatigued but elated. I was WONDERWOMAN!

I got excited and didn't want to wait so I registered for a race on July 3. I was sooo nervous. I wasn't worried about winning...I was afraid I'd not be able to run the whole thing and would have to walk. I was so nervous I made my stomach sick and had to find a portapotty right before the race. I started of slow...barely faster than walking...but I finished. That race had a pretty long hill near the end and I ran the whole thing.

Flash forward one year...I stopped running but had sporadically been working out at the gym. My weight was steady at about 40 lbs overweight but I looked and felt better than I had in years. Thanks to a friend at work I continued hitting the gym...staying in ok shape but not really progressing.

Then...early April of this year I lost my job of 10 years.

Holy smokes. I won't go into details but to say that if karma is real I know a few people who are in for a world of hurt. Everyone who knows the story can't believe it...including me. Suffice it to say that if you are frustrated at work be very careful whom you express that frustration to...because even if they are also venting to you they could be playing both sides. So. Also...If you work at a certain pre-school don't even THINK of putting together a dinosaur finale. Yep..it's as silly as it sounds.

Well...I loved my job. Not the place..but the job. The teaching. Seeing kids learn to love reading. Seeing the light click on...seeing them laugh and have fun.

So..when this happened I felt very much like I did three years ago. Very much bottom-ish.

I stopped working out. I started EATING. Well, I never stopped eating..but I started eating a lot of sugar...something I had been very careful about once I started running. And in a few short months I had gained TWELVE POUNDS.

That really sucked. It was really hard to lose them but amazingly easy to find where I left them. And one day I looked in the mirror and at the cute shorts I could hardly button and thought...

"Yuck."

That same day I got a text from my sister in law asking if I was still interested in the Red Rock Relay, a Ragnar type race down in southern Utah. I had wanted to run Ragnar this year but hadn't done anything about it..so it felt a bit like a second chance.

And it costs $100 to enter...so once I sent in my fee...I was COMMITTED. (Not the kind of committed that comes with nice men in the clean white coats, though I have often felt like I needed a few of those around...)

The hubby, who used to be an amazing runner in his high school days, asked if he could run with me. Running has sort of been a thing I did for and by myself, but I agreed. Now my eldest son is running with us and we're trying to get the other two teens to join in as well. My lil bug wants to come but unfortunately it wouldn't work since we run and she's just ...a lil bug.

So...I am slowly working up my minutes and miles...in anticipation of the two day Red Rock Relay. I run..rain or shine. I actually prefer the rain...the shine seems to suck all my energy out. And for the first time in quite a while...I am truly excited for something. I believe I can do this. I feel it. I think I could really like this sort of thing. I hope.

So if you've ever thought you might want to try running...look up couch to 5k and try it. You may not feel good while you run (truth is I most often don't) but I feel really good AFTER I'm done. Also..go to a good running store and get fitted for the right shoes. It makes a huge difference.

Good luck! If you're a runner or thinking of running leave me a comment...I'd love to hear how you are doing. :)

...makes a green...coughpoopbrowncough...smoothie

So...if you pay attention to the latest health trends...one that keeps coming up is the "green smoothie." As with all health trends green smoothies are touted to make you feel good, lose weight, grow hair, have great skin, win the lottery, marry a doctor etc.

With promises like that...of COURSE I had to break out my 400 dollar rarely used blendtec blender and give'er a go.

Now if you google "green smoothie," you most likely will see pictures of a lovely bright green (sometimes almost cosmically green) drink that is supposed to cure all ills and taste yummy. The thing that they don't really mention is that if you put anything in it to make it taste like anything other than kale or spinach it's gonna look...

Brown.

And not a pretty color of brown either...the color of brown that haunts new mothers' nightmares...the color of brown that usually indicates somebody ate something laced with salmonella.

See...the thing that is supposed to make the green smoothie taste less like a salad bar and more like a ..well..smoothie...is fruit. You can use apples, which, (yay!) come in green...but they are so mildly flavored that they don't really help mask the leafy green taste of the..er...green smoothie.

So what do they recommend? Frozen strawberries.

Yum, right? Of course right! Strawberries are delicious and full of wonderful things that are going to make you feel good, lose weight, grow hair, have great skin, win the lottery, and marry a doctor.

The only problem is...red + green = brown.

Poo brown.

Yummy.