Today marks the official start of my half-marathon training for the Little Rock Half Marathon on March 15, 2009. I'm following a 14 week training plan in the book Marathoning For Mortals by "The Penguin" John Bingham. He writes an excellent column in Runner's World and has a lot of great advice for those of us who aren't too speedy but aspire to going longer distances. I used his run/walk plan for my last half marathon - the Colorado Colfax in May 2007 - and improved my time over my prior half by about 13 minutes. This time around, I'm doing the walk/run plan which puts more emphasis on the walking. I don't have any delusions that I'll be able to do a lot of running at the beginning of my training so this is the better plan. I need something that is realistic and that I can stick to, but I do have in the back of my head that I can start to add in more running as the weeks go by if my body tells me that I can.
In any case, as always I need a goal to shoot for or I never seem to get myself going. When I have a plan to follow, it holds me accountable and gets me out the door. I always feel great after a run, but just taking those first steps can be rough for me. I actually didn't get to work out today because I have HORRIBLE blisters that are now scabbed over. (I was really stupid and wore low-rise socks) I'm hoping an extra day will make it bearable to put on real shoes because at that moment I'm living in my clogs. I think I'll print out my plan and put it on the 'fridge and mark it off as I go. Maybe give myself a sticker when I successfully complete a week???? Yeah, I am that pathetic and in need of motivation. It's amazing I ever completed as many races as I did!!!
Monday, December 08, 2008
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Appearance Threshold
Before anyone gives me grief about not making any "training" posts - I can assure you that I am making some progress. I mean it's piddly-ass pathetic progress, but progress nonetheless. I'm walking as much as possible, generally pushing the Gremlin in the stroller around the neighborhood at a brisk pace to get the heart rate up. I've also been doing some walk/run workouts when BJ is home to watch the Gremlin. Santa is going to be sending us a sweet jogging stroller so as soon as it's safe, I'll have more flexibility to workout with the Gremlin during the day.
Today, I want to talk about ... for lack of better description - your personal appearance threshold. What is your level of comfort with how you must appear before leaving the house. We all have our own personal rules for how we have to look and what we wear and it changes based on where we're going whether it's to work, out for the evening, a quick errand, trip to the grocery store etc. It's most likely not something we even think about, it's so ingrained.
For men, it's things like do you need to take a shower? Or shave? Or is it acceptable to just throw a hat on?
For women, it's far more complicated. Not only it is a question of showering, but in regards to shaving - can I just get away with shaving my pits? Do I have to shave my legs?
Am I washing my hair? If I wash my hair do I have to dry and style it or am I going to just throw it in a pony tail?
Do I need to put on makeup?
I remember back in my younger days I wouldn't even leave the house to run quickly to the store without my contacts in, and full makeup and hair. I was scared to death that someone I know would see my in my "raw" state. I was always fully cleaned and made up, the only variable was my clothing. Ripped jeans, Birkenstocks and a t-shirt were completely acceptable for trips to the store and quick errands for example.
As I've gotten older, my threshold has been greatly altered. I don't really care so much about what people think so I don't worry so much about how I look. There's also the change in my work environment from being a government 9 to 5'er who had a lot of contact with the public to a nurse working the night shift. My work uniform went from business casual to pajamas a.k.a. scrubs. In general, I still like to put my full makeup on when I go to work, but I generally choose to wear glasses (more protection for my eyes from ick) and for infection control purposes I no longer can wear nail polish and my hair has to be pulled back.
I started pondering all of these issues this morning when I had to run to the Post Office to pick up a box. I wasn't worried about being unshowered and having no makeup on, but I did feel the need to brush my hair (if my hair had looked nasty, a ballcap would have been employed) and brush my teeth. As for clothing, I was perfectly content to wear the tshirt that I had slept in, I didn't bother with a bra, but I did feel the need to take the jammie pants off and put on clean underwear and jeans. I went through this ritual without really thinking about it and I realized just how high - or is it low? - that my appearance threshold has become. Gone are the days where I shaved my legs daily and feared being caught without my makeup. Of course I don't think you'll ever find me nastily in need of a shower, and this morning if I had more errands to run and was going to be out a few hours, I would have definitely showered ... though unless I was going to the Mall or another non-grocery store, I wouldn't have bothered with makeup.
I know that there's this idea that once you get married and have kids you "let yourself go," but I don't think my preferences have anything to do with this. It's more that as I've gotten older, I've become more comfortable in my skin and I'm not so superficial. I'm pretty sure that gazing upon my clean, non-made up face is not akin to staring at Medusa - so I don't sweat those things as much. I will certainly admit that the busier I get and the more demands I have on my time, the less often you'll find me in full makeup and hair glamour, but by golly I'll always be showered, have my teeth brushed, clean underwear and have my armpits shaved - you can at least count on that!
So what's your appearance threshold? And has it changed as you've gotten older?
Today, I want to talk about ... for lack of better description - your personal appearance threshold. What is your level of comfort with how you must appear before leaving the house. We all have our own personal rules for how we have to look and what we wear and it changes based on where we're going whether it's to work, out for the evening, a quick errand, trip to the grocery store etc. It's most likely not something we even think about, it's so ingrained.
For men, it's things like do you need to take a shower? Or shave? Or is it acceptable to just throw a hat on?
For women, it's far more complicated. Not only it is a question of showering, but in regards to shaving - can I just get away with shaving my pits? Do I have to shave my legs?
Am I washing my hair? If I wash my hair do I have to dry and style it or am I going to just throw it in a pony tail?
Do I need to put on makeup?
I remember back in my younger days I wouldn't even leave the house to run quickly to the store without my contacts in, and full makeup and hair. I was scared to death that someone I know would see my in my "raw" state. I was always fully cleaned and made up, the only variable was my clothing. Ripped jeans, Birkenstocks and a t-shirt were completely acceptable for trips to the store and quick errands for example.
As I've gotten older, my threshold has been greatly altered. I don't really care so much about what people think so I don't worry so much about how I look. There's also the change in my work environment from being a government 9 to 5'er who had a lot of contact with the public to a nurse working the night shift. My work uniform went from business casual to pajamas a.k.a. scrubs. In general, I still like to put my full makeup on when I go to work, but I generally choose to wear glasses (more protection for my eyes from ick) and for infection control purposes I no longer can wear nail polish and my hair has to be pulled back.
I started pondering all of these issues this morning when I had to run to the Post Office to pick up a box. I wasn't worried about being unshowered and having no makeup on, but I did feel the need to brush my hair (if my hair had looked nasty, a ballcap would have been employed) and brush my teeth. As for clothing, I was perfectly content to wear the tshirt that I had slept in, I didn't bother with a bra, but I did feel the need to take the jammie pants off and put on clean underwear and jeans. I went through this ritual without really thinking about it and I realized just how high - or is it low? - that my appearance threshold has become. Gone are the days where I shaved my legs daily and feared being caught without my makeup. Of course I don't think you'll ever find me nastily in need of a shower, and this morning if I had more errands to run and was going to be out a few hours, I would have definitely showered ... though unless I was going to the Mall or another non-grocery store, I wouldn't have bothered with makeup.
I know that there's this idea that once you get married and have kids you "let yourself go," but I don't think my preferences have anything to do with this. It's more that as I've gotten older, I've become more comfortable in my skin and I'm not so superficial. I'm pretty sure that gazing upon my clean, non-made up face is not akin to staring at Medusa - so I don't sweat those things as much. I will certainly admit that the busier I get and the more demands I have on my time, the less often you'll find me in full makeup and hair glamour, but by golly I'll always be showered, have my teeth brushed, clean underwear and have my armpits shaved - you can at least count on that!
So what's your appearance threshold? And has it changed as you've gotten older?
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Job Hunting
Since I am currently without job, the time has come to commence with the job searching. My plan is to start sometime in January which will have made me off work for 4 months! That's crazy! I've never been off for more than three weeks before this!!
The job hunt is usually something that causes great stress and trauma, but finding a job is pretty easy as a nurse and it's more a matter of finding the best fit for my needs. I've applied at two hospitals so far and have had one interview. My big thing is that I'm wanting part-time nights (defined by me as 24 hours or two 12 hour shifts) and I don't want to work straight weekends. If I was all about the money, I'd take a straight weekend position because you get a major monetary incentive for giving up every Saturday and Sunday night. A lot of Moms do this, but I don't think this is for me. My first complaint would be missing all of BJ's free time - weekends are our theoretical fun time (though with a newborn there hasn't been as much free spirited fun as of late!) Second problem is that all of the races I want to do are on weekends so I'd be constantly trying to get off for one thing or another.
As for type of job, I'm kindof feeling that it's time to try something different. I've done NICU since I've been a nurse (4 years) and I wonder what else is out there?? I'm kindof interested in doing labor and delivery or a post-partum/mom-baby unit job. I have some interest in adult critical care (I worked in a trauma/burn ICU in school), but I'm wanting to avoid jobs that have long term patietns. It's one of the things about maternity that appeals - you have the baby and then you go home. Is it wrong that I don't want to see the same patients over and over? Maybe, but it's the part of NICU that was starting to really grate on me, especially when you had "challenging" families.
Anyway, my one interview was for a part-time labor and delivery gig. The schedule would be perfect since it was no weekends at all unless I had an occasional call shift on a weekend night. My biggest concern is that they don't do a lot of business at nights so I think it'd be a lot of sitting around, and then maybe getting some inductions started late at like 5 a.m. I'm one of those people who likes a steady worknight and with a little Gremlin at home, there's no telling how low on sleep I'll be which makes having something to do all night long even more important.
Hopefully, I'll have some other interviews and options to choose from. I'd like to have a job confirmed in the next three weeks.
The job hunt is usually something that causes great stress and trauma, but finding a job is pretty easy as a nurse and it's more a matter of finding the best fit for my needs. I've applied at two hospitals so far and have had one interview. My big thing is that I'm wanting part-time nights (defined by me as 24 hours or two 12 hour shifts) and I don't want to work straight weekends. If I was all about the money, I'd take a straight weekend position because you get a major monetary incentive for giving up every Saturday and Sunday night. A lot of Moms do this, but I don't think this is for me. My first complaint would be missing all of BJ's free time - weekends are our theoretical fun time (though with a newborn there hasn't been as much free spirited fun as of late!) Second problem is that all of the races I want to do are on weekends so I'd be constantly trying to get off for one thing or another.
As for type of job, I'm kindof feeling that it's time to try something different. I've done NICU since I've been a nurse (4 years) and I wonder what else is out there?? I'm kindof interested in doing labor and delivery or a post-partum/mom-baby unit job. I have some interest in adult critical care (I worked in a trauma/burn ICU in school), but I'm wanting to avoid jobs that have long term patietns. It's one of the things about maternity that appeals - you have the baby and then you go home. Is it wrong that I don't want to see the same patients over and over? Maybe, but it's the part of NICU that was starting to really grate on me, especially when you had "challenging" families.
Anyway, my one interview was for a part-time labor and delivery gig. The schedule would be perfect since it was no weekends at all unless I had an occasional call shift on a weekend night. My biggest concern is that they don't do a lot of business at nights so I think it'd be a lot of sitting around, and then maybe getting some inductions started late at like 5 a.m. I'm one of those people who likes a steady worknight and with a little Gremlin at home, there's no telling how low on sleep I'll be which makes having something to do all night long even more important.
Hopefully, I'll have some other interviews and options to choose from. I'd like to have a job confirmed in the next three weeks.
Monday, December 01, 2008
People ARE good!
Now that *in theory* I am working out and training, I can now post to my non-baby related blog!! I am going to rise to the challenge taken on by several of the bloggers I read, and endeavor to post every day in the month of December. Well, I'll post to one of my blogs every day ... I still plan on keeping my baby related mush on das Kleinkind Chronicles, and my fitness/getting in shape/looking for work/general musings right here.
So day one, here goes!
In general, I WANT to believe in the overall goodness of people despite much evidence in the news to the contrary. I generally try to avoid the news except of course for the celebrity gossip. I may not have a clue what's going on in the economy, but by golly I've seen the news feeds from E! and People Magazine, and I can tell you where Madonna spent her Thanksgiving. Yes, I know it's pathetic that someone as intelligent as me knows more about what's in the tabloids than on CNN - but it's my life and that's how I choose to lead it at the moment.
Anyway, in addition to not watching a lot of "real" news, I'm also not much of a shopper. I have found, however, that it is a LOT of fun to shop for other people, especially the men in my life. I usually avoid the Black Friday crowd, but I had a grandma staying at the house ready to babysit and B.J. was at a football game, so in the late afternoon I thought I'd risk a trip to the Mall. It actually wasn't that bad since I suspect all the crazed discount-mongers had arrived at 0600 and were long home. After hitting a few stores, I made it back to my car with my booty in hand .... or at least most of it. I realized that I was missing a bag from Baby Gap which had been my first stop. I quickly went over my route in my head and realized that I must have set the bag down at Gymboree when I was combing through the sale racks. I was kindof bummed because I knew that there was no chance it would still be there hours later. Luckily it only contained a little pair of baby sweat pants that I got on sale for $4. I put the keys in the ignition and got ready to leave, but then decided that I might as well go in and ask if someone had turned it in - though I wasn't hopeful.
I walked back into the mall crowd and patiently stood in line at Gymboree. I asked the sales clerk, "I know this is a long shot, but did anyone turn in a Baby Gap bag with a pair of sweat pants in it?"
To my shock and surprise, she said, "yes they did!" Then proceeded to hand me the bag from a cabinet. Had I dropped it in an adult clothing store or some other place, then I would have figured no one would have use for my purchase. But given that it was sitting in a newborn clothing section of a kids clothing store, one would assume that whoever found it was also looking for wee outfits and could have easily swiped the sweatpants.
I left the Mall feeling a little better than when I arrived and happy that my belief in the goodness of strangers is not misplaced.
So day one, here goes!
In general, I WANT to believe in the overall goodness of people despite much evidence in the news to the contrary. I generally try to avoid the news except of course for the celebrity gossip. I may not have a clue what's going on in the economy, but by golly I've seen the news feeds from E! and People Magazine, and I can tell you where Madonna spent her Thanksgiving. Yes, I know it's pathetic that someone as intelligent as me knows more about what's in the tabloids than on CNN - but it's my life and that's how I choose to lead it at the moment.
Anyway, in addition to not watching a lot of "real" news, I'm also not much of a shopper. I have found, however, that it is a LOT of fun to shop for other people, especially the men in my life. I usually avoid the Black Friday crowd, but I had a grandma staying at the house ready to babysit and B.J. was at a football game, so in the late afternoon I thought I'd risk a trip to the Mall. It actually wasn't that bad since I suspect all the crazed discount-mongers had arrived at 0600 and were long home. After hitting a few stores, I made it back to my car with my booty in hand .... or at least most of it. I realized that I was missing a bag from Baby Gap which had been my first stop. I quickly went over my route in my head and realized that I must have set the bag down at Gymboree when I was combing through the sale racks. I was kindof bummed because I knew that there was no chance it would still be there hours later. Luckily it only contained a little pair of baby sweat pants that I got on sale for $4. I put the keys in the ignition and got ready to leave, but then decided that I might as well go in and ask if someone had turned it in - though I wasn't hopeful.
I walked back into the mall crowd and patiently stood in line at Gymboree. I asked the sales clerk, "I know this is a long shot, but did anyone turn in a Baby Gap bag with a pair of sweat pants in it?"
To my shock and surprise, she said, "yes they did!" Then proceeded to hand me the bag from a cabinet. Had I dropped it in an adult clothing store or some other place, then I would have figured no one would have use for my purchase. But given that it was sitting in a newborn clothing section of a kids clothing store, one would assume that whoever found it was also looking for wee outfits and could have easily swiped the sweatpants.
I left the Mall feeling a little better than when I arrived and happy that my belief in the goodness of strangers is not misplaced.
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