I may have 3 ft legs but that doesn't make me a runner

So I'm sure you are all saying.  "When will this girl start contributing more to her blog besides the weekly video of her cute & adorable daughter and complaining about the hormonal roller coaster that she is on?"  Well I started this post about 2 weeks ago and never finished it.  Well today I'm am not going to sleep until I get this baby posted.  After reading this post, you will understand one of the reasons that I have not been a good blogger lately.

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I was never much of a runner.  In junior high, I was in track.  I competed the long jump, attempted the high jump (no coordination), didn't even get close to the hurdles after my failed attempt at hurdling at a park (more detail here).  I loved running short distances.  100 meter dash was my favorite.  You could see the finish line when you were crouched down waiting for the gunshot.  But the coaches kept telling me that with my long legs, that I would be great for long distances.  I totally understand.  I mean my stride is equal to 2 strides of an average person.  So I thought, why not give it a try.  The 200 meter dash wasn't bad at all.  400 meter dash was doable.  But I will never forget the day that I had to compete in the 3200 meter dash (about 2 miles if you do the math).  It was in a little town in Nebraska.  Actually Charlie's grandma lives in this town, directly across from that evil track.  I thought I would never finish that race.  It was definitely one of the hardest things I have ever done.  I vowed on that day that I would compete in a long distance race ever again.

Fast forward about 18 years.  I'm not sure if turning thirty-two rattled something in the ole noggin.  Maybe I'm just tired of looking at this lumpy stomach (sorry no picture) that just won't go away no matter how much I diet.  Or perhaps it's these calves.  

I want runner's calves.  You know the ones that just scream at you that you are a person who loves to run.  I need to exercise.  So I decided I would train for a 5K.  I heard many people at work talk about the Couch to 5K.  It's a program that does just what it says.  Gets your ass off the couch and within 9 weeks, has you running a 5K race (without stopping for potty breaks or in my case, an inhaler and I'm not even asthmatic).  My husband knows my hatred for running so he gave me some incentive.  He said that if I can run the entire 5K without stopping, that he would buy me a new pair of running shoes.  Not just a plain jane pair of Nike's from Kohl's.  I am going to get professionally fit for a pair of shoes.  I am going to prove to myself that I can do this.  So with the training program I am doing, within nine weeks, they will have you running a 5K.  The only problem is, I am signing up for a 5K through my work that is on April 30th.  So my nine week program is going to have to be consolidated into a six week program.  I am just going to have to push myself a little harder.  Here is the program I am running.  I have just entered my third week and it really hasn't been that bad.  There is just enough walking that gives me time to catch my breath before having to run again.  I'm not sure what will happen when I get to week 5 and the only walking I get is the 5 minute brisk walk in the beginning.  I guess I will tackle that hurdle when I get to it.  Although hurdles scare me so maybe that isn't the best choice of words. 

What I love about running:

• Being outside.  The weather is beautiful in Oklahoma right now and I love watching the leaves turn and watch the geese down at the lake that I run around.
• Having some "Megan time".  This does not happen very often.  Unless I'm showering or sleeping.  It's great to plug in my iPod and hit the pavement for 30 minutes.
• The rush that goes through my body when I'm done running.  Too bad I can't feel those endorphins when I am about to pass out while in the middle of my run. 
• What it is doing for my body.  I am increasing my heart rate and getting the blood flowing through my body.  I am also burning calories so I don't feel nearly as bad when I have that miniature Reese's PB cup for a snack after work. 

What I hate about running:

• I can't breathe.  I'm sure this is something that I just have to work on.  I need to take deeper breaths and pace myself.
• My stride.  As mentioned above, I have very long legs.  I wear a 34-35 inch seam in pants.  One would think that I could take long strides when I run.  But when I do that, I really can't breathe so I end up running these baby steps.  I'm sure my daughter would be able to beat me in a race.
• No running partner.  Since Charlie has to watch Abbie while I run, I really have no companion to push me along.  I brought my beagle on my first run and realized that he would be more hinder then help.  He doesn't mind the walking but once I start running, it's like I am dragging a 30 lb weight behind me. 
• The Oklahoma heat.  I have learned that I CAN NOT run when the sun is out.  The sun is like my Kryptonite
• My neighborhood.  At sometime during my route, I am having to go uphill.  Usually that is when I slow it down and walk.  I just hope that the route on race day will be flat b/c if not, I can just kiss that pair of running shoes goodbye.

 Only 17 more days until the big race.  Charlie has been training on the days that I don't run.  He will be running next to me on the morning of the race to make sure that I stick to our deal.  This will be the first 5K race for the both of us so it will be a good bonding experience.  Who knows, maybe once I finish this race, I can start training for a 10K.  God, I bet my calves will really be looking good by then.

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes...

It's a new month.  I am going to be turning another year old this month and I'm ready for some change.  One of which is this blog.  I mean, I love this cute picture, but it is so outdated. 

Abbie was 4 months old, bald, immobile and really didn't have the personality that she has today. Charlie and I were young and in love, dancing the night away at our wedding.  And the dogs...well okay so the dogs really haven't changed a whole lot.  They may have gained a few lbs from congregating around Abbie's high chair during dinner.  But I know how much they hated wearing those tacky sweaters and they have told me numerous times that the picture just has to come down. 


I visit so many blogs with such eye appeal and think to myself, "Why can't I learn how to do that?"  Charlie always tells me that I need to find a hobby.  Well he is going to get his wish!!  I am going to learn HTML.  HTML as described by Wikipedia:

HTML, which stands for HyperText Markup Language, is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML is the basic building-blocks of webpages.
HTML is written in the form of HTML elements consisting of tags, enclosed in angle brackets (like ), within the web page content. HTML tags normally come in pairs like < h1 > and   < h1 >. The first tag in a pair is the start tag, the second tag is the end tag (they are also called opening tags and closing tags).
The purpose of a web browser is to read HTML documents and compose them into visual or audible web pages. The browser does not display the HTML tags, but uses the tags to interpret the content of the page.

Terms in which my mother can understand??  HTML is a bunch of computer code jibberish that tells your computer to put a picture there or put a background there and in the end if you do it right, you get a beautiful and eye appeal blog that will hopefully attract more readers and get me to blog more.


So to get started, I decided that I needed to enlist the help of my wonderful and talented niece, Morgan.

Isn't she beautiful??

Fun facts about Morgan. 

• I watched Morgan for an entire summer when she was 2 or 3 and I was 15.
• She changes her hair color about every six months.  I think she has tried every color made by Loreal.  My favorite was the deep burgundy and I really wish it would make a come back.
• Morgan is one of the few family members who has yet to come visit Tulsa.  I hope that changes this year.  NKOTBSB in July!!

Morgan one day wants to become a graphic designer and after seeing some of her work, she is going to become a damn good one.  She has done several projects for me.  She has designed some tear jerking photo montage videos, beautiful photo collages and even took our family photos taken back in November and edited them in Photoshop and produced a photo in which everyone was looking at the camera and smiling. 


So in going with the voyage theme, I decided that aviation was the way to go.  Charlie is an aviation mechanic and we both enjoy flying.  So Morgan designed this little guy.  This was in the early phases of design.  Consider it your first sneak peek at the new blog design.

Isn't he cute?  I think he needs a name.  I love to name inanimate objects.  I drive an Element and his name is Elvis.  Charlie drives a Grand Am and his name is Wilbur.  We own an old blue pickup and his name is "The Blue Beast".  Ok, maybe I just like to name modes of transportation.  Anyway, I will be brainstorming on this guys name.  Suggestions are open so leave me a comment if you have one in mind. 


I hope that you can bear with some blog construction while I learn my new HTML hobby.  I hate construction (or destruction as I like to call it) with a passion so I hope to have everything finished as soon as I can.  I have a feeling that you will enjoy the many changes coming to VOTV (Voyages of the Vogts) in the near future.