Normally I would like to have these posted on or near Abbie's monthly birthday but that just didn't happen this month. I assure you, it was recorded on her birthday but it set on the editing room floor for a week. So I give you this month's belated Two and a Half Minutes with Abbie.
Showing posts with label Outdoors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Outdoors. Show all posts
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
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:
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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.
- 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.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Walk this Way
Ah, Fall has arrived. One of my two favorite seasons (Spring & Fall). The weather finally cools down after putting up with months of the dreaded southern heat. The leaves begin to change. The cool evenings where you wrap yourself up in a blanket, make yourself a warm mug of cider and sit around the fire pit roasting marshmallows.
With the weather being so mild lately (mid 70's & 80's), I decided to get back into my walking routine. I just couldn't do it during the summer b/c a) I couldn't find the time and b) it was so dang hot & humid. But now that it's cooler out, I have been spending my lunch hours walking 30 minutes with coworkers. Then when I get home, I load Abbie up in her stroller and we walk the neighborhood for 30 minutes. It is such a good way to relax after a hard day at work.
Abbie loves going for walks. There is so much to see and most of the time she is sound asleep by the time we get home. I got her a new stroller. The one I had from before was okay for walks but it was so big & bulky. It took up so much room in the Element and it was such a pain to navigate around the stores in the mall. So I found this smaller, lightweight umbrella stroller on sale for $100 at Babies R Us. With my coupon + tax, I spent $86. And it's wonderful for tall people like me. No need to hunch over while pushing it. My favorite features is the cup holder and a basket down below. And it also comes with a matching tote bag. I would tell you if you were in the hunt for a good stroller to go buy this one but I just went on Babies R Us' website and I can't find it on their website anymore. So I'm glad I snatched it up when I did!! I did find it on Amazon.com but it's double in price from what I paid at BRU.
Here is a then & now shot of our walks that I put together on Picnik. Can you believe that eight months lapsed between these pictures? Where did my baby go!?!
With the weather being so mild lately (mid 70's & 80's), I decided to get back into my walking routine. I just couldn't do it during the summer b/c a) I couldn't find the time and b) it was so dang hot & humid. But now that it's cooler out, I have been spending my lunch hours walking 30 minutes with coworkers. Then when I get home, I load Abbie up in her stroller and we walk the neighborhood for 30 minutes. It is such a good way to relax after a hard day at work.
Abbie loves going for walks. There is so much to see and most of the time she is sound asleep by the time we get home. I got her a new stroller. The one I had from before was okay for walks but it was so big & bulky. It took up so much room in the Element and it was such a pain to navigate around the stores in the mall. So I found this smaller, lightweight umbrella stroller on sale for $100 at Babies R Us. With my coupon + tax, I spent $86. And it's wonderful for tall people like me. No need to hunch over while pushing it. My favorite features is the cup holder and a basket down below. And it also comes with a matching tote bag. I would tell you if you were in the hunt for a good stroller to go buy this one but I just went on Babies R Us' website and I can't find it on their website anymore. So I'm glad I snatched it up when I did!! I did find it on Amazon.com but it's double in price from what I paid at BRU.
Here is a then & now shot of our walks that I put together on Picnik. Can you believe that eight months lapsed between these pictures? Where did my baby go!?!
Monday, June 21, 2010
The Not So Itsy Bitsy Spider
Charlie found this beauty trying to come into our house yesterday. It was on the threashold and when Charlie opened the door, it killed him. I have never seen a spider this big. We think it was a gigantic wolf spider.
Tell me again why I'm still living in Oklahoma?
Tell me again why I'm still living in Oklahoma?
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Beautiful Weekend with Fam
May is here!! Can you believe it!! This year is going so fast. Maybe it's because I have a child, I don't know. Just seems like the other day I was ending my maternity leave and going back to work. I have been back to work for 4 months!! Where does time go?
By this time it was around 1:30 and we had worked up an appetite so we headed over to Braums and satisfied our sweet tooth with some ice cream. What a better way to end a day out, right? We spent the rest of the afternoon & evening around the dining room table playing games. I finally learned how to play Bunco. It was pretty fun. I'm sure it would be a whole lot more fun when you play on a league. Is that what they call it? A league? Anyway, it was fun and I'm sure a lot more fun when you bring money into it. We then broke out the Uno Attack game and played it for a good 4 hours. Aunt Nadya ended up winning and Charlie never won a game. They love the game. You know how it works, instead of picking a card, you hit this plunger and wait to see what you will get. Sometimes you get nothing and sometimes cards shoot out like mad. I also made Chicken & Dumplings for dinner. My mother always told me that Chicken & Dumplings is comfort food and should be eaten when it's cold but I disagree. Chicken & Dumplings is something I make when I have company visiting because it makes so much and I won't end up with as many leftovers. It was a hit and everyone loved it. I also had enough in leftovers to take to work for the next couple of days.
Sunday morning we woke up and went to breakfast at a cafe in town. I had Abbie on my lap and shared my biscuits & gravy with her. Well more like shared the gravy with her. She loved it!! Then she sat on my lap and entertained the table with her babbling and got so excited that she knocked over my glass of OJ. There was quite a bit left but thankfully Abbie & I dodged it and most of it went on the table and floor. After cleaning up the table and mopping up the floor, we decided it was time to go. Aunt Nadya took a few pictures of us out by the car and then they were off. It was nice visiting with them and seeing Abbie interact with her great grandma. She loved her to death. Here is a video I shot of them after dinner. Sorry for the noise, I was doing dishes while recording this.
Now I am preparing for my sister & brother in law's visit. They will be leaving Nebraska tonight, spending the night somewhere along the way and arriving at my house tomorrow. They plan to stay the weekend and leave on Sunday. So stay tuned next week to hear what fun & exciting things we did with them.
Anyway, May starts a busy month for the Vogt household. We have/will have family coming to visit us throughout the month. So I will have plenty of blog posts this month. This past weekend, we got the pleasure of spending it with Charlie's grandma and great aunt & uncle. They are going on this month long road trip. His aunt & uncle left California last week and drove to Nebraska which took 3 days. Spent a few days at his grandmas house and then all three of them loaded up in his aunt's Saturn and drove 8 hrs down to Oklahoma. They arrived Friday night and stayed until Sunday morning. Their other stops are Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Chicago. They plan on being back in Nebraska on the 24th to drop off Grandma and then his aunt & uncle will head back to California after Memorial Day. I guess that is one of the pleasures of being retired. You can go on month long vacations. Something I get to look forward to in 40 years.
We were dumbfounded on where we could take three older people and baby. So we decided on going to the Rose Garden in Tulsa. I had only been there once and found it so beautiful. I also thought it would be a good place to take Abbie. She would be able to see all of the colorful roses and feel their texture.
After the Rose Garden we headed over to the Teaching Gardens. It's a beautiful place. They had a pond full of Koi fish and an area where they planted herbs & vegetables and a very cool fountain. At one time I had a landscaped backyard. The woman who lived here before us loved to landscape. It was absolutely beautiful. But I was not educated on plants and didn't have the desire to sit out in the Oklahoma heat to pull weeds. So we dug up or let everything die. Now our backyard is being invaded by weeds. Not relaxing one bit. This is what is relaxing to me.
After the gardens, we headed over to ORU to show them the praying hands. It's just something you have to see when you are in Tulsa.
By this time it was around 1:30 and we had worked up an appetite so we headed over to Braums and satisfied our sweet tooth with some ice cream. What a better way to end a day out, right? We spent the rest of the afternoon & evening around the dining room table playing games. I finally learned how to play Bunco. It was pretty fun. I'm sure it would be a whole lot more fun when you play on a league. Is that what they call it? A league? Anyway, it was fun and I'm sure a lot more fun when you bring money into it. We then broke out the Uno Attack game and played it for a good 4 hours. Aunt Nadya ended up winning and Charlie never won a game. They love the game. You know how it works, instead of picking a card, you hit this plunger and wait to see what you will get. Sometimes you get nothing and sometimes cards shoot out like mad. I also made Chicken & Dumplings for dinner. My mother always told me that Chicken & Dumplings is comfort food and should be eaten when it's cold but I disagree. Chicken & Dumplings is something I make when I have company visiting because it makes so much and I won't end up with as many leftovers. It was a hit and everyone loved it. I also had enough in leftovers to take to work for the next couple of days.
Sunday morning we woke up and went to breakfast at a cafe in town. I had Abbie on my lap and shared my biscuits & gravy with her. Well more like shared the gravy with her. She loved it!! Then she sat on my lap and entertained the table with her babbling and got so excited that she knocked over my glass of OJ. There was quite a bit left but thankfully Abbie & I dodged it and most of it went on the table and floor. After cleaning up the table and mopping up the floor, we decided it was time to go. Aunt Nadya took a few pictures of us out by the car and then they were off. It was nice visiting with them and seeing Abbie interact with her great grandma. She loved her to death. Here is a video I shot of them after dinner. Sorry for the noise, I was doing dishes while recording this.
Now I am preparing for my sister & brother in law's visit. They will be leaving Nebraska tonight, spending the night somewhere along the way and arriving at my house tomorrow. They plan to stay the weekend and leave on Sunday. So stay tuned next week to hear what fun & exciting things we did with them.
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