[ Randa Rooskie ] Committing to Commit to Stuff

[Randa Rooskie]

Mission accomplished!  We came, we ran, we conquered!  Well, maybe not conquered... but we did all finish the race!  And we're thinking about getting a bigger crew together for next year.  Don't know if we can pull off the matching jackets, but I see custom T-shirts in my future...

 

Thanks for all the support!

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Excellent!! Rest and hydrate.

Sent through a magic box.

[Randa Rooskie]

"Seeeecrets..."

 

My son and I were fighting invisible baddies in our front yard when he told me we had to figure out our special moves or "secrets."  He explained there are tiers:

Basic moves.

Secrets.

And "seeeeecrets."

 

Wish I could get the same effect through text that it had when he said that!  Epic.

 

Meanwhile my other son was dressed in a box big enough that he couldn't get into a standing position again from his face-plant on the grass.  As he was kicking, his arms were sticking out of the little holes on the side of said box and he was reaching out for his weapon (a baseball bat) and yelling, "Mamma!  I can't get my weapon!"

 

Epic.

[Randa Rooskie]

I've officially made another commitment!  (Those are big deals for me.)  I sent in my entry form for the 5K coming up November 1st! 

 

Then I found a website with a suggested training schedule.  It helped me come up with an actual plan for how to train besides just doing 3 runs a week.  The good news is I was already doing most of what it suggests!  I've got three weeks to get ready.  I would *love* to run it faster than the 5K I did last year, putting me sub 28 minutes.  This will be my first time running a race alone in years, so I'm a little nervous, but also very excited!

 

Tuesday was a cross training day.  Someone hooked me on YAYOG and I'm loving it!  The app practically does all the thinking for me!  Thank you, technology.  I also muscled up a few sets of chin ups today to keep that goal alive and practiced the guitar.

[Minna]

Congratulations on the 5K! How exciting. What a great goal. 

 

I love your story about your sons.

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Congrats on engaging beast mode and signing up for that 5K!!!  

[Minna]

How goes it, Randa?

[Randa Rooskie]

I did it again.  I have a nasty habit of giving up.  Something small could go wrong or I make one poor choice and then it opens the door for me to make all kinds of poor choices.  There were babies being born, my child caught hand foot and mouth disease, and I was trying to plan six weeks of curriculum... and I broke.   I went crazy with food this past week, even snacking at night again which is against my questing goals for this challenge.  I also forgot about chin ups completely...  But I'm back, and I'm trying to think positive.

 

Good that came out of this past week:

• Babysitting for my sister-in-law meant lots of quality time with the niece and nephew.
  
• My other sister-in-law had her first child!
  
• Succeeded in running 3x a week (plus still loving YAYOG as a little cross training diversion)
  
• Finally watched (and loved) the new Godzilla.
  

MAIN QUEST: Live life abundantly.  Abundant life isn't perfect life.  All it takes is not giving up.  Lord, help me to be grateful for what I have and not to give up!

 

GOALS

1. Trough of salad a day and no food past 8pm.  Epic fail this past week.  

2. 5K Prep - run 3 x week.  Stuck with this one somehow.  Some days I felt like I'd messed up so much else that I would run just because it was something positive I could do and actually feel good about.  Instead of drinking, I run?  Ha.

3. Chin ups - get to 6.  What are those?  Zero done this week.  I did do some upper body workouts with the YAYOG stuff, so maybe I won't have gone back to far in this.

 

LIFE QUEST: Memorize notes on guitar.  Done.  I finished the little 16 day exercise, which was the goal.  I need to improve on speed and hammer what I learned home with practice, but I was able to stick with it every day for 16 days.

 

[Randa Rooskie]

I found my chin-ups again today!  It was also my first time running three miles straight since my 5K this time last year.  I made it comfortably in 29 minutes flat.  Since my goal is to get in under 28 minutes at the race I think I'm on track.  As long as my legs and feet hold out... I'm really trying not to push the barefoot thing too much.  With a lot of rest days incorporated into the week and a very long transition period behind me getting into the barefoot running, I think I'll make it.  I also tried a strange fennel salad today that was... edible... and didn't snack past eight.  Before eight?  

 

Pumpkin oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies.

 

I love Autumn!

[Randa Rooskie]

Run: 5 min easy, 4 sets of 1 min hard w/2 rest, then 5 min easy.

I didn't eat like a crazy person today, but missed my salad.  I committed to not snacking tonight even though I missed one of my eating goals.  This is me trying not to totally give up when I mess up a little bit... 

 

I didn't get a full six weeks of challenge in this round since I started late.  I'm excited to try a full challenge on the next go-round.  Mostly excited about getting better habits for myself.  So far this challenge has really helped me stay on track with my running, and I did get all the guitar stuff in I'd hoped to, but eating is still my sticking point.  Every day is a new chance to level up!

[Minna]

Which guild do you think you'll go with?

[Randa Rooskie]

2 miles in 16:46 today!  I felt like I wasn't making good time while I was running, but when I stopped my watch I was very excited.  I also did YAYOG today and messed around on the pull up bar for a bit.  My eating wasn't crazy, and I didn't let the snack attack hit me tonight.  So all in all, I'm pretty happy with how my questing went today.

 

 

Which guild do you think you'll go with?

 

I'm not really sure... I thought I'd jump in with the monks, but I can't fit going to lessons into my life right now.  Maybe the monking will have to wait.  I might just hang out with the adventurers until I figure out exactly where my niche is. 

[She-Hulk]

Randa! I'm happy to see you're back and didn't let your off week bring you down. I know it's hard (we've all had our rough patches) but that is AWESOME about your next 5K! 2 miles in under 17 minutes?! *falls over* I hope to be able to get up to running again! That's so good! Exclamation point! 

 

I think the Adventurers is a great place. I thought that's where I was going to wind up. xD They're really nice and supportive there (as they are in all the other guilds) but it's a great place to ask questions, too! You can try out anything you want, after all. Lots of hats out there. =]

[Randa Rooskie]

Randa! I'm happy to see you're back and didn't let your off week bring you down. I know it's hard (we've all had our rough patches) but that is AWESOME about your next 5K! 2 miles in under 17 minutes?! *falls over* I hope to be able to get up to running again! That's so good! Exclamation point! 

 

I think the Adventurers is a great place. I thought that's where I was going to wind up. xD They're really nice and supportive there (as they are in all the other guilds) but it's a great place to ask questions, too! You can try out anything you want, after all. Lots of hats out there. =]

 

Thanks, SheHulk!  I need to get better at bouncing back after the little set backs, because they will always be there.  But you guys and this forum are definitely helping me!  I've stalked the Adventurer logs for a while and they really seem like a great group.  I have a feeling I'll be bouncing around from one challenge to the next between different guilds.

[Randa Rooskie]

Today was a cross training day.  I did a little YAYOG and muscled myself up onto the chin up bar today.  I was able to do six in a row again, so that one time a few weeks back wasn't just a fluke!  I think the YAYOG stuff is helping a lot with upper body strength, besides trying to remember to practice basic chin ups every week.

 

Even when this week ends I'm going to be running to get ready for my race on Nov 1st.  I'll probably post here after the race (if the forum is still live... don't know how that works?) to let you know how things went.  I can't believe this challenge is almost over!  It seems like the time flew!  Thanks again, everyone, for your support!  

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Yeap.  The forum will still exist.  It should show up under "previous challenge" - I'm looking forward to hearing how great the race went.  Pics, maybe???

[Randa Rooskie]

Randa Rooskie 1 | 5K Race 0

 

Success!!

 

 

This morning was my first 5k race in a year.  Last year I ran with my sister in just over 28 minutes.  My goal for this year was to get under 28.  I was concerned about running on a lot of pavement, which I don't usually do.  I also messed up my stop watch when the race started and had no idea what my time was until the end.  

 

24:40.  Crazy!  When I heard them call out that time I thanked God then and there for keeping me going!  I love that He cares for us down to the last little detail of our lives and that He is interested in what we love.  I pray daily that I will learn to love and delight in the things that He loves.

 

That time earned me a nifty medal and a gift card to Walmart.  I avoided rewarding myself with food today, but I've no idea what to buy... I was hoping to stumble upon something to motivate me to stay healthy.  Still no ideas...

 

Thank you, Nerd Fitness Folks, for motivating me during my first challenge!  This officially ends it for me, since I started a week late.  I'll see you at the next challenge!

[Elastigirl]

I'm a bit late to the party, but I just read your challenge, after checking out your DinoNovember post. Congrats on the run and the chin ups- 6 in a row-that's pretty amazing! I love your goal  of living life abundantly, and your last post about how God cares for us down to the last detail of our lives was very encouraging. My son is an adult now, but I homeschooled him. 

 

Ideas for you to spend your gift card on (I can always think of ways to spend money  ) a new tshirt to run in, or yoga pants, cool water bottle, new pair of shoes, kettlebells, rain gear for running.

[Randa Rooskie]

I'm a bit late to the party, but I just read your challenge, after checking out your DinoNovember post. Congrats on the run and the chin ups- 6 in a row-that's pretty amazing! I love your goal  of living life abundantly, and your last post about how God cares for us down to the last detail of our lives was very encouraging. My son is an adult now, but I homeschooled him. 

 

Ideas for you to spend your gift card on (I can always think of ways to spend money  ) a new tshirt to run in, or yoga pants, cool water bottle, new pair of shoes, kettlebells, rain gear for running.

 

Thanks, Elastigirl!  I'm always happy to hear from people who have started the homeschool thing and come out on the other side.  I'm so inundated with old T-shirts from high school races (yes... I have T-shirts that are over 10 years old... maybe I SHOULD spend the money on new T-shirts!!) and my husband's deployments that it's hard to think of going and buying more to fill my drawer.  The water bottle is a good idea - mine gave out on me last month.  I've been thinking of just using the Wally Mart card for groceries and putting 25 towards spending on a new pair of Vibrams.

[Elastigirl]

Thanks, Elastigirl!  I'm always happy to hear from people who have started the homeschool thing and come out on the other side.  I'm so inundated with old T-shirts from high school races (yes... I have T-shirts that are over 10 years old... maybe I SHOULD spend the money on new T-shirts!!) and my husband's deployments that it's hard to think of going and buying more to fill my drawer.  The water bottle is a good idea - mine gave out on me last month.  I've been thinking of just using the Wally Mart card for groceries and putting 25 towards spending on a new pair of Vibrams.

Vibrams would be fun. As long as you actually stash the money away for Vibrams and not other household stuff. Sometimes  as moms, we feel guilty about spending on ourselves, but you earned the money, so make sure you use it on something for you.

 

Not only did my son survive my homeschooling him, but he also went to college, graduated and has a good job, and yes even ha friends and knows how to talk with other people. For those who ask about socialization, I say my son is actually better at it because of homeschooling.

[Randa Rooskie]

Vibrams would be fun. As long as you actually stash the money away for Vibrams and not other household stuff. Sometimes  as moms, we feel guilty about spending on ourselves, but you earned the money, so make sure you use it on something for you.

 

Not only did my son survive my homeschooling him, but he also went to college, graduated and has a good job, and yes even ha friends and knows how to talk with other people. For those who ask about socialization, I say my son is actually better at it because of homeschooling.

 

 

Yes!  I have to actually set the money aside instead of letting it be eaten up by the grocery bill!

 

And yes again to the socialization thing.  I find that just addressing children like real people and having real conversations with them instead of talking at them all the time goes a long way toward that goal.  Congratulations on the successful son!  My parents have a magnet on their fridge that says, "You know you've done well when your kids can afford their own therapy."  Hehe.  I'm thankful that my parents idea of success wasn't based on that magnet... No, I don't need therapy.  And my parents are amazing!