Aches, pains and updates.

I know that its been awhile...but summer is here and we are BUSY!

Summertime is a very busy time for me at work...since all of the kids are out of school, and James' schedule has 4 back to back races.

Sometimes life gets overwhelming and the months seem to fly by. If you let yourself think about it too much, it is easy to get caught up in the daily mundane routines.....wake up early, work, run, sleep...repeat times 5. When you think about it this way- it can be downright depressing. But such is life.

I am 5 weeks in to training for my half marathon. Did I mention this in the other posts? I can't remember. So far, it has been challenging. My longest run thus far will take place this Sunday- where I will run 8 miles. Pushing yourself to do something like this teaches you a lot about yourself. Everyday, something new is sore. My knees are iced nearly every night, so I can make it through another run the following day. Icy Hot and Aspercreme are now part of my daily grooming routine....so if you get the hint of menthol in the air, I could be looming close by. On top of running, I am back in bootcamp twice per week. So, there is no spare time to rest! Although it is very hard work....I know its going to so be worth it!

I would continue writing, but my eyes are struggling to stay open. I will try to post more later.

Hugs
S

Running.

I know its been awhile, but I finally found a free moment to write a smidge of a blog. We have been busy at the Beck house!

I began training for a half marathon last week and also am continuing to do to bootcamp twice per week. Since I no longer have school to be concerned about, I think its safe to say that I have thrown myself head first into fitness. But I truly am enjoying the small payoffs. I will have my longest run thus far this Sunday (about 5 miles)...and should be ready in about 14 weeks to run the race....13.1 miles! :o) I am nervous- but I have faith in my trainer who will make sure I can do it!

This is after the last 5k I ran....with some of my fellow bootcampers!

J is still in the full swing of the race season. We went to Myrtle Beach last week for a race, but left early so that we could also make it into a vacation- it was a really great time. Here are some photos~

J- at the beginning of the race.

I suppose that is all the major news for right now. I'm sure there is more...but I really would like a mid-day nap right about now. So that is where I am headed.

Until next time-

Hugs,
S

Update

So, yes. I suppose an update is greatly needed. I am once again, okay with being labeled as a slacker in the blogging department. Whatever.

I'm trying to recall where I left off the last time. I am actually in my last week of bootcamp...its been a long rough road, but has been rewarding thus far. I finally got new running shoes, which made all the difference as after about Week 3, I was suffering from tendonitis in my achilles, from increasing my mileage to quickly (that was not a good time.) I will take 2 weeks off (as I have to have painful things removed from my feet) but plan to get back into bootcamp again, after that. I despise running, but it truly has made a difference. I now can do 15-20 boy pushups in a row, whereas before bootcamp, I would be lucky to do one. So, I suppose thats an improvement right there.

The beginning of this month, J and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary in Charleston. 5 years has truly flown by quickly. It is amazing to me, how far we have come.

The Middleton Plantation (scenes from The Patriot were filmed here)

Our tour guides, Pat and Ricky
Us!

I also hit the big 2-5 this year last week... SIGH. We celbrated with friends and finally had the chance to spend some quality time together, which was really nice.

J is still as busy as ever with racing. The season is going really well so far, so we are thrilled about that.

In other, extremely important news....................

I am a College Graduate! Thats right- no more school for me! I can't believe it is finally over...it is a wonderful feeling. I'm currently at a loss since I am no longer occupying my time with endless papers and homework. I have my Bachelors Degree, and a double major of Management and Criminal Justice. It is truly an amazing feat!

That is about it for us. I'm sure I have left things out...but there is always next time. We are headed to the beach in a few weeks, so I am sure I will post then.

Many Hugs,

S

Bootcamp, 5k and More...

Hi All. I hope that this post finds everyone healthy and well.

Things at the Beck house are moving right along. I am happy to report that Spring has finally decided to stick around NC. For awhile there, it was raining 3-4 days at a time... which I have to admit was getting pretty old. But, it sure makes for a green Spring!

James' season is under way.... he has more races this season than last, so needless to say he is very busy. But happy, doing what he loves to do.

If you read the title of this blog, than you would be wondering about Bootcamp. No, I did not join one of our military forces. I'm sure you were concerned there for a minute. If you know anything about me, you'd know that I workout. A lot. Well, I decided I really wanted to start doing something more challenging, so I joined a 6 week bootcamp, that meets 3 times per week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays. The instructor who teaches the PM class, is a triathlete so needless to say, he enjoys running. Running is not one of my strong suits. But for that dreadful hour, I pretend that I can do it, and try to get through it. Which somehow I do. So far, its only been 1 week. I am already feeling different. When you begin to push yourself, you really learn what you are made of. You stop craving bad foods, after all- that is what got me here. A cheeseburger here, a french fry there, and voila! Time for bootcamp. I'll be sure to try and give you updates as often as I can.

Also in the title, was 5k. Yes, I ran my first 5k today, which is 3.1 miles. To some, this doesn't seem like a lot. However, go ahead and complete one, and then get back to me, okay? First off, its hard. I really wouldn't consider myself to be out of shape, but today as I was plugging along I thought, Really? This is all I can do? Here is what I have learned about running.

1. The first 10 minutes are the worst. Your lungs are trying to fill with a neverending supply of air. All you can think about is stopping and lying on the ground.

2. No matter how much water is consumed prior, there is always the appearance of the horrible side-ache. The one where you could probably be sure that someone scooped out a hole in your stomach.

3. This is when the legs start to cramp. You can feel your toes begin to curl in your shoes. One false move and a full blown Charlie horse cramp will take place in your shoe.

4. After about mile 2, you just learn that the sideache will subside, and eventually you get used to the shakey-crampy leg feeling. As long as one foot goes in front of the other, you can do it. Do not stop and walk- it only makes it harder. Although- 1 point for me, for not walking until I crossed the finish line.

I wasn't first, but I wasn't last either. A lot of my fellow boot-campers were there, so that made it nice when I finished. J came to watch me, which was nice to know he supports me. This will not be my last 5k. There is a 5 mile run (a little less than a 10k) in July that climbs Grandfather Mountain. It is an extremely hard race, as it is a constant incline so I would really need to work up to that. But that is why you create goals!

Other than that, we are doing really well. I only have 3 weeks of school left and then that's it!! I guess I will have plenty of time to train for the races.

I hope everyone is well. I know this post has no pretty photos, but look for some next time. We did some serious yardwork a few weeks ago, so I will be sure to post some pics then.

Take Care,
S

Rant.

I'm here because I need to Rant. Vent. Let out some angerings.

I have had it up to here (if you were to be looking at me, my hand would be about 8 inches above my head) with a few things.

The first issue I have is with stupid people. Do you realize that over 90% of the world is full of them? The ones who are insistent they know everything, they are always right, and are constantly concerning themselves with things that have nothing to do with them. Why? Why are they like this? I am so tired of dealing with people like this. There is no excuse to act like this, I mean- don't you get that people CANT STAND you?

Another issue is the rain. I know, poor me, right? Yes...damn right. Apparently I was confused and moved to Seattle, since it has been raining since Wednesday night and will continue until Monday. I understand why people are so depressed in Seattle. Dark, dreary, rainy, soggy days over and over and over will do that to you.

In other news, race season is in full swing. The first race of the season is next weekend...and off starts an extremely busy year with many travels.

Thanks for listening to my rants.

Maybe next time it will be more update, less rant. Who knows.

Many hugs,
S

Shame on Me.

Okay. I am a horrible blogger.....shame on me for not posting since January. Lets try and think back to all that has happened.

J turned the big 2-7 this year. He wanted to lay pretty low for his birthday, so we just kept it pretty low key. We had a great Valentines Day this year...didn't go out with all of the love birds, just stayed home and had a great dinner together.

February seems to have flown by. Towards the end of the month, we began another DIY project. We had begun noticing that our front door on the outside was beginning to show signs of rotting. This is not a good sign. So, we planned to replace our door. Which wasn't a bad thing, as we wanted to replace our door anyway. Well, what turned into a "New door" project turned into "Rip out nasty floor and replace with new tile and new door" project. Yes... that's right. The entire entry way which was hardwood, was completely rotting away underneath. The most annoying factor in the mess was the fact it had been an obvious issue for the previous owners as they had shoved various pieces of wood underneath the floor in hopes it would miraculously solve the problem.... The words I have for these people who left us with this would not be appropriate for this blog. So I will leave that to your imagination.

Here are some photos...

This was our old door, before we moved in 2 years ago.

Ah yes. The beginning of the finding of the rotting floor. ;o(

This is after the hardwoods and sub floor have been cut out and removed. This was the new sub-floor being put down in preparation for the tile.

Voila! Our beautiful new door and tile.

Shew... that was a big project.

The beginning of March was.... FREEZING! Here are some more pics of our snow day. Yes, I said snow. (I could have sworn I left Idaho in my past somewhere...)

View from our front door.

View from back door...
Needless to say, that was not really the kick-off we were looking for, for the beginning of Spring. Since then, Spring finally made an appearance today after 4 days of solid rain. Let me tell you a little secret- 4 days of rain puts me in an ugly mood. And guess what the weather is calling for tomorrow? You guessed it! RAIN! Sigh.

In other news, I flew to KY the beginning of this month to see my mom and Sarah flew there too. She turned 21, so it was so great to spend time with her and my mom. We had such a great time together. About a week before that she and Paul found out their next station. They will be moving to Anchorage, Alaska in the middle of May. Needless to say, I was devastated that week as we had high hopes for them to finally be close to us. But, in an attempt to be "positive", we are looking forward to visiting Alaska as neither of us have been before.

In closing, I would like to point out that I, will be a college graduate in 2 months.... Can you believe it?!?! I am so thrilled.

Hope everyone is well. I will try to write more often.

Many Hugs,

S

Quiet.

For once, I have some free time to write an update. I am current on both classes, just got done with a workout and am catching up on my daily DVR'd episode of Days of Our Lives. DVR is pretty much the best thing ever invented. Life for the moment...is good.

Since our blog is in need of some serious attention, here I am to update you.

Christmas was spent with my family in Kentucky. Sarah's husband Paul was granted extended leave from the USCG and was allowed to report to his next station the end of December. He and James get along really well (which Sarah and I are so thankful for!) and we had a truly wonderful Christmas. It was filled with Taboo, laughs, Midnight Cookie making, playing dress-up to go out to the barn and many, many memories. We both got wonderful gifts (My favorites being my new Coach and Dooney bags), James' being his new Pocket PC ( a la moi) and Bella's her new Coach collar from her wonderful Grandparents (Mema and Grandpa Tim. Christmas came to a close when we all sadly went our seperate ways. J and I back to NC, my sister back to AZ and Paul to his next station in CA. We are so hopeful that in May after he graduates A-school, they will be able to pick a station in NC or atleast somewhere on the East Coast. I am forever jealous of families who live within minutes of eachother. If only those people seemed more grateful. Here are some pics from our wonderful Christmas. Since we didn't spend Christmas at home, we just decorated with the baby tree.
Sarah in the middle of making cookies at midnight. Yum.

Miss B, sporting her new Coach collar.

On to New Years. New Years this year was so much fun for us. We rented a Condo in the Mountains of NC with some friends of ours. We had yet to play in the snow since moving here, so we were both so excited to head up there and see something new. New Years Eve was spent by the fire, and later in the night included a Dance Party... I think I recall I time when the neighbor asked us to quiet down. Could it have been my RiverDance rendition? I can't be sure. I do know that it was a good time and I only lost Jenga once and I felt better that everyone lost at Circle of Death. One day we did venture out to Sugar Mountain to attempt to slide down it on skis, or in J's case, a snowboard. I was petrified to get off the ski lift as I hadn't done so for roughly 12 years. All I know is that I am much higher off the ground and have more weight that I have pick up off the ground when I fall. You will be happy to know that I only fell once. Well, technically. The second time (if this must be counted) was an attempt to get up from fall #1. While attempting to stand in the Transformer boots that were secured extremely tightly around my aching calves, I happened to start scooting down the mountain again. Oh- I forgot to mention that my ski partner, Jackie was trying to help me up from fall #1 and I ended up taking her with me during fall #2. I am thankful that no one caught that one on tape. It was such a fun trip for us...and J did such a great job snowboarding. He now wants one of his very own. Hooray.

Living Room of our pretty mountain palace.

Jackie and I...yes, she survived me throwing her down the mountain.

Happy New Year!

J playing the Snowboard game.

Shew... We made it! After the Sugar Mountain attack.

Well, there ya have it! Our recap on the holidays. So far, 2009 has been a good year. This year is going to be filled with much for us. James is going to be going back to AZ for a long overdue family visit, I will be traveling a bit to Phoenix, Boston and Portland for work this year. Oh and one more spectacular detail...I will be a college graduate! I cannot even begin to put into words how thrilled this makes me. Finally after years (literally, years. ) I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

So, until next time. Be good to yourself and enjoy the rest of January.

Hugs,

S