Return of the Mile Tracker!

Why is exercise always the first thing to go?

You know how it is - running/walking/team sports/swimming/whatever-it-is-you-do-to-get-the-ol'-heart-pumping makes you feel soooo good. You think, "I'm totally loving this and I'm going to do this every day and why didn't I change my life sooner?"

And then you buy a house and paint every night and move in and try to unpack and school ends and friends come over and there's important summertime fun to be had...

...and suddenly you realize you can count on one hand the number of times you've worked out in the past two three four months.

Fortunately, I've already discovered that the best way to return to a regular exercise schedule is FEAR. I signed up awhile ago for the TC-10, a 10-mile race at the beginning of October. Easy, I thought. I used to run 10 miles every Saturday - I'll train up through the summer and I'll be ready no problem.

See above for how successful I've been.

However, time marches on, and as the end of August approaches, I'm starting to feel very nervous. A handful of 3-mile runs is not going to get me up to speed (heh). I've slowly worked up the past couple of weeks, and yesterday I ran 6 miles for the first time since April, whoop!

It helped that I had these:

Sweet, yes? Don't know if you've seen all the fancy, need-to-wear-sunglasses running shoes that are popping up everywhere, but I've totally been obsessing over them for awhile now. Our new house happens to have a running store just around the corner (can I say again how much I love living here??) so we stopped in for a quick try-on yesterday and I came home with these.

Of course, I immediately headed out and totally kicked that 6 miles in the boo-tay. Yep, I'd say these babies are gonna give me exactly what I need for Operation: The-Race-Is-Only-How-Many-Weeks-Away??

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A Week of Mondays

Every summer since we moved here, starting about mid-June, whenever The Husband and I hear about a great restaurant or a summer blockbuster or some other less-than-kid-friendly activity, we look at each other and say, "Put it on The List."

As in, the list of super-awesome-fun-grownup-I've-got-time-to-linger-over-dessert-the-house-stays-clean-no-grocery-shopping-since-I-ain't-cooking activities that we put together for our annual Empty Nest Extravaganza.

THAT list.

The kids are up at "Grandma's Farm" this week and next, and as usual, it's the perfect way to end the summer. The grandparents get to love up their grandbabies and get nice and sick of the kids so that they can last until the next visit. The kids get the royal treatment and spend fun-filled days going on field trips and spending precious time with their cousins.

And we get to go to that amazing new restaurant everyone's talking about. And take in a concert down by the lake at the bandshell. And test drive cars. And catch up on 30 Rock without having to wait until the kids are put to bed.

Oh, and the projects! I have a nice long list of projects around the house that I want to get done without the littlekins around and The Husband has been forced upon penalty of me not coming on any test drives agreed to help me!

Of course, there's a downside (because the sunny side of the street makes me squint). When every evening feels like the weekend...

....every morning when I head in to work, it feels like Monday. Blech.

(Although, the flip side of that is that every bus ride home it feels like Friday afternoon again. So there's that.)

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A Week of Saturdays

Ahhhhhh.

It's vacation time at the PM house! And I'm sitting in my sunny sunroom, drinking coffee, blogging...and listening to the gentle pounding of the jackhammers outside tearing up my entire street.

But really, if you're going to have a week where you have no driveway access, this is the week to do it. We're doing the "staycation" thing (i.e. we bought a house and have no $$ to go anywhere this year). I'm hanging out with the kids all week and The Husband is taking off a couple of days later this week.

It's also not a bad thing to have some enforced down-time when you think of the summer the kids have had. They lurved their YMCA camps what with all the field trips and cookouts and tie-dyeing and GaGa Ball (The Boy's fave - it sounds like volleyball in a pit). But it's busy, and it means they get up earlier and return home later in summer than they do during the school year.

I kinda want them to get bored and even fight a little this week. That's what summer's all about, right? (Remind me I said that when I'm breaking up the umpteenth fight over the remote control today.)

Yesterday I finished my book and we walked down to the new gelato place (Black Cherry Zinfandel - wine in ice cream? Oh yes.). I've already been down to the lake for my run this morning, and today's agenda has only a pencilled-in "head down to the park with the wading pool." There's friends coming for supper to sit on the deck and watch the paving progress tonight. Tomorrow? Well, not really thinking about that yet....

It's a wide open week with only the odd commitment and otherwise vast, empty spaces on the calendar. Love it!

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