My Husband Delivered & Five Ways to Be Gracious

YES!  Hump Day is here!

I know.  I sound too enthusiastic.

In reality, I'm more like

But I digress.

Yesterday was full of yummy things!  Again, I inhaled my breaky (organic oatmeal + pb and banana), but here's what a friend of mine gave me yesterday.  IT WAS THE MOST DELICIOUS THING I'VE EVER PUT IN MY FACE.  All to celebrate the birth of his new baby girl.:)

Lunch was some Tex-Mex inspired fare.

And this is what happens when I forget to take a snack with me for after school.  It was absolutely gorgeous outside yesterday (65-70*F!), SO naturally there was a ton of traffic. (?)  It took me an hour to get home, and by then, I was done.  I needed food.

And apparently I needed *girl time* stuff...?

He really delivered.:)

Some snuggle time before bed...

And after receiving my rejection e-mail from the New York lottery (I DELETED IT IN A RAGE! but not really:P), we figured out the rest of our race year.  Lots of RnR races, of course.:)

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Gracious -----------> courteous, kind, patient.

As runners and fitness enthusiasts, I want to believe that most of us have attitudes that are a touch more positive.  Perhaps we smile more.  Most of us have some silly snark about us that brings a nicer tone to this great big World.

I like to think that most of us are goal-oriented, if not solely within our discipline, in our attitudes and spirits.

This *Wednesday Word* came at a good time for me.  I have been trying to work on my graciousness as of late.  I think that I've been under a ton of stress, and the first thing I need to do is bring myself back down to this World and treat others with patience and kindness.  After praying on it often and smiling more (this resets my "GRRRRR" button!), I came up with the following things to focus on regarding graciousness:

1.  Rewire your thinking --------->  Reset your intentions with others.  Smile more, thank often (SAY "SORRY" LESS!), LISTEN without thinking about a reply or a rebuttal.  Consider someone's intentions when they're approaching you; also consider how their day may have been up to this point.

2.  Show kindness in small doses ---------> The SMALLEST thing can make someone's day!  Courteously opening the door for someone, helping someone reach something, offer someone a compliment (try to make it personal ["that color in your blouse looks amazing on you!"]).  I know it sounds insignificant or like a trick, but it'll make you feel kinda good, and the person with which you interacted.  You never know the impact you'll have on someone, so you might as well make it frickin' awesome.

3.  HIT THE BRAKES ---------> PAUSE when you get angry or upset.  I know for me, sometimes my brain immediately goes to the absolute worst situation in the entire World, over NOTHING.  (This is one of the many things I'm working on regarding my grace.:)  Take a breath and listen to the whole story.  It's way more than likely that it's something totally fixable.  This pause you take will help you re-evaluate, and chose the correct path that will be way more productive.  And more than likely, gracious.

4.  Be grateful ---------> Everything awesome in this World begins with gratefulness.  You cannot and will not be gracious if you are not thankful.  Just like being kind to others, consider your gratefulness in small doses.  Start being thankful for every single little thing.  A cup of coffee (ohhhhhhhhh boy, thank you!), light traffic, someone bringing you something at work, remembering something, running water, RUNNING, the ability to, your family, your friends, "thank you, thank you, thank you" until the cows come home.  When you appreciate more, you're happier with the things you have.  When you're happier, your grace will SHINE.

5.  Smile ---------> YOU GOT IT.:):):):)

Simply put

Go out there and rock Wednesday!  Word?;)
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Tell me one tip you have for being kind!  Please.:)

That First Mile (and some news!)

Oh, let me take you back to Monday evening.  Harry had to work late, and got home after I had eaten dinner.  He munched on some leftover pizza (which we always seem to have), and then had a BRIGHT IDEA ------------->  We haven't been to Josi's in FOREVER!

For the first time, I bet'cha can't tell which one was mine.

Up early after those sweet dreams for a shorty 3-miler.  Fueled by...you guessed it.

AND THEN, I made the hilarious mistake of doing an assessment for the Boot Camp app I got the other day.  I totally do a review for it soon.:)

I didn't realize that three miles would've taken so much out of me, enough to exhaust me for two minutes of as many push-ups, sit-ups and squats I could do.  It's absolutely ridiculous how out of shape I am.

Off to school, and the weather got so very gloomy.  It was a perfect day for this.

Don't I appear to be so very balanced?  I'll probably have the same meal today, to be honest.  My throat's a little scratchtastic.

I got home a little late; I always seem to stick around when the girls have a basketball game, even though I'm not coaching them.  Instead, I took on the responsibility of coordinating all of the games for my Network for this season for a change...that's been a wild ride!

When I got home, I had the biggest craving for SALT --------- girlpartsdoingtheirthing.  SORRY, FELLAS.  The bad part is that I kind of finished off the bag of Harry's fave chips.  Er.  And it's always awkward when you accidentally took a picture with the flash on; I hardly ever use it.

Taco Tuesday ended up being takeout tacos.  They weren't pretty, so I didn't take a picture of them.:)
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So here's the thing.  No matter if you're running a race, an event, a training run, a pace mile, or even (or especially) the first mile of the run after T2 in a tri, that first mile is sometimes rude, or even a liar liar, pants on fire.

Was it not already tough enough (some days WAY TOUGHER than others) for you to get up, get ready, lace up your shoes and start running?

(Yeah.  It was.  For real, pat yourself on the back.)

And now, the running gods have offered you this crummy mile.  You find yourself cursing yourself...cursing the weather...the apparel you put on...something...anything.  Before you know it, you're finally done with your first mile.  From this point, you have either gotten over how tough the first mile was, or you're still brooding in it.

Now I'm not going to sit here and tell you that the only way to enjoy your run is to HAVE A BETTER ATTITUDE/OUTLOOK.  No.  I know that I've been super cheery, and then head out for a run that ruined my world (not really, but I'll exaggerate if I want!), so I know for sure that "fake it 'til you make it" doesn't always work.  Not alone, anyway.

What WILL work is to embrace that first mile.  Embrace = hold on to it dearly = spend more time with it = GO SLOWER (physical advice here).  No matter how much of a big, fat fibber it is, that's where your intentions should lie with it.  Accept the fact that your run will go on past it, and the rest of your run will be nothing like it (mental advice).  Be willing to move on from that; don't let it wreck the rest of your beauty and peace; that's what you went out for, right?

Next time you're heading out, let that first mile be the first mile --- a big 'ole fibber that will NOT dictate the rest of your run.  Take it slow, let it be a jerk turkey, and then fall into the joy you went out for.

As far as BIG, AWESOME NEWS ------ I got a terrific e-mail yesterday, letting me know that I was chosen to be part of the Rock 'N' Roll Marathon #RockNBlog Team for 2016!  I am SO STOKED to be part of a fantastic crew!

I MEAN.

I got a welcome video!

And along with some REALLY FANTASTIC Twitter followers, THIS ONE was pretty cool!:)

Oh yeah, follow me here, if you like.

LOVE THE SUPPORT ALREADY!;)  Have an AMAZING, ROCKNROLL Wednesday, friends!
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What's your favorite meal on super cloudy, yucky days?


Do you embrace your first mile for what it is? 


Do you have advice for new runners regarding that first mile?