Month: August 2017



Sunday was finally the day when Gigi and I had to prove our mettle, rise and grind and run a half marathon.  Training in the summer is hard for me.  The mix of heat and vacations makes it harder than I ever realize to get all of my training in.  The good news is that Gigi and I managed to train up to 11.5 miles, so we weren’t too far away from the full distance.  As with every run, especially the longer runs, there’s a level of worry.  Getting out on a long trail like this and having a problem is way different than having a problem on a three mile run.  It’s scary to think of running on an injury for a long time or choosing to not finish.  Gigi’s knee was bothering her while my hips and knees are still recovering from Disneyland.  Add to that sore spots on our tootsies from the previous day’s tromp through the bubbles with wet feet for three miles! So we were cautiously optimistic as we stepped from the bus to the trail.  We both believe in the advice of “Never trust a run in the first mile,” though, so we were determined to give it a try, even if we had to walk a bit.

It turns out that we both were grateful for the grace we allowed ourselves.  We both ran our slowest half marathons, but we did run them.  For me, I was surprised.  I ran without any issue until I passed double digits, I started feeling tired during mile ten, then the shade went away during mile 11.  I started getting out of breath in a way that was out of control and my heart rate started jacking up into the 178-181 range.  I got the chills and goosebumps and realized that I was showing signs of heatstroke.  It was around 85 degrees, I had been running for over two hours…  it made sense that I was getting sick so I slowed to a walk and only ran for the last .1 mile as I crossed the finish line, and my heart never slowed to under the 150’s until I sat in my car.  The heat had a big impact.  For Gigi it was her knee.  She tripped and fell several weeks ago, skinning and deeply bruising her knee.  Her other knee made up the difference and ended up overworked as we trained up to our current mileage.  In Disneyland she required a knee support while we were in the resort.  Her knee started talking to her on mile three of the Iron Horse, so she spent some time walking intervals and stretching at water stops.  I was proud of her for paying attention to her body instead of chasing glory.  We are both very sore.  Much more sore than we were when we ran our 11.5 a couple of weeks ago, which we both find a bit comical.  She always complains that she never gets sore anymore, but I think this race made her change that tune. Ha ha!

Next up?  

• Beat the Blerch on September 16.  I still haven’t decided if I’m running the half marathon or 10k.  I’m trained up for the half now…  lol.  It’s hard to say no to distance!  
• Celebrate Schools 5k On 10/7 in an effort to raise funds for Oak Heights!  If you sign up, make sure and choose my school!  The more signups we have under our name the bigger piece of the fundraising pie we get.  We are not a wealthy school,  every penny counts!
• Cap’n Jacks Treasure Run on October 29th!!!!  This is literally happening on my birthday!  It’s a pirate themed 5k or 8k through Woodinville.  Join in and celebrate with us if you like!  I can’t think of a better way to celebrate my birthday and this is the closest to a party as I would ever throw for myself. 😉  The kids and I are running the 8k and we can toast with bananas and water after!  🙂 use my code for 10% off at checkout -tamarashazam17 

We rose and shone extra early this morning to run through the bubbles at the annual Bubble Run 5k.  I have to say, of all the fun runs we do, this is the one I love as much as the kids!  I’m not sure why I like bubbles as much as I do, but there’s something about walking through those bubble bogs that is mighty motivating.  I’m not alone, either.  Jude was crazy about the bubble run! He told me that he wants to do every year, even if it’s a 10k.  I thought that was pretty cute.  Of course we will.  Afterwards he went haywire at the bubble stage, making bubble snow angels and standing in the line of bubble cannon fire while Gigi and I danced to earn a little prize.  We will return!

We made our yearly pilgrimage to Disneyland.  We were there during the eclipse, the Pokémon World competition and for the local annual pass holder’s first day to use their passes again.  The result was that the first few days were pretty awesome and vacant while the last two days were absolutely nuts!  We found ourselves choosing the walk to and from the park over waiting for the busses, this time, and wracked up over 20,000 steps per day.  I’m always surprised by how easy Disneyland is, now that I’ve lost so much weight.  It used to be that Disneyland was a killer.  My feet, back and legs would just ache after a day in the park.  The bus was a necessity, not a luxury.  This time I picked gigi up and carried her on my back for half a block.  Her weight plus my weight adds up to my heaviest weight, and it was painful to walk!  My hips and knees hurt so bad, I couldn’t believe I walked around like that all of the time.  I’m so glad I don’t have to do that anymore.   It was a pretty incredible experiment!  We had a fabulous time, as always, and bought the annual passes so we can return next summer for the cost of airfare and hotel.  

Can’t pass these guys by!

Phew!  We got back from the Idaho trip and I pretty much have whiplash with how quickly the rest of the month hustled by!  I was feeling a lot of pressure to get miles in for Guinevere with the half marathon coming on August 27th, so we really trained hard in the interim between reunion and Disneyland.  I decided that the ten miles per day walking through Disneyland could count as our taper.  Lol.  We managed to train up to 11.5, so that felt like a pretty solid dent in our plan.  Our first 13.1 will have to be at the actual Iron Horse Half Marathon on Sunday!

My goal for training hasn’t been speed at all.  It’s all about the distance, so this time I’ve been training with a little walking in between.  Because we trained up so fast, I wanted to make sure and build in some rest points so my body has some recovery.  Just because I can run 13 miles doesn’t mean I can do it without a consequence from not training well enough.

With August’s hot sun and brown grass also came my return to the classroom.  We had to rally, this year, in order to get a contract that is more balanced than our previous one.  I know I intimated how challenging my class was last year, but I don’t think even I realized how much of an impact it made on me.  I tried to step back in during the first week in August, just to get the lay of the land and wrap my mind around the job in front of me, but I ended up having a full blown anxiety attack and had to turn the car around to come back home.  That was tough, to realize how bogged down I still am by that impactive year.  At the rally, Bradley spoke to the school board about how much of an impact my unique class had on my family and me, much less the students in my room.  He pleaded to the board for more resources, more time and more support for the at risk kids who we serve every day and for his at risk wife who is quickly becoming a burnout statistic.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed.  We will find out next week what our contract holds.  

We’ve been told we should be able to agree fairly happily with our contract, but just in case I went to my doctor and am now on the path of medication to help control my anxiety.  I avoided it for as long as possible, using food, exercise and meditation, but I can’t have a repeat of what happened in my car once the school year starts.  My doctor first suggested I take some time off, but that’s just not my reality, so it’s meds for me.  So far it’s been effective and very helpful.  All of the major anxious moments that I anticipate seem to be placated and I’m not worrying overly much.  I still have anxiety, but for what time of year it is, I’m alarmingly calm and collected.  I’ll use this crutch for now and hopefully will exit the medication zone next spring after my brain develops some better habits.  For now, though, it’s helping and I’m happy about that.  Hard to talk about, but it’s my new reality.

We made our annual trek to Idaho to rub elbows with my family last week.  It started out early with Jude leaving with my mom for a few one to one days, then we joined a few days later to spend some time at the lake and squeeze my parents.  I have a feeling that I’ll only be able to visit the property for a few more years as my parents can’t keep up with it forever and no one else wants to move out to the sticks.  It’s a strange feeling, knowing something that is part of my blood will be let go, but I’m learning that life is just one long sequence of learning to love then learning to let go. In the end, we have to let it all go, anyhow, so I suppose that waving goodbye to the Idaho property will be one more opportunity to practice.  

I took advantage of our time there, exploring as much as I wanted, dipping into the lake, watching the sunset, sitting quietly on the bluff, reading in the grass, all of the things.  I piled my family into the golf cart at one point and gave a historical tour of important points of interest, from my perspective.  I showed them where I learned to swim, where my brothers and cousins sealed me into an igloo full of fresh farts,  where we tried to catch a snipe, where the old house and garbage pile used to be, where I got the scars on my shin from a water fight.  It was a good trip.

Unlike other years, this one also included our every-third-year Baumert Family reunion.  We convened in Salmon Idaho to catch up on hugs and see how tall our kids got.  It was strange, this year, as I’m part of the grown up population now.  There are younger families than mine and our elders are aging.  Looking around, I realized that the crowd has changed from all of my aunts and uncles to very few elders and almost all cousins so far removed now that we could marry one another and no one would blink an eye.  That made me think of what family is.  Despite the thinning of our shared blood DNA, we are what defines family for me, there.  I had a blast visiting, dancing, bidding on auction items, making slime and everything else.  I feel lucky that we still meet up and still call one another cousin.

(To the rhythm of the 1980’s classic DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s Parents Just Don’t Understand)

You know swimsuits are the same, no matter time nor place,
They don’t understand that us gals are going to make some mistakes,
So to you, all the women all across the land, there’s no need to argue,
Swimsuits just don’t understand.

Early this spring I went swimsuit shopping,
Tryin’ to get something to keep my belly from flopping,
It tries to sneak out from the bottom of my suit,
I wanted modesty along with something kinda cute.

I started bugging with the swimsuits I saw:
There’s no room for all my skin in that thong!
This woman’s lost 150 pounds!
I need something to hold that skin down!

Bikini, monokini, french cut, skirted-
One piece, rouched, built in bra and girdled.
One suit arose, the belle of the ball,
A little bit of skin but not showing it all.

[chorus]
You know swimsuits are the same, no matter time nor place
They don’t understand that us gals are going to make some mistakes
So to you, all the women all across the land There’s no need to argue
Swimsuits just don’t understand.

Ok, here’s the situation:
My family went away on a week’s vacation.
I packed the pieces of my brand new suit,
Black and white stripes, looking pretty cute.

I’ll just take it for a little splash,
Maybe show it off to Mr. Mustache,
I’ll put it on for the family lake,
I had no idea the perfect mistake I would make!

Pay attention, here’s the thick of the plot,
I pulled up my bottoms, they fit better than I thought,
That’s when I saw in front of me,
The tag hanging out where none should be.

You should see my bodily dimensions,
I yelled to Bradley to get his attention,
He said, “Was that for me?”
I said, “Yeah!”
He said, “Why?”
I said, “Come on and take a look at my behind!”

I said “These bottoms cover better when they’re turned around,”
The right way makes my tummy slip toward the ground,
The front is tiny while my belly is not, 
The back covers better, who would have thought?”

We agreed and we were on our way
He was looking very good and so was I, I must say – word
We hit the lake, waded into the water
with our handsome son and beautiful daughter.

[chorus]
You know swimsuits are the same, no matter time nor place
They don’t understand that us gals are going to make some mistakes
So to you, all the women all across the land There’s no need to argue
Swimsuits just don’t understand.

(Long story short? My swimsuit bottoms fit better when they’re backwards. When I turn the bottoms around backwards, they look a lot like those new swimsuits with the narrow back that shows a lot of booty, but frankly I’d rather have my expected large ass hanging out than my unexpected belly skin drooping out of the bottom of my swimsuit. I think I need to invent a line of bathing suits for people who have massive weightloss issues. I have dangly skin that likes to pop out unattractively at my armpits, making lovely armpit flab, my lower belly has ‘corners’ that sneak out of the legs of my bathing suits (like, the sides of my hips that used to be and plump and now hang like a deflated balloon) and my upper belly (above my belly button) that just likes to swing around obnoxiously and needs to be held down!)