90 Days

Yes, there are 90 days until the pool opens! (My girls had me count yesterday.) So we're trying a healthy 90 days challenge in our house. I'm trying to get them--and me--eating more healthful snacks, more varied meals, and smaller desserts. We'll see how it goes--my 7-year-old already had a major snack tantrum, and my 4-year-old wanted too many Girl Scout cookies after lunch. At least it was nice enough for them to play outside for a little while today. My kids don't eat perfectly, and they watch TV and play video games, but they do get their exercise and they love to read, so I'm happy.

Me--I'm hoping to lose the belly I put on over the winter. It's not bad, but I don't like that I gained weight. I know it's a rough battle as I get older, but I'm going to do all I can to stay as healthy and fit as I can. So I did Pilates or other core work 4 times this week, plus my other workouts. I only ran 2 miles all week, but hey--a break is good. That 10-miler is coming up in 6 weeks, so I need to start those longer runs soon.

Today's Feat of Strength

Yes, I'm lame, but I'm so proud to say that other than the clothes on our backs, every single item of clothing in our house is clean, folded, and put away! It's extremely rare that this happens! So how did this happen? Instead of running Tuesday or today when both kids were in school and I didn't have to work, I stayed home and did housework. I've been trying to find balance in my life for years, but no luck yet. I've worked part-time since October 2000 when my oldest was six weeks old--both laying out a dental journal and teaching aerobics for a while, then just doing two freelance newsletters and teaching now. I'm pretty proud that I've pulled it off without any major goof-ups though!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all my running friends! This week I organized our elementary school's Hoops For Heart fundraiser. It was chaotic, stressful, and loud, but I'm glad I did it. More than 80 kids spent 3 hours playing basketball games and drills, and we raised nearly $4,000 for the American Heart Association. It was great to see all those kids playing together and all those grown-ups donating to a healthy heart cause.

Back to running, I got to run with all my great team members last weekend either Saturday or Sunday. It really is wonderful to have this team of women to train with. The Cherry Blossom Ten Miler is only about a month and a half away, so I need to start running longer than 5 miles at a time again. I hope the ice goes away and we can hit the trails this weekend!