Excuses, Excuses, Excuses!

Hi Gals-I don't have to ask what you've been doing as the weather has been awesome and we are all starting to be outdoors as much as possible. I was looking at the Blog and realized I hadn't added anything since early March-once the weather hit, I was MIA.



At the same time, I ran with Pat, Delilah, Christine, and Ray at the Drumm Run on March 7th. It was a TRAIL run=running through fields over rough terrain, and up a hill that makes Monkey Mountain look like a mole hill!

I have been dealing with foot issues, and that seemed to irritate it.

Then came the dreaded pictures. Pat made some of our WOW shirts on a test run, and some were a really cool, visible, yellow. Needless to say, it makes one stand out. And whether it was my shirt or maybe not looking all that cool, they took ALOT of pictures of me. I think I counted myself in 17 pictures.



It was a great day, good friends, beautiful weather and my first 10K! But when I saw those pictures of myself, I was sort of disappointed. Is THAT what I look like running? Are my legs, gaining muscle by the minute, really that size? Do I appear to pant like a St. Bernard in Arizona when I run?



So, I used my aching foot and deflated ego as an "excuse"to sort of bail the past two weeks. I kept telling myself that I was becoming a runner, then that picture didn't paint a very pretty picture-I was still just me, pretending to be a jock. And I looked "silly".



So I sulked, stewed, moaned about my foot, which still hurts, and did nothing.



For whatever reason, I decided to run today-maybe it was the getting a peticure and thinking these feet need a little action. So off I went. I did an easy 3 miles-didn't know how I looked, but I felt great. My pace was better than it had been before the Drumm Run. So I thought, enough with the excuses, I need to get back in the game!

It's easy when things aren't quite to our liking to make excuses to not show up. But the only person we will let down is ourselves. As much as I disliked the pictures of my not so Rico Suave self running-I missed the feeling I have while I run. So if you see what appears to be Phoebe from Friends running down the street in a bright yellow shirt-it's me! And I know, I don't look fabulous-but I sure feel that way when I run!



Also-I now have a laptop! So if there is a beautiful day-I can blog on the deck, porch, or even by our pool! So no more excuses! I'm back!

Hope to see you on the road!

Teri

Inspiring the Next Generation of WOW!

Okay, so I had to miss yet another race to do stuff with the kids! Sometimes I feel that my life is all about being something to everyone else. I guess that just comes with putting on the hats of Mom, Wife, Teacher, Etc. I probably wouldn't want it any other way.

The great thing about missing my race on Saturday is that I didn't miss Emerald's. She just had a short 3 laps around a circle at the AWANA's games, but she came in first in her heat!!! She looked up the bleachers at me after that race and beamed!!!

She had run with the WOW group several weekends ago and made it about 2 miles before she tired out and walked the remaining 4 miles. What a trooper. She really is enjoying running. It is amazing how changing one little thing in my life caused such a change in hers. I hope it sticks with her -- I can't wait for the day she can do a 5K with me! Maybe we will set our sites on the KC Breast Cancer Run.

Just remember for those of you who are moms or will be moms -- those kids watch everything we do. Hopefully they catch the good things!

We will be Butterflies!

Hello Ladies-
Well it is almost officially spring! Daylight Savings returns Sunday (don't forget to spring forward) and spring starts in two weeks!

With that comes more time outside, gardening, bbq, tans, and races!

I know I have been slouching the past week with my running/diet/blogging/everything. I have the blahs. And I think when we work so hard at something, it is hard to get frustrated to not see the immediate results we wish for.

I want to lose weight (so I can run faster mostly) and I am slowly trodding down the street. So I get a little jealous when some of my pals are trucking along at a 9 mile a minute pace.

It's easy to give up, and it's sure hard to keep going. But things don't happen overnight. The thing that makes it so difficult is the lack of/desire for patience.

We've all trudged through winter, the snow, cold, ice, and sniffles. Sweaters, sweats, dark days, cold nights. And we've waited, watched, and even prayed for even a taste of springtime. Tomorrow is going to be wonderful!

We didn't just give up and stomp our foot saying "Pooey-I don't care if it's ever spring!"

We knew, if we waited, eventually it would arrive.

Well ladies-no matter how frustrated you are at times with your workout-if you just keep with it, eventually YOU will arrive too! More easily or quickly for sure. But before you know it, you'll be running that 9 minute mile and remembering how long you looked forward to it!

We've all been or are there-so don't be discouraged! It's spring! Here is a quote to end this note-and also the artwork for our fabulous WOW Shirts- which will be available to order soon! Thanks to Sarah Coats, WOW gal for her awesome design and working hard to capture what we envisioned!

Quote-"How does one become a butterfly? You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar."-Trina Paulus

Saturday's Meeting

Hi ladies,

Well a handful of us braved the snow and cold to meet on Saturday. We have decided on a logo, what color we are going to have shirts printed on (t-shirts and wicking) and we have also decided we need more information from those ladies that are part of the group. Here is a list of information that we would like for you to send us so that we can take the next steps to get this group going:

Name
Address
Phone
Email address
If you are a walker or runner
Minutes per mile (ex. I walk/run a mile in about ____ mins.)
Distance you are currently traveling
Goals (ex. lose weight, walk/run at least __ times a week, do a 5K, 10K, half mara., marathon)
What kind of running workouts are you looking for? (distance, tempo, etc.)
What days and times work best for you? (Multiples answers are great)
Do you have children? Ages?
What kind of info. would you like from the group?
Do you have a running/walking partner?
What experiences do you have? (Would you be willing to share your expertise?)
How do you prefer to be contacted?
Any other information you think might be relevant.

Please email us the information at womenofwarrensburg@yahoo.com

We realize that with such a big group it is going to be hard to get the whole thing together at once, so we would like to try to help those who are interested find running/walking buddies, or at least a group time that would meet their needs. We want the club to be tailored to your needs and wants as well as our own. We also want to make sure that everyone feels they are welcome at whatever level they are at. Whether you run a 7 min. mile or walk a 15 min mile; have participated in races for years or have never had the thought cross your mind until we mentioned it; we want you to know you are welcome!!! I do not want anyone to be intimidated by the fact that on some of the Saturday runs there are some that are running 6 or 10 miles, we can help you find someone else on your level with the same kind of goals, so that we can all work together and get want we need out of the group.

Please email us back soon!

Thanks,
Macae

Road Runner Honey!

Hey Ladies!
I have noticed that there are becoming more and more women running the Burg-and they are WOW women!
Isn't it cool that there are so many women needing this group, desiring the friendship and fitness, and we have found one another? I have already made some awesome new friends. Think it isn't even spring-how many more people will we meet when the weather is nice?

I feel very grateful that we have put this group together. Women are the doers of all things-we do do do for all people, but rarely do for ourselves. Sometimes we don't only do that, but give ourselves the shaft-neglect. No time, no fitness, no fun, no friends.

I see so many great things coming from this group. Some of us are traveling to Raymore on Saturday for the Miles for Matt-a benefit for an 8th grader suffering from a brain tumor. We have been gathering, we have been running/walking together. We have emailed, blogged, and chatted-seen each other on the road and waved.

But attending the event for a young man, where we all step up, show up, and maybe meet him and his family is a huge thing. We are climbing forward as a group not only to better ourselves but make life better for others.

This is something I see our group doing-many times in the future!

The feeling of doing something like this is sort of contagious-I'm thinking WOW is not only going to be creating a buzz in the Burg, but at other races/events in MO.

Women are powerful, loving, intentful creatures-we nurture, and we are ferocious.
I think our club can accomplish all things we set our minds and feet out to do!

Hope to see you on the road!
Teri

Teri's puttin' in overtime

Okay, I feel kinda like a slacker! Teri has blogged about a hundred times since I even looked at the site -- oh to have self-sufficient children, it is these times that I am okay with the fact we decided to stop at three (although I have the other times too)!

Well, I have been feeling the pain of becoming a runner so I am trying to make sure to take it a little easy on my hip and figure out what the problem is before I really hurt myself.

There are times I feel like a runner and times that I feel pretty dumb about running. Things like I know I need to stretch, but am not sure about which stretches to do. I did order a subscription to Runner's World to try to gain more information.

I guess in Teri and my mind this was probably one of the reasons to start a running group. To have a group with seasoned runners, newbies, and those in the middle all working together to make the best possible runner/walker out of each of us. I know that there is a lot that I can still learn -- heck I only ran my first 5K last summer. I'm not even a year into this habit/hobby/obsession.

I would like to see some of our Saturday get togethers turn into not only runs, but times that we can share knowledge and know how. I'm thinking once a month a run and breakfast at Mary Jane's or CK would be a good idea. It would give us the chance to get to know each other better!!!

Let us know what you think: email womenofwarrensburg@yahoo.com

See you on the road!
Macae

L-O-V-E!

Well tomorrow is the day-Valentine's Day. We've been getting anything red, heart-shaped, chocolate, and mushy you can get your hands on. The air has a perfumey aroma to it with all the L-O-V-E in the air. Everyone is all huggy huggy, sweety sweety, kissy kissy.

BUT-there are those who feel wronged or left out on Valentine's Day. With no mushy gushy gift, sweety pie to hug, or love song to sing. This can make them sad, blue, and even angry to the point of being a little, nutty~!

Answer this-how many times do we give OURSELVES a Valentine? Why should you wait on baited breath for the gesture of love from someone else? When it boils down to it, you should have love of self before anything, right? If you don't love yourself, why would anybody else love you?

Now I'm not talking about ravishing yourself in diamonds, sending yourself to the spa, taking yourself out for dinner, or serenading oneself in the mirror. But there are many ways to show self-love without being a little overboard.

That, Ladies, is what WOW is all about-a Valentine ALL the time! The best gift you can give to yourself and the people you love is better health. Your heart will literally be beating better by enjoying that exercise from your walks or runs. And guess what else? Not only will your ticker be tapping a little more, but you will be happier because of the seratonin you release during exercise. And we all know-if the lady is happy, EVERYONE is happy!

So I wanted to take a minute to say way to go for showing care for yourself by joining this group. We are about fitness, we are about fun, and we are about friendship. But most importantly-we're about celebrating the Fantastic woman in each of us that we care about.
Happy Valentine's Day all the WOW Women!

Hope to see you on Valentine's Day for our 7am run/walk!

Teri
WOW