Coming out of retirement

I've got a job! One hour a week. Smtihfield Recreation asked me to teach a strength training class at 6am on Mondays. I'm so excited about it. People ask me quite often if I can train them and I always say no but invite them to come lift with me anytime. Sometimes that works out but more often my schedule is a mess so I don't end up helping nearly as much as I'd like. Now I can just tell them to come to my class.
I can't wait to hear all the complaints about how sore my participants are. You can just picture me rubbing my hands together in anticipation as I plan out the first class! Seriously I will be nice. I'll make it so they can walk the next day - if they remember to take Ibuprofen and a warm bath.

Race Pictures

A couple of pictures of me got posted online from recent races. When I saw this first one from the finish line of the Smithfield Half-Marathon I was feeling okay about myself:

Then I saw this one from the Stomp the Mud Run:

Not feeling so good anymore! But my boys are cute (on each end) right? That's all that matters anymore if the boys are cute and having fun!

Vitamins and Getting Old

My honey hit 40 this year and we are both feeling it! I have to stay all over my supplementation or I am exhausted and think I need morning and afternoon naps. My husband went to some kind of consultation (I hesitate to use the word quack but it was definitely alternative medicine) and she told him he was so low on vitamins and nutrients she didn't know how he forced himself to ride 100-200 mile bike rides.

Do you believe in vitamin and mineral supplementation? Do you think a certain brand is the ticket or does one work as well as any for you? I have an interesting theory on this. I think the human body is amazing and we all respond to things differently and have different needs so what works for me may not be as effective for you. The vitamins that help me get through each day did nothing for my husband. What are your thoughts?

Living Vicariously Through the Olympics

We've hit a lazy summer patch at our house - having a hard time getting motivated after vacation and would rather sit and watch the Olympics than get out and do something ourselves. It hit me that the Olympics (and other sporting events) are a selfless activity for us spectators as we cheer on and support others but aren't doing anything to improve ourselves. It's a great time to cheer on our athletes (those we know and love and those we wish we knew) but we're also living vicariously through someone else. So I decided this morning that I'd use the Olympics to motivate me and instead of just being a spectator I'd get out there and do an activity I wouldn't normally do. When I got home from my run I swam laps - Dana Vollmer I am not but at least I tried!

What about you? Does the Olympics motivate you to become a better athlete or just give you an excuse to sit on the couch?