Walk, Run, Tag, Walk, Topo Survey

The insane heat continues, but I have tried to suck it up and get out in it a little bit.  Monday morning, my son and I went for a walk before the heat got too insane.  Then Monday night, Stacy and I did the Walmart 5K loop after the sun was mostly set though the humidity was still stifling.  Then I went for another hot walk with my boy Tuesday morning.  Today I spent a day surveying in the crazy heat - my first day doing field work in like a decade.  I'm a total office wuss now.  Gotta hit it again on Monday.  Ugh.

Somewhere in there, I noticed that Keith over at Keith's Odyssey to Planet Fitness tagged me for the "Very Inspiring Blogger" award.  I appreciate it because I find Keith's "odyssey" to be very inspiring.  I can't even wrap my head around the next triathlon distance up and he's already finished an Ironman.

I went back to the Blonde who tagged Keith and saw that there are rules ot this thing:
* display the award logo somewhere on your blog
* link back to the blog of the person who nominated you
* state 7 things about yourself
* nominate 15 (or less - uh, I'm always going to choose less if there is an option) other bloggers for the award and provide links to their blogs
* notify those bloggers that they have been nominated and of the award’s requirements

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7 Things About Me!



1.  Keith seemed to be hung up on his tagee's heights - so for the record I am about 5'7".  I say "about" because I actually got a smidge shorter after a compression fracture of my T6 from a car accident when I was 18.  I've been this height since I was 13.  At that age, at 95 lbs, I was very underweight.  I fit right in my my "bunhead" friends though.  In January 2011, at 213 lbs, I was very overweight.  So I have seen both ends of the spectrum.  The funny thing about my height is that I am on the upper side of wearing "normal" or "average" clothes and on the verge of wearing clothes cut "tall".  It makes buying pants a bit of a challenge.  I wish women's clothes came in more than 3 inseam lengths - increments like mens pants.

2. Keith also mentioned that he knows a lot of engineer jokes.  I don't know many, but would be totally fine with him sharing them with me.  Dilbert totally makes me laugh though I know some engineers find him offensive.  I totally giggled when he mentioned that he like the "Engineer's Guide to Cats".  It made me think of a web site another engineer friend told me about "Cooking for Engineers" - my friend recommends the oven-fried onion rings.  I totally need to try those.

3. As referred to above, I was at one time a die hard "bunhead".  From somewhere in my preschool years until early high school, I spent as much time in a dance studio as was feasible.  I took ballet, tap, and jazz and spent a few years in pointe shoes with feet that had bloody blisters.  Good times.  I definitely know how to embrace pain.  Did a recital on a broken toe once.  I spent a summer studying with the State Ballet of Missouri/Dance St. Louis at a "camp" (for lack of a better term) hosted at Webster University in St. Louis.  It was my first time living away from home which was pretty exciting.  But I was in the "B" group - the girls that were good enough to get accepted to the program, but never going to make a living as a dancer.  It was a bit of a wakeup call to watch the girls in the "A" group.  One of  my suite-mates and I stayed in contact for years including her years with several professional ballet companies.   I used to be very flexible, but after bedrest from the car accident at 18 and then again when pregnant with my son, I have lost most of it. 

4.  In high school, I liked wearing skirts - usually slightly on the short side though nothing like what I see girls wearing these days.  I felt like my legs were one of my better attributes (see #3 - dancer legs!).  When I went to college, skirts were inconvenient and I just stopped wearing them.  Never got back in the habit and still rarely put them on.  Maybe if I get that fit body back, I'll want to wear them again.  But I'll keep the hem line a little lower - I am closing in on forty after all.

5. I don't remember reading any books for fun after high school until just a year or so ago.  This is part of why it seems crazy that I've started reading like a fiend this last year.  A lot of my friends in engineering school joked that they were in our degree program so they wouldn't have to read so much.  Definitely nice to work practice problems as opposed to reading dry text. 

6.  My dad and mom divorced when I was in 7th grade.  I was actually pretty happy about it because I didn't think they had been happy for a long time.  I was annoyed when he didn't take me with him.  He started dating my stepmother shortly after the divorce and married her that next summer.  It took me another year to get up the courage to ask to move in with them.  Then it took another year for it to become permanent in court.  Lived with them for most of high school.  When I moved out, they made it clear that I wasn't to come back home.  They helped me move into a mobile home at college with the idea it was now my "home" - not their house.  I moved back after my car accident for a couple months of bedrest, but moved back to the trailer as soon as I was able and never did "live" at home again.

7. For a good portion of my life, I was very driven by my "plan" - get degree, get married, buy house, get P.E. (engineering license), have baby, have another baby, etc.  I think one thing that appealed to me about triathlon is that I was feeling like I didn't know what was "next".  It has opened a whole new world of "goals" that can be set and achieved even when "don't come in last" is a goal.  :)

I'm inspired by so many of the bloggers out there.  Here are just a sampling and folks I'd love to learn more random things about:

Mike from Mike's Triathlon Journey - I absolutely love that last year he hosted his own private half ironman followed by a bbq.  If he hosts any kind of race (with post-race food) again, I'm totally driving across the state line to go!

Jen from Running with the Girls - Jen is just too cute for words and is married to a super duper runner (which she is as well).  I love that she tries to regularly make time to run with her running friends which allows what every mom needs most: exercise and "girl" time.  I dream of having such a great group of friends!

Kate of Superkate and Team Virtus fame - Kate is the only blogger buddy I have actually met.  We rode that crazy gravel ride this spring.  She inspires me (and so many others) by her crazy ability to jump in with both feet to adventure racing, mountain biking, trail running and all other sorts of crazy fun.  Oh, and a private half ironman mentioned above too!

The Iron Diva herself: Colleen - though I haven't met her, I did meet her super sweet husband Tom when the Team Type 1 guys ran across America (and through Missouri) last fall.  She is a stud triathlete who is graceful in accepting the ups and downs of life and how it affects her training/racing.  And said husband is a crazy impressive athlete on a crazy impressive team that I hold close to my heart.

Amanda aka Miss Zippy - Amanda came back from injury to do the Boston Marathon and all other sorts of fun running and is jumping back into triathlon as we speak.  I loved her recent post on mellowing and taking her running as it comes and just enjoying it.

Kepa the Tri-N-Hawaiian - This guy has "been there and done that" in just about every aspect of his life.  He's served his country, raised a family (still working on the last one) and ventured into the crazy sport of triathlon.  One of the few triathletes that prefers open water (ocean) to the pool.  I have to admit that he mostly inspires me to save up for a trip to his home island with all the gorgeous pics he posts of his training grounds.

I could go on and on about the other folks in blogland that I read regularly.  These are some that I know read my blog too and won't be like "who the f*ck is that" tagging me.  LOL  Thank you to all the bloggers out there that continue to inspire me not to file this lifestyle change I've gone through over the last year+ in the "Things I Once Did" folder.  God bless you all!