Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Striving ~ CHBM Carnival

We all strive for something in our lives. Maybe you want to keep a cleaner home, climb the corporate ladder, save the baby whales, or just raise productive members of society. Whatever it is you strive for, we want to hear about it.

Those that follow my blog likely know what it is that I strive to accomplish. As a mother of two, I of course want to raise productive members of society. But much more than that, I want to raise children who are healthy and active. Children who enjoy life and seek to challenge themselves in their endeavors. Children who are not afraid to try something and fail. Children who pick themselves up, brush off the dirt, and try again.

One of the biggest things that I have learned about myself is that in order to be happy, I need to always be learning new things, pushing myself to do more, expanding my horizons. While teaching, I pushed myself beyond the day to day demands. I sought out projects whereby students could help make a difference in the community… a difference within themselves. I applied for and achieved National Board Certification.

Now, as a stay-at-home mom, I continue to push myself by volunteering, teaching myself how to design webpages, and learning Photoshop. These projects, while at times difficult, enable me to continually grow and improve.

A year ago, I set out to run a marathon. It was a big decision that ultimately demanded a number of compromises in order to accomodate training. I had to decline social invitations so that I could get to bed early and thereby rise with the sun for my long runs. When I was successful in October, I immediately started to look beyond simply finishing.

I want to see just how well I can run a marathon. I want to push myself to do the best that I can. I want to run a marathon fast enough to qualify for Boston. I want to run 26.2 miles in under 3 hours and 45 minutes... an average mile pace of 8 minutes and 30 seconds.

Most importantly, I want my children to be motivated to follow their dreams just as I follow my own - by setting goals, working hard, and being dedicated. It's only when we do this that our dreams can and do come true.


Submitted to Crazy Hip Blog Mamas Carnival 18th July 2007.
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Monday OSN:
400m w/u
100m kicking on side
5 x 300m (odds: straight, evens: 3x100 medley)
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday ORN:
1 mile w/u (10:50)
1 mile @ 7:53 (5 min RI)
1 mile @ 7:50 (5 min RI)
4 x 800m @ 3:47, 4:00 (someone walked through playground where DS was napping in jogger, so I moved closer for proximity), 3:44, 3:44
1 mile @ 8:10 (5 min RI)
1 mile @ 8:27 (5 min RI)
1 mile c/d (10:22)
**all miles with jogger except the 800m intervals

6 comments:

  1. What a great post. Keep up the hard work and you'll be qualifying for Boston before you know it!

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  2. that was wonderful... i got that warm fuzzy feeling! its amazing how much meaning we can derive from such seemingly simple things.

    I think you will enjoy this:
    http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-369-374--11979-0,00.html

    Keep up the great work!

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  3. That's a really sweet post! Isn't it amazing just by choosing to run (a marathon, 5K, HM, whatever) the kiddies pick up on it and automatically want to do it because "Mommy does" My 3 y.o always asks to run with me, I think it's the cutest thing.

    I most definitely think you'll qualify for Boston. Geez, you're speedy enough LOL

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  4. Great post, great goals. I hope you meet your marathon goal. :)

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  5. How could the kids not be inspired when they have such a fantastic, motivated mom?! :)

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  6. You're an amazing mom and are setting such a wonderful example for your kids by sharing your goals with them. I applaud you! And I can't wait to run Boston with you. YOU CAN DO IT! Boston '08!!!

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