My battle for no medication

I have a family tendency to have depression and/or anxiety. After my last pregnancy, I realized that I would need to be careful if I didn't want to take medications long term. I need to emphasize here that thee is nothing wrong with medications. I am a firm believer in modern medicine and that it is there to help people. I made a determination that if there was anythng I could do to not have to take medications, I would do it. Part of the reason that I am so active is that it's my anti-depressant, my anti-anxiety.  I didn't realize the extreme effect that my activity could have on my everyday life until last year. It was a Friday and I had must spent the morning in class. I had many errands to run and my kids would be out of school by early afternoon. I was frustrated when I realized I wouldn't be done before I had to pick my kids up from school and they would have to accompany me to finish my errands. My last errand was a trip to Costco. I was frazzled by the time we finally walked out. Anyone who has taken kids to the store will understand why. My kids weren't being bad, they were just being kids, touching things, wondering, making things take longer than necessary. A few months prior to this, my older son told us he wanted to run a half marathon for this 11th birthday so my husband and I had been training him. We had to get in a long run this particular day. I was frustrated that the thing I love, running, was going to be invaded by one of the reasons I was so frustrated to begin with. I have neveer regretted a run but I was so not looking forward to this one. We finally got out on our run and by the time we hit the first mile, my mood had done a complete turnaround. I was in the best mood, having the best day. To that point, I had never had such a dramatic effect on my mood by a run. We completed our run, having a good time and since then I have been a big believer that if you are struggling with depression, get moving. I know it's hard and somethimes the last thing you may want to do but you won't regret it and you will feel so much better.

My son did complete his half marathon and we had a good time. Another time I will share that experience. Tomorrow (hopefully) we are putting in 22 miles so I'll let you know how things went.  Thanks for checking in with me and I hope you'll be back soon!

February 22

Today I headed out running with my favorite running partners, my brother Ryan, my husband Jeramiah, and my sister-in-law Laura met us toward the end of the run. We went 20 miles, running the back half of the St. George Ironman running course.  We've spent the last 6 weeks running the Red Hills Parkway and I feel like we're really getting to know it well. Our run was basically uphill for the first 7 miles then we ran downhill for the next 4 or 5. Once we hit the trail, we were pretty flat until about 16 1/2 miles in. The next mile and a half was uphill with no shoulder and no sidewalk. That's one place I try to avoid because it's not runneer friendly. It was a gorgeous day and we had fun. About 11 miles in, I realized I didn't eat enough food yesterday and my body started protesting. I didn't think that one through very well. I know better than that. Hydration and nutrition are so important the day before a long run. Fortunately, we were close to a convenient store and we shared a small bag of Cheetos. Yum!  There is a place for junkfood!  Once the snack hit my system, I felt so much better.

Thanks for checking in with me today. I'll check in again soon. Have a great one!

The beginning. . .

My husband has been after me to start a blog for years. I have more time now than I have in years so I guess the time is finally right. In the words of Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music," I should "Start at the very beginning" because it's " a very good place to start." The beginning is when I was about 12 years old. I was talking to my older brother, Ryan.  He's four years older than me and I have always admired him. Anyway, Ryan told me about this crazy race in Hawaii. You swam a few miles then biked over a hundred miles and finished the race with a marathon. Ryan told me then that some day he was going to do that race. I thought he was crazy but that conversation stuck in my head. Fast forward several years. It's May of 2005. I'm married and have four kids. It's Ryan's birthday and he's telling me about a triathlon in a nearby town. I probably ought to add that at this point in my life, I'm not really active. Anyway, the distances in this tri were a 200 yard swim, 5 mile bike, and a mile and a half run. I remember thinking, "I can do that."  The tri was in seven days and I hadn't trained. I discussed it with my husband and we decided I should do it. I can look back and laugh. Back then I could side stroke and dog paddle. Not that it mattered because I could touch the bottom of the pool the whole time. It was one of the hardest bike rides I've ever done. Really though, my only comparison was rides as a kid. The run wound around town and you could see the finish at nearly every corner. I ran the intersections and as much of the blocks as I could but I wasn't a runner back then and consequently earned myself shin splints. Crossing that finishline changed my life. At the time I had no idea just how much it would change my life. I was so proud of myself for accomplishing my goal. To this day, that medal means so much to me. That day my inner athlete was awakened, the inner athlete I never knew existed.

At later dates, I will try to give you more of my background so you can better understand who I am and why I do what I do. Thanks for being with me and I hope you come back soon.