TAGGED: 7 Favorite Movies

I was TAGGED again!  I love being tagged - it's sooo fun!  Thanks, this time, to The Turtle from The Turtle's Pace!  I am to tell y'all about my 7 favorite movies!  Did you know I'm a total movie fanatic???  It's true!  Of course, I used to see a whole bunch more than I do now.  Since I have so many faves, I decided to break mine down by category.

Childhood Fave:
Swiss Family Robinson - I admit it, I definitely wanted to live in a tree house after watching this movie!  I fantasized about living on an island and having ostridges as a form of transportation and tigers as pets.  I even wanted to fight pirates!

Christmas Fave:
Santa Claus:  The Movie (though for the record, Elf is a VERY close second) - I just love this movie!  It has great characterizations, mixed with the magic of Christmas, and good beating evil.  Ahhh...can't wait to watch it this year!

Drama Fave:
Cold Mountain - I HAVE to feel the love in order to feel the anguish, if that makes sense.  Though the two main characters were not together very long, either the chemistry was just THAT good or the acting was, but regardless, I believed it.  This movie brought to light the age old question of "is it better to have love and lost than to have never loved at all?"  I saw it twice in the movie theater and then bought it as soon as it came out on DVD.

Animated Fave:
Anastasia - What's not to love about the fabled tale of long lost Anastasia with her amnesia not knowing she is the heir to the Russian throne?  Such great animation and music...hard to believe it was not a Disney production!

Musical:
Moulin Rouge - couldn't wait to see this movie!  I remember that it came out during the summer and my brother and I were EXHAUSTED, but we had to see it, so we had his then girlfriend (now wife) April buy the tickets and we saw a late night viewing on opening night despite our long working hours that day AND WE LOVED IT!  I bought this one as soon as it came out, too!  Eddie and April even danced to the secret love song at their wedding!  =)

Comedy Fave:
Real Genius - Val Kilmer in one of his best roles.  Perhaps he should have kept to the comedy bits...he was quite clever at it, actually!

80s Fave:
The Goonies - action, adventure, romance, hidden treasure...come on...who didn't want to be a Goonie?  I know I sure did!


There are many more faves that I have, but I could only list 7, so now it's your turn.  Tell me what your favorite movies are!  Blog about it!

a diagnosis =(

I have been injured for a month.

I have come to the realization that it would be next to impossible for me to run the full marathon on January 30th. 

I have to pay $10 to knock my registration down to the half marathon...I will now be doing the Aramco Half Marathon on January 30th in Houston.

It is incredibly difficult to not feel like a failure.  This is not to say that I want comments on how far I've come and what I've accomplished.  I know that a year ago I couldn't run a mile.  I get that.  It's just really hard to set your mind on something and not see it come to fruition.  In a lot of ways, I feel as though I have sacrificed continuing my weight loss for the cause of this marathon training.  I know that sounds silly because in essense wouldn't weighing less help my plight and wouldn't it go without saying that exercising (running) would help that plight?!  Yes, it would, but the more I've run, the hungrier I've become.  I've let the hunger take over.  I've also let frustration and depression take over, too.  You see, when things don't go as planned, I don't do so well.  This injury felt like yet another blow in a long line of blows I've felt like I've been dealt lately (the whole o' woe is me card, you know?!).

I did the bone scan today.  The pictures were sent to my doctor and he was awesome enough to call me this evening.  I honestly didn't expect it to show anything.  I kinda thought I was wasting my deductible (ouch!) getting this done, but wanted the peace of mind that comes with knowing.  What this means is that I guess I would have rather the pain been in my head and the money been "wasted" because I'm not exactly thrilled with the results.  The technical term of my diagnosis is Anterior Superior Iliac Spine Avulsion.  The simplification of the term is pelvic stress fracture.

He took the exercise bike off my list of approved activities, leaving me with the elliptical and swimming.  He said 3 more weeks ought to do the trick.  I explained I have a half marathon on Dec. 12th (RunGirl 13.1) and asked what he thought.  He said we will have to play it by ear and asked me to come see him the week before.  I am pretty bound and determined to do that sucker NO MATTER WHAT (which means walking the whole thing if I have to).  It has a really cute medal, after all.  The good news is that I have a doctor who cares, who knows my goals, and wants me to be able to achieve those goals HEALED.  The bad news is that I'm still sad, upset, disappointed, frustrated, angry...

2011 is going to be full of a lot of things for this KIMpossible.  I'm going to spend the entire year losing the rest of this weight to get to my goal.  I'm going to spend the entire year training to do a full marathon.  I'm going to become a stronger, smarter runner (injury free).

Weekend Recap

Friday
My dad and I flew out at 7:25am to Chicago for our annual management meetings.  We pulled the whole aisle/window seat game hoping nobody would be in the middle seat and...IT WORKED!  Yay!  Had to finish reading a book that was required reading for the meetings.  =/  When it was done, I started reading a book recommended by my friend, LaShaune, called "I Was Told There'd Be Cake" - Essays by Sloane Crosley. 

We were picked up from the airport along with my uncle Mike and then taken to our headquarters to say hello to all the peeps.  After an hour, we were taken to our hotel where we would spend the next 24 hours.

First was lunch, then meetings, followed by the award banquet.  The last 2 years, my service center walked away as The Big Winner, so it was a bit humbling to not receive the same honors this year.  =(  We did earn 3rd place in customer service and then we had some drivers earn special recognition for their efforts, but it was a bit disappointing because I know we have the skills and the talent to perform better.  I'm beginning  my plan of action to regain our elite status for next year!

Saturday
I decided to go walking with two of my favorite people out of our New Jersey operation at 5am.  Maybe not the wisest choice considering I went to bed at 1am, but hey...I only see these people once a year!  I took my Garmin with me so we would know how far we walked and we hit 3.75 miles in an hour - not too shabby considering I was all kinds of achy (maybe due to the coldish weather?)!  I then showered and met the rest of the peeps for breakfast before we started our meetings.  We had a half a day of meetings followed by lunch and then...that's it until next year!  Most everyone flew home in the afternoon, but since my family is from Chicago, my dad, brother, and I always stay the extra day at my aunt and uncle's house.  We went over there and hung out.  I got my aunt and brother hooked on Angry Birds (cuz my friend Amy got me hooked on it on Thursday).  We were sitting there playing it while my uncle and dad were watching football.  Later we went for a yummy Mexican dinner and then I went to bed because the life had been sucked out of me.

Sunday
I woke up at 5:15am to hit the gym.  14 miles was on the schedule for my running group, so that meant 14 miles on the elliptical.  I downloaded a book on my Nano this time - "Devil in the White City", to help make the time go by faster.  It was hard to get into the groove though - for one thing, this book is strictly a narrative - would have made for a better read, than a listen.  I actually switched over to music for the last 3 miles for a change of pace.  Secondly, these were different ellipticals than I am used to, so the miles were going by more slowly.  I hopped off my elliptical at mile 5 and went on a different machine - not sure what it was called, but it looked sort of like The Gazelle, but a bit more complex.  I only did it for 1/2 a mile because it was a killah and it took me 10 minutes just to do that much - yikes!  Then I went back to the elliptical for the remainder.  It took me 3 1/2 hours for the entirely of the 14 miles (ugh) and I was booking it, so that was kind of obnoxious!  My family was nice enough to wait for me to go eat.  I got back to the house, showered uber fast, and then we went to Walker Bros Pancake House - a staple in my family!  I ordered scrambled eggs, rye toast, and this month's special - pumpkin pancakes!  Yes, I sound gluttonous, but I was HUNGRY after all that work!  When we were parking the car, he pulled into a 2 hour limit spot and I asked him if that was going to be okay.  He answered with, "this ain't no Kim at the gym!"  It made me laugh!  =D  After brunch, we headed back to the house to hang out until our flight.  My dad and I did not fair as well on the ride home, so I kindly did not make some stranger sit between us and scooted over to the middle.  We landed and went to my parent's house.  My mom made us some homemade soup and sugar free / fat free apple cinnamon bread.  I then retrieved my dogs from her care and went to my own home!  Ahhhh...home sweet home UNTIL Saturday when I leave for Orlando!!!  =D

TAGGED!

So, this is a blog first for me and it is most exciting!  I got "tagged" to answer some questions.  My tagger was MsGigglepuss from Just a Bit Wicked.  I, in turn, shall "tag" some bloggers of my own with some new questions when my questions are answered. 

So here are my questions and answers:

1. What is your favorite holiday and why? Any special traditions?
I have to go with Thanksgiving because it's the one holiday that I have my entire immediate family together every year combined with a mini vacation.  The irony of the whole thing is that it is the furthest thing from a traditional Thanksgiving that you could possibly imagine.  For the past 14+ years, my family has gone to Las Vegas to celebrate.  We always meet for 2 meals a day, we go see movies, we shop, we gamble, we see shows...  We hit up a killah buffet for our Thanksgiving meal!  haha!  This coming Thanksgiving, we are changing it up a bit, however.  My parents have rented us a huge house in Orlando and we are doing Disney and Universal Studios instead - for a whole week!




2. What is your go-to kickass song in your workout playlist?
Just one?  Oye - there are so many that really kick me into gear when I hear them!  My younger sister Linda told me I had to put Miley Cyrus's "Can't Be Tamed" onto my iPod the other day.  Honestly, I didn't listen to it before uploading it (that's trust for you).  It came on while I was doing my 13.1 miles ON THE ELLIPTICAL on Sunday and it really put that pep in my step, so it just might one of my new faves!  Ya gotta keep it fresh, ya know?!


3. If you were forced to only watch one TV show or movie ever again until you die (can choose shows no longer on the air, and you can watch it again and again, but nothing else), what would it be and why? Defend your choice!
I will go with a tv show because there are many episodes to it (versus watching one 2-hour movie).  I could, for the record, defend a movie choice, though!  Okay, so my tv show is...LoSt!  Big shocker for those of you who know me IRL, right?!  I love(d) that show!  I was only disappointed in the ending because it ended.  I was intrigued with each and every episode and it kept me guessing.  There were so many literary reference weaved into the story line - so many great characterizations - it was so well cast!  Oh...just writing about it makes me miss it! 



4. Where is your favorite vacation destination?

Playa del Carmen!  I love me my European vacations, I really do, BUT they are working vacations.  You have to go, go, go...see, see, see and by the time you are done, you need a vacation to recover from your vacation.  Playa is soooo close - a 2 hour plane ride away to tropical paradise.  I just set myself up with one of those all-inclusives and prepare to be lazy for 5+ days.  It's heaven on earth with a fruity tropical drink on the side for good measure. (pic taken from my last trip there)


I am tagging...
Meliska-D
That Pink Girl
Lauren (Team Giles)
Tales from the Back of the Pack
The Incredible Shrinking Girl

Here are your questions:

1.  What is your favorite holiday and why?  Any special traditions?  Favorite holiday food item?  (had to steal this one - 'tis the season and all that jazz (but I tweaked it slightly))

2.  Have you read a great book lately that you would recommend?  Tell us about it!

3.  What is your dream vacation?  Money is not an issue.  Time off of work is not an issue.  Where do you go?  Why?

4.  Looking back at 2010 so far...what are you most proud of?


Get to answering!!!  Get to tagging!!!

survivor

So I'm notorious for hatin' this whole "dark by the time I get home from work" thang.  It messes with my head.  It doesn't take much to mess with my head, mind you, but still...

Okay...first things first.  I bet you are wondering if I was able to master the 13 miles on the elliptical.  Well...I didn't only master it, I overachieved it by 0.1 of a mile just to make it a half ellipticathalon.  You see 26.2 miles is a full ellipticathalon.  I don't ever want to go that far.  If I do, PLEASE have me committed.

My plan was to hit the gym bright eyed and bushy tailed, but that didn't happen because Runner's World was doing a live blog feed of the ING NY Marathon and I was drawn to it like bees to honey!  I was pulling for Shalane Flanagan to win it for the women, but I was quite proud of her 2nd place finish!  Imagine running your first marathon and finishing 2nd place?!  Bananas!  Then again, when she competed in her first half marathon here in Houston in January of this year, she won it!  She's amazing!

Okay, so once the winners were established, I geared up, grabbed my Powerade Zero and my iPod shuffle and headed to 24-Hour Fitness.  I picked my machine, tested the ol' iPod to make sure there were no technical difficulties and then I was off.  My quad/thigh was a bit achy at first, but I told it to "man-up" and I adjusted the intensity and the incline and eventually found my rhythm.  The machine only allowed me to set it up for 60 minute segments, so after the first 60 minutes, I reset it for another.  About half way through my second 60 minute segment, I had to briefly pop off the machine to refill my bottle - water was gonna have to do it for the rest of my jaunt.  I took that opportunity to stretch my legs.  I hopped back on the machine and finished up that 60 minutes.  I reset the machine for the final 60 minutes knowing full well it wasn't going to take me that long.  I worked on my arm swing during the entire work-out since I know that has been a weakness for me.  I would have killed for an audio book, FYI.  Half ellipticathalons are MEGA BORING!  33 minutes later, I was done.  13.1 miles completed.  I can honestly say I have never before spent 2 hours and 33 minutes in the gym in one segment before.  I would love to say that I will never do that again, but sadly this may not be the case depending on what's going on with my injury.

Good news is that my leg doesn't feel any worse for the wear today.  Honestly - my upper back and shoulders are a mess (from the arm swinging).  Weird, right?!

I was able to make an appointment with the sports medicine ortho at the practice I go to.  The ortho who did both of my ACL knee surgeries ('94 and '98) retired several years back and the ortho who helped me through my hip tendonitis (earlier this year) is a joint specialist, so I decided to go with the sports medicine expert.  This one lists running as his hobby, so he'll understand!

I took today off (as I would after a long run), but I'm hitting up my elliptical new BFF again tomorrow.  I'm planning on a 4 to 5 miler.

Where there is a will, there is a way!  Destiny Child's Survivor popped up on my shuffle while I was laboring away.  The lyrics inspired me.  Here are just a few:

I'm a survivor,
I'm not gonna give up,
I'm not gon' stop,
I'm gonna work harder,
I'm a survivor,
I'm gonna make it,
I will survive,
Keep on survivin'

Oh and I almost forgot to share with you that my blind beagle, Penelope, stole 2 packs of Clif's Shot Bloks, 5 Larabars, 2 Luna Bars, and 2 South Beach bars while I was at work today.  I had a bag full of my goodies on top of my desk in the kitchen and she must have been desperately seeking something/anything to satisfy her hunger?!  Hmmm...guess who is NOT getting dinner tonight.  

fighter

Let's talk about how much I *love* waking up at 5am on a Saturday.  Let's one-up the early birding with 38 degree weather, shall we?!

Since I am not eating bread carbs right now, I made myself a breakfast of 2 hard boiled eggs, 2 lite mini baby bell cheeses, and 2 TBSP of almond butter.  I washed it all down with water.

I geared up with Nike capris, a light weight long sleeve shirt, my shoes, my Spibelt, my Garmin, my iPod Shuffle, and my visor.  I stretched VERY thoroughly and then headed out the door at 6:45am.

I had a positive attitude.  I knew that I might not be able to do all 13, but I felt that surely I would be able to do the same 7 I had done the week before.  I promised myself I would stop if I hurt.

My team met up at the picnic table, discussed the plan of action, and headed out.  I had a bit of a struggle with my iPod.  It wasn't working and I panicked that I was going to have to run without it.  Just me and my thoughts?!  Yikes!  No worries...got it working.  I started jogging and BAM...pain in my thigh...all the way around it.  That is where the pain has moved to - from the hamstring to the glutes, back to the hamstring, then to the entire thigh/upper leg.  Do you see how this is the weirdest injury ever?!  It keeps moving.  I'm thinking at this rate, in two weeks, it's going to be in my ankle.  Sheesh!

I just stopped.  What was the point?  I could feel myself running with a limp.  I don't want to put myself out of commission, so I turned around and walked back to my car.  I almost cried.  I wanted to, but I stopped myself.  I am not giving up here.  I have done everything that I could on my own, so it's time to take it to a doctor (I will call my ortho on Monday and make an appointment).  What's my biggest fear here?  It's not really that he will tell me not to run, because I don't believe my injury is that serious.  He didn't tell me to stop running when I had the tendonitis in my hip, after all.  My biggest fear is losing my training.  I don't feel like I can go another week of nothing and then be expected to pick up where I left off.  I feel like if I don't pick up where I left off, I will be getting too far behind to catch up.  In other words...continuing to build distance is going to be a problem.

I have a plan.  I'm going to the gym tomorrow morning.  I want to try the elliptical first.  It's low impact and I control the intensity/tension of the machine.  I will know instantly as to whether or not it is aggravating my injury.  If it does, I get off and try the bike.  If it doesn't, I do 13 miles.  I know it isn't the same, but it's something.

I don't know if I've mentioned it on my blog before, but I consider my theme song to be Christina Aguilera's
"Fighter".  Most of the song applies to my life regarding a rather unfortunate experience I had (for several years), but that withstanding...isolating some select lyrics can be applied to this situation:

Makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
Makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter

I am a fighter.  I'm going to fight my way through this injury.  You fight for what you believe in.  I believe in me.  I just have to fight smart.

I am free

well...not that you can like buy me or anything....

After babying my oddity of an injury all week long, I can honestly say I feel better.  So, this means I'm going to head out tomorrow morning to try to do my 13-miler.  I have not run all week.  I have not done any kind of physical exertion, actually.  I just took my anti-imflammatory pills, my Epsom salt baths, rubbed my upper left leg with Bio Freeze each night, stretched, and prayed. 

I am promising myself that I will stop running if I feel pain.

I am promising myself to take time off the table and to just feel free with the run.

You see, looking beyond the injury into the bigger picture, I have come to realize that I'm stressing myself out so much with this whole time limit thing to the point that I'm not even enjoying running.  I don't want to be running my full marathon staring at my Garmin fretting about each and every step with regard to each and every second.  I want to be soaking up every single second of that race for what it is - an amazing experience beyond anything I ever even thought would be possible.  Remember back to when my parents saved the day by buying me a spot in this marathon?  My dad asked me if it meant more to me to know that I would be able to finish the race on time (RnR New Orleans with it's 7 hour time limit) OR to have my family and friends there to support me (Houston with its 6 hour time limit).  I chose Houston!  I still choose Houston!  I'm not naive here.  I know there is only a slim chance of me actually being an official finisher (finishing within the time limit).  Worrying and stressing about it isn't changing the time limit and it's not changing my speed.  If anything it's dragging me down - emotionally, mentally, and physically.

I'm officially committing to myself and to anyone who reads this blog today that I am freeing myself of the chain that has been binding me.  I am no longer worrying about the time it takes me to complete my very first (and probably only) marathon.  I am solely focused on finishing what I started.  I want to cross that finish line on two feet (you know...not crawling) with my head held high knowing that I did something to be proud of!  As long as I can say I did my best...how can that not be good enough?!

On #Fitblog the other night (my first, but definitely not my last time participating), we were asked what was the headline defining our last 10 months and what would be the headline defining our remaining 2 (or...um...something along those lines).  I thought about it and my response was this:  "I Am My Own Worst  Enemy" to "I Am My New Best Friend".  In other words...enough with the negativity and the "I can't" attitude and the "what ifs".  It's time for positivity and the "I can" attitude and the "come what mays". 

I am free.