Feels Like the First Time

Do the 'Santa Hustle!'

The last time I pinned on a bib and ran jogged participated in an organized race was way back in December of 2012. I signed up and ran a 5k with a handful of co-workers as well as a multitude of Santa Claus look-alikes. It was  called the Santa Hustle - which actually sounds more like a dance that everyone does at a wedding reception or school dance than an organized, athletic event.

I can't believe that it's almost been three years since my last race. I'm kind of ashamed, to be honest. Between mid 2009 and late 2012, I cranked out four half marathons, a half dozen 10ks and plenty of 5ks.I could pick up and run four or five miles without thinking twice, and without being sore for five days afterwards. I wasn't necessarily skinny, but I was at a much more reasonable weight than I am now - at least a weight that allowed me to run 13.1 miles in under two and a half hours.


Tomorrow I will be running the Big Ten Network 5k (even though the picture says 10k). This time I will be running with my brother in-law! And I'm planning on it being much harder and painful than any one I've done before. To be honest, I'm actually in a worse place now (physically) than I was when I initially picked up running in order to lose weight six and a half years ago... Eric, on the other hand, has killed it in training and lost 20-25 pounds! This will be his first 5k ever, and he will smoke me.

Here's to hoping this race is the eye-opener I need to get my rear in gear, and that Eric gets hooked on 5ks and asks me to sign up for another one later this year. Leading up to the race, I've made excuse after excuse as to why I "couldn't" go to the gym or head out for a run in preparation for tomorrow.

And tomorrow I get to pay for those excuses.

A Month of Firsts (Obviously)

I was always amazed when my parents would tell me stories of when I was a newborn or a toddler. How could they remember that far back in their minds? That was 30 years ago! Maybe my soon-to-be middle aged mind simply can't comprehend having memories that old just yet? I mean, I can barely remember where I park my car at work every day! (Literally happened just yesterday...)

1 Day Old

But after just a month of being a dad, I know exactly how 30-year old memories are possible. Stories and memories from Evie's birth will stick in my mind forever. And I look forward to remembering even more as the years go on.

Another thing that parents say is that time flies when you have a kid. Well, last week Evie hit the one month mark already! And I must admit, it certainly didn't feel like an entire month since she joined us! Of course, individual days seem like the clock isn't moving, and you'll never conquer the mountain of poopy diapers and gallons of baby tears (I can hear Karin yelling, "Amen!"). But those days do pass, and when you stop and look back, they've seemed to pass too quickly!

Sure it's only been a month, but she's already changed so much! Here are some pictures from Month #1 - a month of "firsts!"

Evie's First Bath

Meeting cousin Elliot for the first time!

All dressed up for Steve & Kelly's wedding in Milwaukee

First walk in the stroller!

Evie's One Month Photo Shoot

Out With the Old - In With the New!

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen some of the recent pictures I posted about some some of the latest changes in my life - some small, some large - but all exciting! So let's walk through some of them, shall we?

1. New Glasses

Don't be decieved by the handsome decent picture on the left, but there is only one "ear thing" to those glasses and they're balancing on my nose. They were a couple of years old, falling apart and they'd fall off my face if I looked down. They were light as a feather, got broken quite easily and my astigmatism had already rendered them obsolete. It was time for a change - and I'm happy with the results (as you can tell by my smiling face on the right?)

2. New Running Shoes

This is a change I'd wanted to make a few months back, but I just had to wait for the right time. Every July, the local downtown area (it's a suburb, so downtown is relative) holds a Sidewalk Sale, and lots of the shops have some really good deals! So I visited the local running store ("Running for Kicks"), got fitted for some shoes, and came out with some sweet Mizuno Enigmas 20% off! I've only worn Mizunos since I started running in Jan '09, and I wasn't about to buy the Brooks that they were also offering me! And plus - who doesn't like a nice, flashy shoe?

3. New Car!

Alright, so this change is on a totally different level - we got a new car! Ok, it's pre-driven, but it's new to us! Unfortunately, I don't have a corresponding picture of my old piece of junk, but it's a black, '99 Nissan Altima with a roughed up head gasket, tires that need balancing (it shakes fiercely if I dare flirt with 60 mph) and A/C that only works at Level 4 (gale force winds) while Levels 1-3 don't deliver as much as an exhale. Either way, we needed the upgrade!

4. New Mindset

For these last three + years, I've always tried to convince myself that despite 'off' days, weeks or months, that I can always knock out my goal in a few months "if I just really went to it." Well obviously that's not the case.

With weight loss, it doesn't matter what you 'could do' - it only matters what you DID or ARE DOING. Nobody cares what you're going to do next week, they want to hear what you did at the gym this morning. So statements like "I should be 15 pounds lighter by my birthday next month" is worthless unless I can stand there on my birthday and say, "I just lost 15 pounds!"

Anyway, what I'm trying to drive at is that I'm abandoning my false pride about my ability to simply lose weight at will. When writing out weight loss goals, I would usually plan on being able to lose 6-10 pounds a week - HA! So the new mindset is aiming for 2-3 pounds a week and being ecstatic if the scale shows me more than that.

Once I get back from a week-long, outdoors vacation (filled with walking, swimming, canoeing, etc) my weekly video updates will be popping up again. So stay tuned!

Also, congrats to all those who knocked out the Rock N' Roll Half Marathon in Chicago this past Sunday. It's been fun reading your reports!

Lirpa Sloof Day!

At least that's what we at the Huenink household used to call April Fools Day (reverse the letters). Mom would make our name cards by our chair at the dinner table (Jordan became Nadroj, Dennis oddly became Sinned), and we'd eat our dessert first! It was April Fools Day - a day to do things backwards. And I loved it :)

April Fools Day is also known for its pranks. Now I did not pull a trick on anyone today - didn't really come in a lot of contact with many people at the gym or a work today that I would feel comfortable tricking. However, with YouTube being so popular now and everyone wanting to upload videos of themselves doing stupid things, I stumbled upon this prank.

I laughed quite hard. Sounds like something me cousins Matt, Nate or Chris would do to one another :) Did you pull any pranks on anyone today?