“Day in Photos” started when I realized there were a lot of photos in my phone that maybe didn’t fit whatever topic I was writing about during the day/week. Now look at it. Just look at it! It’s become a successful way to share a whole bunch of photos, very few words, and still count as a blog post!
Let’s begin –
brand
I’m madly in love with my logo and what my sister gifted me with on our birthday: branded apparel. I truly enjoy advertising for other small, local, women-owned, military-owned, etc brands – and will continue to do so – but I also need to share my own!
oh the drama
No matter how many times I say ‘the foam roller is not a toy’ it never fails to become a group activity. Not really a group type of girl. Solo foam rolling is much appreciated. Unbeknownst to me, some people have no clue what a foam roller is or what it does. All I can say is it hurts so good!
sister, sister
Leaving you with this photo of my twin. It’s been nice catching up lately. Never a dull moment when she’s around!
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I ask you –
How often are you shocked at the number of phone photos you have amassed?
Are there items in your home with the designation “not a toy'”?
Trampoline places are the equivalent of a relatively inexpensive way to discover you have a weak pelvic floor. Also, supportive sports bras should be required. Some women will regret their choices tomorrow.
mini doing a happy dance
Having a “date” with my (only) child somehow always ends with ice cream. And by ends I mean ice cream is the whole point of the date! There are few rules on girl’s date night/day so ice cream could be at 9am or 9pm. I make the rules around here. Braums is our regular hangout, but Dairy Queen will do in a pinch. We didn’t have Braums on the east coast so I’m making up for lost time. According to my internal ice cream tracker, I’m behind approximately 6.76 years.
Morgan from Oregon
Speaking of daughter dates, it would be sad not to include my childhood best friend in this post! Morgan and I grew up together. She remembers my Dad, that’s how far back our friendship goes. If you’ll recall, she and I ran the 2018 Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Half Marathon, as well as this past December’s Stars at Night Half Marathon in San Antonio. Morgan has a huge heart and I’m so thankful for her friendship! Her love of Mexican food is my next favorite thing. Bonus: her birthday is 2 days after mine. I’m sure our parents were just overjoyed when we ingeniously thought of joint birthday parties.
“work day”
You’d think after nearly a year of part time teleworking we could get this figured out. You’d think, but… My work from home days are still a confusing piece of the week mixed with a little frustration, lots of annoyed looks, and sometimes some tears. Lucky guess on what belongs to whom. I’m eternally grateful to games, letter boards, badminton, and whatever the above photo shows of this shaker glue thingy. It makes it to where I can get approximately 3 minutes of work done before moving on to the next thing or playing maid.
I’ve heard it said going to work is hard. I disagree. Staying home is harder. And somehow louder. Yet the 3 mins to do some work before interruption is still the same. Imagine that.
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I ask you –
Do you have regular dates with your child(ren)? How often does it include ice cream?
Did you and your childhood best friend bond over a close birthdate?
To answer your question – the one you didn’t audibly ask – no. No, I don’t enjoy eating within 30 mins of waking up. It rather makes me feel like vomiting is an acceptable response. The only bright side, besides of course it giving me energy, is it makes me need to poop. haHA! Bet you didn’t see that gem coming! Trust me, it’s better to have an urge while you’re still at home than mid-way (or any way) into a long run.
Alas, this is what long run weekends tend to look like. Or pre-work runs. If you want to run, you have to eat, Kel. Contrary to popular belief, most running cycles won’t inherently cause you to lose weight.I can put on weight while training because the hunger is serious. However, water weight and dehydration are my downfall. Throughout my weeks of training, I expect to lose several pounds. Anything more than 8 begins a range of problems. So I eat when I’m hungry and aim for very electrolyte-rich beverages to combat dehydration. So when you see me with food in one hand and a shopping list in the other, please be kind!
new favorite snack
Did I mention my local gym closed in…January? Or was it December? The writing was on the wall, but it still saddens me. Being a part of the Anytime Fitness community really opened my eyes to so much in the fitness world, as well as allowed me to meet some incredible people. If it wasn’t for the owners of an Anytime Fitness, I wouldn’t have started Running on Fumes when I did! Nearly two years ago, the DeStefano family put a lot of trust into me and happily gave me the reigns to write and share as I please. Forever thankful! Here we are today. I don’t know for certain if they still follow and read it, but, if you’re watching, thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Where was I? Oh, right, AF closed. Maybe it’s just from my experience as part of several different locations in all kinds of capacities but there’s a problem with top-down leadership in the fitness scene. One day I might get a chance to open my own AF; that would be the ultimate test of ‘where does the problem lie’. In any case, I haven’t joined another gym. Probably won’t for awhile. I still feel very loyal to AF, but I own most of what I regularly used inside the gym and it’s tough to balance a strength training regimen with a training cycle. I do have a full-time job, you know. My local area is pretty well saturated with gyms – big box options and more exclusive types – so if/when I decide to re-join I can visit this issue again. In the mean time, it is what it is.
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I ask you –
Are you the rather rare person who can eat upon waking? Just coffee for me, thanks.
Have you ever experienced your gym suddenly closing?
Tell me about someone, who by taking a chance on you, changed your life!
Cross training? What’s that? Admittedly, I know I should be cross training during a training cycle, but usually what happens is I get so focused on running, it’s all I want/make time to do. Terrible, Coach.
Balance?!
This time, I’m following my own tried-and-true advice! Instead of walking or, my personal favorite, more running – introducing cycling! Let me tell you my quads were sufficiently sore after only 15 mins of cycling. The glute pain lasted much longer. Seems cycling mimics downhill running very well which will be super helpful at May’s Texas Triple because there’s a short section on each lap that kills my quads! If you allow it to happen, turnover on the downhill portion will have you running a 5 min/mile. Athletes who regularly do this are mind blowing. P.S. the number mentioned isn’t a guess, I personally saw my watch register this pace as I was flying down the hill. Exhilarating and a little scary! Stopping? Impossible!
As usual, I digress. Regular cycling should be helpful this time around. Worst case scenario: I develop overly muscular quads and thighs then run like a wiener dog. Unlikely. These bird legs of mine have required much of me to embrace.
In terms of cycling, guess who has almost successfully taught her mini to ride a bicycle sans training wheels?! It’s me!!! Pretty sure the very core of my patience has been tested, as well as every muscle in my lower back from leaning over her, but, HEY!, she’s almost there! Who needs to stand upright anyway?! She’s making great strides, no pun intended. Relatedly, I heard a story of a young lady turning 6 years old a few weeks ago and she thought upon her 6th birthday, she would somehow inherently know how to ride a bicycle then. Like – POOF! She also thought she’d be much bigger at that point, too, so here we are.
My birthday is this weekend. Lucky 13. I’m not sure what I ever envisioned mid-30’s looking like, but I hope I wake up that morning with the ability to whistle loudly! POOF!
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I ask you –
Will cycling give me Dachshund-style legs?
How old were you when you learned to ride a bicycle? I was probably 4-5 yrs old. My siblings told me to sit on a “big bike” then proceeded to push me down the front walkway. It was sink or swim time and I was full speed ahead from then on!
I’m about 24 hours out from starting a new training cycle. What I mean is…forgive me for not returning your calls, texts, plans, and anything else that doesn’t include running or eating. I was speaking to a co-worker several minutes (could’ve been weeks, it all runs together; runs, get it?!) about her Spring race plans and she mentioned she still had “unfinished business” with a marathon goal. (To be clear, this woman is an ultra runner, 2000+ day streaker, and super speedy marathon finisher. We’re not even close to being in the same category!) But she’s fun to talk to and very encouraging so she gets a free pass. As I shared my triple half marathon goal, her sounds of incredulousness made me laugh. Here’s this woman who runs high double digits regularly yet thinks my 13.1 for 3 days is insane. Just means we’re all a little different. And equally crazy. Next time I’m going to tell her my life goal of completing a Ragnar. Look it up. It’s awesome!
Lone Star state beauties
There’s no getting around it. I have a shoe addiction. Running shoes specifically. There’s something about the sleek, cushioned, makes-me-feel-like-I’m-running-fast beauty of new shoes. I’m currently rotating 4 pairs. Excessive? I don’t know. Like I’ve said for years: you can’t do enough to take care of your feet. They’re all you get! No replacements available. But, if it came down to it, and I couldn’t speak for myself, YES! I want a foot transplant! Please remember this! You can take my voice; you will never take my feet! I may not be able to berate you with my tongue, but I want one last opportunity to run you down and kick you. Enough of that.
Thursday nights’ Freedom small group is going well. These are the most courageous, strong, and honest women I could ever know. How I got so lucky to lead this group is beyond me. Many times in my life I fretted about being able to be open with other people, especially women. Nothing against women, but being one myself, I know how ugly we can act. Freedom in Christ, amongst other believers, was never a part of my plan and for this I’m thankful because without Him I wouldn’t have made it this far. Life sure is funny like that. I miss my 6am group, but Thursday nights are special in their own way.
Lastly, the title of this post is the most common phrase used by every runner. A close second: where’s the bathroom? I’m not entirely sure this is true, but it’s true for me! I try to smile and wave, clear my throat unnecessarily within earshot, and do all the other things to let people know I’m about to pass them, but obliviousness tends to rub me the wrong way. So if you see me at the lake or in my neighborhood or on base running and I look grumpy, it just means I’ve said “On Your Left” one too many times.
pleased I won’t be running in this
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I ask you –
Last call: anyone willing to train with me for the Texas Triple scheduled for Memorial Day weekend?
Is kicking people as I pass them allowed?
My shoe collection reminds me of the cutest video I have of my mini, age 18 months, walking around the house yelling for her shoes to appear and she looks at the ceiling as a viable option.
Run streaking is going very well. I’m only a little surprised. What is very apparent to me is the amount of excuses I can make to not complete some of the prescribed runs during a training cycle. Yet I’ve managed to run every. single. day for this goal. Sometimes it’s only a mile, sometimes it’s three; but I do it. Granted the mileage isn’t high – no long runs, for sure. This is a proverbial marathon, not a sprint. Only maybe yesterday did I even consider I might want to continue the run streak through February. What else do you have to do?
have coffee bar, will travel
If you’re new to the blog, we have a bit of a co-parenting style with my sweet mini me. Every other month she takes off to Tennessee to live with her dad. The amount of ‘missing’ her I feel has no words; however, we do what’s best for her and she’s had this type of life since she was born. Is there an award for most traveled under the age of 5? When she’s off on another month long adventure, my schedule looks like this: get the whole bed to myself (almost), cram literally everything I can into one month to make the time pass by quickly, and plan all the things I want to do with her for when she returns next month. Never said I was exciting.
HI! My name is Kelly and I can’t focus. Only when required. There tends to be many moving parts in my life; I wouldn’t have it any other way. Where’s the fun in one iron in the fire (or however it goes)? Fires may not last long so pile on the irons, is my motto. Never before have I said that so just work with me here. Please remember many of my blog posts, ahem, all of them, are typically written weeks in advance so you may be reading this up to a month after. This protects mine and my family’s privacy and allows ample time for me to overthink what I’ve said in a moment of clarity. Take nothing at face value; I mean no offense to anyone. All this being said, I paid for, designed, developed, and wrote this blog for my own use so I reserve the right to say what I want and in whatever humor I see fit. If you’re disappointed, join the club!
I love what I do. The sphere of influence I have is nothing next to His. My hope is to bless others in the same way I have been so very blessed. I’m not only a blogger; I’m a writer, a storyteller, a coffee-drinker, a joke teller. My jokes are particularly awful if I’m being very honest – which I’m not. My jokes are great!
The “I ask you” section below and located at the end of nearly every single one of my posts is not rhetorical unless stated otherwise. Please leave comments, questions, words of encouragement, whatever is on your heart when you read these posts. The back and forth of a friendship is my vision for Running on Fumes.
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I ask you –
Do you have a coffee bar? Which is better: making your own or purchasing from whomever makes the best for you?
How many irons in the fire do you normally juggle?
2020 total miles: 318.25. 2019 was about 140 miles higher, but since I only ran one half marathon the entire year I’d say it was a success. Granted that one half marathon was 14 miles long – must have been the wet and wild adventure we took off course.
Nothing like a new pair of running shoes to put you in a good mood! I recommend it for everyone. My toes are splayed out like they should be, ankles are inline, and quad load is below normal. Sounds super sexy, right? My little lady calls new shoes ‘go fasters’; I couldn’t agree more. They make you want to sprint!
Run the Rail, New Boston, Texas, Oct 9, 2021. Race numero dos on my list of three. This one is near my parentals so maybe they can support my need for homemade cooking. I should ensure they read this. One more race added to the list then I’ll have a full plate. Of course nothing is official until I all-caps-it and post it here. Sometimes it still doesn’t happen even then. Whoopsies!
Relatedly unrelated, I have a confession. A short time ago, I was feeling dissatisfied in my work life. A position in a prior career field was open and I was seriously considering making a big move. After crunching some numbers, praying, asking for advice from others, etc. it became apparent this wasn’t the best option for me. Hello, Kel, you only spent 4 years trying to get to where you’re at now. The silence of what I had asked for was more telling than any answer I could have received.
Suddenly a different opportunity appeared. To be the storyteller I am at heart. Even before I could complete that mission, more people reached out for help with their own personal goals. It took a minute, but I soon realized I wasn’t feeling dissatisfaction with my job. I was feeling as if something was missing from my purpose in life. I asked, He obliged.
Funny how purpose shows up in the most unexpected ways.
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I ask you –
Do you get excited about new shoes? What’s your favorite pair?
Do you go through periods of feeling unsatisfied with your work?
Tell me your advice when going through a low period in life.
The 5am wakeups have been… something. At first it’s exciting, then by day 3, it’s a ‘oh lookie, 5am again’. I love the mornings, but pre-sunrise takes some getting used to when you haven’t done it in awhile. Practice makes perfect, right?
Streaking is going well, too. Much to the benefit of my neighbors, I have been dressing appropriately for each run. The only person to complain was that one guy. The weather has been quite cooperative with my goals!
wayyyyy too much going on here
While helping a friend with a job search, I came across a listing for a “Laundry Manager” at a nearby maximum security prison. Cue the hysterical laughing. Truly funny to me was the fact I made jokes about my own title; motherhood is full of little quirks. Needless to say, I don’t think my friend was interested. Entertained, yes; interested, no. I understand.
Do you know how hard it is to submit for a copyright? Perhaps hard isn’t the correct word; try tedious, overwhelming, nerve-wracking. Don’t mess it up because you pay a lot of money for it! Hopefully it will be worth it. Just another step toward a dream. What’s the worst that could happen? Resubmit? Ok, so that really would be the worst.
For more than a week, the phrase “Who Am I?” circled around me. First, I noticed it during the course of a conversation. Then, it was spoken in a song. Finally, I read it in print. Unsure of its context – question or statement – there is much meaning to some very sincere questions I have had lately. Maybe this happens to you, my dear reader, at points in your own life when you’re unsure of the correct path. Or maybe it doesn’t and I’m just weird.
It’s nothing short of miraculous hearing about a chance encounter between two people that turns into the opportunity of a lifetime. No spoilers. The Courage to Run is a profound and inspiring documentary about the late Gabe Grunewald and Chip Gaines. You may have no desire to ever run 500 feet much less a marathon, but watch the show anyway. Bring Kleenex.
As I’m currently lacking in fun catchphrases to round out this messy post, hope you all have a wonderful day!
P.S. It took nearly 6 1/2 hrs for my computer to update and restart yesterday. If ever there was a license to be able to own electronic devices, mine would surely be revoked.
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I ask you –
What time do you typically wake up?
Copyright, or of the like, advice? Patience, perhaps?
Name something you’ve watched lately which really inspired you! And then restart your computer. Don’t be like me.
Running on Fumes 
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