Sunday, February 26, 2012

Running a Punishment?

On Monday, February 20, 2012 a 9 year-old named Savanah Hardin died of dehydration and lack of electrolytes according to the results of an autopsy.



She died days after her step-mother called 911 saying that she had had a seizure

What seems to have not been immediately stated during the attempted rescue of Savanah was that the reason she was sufferring from symptoms that marathon runners often experience is because Savanah had been forced to run around her house for 3 hours as punishment for lying about eating a chocolate bar.

Obviously there are so many issues that a person should have with this story, one being that a parent and grandparent's source of punishment was so extreme that it caused death.  And I am so outraged by this.

But.....I'm not a parent and there are going to be people who will say to me, "You don't know what it's like to discipline a child," and that is true.  And obviously, I don't have all the facts.  This occurred on Friday, Savanah died on Monday, and her step-mother and grand-mother were only arrested on Wednesday.  I have not seen anything about the families response to the aligations.  Not a lot of time to get much information out there, but this is a story I will be following.

So, my thoughts right now are......running a punishment?

Ironically, this isn't going to be the first time in the past month that I'm going to make this arguement.  I recently had someone tell me that when she has children, it is her plan to discipline them by making them run and she will drive her car along side them. 

My response was that running shouldn't be used as a punishment.

Let's say that Savanah hadn't passed away from this experience.  Let's say that 3 hours was exactly the plan and the grandmother had told her to stop, given her a few last words against lying and eating something that was bad for her health.  How is Savanah going to feel about running the rest of her life?

True, I used to say that running was against my religion, but that was about hard work and being scared of it.  It wasn't because I had had such a negative experience with it that would probably stick with me for the rest of my life. 

Even if running and fitness isn't something that a parent or teacher likes for themself, we should not make something that is SO GOOD for a person feel like a punishment.

It is soooooo much the opposite.  Fitness IS hard, and for that reason, there are so very few things that make you feel more accomplished than improving in fitness and meeting goals.

A person who views running and fitness as a punishment is very likely never going to change their mind and then never experience the benefits that it gives:

1) Controls Weight
2) Combats Health Conditions and Disease
3) Improves Mood
4) Boosts Energy
5) Promotes Better Sleep
6) Puts a Spark Back in Your Sex Life (okay a kid won't care about this now, but eventually)
7) Exercise Can Be Fun

I have received absolutely every single one of these benefits from running and fitness.  I think it would be very rare for someone that really takes on fitness to NOT experience ALL of them.  If you don't, it just means you didn't have a problem with it to begin with.  So imagine life with all of these aspects. 

It's AMAUZING!  I will repeat over and over that there is no world like the fitness world.  I have a very loving and supportive family, but my Sole Sisters and Turbo Kick Friends understand something much different about me and the feeling of their support is so much different. 

It saddens me to think that there are children whose minds right now are being shaped to think that exercise is a bad thing, not because of it's hard work but because they did something bad and exercise was the consequence. 

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Egg Muffins

I haven't posted a new recipe in a while.  Tried one that a friend posted from pintrest a few weeks ago.  Very similiar to the egg cups that I have tried (and loved) from Hungry Girl.

I don't know what they named them on Pintrest, but Josh and I are calling them Egg Muffins.

Ingredients (for one muffin):

1/4 cup of egg substitute
1 tablespoon shredded cheese
1/8 cup of Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Crumbles
1 sliver of bell pepper

Directions:

Grease muffin pan
Fill each cup with 1/4 cup of egg substitute




Add 1/8 cup Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Crumbles




Add 1 tbs of cheese and one sliver of bell peppers.

Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 45 minutes.  I wanted to make sure most of the moisture was gone from the outside of the egg muffin and that a tooth pick came out clean.

I think I could have cooked them a little longer, but they were delicious.






Sunday, February 12, 2012

Beginning of 1/2 Marathon Training!!!

I'm hoping this is the start of my re-entry into the blogging world.  I know that I have been MIA in both the fitness and blogging world the last couple of months.  However, I'm now starting to work towards something that means A LOT to me, and is going to deserve a lot of my focus. 

Today was Day 2 of my training for the Wisconsin 1/2 Marathon in Kenosha, WI. on May 5.  I am so excited to be taking on this task of training and working towards a great acomplishment.

I've know since deciding to make the decision that it was going to be a big deal and would need a lot of dedication.  So in order to ensure that dedication, I was going to need to really work on the movitvation.

I wanted something that would make me remember every day what I was working for.  During the Cupcake Classic that I ran on October 22, 2011, as a celebration of my friend Jessica McMullin and her 37th birthday I won a necklace that said, "Will run for cupcakes." 

This got me thinking that there had to be more running or motivational fitness jewlery out there and so I got to looking online.  I found and my mother bought this ring as a gift to start wearing on the first day of training.



For the next 12 weeks, I will have the constant reminder of the 13.1 miles that I want to get through on May 5.  What an awesome feeling that will be.

Day 1 of training was strength and stretching, so I just did that at home after work yesterday.  I sure can feel the lifting I did!

3 miles was scheduled on Day 2 of training.  You know, it would figure that we have had absolutely the best winter ever, but until now I have spent none of it running.  As soon as I am making it a point to get out there, it has turned COLD! 

When I got up this morning it was 18 degrees outside.  I could have gone to the gym and ran on the track, but I didn't really want to add driving time to my workout not to mention the time that I might spend socially.  So, I did what I needed to do and got bundled up and headed out.  I say bundled up, but I'm shocked how little a runner can wear outside. 



My run wasn't great.  I bet I've only ran 3 times in the past 4 months.  Not good.  So I'm basically starting over.  But that actually makes me proud.  Not that I HAVE to start over, but that I am starting over.  How many times have we set out to get fit, fallen off the wagon, and then given up.  It happens all the time; is the story of my adulthood. 

But, I now know that I can do it.  So, the starting isn't so scary this time.  It's very exciting.  Cause I know what the end result is going to feel like.