It's Dooley Time in Tennessee!

I admit, Friday when I heard, I wasn't sure. Today, still not sure. But as I learn more, I have come to know a couple of things: (1) this article's author is just one example of someone who knows more about the game than me who makes Coach Dooley sound very promising, and (2) Coach Dooley is just as cute as a button. I, once again, am excited about the future of Tennessee football. Thanks Derek Dooley for saying yes!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/andy_staples/01/16/dooley.tennessee/index.html

The Future of Tennessee Football

My takeaways:

(1) He's a turd. And if he wasn't a chicken, he'd stay and coach in a real conference.

(2) This is an awful precedent that must stop -- first step, do it like the NFL. Coaches have to fulfill contract obligations.

(3) This sends a horrible message to these kids.

(4) This does not make the decision for Fulmer to leave a bad one. He needed to go, and this has nothing to do with that. Apples and oranges.

(5) I hope USC sucks for all eternity.

Goals for 2010

Our good friends, the Tidwells, always set goals at the beginning of each new year. Jeremy and I liked the idea so much that we decided to start doing it ourselves last year. These aren't resolutions, you know, the ones that quickly become forgotten after January passes. These are goals that we actually set out to achieve, and I find that actually writing them down goes a long way. I accomplished a couple of mine from last year and a couple of them are back on this year's list. Most notable "accomplished" are that I ran a half-marathon before I turned 30 and I successfully potty-trained Cooper. My 2010 list is much longer than the 3 or 4 goals that I had last year. This year, I am prayerfully planning for the following:

Finish 1st place in my age group in a 5K
Finish 3rd place or higher in my age group in a 10K
Eat more fruits and vegetables (holdover from last year, but this year, I have a plan!)
Get up earlier
Go to bed earlier
Give up my sugar addiction, once and for all!
No gossiping . . . ever
More consistent prayer time (and NOT when I'm sleepy)
More consistent time in scripture and study
Memory verse every 2 weeks
Drink more water (I made a slight improvement this past year, but it's back on the list)
Go on a mission trip
Go on a trip with Jeremy (and only Jeremy)
Be a better friend
Eat less (i.e., start eating to live and not living to eat)

I appreciate your prayers and encouragement. This will be fun!

Happy Birthday Little Sweet Bud

Sorry I haven't been posting, but I have been wrapped up with my school rezoning trial. I would attach a link to the media about it, but all of the articles are a bunch of biased half-truths, so I'd rather not. That said, I had to stop and take a moment to pay tribute to my little sweet bud.

Three years ago today, Cooper Adam entered our family. And every day with him has been better than every day without him. He is a joy to us and adds so much life to what was already a great team. Thank you Cooper for being your Mommy's little sweet bud. And thank you Lord for trusting me and blessing me with such a precious child.

Crazy Week - Great Weekend!

Jeremy and I have been training for the half-marathon, which was scheduled for October 3rd. The Sunday before the race, Cooper started running a fever and coughing. He ran fever till Tuesday morning and started telling us that his "mouth" (i.e., throat) hurt. So, we took him to the doctor to confirm what we already anticipated -- he had the H1N1 flu. J and I traded up staying home with him all week, and I worked SO diligently to keep J and I from getting sick. Cooper felt much better by Thursday, and J and I stayed well. I guess on the bright side, I don't have to worry about Cooper catching swine flu for the next month -- he's already had it.

So, Jeremy and I made it to the race without the flu. Since my last post, I have taken very good care of my knee -- icing, resting, and stretching. I also dropped one of my mid-week runs, so I was down to one 3-mile run on Tuesday (on a treadmill, which was a little easier on the knee) and then my long run on Saturday. I was hopeful that it would be enough to finish the race without walking at all. The good news is, it was. The race was FANTASTIC! I have said all along that this would be my first and last half marathon, and as fun as it was, I want to do another one. But, as fun as it was, I don't want to do another one. I don't think it could ever get better. My original goal when I began training was to finish in less than 2 hours, which means a 9:08 pace for each mile. But after I hurt my knee, my goal changed -- just finish the race.

About 8 miles in, though, I was feeling great. The weather was great, the course was great, everything was great. I turned to Jeremy and said, "I think we can do this in less than 2 hours." We were making great time, and I felt great. So we picked up the pace a little. Unfortunately, Jeremy's knees were killing him, so I ended up leaving him around 10 miles. I accidentally bumped my watch around 9 miles, so I didn't know how much longer I had till 2 hours. But I knew around 11 miles that it was going to be close. I crossed the finish line at 2 hours and 40 seconds (a 9:13 per mile pace). I was so happy to have done so much better than expected that I really couldn't be too disappointed to have missed the 2-hour mark. It was just a great race, and I am so happy that I reached my goal of running a half-marathon before I turned 30. (Jeremy came in at 2 hours and 6 minutes, which was 14 minutes faster than his first half-marathon back in April. He did great, and I am very proud of him!)

After the race, we went to the pumpkin patch down the road in Nolensville to pick out pumpkins. It was just a beautiful day to spend time outside. I LOVE this time of year!!

Knee Problems

Jeremy and I are training for a half-marathon. Those of you who have met me in the last 4 years know that I love to run and might think that I have always enjoyed running. Those of you who knew me before about 4 years ago know that I have NOT always liked to run. Mostly since Cooper was born, I have developed a strong love for running. I run 5Ks fairly regularly and really enjoy trying to improve my time. And unlike in years past, I take physical fitness very seriously. I have always been one of those girls that my friends hated -- I could eat Doritos and pizza 24 hours a day and not gain much weight. That is a double-edged sword, however, because I was killing myself on the inside with no outward manifestations. While it is nice to not have to worry about weight, at least weight gain can sometimes be a good reminder that we are not treating out bodies so well. So I decided to change course.

Jeremy and I joined the YMCA after I returned to work from my maternity leave in March of 2007, and I have been on a different path ever since. I spend most of my lunch hours taking some classes that I love at the Uptown Y - a sculpt class (high-paced free weights class) on Mondays and Thursdays, and a great boot camp (intensive cardio) class on Wednesdays. And I always run at least once during the weekend. It is somewhat therapeutic for me -- getting outside in the fresh air -- just me and God's creation. No kids, no television, no noise. I love it!

The decision to run the half-marathon was a big decision for me. I mean, 13.1 miles is way different than 3-5 miles, which was the most I had typically run. But I decided as part of my 2009 goals (that I set at New Years) that I would do it. I would run a half-marathon before I turned 30. So, on October 3rd, I am scheduled to run the Middle Half in Murfreesboro...exactly 7 days before I turn 30. Training has been going well, and although I am not blowing the doors off by any stretch of the imagination, my running has been fairly painless. And I have really enjoyed the extra time that Jeremy and I have had "just the two of us." (Cooper isn't running half-marathons just yet.)

Yesterday, we were set to run 10 miles. 8 miles had gone very well for us in Baton Rouge when we were visiting our good friends, the Becks, 2 weekends ago. 9 miles had been harder last weekend, but still okay. Yesterday, J and I dropped Cooper off at his Mammy's house and drove to the greenway in Murfreesboro to churn out 10 miles. About 4-5 miles in, I started having pain on the outside of my left knee. I have had some pain in the front of my right knee during training, but nothing serious. But this was different. My left knee has never given me trouble, and this hurt really bad. I kept running and trying to ignore it. I finished the 10 mile-run but by the end, I truly didn't think I could go one more step. My knee felt like it was locking up, and I felt very defeated.

I spent a lot of time yesterday with ice on my leg and the laptop in my lap looking up information about IT band injuries online. I run enough to know that pain on the outside of your knee is most often IT band. Sure enough, everything I read online seemed to confirm that I probably have ITBS (IT band syndrome) which can develop particularly during intensive race training. I have not trained irresponsibly, which can lead to this syndrome. But I do have one of the risk factors - my legs are (though not technically) different lengths. Because I have scoliosis, my left hip sits lower on my body than my right hip, which makes my left leg seem longer than my right leg. I have a good feeling based on what I have read that this might have contributed to causing my IT band problem.

I am icing, resting, elevating, ibuprofen-ing etc... all the things they recommend to try and heal this type of injury. But it isn't a sure thing. I hope that I can recover and be able to run the race in October. But if I can't get the knee back in shape enough to stay on track with training, I hope that I can recover from the disappointment that comes with training this long...for naught. If anyone has dealt with, or knows someone who has dealt with this type of injury, and has some insight, I'm all ears!

Fun at the Fair

Now I know why my Daddy LOVED taking his kids to the fair every year. Because there is nothing more fun than watching our son squeal and smile on rides at the fair. We took Cooper to the Williamson County fair tonight, and our friend Derrick and his little girl Hannah came along. We had such a great time. They rode lots of rides, watched the amazing guys on BMXs doing tricks, won some stuffed animals at the water gun racing game, and ended the night with yummy funnel cakes. It took Cooper a couple of rides to get comfortable enough to hold back tears, but by the third ride, he was sold! He even rode his first roller coaster (it was Hannah's first too!) and had a great time doing it. Jeremy, Derrick, and I really enjoyed hanging with our kids tonight. We will definitely go back next year. And we won't miss the pig races next time! It is quite amazing how you can dissolve 50 bucks in no time at the fair, but it was worth every penny!