Thankful Thursday: inquiring minds - another 20 questions

I'm thankful for all of my readers and friends on FB and twitter.  Since 20 Questions part 1 is a bit old, I decided to write part deaux!  I've been working on it for quite a while and finally have enough questions for another post.  Here we go:

How did you decide on your chosen profession?  I am a Speech-Language Pathologist and I sorta came upon the profession by accident.  Back in high school, I had to take one of those "career" tests and this was one of the professions that came up.  I didn't give it much thought, other than observing a therapist in a hospital once.  In college, I took a speech/language class as part of the psychology program and loved it.  Never looked back.  I worked in a private practice doing neurologic rehab (think strokes and traumatic brain injuries) then a rehab hospital.  For the past 8 years or so I've been in the public schools and I love it.
Have you ever chosen Dare in a game of Truth or Dare and what was craziest dare you ever dared? Yes, I've chosen the dare and probably the craziest dare was skinny dipping.
What got you into running / races / marathons? Most of this is answered in the first 20 questions page and the about me page here.  Since writing those pages, I've completed my first marathon and a few more half marathons.  I also have been struggling with my first real, side-lying injury.  I'd say the marathon was just the natural progression   I loved training for the half marathon on 25k, so I decided this past year was as good a time as any to go for a marathon.
Did your moms death impact / influence your healthy living?!  My mom died of skin cancer when I was 14.  At the time, I'd say it didn't impact my desire to be healthy at all.  But now?  I want to be around to see my own kids graduate and get married, have kids, etc. etc.  I really do try to stay out of the sun or use sunscreen.  Also, my weight loss and foray into running has been an effort to get and stay at a healthy weight.
Has running changed your social life? and how? Oh my word has it! I wouldn't have ever pushed myself to run past 3 miles if it weren't for social media.  Also, the majority of my closest friends are runners who I've met through twitter or races I've done.  I love running with these friends now. 
If you could PR any distance by 20% which distance would you pick? Aka, which distance would you live to excel at?  These are really great questions.  Tougher to answer now.  When I received this question last fall, I was healthy and training for my full marathon.  This was the answer I had in my files. "I've been chasing the elusive sub-30 5k, but if I had to pick, I'd want to PR the 1/2 mary by 20%.  It's a challenging distance and I'd need to take a lot of time off per mile to do it. A 20% PR would put me under 2 hrs, which would freaking ROCK."  Since getting injured, I know this is extremely unrealistic now.  I have a goal to PR my next 1/2 marathon (Disney's Wine and Dine in November) but the PR won't be anywhere close to a 20%.  I think if I work my ass off, I might see a sub-2 hour 1/2 marathon, but it will be a couple years off.  At this point, my best hope for a 20% PR would be in the 10k (assuming I can get my mojo back).  My 10k PR is 1:09:57.  I'd need to run about a 56 min 10k for that 20% PR if I've done the math right.  When I've been healthy, I've hit right around an hour in training runs, so who knows. Maybe I'll see it in this next year (or two).
If you could re-write the 12 days of Christmas, what would the 12 gifts be? I finally answered this one!  Here's the post.
What is your favorite distance to run?  This goes with the previous question but isn't necessarily the distance I'd want that 20% PR at. My favorite race distance is probably the 10 mile.  It's challenging but doesn't totally kill you.  It's also the distance I set my pace PR at last fall (racing a 10 mile race near the end of marathon training will do that for you - in case you ever want to set a crazy PR) and beat my husband in last spring (it's the little things in life).  
What's the most interesting place you've visited? I love to travel.  That much is obvious in the fact I picked trips for 25% of my dream 12 Days of Christmas gifts :) Probably the most interesting place I've visited was in Mexico.  It's hard to pick just one place, though.  I stayed at a resort in Cozumel but driving to and from the airport and town was eye opening.  I couldn't believe the poverty just outside the walls of our very swanky resort.  I felt a little guilty, to be perfectly honest.  While on that trip, we also took the ferry over to the mainland and went to Tulum and Xel Ha.  They were unbelievably beautiful and I highly recommend going.  My 2nd choice would probably be St. Lucia - this is where I've gone SCUBA diving and zip lining for the first time.  I can't believe it's been 5 years.
What is your favorite workout gear? I answered that question in this post.
If Disney was wiped off the face of the Earth, after an appropriate mourning period, where would your new "go to" vacation destination be? Thea's questions crack me up (she also asked how much I love her). The answers are here!
What are the ups and downs of parenting twins? I think one of the biggest ups is the fact I got the perfect two-fer!  I only had to be pregnant once (which I really liked, so I'm also a bit sad I'll never have that experience again) and I ended up with a girl and boy as a result.  The first 6 months were pretty much zombiemom hell as no one slept, but after that it's been pretty smooth sailing.  Both kids are very independent and have completely different interests. K (my girl) is into sports and has excelled at everything from gymnastics and diving to volleyball and track. Just this week she actually ran 5 miles with me! D (my son) is into theater and music. He loves acting and is a great trombone player.  Not having them both in sports is nice since there aren't as many conflicts.  Right now, they are both working on accruing their hours to get their driver's licenses, which is a total PITA.  Not sure what we will do when they start both wanting a car.  I think that's probably the biggest downside is double cost for everything.  We're going to be hit with cars at the same time, graduation parties at the same time, college at the same time.  *runs off to start looking for a second job*
Hobbies outside of running.  I'm not really a "hobbies" person - mainly because I don't have time.  I've never been into scrapbooking or crafts.  I do like to read - mostly mindless stuff like Janet Evanovich novels or crime/detective novels, think John Sanford and stuff like that.  I watch far too much television and my DVR is always full.
Are you planning to get a tattoo to celebrate your tri? For those of you who don't know, I have 2 tattoos - one on my wrist that says "believe" and a firework on my ankle/calf with the words "strength" and a 26.2.  As of right now, I have no plans for a triathlon tattoo.  That doesn't mean I don't want another tat, however :)  One of my friends said they are kind of like an addiction and she was right.  I'm definitely thinking there will be more, but right now the design and placement are undecided.  
Suzanne asked: "Are you planning another marathon or ultra?" No.  I won't say "I'll never run another marathon" because a few years ago I said I'd never run a 10k, a half, a marathon, do a tri... (you get the idea), but as of right now I have no plans to do so.  If the right race came along, I had the time to train for it properly, and the right person/people to run it with, I would consider another marathon. I can say with 100% certainty, however, that I have no desire to run an ultra - the marathon was bad enough.
Kimert79 asked: "What is one thing my injury has taught me?"  For those who don't know, I overtrained last winter/spring and was diagnosed in April with (initially) a stress fracture in my left tibia that was then downgraded to a stress reaction.  Basically a stress "reaction" is a fracture waiting to happen. I spent almost 6 weeks in a boot and then slowly built my running back up over the summer.  What is the one thing I learned? I learned I really need running to stay sane.  The problem? Running is now harder (even though I've made a ton of progress and I'm almost back to my pre-injury self) and it isn't ever without some pain.  I think part of that is just getting older (and the weight I put back on while injured) but a lot of it is the lingering injury. Even so, I LOVE when I have a run that lets me forget about life for a little while and enjoy some me time.  I've learned a lot of other things too, but those little nuggets of wisdom (or whatever) could probably be their own blog post.
Lani asked: "What's your favorite color and why?" I actually answered this when I did my first 20 questions post and at the time I said orange.  Right now I would say it's purple or turquoise.  I don't have any particular reason for liking those colors (except I look great in turquoise but not so much in purple).  I chose purple for my firework tattoo and my roadID is purple, so I associate that color with running - plus I ran my marathon in a purple Team Sparkle skirt :) Oddly enough, I wear some form of black almost every day.
Ali wants to know: "If you weren't doing what you are doing right now (speech path) what would you do instead? (career wise or other)" At one point, I really thought I would go to medical school - even after I'd been working as a Speech-Language Pathologist I thought I'd like to go back to school and either be a Physiatrist (rehab doc) or get my Doctorate in Audiology and be duel certified.  Now, I'd just like to retire on a beach somewhere.
Andrea asks: "What's your favorite ME time activity outside of exercise?" I actually love to zone out with a movie or TV show on the computer.  Fire up HULU or Netflix and see what I can find.  I used to read more than I do now - but lately it's been movies. 
Megan wanted to know a while ago: "Cake or ice cream?" This one is easy. ICE CREAM!!! Cake is one dessert that I can easily pass up...unless it's in the form of red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting - then I'm screwed.


I hope you guys like this little "behind the curtain" glimpse into what makes me, well, ME :)  I'd love to know more about my readers, too.  Pick one of these questions and answer it in the comments.  Please and thank you!

3 Things Thursday: Randoms About Me

I've been slowly plugging along at answering some of the questions readers have sent my way (thanks guys, keep 'em coming!).  I have a 20 questions page here and I'm working on answering more questions.  There are posts with other questions here if you want to go back and check them out.

So, without further ado, here are 3 more random tidbits about moi:

1. Meg (who is a new mommy) asked, "What are the ups and downs of parenting twins?" I think one of the biggest ups is the fact I got the perfect two-fer!  I only had to be pregnant once (which I really liked, so I'm also a bit sad I'll never have that experience again) and I ended up with a girl and boy as a result.  The first 6 months were pretty much zombiemom hell as no one slept, but after that it's been pretty smooth sailing.  Both kids are very independent and have completely different interests. K (my girl) is into sports and has excelled at everything from gymnastics and diving to volleyball and track.  D (my son) is into theater and music. He loves acting and is a great trombone player.  Not having them both in sports is nice since there aren't as many conflicts.  Right now, they are both working on accruing their hours to get their driver's licenses, which is a total PITA.  Not sure what we will do when they start both wanting a car.  I think that's probably the biggest downside is double cost for everything.  We're going to be hit with cars at the same time, graduation parties at the same time, college at the same time.  *runs off to start looking for a second job*
2. Ellen  asked, "Hobbies outside of running".  I'm not really a "hobbies" person - mainly because I don't have time.  I've never been into scrapbooking or crafts.  I do like to read - mostly mindless stuff like Janet Evanovich novels or crime/detective novels, think John Sanford and stuff like that.  I watch far too much television and my DVR is always full.
3. Jen  had a great question.  "Are you planning to get a tattoo to celebrate your tri?" For those of you who don't know, I have 2 tattoos - one on my wrist that says "believe" and a firework on my ankle/calf with the words "strength" and a 26.2.  I'm sure somewhere on this blog are pictures of them if you search hard enough :) As of right now, I have no plans for a triathlon tattoo.  That doesn't mean I don't want another tat, however :)  One of my friends said they are kind of like an addiction and she was right.  I'm definitely thinking there will be more, but right now the design and placement are undecided.  

There you have it - three random things about me.  Now a question for you: Do you have any hobbies you'd like to share?  I'm also open to more questions if you want to throw one out there in the comments :)

(also - somehow my "follow me" widget broke and I don't know how to fix it. HELP!)

3 Things Thursday: More About Me

I've received a few more questions to add to "Another 20 Questions" page, but not enough to get to 20 yet, so I thought today I would answer 3 of those questions. (I apologize that I can no longer remember who submitted each question.)

1. Have you ever chosen Dare in a game of Truth or Dare and what was craziest dare you ever dared? Yes, I've chosen the dare and probably the craziest dare was skinny dipping. There might be others but right now I can't think of any.
2. Has running changed your social life? and how? Oh my word has it! I wouldn't have ever pushed myself to run past 3 miles if it weren't for social media. I thank the Shrinking Jeans sisters for getting me outside my comfort zone and supporting me while I've trained (from that first 1/2 marathon to the full marathon). Also, the majority of my closest friends are runners who I've met through blogging, twitter (and subsequently Fitbloggin' 11) or races I've done.  I love running with these friends now, but it sucks because (with the exception of a few people) we are spread all over the country and can rarely see each other.
3. How did you decide on your chosen profession?  I am a Speech-Language Pathologist and I came upon the profession by accident.  Back in high school, I had to take one of those "career" tests and this was one of the professions that came up.  I didn't give it much thought, other than observing a therapist in a hospital once.  When I went away to college, I really thought I was going to go pre-med (I wanted to be a neurosurgeon).  I loved science but I ended up hating the math classes I had to take and really wasn't ambitious enough for med school.  I switched to psychology but decided the clinical aspect really wasn't for me.  I took a speech/language class as part of the psychology program and loved it. Never looked back. I ended up switching my major to Communication Disorders and double minored in psychology and child development.  I worked in a private practice doing neurologic rehab (think strokes and traumatic brain injuries) then worked at a rehab hospital on the brain injury team.  I got burnt out after about 6 years and for the past 8 years or so I've been in the public schools and I love it.  I joke that I "play all day" but teaching kids strategies to help them learn and improve their speech is really fun.  If it doesn't feel like work, it's the job for you.

So there you have it...3 little ditties about me.  Do you have any questions you'd like me to answer in a future post?  Leave them in the comments or hit me up on twitter!

11 Random Things...

Just when I thought I was going to miss out on the 11 Random Things meme that's been floating around the interwebs, I get tagged by 4 people last week:  Marie from Why She Runs, Thea from It's Me Vs. Me, Megan from Running Toward the Prize, and Paulette from So Just Keep Running.  Now, there's no way I'm answering 44 questions, so I decided to just alternate down each person's lists until I hit 11 questions.

Here goes:

Rules:
1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them.
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people.  


My 11 random things...
1.  We had dogs when I was growing up (a Cocker Spaniel named Candy until I was about 10 and then a Lhasa Apso named Tai Chi for a few years after that) but now I don't really like dogs.  I'll tolerate them and will pet other peoples dogs, but overall they kinda freak me out.
2.  I almost never leave the house without at least some makeup on, even if it's just mascara or tinted moisturizer.
3.  I love southwest decor.  All of our houses have had at least 1 room decorated with Kokopelli, clay pots, etc.

4.  I absolutely love beach vacations, but I'm paler than Casper.
5.  Chicago is one of my favorite cities, but I only learned to use the public transportation a couple years ago and still don't like it.  I'd rather drive through the city, traffic and all.
6.  All of our cats found us and at one time we had 4. We were the "crazy cat people".
7.  Disney World (in Florida) is my Happiest Place on Earth, but running through Disneyland in California a last week was pretty freaking awesome.
8.  I went ziplining in St. Lucia but freaked out on one of the lines and had to pull myself in backwards.  Note to all of you wanting to try ziplining, it's much easier to let gravity take its course and that pulling yourself in is one of the hardest arm workouts you'll ever do.
9.  I can't stand talk radio.  Makes me want to kill people, especially if I'm driving.
10.  I have a scar on my upper lip from my Lhasa biting me.  I was eating in the living room and she went for my food.  I moved the food and she got me.  I was so scared to tell my dad that I basically held my lip together with a washrag for a several hours until he got home.  By then it was really too late to go to the hospital for stitches.
11.  I played the flute in high school and when it was time for our kids to pick instruments we encouraged our son to play trombone (which my husband still plays) and our daughter to play flute.  I can still play, but it sounds like crap.

Answers to Marie, Thea, Megan and Paulette's questions...
1.  Do you remember your first race?  Which one was it? (Marie) I do!  My first race was the 5/3 River Bank Run in May 2006.  I finished in 34:40.
2.  What is one area of your life do you wish you could hire someone to do for you? (Thea) Keeping my house clean.  Or maybe driving my kids to all their crap.
3.  Would you rather be a police officer, fire fighter, or EMT?  (Megan) That's easy, EMT.  I almost went to medical school.
4.  If you could live anywhere regardless of cost/job, where would you choose? This one is hard.  I'd probably pick somewhere in the Caribbean.  All the hurricanes worry me though.
5.  Name 3 blogging runners who inspire you.(Marie)  Kirsten for a million reasons (Tough Mudder on a broken ankle to start) but mainly because she was the first to really encourage me to run a marathon and helped me come up with a training plan that got me across the finish line. Erin because she has talked me into doing a mud run this year and she's currently kicking a$$ on her 1/2 marathon training, and Tiffany because she has raised tons of money for Team in Training and works with kiddos with cancer every day, so sees the need first hand.
6.  What's the deal with time zones? (Thea) I have no freaking idea, but where I live, for the longest time northern Indiana couldn't seem to decide if it wanted to be on Michigan time or Indiana time so I never knew what time it was when I was calling my sister who lived down there.  I still couldn't tell you if there's a time difference.
7.  Who is your favorite cartoon character? (Megan) I love Perry the Platypus from Phineas and Ferb, but if I was gonna go old-school, I'd pick Bugs Bunny.
8.  What is your favorite race distance to run? (Paulette) Half marathon.  Still hard enough to require serious training but doesn't knock you out for weeks afterwards.  My best race ever (pace-wise) was a 10 miler.  That would probably be my 2nd choice.
9.  What's your favorite pre and post run meal?  (Marie) I don't really have one.  Pre long run, I usually have spaghetti.  After a race, if my stomach is good, I like a big burger, pizza or an Italian sub (hello, salt replacement?)  Also, a beer post-run is always appreciated :)
10.  Someone gives you $5000 no strings attached, what do you do with the money?  (Thea) Take my family back to Disney World.
11.  Cake or ice cream? (Megan) ICE CREAM!!!!! Cake is one dessert I can easily turn down (unless it's in the form of red velvet cupcakes, then I'm screwed).
Bonus question so everyone gets 3: Red wine or white wine? (Paulette) First of all, I'm a beer girl - good, craft beer, Belgian whites, etc.  If I was going to drink wine, I'm partial to sweeter white wines (think Rieslings usually) but lately I've been grooving on this red blend called Wild Girl from South Africa. It's a sweet blend of Ruby Cabernet and Shiraz.  So good and only about $10 a bottle.  Probably a little too good.  In fact, I'm drinking some right now :)

My 11 questions for you...
1.  What's your go-to, pumps you up every time, workout song?
2.  Cat or dog?
3.  Team Jacob or Team Edward?
4.  Beer, wine or mixed drink, and what's your favorite?
5.  Do you have a "good luck" charm of some kind when you race? (a hat you always wear, hair always in the same style, lucky undies, etc)
6.  What's your favorite iPhone or Android app and why should I download it (if it's iPhone)?
7.  Have you always had the same career and was it what you originally studied?
8.  Have you ever run in a costume and what was it?
9.  Who would play you in a movie about your life, and who would play your significant other?
10. Do you have a nickname, and if yes, what is it?
11. If you could eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I tag...
1.  Morgan from Caution Redhead Running
2.  Sara from Domestically Challenged
3.  Ashley from Finding My Way
4.  Kim  from Girl Evolving
5.  Tiffany from Tall Drink of Life
6.  Jaime from Life According to Jaime
7.  Barb from Quick Like a Bunny
8.  Andrea from The Love Bug Adventures
9.  Beki from Wild Child Gone Good
10. Mendie from The Little Ladybug that Could
11. Erin from School Teacher by Day, Superhero by Night


This took me longer than I thought it would, but it was really fun.  If you've already been tagged and I missed your answers, leave me a link in the comments because I'd love to read them.  If you've been tagged by multiple people, do like I did and combine the questions.  Or, pretend you never saw this if you don't want to play along :)