11 Things x 3

I always LOVE getting Tagged!! Thanks to T @ Racing with Babes , Kurt @ Becoming an Ironman and Junk Food Runner for the tags, I have been traveling for work and have been totally out of the Bloggy seen so I am sure most of you have already played along..

Here are the 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. (not sure what this rule means??)

11 Random Tall Mom Things:

1. I am an Event Planner for my Big Girl job, I can think 5 steps ahead.. a trait I get from my Mom.

2. I get my hair cut/colored MAYBE once a year. I was Blonde for a while after college but it was too hard for me to maintain, since I am not a fan of sitting in the Stylist chair.

3. We have 1 pet, a Boxed Turtle named Tally, she was once lost in the backyard for 2 weeks. We are not great pet owners ;p

4. I LOVE Milk Chocolate and eat at least a small piece most days.

5. Muscle Man and I met on Match.com, my parents also met on a Blind Date.

6. I drive a Jeep Liberty and it is BY FAR my favorite vehicle I have ever owned. We bought it brand new last August and it has made me happy ever sense.

7. I collect Starbucks cityscape mugs from the Cities I visit, I bought one in Boston last year and the handle broke on the return trip :( Maybe I will go back someday to get another.

8. My dream is to live with a view of a body of water, lake, stream, ocean, pond, large mud puddle, my current view is of the top of Lowes..although we have a killer view of Mount Rainier... maybe in retirement I will get my water view.

9. I played 3 sports in High School, Volleyball, Basketball and Track & Field (shot-put, discus and relays) I have always loved sports!! I hope the Little Studs will be excited about sports someday. I plan to be a huge FAN for them!!

10. I have no tatoos and did not get my ears pierced until age 30.

11. I have been enchanted by the Larimar Stone since my Mom gave me a ring made of Larimar she and Dad purchased for me before he died. Someday I will have an AMAZING collection of Larimar Jewelry.

T's questions:

1. Birthdays. Love them or hate them. Why? Love them!! But I feel a crazy amoaunt of guilt when it comes to our kids birthdays...I have not planned anything big for them the past 2 years and I feel BAD!

2. Get your purse/gym bag: What are the first five things you pull out? Purse-Gum, pen, passport, work badge, and wallet. Gym Bag- Nike Bra, bondiband, sof sole socks, Nike top and Lucy tights.

3. What is the one meal you can make better than anyone else? Funny!! Highly doubt I can make anything better than anyone....I don't cook.. I would say that I am pretty good at Top Ramen and Rice Crispy Treats.

4. You get one wish. No restrictions. What is it? I wish that I could have a successful business with Muscle Man, making enough to not stress about money, and be able to travel, enjoy life and give to my family and friends..

5. Cake or Pie? White Cake, I am not a Pie person.

6. What's your secret talent? I can do various accents, my best is Russian... If I am around someone with an accent I tend to pick it up.

7. Early bird or night owl? Early Bird, I have never been good at staying up late.

8. Biggest pet peeve? Tardiness and dishonesty. I don't like it when people are late, or when things out my control make me late. Be truthful with me... PERIOD...

9. What's your favorite weird food combination? (i.e. ice cream and pickles) It is not too weird but I like to put chocolate chips in my oatmeal and have them melt.. YUMMERS!

10. Which would you choose? No social media for a year or no working out for a month? Why? No working out for a month, I would take it as a break and fill my time other ways. I use Social Media to connect with friends and family so going without it for a year would be tough.

11. What are you sending me for my birthday? Hmmmm.. What do you want T? I have some Nuun, but I am guessing you are set there.. I better get the card in the mail :)

Kurt's Questions:

1. What did you want to be when you were growing up? What do you want to be now that you have grown up? I wanted to be an Actress, but around age 12 I realized I was too tall. So I planned to be a Basketball coach, but that didn't pan out. I am currently an Event Planner but I would love to have a Small business working with my husband.
   
2. If you came into a large fortune all of a sudden and were set for life, what is the first thing you would do? Take my family and extended family on an all expense paid trip to Hawaii, with spa, zipline, tasty foods, etc.. We all deserve a BREAK!
   
3. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Pecan Cluster
   
4. Of all the places you've been - vacation, work, or any other reason - which was your favorite and why? Portofino, Italy, time seems to move slower there, the people are amazing, food is to die for and the views of the Mediterranean are unmatched.
   
5. What is your favorite time of day to exercise? Lunch, helps break up the day.
   
6. Everyone has an innate fear. What are you naturally afraid of? I am afraid of dying young, always have been.
   
7. Which holiday is your favorite?, and why? Christmas, I love giving gifts, food, the excitement of the little studs and the glowing lights.
   
8. It's Friday night and you have the whole weekend ahead of you, what do you do? Sit on the couch with Muscle Man with an adult beverage and catch up on our DVR or a comedy.
   
9. What was the very last meal you ate? Lunch, egg salad sandwich on wheat.
   
10. What is your big race this year?, and what is your goal for that race? Not sure yet.. I would like to PR in a Half this year but my knee has been bugging me so I have to take it easy.
    
11. What is the toughest aspect of training for you? How do you overcome it? Making sure I get enough rest for my knee and fitting it in when work gets busy. Sometimes I am able to pull it off, but not always.
    

Junk Food Runners Questions:

1. What is your favorite cheat food/meal? Pizza or Thai Food.

2. Where is the best place in America that you have traveled to/lived in? Hmmm this is tough I really enjoyed my trips to New York and Washington DC but I doubt I would want to live there. I love the GREEN that Washington and Oregon have to offer.
3. If you could change one thing you have done in the past what would it be and why? I would have made my Dad to get his heart checked out. I am not sure if it would have extended his life or not, but I wish I had the chance to try.

4. What is your favorite thing you remember from your first race? My co-worker Zen Runner easily handling the 5K while I was DYING and wanted to stop.. I got passed by a 12 year old girl wearing flip flops.. It was humbling!!

5. Would you prefer to run on a treadmill or in the pouring rain? Pouring Rain, I am a WA runner I can take it!!
6. What is your guilty pleasure television show? Mine is Teen Mom. Please don't judge me. Funny, I like Teen Mom also.. But my guilty pleasure has always been One Tree Hill..

7. If you could have one super power what would it be? I would like to TELEPORT and be able to bring people with me. Could go anywhere without wasting time or money.. and my work commute would be a breeze. I promise not to use it to cheat in races ;)

8. Do you remember your dreams when you wake up? If so, what is the strangest dream you can remember? I remember dreams often.. My dream before Boston was pretty strange involving my friend Jill, forgetting my shoes and traveling on a "party bus" to the start line.

9. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life what would you choose? Salad, because there are soooo many different options of flavors, add-ons, etc.. Seafood salad, Cobb Salad, Taco Salad... etc... I already eat a salad every day so it would not change life too much.
10. What piece of advice would you give a new runner? Celebrate your successes, respect the distance and keep a good record along the way. I love looking back at my races through photos and my posts on the Blog.

11. Biggest Loser - love it or hate it? Love it, although I wish they would cut it to 1 hour.

MY QUESTIONS:

1. What is your favorite season for running and why?
2. If you could meet any famous person, who would it be and why?
   
3. What is your mantra, favorite quote, and/or words you live by?
4. If you could have ANY ONE ITEM for free, what would it be?
5. How did your parents come up with your name?
   
6. Do you collect anything? If so, what?
7. How did you meet your significant other?
8. If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
9. What is your favorite fruit and vegetable?
10. What is your favorite color?
11. What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of me (Tall Mom)?
    

And those I INVITE to play along

1. Fancy Nancy @ Living the Dream

2. Jess @ Blonde Ponytail

3. Carrie @ This Mamma Makes Stuff

4. Zoe @ Run Zoe Run

5. Catey @ Random Thoughts from the Zoo

6. XMLIC @ Taking it on

7. Meg @ Watch Me Go Run

8. Melody @ Will Run for Margaritas

9. Shelly @ One Foot in Front of the Other

10. Chelsea @ Will Run for Food.. (Come back Chels!!)

11. Kelly @ According to Kelly

Follow your Intuition...

I can't keep up...

There are times in life when it is HARD to maintain the pace... Right now my Big Girl job is all encompassing, leaving little time for much else. When I get home all I want to do is be with my family, nowhere near the computer and I have no desire run..

I was able to fit in a run this week with Kerrie @ Mom vs. Marathon, she had a tempo run and I thought that 8:13 pace would be fine.. I have been feeling off, very low energy. While traveling last week I hopped from time zone to time zone putting in full days in car, planes, etc... It was exhausting and I did not run...

Me before the run, full of promise. We ran quickly up a big hill then were hit in the face with wind, I realized that I could not breath and I was ZAPPED.. At 2.8 miles I had to walk, check my ego and tell Kerrie to go on without me.

I CAN'T KEEP UP

Kerrie was sweet and altered her workout to run slower with me. I had a horrible side ache and felt light headed. I struggled to maintain a pace in the 9's and was HAPPY when Kerrie and I parted so I could walk.

Maybe I am coming down with something?

Maybe it is exhaustion?

Maybe I am totally out of shape after 1 week?

Whatever it is...

I CAN'T KEEP UP

So I am going to give myself a BREAK. I am not going to stress about running, training for a fast 5K, blogging, or anything else that does not fit in... I want to reconnect with my family and get the rest I need to find my ENERGY.. Hopefully the break will be short, I really want to get the Tall Mom 1,000+++ Club Going...

For now Run a few miles for me and I will be in touch SOON...

Credit HERE

Welcome to my new Home

Welcome to my New Home!!!

Special thanks to Angie at Strosgirldesigns.com for helping me make my Blog all me. There are a few things I am still working on, but overall I LOVE the new look..

FEATURES:

-Header with Scrolling Photos from my favorite trails, a Daisy for my mom and new Tall Mom Logo.

-Background picture is one I took from my trail..

-Menu with links to past Blog (under construction)


Thanks for following Tall Mom!! I truly appreciate you stopping by!!

Back HOME

My Travels are done, for now, and I am HOME!!! The trip took a lot out of me, leaving little energy for running or working out. I got home at 10:15PM Sunday and took Monday off to be with the family..

It was a SUNNY DAY!!! So we set out for a little RUN.. there was a major Ice Storm last week leaving Trees down all over the city. The sidewalk to LS#1's school is blocked in several places, so running to pick him up was out.. We went to the local trail hopeful that we could get in a good run...
I LOVE LOVE Muscle Man's shirt!! HEHE
I am sure it was a nice change for MM to push one kiddo.. he looked so CUTE in his shades.. We made it nearly a mile and the trail was fully blocked by 2 trees which made an X. BUMMER!! All in all was a good 2 mile run, to get back to it.

• I am SWAMPED with little time for Blogging, Running, ETC...
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• The new Tall Mom Blog will be revealed this week!!! I hope you like it..
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• What's new with you??
  

Run Happy With Brooks

It is no secret that I am a HUGE Brooks Running fan!! Most of my Running T-Shirts are Brooks EZ-T's HERE. I was looking through Some old photos and I wanted to take you through my Brooks Run Happy Journey...

10K at Alki, I was a bit too hot.. I also converted Muscle Man to a Brooks Fan
Brooks Diva Jacket Picking up my Boston race packet.
And Again with my Run Happy Hat on a soggy run with buddies
I even sport the old school Brooks for Her Jacket at the Zoo
Last year the the Rock N Roll Expo I bought a Mens shirt and I LOVE IT!!
Wore my "Run" EZ-T 2010 when I qualified for Boston at Eugene Marathon
And the same shirt on several runs with my friends
This RUN shirt has seen a lot of action!! Here at the Mercer Island Half Marathon
And on a COLD day
I love my bright Run Happy Shirts for work lunch runs..
This Orange shirt was my go-to shirt in 2009 for most of my races.. 5K
And another 5K
And a Family 5 miler..
Wowzers!! So why am I telling you this? Brooks is based in Washington, LOVE LOVE and Brooks Makes high quality Running Apparel, Accessories and Shoes.. So go get your Shop on HERE and like them on Facebook HERE. This post does not touch on my Brooks Shoes obsession, more about that soon..

**I have been sent free gear from Brooks to review on my blog I am not compensated for my opinion and all thoughts are my own.

Where is the World is Tall Mom?

Answer is PANAMA....

I am not jazzed about Panama City. I respect the culture and all they are doing to improve, but the traffic, construction noise and brown water from the canal dredging are a bit off-putting.. Once we got out of the city to the wide blue ocean and green jungle I was mesmerized by the beauty.

My only workout to speak of was climbing the 100++ steps of this tower to see the view above the jungle..
I found Heaven on Earth!!! So beautiful the pictures do not capture the epic beauty..
I should have asked the man who "owned" the island how much for these shells?
I love the old and new in the same photo...

I am on to a new destination tomorrow early AM, I HOPE to get in a few miles there and most likely will not have time to blog again until I get home...

I am in HOT HOT Land while Muscle Man, the Little Studs and all RUNNING in the Pacific Northwest are covered in a blanket of snow :)

Wow do I miss this little face... and my house full of boys...

• Have you ever run in a country other than your own? Leave a comment and tell us all about the experience.