Today I stumbled upon the website www.akwardfamilyphotos.com .  Pure gold.  And I just felt the strong need to share some of these gems with y’all =)

i would love to know why he has that hammer

ummmm...scary.

interesting choice of bed time story

apparently mommy spent a little bit too much time with sunless tanning...

notice the scratched out momma

yeah.

nothing says love like a cat skeleton

no caption needed.

honestly...is this legal?

i believe he may have been the understudy.

As runner’s we are stubborn.  Obsessive and stubborn.  As in we want to run.  We don’t want to cross train, cycle, spin, swim, or any of the other things that should be done to keep our bodies in motion.  But the truth is running everyday is just not good for you.  It doesn’t let the muscles repair themselves and leads to little things called injuries.  We know this…but it is still so much easier to go for a run then do all that other stuff.  This constant running has led to some super tight hamstrings.  Having been a dancer for quite some time, I’m used to being flexible.  I was never naturally very flexible in hamstrings but with years of work, they were much more nimble.

Not anymore.  Apparently the motion of running causes a lot of shortening of the hamstrings and not a lot of stretching of them.  And because I’ve been so preoccupied with the ITB I haven’t been giving the backs of my legs the attention they need and deserve.  So today I decided it was time to bring yoga back into my life.  You may recall that I tried Bikram yoga a while back.  I left feeling strong but the 90 mins of class were not so fun.  It was 105 degrees and left me feeling pretty nauseous.  And because it is so hot, my whole body was so sweaty I had a very hard time holding the poses since my limps kept slipping off of each other.  Oh, and it was EXPENSIVE!  So I decided to try out a different form of yoga this time.

I looked into the different forms of yoga the gym I already belong to offers and decided Power Yoga sounded good.

“A challenging yoga class that draws from Flow yoga and Vinyasa to create a total body workout that sculpts, tones and increases flexibility. Int. – Adv.”

Challenging?  Yes.  Yes it was.  Fabulous?  Yes.  Yes it was.  Let’s just say my body was shaking (muscles were firing in all sorts of fun ways) and I was in all sorts of positions I didn’t know my body could contort itself into.  Let’s just say the “bird of paradise position” was interesting.

you start on the floor with your hands locked under your leg and actually stand up like that. hey at least I didn't fall over.

Although I was pretty impressed that I was able to handle the crow pose.

I was particularly fond of the meditation afterward ; ).  But all in all I really enjoyed it and hope to be able to incorporate this more into my cross training.  My hamstrings will thank me.  And I think I’ll drag J along next time so we can master this little gem.

i was kidding by the way.

Totally random but does it annoy anyone else when they replace the front cover of a book with the movie poster or a picture of the movie made after the book (which is never as good)?  I always feel like the front cover art work or photography is many times what draws me to check out a book and when I see the picture of a random celebrity, it just doesn’t have that same feel to it.  It just seems like a publicity stunt for Hollywood.  For example today I saw a copy of Aron Ralston’s book “Between a Rock and a Hard Place”.  The cover, when I first read it a few years ago looked like this.

And now that the movie “127 Hours” about Aron’s accident and fight for life (based on the book) is out, the book looks like this.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love me some James Franco.  And I loved the movie.  But it doesn’t make any sense to me.  Not only did they actually change the name of the book (they added in that 127 Hours part) to reflect the movie title, but they took the real picture of Aron, the hero and author of the story, off and replaced it with a picture of the actor who portrays him in the movie.  I don’t know…the second one just looks too commercial to me and no where near as intriguing and authentic as the first.  Great DVD cover?  yes.  Book cover?  not so much.

I feel the same way with the Twilight series.  I read them before they were movies and although strange, there was something interesting and peculiar about the red and black, single object covers.  Now they are covered with pictures of the actors from the movies.  Boring.  Nicolas Sparks’ covers pretty much all meet this same fate as well.  ”The Last Song” went from being a painting of a beach with foot prints left behind to a picture of…Miley Cyrus.  No thanks.  I haven’t read the book or seen the movie but it is now ruined for me because if I read it, I would constantly picture the main character as Miley considering she is on the cover as a constant reminder, and that would be just plain annoying.

“The Notebook” is a good example because I’m not biased like I am against Miley Cyrus.  ”The Notebook” is one of my favorite movies and books and I actually really love Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling…and the latest cover is of course one of my favorite scenes.

But I love the original cover.  I love the idea of putting the white wrap around porch on it (those who have read and/or seen “The Notebook” understand the significance”.

And sadly I think one of my other favorite books, “Water for Elephants”, will soon meet a similar fate.  When the move comes out I’m sure the lovely whimsical cover will go commercial with a picture of Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon with a big “Now a Major Motion Picture” stamp on it.  Oh well.  Does anyone share my same sentiment?

Anyway I’m off to read a bit more of my latest book…”The Long Run” by Matt Long.  GREAT book for any endurance athlete or anyone who enjoys a good survival, motivation, pull through and come out stronger story.

Aside from my little Princess Peanut and Pumpkin Headed Bug there are three little children who I happen to think are perfectly adorable and hilarious.  As if you had to guess, those kids are T’s little Dizzle, Doodle, and Dilly.  So when I saw this video on her post today I had to share.  If you haven’t checked out T’s recap of their family trip to Disney you definitely should cuz her little ones are so stinkin cute but here is my favorite part.  T and her husband J surprising the kids getting them to guess where they are headed.

In case you were wondering…yes, Dizzle did in fact say “Katye’s house?”  As in my house.  I love ya Dizzle…now I really need to go visit again soon.  And as much as my house is…I think Disney is slightly more fun.  Aren’t those kids adorable?

Today I got a really awesome after Christmas present when I found out I won Kim’s Ifitness giveaway!  Woohoo!  Which reminded me that I never picked a winner this week for the raffle!  OOPS! Okay sooooo let me take a quick trip to random.org

Alright according to random.org, this week’s winner is:

Melissa aka Crazy or Determined!

Congrats Melissa!  E-mail me with your prize selection!  And for all your winners who haven’t received your prizes yet…they are labeled and ready to go out tomorrow!

I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday!

Wishing everyone of you a wonderful healthy and love filled Holiday!  No matter what you celebrate, I hope your Holiday seasons has been fun filled and safe!  I hope you are living life to the absolute fullest and enjoying every second!  I have been reflecting more and more lately about how great it is to have a God who gave His only son for us…and who has blessed me with such wonderful people in my life including you all!

There are still 10 minutes left before it is Friday so I still have time for a quick 3 Things Thursday!

1. I’ve given up on the post office.  I’ve tried going 4 times in the past week and they actually have a sign saying estimated wait time (like at Disney).  Every time the sign has said 45 mins or higher.  So some people will be getting late Christmas presents (sorry T, I swear I’ll have your stuff out to you soon!).  Its so annoying because I used to just print postage online and put it in the mailbox but now you can’t mail anything over 13oz without dropping it at the Post Office.  Ugh.  Oh and I’m still not done wrapping presents.
2. Already got a lot of “registries” for the Virtual 12K of Christmas.  If you haven’t signed up yet, what are you waiting for???
3. I did that that “Top Words of 2010″ thing on facebook (it gives you your 10 most used words from your facebook statuses in 2010) and I’d say my results are fitting.

Okay the post before this gave a few details about my Virtual Holiday race, the 12K of Christmas.  So here’s the details.

• What: Run, walk, bike, elliptical or whatever you want to do just cover 12K (7.46 miles) wherever and however you like.
• When: Anytime between now and New Year’s day!  You do not have to complete the entire thing at one time if 7 miles seems a bit reaching for you.  Just log the miles over the days however you feel comfortable.
• Where: Anywhere you like =).  Treadmills and indoor bikers are welcome
• Who: ANYONE who wants to join!  A number of you already emailed me and told me you were interested =).  You don’t need a blog, just an e-mail address.
• Why: Why not?  I love virtual races.  Gives me a chance to “race” with many of you I have never met! 
• Cost: Free!  But make up your race fee by paying it forward however you like!  Do something nice for someone, help a family member with a chore you hate, help wrap someones presents, or donate to ANY charity you feel passionately about.  However you want, just do something to make a difference in someone’s life.

How to register: I know some of you already e-mail me which is awesome!  But everyone (even if you already e-mailed me) shoot me an e-mail at KatyeRunninAround@gmail.com with the following details with the subject 12K

1. Your name
2. Your blog (if you have one)
3. Name and number you would like on your bib
4. How are you going to pay it forward?  At the end I will compile a list of all the people and places that benefitted from you all so tell me what you are doing or what charity you are donating to (I don’t need to know the amount). 

Once you have completed your 12K shoot me a second email with the subject “Results” with the following details:

1. What did you do?  Did you walk, run, bike, etc.
2. How did it go?  You can either tell me your time or how you felt during the “race”
3. When did you do your race?
4. A picture!  If you so chose dress up for your race!  Send me a picture of your stunner outfit.  There will be a prize for best outfit!

And I think that is about it!  Any questions?  Just let me know.  Oh and pull the family and friends into it as well!  I will start sending out the bibs tonight and will have a big post of all the results after the new year!  Oh and in addition to the best dressed prize…there will be one for a randomly chosen participant.  I will announce the prizes tomorrow. =)

So last night I had a dream that I ran a race called the 12K of Christmas (well I also had a dream that I decided to take a spin class and fell off the bike but that’s besides the point)  Um what a cool idea?  Why don’t we have one of those around here?  So I decided why not have a virtual option?  I will be back with details in a few hours but just a heads up, I will be hosting a virtual 12k of Christmas (that is roughly 7.46 miles).  You can run it, walk it, bike it, swim it (although  you would be clinically insane if you did that) whatever you like.  You don’t need a blog to enter, just an e-maill address.  I will send all participants a personalized bib and there will be a random prize for one of the participants.  By random I don’t mean the actual prize will be random.  I mean the winner will be randomly picked.  And there will be a prize for best race outfit.  So check back soon for all the gory details but if you know you are interest go ahead and email me and KatyeRunninAround@gmail.com to “register”.  You can complete your race anytime between today and New Year’s Day. 

Oh hey…remember me?  Sorry I have been absent from the blog world all weekend.  It was been hectic (in a very fun way) but didn’t leave much room for computer time.  So as you know we had the Celtic Solstice 5 Miler on Saturday.  It was so much fun!  My dad and I left plenty early (7am for a 8:30 start) to make sure we got decent parking and had time to get out chips and everything.  Once we got there…it was cold.  But not too terrible and they had a big tent set up with food and chip pick up and it was a bit warmer in there.  It was fun seeing a bunch of friends there!  There were a few of my 5K training group participants and I got to chat with there for a bit.  I think it is is great that back in August most of them were nervous have being able to finish a 5K but they have stuck with running and just killed a 5 Miler!  Great job group!  And I think it talks to my coaching abilities that they keep coming back for more right? ; )

pre race

I then found a bunch of TNT friends and chatted with them for a bit.  Erin was supposed to be there and I was texting back and forth with her…she had parked at a shuttle lot and was still stuck on the shuttle.  But luckily we found her as we were waiting by the start area.  Of course pictures of us in our adorable skirt were in order.  Because my camera pictures turned out really weird and too bright I stole these from Heather and Erin =)

Tall, Medium, Small =) me, Erin, and Heather rocking our "kilts"

Erin and Katye the Elf ("What's your favorite color?")

Heather and Pat (walk/run coach extraordinaire)

Needless to say…we had a blast.  I ran the majority of the 5 miles with my dad.  The course was a great one.  Nice gentle rolling hills around the Park, behind the zoo, and around Lake Montebello (which was quite pretty in the snow).

part of the lake

The first mile or so was nothing but weaving.  This is a race that most people just come to do for fun and one where if you have any thought of wanting to actually race, you need to get to the very front of the start or its not happening.  It was fine with me because it foreced me to keep the first mile at an 11 min pace.  Yes it felt weird to be running my long run pace at a race but I was trying to keep my pace slow so the next day would still feel good.  After that we picked it up a bit and stuck between 9:30 and 10 min miles and really enjoyed everything around.  Around 4.25 I could tell my Dad wanted to pull ahead a bit but I was keeping it slower.  Had 20 miles to run the next day.  So I told him to go ahead.  I kept him in eye site but it was really fun to run most of the race with my dad.  I started the whole running journey and now a little over a year later it is still just as great to run with him.

The race ended with a nice little downhill finish.  I saw my dad at the end…he finished in 47 something I finished in 48 something which I was happy with.  I actually went a bit faster than I would have liked but I felt good.  He grabbed some food and turned around to watch everyone finish.  Its always fun to cheer friends on at the end!

I got to see Erin and Liz finish (I swear Liz is in a picture but I can’t find one!).  But it was way too cold to stick around.  The weather felt great while running…but once I stopped…I got cold fast.  All in all I had a great time.  It was a great course and I will definitely run this course again.  And of course I looked cute! =)