Kidnapping

At the end of this summer I was stressed to the max, crunched for time, and even injured. Needless to say, my motivation to run has been at an all-time low. However, I've been on a mission to change that lately and I found a new trick: running partners!

I know everyone has suggested this before, and trust me I looked for someone to run with EVERYWHERE. There are no legit running clubs or events in the area to meet people or even relatively safe trails. None of my friends are into running and a few (like my BF) can't because of knee problems. My best friend broke her back, so I couldn't even drag her with me unless I want her turn into the hunchback of Stillwater,Oklahoma.

My mom has always been the one to run races with me, and it is always fun running with her. However we don't live close, so our running partnership is limited to races I force her to run. (It's awesome being my friend/relative.)

Our hail/rain-filled half marathon

But a week ago I had an epiphany: I have a sister! My poor munchkin....

This is her first semester in college (and my last!) so she's finally close enough for me to kidnap and drag to a treadmill so that I can wheeze my way through a semi-tolerable run. AND she doesn't really believe me that I'm actually forcing her to do this, but she's running the warrior dash with me in a month! I imagine it will go something like this:

Or not...

QOTD:
Do you kidnap/torture friends with your running stuff? Frequently. 


Have you ever done a warrior dash? If so, how bad is Munchkin going to hate me after? No, but I'm pumped to try one out and I'm hoping she will at least talk to me after. 

I'm amazing!

Kayla at Running Through Life nominated me for the amazing blogger award, so I guess it's official now. I'm kind of amazing. :P

Here it goes:

Favorite character:

If you know me, you know I'm a big fan of all things disney. If I had to pick my favorite character I'd pick the little green aliens from Toy Story. I think I have a soft spot for these guys because of my last name (Roswell). 

Favorite thing to photograph:

Champ. That's an easy one.

Favorite thing to cook:

Sweets. I'm great at making stuff with chocolate especially, but I love making cake pops, brownies, cupcakes, and everything else sweet, delicious, and bad for you. 

I made these to celebrate FINALLY getting moved in

Favorite way to exercise:

I bet you'd never guess this one but Running! 

Favorite movie:

Do I have to pick??? Pretty much any Disney or Pixar movie, Star Wars (it comes with being a computer science major), Mrs. Doubtfire, The Princess Bride, and the Goonies. Mikey=my on screen wheezy hero. 

Favorite article of clothing/store:

I definitely dress for comfort more than style, so honestly my favorite article of clothing is my shirts I stole from my BF. Big, comfy, and reminds me of him. Second place goes to oversize sweatshirts, and sweaters with leggings. 

Exhibit A in the oversize sweatshirt department

Favorite flower:

Tulips! Especially yellow ones.

and my bf knows it too :)

Favorite breakfast:

A cheese omelet. You can't go wrong with a yummy omelet. 

Favorite book:

Too many to list. I usually answer with Harry Potter, just because they are the books that got me to fall in love with reading. I read a mix of classics, teen books (when I'm listening to audiobooks on the treadmill), romance, fiction, non-fiction, and thrillers. I'm not that into sci-fi or history. Currently I'm reading Born to Run and loving it. 

Favorite place to be:

It's a tie between on a sailboat at sea or Disney World. Both feel a lot like heaven. 

Here

or Here

Favorite sporting event:

I'm so not a sports fan at all, but I do like watching the swim events on the summer Olympics. 

At this point, I'm pretty sure everyone has been nominated all ready! If you haven't, consider yourself amazing and write up a post and I'll share the link here. 

QOTD:

What are some of your favorites things? 

Theres no place like the blogosphere

Blog world, I missed you!

I am so sorry I've been gone so long, but I have been incredibly busy and with nothing very exciting or running-related to share. However, I'm back and ready to blog like a mad woman. Here's what you missed while I was gone:

1) I had my last day at work, so hopefully I will kiss my crazy lifeguard tan lines goodbye. This was my last summer of "kid jobs", so I may miss that, but not the craziness of the patrons that visit our pool. On my last week we had to call the police. Twice. And I had to save a child still in diapers because her mom decided she was old enough to not need supervision near the dive well. We keep it classy in Oklahoma.

2) Speaking of Oklahoma, we've had a lot of fires and a lot of smoke. I've spent the last two weeks sick and hacking up forest fire smoke. Yuck.

3) I moved. A lot. I moved out of my parents house for good, helped them load our giant house into a moving van and then unload and unpack into a smaller house,and also moved my stuff completely into my new apartment. Whew! Great workout though!





4) I tried decorating. I fail at life when it comes to all the "girly" skills like decorating, dressing like I'm not a hobo, and cooking (with the exception of high calorie desserts and Mac n cheese). So I stole ideas off of my friends blogs to help out.




I stole this bib display idea from one crazy penguin.





And a wall art idea from my real-life BFF court at the crafting queen.







5) Champ moved in. My puppy champ lived with his dad, my bf cam, but now I'm back to school and were going to be in different towns this semester. So Champ will be living with me. It'll definitely be an adjustment, but I'm so happy to have him here, especially since his dad won't be all here time :(





6) I got nominated for the amazing blogger award by Kayla over at Running through Life! Woohoo! I'll do that post soon!

QOTD:
What have you been up to lately?
Boring stuff as you can tell.

Are you any good at "girly" skills? If so what's your best "girly" talent?
Like I said, I'm pretty awful, with the exception of desserts. I love to make yummy treats! And unfortunately eat too many of them....

Required Laziness

Ever since I can remember I've had ankle/foot issues in my left foot. At some point, when I was young, I either tore or seriously damaged my peroneal tendon. The tendon isn't that crucial, it holds your foot upright. Here's a pic of my feet relaxed. The one on the right is what your foot should look like when your feet and legs are relaxed. The one on the left is what your foot looks like with a damaged peroneal tendon.

Please ignore the awful tan lines!!

The only time it causes serious issues for me, is while I'm using the stairs or doing lunges and even then it is rare. It also affects my foot a little, because I have plantar fasciitis in that foot which we think is caused in some way by the tendon issue. So normally, it really doesn't affect me much at all. 

However, when I added in some strength training in the form of 30 day shred, I added in more weight-bearing lunges. When I use perfect form, lunges don't bother me almost ever. But when JM is kicking you're butt, it's a little difficult to use good form. Needless to say, I woke up Friday morning with pain and a seriously swollen ankle. I took a few days to rest and ice/heat my ankle so that it's in good shape.

Luckily I'm now back to feeling normal, and can go back to working out! About 2 weeks ago, I could barely get myself out to the gym. Now, it's really hard to miss a workout. It's funny how motivation can change so fast! I've been using the time off to pack my life into boxes for the big move and get organized at work.

QOTD: Have you ever had any injuries? How did you deal?