Flabby Farmwife Trains For 5K: Ten Days Left Until The Big Day!

Greetings from the land of temperature swings,


mood swings,

auger swings

and yard swings.

Just as fall was cooling down, it heated back up to 90 degrees, and then back to the 30's again.  We've begun harvest, and with a strange twist of events, the corn was ready before the soybeans. The combines and grain cart are rolling (except for some breakdowns) and the kids are enjoying these last few weeks with no snow and bitter wind so the swing set in the backyard has been as busy as ever.

This also means is that I am having to re-balance my entire schedule (and life in general) to accommodate harvest and had to figure out some new ways to squeeze in running.

However, I am STILL running!  I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself for having stuck with any sort of athletic activity consistently for over a month.  This is a new record for me.

I set another new record last week too.

I forgot my phone when I went into the YMCA.  Which meant no Couch to 5K app.

So I winged it, and decided to push myself to run/walk a whole 5K (3.1 miles) just had to see if I could do it.

By golly, I DID IT!!! It took me 47 minutes, but I DID IT!

So for the next week, I'm going to "just keep running" (as I'm sure "Dory" would tell me)...



And I'm going to keep fueling up with delicious and nutritious beef...



(I didn't make this salad, some great folks at a restaurant did, but boy was it GOOD!)

 

 

 

My family likes this new exercise routine so much, even the farm cats want to go running :)

Looking forward to seeing some old friends and making some new ones on October 6th at the Beefin' It Up- Fuel For the Finish 5K!

 



 

Thanks for stopping by! - Sarah :)

Our Farm is #WorthTheFight

I love agriculture with every cell in my body.  It is not just a vocation, but a calling.



(Photo by www.janiceperson.com )
Our children are the FIFTH generation on our farm.

Living and working on a farm is the best way I know how to raise a family, but it seems like more and more these days there are forces working against us.

From over-regulation, to misguided legislation, to activists with too much time and money on their hands, to ever-thinning profit margins, the challenges in farming today are many

However, like this awesome new tune called "Worth The Fight" by the band The Departed says (listen here), I'm going to keep "kicking and swinging".

Stand back folks, I've got my big girl gloves on...

 

because this life and our farm are worth the fight!

I don't do this for myself.  Believe me, it would be much easier to sit back, do things like they've always been done, and be apathetic to the threats to agriculture around the world. I'd get a lot more sleep and my house would be much cleaner (...maybe).

Instead, I have chosen to invest my time and efforts and fight for the legacy left by those that went before me.

Jeremy's Grandpa W.C. "Bill" Wilson, just after graduating from high school.

And for the opportunities for those that may choose to follow in my footsteps.

Hoping to inspire some future farmers :)

Check out these posts from my friends in agriculture that think it's #worththefight too!

Props to "Dairy Carrie" for putting this little campaign together:

http://dairycarrie.com/2012/09/11/worth-the-fight-worththefight/

My friend "just down the road" (about 60 miles), Val Wagner:

http://wagfarms.com/2012/09/11/worth-fighting-for/

The man behind "I am Agriculture Proud", Ryan Goodman

http://agricultureproud.com/2012/09/11/love-for-agriculture-and-red-dirt-music-worththefight/

A recent visitor to our farm, Janice Person
http://janiceperson.com/food/gotta-keep-movin-far-from-easy-but-worththefight/

and there are many others so check out the Twitter hashtag #worththefight !

THANKS for stopping by and I hope you'll join me in the fight for the right to feed, clothe, and fuel our world.

Step 1: If you are a North Dakotan, Vote YES for Measure 3, www.ndfeedingfamilies.com

Sarah :)

Flabby Farmwife Trains for 5K: What week am I on?

Hi everyone!

It's me, the Flabby Farmwife. When a friend recently asked me for an update I realized I've been neglecting this series of blog posts so badly that I can't even remember what week of training I'm on...

I started with Week 1:

http://farmeronamission.blogspot.com/2012/08/flabby-farmwife-trains-for-5k-week-1.html

Then blogged about weeks 2 and 3:

http://farmeronamission.blogspot.com/2012/08/flabby-farmwife-trains-for-5k-weeks-2-3.html

And now, I'm so far behind on blogging that I've lost count, so I'm just going to work backwards from the BIG DAY that's coming up.  October 6th is the Beefin it up: Fuel for the finish 5K hosted by the North Dakota Cattlewomen.

There are only four and a half weeks left now!

Here's a little of what I've learned as I've been training:

1. Life happens.  Sometimes A LOT of life happens.  Whatever happens, I will not quit.  I made a promise to my friend, Mrs. D, who has been losing sleep and working hard to prepare for this race as well, and I intend to keep it.

2. It hurts much worse to skip a few days then it does to drag myself out of bed and be consistent with running. Mixing things up helps too. Sometimes I run. Sometimes I bike. Sometimes I have "help" :)

 

 Sometimes I attempt to awkwardly run while pushing a double-stroller, in case my middle "helper" gets tired and needs me to haul her and the princess bike home :)

3. Here in Jamestown, North Dakota we have a wonderful paved path along the reservoir. It has breathtaking views.

 

4. I don't listen to music when I'm running. I use my running time to pray and ask God for strength. More times than not, after a half an hour of pouring all my worries out to the Lord, I end up praying something like "Okay God, you know all that I need and you know all the people that need you, just please be with them all", so consider yourself prayed for.

5. Sometimes, if you just focus on putting one foot in front of the other, you'll go faster and farther than you had expected.  THAT is a nice surprise :)

6. I discovered that my joints ache after I run for a while on the paved path, so I like to run in the grass along the path.

7. Some people let their dogs "do their business" on the grass along the paved path and do not pick it up. This is NOT COOL.

8. My husband knows every inch of our farm. I knew the farm I grew up on like this too, but I didn't grow up here, so I was delighted to find a field road between our place and the neighbor's that is a long, straight road that is currently protected from the wind by corn. It is one of the most peaceful places to run on earth.  Sometimes "Oakley", our official farm mascot comes along.

9. I bought one pair of new running shoes.  Then I realized they'd get wrecked if I wore them to run on the farm. So I had to buy another pair to preserve my good ones I wear to the gym. Two new pairs of shoes in the same month. This is a personal record.

 

10.  After training while pushing a stroller containing my hunk of a baby boy, running all by my myself seems easy.

11. I am still alive.  I have walked/run many miles now and I have not keeled over. This will probably continue to surprise me :)

12. I'm not quite as flabby as when I started this thing. Slowly but surely, my body is beginning to transform.  Still can't fit in the pre-third-baby pants, but I'm not nearly as Jello-like as I was a few months ago!

Hope to see many who read this in Mandan on October 6th!

Thanks for stopping by and remember to fuel up with dairy and beef products!
Sarah :)