Even before I became a runner, running was a part of my family’s life. I can remember early Sunday mornings when my dad would return home from his weekend 12-mile run. My sisters’ and I would greet him with a tall glass of iced tea. We would stand back and wait for him to finish the glass in one gulp, and then give us the “Lipton Iced Tea, ‘Ahhhhhh!'” To me, that “Ah” was the reward for hard work.
When I think about all the years of running I’ve logged, I realize there have been different seasons in my life that have allowed for various levels of effort. Through it all, though, there has been a certain satisfaction that is the natural result of hard work. After I got married and we had our first two children, I enjoyed racing and pushing myself. I had the benefit of youth on my side (although I know I didn’t truly appreciate it then), and could run a lot of miles pushing a baby jogger. Running mostly 10Ks, I was able to train hard and I even squeezed out a sub 40-minute 10K for a personal best. I would often meet a friend of mine, Greg, at a track near the hospital where he worked, to do interval training. I recall one workout he named “Zeus” after doing it with a man that was more like a Greek god than a human! Those days I could manage tough workouts without feeling totally zapped of my energy the rest of the day. [Read more…]
My five-year old and I came up with this quick chicken salad recipe by adding whatever veggies I had available to a rotisserie chicken. I usually don’t buy this kind of chicken because, with a big family, it never seems to be enough (except Costco has large ones). However, we made it work! You can use plenty of other kinds of veggies.
So much for best laid plans! When the alarm sounded off in my ear this morning, there was no way I was getting out of bed. Even a second blaring of the alarm 10 minutes later was not going to arouse me. When I set the alarm last night, it was 10 pm. That was right before Thomas, my 16 year old, asked for help with the second paragraph of the paper he was struggling to write. About two hours later I emerged from the bonus room (he was still furiously writing), only to remember the email I needed to send before I went to sleep. At about 12:45, I finally fell into bed. 
9 Kid Fitness was featured on WBT Radio’s “Health Headlines” show on Sunday, March 13, 2011! Listen to the 8-10 minute segment to hear Whitney (that’s me) interviewed by the “Bod Squad” (
To Exercise or to Sleep….that is the question!! We might as well face it: we can’t do it all. There are no “extra” hours in the day just waiting for us to use for sleep and exercise. I am often faced with the dilemma: sleep or workout? Now in my 40’s, I face this more than I did in my 20’s or 30’s, when it seemed “I could do it all”! I find that the answer has a lot to do with trying to keep balance in my life. We can usually sense when our bodies are sleep deprived. As a mother of nine, and with one child still under the age of two, I can honestly say that I have been sleep deprived for about 20 years! 
I can’t remember anything else on the list. Just #5.
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