Attention, Center Of

DISLCAIMER: I wrote the following blog a couple of nights ago, then I heard that certain races DO NOT allow strollers. I have now verified that the NIKE Women's race DOES NOT allow strollers, so I am not actually going to do it, and I am definitely not sending a fund raising request letter to Phil and Ted's now! Boo. :(
But, Brad and I are going to concentrate on getting pregnant, then will plan on doing the Honolulu Marathon in December of 2011 (hopefully after baby number three has given us a few months to train)! :)

If you really know me, or even kind of know me, you have realized by now that I like attention. I really like positive attention, but every now and then I will revert to toddler mode and seek attention even if it is negative attention. I have been known to make an idiot of myself for laughs, and worse. I talk too much, too loudly, and I interrupt like I think what I have to say is more important than what you were saying. I like Brad's theory that this is a product of having four older sisters, and needing to be loud and interrupt if I ever wanted to be heard when I was growing up. Unfortunately I haven't outgrown this, and I'm pretty sure it is a permanent trait of my personality. I am aware that I do things like this, but I am not always aware of it while I am doing it. So, I'm sorry for that. It is just another way for me to subconsciously put myself in the spotlight, even if it makes me look bad. Of course there are also times when I consciously and deliberately put myself at the center of attention...

I love Karaoke, but not the kind in which you rent a room and sing with your friends. No. I have to be up on a stage, or in the front of a room, surrounded by strangers that might or might not want to listen to my mediocre (at best) singing talents.

I love dancing, and have been known to bust out old cheerleading routines in bars (yes, I believe it happened more than once) when "Heartbreaker" by Pat Benetar comes on. Some people think it is totally inappropriate (they'd be correct), but some people think it is hilarious (they'd also be correct). I do it for both kinds of people, and I must admit that sometimes I think I'm hilarious, and sometimes I think I'm inappropriate. I am not biased in my self criticism of my attention seeking.

Anyway, I have been getting a lot of positive attention from strangers lately. When people see me with all the kids, at the mall, doctor's office, post office, zoo, etc....they are so impressed that they actually come up to me and tell me! I'm always like, "It's not that hard". Whether they say, "Wow, you are nuts. How do you do it?" or, "You sure have your hands full!" I just like that strangers have actually noticed me enough to come up to me and say something. I have never heard, "Wow, you sure have your hands full," with a negative connotation. It's not like anyone has acted like me being in their presence with so many little ones was an inconvenience or even annoying. Even that time Parker climbed all over this nice old man while we waited 20 minutes for a table at IHOP. The old man complimented me and told me how great he thought all the kids were! It makes me feel all good inside, and DUH I love the extra attention. I have to admit that I like it so much...I go looking for it now. Why would I wait for Amanda to pick up the boys and for Brad to come home from work so that I can go grocery shopping alone, when I could load up all the kids after naps, and get praise from strangers for doing something that is relatively easy for me? It's so nice to get positive reinforcement for doing something that I was going to do anyway! Plus the line is shorter at the commissary in the early afternoon than it is in the evening! :)

Sunday morning, while I was running a half marathon with the double stroller stroller, I got tons of positive attention! There were so many people that we ran by, or that ran by us, who shouted, "Go mom!" or, "Great job mama!" or, "Wow, there are two kids in there? Great job!" It was so motivating! I wanted to run faster and show them all what I really had! I wasn't the only stroller there, but I was one of very few, and I'm pretty sure there was only one other woman who pushed a double stroller the whole way by herself,and she finished like 20 minutes before we did, so I'm sure she had done this before. I hadn't done this before, and I wasn't planning on doing it again...but my mind has officially been changed. It just felt too good, physically and emotionally, to not do it again.

So, I have officially signed up with Team In Training and started a fund raising page for the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco on October 17, 2010. I know that there will likely be tons of women there running with strollers, but I know it will still feel great! This event will have 20,000+ runners (compared to <900 at the Hibiscus Half). My fund raising goal is going to be $1500! Yikes. I know that my requests for money from friends and family will be met with both positive and negative attention, and perhaps NO attention. But, I'm not going to let that stop me. I'm going to try to get creative with my fund raising instead of just begging on facebook for the next four months. I already wrote a letter to the company that makes my stroller, asking them to unofficially sponsor me because I'm pretty sure I sold a couple of strollers for them at the race on Sunday.

I love how it feels to have people pay attention to me. I love it more when it is for positive reasons, and when a worthy cause can benefit from what I'm doing. Yay! I know that sounds a little selfish because there are so many better reasons (than to get attention) to train/run with Team In Training. I can't believe that I'm going to do this, but I'm going to quote Anne Curry's failed Wheaton College commencement speech. "I have learned that doing good for others is actually the most selfish thing you could possibly do because I promise you, it will make you happy." Dude, she's right!

As for training with the lovely lady featured in my previous post? Eh. I'm not going to let one negative comment overshadow all the nice and complimentary things that people have been telling me! I'll give her another chance. Perhaps she'll like me better now that I am doing this! I feel great about me! Thanks to all of you who have built me up with your kind and complimentary comments!