Happy New Year!

We started a tradition a few years ago, mostly because I was lazy and didn't feel like cooking, lol. But the kids love it so we continue it :). I cut up some meat and cheese, put some mandarin oranges, maybe some pineapple, crackers, just little things we can spear with toothpicks and eat. The kids have a great time every year, clean up is easy, and I win the cool mom award (even if it's only for an hour or so :P)

The table all fancied up with the "nice" glasses too! hehe

A close up of the spread, go me!

May the New Year bring much happiness and love to you all. May we all have the strength and determination to give ourselves what we deserve. ((hugs))

Merry Christmas

Nothing says Christmas in Utah like snow.

Or mini mittens and socks for the tree, aww :)



It's snowing hard out there today, crazy. I was planning on a library trip but I think we'll wait until tomorrow ;). Fine by me, I can knit more cute ornaments, each takes about an hour which makes me feel like a super power knitter, lol.

I would like to wish each of you a Merry Christmas.

So proud!

LittleMan was behind in reading when he started 1st grade, he didn't know most of his letters or their sounds. When we homeschooled he had begun reading but lost a lot of it over the summer when I let him just work on math, since he loves math! Anyway, we just got his report card, he is officially on grade level now, woohoo! His reading resource teacher works with him daily and he practices at home daily as well. His confidence has grown and he catches himself reading without realizing it, so fun!!

I'm proud of you big guy :)

M is on the left, he is pretending to be missing a finger (I think he needs to work on that trick, hehe), cousin W in the back as Spiderman and LittleMan as a fire fighter.

Angry!!

I am so angry and frustrated and mad and pissed off!! Ok, so they all mean basically the same thing, but since I don't swear I need to repeat myself, lol.

Anyway, my Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is $3,000 here in Utah and my insurance is required to pay that out, they go after the other drivers insurance for reimbursement. If the costs go over that I have to get a lawyer and fight the at fault drivers insurance. Well, I was informed that I've run out of my PIP and now I have to go through my health insurance ($40 copay) or get a lawyer.

The accident was not my fault, but the whole thing has been this huge hassle and now I get to add more to it. I'm just MAD!! gah!

Choices

LittleMan is sick, he is 6 years old, too young to stay home alone. But I have school too, is he sick enough he shouldn't go? Well enough he can walk about a mile each way to my class (yes, it's that far literally)? Me staying home isn't ideal either, only a few more weeks of school, finals are coming.

It's time like these that I second guess my decision to go back to school, I'm sure I'll have times like these when I go back to work too. Parenting, isn't it fun?

p.s. yes I love being a mom, just being a bit grouchy this morning, we'll figure out what to do.

Edited: I took him with me, he got winded pretty easily this morning but by this afternoon he is feeling a lot better. Though now he wants to go to school with me again tomorrow, lol. Thanks for the support girls, you are the best!

I am such a dork!

I was taking a quick shower this morning, our water heater runs out of water really quickly, and started running out of hot water. I decided to try and rinse the conditioner out of my hair while I shaved my legs. Well, I only did the back! I forgot to rinse the front, lol. I was rushing out the door to my chiropractor appointment when I realized my mistake.

Oops.

Yeah, so I went anyway, luckily for me, I didn't put much on the front so it wasn't too noticeable, or is that lucky? ;)

"School" pictures

I decided not to purchase school pictures this year, I knew they wouldn't turn out and they are freaking expensive. But I have been harassed by my mom, Aunt, Grandma's, and MIL about new pictures of the kids, so we decided to head up the canyon and take some pictures on our own. (and, no, the school pictures didn't turn out, hehe)

I need help deciding which ones to print for wallets and then 3 x 5 or 4 x 6's for the Grandma's.

#1 (incidentally, when did she get so grown up?)



#2
#1
#2 (yes, we'll crop out annoying man that refused to move so I could take this picture)
#1, this one has more shadow that I remember :S, so I don't think it's even in the running but here it is anyway :)

#2
#3

Yes, they are much better quality than it appears here and we'll crop the photos too. Maybe I should beg one of my sisters to come out and take pictures, they are much better than me.

Pictures

Ready for my scary pictures? Well, if not then don't look because here they are, lol.

Just laughing at a man in front of me trying to get his shirt back over his head, he had it behind his neck so the shirt wouldn't rub his nipples any more (they were bleeding, eww and ouch!). He had his race number on his shirt and the photographer wouldn't be able to identify him without the number, lol.



Texting my Hunny and my Aunt, it was cold, I was wet, tired, miserable and needed the encouragement. This was around mile 18.

I look dumb, but I was so surprised at the muscle definition so I had to show it off, lol. This is almost at the finish line.

Woohoo, exhausted, cold, and my legs didn't really work anymore. But I did it :)

St. George marathon race report

Sorry for the long and rambling report, I promise I edited it to shorten it and this is the best I could do :P. I will post pictures as I get them. And thanks to all of you that have supported me, I definitely needed it and thought of each of you while I was out there.

I obsessed with the weather up until Friday morning, I was so busy preparing for the trip and our mini vacation afterward that I forgot to check the weather one more time. I was prepared for a chance of rain and some cooler temps but not prepared for what I got.

I knew I wouldn't sleep, so I decided to ride up on the early bus and just hang out and enjoy the experience. When I arrived in St. George is was pretty warm so I didn't put my pants on, I figured my legs would be warm enough. What a mistake that ended up being, I was freezing. The wind was really strong up at the start so we couldn't all huddle around the fires, you had to stand along the sides for quite a while. Then the rain began, luckily a sweet woman next to me had an extra mylar blanket so I used that until the volunteers started giving out trash bags.

I joined the 5 hour pace group since that was my original goal, but 15 minutes slower than my predicted time after Hobble Creek. I was worried since I missed so many runs due to my car accident and hip injury. The pace team leader was hilarious and I really looked forward to running with him, unfortunately he apparently decided to bank some time after hearing about Veyo (he was from New Jersey) the first mile was 11:23, just a tad fast (shooting for 11:27) but the next mile he started pulling ahead, I tried to hold my pace and I finished it in 10:57 oops, mile three the group was quite a bit ahead and I hit it in 10:27, at this point I knew I was on my own. I was cold and wet and not happy to running 23 more miles in this weather.

I'm thinking that maybe if I could run faster I wouldn't have frozen so much ;). By mile 11 I was really struggling with the cold, I was shivering and angry. I never thought about dropping out, I was just mad that I had to continue in this rain, hehe. I decided that I had to start using up my motivations early, I had planned the last 6 miles to run each one for a family member or friend that inspired me along the way. I chose my Uncle Jeff first since I wasn't really hurting, but mentally I was struggling, he died from complications of arthritis at the age of 52. He spent most of his life in excruciating pain and he always just tried to do his best and keep plugging along. Thinking of Jeff really helped me for the next several miles.

Mile 13 was a low point for me, I couldn't feel my fingers any more and I knew I hadn't even reached the hardest part of the race yet. I'm actually thinking that mile 13 was my "wall" because after that I knew I just needed one foot in front of the other. I did cry at the aid station, I couldn't open the stupid banana and I just cried, so embarassing now. One of the volunteers laughed and then caught herself and said "You can do it, sweetie, you are halfway there" I was mad at her for laughing at me, but it did give me something to think about, so that's good.

At mile 14 I took a picture of myself with my cellphone and text it to my husband, my Aunt and some friends hoping for some support. My husband and Aunt sent encouraging texts which really helped through the hard times. At mile 18 I started to hurt, my left knee was really complaining by then and my stomach was already complaining about the Gu. I think I sat in the porta potty here for 3 or 4 minutes, just to dry out for a little bit and to prepare for the continuing rain.

By mile 21 it was just a drizzle out, but I was so wet I didn't notice if it was raining or drizzling or dry, I didn't care anymore. I discovered that I liked carrying some toilet paper in my hand, I could have one dry spot on my body and that a big comfort to me. Strange how odd little things keep you going.

At the mile 25 aid station I saw a porta potty and decided to use it so I wouldn't have to worry about it at the end, lol. After the little potty break I decided that I would do no more walking or stopping and would finish as fast as I could, after many 12:45+ min miles I finished this one in 11:02 and the last .2 in a 10:15 pace. I saw my family standing on the side waiting for me and I began to cry, I'm sure the finishing photo is going to be flattering, ha.

The sweet volunteer handing out the metals was an older gentleman, reminded me of my Dad. I was crying by now and he gave me a big hug, told me he was so proud of me and that I worked really hard and should be proud of myself. I hobbled over to my family and gave them all hugs and cried some more. One downside to being slow is they run out of food sometimes, I got an ice cream but the only other thing available was melons and grapes, I don't like melons and people were just sticking their hands in the grapes, eww so I didn't get anything else to eat. I did get a coke to drink and we hobbled over to get my gear and the car.

I ended up using the porta potties 8 or 9 times during the race, my garmin has me running for 5 hrs 18 min, so I wasted a lot of time in the potties. I didn't drink more than normal, in fact I drank less than normal so I don't know why I had to go so often, that's something I'll have to work on next time. Yes, there will be a next time :)

I hate the cold, always have, so I doubt I'll be running any winter races after this :P

A quicky

I will post a long and rambling report later. I just wanted to let you all know that I made it :). It rained, a lot, it was windy from time to time. I froze. I cussed. I finished it.

5 hours and 40ish minutes.

About to freak out.

The marathon is in 4 days, or 3 days and 20 hours if you go by the countdown clock on the stgeorgemarathon.com website :P.

I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I'm just about over the cold that tried to suck out my soul over the weekend (yeah, I heard it's normal to get sick during the taper, but didn't my body know I like to not be normal? yeah.), I have a huge list of stuff to do before Friday morning so we can head down south for the race. I just bombed my math test, because I suck. And here I sit, about ready to have a panic attack rather than doing laundry or washing the kitchen floor, or even making my bed.

Me, anxious? why do you ask?

And here I am contemplating planning my next marathon for next May and I haven't even survived the first one yet, lol. I guess I like this near panic feeling :P.

Can I join the "real" mom club now?

That's right, I finally got my mini van, woot!And Stu thought we were going to get a little sporty car for our second vehicle, hee!

So happy, I sucked in my gut so you wouldn't see how I look pregnant next to my mom mobile, lol.
Yeah, haven't been running, cleaning, doing homework, much of anything except going to school and walking all over campus again and again. And again.

p.s. please ignore that I'm wearing socks with my sandals, I took my tennis shoes off and Stu wanted me to pose by the van so I slipped my sandals on quickly. I promise I didn't leave the yard like that ;).

Random Pictures

M at his birthday party, mmmm....cupcakes

The Comcast cable guy, no way could I do his job. High ladders and hanging on wires, no thanks.

L at the zoo on the carousel, too grownup!
LittleMan eating a snowcone, mmmm....snowcone.

Update

I didn't give a lot of information on my fender-bender after my race, so I thought I would throw that out here now. I was rear-ended at about 20-25 mph and I had just gone over a bridge so I was pointing down at an angle. Immediately after the impact my right hip started hurting, I forgot about it with the adrenalin and all that going on after the accident. The day after the race I realized my hip was still hurting, more than my very sore quads, not good.

Sunday I was able to rest for most of the day and Monday I resumed my regular schedule, with my hip hurting more and more. Tuesday I realized that I really wasn't walking normally and my muscles were feeling much better yet my hip still hurt quite a bit. I decided to see a Chiropractor the next day and he told me that I shouldn't run, walk for long periods or sit for more than 20 minutes. Crap! I felt quite a bit better after the adjustment so I decided that maybe I should find someone with more sports related experience.

I started running again yesterday, after 9 days of resting and it felt great! I did end up sore that night, but felt fine this morning for my run. I saw the new Chiropractor today and he said I should still run but if it hurt at all I needed to stop. He is going to watch me run on Monday and help me see if maybe my stride or shoes contributed to the injury and hopefully he can fix me fast enough to run the marathon.

So for now, I'm optimistic that it will still happen but also know that I may have to alter my plans and run a marathon in December or January.

All for now :)

Sweet!

I asked my friend to make a shirt for me to wear during marathon training and at races, to memorialize my Uncle's that have passed. All three of my Uncles have inspired me in different ways and I wanted that strength with me as I pushed myself harder than I ever have before.

And here it is :)


I looooOOOooovveee it :)

Hobble Creek Half Marathon race report part 2

This race starts at 7:30, which is way too late for August in Utah, but I guess the race directors have to do what they can to get everyone up to the start. It took a good 20 minutes to get up the canyon and buses started loading at 5:15 am. Cathleen (my friend that trained with me, this was her first half marathon, she rocks!) and I ran for about 1/2 mile or so for a warm up, it was pretty chilly up there. We stretched out and then chatted for a little while. We tried to get in the middle of the pack for the start, but it was pretty packed.

The "gun" goes off, it was a police siren sound, kind of weird but whatever. And we don't move, it took about a minute and 20 seconds to cross the line, dang it. Then it was so crowded that we couldn't get into a good groove until about 1.5 miles in :S. I started cramping almost immediately, in my abs, but toughed it out until the 3 mile aid station where I walked and drank water. I decided to start munching on sports beans to see if that would help, it really didn't :(. I was well hydrated and thought I ate well the days prior, so I don't know what was up.

After the mile 3 aid station I decided it was time to just push it as much as I could since this was supposed to be the best downhill part of the course. I passed many many runners through here, which was pretty motivating. My one complaint is the campfire smoke, it kind of just hangs out there in the canyon, but didn't last too long which was good.

I took a Gu at mile 7 or so with the Heed sports drink, man that stuff was gross! I forced myself to drink it because it was getting hot and I was still cramping! Luckily it calmed down just a bit so I could ignore it fairly well. There were quite a few hills through mile 10 or so, which was a surprise to me, no one said anything except for the hill around mile 10.5-11, though it is Utah I should have known ;).

At the mile 11.5 water station, the person in front of me stopped completely, so I had to do the same, I was never able to recover fully and my pace suffered :(. I had been following blue shorts girl for about 2 miles, her pace was pretty even, which was really helpful but I lost her here and had to settle for passing other people instead.

Now, before you all think I'm a big jerk, I was tired and had to pick any motivation that I could. I know people have different ailments and or philosophies when it comes to long distance running, so I don't fault her for what happened, I just used it as motivation. Ok, disclaimer done. There was a woman that was running with a friend and she kept peeing her pants, I passed them at mile 8.5 or so, not wanting to get splashed, it was that bad. But they caught me after the 11.5 aid station, I kept them close, as she went again! And at mile 13 I passed them one last time, I didn't want to be behind her in the photos, I know! I'm so mean.

I really wish I would have had someone to run with, I think I could have done even better, oh and the cramping didn't help either, I forgot to say that I had to stop and walk for about 20 seconds while I tried to stretch the cramp out, that was at mile 11 or so.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with my performance and I'm sure I'll give the race another chance, see if I can run more even splits. I usually remember a little more about the course than I do this time, I guess the fender bender knocked out some of my memory, hehe. Though this report is long enough, so I guess that's good that I don't remember.

Here are my splits, I lost my signal on my Garmin through the canyon, so my mile splits are off a bit.

Mile 1 - 10:25 very crowded at the start
Mile 2 - 10:10 still trying to get my groove
Mile 3 - 10:38 water stop and stretch the abs
Mile 4 - 9:42 nice downhill
Mile 5 - 9:56
Mile 6 - 9:42 found someone to pace with, but he drops back at the aid station :(
Mile 7 - 10:10 aid station and out onto the main road
Mile 8 - 10:11 mean hill
Mile 9 - 10:06
Mile 10 - 10:33 aid station
Mile 11 - 10:48 aid station and walk to stretch again
Mile 12 - 10:43 it's hot!
Mile 13 - 9:08 Garmin reads 12.92 miles, so this is a 9:56 pace

Per Garmin 2:12:16 :). Official results still aren't up yet, so I don't know the seconds, just 2:13:xx

I guess my thoughts that I can't hold a 9:xx mile for more than a mile are wrong, hehe.

Hobble Creek Half Marathon race report

I’m cheating, I’ll come back with a nice and juicy race report later, but for now I’m exhausted and lazy :P.

A goal 2 hrs 10 min. (in my dreams)
B goal 2 hrs 13 min. (only if it's as downhill as they claim)
C goal 2 hrs 15 min (this one is the one I thought I could do if I pushed hard)
D goal 2 hrs 20 min, the goal I wanted back in 2006 and missed by 2 minutes.

Gun time 2 hrs 13 min
Garmin 2 hrs 12 min 26 seconds, woohoo!! 9+ minute personal record for me, yippee!!

then I got rear-ended on my way home :(. I’m ok and it looks like it’s just my bumper, so we’ll see. I’m going to veg out on the couch for awhile and recooperate. I promise to return with more details later, thanks so much for all of your support!

Nervous!

Tomorrow is my half marathon, my goal pace race. I have had goal times before, but none that felt just a little too fast. I'm at a point in my running "career" that is kind of a turning point of sorts. My legs go faster than I think they can and my mind isn't sure I should push myself that hard. I want to pick a goal pace that will be a stretch for me, to see if I can get out of my rut. It's not fast by any means, I'll still be towards the back of the pack, but it's fast for me and that's what counts :).

So wish me luck and hopefully tomorrow I'll have a fantastic report for you!

No, I am not revealing my goal time :P.

The First Day of school

The kids started school today, yes I cried :).

Here is LittleMan, he goes a little early to get some reading help, so he was all alone. He seemed excited and not at all nervous, phew.


He was so excited that we got there early and he had time to play on the playground. I got several pictures and this one was my favorite. "Mom, can I drop down?" yes, buddy, you can do whatever you want. He is my shadow, so it will be interesting to see how he handles being gone all day.


M and L were too cool for more than one picture, so this is all I got :(.

M said he stayed up too late last night so he was tired, he was very subdued while waiting for his teacher, hopefully he relaxes a bit and enjoys himself.

L was nervous, she is in 6th grade (holy crap, how did that happen?) and most of the girls that were there waiting for school to start already know each other, so L had to stand alone. I hope she wins them over quickly and has tons of friends by days end.

I didn't cry until I came home to an empty house, I know I'll get over it soon :P, but I miss them.

Happy Birthday M :)

I can't believe my second born child is now 8! Time has flown so much faster than I ever could have imagined. I know I'm old enough to have kids this age, but 33 still feels too young (yeah, I had a birthday this month too, go me lol).

So this post is to M, my sweet, energetic, adventurous, smart, stubborn boy. I am so happy to be your mom, you challenge me every day, wanting to know everything, wanting hugs, help building your new lego castle, new music on your mp3 play or to show me a new trick you figured out on your bike. I am much happier with you around.

M got a new shirt a few weeks ago and it says pretty much that his way is the only way. He asked what it meant and I told him that it meant he thought he was in charge. So he proudly told Stu that he was now the boss, L said "dad is older than you, you can't be the boss" M said "I've been around since the Roman Empire" Made me very proud, hehehe.

I love you!

A few small changes

I decided that rather than posting about my training, I would add it to the side. I figured that this way, if you didn't want to be too bored with my endless rambles week after week, you didn't have to look ;).

I also changed the colors a bit, just wanted something brighter. If you hate it, let me know, I'm still not sure I like them either :).

And a picture, just because...

A self portrait of M.

Edit to add: I couldn't get the link color to change, lame, so I just got a new layout instead :). Hopefully this one works well.

Inaugural Pioneer Day 10k Race Report

Holy Cow that was hard!!

My last, and only, 10k before this was July 4th, 2005 so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I took almost a year off of running and just really started back in April of this year.

I can’t seem to find my PR but I know it was 1:06:xx and for those that don’t want to read my long and rambling report, I’ll just say that today’s time was 1:04:49, woohoo!!!

I lined up at the back of the pack because I knew I would be one of the last ones to finish and didn’t feel like having lots of people passing me right off the bat ;).

Mile 1: slight uphill grade the whole time! I passed a couple of runners while chanting to myself “don’t go out too fast, don’t go out too fast”. We got about halfway through the mile when I could see a pretty good sized hill. I asked the lady next to me “do you think that’s Goliath?” and she said “I wish it were, it is big, but I don’t think it is” bummer! We get up to the turn in the road right before the mile 1 marker and as we turn right there is a bag piper there playing, so cool! I look ahead and there is “Goliath” holy cow!

Mile 2: I run about halfway up the hill and have to stop, it was just too steep. My garmin is set to stop recording once I slow down to 18 minute miles (I have lots of stop lights and hate to be timed for standing still, hehe) so I’m not exactly sure how long it took me to go up it, I tried to keep my garmin going, but it was hard. According to the graph I got off my computer from the garming, it was a 50% grade hill and went up about 400 feet, ouch! Covered about 1/2 mile or maybe a little less.

Mile 3: I was chasing these two girls in front of me, their pace seemed to be just slightly faster than mine so I wanted to catch them at around mile 4. Luckily for me, at about 3.5 there is a long fairly steep downhill, I love me some downhill. So I let go and let gravity assist me in going faster, one of the girls didn’t seem to want to let me pass so she pushed harder on this downhill than she probably should have, bummer. I passed them both just before the 4 mile marker.

Mile 4: I set my sights on a man in a blue shirt quite a bit ahead of me, thinking that maybe I could reel him in on the next incline. Besides, it was really boring through this stretch and there was very little shade, I needed some distraction ;).

Mile 5: I’m getting really close to blue shirt man and am thinking I may be able to pass him, unfortunately I didn’t know the route well so I timed my push a little too late :(.

Mile 6: around the corner and up another slight incline, I can hear the finishing runners and the crowds cheering so I push a bit harder. Around the corner and done!

I knew it would be close to my PR, but since my garmin stopped on part of the uphill, I guessed it was 4 minutes off, which would have put me just over my PR. I saw the clock and almost burst into tears, I did it, I did it!! I walked away from everyone while I got myself under control, I end up sounding like I’m dying so I didn’t want to worry anyone, lol.

There were maybe 3 spectators along the course, but the volunteers were great and the course wasn’t too bad. I think next year they should start the race an hour earlier though, it was in the mid to upper 70’s when I finished, not so fun when there is no shade :P. I think I’ll run it again next year :).

You can't see me.

Our kitties aren't allowed to sleep on the couch, but Dax thinks the rule only applies to Snake. I took a short nap this afternoon and when I came out this is what she did.


Naughty kitty ;)

What do I look like after a 12 mile run?

Sorry for the blurry pic, my hubby was playing with the camera features.

Week 6, step back week.

I'm a third of the way through training, yay! Though I know you all are probably very tired of hearing about training, sorry about that. I'll try to post some photos of the weeds, err...I mean kids ;), they are growing way too fast!

Monday - 3 miles, I felt like a turtle today, just slogged through the miles grateful that there were only 3 planned.
Tuesday - 5 miles, I did a tempo run of sorts, one mile warm-up very very slow, contemplated making this a 3 miler and doing 5 the next day. After a mile I felt a bit better and sped up, then took the 3rd mile a bit slower to recuperate and planned on going fast again for the 4th mile but it ended up being into a headwind so I just went with what felt good, last mile I really pushed it, felt great!
Wednesday - 3 miles, slow again because of tight calves, but felt better than last weeks third day of running in a row, so hopefully this means the fitness is improving.
Thursday - rest day
Friday - unplanned rest day due to girl stuff ;)
Saturday - 7.8 miles, was supposed to do just 7 but that's ok. I ran this with a friend and it was lots of fun, too many stoplights though which got annoying so I'll look for a new route I think.

Total for the week = 18.8

Onward and upward!

Week 5 is complete

I was planning on running the local 4th of July 10k yesterday but decided to sleep in and relax instead, I was exhausted! But before you get too proud of me, read on ;)

Monday - planned rest, though I'm thinking of bumping up all my runs one day, so we'll see what happens next week.
Tuesday - 3 miles, it was really hard to get this one done, I hated every step of the run hence why I'm thinking of bumping up my runs one day, see if that helps somehow.
Wednesday - 4.5 ran with a friend, makes it much more enjoyable, my numbers may be off this was supposed to be a 5 miler. All I know is it had some giant hills, but it was fun.
Thursday - 10 ran this with the same friend, early and it was dark at first! It was a hard run but felt awesome to get 'er done. I took a nap later than morning and woke up feeling great, no soreness though a little niggling tiredness in the quads.
Friday - rest
Saturday - was supposed to run 3 but decided to see if I could run 8.7 to get 26.2 miles in for the week. I didn't get started until almost 8, not smart when it's already in the mid 70's. Got about 4.5 miles in and was overheating quickly, took a break and ate some Gu and drank tons of water. Went until about 6.5 miles in and I'm out of water and Gatorade and I have 2.2 miles to go when I started feeling a bit dizzy. Luckily I was smart enough to pack my cell phone so I called my wonderful Hunny and he came and got me.

Luckily for me, week 6 is a step back week, maybe I'll remember to get my runs in early this time :P.

Weekly total = 24.1 miles

and a note to self, go earlier in the morning or run up the canyon where there is shade and water fountains!

Week 4

I'm posting this early because this weekend I will be at a family reunion so I got my runs done early.

M - planned rest
T - 3, not a fun run, I was very glad it was over.
W - 4, marks the last run I'll do after 8 am, too dang hot!
Th- 9.1, ran this alone, boring but uneventful which is nice. Longest run since February 2007.
F - 3.4, supposed to be 3 but thought I could take a different route and ended up adding mileage, oops.

total for the week = 19.5 miles, woot. I'm tired and very happy to get some time off from running this weekend, though I know it wont be restful :P.

Next week I'm considering running a 10k just to see if there is any speed hiding in these legs (and I mean speed for me, still considered a penguin in the running world, lol).

Crazy kitty.

My husband's kitty, Dax, is 5 years old, but acts like a kitten still when new toys come out. I tried to get a photo of her holding the toy with her extra toes, but it didn't come out right :(.

And here she is enjoying her mousey prize :).


My kitty, Snake, rarely plays, she is 2 and feels way too old for that anymore. She just talks a lot and now that she is feeling better (she was pretty sick for about a week) she just wants to eat and sleep all the time.

I love having pets, though it's really hard when they get sick :S. I'm thinking chickens are my next pet, hehe.

Week 3

I almost didn't post this week because I ended up with 91% of my planned runs and though that is awesome, I was not totally pleased with myself. Then I talked to my friend that is also training for a marathon and she laughed at my thought of running this morning, just to get those 1.4 miles I missed :P. Yeah, I do get a bit stuck on the plan sometimes and forget that life will just happen, let it go and move in already ;).

Monday - planned rest day
Tuesday - unplanned rest day, sometimes being a girl throws ya for a loop once a month (or twice a month if you are unlucky like me :P).
Wednesday - 4.5 miles, pushed myself hard and it was awesome!
Thursday - 3 miles, ran slow to recover from Wednesday.
Friday - cross training in the form of crazily mowing the lawn and scrubbing down the house before my friends came over for game night.
Saturday - 6.1 miles, had to make up a mile, just couldn't live with myself if I didn't. Ran with my friend, had a blast :).

Total 13.6 miles

Week 4 is a big pick up week for me, 19 miles planned and I have to run my 9 miler alone (farthest I've run since March of 2007), we'll see how it goes :).

Week 2

Another week down, it was a hard one so of course now I'm worried about the real hard weeks coming :S.

Monday- rest day
Tuesday - 3 miles
Wednesday - 3 miles, ran it on the path by the canal. It was nice running on dirt and gravel.
Thursday - 3 miles, I was really tired after this run, very happy for the Friday rest day.
Friday - rest day
Saturday - 7 miles, went a bit faster than expected, woot. I also shopped with my Aunt and Cousin for 5, yes 5! hours and stood at the parade for 2 hours, needless to say, my feet and knees were mighty tired when I went to bed.

Total for the week 16 miles.

My yard progress.

First, I'll get the embarrassing shot out of the way. A shameless brag about my calves, I actually have muscles to show, woot!! This is L's artistic shot of my legs, she tried 3 times and this is the best of the bunch. Here is the front of my house, I put in those pavers myself, lots and lots of work! But I love them!
These sexagon hexagon (I'm such an idiot, I almost put sectagon too, lol) pavers were what we had for a path up to the front door, where the rectangle ones are now. They were spaced out so much, I had to leap from one to the next, not so great in a dress or in the snow. I always felt really bad for guests too, but hey they work great from the driveway. I'll be filling in that dirt with grass and taking out the sidewalk eventually.
Here is my backyard garden, still little but I have kept them alive for a week already, woohoo!!
And here is my side yard garden, I didn't have enough room here for all of the plants, that's why I have two gardens (not to mention the worry our neighbors across the street will help themselves as things ripen).
So my hours and hours of yardwork don't look like much yet, but it's a good start. I need to go find a before shot of the front yard, you'll be slightly more impressed :P. Hopefully my plants will get big and I'll show the progress :). I have *gulp* 14 tomato plants, 24 pepper plants, 3 cucumber plants, and 3 squash.

edited to fix my stupid mistake, thanks Lena :)

Week 1 done

So last week was the 1st week of my 18 week training plan. It ended up being a crazy week so I didn't complete all my runs, actually only half of them :S. But I did get lots of cardio and other workouts in, so it wasn't a complete waste.

Monday- planned day off from running, yoga is my cross training of choice.
Tuesday - 3 miles in 36 minutes, feeling really slow, I have never been fast but this is pretty slow for me, maybe the speed will come back someday.
Wednesday- didn't eat well on Tuesday, was exhausted so I took the day off. Ended up tearing out the carpet in the living room.
Thursday- another day of no running, but more furniture moving and carpet removing, good workout!
Friday - planned rest day, did housework instead.
Saturday - 6 miles, 1hr 7 min, 38 minutes for the 1st 3 miles (mostly gradual uphill, wears me out) and then the best news ever, 29 minutes for the 2nd 3 miles, my fastest 3 miler ever!! I'm quite excited about this! Maybe the speed is hiding in there.

Week total = 9 miles, was supposed to be 15, but I'm not too worried, it wont be a trend ;)

I'm going to make Wednesdays runs be my speed workouts, I'll try different things as the length gets longer.

On to week number 2!!

I haven't been running.

I took a couple extra days off of running, I seemed to have found something else to keep me busy instead....

Gross stains that keep coming back.

A good picture showing the before and after, on the left is the floor that was just covered by carpet and on the right is the floor I refinished last year.

The floor is in pretty good shape, I will refinish it though.

Just another view.

Yeah, I also did more work on the yard too, it's raining today so I wont be taking any pictures just yet. Patience, my child, patience.

Hobble Creek Half Marathon

If you are planning on running this race, you need to register ASAP! I spoke with two of the clerks at Runner's Corner and they said it will most likely fill up in the next day or two. I haven't run this race yet, but I've seen the course, spoken with many that have run it and know the people that organize the race, it's going to be a great one. And it fits perfectly in my training for St. George, so I gotta figure out how to convince my hubby that racing is fun and worth the $30 ;). Plus it's not until August 24th so you have time to train, hehe.

I decided that my Garmin's name is now George. George was the name I used for everything when I was younger, I had a cactus named George, a mole named George, and many other things. So George it is :).

I have been working really hard on my yard the last several days, I need to get a picture put up here soon so you all can be amazed at my skills. Either that or laugh at my lack of skills ;).

Garmin 205, oh how I love thee!

Stu got me a Garmin 205.
I have been lusting after one for over a year! When I first started running, I enjoyed just going and then coming home and figuring out how far I went. But then I started training for various races, so I had to run a specific distance, which usually meant I had to plot a course before I went out the door. I didn't mind for a long time, then I started to get bored and it was harder to find a route to run that wasn't full of hills.

With the Garmin, I can just take off out my front door, run where i feel like it and track my mileage all at the same time. Plus! I can do all sorts of other cool stuff, like tell it what pace I want to run and then a little training buddy pops up on my screen and I try to keep pace with him, how fun is that?

I have been sick for the last week, but finally got to take the Garmin for a run this morning, I think I need to name him. It has to be a him because it's freaking huge :P but that's ok. Anyway, I had a great time, just ran out from my house for 1.5 miles and then turned around and came home. But Saturday I'm running 8 miles and I look forward to checking out new scenery :).

Oh and I love my Hunny too, and not just because he buys me cool gadgets ;).

Riding on the crazy train, choo choo!!

I have been wanting to run the St. George marathon for 3 years now, but have been too chicken to commit to it. You have to register for the marathon by May 5th and the marathon isn't until October 4th, what if something happens and you can't go?

Well, I decided to just go for it and I got in!!! Woohoo!!!

I'm excited and scared to death at the same time, lets just hope gas isn't $10/gallon come October, because the marathon is on the other side of the state, lol. I guess it's time to bring the blog back around to fit in with blog name :).

Choo Choo!

Happy Birthday LittleMan!

The time is flying by so fast, I can't believe it has been 6 years already! You have grown so much, many changes are made right before my eyes.

We had a bit of a rough start, you came 3 weeks early, though were huge, and had problems with food allergies right from the start. Add on ear infections and asthma stuff, RSV, pneumonia, many trips to the doctor, very little sleep. But you always had a smile on your face, such a content little boy. Though true to the stereotypes, you have quite a redhead temper!

My camera decided to die today, of course, so you'll have to make due with old photos and hopefully I can get the pictures off the memory card and maybe kick my camera back into submission.

Turning 3, what I get cake?


Turning 4.

And turning 5, he didn't like the smell of the smoke after he blew out the candles, lol.


You have learned to read, add two digit numbers, and sometimes you can even count passed 20. One of my favorite things about homeschooling this year is seeing each kids personality and what they enjoy. LittleMan loves to do math, he can't count very well still and doesn't know all of his letters but he can read. It seems he doesn't like to do anything easy, let's jump on in to the hard stuff and get going!

I look forward to another fun filled year with you, little guy, I love you.

10 Random Happies

Hey, long time no see :). I was told that I needed to update and I can't really argue that, it has been quite awhile.

My last post had blah's and I have more happy stuff this time, but no pictures so maybe that will come next.

1. Dax is fine, the vet put her on antibiotics and the vet tech helped me clip her toenails, her very long toenails. She seems to have adopted me, since I let her sit on me all the time. Does that mean I sit too much? ;).

2. M just lost another top tooth, now he can't say his s's very well, it's quite funny. I need to take a picture soon! Also, he had an extra tooth grow in and when he was about 18 months we took him to the dentist, they told us that he would need it pulled sooner rather than later since it was too crowded in the front. When he was almost 2, we had the tooth pulled as it was pushing over his front teeth, he liked being first in his kindergarten class to have lost a tooth. Now it looks kind of funny hanging out there alone, you'll have to wait for a picture to see what I mean.

3. The Spring semester is over and boy am I happy to have survived, it was a nightmare there at the end, still not quite over but we don't need to talk about that here ;).

4. I quit my job, such a relief, money is tight again but I am happier and therefore, everyone else in the house is as well :).

5. I challenged my friend to a workout competition, just the two of us. Loser takes the winner to dinner, so really we both win ;). We are both very competitive so this will be interesting. We are just going by minutes exercised. This is our first week and I have worked out three days in a row, sadly though, I'm pretty sure Cathleen cheated and did a double workout today so she is in the lead ;). Don't you fret, I will win, oh yes, I will win.

6. I don't think I mentioned on here that we decided to put the kids into regular public school next year. L is very happy, the social butterfly can't wait to have lots of girls to chat with, she also thinks it will be much easier, we shall see ;).

7. With the kids all in school all day, I decided to move up to full-time at school so I can graduate sooner, woohoo!! I have been in school for so long, I think I'll go into withdrawals once I graduate, or maybe not.

8. Our tv is almost dead, why is that a happy? Well, it means we'll get a flat screen tv (eventually) and I can get rid of our beasty old tv and entertainment center, woot!

9. Spring is here, sure we'll get snow here and there but I'm ignoring that, I went running outside on Monday afternoon, it was glorious!

10. Stu took me to the driving range, I have never been and it was so much fun, we decided to go golfing this weekend, woohoo!! So I need to see if I can say that's a workout because I'm totally counting it if it does, mwahahahah.

Catch ya later!

Random blah's

1. Dax is sick, she sneezes and coughs a lot, plus she is stinky. So I'm taking her to the vet this afternoon, I hope it's just a cold and that it will fix her stinkiness, she is a lap cat, I don't love her smell. I really don't want her smell on me :P.

2. I have been putting a lot of time on for work, they are really busy so they assigned me extra work, I have typed up 141 pages in two days, my wrists hurt, a lot. My ears also hurt a bit from the head phones, no fun.

3. I finally am caught up with work and now a storm is coming in so I didn't get to enjoy any sunshine while it was here :(

4. It's my spring break from school, no fun plans, no real break from anything, blah.

Lets hope things are better tomorrow! Oooh, I just remembered that my Hunny it taking me on a date tomorrow night, woot!

New babies....

We are done having human babies, so we decided it was time for some fur babies. I love most animals, so it has been hard not having any of my own for so long. Stu
only likes cats, so we decided to get cats (for now), after weeks of checking the Humane Society's website, we decided to bite the bullet and go get a kitty. Then we thought that we probably should get two so they wouldn't be lonely.

Up first is "Snake" she "rattles" the tip of her tail when she is nervous, too cute! And she never stops talking, seriously!




And then we have "Dax" a Star Wars character on Deep Space Nine. She has extra toes, pretty freaky looking actually. But she is cute when she isn't being grouchy, she does not like Snake at all! Though today she actually looked at her a few times without hissing or growling, that's a step in the right direction!
Snake puked this evening, I forgot that cats puke sometimes, this better not be a regular occurrence :P.

Speed

80 words

Speed test

You type 422 characters per minute
You have 80 correct words and
you have 1 wrong words

(the wrong word was "them", for some reason when I'm going fast, the 'h' is always faster out of the gate ;) ).

One good thing that has come out of being a transcriptionist, I can type faster now :P.

We wont talk about the annoying parts of the job, like hearing everyone's "um, uh, and, and" stuff that they do, when I read closed captioning on a show and they don't show everything the person said, totally bugs me!

Anyway, carry on ;)

No words

I have been contemplating how I would sum up the funeral for Semisi, but I know that I don't have the right words, so I'll pass you over to my Hunny's blog he summed it up quite eloquently, as always.

I will say one thing though, I am grateful to my Aunt for allowing me to show my love and respect for Semisi, by signing "I am a Child of God" with my M and LittleMan at the funeral, LittleMan decided he didn't want to complete the song, but he made it 1/2 way through the first verse, I'm proud of him for that. M didn't know the 2nd and 3rd verses but he followed me the best that he could and I'm proud of him for that as well. I, on the other hand, screwed up and am grateful no one there was the wiser ;).

Selfless

As I was thinking of words to describe Semisi, my Uncle, I went through Loving, Caring, Generous, Kind, Gentle, Sweet, Funny, Loveable and finally settled on Selfless. Semisi was always the first one there, the last to leave, when someone needed help. He was always there with a smile. He never liked being the center of attention, he liked to be in the background, just doing what needed to be done. So I chose a few pictures of him with my boys, he loved them so much.

the first one makes me cry whenever I see it. It's Semisi holding M when he was a baby, I cannot remember where they were or what month, but I'm sure it was in 2000 based on M's size.


Semisi loved music, he had many guitars and a keyboard, he loved to sing and I know the funeral will be full of songs, mostly in Tongan, so beautiful.

This picture is of Semisi and M again, at my youngest sisters wedding. M was eating roast beef perched on his favorite persons lap.


And this is one of both boys with Semisi, this time LittleMan is munching on roast beef, I think they were trying to bulk up to be as big as Misi someday ;).


We love you, Semisi, you will be missed. You left some big shoes to fill, literally ;), and figuratively. I hope to instill the selflessness into my boys so they can grow up to be as big as you.