It was a gorgeous day for the 5K trail run which included short walls to scale, a waist deep wade through the lake, a rope wall and then the final mud crawl before the finish line.
{the perfect place for [a kodak moment]}
{thank goodness for bandanas}
{“go daddy go” ~ bib #1620}
{in the white shirt…off to get into his corral}
{in the far lane behind the person on their knees in the orange shirt}
{i don’t know why they bother passing out bibs}
{off to the showers}
{cool dog tag medal}
{quick picnic before heading home}
By the way, the edamame hummus at TJ’s is AWESOME!
*****
Jay did great and wants to try the 10K next year.
I’m going to definitely do the 5K and see how that goes….better work on my upper body strength!
The nice thing is that the lake is literally 15 minutes from our house.
Anyone wanna get a little team together, dress up and do it with me next year?
Put aside an old pair of tennies and let’s get dirty!
This morning as we were walking to school, my {most worn} pair of black Havs broke.
Just like that.
We were about 2 minutes into the stroll and boom…the little between-the-toe part gave way and snapped in two.
I was bummed…we turned around and walked home, carrying the retired right foot flop.
Why couldn’t it have been my $1 pair from Old Navy?
Anywhoo, Elliott suggested we drive so we wouldn’t be late as a result of my faulty flip flop {She is SO my daughter! All my “C’mon, let’s go! We’re going to be late!” panics must have sunken in}.
R.I.P old black ones.
*****
We survived our first t-ball practice last night.
So cute….
{warming up}
{batter up}
{learning to field the ball}
Great team with nice parents. Should be an awesome season…
Go Orioles!
*****
Looking forward to a busy weekend.
Friday afternoon playdate. Dance class. Souplantation for din din. Mad Hatter Tea Birthday Party tomorrow. Errands. Jay’s doing a {fun} 5K {I should be doing it, too!}. Picnic at the lake on Sunday afternoon.
*****
This morning I got rid of more crap and did my S.V.S. {sweep, vacuum, swiffer} and if I missed anything, too bad! It’ll still be there on Wednesday when I do it again to get ready for Lolo, Lola & Gramma K’s arrival for Easter.
Oh, and the Easter Bunny will be picking up a few things this weekend! He just did the math and realized that baskets need to be filled in almost a week!
This morning Elliott learned and perfected her {pencil jump} at her first cheer clinic hosted by Saugus High Cheer.
$30 well spent…they each received a t-shirt, their picture with a cheerleader, instructions on jumps, chants and a dance routine, bagels & cream cheese, orange wedges and pizza for lunch! It was so cute…once we checked in, there was a cheerleader that greeted her and escorted her into the gym to have her picture taken and then showed her to her group for some stretching and jumping jacks to warm up.
I only stayed for a hour and then ducked out and ran some errands. Jay & Holdy met me back there at 11:30 for the performance. All the girls showed off their jumps, cheers, claps and shouts.
Here is Holden cheering on his sissy:
Elliott and one of the darling girls waiting to get pizza…
It really was cute…
Below is the infamous pencil jump…
There were lots of claps…
She loved it.
She really looks up to the older girls and was borderline {teacher’s pet}…
Now she wants to do dance, cheer AND add soccer in the Fall. I told her that it might be packing too much in…
She quickly came back with, “But Mommy, it’s good exercise!”
Can’t argue with that?
Looks like we may be doing pencil jumps, shuffle steps and dribbling real soon!
I signed Elliott up for a cheer clinic at one of the local high schools.
I figured it’d be a nice way to introduce her to cheer…afterall, she wants to be a cheerleader when she grows up.
Here she is at about 2.5 years of age.
We spent Halloween ’07 in South Carolina with Lolo & Lola. I wanted a costume that was easy to pack and travelled well….found this at Gymboree for cheap. Perfect! She loved it.
I hope she enjoys the clinic. She says I have to stay with her for the whole 4 hours in case she gets thirsty or needs to go potty…..
Should be super cute.
*****
Since we’re cheering this morning, I wanted to share a few of my morning rituals {deodorant, coffee & exercise duds} with you that, I feel, deserve a little rah! rah!
{Dove Pomegranate & Lemon Verbena}
LOVE it! If you’re looking for a new anti-perspirant might I suggest this.
Sweet. Clean. Fresh.
*****
My Mom brought us some of Starbucks {Tribute} Blend to celebrate their 40th year.
Wow…I am older than Starbucks. Wah!
The house smells amazing when this is brewing and the taste is undeniably that of the famous {green circle}.
Certainly a must in the mornings {along with deodorant!}
*****
Speaking of deodorant, I haven’t been very successful in the {sweat department} lately. Most mornings I don yoga pants and a dri-weave top of some sort, but more often than not I don’t get out and move. I’ve been lazy and I need to spring into action! I think that the reason I haven’t gotten out and hit the pavement is because I feel like I have to do a {big} run. Like 5 miles…but I don’t. I just need to get out there. 2 miles a few times a week is OK. I need to be OK with that, too.
So, to get me pumped up, I got a new {orange, my fave} Under Armour tank yesterday at TJ Maxx. It’s super comfy, fits well and keeps everything {in place} if you know what I mean, ladies.
I thought I’d chime in and give you an update on our non-Direct TV havin’ selves. It’s been 2 weeks now and guess what….
we’re still ALIVE!
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that we would be just fine sans 1,574,623 channels.
Now does this mean that I am OK with NEVER turning on Direct TV again?
NO.
But I must admit, the vacuum cleaner is getting more action. The white grout and the Clorox Clean-Up are seeing A LOT more of each other. The Swiffer has been doing more swiffering. We already need more Gain detergent and fabric softener and I have been more “crafty” and done some homemade goodies for Holden’s party.
Wow….imagine that!
{Because I couldn’t have a post without a pic…thanks Lisa Lisa for recommending this, btw. It rocks on the lovely white tile with white grout counter situation!}
I still get to watch my shows ~ The Biggest Loser, etc. There’s oodles of stuff to watch on hulu.com, too. I watched an episode of House Hunters {an HGTV fave} the other night…now it may have been from 4 years ago. No biggie.
Did we miss the Superbowl yesterday? Yes, but did I really want to see Christina Aguilera screw up the national anthem?
Not really.
I even went for a {short} run this weekend. Um, how did I ever complete 13.1 miles and now can’t even run 2 without wanting to die? Proof that there is no rest for the weary! I think I just need to register for the Santa Clarita Half on 11.6.11…then I will {have} to get out there and run, run, run!
Anywhoo, if you are on the fence about wanting to watch less TV and want to save some cash every month, I highly suggest thinking about turning off your satellite service for a few months and see how it goes.
I don’t think anyone has ever not survived without Bravo.
It’s been six weeks and two days since my half-marathon.
For those mommies out there that are familiar with the {6-week check up} after you give birth, I had my “six week” the other night while doing my workout.
I was reminded that yes, six weeks ago I was exhausted. And sore. And thinking, “I never want to do that again!”
But as I tied up my shoes, especially the left one with the timing tag still intact, donned my Brooks dri-fit race shirt, listened to the same playlist on my little silver iPod, and remembered the feeling of being out there on the cup-littered Vegas Strip, I realized that it’s time.
I gave myself a break over the holidays and enjoyed {way too many} sweets, pot lucks, cocktails and comfort foods. I nursed a problematic left ankle and iced my knee. I visited my medal from time to time and realized that it wasn’t a dream ~ I really did it. 13.1 miles. I did it.
But it’s easy to fall out of the routine and not have anything on the books to reach for. I’d gotten so caught up in the holidays with my 2010 goal behind me and it was HARD to get back to business.
But it’s time.
It’s time for me to sign up for some 5 or 10Ks and get the momentum going for another half-marathon.
I’ve forgotten the pain. The blood. The sweat. The tears. And I’m ready.
{mixed greens, carrots, red pepper, sugar snap peas, cucumber, red onion, raisins, blue cheese, garbanzo beans and light ranch}.
Tonight we’re having the SAME thing.
Although, I’m adding some curried carrot soup…again, one of my faves and super easy.
Looks like I’m going to have to do some serious meal planning action.
Fortunately there is a Cooking Light subscription with my name on it making it’s way to the mailbox soon.
I need some new ideas.
Stay tuned…..more new recipes to come!
And speaking of staying tuned….we’re NOT going to be….we’ve {Jay} has decided that for the first quarter of 2011 we’re turning off Direct TV.
No Bravo.
I’m dying inside.
And then he informs me that the new TVs these days do not have antennas so you can’t even get a fuzzy showing of local channels!
A pair of old skool rabbit ears is looking pretty attractive right now.
BUT…
I think it will be good. I can’t imagine how much more I’ll/we’ll get done without our dear friend, Mr. Samsung. Last night as I was in the workout room watching RHofBH, I thought at least I may get more elliptical and treadmill time in if I HAVE to go to the gym at night to watch TV!
It’ll be interesting to see how it goes ~ it could go either way.
Who wants to invite us over to watch the Superbowl?
*****
On another note, here is a hint {a big one} of the theme of Holden’s birthday next month:
I should write a book entitled, “Half-marathons For Dummies” and submit it to the series of “for dummies” books.
I know it makes more sense to run a few 5Ks or 10Ks first, but it IS possible to jump right into a half marathon. No, I did not train the best that I could. No, I am not in tiptop physical shape. No, I do not {enjoy} running. But I finished my first half marathon. That was my goal ~ to simply FINISH. Get that medal. And not be the LAST one across the finish line. It’s doable and I highly recommend it.
Once my body recovers, I’ll look into my next challenge. But right now I am hurting. My toenails hurt. My lower back hurts. I have a blister on the side of my left foot. One toenail dug into it’s neighboring toe on my right foot. But I feel {good}. The black cloud that was this half marathon hanging over my head for the past few weeks has lifted. I can now celebrate the holidays carefree. I have been given an early Christmas gift in the form of a medal on a red ribbon.
I cannot believe that it was a year ago when I committed to this venture. You can read about it here.
As we drove into Vegas, I became a little anxious. We picked up my bib and I immediately noticed that the participants came in all shapes and sizes. Not everyone was your typical marathon runner look alike. I immediately became less intimidated and just kept telling myself…”you can do this”.
We got back to the room after our Buca di Beppo dinner and I pinned my bib on my shirt and attached the timing tag to my shoe. In less than 10 hours it was show time and there was NO turning back.
I awoke several times during the night. Afraid I was going to miss the wake-up call. I got up around 5am and had a banana and half a Luna bar. I drank some water and tried to hit that fine line of being hydrated enough but not too much that I had to use the dreaded port-a-potty!
Jay and I left the room around 6am and began the mile walk to Mandalay Bay. I checked in my bag and stood in line for the potties {darn it!}. I was in corral 22 so that meant I had some extra time. I would start the race about 30 minutes after the official start. This is done to alleviate too many bodies going out at once. {the chip on my shoe registers the time I cross the starting line and the finish line ~ not the official clock time}
Here I am in my corral:
The first several miles were fine. I pared down my playlist the night before and just had the {good stuff} ~ Katy & Snoop, Lady Gaga, Pink, Usher, Taio Cruz, Bruno Mars.
There were some awesome signs and posters along the way…
“Keep running…there’s FREE BEER at the finish line!”
“Your feet hurt because you’re kicking so much ass!”
“Run like Tiger’s wife is chasing you!”
“In my eyes, you’re all Kenyan!”
There were lots of high fives with high school cheerleaders.
All these things were little boosts.
Once we left the strip, we soon entered the downtown area and it was quite evident…$40/night hotels, increased Police presence and instead of Cytomax and water, there was beer being handed out courtesy of a seedy little hole in the wall. I kid you not…there was a homeless looking {gentleman} that pulled out a table and a tray with clear plastic cups filled half way with a dark beer. I thought that was awesome, but declined as I still had 7 miles to go!
I made it to about 8 miles and my feet began to feel it. I started walking and figured I could walk faster than I was shuffling along! At that point I was amongst a lot of walkers and wasn’t going to kid myself that I could shuffle along for the next 5 miles. I just power walked and enjoyed it. Kind of like when you finally cave in and get an epidural after being in labor…the pain is gone and now you can relax and enjoy your labor.
Even though I kept to myself and listened to my iPod, I felt connected with the others on the course. We were just plugging away…all trying to get to the same place…one step at a time.
My mom and my babies waiting to cheer me on:
Here I am at about the 12 mile mark:
And here I am with an ice cold MGD 64 at the end!
*****
It was an AMAZING experience.
I’m glad it’s over, but I’m excited to see what I do next.
I simply cannot explain what it feels like to be out there amongst 28,000 other athletes and FINISH what I started.
If it feels this good to finish a half, I CANNOT imagine the feeling of finishing a full marathon.
May I encourage you to think about doing this race next year? It is not at all intimidating. It’s casual. It’s flat! It’s a blast. Or, if you live elsewhere and Vegas isn’t an option, check your area for other half marathons throughout the year ~ there are lots.
THANK YOU for ALL your encouragement and cheerleading along this journey. I drew from all your support along the way and it certainly helped get me to the end. But the journey isn’t over….it’s just beginning.
Ask Santa for a pair of running shoes for Christmas.
