Teh HUUUUUUUGE Picture Update!

I haven't updated in a while, but a lot has happened in the last week or so! Adam tested and received his camo belt in Taekwondo! Yesterday was also Adam's 6th birthday, we're having his party tomorrow, so I'll post pictures another day. Tonight is Evening at the Opera. I'm not sure if I'll have any pictures of that, but if I do, I'll post those another day too!


So without further ado, here's a photo deluge. And yes, I purposely spelled "the" wrong in the title of my post.

Adam getting his hi-5 from Master Materi

Adam receiving his camo belt

Full group shot

And now, some pictures of my big day! I ran my first half-marathon today, the ND Roughrider. The weather was perfect (about 50F at the start), I ran the whole thing without stopping to walk or soil myself (hey, it was my biggest fear), and I finished in my goal time! I don't know my chip time yet, since the results are not up on the website yet. But.. my Garmin said 2:30:33 and the clock said 2:30:34, so it's close enough to my goal of 2:30 to make me extremely happy.

Me coming up on the family at Mile 4

Goin' in for the high-5!

And.. back to running away from nothing.

Talking with Dr. Debbie, my favorite chiropractor at the gear truck post-race.

This is the photo my mom took of me finishing the race. Yay!

And finally - the video of me finishing the race. Yeah that's me screaming "Woohoo!"

In Good Times And In Bad

So.. I had a really bad run on Saturday. It started out OK, but I started feeling nauseous in mile 3, which NEVER happens unless I'm racing my rear off in a 5K or something.

I saw my friend Sarah's dad Bill (well OK - I guess he is sorta my friend too!) right around mile 4, he was coming out of the tunnel as I was going in. I stopped running to chat for a few seconds. After that I never did get my mojo back - it's like my rhythm got screwed up or something.

I stopped for a Gu and some water when I turned around at mile 6.75 and walked for a while. I ended up walking again at mile 8.. and again at 8.8 - what the heck? I walked back through the tunnel and forced myself to run again. I thought I would run 4 miles, then walk the last half mile or so. Wrong again!

From mile 11 on, I kept trying to jog, but would only make it a minute or so before running out of juice and walking. When I would jog, I looked down at my Garmin to discover I was doing a 13-minute mile pace! I felt utterly defeated, and completely wasted. I did my 13.5 miles in a pathetic 2:50. UGH! So much for trying to get that done in my half goal time of 2:30.

I know everyone has bad runs sometimes. But I did learn a few things.

1. Do not have two martinis, a glass of wine and a Bulldog the night before attempting 14 miles.
2. Do not catch my son's stomach bug the day I attempt 14 miles.
3. Eat a breakfast consisting of more than a slice of toast and 1/3 cup orange juice before attempting 14 miles. HELLO?!
4. When attempting 14 miles, REAL Powerade is a better idea than Powerade Zero. HELLO?!
5. Bring more fuel than I think I need when attempting 14 miles. One Gu is not enough, especially on almost no breakfast. I was ready to gnaw my arm off at mile 11.
   

Darien had an awful stomach bug Thursday (poor kid was barfing in the bathroom at Taekwondo!) which kept him out of school on Friday, and I think I caught some of it. I felt just horrible all day Saturday and most of Sunday. We still went to the ATA picnic on Saturday evening though, and had a blast! I even rode the rides at the amusement park on a queasy stomach and did not hurl. Neither did Darien.

Here is Mason on his first day of preschool last week!



I stole this from Maria's blog, I need it.