Running with the Cows

You've heard of people who run with the bulls in Pamplona, right? Well, not me! I run with the cows near Hawktree. At least there is no chance of getting gored. Here's what they do - I run past, and they watch me, just like this:





Chewin' cud, swishin' tails, and trying to figure out what's chasing me. I need to start taking my camera on runs, so you can see all the cows, squirrels, deer, bunnies, and bullsnakes I encounter. I need to brang me a bow'n arro & shewt me sum LUNCH all up in hurr.



The Y track is closed while they tear out the north wall and make our YMCA officially Freakin' Huge, so I have to run outside. I can't do it during normal hours because of lack of child care, so I got up early whilst everyone was still sleeping, and was on the road by 6 this morning.

Well. I knew this already, but it's very hilly where I live. At first it's fine - almost all downhills. So the out: good. The back: not so good. But that's ok. Hills are good for my training. Maybe not so much in 80% humidity though.





See this cute little bouquet of flowers? DJ made it for me with Legos. They got a bunch of oddly shaped Legos during their visit to LegoLand in Minneapolis a few weeks ago.

And now...

Seven-Year-Old Wisdom:
DJ: I just tasted myself, and I taste DISGUSTING!

Three-Year-Old Wisdom:
(while he was sitting on the potty, I noticed an eyelash on his face, so I grabbed it)
Me: OK, blow, and make a wish.
Mason: (blow)
Me: What did you wish for?
Mason: Ummm, a house.
Me: We already have a house, silly!
Mason: A door?
Me: We have lots of doors.
(pause)
Me: How about World Peace?
Mason: (looking excited) We don't have any of that!!

The Things They Say

Heard from my basement full of rowdy boys:

"Oh man, I'm gonna need a helmet!"

Not really something a mother wants to hear.




And tonight, while eating dinner:

Mason: There was this huuuuuuuuuuge lightning crash today!
Adam: And then Mason pooped in his pants.

It's true. He came running up the stairs for a hug after the loud thunder, then asked if I would check to see if he pooped in his underwear. I guess you could say today's thunderstorms scared the crap out of him.

Yellow and Blue

OTHER than running... haha... there are lots of things happening these days! The boys have started their summer sports, I'll try to get some pictures put up next week.

But this week, the focus is on ADAM! He graduated from preschool in May, and here's a picture of him receiving his diploma.



And - the last week of May, Adam completed Taekwondo testing and became a yellow belt! The first three pictures are testing-in-progress, and the last 2 are pictures of proud new belt level kiddos.

Half crazy

Look what I just signed up for! Have I lost my mind? Yes, I do believe I HALF. Because I've now registered for two half marathons, one month apart.

Hey, I'm just doing this one for the girly t-shirt and Tiffany keychain. A girl's gotta have SOME sort of motivation, right?

Been there, done that...

... got the T-shirt. I really just wanted to say that and have it be true!

That's my t-shirt, medal, and bib.

Well, I went 3.1 miles. The Fargo 5K Fun Run was on Saturday, May 17. I had a blast and can't wait to do it again! Next year I will be doing the half marathon (13.1 miles). My time was 34:12. I am OK with that, but not thrilled.

Mile 1 was basically darting around and weaving between the walkers (some with strollers). I really wish the walkers would be courteous and get to the back. The runners were really frustrated with this, especially when the walkers were in groups 8 across. Not nice! For some of it, I got so frustrated, I ran on lawns. I didn't look at my watch after completing that mile, but I know it took longer than I wanted. At least it forced me to start out slow, right?

Mile 2 I booked it. I felt great, passed a ton of people (not just walkers, haha). I looked at my watch at the end of mile 2 and it said 20 minutes. I was pretty happy with this, figuring I might actually bang this race out in 32 minutes.

Mile 3 I don't know WHAT happened. I must have thought I could just cruise through this mile with no effort. I was relaxed and happy, and not really in "race" mode. I think I was just enjoying the sights and sounds of the race, chatting with people, getting hi-5'd by the crowd. I forgot I was racing, really. I felt well and happy when I finished though, instead of worn out.

The finish is the best part. Well, except for when you think you're done, and then you realize, oh, we have to run around to the other side of the Dome! But that part gets over quickly, then before you know it, you pass the JumboTron camera, then you're heading into the Dome, which is DOWNHILL (thank you, thank you) and I sprinted it. Bit of a problem.. as I was entering the Dome, I took my sunglasses off and hooked them on my shirt. Started sprinting, and they fell off! I checked to make sure there was nobody immediately behind me, stopped, and picked them up. Then ran to the finish line. Embarrassing, but funny.

Anyway, I had a blast. The crowd and entertainment are the BEST. Thank you, Fargo! My friend Sarah finished the half in 2:07 and my cousin Kari finished it (her first race EVER!) in 3:18. WAY TO GO! I think my mom, aunt, and other cousin (who is pregnant, yay!) decided to walk the 5K next year.

Yesterday I registered for the Roughrider half marathon, and began my training program. Here's to 17 more weeks of training! I started a week early in case I get temporarily derailed for vacation, illness, injury, or "I think I'll wait an extra week to run 12.5 miles"-itis. I figure if I finish it "on time" a week before the race, I'll just take an extra taper week.

Gadget!

As if my Nike+ and Polar F4 weren't quite techie enough, here's what I got for Mother's Day:






It's a Garmin Forerunner 205! A GPS for my arm. I love it. I've only gotten the chance to use it a couple of times, but I think it'll be coming in handy as I train for the half marathon.



Also, in other news, this woman is THE DEBBIL.






If you see her, run. Run far, far away. If your legs haven't been reduced to jelly.

She is out to kill you. Or at least give you thighs of steel, washboard abs, and shoulders that would put the fear of, well, Jillian, into your average person. I'm pretty sure I called her a nasty word beginning with B about eight times during LEVEL ONE. There are three levels. I was shaking trying to wash my hair in the shower after it. This is a 20-minute workout, people. 20 minutes. I was strength training for 40 minutes 3 times a week.

Next update will be after my race on Saturday. Wish me luck!

Circles

I think Lance Armstrong has a li'l crush on me. Oh yes, I do. Why, you ask? Because he lovingly told me this morning, "Congratulations, you've just achieved a new personal best in the mile". I wonder if Nike+ knows that hearing his voice is pretty much the only thing keeping me running some days? He's like the proverbial carrot.

So I have officially outrun myself.





This is the funniest darn book I have EVER read. I highly recommend it if you've ever considered training for a race of any sort. It will at least keep you laughing at yourself.

Now if Nike+ can just get Lance to say "Congratulations. You've just run a buttload of circles. You are apparently fantastic at turning left." or "Congratulations. You've run 10 miles and thwarted death."

Five-Year-Old Wisdom

Another Adam-ism for you. First - look, he's an angel!




Adam: Mommy? What if you dropped a grape or a berry on a bug. Would it die?

Me: What? Um... I don't know. I don't think so...

Adam: What if it was a not-strong bug?

My three cuties

Adam getting a medal at tournament

Mason and mom!

Races

There's one really good way to get back into the running swing of things that I know of. What's the secret? Signing up for races, of course.

Yesterday I decided to do four races this spring/summer. All 5Ks because I know I can do that. Being a slow runner, my goal is to run at least ONE of these races in 30 minutes or less.

5/18/08: Fargo 5K Fun Run

5/31/08: Bully Run 5K

7/4/08: Mandan 4th of July Road Race 5K

7/16/08: Tour da'Park 5K


And one more race this year. THE HALF. Can I do it?

Je regrette beaucoup

That's French for "I'm very sorry". Aren't I a fun blogger?? I'm a bit swamped right now with Broadway stuff, but I will update after the fat lady sings. I'm not sure who that would be, but if you come to Evening on Broadway, you could decide for yourself!

To tide you over.. some childhood wisdom:

--

Adam: God made the first person on the EARTH and it was Adam. Not me though.

--

(while getting ready for bed last night, Mason, 3 years old, wearing big-boy underwear for the first time - there is a black mark on Adam's sheets, it's been there since last year, won't wash out, Mason was sitting on the edge of Adam's bed)

DJ: Mason, what did you do?
Mason: I didn't do that! (pause) I don't think I did.
DJ: (looking at Mason's butt) I don't see anything.
Adam: I'll smell it.

--

Adam is so brave.

Race Day!

Well I did it - this morning I ran my first 5K! It was awesome, and I will definitely be racing again. I wasn't sure about it until today, but the race atmosphere is so great. My time was 35:31 which I think was respectable for my first race. It was SUPER cold outside, around 35 degrees. The marathoners all took off in shorts and tees, the 5K runners were mostly in long pants and long sleeves. I even had gloves on.




One small problem - I forgot to put the memory card back in the camera, so Dan had to take pictures and videos with his Treo. They won't be superb quality, but I will post them later when he gets back from hauling sheetrock.

OK, here they are:

Long-Awaited Update

Finally - vacation pics, birthday pics, a Tug pic, and back-to-school pics. Dan has pictures of DJ's first day of school because Bad Mama forgot the camera. Dan had his camera phone.

My friend for 11 years, Sherocious, her youngest son, and me.

Grandpa and kiddos looking at Seattle from the Space Needle.

Pictures from DJ's 7th birthday party:

Tug, anticipating dinner

Adam & Mason, on Adam's first day of preschool!

Mama didn't wear any eye makeup for fear of it running down the face.

In my backyard

OK, I know I wasn't going to update until after vacation, but I couldn't resist this. I was sitting on the couch this morning, I hadn't yet had any coffee. I looked up and saw four horses running through my backyard!



They left my yard and went next door. Nobody lives there right now so the grass is not mowed, and they got some breakfast. I called the Sheriff's office, they found the owner, and they're currently being herded back to their own place by a pickup truck and a doggie. The boys thought it was great, and the puppy REALLY wanted to herd them somewhere.

Not dead or anything

It's been a while since I updated, so I just wanted to shoot one out.

Tug is growing quickly, and has now finished Puppy Dynamics class. Yay for him! I can't say he is that much better-behaved than he was before class, but that takes time. I will just say it out loud: Rottweiler puppies are bastards. I see the other puppies at class (Labs, Poodles, Aussies, miniature Greyhounds & Schnauzers, etc.) and they are so sweet. Then you have Tug, and his Husky friend Skye and his German Shepherd friend Zack, and they are all little bastards who beat up on each other. Skye alpha-rolled him this week and I cheered her on. I almost made a doggie play-date with Shug, Skye's mommy. So she can kick his ass a little more. He deserves it.

Thursday we leave for vacation to Seattle, so there will be a tremendous internet vacuum because I will not be online. However, we will take lots of pictures and blog 'em later. Saturday I'll be meeting up with Shelagh, my Canadian BFF!

Running update: I am back up to Week 7 of the Couch to 5K program. I was up to Week 7 before, but then I got a cold, then we got the dog, and I had to take a few weeks off. So I started up again at Week 3. I will end Week 6, then I'll take another week off for our vacation, then re-do two runs from Week 6 when we get back, before starting Week 7. Then upon finishing the program, I'll have plenty of time to get some more good runs in before the race on Sept. 15!

Tug - 8 weeks

OK, first - some 7 week pictures:

Classic rottie-butt shot

Having some crate time

And now, some 8-week shots I took today:

Practicing "sit"

Who could resist that FACE?!

OK, sorry - this is just a pretty picture of my much-needed liquid refreshment after dealing with three boys and a puppy ALL DAY. Can you blame me? See how my appletini matches my glass...

Puppy Pics!

Introducing Tug, the newest member of our family! Dan decided to do a "mama and doggie" photo session. We picked him up yesterday from Randi's Rotts. THANK you Randi!





I love the sequence of these two below - he got pretty comfortable on my lap!



He was such a good boy on the trip home from Minot! I couldn't let him cry in the carrier, so I held him most of the trip. We stopped every half hour or so, so he could run around in the grass and relieve himself. He didn't pee in the Jeep even once!

Just like children, everyone wants to know about elimination training and sleep, so here's that info:

Last night he did great in the crate by himself... from 10 until about 1:30. After that, neither he nor I slept at all, and I got up every 2 hours to take him out. It's so hard not to just pick him up and let him sleep cuddled up next to me, but we know you shouldn't let a puppy do something you wouldn't want a full-grown dog to do!

He is figuring out that when we go out to a certain spot in the backyard, he should go potty. So far, he has done it every time.

So that's my update. I'm sure we will have loads more pictures to come! It's just like having a new baby, except without the postpartum blues and... oops, too much information. You can probably guess the other stuff.

We're expecting!!!

Ha! No, not the way you might think. But we are adding a new member to our family this week, and it should be no surprise to anyone...





IT'S A BOY!

Below are a few pictures of our newest baby. These are 5-week photos. We haven't formally decided on a name yet, but when we get him home on Thursday, we'll take plenty of pictures, and post them along with his name.

Don't you just want to SQUEEZE him? HE'S SO FUZZY!

my body art

Well, I did it! Below are pictures of my tattoo. Best not to ask Dan what he thinks about it.

I had to get a shot of my pedicure, duh! (OPI's Man of La Mancha for those who must know)

I'm not sure why there's a black shadow - I tried this shot numerous times, it was always there.

Kitty says "You has a flavor?" (it's funny if you read this blog!)

tattoo you

Well, me anyway.

I made an appointment today to get a tattoo! I've off-and-on wanted one since college, and I finally decided to do it. I'm getting a small treble clef on the inside of my left ankle. In case you're non-musical and don't know what a treble clef is, it's this:



It will be only about 1.5" tall. I'm verra excited. I also have ideas for others I might get someday, but for now, I'm sticking with this to see how I like it. The mutilation will occur on Thursday 5/31 at 11 am. Think of me!

We joined the YMCA today. Yay!