Running, Schooling, and Eclipsing

This poor running blog. Abandoned by an injured runner turned scuba diver. But I'm still running. In fact, I've begun day dreaming of fall goals and focusing my running on building a base from which to train. I've begun running more consistently, managing my knee pain with daily rounds with the foam roller and addaday stick. And it really is about adding a day. Just one more day of running. And then another. And then another. I feel a little all over the place with my training... sometimes I make it out in the morning, sometimes I hit the treadmill mid-day. Sometimes I run after putting the kids to bed or with my Walk/Jog/Run class... or sometimes a combination of these, with some Body Pump at the Y thrown in. It's not ideal... I like a good schedule, but I'm taking what I can get and for now, it works.

And things have gotten crazy, busy, wonderful up in here! My girl started kindergarten this year! So far, so good, and I love watching her experience new things, learn new things, become enthusiastic about new things! She is doing half-day kindergarten for now, and I think it is the perfect amount of transition from being home to attending school. She comes home after lunch, and some days we do something fun like shop, visit our library, go to my sister's for a swim and to the local reptile store (her personal field trip with my sister), and some days we come home and color, play, read, or bake. Or all of the above.

The eclipse! How about that! We drove to Sparta, TN to experience the totality, and it was AMAZING!

I loved experiencing this with my people! I was simply filled with awe by the whole thing!

So DIVING! I'm an Advanced Open Water Diver now, and Jason and I went on another amazing dive trip at the end of July - that will receive it's own blog post with pictures and videos. It was once again a wonderful, beautiful experience where I saw new things and learned new things, expanding my knowledge and experience as a diver. More to come on that. For now, there's our family update in a nutshell!

14 Days of Love

It is February 1st, which begins what I have dubbed for many years now, the Sacred Month of Love. I've always had fun with this month whether it was sending a daily poem to my coworkers or making a box filled with 14 things I love about Jason...it has always been a great excuse to be a little more mushy, romantic, and loving. And don't get me started on the pink and red heart shaped boxes of chocolates and kid Valentine kits I always want to buy. 

This year I've gotten a little ambitious, but I'm going for it. I'm calling it 14 days of love and it has several parts. Daily love for the Lord, daily love for Jason, daily love for others, and daily love for myself. For 14 days (although I'm hoping to turn some of these into habits the last much longer than 14 days).

Daily love for my Lord is one of those habits I hope to cultivate through daily fellowship with my amazing Creator. Deliberate, focused, seeking Him daily.

Daily love for Jason will consist of not only a daily love note of some sort, but daily acts of thoughtfulness and kindness toward this man I love so much. I'm not super creative, but I'll share the fun, G-rated ones, like today's. 

(Yes, I know I'm not artistic and my hand writing is atrocious, but it's the Reese's that count.)

Daily love for others will consist of cards to friends I haven't seen in a while, maybe a few coffees on me for busy mamas, cookies for neighbors, and meals for some new mama friends. I'm also praying that God will lead the way in this one, showing me who needs some love and encouragement, and that He will give me the courage to act on His leading. 

And lastly, daily love for myself. I'm going to focus on a few habits that will make me healthier and help me accomplish some other goals I have. Some of these habits include drinking warm lemon juice water every morning, having a plank and pushup routine to do daily now that I'm not doing as much PiYo, and renewing my determination to consume more fruits and veggies each day. Simply put, I'm going to renew my focus on taking care of me!

So all of that comprises my 14 Days of Love. I can't wait to get started! 

Messing Up Doesn't Mean Giving Up

It is Tuesday of my second week in the 21 Day Fix, and it is going so well, but I have learned that weekends are more challenging than weekdays. For me, anyway. Especially when a birthday and a wedding is involved. All was certainly not lost, though. I did my videos, I ran a little bit, and I stayed mostly on track with my diet. It was just harder and I didn't do as well with my eating as I was doing during the week.

Friday I got up and ran three miles...knowing what was in store for the morning. Jason was off, and we celebrated Eloise's 3rd birthday. I had my first cheat/processed food/sugar of the week on this occasion in the form of 6 donut holes. Heavenly. I had some scrambled eggs and some green tea with them so I wouldn't get all sugar crazy and then I moved on with my day.

Happy Birthday, sweet Eloise!

Around lunch time I went shopping with my mom to look for Eloise some flower girl shoes. She was going to be in my cousin's wedding the next day. This was not a problem, except I got hungry on my way to meet mom. I hate being hungry. Before we started shopping I got an order of grilled chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-a, and that was fine, but what I got to go with them was not. A sweet tea. Yep.  I have NO idea why I did that. I should have gotten the fruit and water. Oh well. I knew it wasn't a great decision, but I moved on.

The rest of the day I did well.  I didn't let messing up lead to giving up.  I did my video for that day and we all got ready for a busy Saturday of wedding fun.

Saturday I did well, despite how badly I wanted a piece of wedding cake.  I packed fruit, seeds, and nuts so I had plenty of healthy snacks and had another order of grilled chicken nuggets (no sweet tea this time) since lunch time found us on the road to the wedding. I decided I'd allow myself a piece of wedding cake (although why I decided I could have another cheat, I don't know), but when it came down to it, I decided against it. Instead, I thought we could stop at Starbucks on the way home and THAT would be my cheat.

Let me back up to say, I was up 4 hours in the middle of the night with my kids the night before... and then I had to hold my breath and wait in utter suspense to see if my three-year-old would, in fact, walk down the aisle in a wedding!  Oh. My. Word!  (She did. It was amazing and so very sweet, even if she did poke the bride in the bum at one point).  I was so exhausted on the way home and I still had a video to do. So Starbucks just made sense. But in an act of wonderful fate, we MISSED it, and I wasn't about to go looking for it with two sleeping babies in the car. We needed to make TIME!

My sweet flower girl and her cousin and bridesmaid, Caroline

I was getting frustrated.  I was so tired. I was hungry. I had to do my video. I didn't want to miss a day of working out and I didn't want to mess up anymore with my eating.  Then I remembered... I still had my Shakeology shake to look forward to!  YES!

We got home. Jason ran, and I had one piece of Ezekiel bread with avocado on it to fuel my workout. I made dinner (turkey taco salad) and then did my video (Dirty 30). Eloise and I enjoyed our delicious shake and my day was saved. Whew!

Sunday I headed to the store to stock up once again on all the good stuff. I packed my fridge full.  I enjoyed my Yoga Fix, and then Monday I started all over again.  After the total body cardio fix, I was not NEARLY as sore as the previous Monday.  And I'm still trucking along. Feeling good.  Enjoying good food, good workouts, and Shakeology. A few hiccups this weekend didn't derail me and for that I'm thankful. 

So what I'd say to anyone doing the 21 Day Fix or going after any health and fitness goal... Don't let messing up lead to giving up. Just get back on track and keep going!

An Overall Win and a Post Baby PR

Now, before you get excited, know that the two things mentioned in the title did not happen in the same race.  But both were still pretty fun and both were surprising. As I mentioned in my previous post, I had a hilly, hard 5k approaching called the Madison Skedaddle. I wasn't expecting another post baby PR, but I was aiming for something in the 25 minute range. Well, I had a great race and I felt good, but my finishing time was 26:27. I was okay with that and even more so because I was the first female to cross the finish line for the first time ever.  I think I've finished in the top 3 before, but never the first overall female. What made that even more fun was Jason won the race altogether.

My mom watched our babes so we could both run it, and it was a fun little race date.  And while I know my overall win was probably due to another more competitive 5k elsewhere and a 10k Skedaddle event, it was still really fun to win and I was pleased with my efforts on such a tough course. We concluded our race date with a trip to Starbucks for an iced mocha. Mmmmm.

This past weekend was July 4th, and I asked my sister to watch Eloise and Matthew so Jason and I could run the Firecracker 5k.  We ran this race the first time they held it and have run it every year we've been in town since then.  It is a flat and fast course and I've usually done pretty well on it. Last year I ran it with Eloise in the stroller and a teeny, tiny Matthew in my tummy.  We also announced that we were expecting on this day last year.

July 4, 2014

This year it was a rainy and cool day, which definitely worked in our favor.  I wasn't expecting much because all of my runs the previous week had been hard and I had been feeling so tired. But I was looking forward to it all the same. I started out at a reasonable pace, which is somewhat rare for me to do in a 5k.  I usually go as hard as I can for as long as I can and hope for the best.  But I decided to start at the pace I wanted to hold so I ran around 7:50-8:00 pace and stayed there throughout the race, finishing in 24:51, which was a 4 second post baby PR.  I was pretty excited about that.

The race got me out of my tired running funk and I was surprised to shave a few seconds off my current post baby PR. I enjoyed running in the cool, misty rain and I really enjoyed hanging with my guy. We ran our cool down miles and then headed home, stopping by a fireworks store to stock up on a few fun things to do with Eloise later that night.

July 4, 2015

Eloise was into it.

Brother watched from a safe distance....

TWO Sparklers!

Brother needed in on the action.

Holding Back

So my little guy is 5 months old, and what an amazing, sweet, cuddly 5 months it has been. He is so big and doing so many things already and I am thinking, "SLOW DOWN!" But of course he won't. He is a smiley, happy, roly poly boy who loves to eat, loves to jabber, loves to be tickled and attempts to crawl any time he is on his belly.

Tuesday I did my second post baby 6 miler and tackled my first post baby big hill. There are a few mean hills around my hood that I like to climb when trying to become stronger, and this was the first day since Matthew was born that I attempted one. It went wonderfully!  I felt good and strong enough to handle it.  I did a loop at the top of the hill, then ran back down and back home. Around the last half mile my calves started to feel a little tired, but that was it.

I was pretty excited about that run, but in the first few miles, as I decided what route I would take and how many miles I would tackle, I sort of had to give myself permission to push a little.  I've been holding back these past 5 months, but with good reasons.  I didn't want to become sore or injured as I started my journey back. I didn't want to wear myself out so that I was too tired to be a good mom to my little ones (what a physical job that is too!). I'm also protecting my milk supply, and so armed with these reasons, I've kept my workouts short while trying to keep them a little more intense.  No long slogs to try to add mileage, but quick 3-5 milers. And as I mentioned above, I've only bumped it up to 6 miles twice, and both times the run felt great.

As I journey back to running, my strategy and focus are both a little different than after my first child was born. I really want to savor these days with these babies, knowing and seeing already how fast they grow and change.. I don't want to be too tired to play and I don't want to be impatient if nap times or night times don't work out for me to fit in a run.  I want to be fit, sure, but I want to be a good mom, enjoy my babies, and take care of my family and home.

A perk of training this way is most of my runs feel pretty good because I am rarely worn down. I usually feel fresh going into a run unless sleep or eating hasn't been optimal. I've been doing some strength training as well, and while only making tiny strides in that department, I think it has aided me in holding on to a better pace. I know I wasn't running my current pace (sub 9:00 - 9:30) any time soon after having Eloise because I kept adding mileage, making most of my runs longer, harder, and very frustrating.

Now, however, I think I'm ready for a bit more in my daily workout.  I'm ready to push a little.  I'm thinking about adding in a once-a-week speed workout and allowing for more 6 milers. I think my current fitness level can handle an increase.  I'm also pulling out my Jillian Michaels videos and letting her kick my butt a little. Man, you really think you are in shape until Jillian gets a hold of you and wow!  Today I did a 20 minute kickboxing workout followed by a 30 minute ab workout. I was trying to avoid the outside heat and thought this was a better (easier?) option but I was pouring sweat and breathing hard!  It was GREAT!

So that's where I am now.  I'm trying to simply enjoy running while I enjoy motherhood. I'm trying to build a strong, fit, and healthy base for when I do start training for something - probably sometime in the fall. For now, I am satisfied with that plan.

Decluttering, Simplifying, and Operation Hot Body

Now that the Seaside Half Marathon is behind me (amazing weekend, 1:48:52 finish, wonderful family time, my girl loves the beach, etc.), I am ready for the next thing and that is what I have (somewhat jokingly) named Operation Hot Body.  What that means is I'm going to quit being a mileage junkie.  It is time to improve my fitness by doing other things.  And this time I'm serious.  Seriously serious.

I had a conversation with myself the other day.  I asked myself, "What do you REALLY WANT out of all this?"  So I thought about it.  And here is the honest truth.  I like running. In fact, I love it.  But more than a personal record in some distance, more than winning my age group, more than running another ultra, I want to FEEL GOOD and LOOK GOOD.  That's it.  Being a mom and homemaker and wife is what I'm in to these days. I want to feel good enough to crawl around on the floor, wrestle and tickle my baby girl, hunt for toys under the furniture, keep a clean house (more on that in a sec), read 25 books in a row, play in the backyard for hours, chase butterflies and baby bunnies, and do yard work.  Sure, running gives me energy for all those things, but on days when I am stiff and sore and creaky I have to ask myself if it is giving me what I REALLY WANT? 

So I'm going after what I really want, which is a hot and happy body.

Now for the decluttering.  I'm going to try this thing I saw on the White House, Black Shutters blog.  It is called 40 Bags in 40 Days and it is a way to declutter (my spell check says that is not a word) and simplify one's home.  I don't think mine is super out of hand, but that doesn't mean it couldn't use this treatment.  And I probably won't take pictures every day and document everything like the blogger who came up with it, but I want to give the 40 day challenge a shot.  Want to join me?  I'll try to status here how its going.

And now to the simplifying. I haven't given this much thought, but then again I have.  Today my last active client with Running Start, LLC finished her training. She's working with a personal trainer and wants to continue that route.  And I must admit, getting to workout and train with someone in person is probably better than what I'm currently offering.

When I started my business, I was working full time and I wasn't a mom. I didn't want to sit behind a desk anymore, I wanted to work in the fitness industry.  Now that I am a full time mom, it has at times been hard to be there for my clients in the way I wanted to be.  I also continue to doubt my knowledge, to change my mind, to experiment with running and training theories and what I think about it... and I'm not sure that makes for a good coach. Seems like most of the coaches I know, know where they stand on all (or most) things running and coach accordingly. I just feel I still have so much left to learn.

I would consider my coaching a success in that all the runners I trained who followed their plans achieved their goals and then some.  They continue to run and they love it.  That was my purpose.  Those who didn't try or who quit were frustrating to me and I felt I had somehow failed them.  I just couldn't figure out what more I could have done, but thankfully there weren't very many of those.

All that said, I'm pretty sure I've decided to dissolve Running Start.  I'm a little sad about that, but not much.  Maybe one day when my kids are grown I can return to it, but now is not that time.  I want to focus on my family and growing it.  I want to focus on my own running and fitness.  I want to continue to learn about it, and experiment.  In the mean time, I am still teaching the Walk/Jog/Run course at UAH which I LOVE, and I think I will work on my ACE certifications so maybe I can teach a few classes at the local YMCA.

Once I acknowledged the desire to dissolve, I felt content with it.  This is all from today, so I haven't taken any action yet, but I'm pretty sure I will.  I like the thought of simplifying my life a little, taking out what doesn't fit right now and keeping all the things that do.  I have tried to take the words "Know thyself" seriously the past few years and to let myself be who I really am.  To let myself like what I like, to let myself do what I love and to really acknowledge what that is.  I'd like to let God do His thing too.  I have a feeling I've been in the way of that as well.  But enough for now.  I've got to go fill my 1st bag. 

The Nashville Ultra 50 Mile

Well, it has been a little over a week since the 50 mile, and I'm finally taking a moment to sit down and write about it.  It is almost an overwhelming task, especially when there is a little 15 month old who dismantles the entire study if I linger in it too long.  I've been recovering and I've been a little tired, but this week I'm ready to slowly and gently ease back into it.  While my body wants time to mend, my mind wants to say, "Nnnnnext!" 

First of all, I did it!  It was fun, tough, beautiful, cold, windy, and great.  It was a gorgeous fall day, and I had an amazing crew to see at each aid station starting with my mom and dad.  They went with me to Nashville Friday night and Mom took me to the start that morning.  I ran the first 16 mile loop before coming back to the start line and from there Mom and Dad were at every aid station.

 During the first 16 miles I chatted with other runners and met a lady named Patty.  She and I hung together until mile 23 or so when she turned around to complete the 50k and I kept going.  She was so fun to talk to and running with her made the first half of the race go by so quickly.

Around mile 18 I got a really bad ache in my right knee.  It was my IT band, and it worried me a little because I knew it was WAY to early to be hurting that bad.  I stretched it out a little and when I got to the next aid station I took some Ibuprofen.  I'm not totally sure how I feel about taking it - whether I should have or not, but I didn't have any more trouble with that knee, other than the usual aches and pains that come with running 50 miles, and I didn't have any tummy issues because of it either. 

After I parted ways with Patty, I got a little more focused.  I stuck one ear bud in and listened to some music, laughing a little at the crazy, eclectic mix I'd put on my ipod to entertain myself.  Some songs reminded me of my sister and I growing up so when I'd see Mom at an aid station, I'd pass along a lyric for her to tell Julie, and then Julie would pass along the rest of it back.  It helped to know Mom was posting updates on Facebook and texting with Julie - like it wasn't just me out there but I had the support and strength and courage of my friends and family (and it was SO FUN to get home and read everyone's cheers and encouragement on Facebook when it was all over).

Around mile 29 Jason showed up with Eloise and his mom, Debbie.  Jason joined me for the next 6 miles, which would take me to my turn around point.  It was this loooooong stretch of greenway that just went on and on and on.  It was windy and a short rain shower blew up while we were out there.  It was COLD, but thankfully short.  I was SO glad to have Jason with me for that endless stretch.  By the time we got back to the aid station where he'd joined me, it felt like we'd been gone an eternity.  I ate some chips, took a salt tablet at Jason's prompting and drank red Powerade.  My appetite for anything was slowly leaving, but I knew if I wanted to keep going, I had to keep eating.

Mom joined me for the next 3.5 miles and then Jason joined me for the rest of it.  It was tough.  I was tired.  It felt like the ground was coming up to meet me with hard, pounding force that was worse than a simple footfall.  Jason kept encouraging me to eat and drink, he carried my water bottle and my tiny bag of chips that I'd gotten from an aid station.  I walked on and off, running about a 10 minute pace when I was running.  Just as I knew it would be, miles 30-40 were tough mentally.  I'd run such a long way yet I still had so far to go. Jason and Mom kept my mind off of that and seeing all of them at each aid station re-energized and encouraged me. 

On the way back, just as on the way out there were 3 miles of trails.  These were mostly flat, grassy trails with a few rougher patches, but nothing bad at all.  It was here that I began to pick it up a little and to pass people.  There was a lady in a blue shirt who kept passing me and then I'd pass her, back and forth and to Jason I said, "Let's pretend she started with the 5:00 a.m. group." (This was an optional start time, but the race started at 7:00).  Jason told me I lacked "killer instinct" and I could work on it that very moment. "Do I have to work on it NOW?" I said to which he responded, "You gotta start sometime."  We took her down and I'm not sure I would have if Jason had not been with me.

There was a group of four runners with two guys and two girls who were only wearing sports bras (which made me cold just to see them).  I held them off as long as I could but they passed me in the end and I couldn't do a thing about it.  I could tell by the way they ran that they were feeling stronger than I was.  When we got off the trails, the ground came at me hard once again and I could feel each footfall all the way up my body.  My legs had had enough!

I ran the whole last mile.  I was so excited to have done it!  I met my main goal of finishing under 10 hours, coming in at 9:31 and I was the 12th female out of 38 who ran the 50 mile race.  It was an amazing experience full of strength, emotion, weariness, perseverance, family, support, love, beauty and so many other things.  It was more than just a race, but I can't explain that very well.  It is an experience to be savored long after it is over.  There was almost a grieving period the next few days as I was so sore and a little sad that the journey was over.  Post race blues, I guess.

I had a wonderful time, but I also wanted to feel stronger throughout the race.  I didn't want it to feel as hard as it felt at the end.  While I was strong and I pressed on, I wanted the end result to have been a little better.  So it left me hungry, I guess you could say, whereas I thought it would leave me fulfilled in the conquering of a goal.  But maybe that's what running, racing, training and recovering is about.

Either way, it made me grateful.  Grateful for the desire to do it (which I can't explain).  Grateful for a body that will cooperate.  Grateful for sweet family to support my craziness.  Grateful for friends who cheer me on.  Grateful to God for the whole thing.  I know all good things come from Him and to me, this is a good thing.

C.S. Lewis is quoted to have said, "If one could run without getting tired, I don't think one would often want to do anything else," and I suppose that is my explanation for wanting to do it in the first place and then wanting to do it again and again and again.

A cool picture Mom took at the start.

Eating a chip after an aid station (I did this a lot).

My new friend, Patty.

Jason joins me at mile 30.

Done!

Merry-thon Time!

This weekend, in the midst of my 50 mile training, brings my first marathon in two years.  I am picking up where I left off EXACTLY two years ago by running what was my last marathon before a little pea-sized Eloise showed up a month later.  I ran the Southern Tennessee Plunge Marathon in 2011 and it was also training for a 50 mile race that I did not end up running because of the above mentioned pea.

So can I just say I am SO EXCITED to be running a marathon again!  I have no idea how I'm going to do. I think I'm trained even though I didn't get in the last long run I wanted, but I have no idea what to expect or what pace I should start out with, and I don't care because I'm just EXCITED!  I'm not sure I realized how much I missed it until this week when it hit me.  I AM PUMPED!

That said, I'd like to run between a 4:00-4:30.  I figure that gives me a big enough swath of time to play with, while still being reasonable about where I am now.  Before Eloise, I'd been running a LONG time and I had a BIG base built.  I have no idea how quickly that base returns after having a child, if it takes years or just consistent training.  So Saturday we shall see what I've got.

Because this marathon is part of my training, I don't really want to taper, but it is also a marathon so I should probably scale back just a little.  Finding the balance there is tricky.  I don't want to excuse myself from thorough 50 mile training, but I want to be smart too.  Shoot... let's just tell it like it is. I want to have fun, run forever, and feel good doing it.

Having Eloise has really reshuffled how I look at running and how important it all ranks in my mind.  Sure, I still have goals.  I'd like to win a 50 miler one day, I want a marathon PR (sub 3:45), I might even want a half marathon or a 10k PR in there somewhere too.  But more than that, I want to be fit, strong, healthy and look good.  And I want to do that while not taking one ounce of energy away from raising my little girl, and taking care of my home.  That right there is the goal.   I feel that I am better at those things when I've gotten in my run, but if any of that begins to suffer because of the run, I will have to pull up and take stock of things.

So far, so good.  My taper will consist of running every day, but the miles will be smaller.  Today (Wednesday) I will run with my Walk/Jog/Run class, probably about 4 miles.  Tomorrow I plan to go mid-morning when my mom arrives for an easy 5-6 miler.  Friday I'll do a slow and simple 3 and then Saturday I will race!  If I follow that plan, I'll have about 57-58 miles for the week and that fits in with my 50 mile training.

Did I mention I'm EXCITED!!??!

Two Races and One Weekend

This Memorial Day weekend has been so much fun.  It started Friday night with an actual date!  My mom came to spend the night with us so Jason and I could go on a date.  We've been to races, just the two of us, since Eloise was born, but we haven't really gone on what you might call the traditional date.  We had planned to see the new Star Trek or Iron Man but all were sold out, so we ended up going to Bonefish Grill and having a lovely dinner there.  It was so nice to just sit and chat with my fellow.

The next morning we all four went to the Our Kids 5k.  This was the inaugural race put on by a local church and they allowed strollers in the race!  This was my very first race with Eloise and it was so much fun!  As always, she was a trooper and didn't fuss at all - not even when she missed her morning nap!  I ran my fastest stroller miles to date with my splits being 9:32, 8:58, 8:24.  I finished in 28:06 and won first in my age group.  That was a fun little surprise.

Just finished the Our Kids 5k with my girl

The fam!

Mom and Eloise won first in their age group!

Sunday we took a much needed rest day and hung out at home until Jason's mom arrived to babysit Eloise for our second race of the weekend.  Sunday afternoon we went to the packet pick-up for the Cotton Row 10k which would be Monday - Memorial Day.  My goals for this race were as follows: A - beat my Run Through the Roses 10k time (51:53).  B. Beat my Cotton Row time from last year when I was pregnant (1:14:00). C. Don't lie down on the course.

All goals were realized and I had a wonderful time.  This race is such a favorite of mine because it is a huge community event and I always see running friends, work friends, church friends - everyone seems to come out for this event.  I ran hard, but probably not as hard as I could have.  I'm not sure why.  I started WAY too far in the back and that was my first mistake.  My splits were all over the place and the first 4 were not even close to what I wanted.  8:31, 8:11, 8:35, 9:00, 7:59, 7:40.  What in the world?  My watch time said 51:44.  My chip time said 51:31.  My gun time said 52:13 (ugh).  At first I was happy with all of that.  But since the race I have become more and more dissatisfied.  I expected more out of myself, in truth.

On Friday I ran 9 miles behind my stroller.  And before that I had 3 days of 7 miles - most behind the stroller.  I had a 45 mile week following a 43 mile week.  I just expected all of that it equal more than 52 minutes in a 10k.  But what am I going to do about it?  I'm not sure.  Jason says I need at least one workout a week that is fast - speed or tempo.  He's right.  But am I willing?  I usually am for a week or two and then I slack off.  I'm more interested in high mileage numbers, an hour+ of exercise a day, not wearing myself out too much so I can't be a good mom to Eloise, yard work, house work, new recipes...

In essence, when I'm not racing I'm content with my daily stroller jogs around town.  When I am racing, I'm aggravated that I couldn't/didn't/wouldn't do more.

And then I'm annoyed with myself for letting my 10k time put a damper on what was a wonderful, excellent, fun, special, amazing long weekend with my family.  What kind of ingrate am I for that?

We closed out the weekend with some BBQ from my favorite local place and Eloise got a little something fun to start off her summer.  Who cares about a 10k time when there is a precious bathing beauty like that in the back yard!

Oh the Places We Will Go

My little bambino and I have been busy!  We've been running (sometimes literally) around all over the place and we have had some wonderful adventures together.  If you read the previous post, you know we spent a few days at my parents' house while Jason was out of town last week.  Well, our travels did not stop there.  Jason got back into town late Thursday night, and Friday afternoon we left for Kentucky.  Our first stop was Louisville where Jason would run the Kentucky Derby Marathon.

Eloise's first race expo

This is what Eloise did while Jason was running

Jason is the tiny figure in red running around the corner across the street

The fam

 Jason did so well, finishing in 2:44:07 placing 9th over all and 2nd in his age group.  Eloise and I were proud of our fella as we collected him from the finisher's area.  We walked back to our hotel and Jason grabbed a shower before we checked out and headed to his parents' place, stopping by Cracker Barrel on the way.

We spent Saturday night at Jason's parents', went to church with them on Sunday and then headed home. Our baby girl was SUCH a trooper for this whole trip.  We didn't take the bassinet so she slept with us and while that was not the most restful, it worked out okay.  We were all three super tired by Sunday night, though, and I don't know about Eloise, but Jason and I were VERY glad we were all back in our own beds.

I will admit, when we arrived at the expo on Friday, I was a little disappointed not to be a part of the action on race day, but I knew it was the right decision for me.  We have a fun little racing streak ahead of us this summer and I get to be a part of all of it.  I know my marathoning day will come, and when it arrives I will be ready.

So after our travels to Tennessee and Kentucky, it was really nice to get back into our groove again.  Jason went back to work and Eloise and I got back on our schedule.  We resumed our jogging stroller runs and I continued the process of getting acclimated to the warmer temps and the mid-morning runs. 

On Wednesday we joined my sister, my niece and nephew, along with their homeschooling co-op at a local farm to pick strawberries.  This was SO FUN and Eloise was hilarious.  As always, she was curious about everything, wanting to be smack in the middle of it all.  And she was!

Ready to pick strawberries!

"Hmmm, what is this?"

Picking strawberries with my little strawberry.

The strawberry picking bunch!

Picking strawberries with Caleb.

EJ with her cousin Caleb.  She does love him!

Eloise gives it a try.

 

And she tries to give it a taste.  She stuck the whole thing in her mouth!

And my favorite picture, taken by my sister's mom-in-law.  My precious baby strawberry who is 9 months old!

As you can see, we had a wonderful time.  Eloise was a joy to have along, as always.  I absolutely love sharing all these new experiences with her.  She is so curious, so inquisitive, so interested in everything and I love watching her grow and learn.

I was going to take that day off of running, but the afternoon opened up before us and Eloise needed a nap.  I tried to rock her to sleep but she wasn't having it so we hopped in the stroller and rode to visit my friend Katie who had some puzzles for Eloise.  We ran 2 miles there, visited for a bit and then headed back.  Eloise fell asleep on the way home so I added in another mile and got in a total of 5 for the afternoon.  When we got home Eloise was still asleep so I sat on the porch and enjoyed the quiet, the breeze, and the sunshine on my feet and flowers while she slept.

A sleeping baby toting puzzles in her stroller.

I'm proud of my little garden this year.  I love all the colors!

My knockout roses make me smile every time I pass by.

It has been a great week being back home and back into our groove.  Eloise turned 9 months old on May 1st and I simply cannot believe how fast she has grown.  I love this simple little life with her and Jason, and I love our little trips and adventures together.  Blessed.  That is the word for the week, the month, this year... this life.

Our Trip to Seaside

Now that I've written about the race, here's a little bit about our trip.  As I mentioned in the previous post, this year we went with the rest of my family.  Partly because I'd been telling Mom and Julie about this race (although Mom and I ran it many moons ago before it was sponsored by Vera Bradley) and how they needed to come run it and partly because if Jason and I were both going to race, we needed someone to watch Eloise (although I will admit to getting beat by a husband and wife with the husband pushing a jogging stroller!).

We stayed in a cute little house called The Teacher's Lounge and it was right in the midst of Seaside.  I LOVED that. Everything about that place is so charming.  It had 4 bedrooms, one with bunk beds and my niece and nephew thought that was great. 

It takes close to 7 hours to get there from home and this was Eloise's longest trip to date.  She did wonderfully!  She did not love every moment in her car seat, but she was easy to entertain with books, toys, songs and the occasional made-up story. And when she took a nap, Jason and I would chat about this and that as we always do on long car rides together (one of the reasons I don't mind them when riding with him).

We arrived Saturday afternoon, checked into our cute little house and picked up our race packets.  We walked around a little and the rest of the fam grabbed some dinner while Jason and I enjoyed our usual night-before-the-race meal of peanut butter and jelly on a bagel. 

Sunday was race day (see the previous post for that) and then we had a delicious lunch at our FAVORITE place - the Taco Bar.  Oh my word.  The Baja style fish taco is something I dream about all year.  It was very cold, cloudy and windy that day so we didn't really hang outside much after that.  I hadn't brought super warm clothes for Eloise so we rested inside for the afternoon until around 4:30 when we got ready and headed into Panama City to visit a cherished place so dear to my heart.  Jenks Ave. Church of Christ.

Playing with cousin Caleb

A fun pack of peeps on the couch

 From the age of 14 to college, I attended church at Jenks Ave and I would say this place and the dear people there had a profound impact on my spiritual growth.  I have so many sweet and precious memories of these people and I couldn't wait to take Eloise there and introduce her to them.  I know she won't remember and the specialness was totally lost on her, but to me it meant the world to take her there and show so many dear friends my daughter.  As we sang I held her close and looked up to the plate glass window behind the baptistry as I used to so many years ago.  It was like I'd never left and I cannot begin to express the joy I felt at hugging so many sweet people.  I wanted to stay for hours and talk with all of them.  I wanted to know how they were doing and tell them about my precious baby girl.  I wanted to tell them that life was great, full of blessings and somehow I believe this church to be partly responsible...

My hope and prayer is that they saw it in my face, in our brief moment together, and felt it in my hugs as I'm sure I hugged all of them tight!  My family stayed in town to eat while Jason and I drove a very tired little girl back to Seaside.

The next day was GORGEOUS and warm.  Mom and I went for a 5 mile run that morning to shake out our tired and sore legs.  Actually, I think hers were just fine, although mine were a tad stiff.  We took it slow, enjoying the sunshine, the scenery and as always, the conversation.  I took Eloise out in the stroller after that and got a delicious iced coffee from Avida Coffee Co (super expensive, but super worth it!).  It was so nice to walk and sip in the sunshine!

After that, I had another sweet visit to look forward to as my sister Jessi and her husband, Nate came to visit and brought their three girls - the newest being only 2 weeks old!  I was so thrilled to see them and meet all of those precious, funny, spunky, cute girls.  Lilly, Layla, and Lenora won my heart as I knew they would from all the pictures and it was wonderful to talk with Jessi and hug her neck.  We walked down to the very windy beach and took a few pictures before walking back, the kids playing the entire way.  Eloise went to sleep, so I kept her snuggled close in her blanket.

The sisters and their kiddos

The youngest bundles

All the kids (Eloise was not super excited since it was nap time!)

Eloise's first trip to the beach.

On a bench in Seaside

That night Jason and I had a date with Mom keeping our baby girl.  We walked hand in hand to the taco bar again and enjoyed 2 more delicious tacos at a more leisurely pace than we had the day before.  I got a coffee afterward and we walked around, going in a few shops and buying Eloise an Easter duck.  It was just like it had been the years before, only this time we had a precious little bundle to return to afterward.

The next day it was time to pack up and go home.  It was even warmer than before and I enjoyed a short solo run down the Seaside path before getting in the car to head home.  Again, Eloise was a good little traveler and put up with her car seat pretty well.  We were glad to be home once we got here and I gave Eloise a nice warm bath and sorted all the laundry from the trip (there is a LOT more when you have a baby along!).  We took a few more fun family pictures before heading out.  It was another wonderful trip to Seaside and I am already looking forward to next year!

Grandparents and all their grand youngins

The runners and their well-earned bags

Looks like something special came in Jason's bag!

Maybe this is what you get for placing 3rd Over all. 

Our family.