Color Me Silly

I have a lot to catch up on, such as my 4 days without Lish and Yale, our trip to Chicago with the grandparents and Thanksgiving, my and Yale's trip in Northern Utah, and last, but not least, Kyle and Chelsea's wedding.

But let's go in chronological order and start with the Color Me Rad race. It was fabulous! Of course it was also St. George's coldest day of the season, and maybe the windiest, but it was still very fun. I knew of several people running the race, but I ran it with the one and only Katie, my running buddy. She's amazing and I'm so glad we got to do this race together. We had a blast and can't wait to do it again next year!

Marathoning

One of my stepmom's friends says she tries to do at least one hard thing every year. That's a good thing. And I've decided to try my hand at it. In 2010, I gave birth. That was hard. In 2011, I ran not one, but two half marathons. The first one was so hard, the second was just hard. Now it's 2012, and I ran a marathon. A full 26.2 miles. And it was hard. Training was hard. And I did it.

There was a group of people I started running with down here during my training and they pushed me. They helped me get faster and more confident in my abilities. I ran with one of the girls in the group for the first 12 miles. Then we split off and I was by myself for the next 11 miles. I felt pretty good until about mile 18 or 19 and then my legs started really hurting. Around mile 21 I started getting tired and just wanted to be done. My dad jumped in at mile 23 and ran the last 3 miles with me. That was awesome. It was refreshing to have some fresh legs to help keep me going. And to have someone talk to me to get my mind off the burning. Such a welcome distraction.

The last mile was soooo long! My dad warned me of that. Before he split off he pointed out a girl to me that I should try to pass, because I was running at a pretty good pace and I had been passing people for the past couple of miles. I felt like she was so far ahead of me that I couldn't do it, but I tried and I passed her as we were rounding the last corner before the finish line. That pumped me up, along with the crowds of people cheering, so I just started picking up my pace more and more and by the end I was sprinting. Or at least I felt like I was sprinting. I'm so glad that I finished strong. I think that's what made me the happiest. I finished at 3:52:43.

Such a great experience and I have so many people to thank for supporting me through the months leading up to it. But most especially Lish. He was so patient and understanding of my schedule of waking up at 4 in the morning and napping in the afternoons, massaging my feet after my long runs, being with Yale during those many hours, and making sure I was eating and drinking enough to keep myself sustained.

I can do hard things. Especially with so many people helping me, I can do very hard things.

Sometimes I Run

It's official: I have signed up for the St. George Marathon on October 6th. I'm excited to accomplish this goal, but not so excited for training. Especially since the training months are over the hottest months of the year. But whatever. You can just remind me that I knew what I was getting myself into.

A couple Saturdays ago I went running with a friend. When we met up, she asked where I wanted to run, and I said, "I kind of want to run to Arizona." She said, "That's funny. I do, too!" So we did. It was longer than I expected it to be, and there was a cycling race on the road we were running down. I suppose it was motivating to be running with so many people passing us. As we were running, one of the race photographers took our picture:

Yes, we look lovely. It was a fun run and it's great to have this little reminder of it.

Funny Pictures

I came across these photos. I had forgotten we took them a few months ago and I just laughed as I was going through them. Being a dork is the best way to live!

PS. For those who want to be kept up with Yale's health news, he was taking his medicine for his ear infection. He woke up yesterday morning, we gave it to him again, and then as I was changing him I noticed red splotches all over his chest, belly and back. Yes, he had broken out into a rash. So we went to the doctor again, and yes, he is allergic. We now have to be cautious with anything that has penicillin in it. I don't know if allergies are genetic or not, but if they are, he had no chance against that one. Lish and I are both allergic. Now the only medicine he's taking is some Benadryl to help his rash go away. The doctor did say, however, that his ear looks much better. Thank goodness. He only took a day and a half's worth of a 10 day allotment.

PPS. I found some running partners. I'm so excited. I'm going out with them on Saturday. Yay!

This, That, and the Other Half

This: Guess what?! I have a new computer! So, please be expecting posts from me more often. I don't know how much more often, but more often. I love my new computer!

That: A few weekends ago, we had some visitors again. Our friends Nate and Melanie came down because Mel's brother was running in the St. George Marathon. It was so fun to host them and get to spend some time with them. We love ourselves some Nate and Mel! And we can't wait for them to come visit again!

The Other Half: I'm sure I mentioned before that I had signed up for another half marathon after running the one in July so that I could run a race with my dad. Maybe I signed up for it before I ran the first one, because that run was hard. Anywho, the race I signed up for I signed up with my dad, my stepsister, Ashley, and my stepbrother-in-law, Collin. The race was held in Moab, UT. And it took place a week ago. 

We drove to Moab on Friday and got to go into Arches National Park. We hiked up to Delicate Arch, and it was beautiful. On Saturday we went to Dead Horse Point and then went 4-wheeling. It was so fun! 

The race was on Sunday, so the four of us were up nice and early. It was cold when we first got up to the starting line. In fact, I didn't start feeling warm until we had already been running for half and hour. The race was awesome though! We all stuck together for a majority of the race. I started to pull ahead just a little around mile 11.5, my dad caught up to me about half a mile later and ran with me for a while. Then I picked up the pace a little for the last quarter mile or so. I finished in 1:58:47! Under two hours! My dad finished about 10 seconds after me, Ashley finished almost half a minute after that, and Collin finished almost half a minute after that. They all did incredible! It was so fun to get to run with them. It makes me want to run another one. Not tomorrow or anything, but some day.

Goals are Meant to be Accomplished

I planned years ago to run a half marathon after I had my first baby. Well, I had my first baby (in case you didn't know), so I had to run. And I did it! I accomplished my goal!

The Flash 12K

I did it! I ran my race. And it was awesome! My goal was to run it in an hour and 15 minutes. I beat my goal by three minutes (1:12:10, according to the picture Lish got), which also set a personal record for me. I haven't run for that long at that speed. It was great!

AND I got in 3rd place in my age group! Yes, I placed and I medal-ed. And I got a t-shirt and a bag. And I finished. I finished my goal. I did it. And I'm still walking!

I would like to thank my legs and my heart, my shoes and my socks, my watch and my heart monitor, and of course, my husband. :)

It's been a good day!

Basketball, 1st Birthday and Running in the Park

Lish and I still haven't had too much on our plates lately. Just living the same ole life. Good life. The same ole good life.

Anywho, Lish just started playing intramural basketball the other night, so I grabbed my camera. I hadn't taken any pictures in a while, so here are some out of focus, weird colored pictures. Ah, action pictures in bad lighting. Nothing quite like it.In other news... it was my niece's 1st birthday yesterday. Isn't she just the cutest?Lish and I have decided to start going to the park on Tuesdays after I get off work. It's our new tradition. We just started it 2 days ago. I got off work, we hopped in the car with Jazz, and took off. I went for a run and Lish walked with Jazz, but at this park they have some hiking and biking trails. I went on one of them and it took me to this beautiful view of a lake. It was amazing! I'm going to take Lish up there, but next time I'll take my camera.

Welp, that's about it for now. I'll try to be better about posting, but I'll try to keep it as interesting as possible. For you, my dear readers. It's all for you.



Okay, it's for me too.

Small and Simple Things

Life has been pretty chill lately. And by chill I mean nothing exciting is going on. And by nothing exciting, I mean it, for the most part. I do have a few "small and simple things" to share.

Last week I got home from work and Lish said, "Whit, what's wrong?"
Me: "I don't know. I'm just in a weird mood."
L: "I'm in a weird mood too. I don't know why."
Me: "Hm, maybe we should bake a cake."

It totally worked. That cake looked and smelled and tasted delicious and we got to enjoy it for the rest of the week! Lish went and played basketball that night and I stayed home and did a workout video. When Lish got back home, he asked what I did that night. I told him, "What I wanted to do was sit in front of the TV and veg while snacking on some cereal. But I didn't." He suggested we have a cereal party the next night for dinner.

Moving on to the next night... I got home from work and went for a run. While I was out running, Lish went to the grocery store and bought 7, yes, SEVEN, boxes of cereal. We already had 3 different kinds, but that just wasn't enough for our cereal party. WE LOVE CEREAL! So we had cereal, pop tarts, and fruit for dinner. It was pretty much amazing.

Last, but not least, I am a runner. Yes, I run and I enjoy it. Who woulda thunk? I decided back in November that I wanted to run a 10K. I couldn't find a 10K around Tallahassee, but I found a 15K in a city that's 2 1/2 hours away from here. But that's 2 1/2 hours away and we'd have to pay for a hotel, and the expenses started building up for this race. So, I checked again and there is a 12K race right here in Tally on February 20th. And yours truly is going to run in it. I'm excited! I ran the length of a 10K just a week and a half ago, and it felt great!

And what's even better is that I get a t-shirt with a picture of "The Flash" on it. This is going to be the best. race. ever!

This Morning I...

Tallahassee has had some hot weather lately. It's summertime, so this comes as no surprise. It's hot, it's humid, you can't walk outside long before you start "glistening." Ah, the south. However, yesterday morning when I got up to exercise, I pulled out Lish's iTouch to see what the weather would be like for the day. Do you know what the temperature was? 59. Before I left for work, it had gone up to 62. The low 60's! I loved it!

Hoping that it would be cool again, I decided to go for a run this morning. My hopes were fulfilled. Cool weather again. Had my iPod. My knee brace. I was set. And it was one of the most amazing runs I've ever had! I was out before the sun came up, so I got to see the sunrise. Snow Patrol was running along with me, keeping me from getting bored. I ran a route that I've run before, but I decided to keep going. I ran up a hill, turned down a street I hadn't been down yet, and I got lost. But I didn't turn around. I just kept running. I found my way out eventually. It was a beautiful and quiet neighborhood. I would like to get lost in it again.

I was getting worried about the time, knowing I had to be to work on time today. I headed home to find out I had been gone for only 40 minutes. This story probably made it seem longer. I haven't run for weeks though. And I haven't run that long for months. And even though my iPod froze while I was in the unknown neighborhood, the run was rejuvenating.

Plus, I feel like my arms look skinnier than they did yesterday.