13.1

Finally. After 3 years of running and 2 years of Half Marathon training I finally completed my first Half Marathon. 13.1 miles.

12 days before the race I signed up. Most people in their right minds would not sign up just 12 days prior to an event where you will be running for endurance. Well, I had a strategy. 2 years ago I signed up for the Carlsbad Half Marathon in August...the race is in January. I implemented a training regimen that was so time consuming and brutal that I injured myself in December and missed the race 7 weeks later. With only 12 days notice I was sure I wouldn't injure myself and I knew I could complete the distance even if it wasn't pretty.

Wasn't pretty was an understatement. The Brooksie Way was ranked by active.com as one of the most scenic Half Marathons in the country. Scenic is running code for HILLS! Lots and lots of hills with killer elevations. And where are those hills in relation to the 13.1 miles? The massive hills START at mile 7 and don't end until the finish line.

I was cruising for the first 10K of the race. Feeling excellent about my time. There were some hills but they were tolerable and weren't slowing me down. the course was nice and after all I was 6.2 miles in. At the halfway mark I needed to run to the bathroom....when I say run I mean, I had to run a tenth of a mile out of the way. Not fair when the men running the race could jog off the side of an embankment and continue on. That potty break not only added to my distance for the next 6 miles but it also took 3 minutes that counted into my chip time.

I knew about the hills in miles 7-10. I tried to remain upbeat and what was to come when I turned the corner onto Tienken Road. I had recently run another race on this stretch and I knew it was painful mentally. I got to mile 9 in good time.

But, mile 9 is where I ran out of mental energy. Only 4 miles left. I was on pace to finish in 2:20...only 15 minutes off my previous goal from 2009. A mere :30 off each mile time. Then something happened....

The competitive walkers, the people who are not even allowed to run the race....they must walk, started passing me uphill. WHAT?! I'm still running here people...albeit slow, I'm running. You are not allowed to pass uphill while walking when I AM RUNNING!

All the energy left my body. People that I had been ahead of the whole race started slowly passing me by. i started walking more and running less. The minutes were slipping by. The free beer table was up ahead. Now, normally during a race I would skip the beer stand. But, I was in mile 9 and the walkers were passing me....I took the beer.

Mile 12 rolled around. Only 1.2 miles left. There was a sign saying "it's all downhill from here". I got excited...and then I realized, IT WAS A LIE! Not only was it zero downhill, it was MORE uphill. The last mile seemed like the longest. The people who had finished an hour ago were walking back to their cars....ugh. I was still stuck with the walkers at the end of the race.

I was still under 3 hours but time was ticking by and now I was well over 2 minutes per mile slower than ever. I can see the finish line...last corner.

SERIOUSLY! A steep uphill finish. Shoot me now. You want to run fast at the end because usually there is a camera. I dig in, determined to find some sort of strength to run up this hill. My legs are stumps and have been numb for miles. I send a message to my brain to make them move.

I crossed the finish line into the arms of my 11 year old yelling...GOOD JOB MOMMY!

I really don't ever want to run a half marathon again. At least not without training and beating the pants off my pitiful time of 2:38:11 (with a 3 minute potty break).

I think I've earned my badge of courage and will buy myself one of those 13.1 stickers for the mom machine.

What I did on my Summer Vacation 2011

It's been another 2 months. We've just completed the longest summer vacation we've ever had. the kids are all tucked into bed tonight dreaming of another school year starting tomorrow.

This summer we.....

Moved to a new house
Learned how to ride 2-wheeled bikes
Ava had a Ballet recital
Isabella and Sophia did a basketball camp
Ava had fun at dance camp
We bought a Metroparks Pass and spent some hot afternoons at Stony Creek Metropark Beach
We visited Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village
We went cherry picking and baked lots of various cherry treats with our fresh cherries
We went to a birthday party at Skull Island
Quentin learned how to skateboard
Quentin went to Hockey Camp
We had fun on a giant slip and slide and played under the fire hose at Van Hoosen Farm
We saw a few movies at the theater
We shopped the Rochester Sidewalk Sales
We had playdate sand sleepovers with friends
We went to Lansing, MI, our state capital and toured the capital building and the MI Supreme Court building
We went tot he Potter Park Zoo in Lansing
We celebrated Isabella's 11th birthday
We went Roller Skating at the roller rink a couple times
We revisited an old zoo favorite...the Toledo Zoo
We had fun with family
Isabella played in a couple soccer tournaments
Isabella had a few soccer camps
Quentin & Ava had soccer camp
Sophia had Piano lessons all summer
Isabella went to math camp and had FUN!
We had a couple BBQ's and we went to a couple BBQ's.
We spent a long weekend on the West Coast of MI. We saw a lighthouse (Big Red) and a Windmill. We dipped our toes in the shores of Lake Michigan. We collected rocks. We went to Michigan's Adventure amusement park. We played in and hiked the sand dunes of Saugatuck and we took a jeep tour. We went to Grand Rapids and toured the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum.

Wow!

It's been 2 months. I've been MIA, disappeared, gone but not forgotten. The last 2 months has been the craziest times I've had in a very long time. I have been so unbelievably busy beyond anything ever sustainable or imaginable.

About a week ago I finally released the breath I've held for the last 2 months and declared that I am done. Crossed the last of the major projects off the list and started trying to enjoy summer vacation.

We've done so much I can't even remember it all. We've finished school for the year, finished soccer, finished ice skating, finished ballet and moved into our final home. what started off as a few small projects turned into some major projects around the new house and knowing that the house was vacant for 23 days before furniture we tried to capitalize on that. We're settled and luckily we didn't waste the whole summer away.

We still have 2 months before school starts and we're signed up for all kinds of camps and activities and we even have a few weekends off to enjoy some day trips and visits with friends and family and days on the beach.

Relax and breathe...that's the plan until Fall.

Run Like Your Mother

The family had signed up for our annual 5K race on Saturday. There were threats of rain and cold temperatures but it turned out to be a lovely morning for a run on the Paint Creek Trail.

Isabella was asked to play as a guest player in a last minute soccer tournament and Rami had to take her. Q had a nasty cough so 3 runners were eliminated before the race even started.

Ava, Sophia and I were pumped. We were going to run this race. Unfortunately, our position in the starting line was not optimal, due to the stroller. Starting dead last....

We managed to fight our way forward through some narrow terrain. I asked Ava and Sophia to stay with me until I released them. We hit the half mile and finally got into a good pace. I paced Ava and told her to do what she needed to do. With 6 races under her belt in a year she's a pro now.

Sophia stayed with us until the mile and a half mark and then she was at her max. She had to slow down. I am so proud of her accomplishment on Saturday.

I did my best to stay within eye sight of both girls while pushing 50 pounds of wiggly boy in the stroller.

Ava finished with a PR of 33:45 (6th place girls under 10), I finished in 35:32 (Ava's normal time and in 19th place out of 30 in the F30-39) and Sophia finished strong in 39:21 (her previous best time before she had to take a hiatus last summer and placing in 10th place for girls under 10).

I hope they continue to run like girls!

School District Art Show

Isabella is an artist with no formal training.

She came home last week with a postcard stating that a piece of art she made in art class would be featured in a district honor...the district art show.

Why does she have no formal art training? In California the arts program has been cut from schools for quite some time. Having moved to Michigan, Isabella has been exposed to an actual art teacher, an art classroom and new style of art that have intrigued her.

One such style is sculpture. Isabella made a wood sculpture that has won this prestigious honor of being shown in the art show. Since it's 5th grade the kids are not actually allowed to sculpt wood with tools. So, they were told to look through a box of shaped wood and let the wood "talk to them". Isabella was originally thinking of making a Panda Bear. However, she came across an interesting shape and let the wood speak. The wood told her to make a Seal instead.

I love her piece and I think it looks very authentic to the Oaxian style that the teacher was teaching about.

Bravo.

Easter Celebration

Mother Nature decided to be nice to me. She decided to allow me a nice weekend for Easter. Easter was the latest it has been in 43 years this year. Falling at the end of April. But, the Michigan weather was feeling like it was mid-January instead of Spring.

We had a beautiful morning, candy for breakfast, enjoyed a beautiful church service in a packed church. Spent the midday preparing for company. And then spent the afternoon and evening relaxing with family and eating food until we were stuffed.

The Easter menu:

An assortment of fresh fruits, veggies, dips and chips to start with

Biggest Honey Baked Ham Rami could buy.

Cheesy Potatoes

Peas and Carrots

Crescent Rolls

Deviled Eggs (hey we colored 36 eggs...someone has to eat them)

Strawberry Spinach salad nix the traditional walnuts

And for dessert....

Lamp shaped cake (thanks Pete)

Cheesecake (Thanks Susan)

Poppyseed Cake (Thanks Oma)

Awesome coffee (me)

With full bellies and full hearts thankful for the opportunities that God gave us we ate and ate and ate.

She's got the moves

Ava has really turned into a wonderful soccer player. She started playing soccer when she was 4 years old. I had signed her up for a camp at age 4 with Isabella's old club soccer coaches in California. At the time Ava just looked like a kiddo having fun with the ball. She couldn't run fast, she was small, but she was out there with tenacity. The coach pulled me aside at the end of the camp and said that one day Ava would be a very good soccer player and that she has skills and mobility that many don't have at 4 years old. I laughed...how can they see that? At the time I attributed it to the fact that she is very agile from taking ballet very seriously since she was 2.

Ava does everything with determination and focus. She is competitive in a motivating, fierce way. She was too late for MI Fall soccer when we moved here. So, I signed her up for a series of weekend clinics from January through March. The clinic director recruited her for a mini indoor season and last week she started playing outdoor spring soccer with the local recreational league.

She's been simply amazing to watch. Her skill set has improved 10 fold since last Fall. I am so proud of her and her hard work and motivation. And, when I watch the look on her face when the other team scores a goal I know she has her mind set that she must work harder. She doesn't yell or scream at anyone, she goes out there on the field and makes it happen, gotta get the goal.

And she does it all while running down the field telling Rami to be quiet and stop telling her what to do...always the coach. ;)