Sunrise Run

I ran the Sunrise Run this morning. Called so because it starts at 6:30 a.m.
Tapie stayed behind so the kids could sleep!

- .1 miles I thought I wanted to throw up (not really but that feeling.) I thought how am I going to run 5 miles like this. So I decided sprinting 5 miles wasn't going to happen.
- .3 miles I let the two college girls in front of me leave me behind.
- .5 miles a big man came up breathing hard behind me with very loud footstrikes. I kept trying to tell myself to ignore the labored breathing. Fortunately he fell behind rather quickly (rough 4.5 miles ahead for him!)
I don't really remember much of the next 4 miles. I remember using two quotes I got out of Runner's World.

"Do or do not. There is no try." This is from Star Wars
"Pain is temporary, quitting is forever." I think it's one Lance Armstrong uses.

I really wanted to have a good race. I was able to keep a relatively even pace except mile 4. It was 25-30 seconds slower than the other 4. I guess I'll work on that next year. I managed to shave 1 minute of my time from last year and come in 8th out of 264 women. I was pretty happy. Racing is fun for me. I may never be the best but I can be my best.

Happy Birthday Aydyn

Aydyn had her birthday party today. She turns 4 on the 21st. My favorite thing about Aydyn is how enthusiastic she is about the simplest things. She is easy to please.

I also celebrated my birthday this weekend. Tapie splurged on me and got me a fancy chocolate cake. We're going on a date tonight to get running shoes! I wore my other ones out and that's honestly all I want for my birthday. Sad I know. My i-pod was out of batteries so this morning on my run I had lots to think about. So here is a motivational quote for everyone.

"The miracle is not in finishing but having the courage to start."

Happy Mother's Day

My kids let me sleep in till 6:52 this morning! Tapie's normal Sunday morning meetings were moved to 9:00 a.m. as opposed to 7:00. Church starts at 10:00 so you would think an hour behind him couldn't be that bad. I suppose I had unrealistic expectaions that my kids would not fight on Mother's Day. I said to my kids- if laughing and playing together is my favorite thing, what do you think my least favorite thing is? Cody, smart as he is, commented that would be fighting with each other. In fairness to Cody, Aydyn purposely bugs him . I was in the girls room getting Callie dressed and Cody runs in yelling, "no Aydyn, no!" Then Aydyn runs in and shuts the door. "Ha! Ha! I locked you in Cody." The door locks from the outside. (It was that way when we moved in and we never switched it back.) So with Tapie gone Aydyn had locked us all in. But, after taking the door off the hinges we were able to get out. A couple more fights later we finally made it to church.
But as the sun always shines eventually, we had a fun ride home in the car racing Tapie. All three kids were laughing and having fun. Smiles.

Mud Run

What's the best way to recover from a marathon? How but running a 4 mile obstacle course at a Marine Reserve Center. It started out with a big mud pit and ended with a big mud pit and lots of mud inbetween. I ran with 3 other team members and we did lots of fun things like climbing over walls, army crawl under things, and climbing up cargo nets. Overall there were 35 obstacles.
While I was out Cody and Aydyn had their own kid version. Their pictures were cuter than mine so I'm posting theirs. Tapie said Aydyn ran the kids obstacle course until she literally had no more energy and could hardly move. She didn't appreciate the cold shower they had to rinse off. She didn't appreciate the warm shower and bath at home either. But we are all mud free. Our towels, shower curtains, and floors are not. Most of our clothes will probably not make it.

Running parallels

There was a Nike t-shirt I saw in Boston. It said, "Running never takes more than it gives back." Definately true. Unfortunately they only had it in men's sizes.
It made me think of something President Hinckley said in a regional church conference I attended several years ago. I don't remember the quote exactly but he was speaking about service and giving to others. He said something like- you always get more in return than you give. I've tried hard to remember that.
As for running I think of that when I wake up in the morning and don't feel like running. Just like service you always feel better afterward and are glad you did it.

Boston

I don't know what made me decide to start a blog, but here I am. I tried face book, still trying, I guess with little sucess. Can't seem to run with it yet. We'll see if this suits me better!
I wanted to say hurray for the Boston marathon!
I am an average runner who works really hard. It only took me 8 years and 9 marathons to finally qualify! I picked marathonmom for the title of this blog apprehensively not sure if I was worthy, but I guess 12 marathons, 9 in between 3 kids qualifies me. I anticipate my journaling here to be about kids and also running. Not really sure if anyone we'll even read but I do like writing as a means of getting my thoughts out. (that's also why I like running)

Boston=Fun
3 cheers to Boston race directors, volunteers, and the spectators.
I met my friend Jen in Boston for a girls weekend. My only goal was to have fun. I accomplished my goal. We had a lot of fun. Even the marathon was fun. I understand the irony of fun and marathon in the same sentance.
As for the marathon itself we went out comfortably. We didn't care about our time we just decided to have a negative split (2nd half faster than the first). The marathon is known for its hills at the end and we wanted to power through them.
We spent the first 7 miles just cheering with the crowd. We wrote our names down our legs. I carried a cowbell (thank you Jenna) and Jen her video camera. The crowd gave you attention if you asked for it and I soaked it up. Rarely do I like to draw attention to myself but I made an exception. They made me feel like I was in first. I was seeded 13253! I felt like Oprah when everyone stands and cheers for her on her show when she first walks in. Odd comparison but just so you get a feel of the crowd.

Now for the mom side. Even as I write this my kids are fighting and taking turns tattle telling. A good friend once said our kids only bug us when they interupt our agenda. I seem to always have another agenda. I came home thinking 4 days away and I would be ready to be a mom again. Boy I was in for a shock. I had now tasted freedom! But after at least 10 breakdowns from Cody over how to write a cinquain poem for his homework (what the heck is a cinquain poem? Thank goodness for google) I reminded myself the grass may be greener on the other side (freedom) but only for a season.

The running side of me is now more interested than ever to keep running marathons. Running can take over your life if you let it. Some people spend their lives travelling around to different races. They have the "never miss a day" running club, the "I've ran a marathon in all 50 states" club, and several others I'm sure. I tried the mile a day (except for Sundays- I never run on Sundays). Didn't work. Tapie jokes about the marathons in all 50 states. I told him, "nah, not for me". But that got my mind stirring so maybe. I'm 10% there.
But I know life is about priorities and the right time and place for things and right now running 3-4 marathons a year is not right for me.
I don't know what it next. Should I train and focus on the half marathon? I'm just shy of being competitive here in Greenville (small field of competition!) I actually won a nice gym bag for getting second in my age group in one of the bigger 5k races here. The only reason that happened though is because the top winners can't also win the age group!

So sorry for the long post, I'll keep the next ones shorter. I'll try to add some humor in, my dad had a corny sense of humor, maybe I got a little of that, maybe not. But so life goes.