Eeyore, the old grey Donkey, stood by the side of the stream, and looked at himself in the water.
"Pathetic," he said. "That's what it is. Pathetic."
He turned and walked slowly down the stream for twenty yards, splashed across it, and walked slowly back on the other side. Then he looked at himself in the water again.
"As I thought," he said. "No better from this side. But nobody minds. Nobody cares. Pathetic, that's what it is."
Winnie the Pooh
I can't take credit for this....it was posted on a message board today, but I thought it was a great reminder that no matter what side you are on, get out and VOTE today. It's your constitutional right!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
What date is it again?
November 3? Really? Anyone want to verify that for me?
The reason for my confusion is that we are enjoying some UNSEASONABLY warm weather here in Iowa. Nearly every day for the past week I've had my windows open in the afternoon....crazy!
Today it's supposed to get to 74 degrees and tomorrow to 70. Then we'll quickly go back to "normal" (40-50 degrees). So I'm going to enjoy these last couple warm days.
On my "to-do-while it's-warm" list for today and tomorrow:
• ride bikes with the kids
• hang laundry on the clothesline
• dig up some tulip bulbs that got clustered together and replant them spaced apart
• have a picnic lunch with Andrew
• play at the park after school
• go running
It's amazing how a spurt of warm weather (when there shouldn't be any) will make you appreciate it and want to spend every second outside.
Off to soak up some sunshine....
The reason for my confusion is that we are enjoying some UNSEASONABLY warm weather here in Iowa. Nearly every day for the past week I've had my windows open in the afternoon....crazy!
Today it's supposed to get to 74 degrees and tomorrow to 70. Then we'll quickly go back to "normal" (40-50 degrees). So I'm going to enjoy these last couple warm days.
On my "to-do-while it's-warm" list for today and tomorrow:
• ride bikes with the kids
• hang laundry on the clothesline
• dig up some tulip bulbs that got clustered together and replant them spaced apart
• have a picnic lunch with Andrew
• play at the park after school
• go running
It's amazing how a spurt of warm weather (when there shouldn't be any) will make you appreciate it and want to spend every second outside.
Off to soak up some sunshine....
Friday, October 31, 2008
This n' That.....random happenings
This is going to be a "mish mosh" post of random things that have gone on around here lately.
First of all, Natalie cracked me up last night. We walked down to my mom's house (we live 4 houses away) to give her a picture that Natalie made. While there I commented to my mom that the elementary school waits until the kids are out of money in their lunch account before they notify parents. Yesterday I got an email from the school letting me know she had 30¢ in her lunch account.
Natalie must have been listening....because then she piped up, "I'm out of money, but I still have cents!"
Mom and I laughed, then I told her if she had sense, she could always make more money.
Next topic....ouchies and booboos. Andrew managed to bite his lip when he hopped up onto a kitchen chair to help me make pizza dough. It bled like heck (why are mouth wounds so bloody?) and he did what any 3-year-0ld would do with a mouthful of blood.....he spit. Fortunately I had run into the bathroom with him, so the damage was mostly confined to my clothes (he was facing me) and a bit on the bathroom floor. His poor lip was really swollen for about 2 days!
Andrew has been practicing to be like the cat in his spare time. I think they both have the "lounging around doing nothing" thing down pat.
Well, I just noticed that this is my 7th blog post for the month of October, making it my highest number of posts in a month since starting this. I really need to work on that. I have lots of pictures taken and the kids do cute stuff every day....I just need to make the time to sit down and write about them more often!
November's goal....10 blog posts.....I can do it!
First of all, Natalie cracked me up last night. We walked down to my mom's house (we live 4 houses away) to give her a picture that Natalie made. While there I commented to my mom that the elementary school waits until the kids are out of money in their lunch account before they notify parents. Yesterday I got an email from the school letting me know she had 30¢ in her lunch account.
Natalie must have been listening....because then she piped up, "I'm out of money, but I still have cents!"
Mom and I laughed, then I told her if she had sense, she could always make more money.
Next topic....ouchies and booboos. Andrew managed to bite his lip when he hopped up onto a kitchen chair to help me make pizza dough. It bled like heck (why are mouth wounds so bloody?) and he did what any 3-year-0ld would do with a mouthful of blood.....he spit. Fortunately I had run into the bathroom with him, so the damage was mostly confined to my clothes (he was facing me) and a bit on the bathroom floor. His poor lip was really swollen for about 2 days!
Andrew has been practicing to be like the cat in his spare time. I think they both have the "lounging around doing nothing" thing down pat.
Well, I just noticed that this is my 7th blog post for the month of October, making it my highest number of posts in a month since starting this. I really need to work on that. I have lots of pictures taken and the kids do cute stuff every day....I just need to make the time to sit down and write about them more often!
November's goal....10 blog posts.....I can do it!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Yesterday was a GREAT day!
And do you know why? Well, I'll tell you. Yesterday was great because Amanda was at playgroup.
Now who is Amanda and why do we care if she's at playgroup?
Amanda is an adorable little 3-year old (same age as my son) who goes to our church. Earlier this year she was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia or AML. After enduring 5 months of chemotherapy, she is finally done and her mom said on Tuesday they got the news that her first end-of-treatment bone marrow biopsy came back clean...no cancer.
If you want to read more about Amanda, check out her site at:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amandaostrem
This is the first time she's been back at playgroup since being diagnosed and having all her chemo treatments.
She had a great time playing with the other kids and annoying her mom.....just being a typical 3-year-old. And what could be better than that?
Now who is Amanda and why do we care if she's at playgroup?
Amanda is an adorable little 3-year old (same age as my son) who goes to our church. Earlier this year she was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia or AML. After enduring 5 months of chemotherapy, she is finally done and her mom said on Tuesday they got the news that her first end-of-treatment bone marrow biopsy came back clean...no cancer.
If you want to read more about Amanda, check out her site at:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amandaostrem
This is the first time she's been back at playgroup since being diagnosed and having all her chemo treatments.
She had a great time playing with the other kids and annoying her mom.....just being a typical 3-year-old. And what could be better than that?
Monday, October 27, 2008
I'm the *meanest* mommy in the whole world!
Yep, that's what my 3 1/2-year-old son informed me today.
Want to know what I did that was so awful?
Did I take away his favorite toy? No.
Put him in time-out? No.
Refuse to let him watch tv? Uh-uh
Make him take a bath? Nope.
What I did was apparently worse than any of those things.
I'm officially the meanest mommy ever because I wouldn't let him eat a lunch consisting of only potato chips.
So if I don't blog for a while....it's probably because I'm locked up in "mean mommy jail."
Want to know what I did that was so awful?
Did I take away his favorite toy? No.
Put him in time-out? No.
Refuse to let him watch tv? Uh-uh
Make him take a bath? Nope.
What I did was apparently worse than any of those things.
I'm officially the meanest mommy ever because I wouldn't let him eat a lunch consisting of only potato chips.
So if I don't blog for a while....it's probably because I'm locked up in "mean mommy jail."
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
I did it!
The marathon was SOOOOOOO AWESOME! I would *totally* do another one someday!
I decided at the race expo on Saturday to sign up with a pace team. Basically it's a very experienced marathon runner leading a team of people who hope to finish in a certain time. The pace leader helps keep the pace steady so you don't go out to fast or lag too far behind in the later miles. I think that was a great decision because I know if I hadn't done it I would have started the race a lot faster and probably had an empty tank by the end.
I ran for the pace group until about mile 21, then I just had to slow it down a tad. My pace group was the 4:30 (four hours, 30 minutes) and I ended up finishing in 4:34.
My family was at mile 13, 22 and the finish. Here's some pics that Alex took of the day:
Mile 13.....that surprised look is because my grandma, who I had NO IDEA was coming (apparently she called my mom at like 6am this morning to see what time they were leaving) was there and she drove over 2 hours just to watch me run. I was so shocked and so happy to see her!
Mile 22....feeling a little tired by then.....go figure!
A few steps from the finish....what a GREAT feeling!
My medal. :)
My new tattoo. LOL! They were handing out pace tattoos at the race expo that showed what your time should be at every mile marker to finish in a certain time.
I just can't say how cool it was. There were tons of cheering crowds along the race course. People were out playing all sorts of music along the sidelines (I saw a tuba player, a few trumpet players, a harpist, some guy playing bongo drums, a couple of violin players, several bands, a drum corps and a few groups of cheerleaders!). The leader of my pace group was running his 143rd marathon!!!!!
The kids had signs that said "Run Mom Run" and they gave me five when I passed by. That really kept me going, especially at mile 22 when I was feeling pretty darn tired.
My hardest miles were mile 22 and 23, once I hit 24 I knew I was almost there and from 25 to the end went by in a flash.
I ran every step from start to finish.....no walking through the water stations and no port-a-potty stops along the way.
I'm dang proud of myself!!!!!!
****************
Here's a start-to-finish recap of the race including weather conditions and how I felt during the run:
The weather was GORGEOUS (at least for us Iowans.....I was telling my friend in Florida about the weather and she thought it sounded a tad cold!).
When I got up at 5:45am the temp was 49 and I think by the time the race started at 8am it was about 51. The weather people called for a "breezy" day which had me worried, but the course was through a lot of older, residential areas with tons of trees so we were very sheltered from any wind for a lot of the course.
Honestly, the first half was a breeze. At mile 13 me and the girl you see running with me in the first pic were about a block or so ahead of the 4:30 pack and we both commented that it felt like we were running slow. Again I'm so pleased that I decided to run with the pace team because I felt in the first few miles like I was plodding along, but it was a nice gentle warm-up for the long hours of running ahead of me.
The course was pretty hilly from miles 3-8 but our pace leader did a great job of talking us through the hills. He'd run this course several times before and knew how many hills were in front of us and would encourage us by saying "only 1 more hill to go!" and things like that.
At mile 12 we took a lap around the Drake Stadium track....very cool since lots of famous runners have been on that track during the Drake Relays. I think we all picked up the pace during that lap on the track.
From miles 13-15 there were some nice long, gentle downhills which were great for a breather.
I chatted along with my pace group and cheered on other runners (there were several out & back spots on the course....one at mile 8 where we got to see some of the elite runners who were at about mile 14 or 15 and man was it fun to see them fly by!) until about miles 18-19 where I finally felt too tired to talk much anymore.
I stuck to what I had done for my entire training long runs which was to drink every 20 minutes and start eating 90 minutes into my run and eat about every 30 minutes after that. It was a little hard to remember to drink in the beginning because I was so caught up in the excitement of the day.
At mile 20 I was still feeling pretty good but remember thinking that every step after that mile marker was the furthest I'd ever run before. Mile 21 was where I fell back from the 4:30 pace group just a bit. I wasn't sure if I should push myself to stay with them and risk running out of gas the last couple miles. In the end I decided it was my first marathon and really my goal was just to finish and to run the whole thing. So I decided the best thing was to slow my pace just a bit and keep running versus trying to run faster and then maybe having to walk some near the end.
Also miles 19-21 took us around Water Works Park which was the most open area the course had been on and we had to run into the wind for a bit which was around 15mph and enough to feel it at that point.
I was getting pretty tired by mile 22 but seeing my family there was a huge pick-me-up. Also shortly after seeing them was another water station and they had gummi bears there. I took a HUGE handful and munched on them.....they tasted sooooooo good!
Miles 22 and 23 were definitely the toughest mentally/physically. My feet hurt, my legs hurt and I could tell that I had missed a spot under my one armpit with my body glide and it was rubbing raw against my sports bra. The crowd was really thin in those areas so there wasn't much to think about except running. That's when I cranked up the volume on my iPod and found a couple fast-paced songs to keep me moving.
Once I hit mile 24 the crowd started getting bigger and I just thought "I can run 2 miles in my sleep, half-dead and there's no way in HELL that I just ran 24 whole miles to take a walk break now."
Once I saw the mile marker for 25 I knew I was going to finish the whole thing without walking. That last mile was the hottest one to run, it was about 12:30pm by then and the course took me from a loop around a lake onto a 4-lane road into downtown. No trees, no shade and the sun beating right down on my head. It was about 68 degrees by then, but felt a lot hotter to me.
I turned the corner and could see the finish line and my family right near it. I got teary-eyed when I saw the huge finish sign. I was just so tired of running and happy that I did what I set out to do.
Honestly, I felt I trained very well for a first marathon where my goal was really just to finish. The fact that I finished within minutes of my "I think I can do it in this time" goal was just icing on the cake.
When (notice I said a definitely "when" not "if") I run my next one if I'm shooting for a better time I will probably try to get in some longer runs (maybe instead of topping out at 20, try to do 23-24 miles at least once before the race) as well as some hill training. I live in the FLATTEST area of the world, we seriously don't have any hills in our town and I know I could benefit from running bigger hills during my training.
I decided at the race expo on Saturday to sign up with a pace team. Basically it's a very experienced marathon runner leading a team of people who hope to finish in a certain time. The pace leader helps keep the pace steady so you don't go out to fast or lag too far behind in the later miles. I think that was a great decision because I know if I hadn't done it I would have started the race a lot faster and probably had an empty tank by the end.
I ran for the pace group until about mile 21, then I just had to slow it down a tad. My pace group was the 4:30 (four hours, 30 minutes) and I ended up finishing in 4:34.
My family was at mile 13, 22 and the finish. Here's some pics that Alex took of the day:
Mile 13.....that surprised look is because my grandma, who I had NO IDEA was coming (apparently she called my mom at like 6am this morning to see what time they were leaving) was there and she drove over 2 hours just to watch me run. I was so shocked and so happy to see her!
Mile 22....feeling a little tired by then.....go figure!
A few steps from the finish....what a GREAT feeling!
My medal. :)
My new tattoo. LOL! They were handing out pace tattoos at the race expo that showed what your time should be at every mile marker to finish in a certain time.
I just can't say how cool it was. There were tons of cheering crowds along the race course. People were out playing all sorts of music along the sidelines (I saw a tuba player, a few trumpet players, a harpist, some guy playing bongo drums, a couple of violin players, several bands, a drum corps and a few groups of cheerleaders!). The leader of my pace group was running his 143rd marathon!!!!!
The kids had signs that said "Run Mom Run" and they gave me five when I passed by. That really kept me going, especially at mile 22 when I was feeling pretty darn tired.
My hardest miles were mile 22 and 23, once I hit 24 I knew I was almost there and from 25 to the end went by in a flash.
I ran every step from start to finish.....no walking through the water stations and no port-a-potty stops along the way.
I'm dang proud of myself!!!!!!
****************
Here's a start-to-finish recap of the race including weather conditions and how I felt during the run:
The weather was GORGEOUS (at least for us Iowans.....I was telling my friend in Florida about the weather and she thought it sounded a tad cold!).
When I got up at 5:45am the temp was 49 and I think by the time the race started at 8am it was about 51. The weather people called for a "breezy" day which had me worried, but the course was through a lot of older, residential areas with tons of trees so we were very sheltered from any wind for a lot of the course.
Honestly, the first half was a breeze. At mile 13 me and the girl you see running with me in the first pic were about a block or so ahead of the 4:30 pack and we both commented that it felt like we were running slow. Again I'm so pleased that I decided to run with the pace team because I felt in the first few miles like I was plodding along, but it was a nice gentle warm-up for the long hours of running ahead of me.
The course was pretty hilly from miles 3-8 but our pace leader did a great job of talking us through the hills. He'd run this course several times before and knew how many hills were in front of us and would encourage us by saying "only 1 more hill to go!" and things like that.
At mile 12 we took a lap around the Drake Stadium track....very cool since lots of famous runners have been on that track during the Drake Relays. I think we all picked up the pace during that lap on the track.
From miles 13-15 there were some nice long, gentle downhills which were great for a breather.
I chatted along with my pace group and cheered on other runners (there were several out & back spots on the course....one at mile 8 where we got to see some of the elite runners who were at about mile 14 or 15 and man was it fun to see them fly by!) until about miles 18-19 where I finally felt too tired to talk much anymore.
I stuck to what I had done for my entire training long runs which was to drink every 20 minutes and start eating 90 minutes into my run and eat about every 30 minutes after that. It was a little hard to remember to drink in the beginning because I was so caught up in the excitement of the day.
At mile 20 I was still feeling pretty good but remember thinking that every step after that mile marker was the furthest I'd ever run before. Mile 21 was where I fell back from the 4:30 pace group just a bit. I wasn't sure if I should push myself to stay with them and risk running out of gas the last couple miles. In the end I decided it was my first marathon and really my goal was just to finish and to run the whole thing. So I decided the best thing was to slow my pace just a bit and keep running versus trying to run faster and then maybe having to walk some near the end.
Also miles 19-21 took us around Water Works Park which was the most open area the course had been on and we had to run into the wind for a bit which was around 15mph and enough to feel it at that point.
I was getting pretty tired by mile 22 but seeing my family there was a huge pick-me-up. Also shortly after seeing them was another water station and they had gummi bears there. I took a HUGE handful and munched on them.....they tasted sooooooo good!
Miles 22 and 23 were definitely the toughest mentally/physically. My feet hurt, my legs hurt and I could tell that I had missed a spot under my one armpit with my body glide and it was rubbing raw against my sports bra. The crowd was really thin in those areas so there wasn't much to think about except running. That's when I cranked up the volume on my iPod and found a couple fast-paced songs to keep me moving.
Once I hit mile 24 the crowd started getting bigger and I just thought "I can run 2 miles in my sleep, half-dead and there's no way in HELL that I just ran 24 whole miles to take a walk break now."
Once I saw the mile marker for 25 I knew I was going to finish the whole thing without walking. That last mile was the hottest one to run, it was about 12:30pm by then and the course took me from a loop around a lake onto a 4-lane road into downtown. No trees, no shade and the sun beating right down on my head. It was about 68 degrees by then, but felt a lot hotter to me.
I turned the corner and could see the finish line and my family right near it. I got teary-eyed when I saw the huge finish sign. I was just so tired of running and happy that I did what I set out to do.
Honestly, I felt I trained very well for a first marathon where my goal was really just to finish. The fact that I finished within minutes of my "I think I can do it in this time" goal was just icing on the cake.
When (notice I said a definitely "when" not "if") I run my next one if I'm shooting for a better time I will probably try to get in some longer runs (maybe instead of topping out at 20, try to do 23-24 miles at least once before the race) as well as some hill training. I live in the FLATTEST area of the world, we seriously don't have any hills in our town and I know I could benefit from running bigger hills during my training.
Friday, October 17, 2008
M is for Marathon
Well, it's finally here. The day I've been training for the past 18 weeks. I'm excited, nervous and full of self-doubt (gotta work on that).
My family.....LOTS of my family are coming to watch me run. My husband and kids will be there, along with my mom, sister, grandma and my in-laws. No pressure, but I better finish, huh?!?
I have to give a big, huge THANK YOU to my "Stork Sisters" who posted the nicest encouragement thread on HCTS. I've got it printed out and in my race bag so I can take it with on my run.
I'm not sure what else to say other than if you read this, please cross your fingers, or pray, or whatever it is you do for NO RAIN and NO WIND on Sunday. The race starts at 8am CST and I anticipate finishing between 12:30-1pm. I'd love any thoughts or prayers for mental strength and physical endurance during that time.
I'll be sure to give a post-race update either Sunday night or sometime on Monday.
Here's my marathon training.....by numbers:
• 460 - the number of miles I ran to train for the race
• 208 - the number of minutes my longest run took me
• 50 - the average amount (in ounces) I drink in Gatorade during a long training run
• 35 - my highest number of miles I ran in a week
• 20 - the number of miles in my longest training run
• 18 - the number of Saturday's in a row I've had a long training run
• 7 - the number of miles I've run during this last taper week (and yes, I'm about to jump out of my skin because I feel like I should be RUNNING MORE!)
• 2 - how many pairs of shoes I went through during training
• 1 - more day until race day!
My family.....LOTS of my family are coming to watch me run. My husband and kids will be there, along with my mom, sister, grandma and my in-laws. No pressure, but I better finish, huh?!?
I have to give a big, huge THANK YOU to my "Stork Sisters" who posted the nicest encouragement thread on HCTS. I've got it printed out and in my race bag so I can take it with on my run.
I'm not sure what else to say other than if you read this, please cross your fingers, or pray, or whatever it is you do for NO RAIN and NO WIND on Sunday. The race starts at 8am CST and I anticipate finishing between 12:30-1pm. I'd love any thoughts or prayers for mental strength and physical endurance during that time.
I'll be sure to give a post-race update either Sunday night or sometime on Monday.
Here's my marathon training.....by numbers:
• 460 - the number of miles I ran to train for the race
• 208 - the number of minutes my longest run took me
• 50 - the average amount (in ounces) I drink in Gatorade during a long training run
• 35 - my highest number of miles I ran in a week
• 20 - the number of miles in my longest training run
• 18 - the number of Saturday's in a row I've had a long training run
• 7 - the number of miles I've run during this last taper week (and yes, I'm about to jump out of my skin because I feel like I should be RUNNING MORE!)
• 2 - how many pairs of shoes I went through during training
• 1 - more day until race day!
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