Race Day

Trying not to freeze before the race. Thank goodness the rain stayed away.

Me and my Sissie!

Some of my MOPS friends.

Lining up.

Starting the race.

Finishing strong. (I'm on the far left)

I had two goals going into the race: 1. Jog the whole time. 2. Make it in 35 minutes (which I've never done). I made both goals! My time was 33 minutes 40 seconds!!! Woohoo! :)

The rest are pictures from after the race; waiting on family and friends to finish.

Auntie D. dancing with Munchkin.

My support system. Couldn't have done it without the support and love of my guys.

MIL and SIL crossing the finish line.

First timers

Here's to more races in my future! Anyone want to join?!?

A nose, a race and volcano ash

We're still struggling with allergies/asthma. We're doing breathing treatments every four hours, staying inside a lot, trying to keep up with a runny nose and praying for the pollen count to go down. I may take him to the doctor tomorrow because yesterday he woke up from his nap crying (this never happens) and said his nose hurt like there was an owie in it. Hmm...we'll have the doctor take a look.

I'm still running. Three weeks from today is the race. I am currently doing 3.25 miles in 38 minutes; a personal best for me. I am also continuing my weights but much prefer running outside. I like running outside so much better than on the elliptical so I'm avoiding that at all costs.

Hubby leaves for Germany and Sweden soon - as long as the airports aren't shut down on account of ash from the volcano. We'll miss him terribly. I'm praying Munchkin is feeling much better while daddy is out of town.

Well it's time for another breathing treatment so I'd better go. Sorry for not posting lately but we haven't had that much going on.

Happy Happy

First of all, Happy Anniversary (a day late) to my parents!

Secondly, Happy Birthday today to Great Grandma V.!

Today we had MOPS. When I picked Munchkin up they told me that he fell and had a bump on his head. It was small, and not a surprise, he is always climbing on things (in fact he was climbing on a table when I went to get him this morning), but tonight we took pictures for our church directory. Perfect time to get a bump on the head!

After MOPS we met some of the ladies and their kids at a local park for a picnic and play time on the playground.

We've been getting so much fresh air lately that Munchkin has been sleeping late in the mornings. We had to wake him up this morning to go to MOPS and I had to wake him up from his nap this afternoon to go get our pictures taken. It this pattern continues, we may have to start putting him to be earlier. Although I'm not sure how we'll get him inside to do so.

Tomorrow we're going with Mason and his Mommy to Deanna Rose. We went last Friday for the first time this season. Munchkin loved it (I've got a few pics I need to post of it).

I'm still running and doing my weights. I'm running farther distances. I ran almost the entire 3.25 miles outside today. And that's my goal to be able to run the entire 5K. I'm sure I could run it now if I pushed myself. But honestly I was just enjoying my time outside. It was gorgeous today.

Getting back to it

I'm officially back to my workout schedule. I ran outside Wednesday, did weights yesterday (I'm going to have to buy some heavier ones) and ran on the elliptical tonight. I would have loved to run outside again (using the term "loved" loosely here!) but it was rainy and cold here today. I don't get it, I ran 3.25 miles in just under 45 minutes outside and tonight it took me 40 minutes to go just 2.61 miles on the elliptical. Hmm.....

Munchkin is getting better. He has slept through the night the last few nights. He even slept until 7:3o this morning! We are still doing his breathing treatments a couple of times a day, but not as often as we were at the beginning of the week. He only coughs when he is overly active. Thankfully, so far the cherry juice is still working to get his antibiotic down.

We were both itching to get out of the house today, but I still didn't want to go out to a public place with him, so he and I headed to my sister's house to meet her for lunch. Munchkin played the whole time. He ate lunch once he got home. He was just so excited to be at Auntie D's house! And it was just what he and I needed to get through the day.

Tomorrow evening I hope to get together with my teacher friends. I miss them so much! What a blessing!!!

Steroids and Running! Ha!

First, Munchkin is doing better. We didn't get the shot. He is now taking his antibiotic disguised in a glass of cherry juice. (Now that I've typed that he probably won't take it tonight! Ha!)

We've still been struggling with the steroid. My mom came down today to help me get it down him and to give me a little break. I certainly took advantage of her being here. We did get the steroid down and I also got to get out of the house. I went to Target and bought some spring clothes. I also stopped by Sonic Happy Hour and got a diet vanilla coke.

I also took advantage of my mom being here by running outside. I ran 3.25 miles in 45 minutes. I guess I should rephrase that. I walked and periodically jogged rather than ran. I thought it would take me at least an hour. I knew that running outside would be completely different than running inside on an elliptical. And I have never run the full 3.1 miles yet. And I haven't run at all or done any weights since one week ago today! With all the sickness going around our house and my schedule, I just haven't done anything. What a way to get back to it!

It was so much worse than I thought it would be! Ha! Yes, I did a lot better than I thought I would but the impact on my feet and knees wasn't fun. I did enjoy the scenery and the fact that I could run outside without a coat. Side note: two trees in our yard are starting to get blooms on them! But the whole time I was out there I was thinking about how my training so far was clearly not what it should have been. But then once I got back home, I was totally surprised that it only took me 45 minutes! It is just a totally different feel being outside.

I just heard thunder! Woohoo! I love thunderstorms.

One last note before I go. We're sending our love and prayers to Great Gpa V. He had a hip replacement today. We love you grandpa and are praying for a speedy recovery!

Mileage and Video

Yesterday I went 2.52 miles. Slowly but surely I'm getting there.

Here's a video from Munchkin's birthday party that was held a month ago. You may be wondering why I'm putting it on here now. First, I thought you're probably just getting tired of reading about my struggles with exercise. Second, we only download our videos onto this computer, and I rarely use this computer to blog.

So there you go. Enjoy watching Munchkin blow out his birthday candles!

2.44

Tonight I went 2.44 miles in 38 minutes (10 min. of walking). Man did I feel like quitting tonight. At about 1.7 miles I seriously (well, not too seriously) considered stopping. It wasn't that I couldn't go on. I could, and I knew I could; I just didn't want to. Basically I just don't ask myself whether or not I feel like doing it because I almost never do, and I'm really good at talking myself out of doing things I don't want to. Anyway, the next time I run (Saturday; tomorrow I do weights and Friday is my day off for the week) I will add two minutes so that I'm doing 30 minutes of jogging. Since I'm adding two minutes, in theory I should go even further. We'll see. At this moment I'd be happy with going 2.45 miles on Saturday. I'm not sounding too positive tonight am I?

Now on to a subject I am much more positive about - sleep! Munchkin and I took a three hour nap together today!!! Bliss. Pure bliss! In fact, I credit the nap to my being able to get any exercise in at all today. Without the nap, I would have been much more tempted to just go to bed.

A second subject I'm much more positive about - Hubby! He had an appraisal at work today. It went really well. I'm so proud of him! He is awesome at what he does and highly respected by his coworkers (not to mention by his wife too!) In a couple of months, they are sending him to Sweden for a training. He is the only one going, so they're putting a lot of confidence in him. Way to go, Babe! I love you. Thank you so much for working hard every day to provide for me and Munchkin. Without your hard work, I wouldn't be able to stay at home and do a job that I love.

Tomorrow Munchkin and I have nothing on our agenda besides laundry. Hmm...what should we do?

A bit of this, a little of that...

I've been doing sort of an experiment with Munchkin's naps. For the past couple of days, he hasn't taken naps, and we've been putting him to bed super early. And he's been sleeping through the night, and sleeps for about 11 hours - which is pretty incredible for him. This afternoon he fell asleep on the couch watching Veggie Tales. What does this mean for our experiment? No idea, I guess we'll just take it one day at a time.

Tomorrow night we have our small group coming over. We're going through the book of Proverbs. Wow! So much good stuff in that book. Every time I read it I get something new out of it. I'm really looking forward to our discussion tomorrow.

On the 5K front, I only went 2.34 miles tonight. Honestly, I just wasn't feeling it. Oh well. Tomorrow is weights.

In the morning I have MOPS. Our table's mentor mom won't be there because she is on a cruise. I wish I were on a cruise. At least we actually got to see the sun today.

Sorry for the randomness of this post. I'm pretty tired. This is the first time the computer has been on all day and it is 10:13 p.m. Whew! Munchkin and I have been busy bees. Time for this busy bee to go to sleep. Good night!

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who has been so encouraging about the 5K. I am officially registered as of 2 seconds ago! With all your support, now I feel even more pressure... I mean now I feel even determined to do my best! :)

I also feel the need to clarify that my 38 minutes yesterday included ten minutes of walking (5 warm-up, 5 cool down). That somehow makes me feel better about the distance I went. Ha!

I've asked several women in my life (friends and family) if they want to participate with me. Please feel free to sign up! Just go to www.MothersDayRun.com for the info. Please let me know if you do. And if you need convincing, just let me know. There are a couple of you that I still plan to approach.

Today I met one of my dearest friends, Angie, for breakfast. It is always such a blessing to see her. We're hoping to make it a once a month thing. She lives in another part of the metro, but it is still close enough that we should be seeing each other more often than we do. Then, Hubby, me and Munchkin met my brother, SIL, and sister on the Plaza for lunch. It was fun being all together.

Tonight I was supposed to get together with my teacher friends, but the weather wouldn't allow it. The roads would have been fine on the way there, but I wasn't confident about them for my drive home. When we gals get together, we can have pretty late nights, so I felt better staying at home. We'll have to get together soon though! My time with my teacher friends is almost therapeutic! :)

What a wonderful day filled with time with family and friends; just what a weekend should be!

2.33

Thanks to everyone who has encouraged me to enter the 5K. I have decided I am going to do it!!! Mark your calendars for Mother's Day, May 9th 2010!

I'll start posting some about the progress I'm making in preparation for the run. Please keep in mind that I have never been a runner. I've never enjoyed running, nor am I a big fan of exercise. Period. But since the beginning of the year I have been doing it anyway. Hopefully a race will keep me motivated to continue being consistent in this new lifestyle.

Tonight I ran 2.33 miles in 38 minutes. I can't believe I just posted that. I feel like I'm totally exposing myself to you people. You can do the math and find out how fast I went, but I'd prefer you didn't ;) Compared to most, I'm slow. But compared to where I was at the beginning of January, I've improved leaps and bounds. I am running at least three days a week. I alternate days with some weight training. I take one day off a week. Tomorrow is my day off for this week.

So, talk about accountability. I've just told the world everything about this. Let me end tonight by saying thank you again for the encouragement. Thank you for not judging me, or laughing at me. (Although technically you could be, and I'd never know about it. But I'll pretend the thought hasn't even crossed your mind.) I promise to keep you updated.

And Uncle David, this does not mean I'll be skiing blacks in April! :)