Finisher!!

Mission accomplished, yay! What a great race. There were 4,500 runners, lots of cheering crowds, many bands, etc. It was a beautiful course (ending at the beach!) and really well organized. The course itself was VERY hilly (the last one around mile 11- so not appreciated!!) and it was a HOT one (over 90 degrees). The last 2-3 miles the sun was just beating down on us like crazy and I really thought I might melt. When we ran through residential neighborhoods, many people were out watching from their lawns, garden hoses in hand to spray the runners if we wanted (and we always did). I generally run around a 10:30 mile but finished the race in 2 hours and 27 minutes, at a 11:17 mile pace. The heat and hills slowed me down tremendously. I read online that even the female winner (Malika Mejdoub from Morocco) said, "Today was a little bit hot. The pace was slow. Nobody wanted to push because of the weather." Yet she still managed to pull off a 1:17 win!! I was just proud of finishing, and that I ran the whole thing. My race mantra was "just keep moving," ha. Someday I might do another, and try to better my time. But that day will be a long time from now, if ever!!

Below pic: The two women on either side of me are other moms from Connor's class. The woman on the far right is one of the girl's running partners. All three of them are veteran half marathoners and were out there trying to set personal bests. They were much faster than me!! They thought it was funny how incredibly nervous I was -- I slept for maybe two hours the night before the race- nerves and fear of sleeping through my alarm made it so I couldn't fall asleep for the life of me! We all drove together to the race and took this quick pic at the starting line.

Finisher! Biggest flag ever.

Andrew lost Leyla's shoes (a real bummer because they were one of my favorite pairs) but he did not lose either child and in the crowds and heat I was just thankful for that ;) When Andrew and the kids spotted me nearing the finish line he lifted Connor over the barrier so that he could race across the finish line with me. But Connor thought his instructions were to "race Mommy" (Connor thinks he's extremely fast - he really is- and loves to challenge people to a race). So he gave me a quick high five and then took off like a bat out of hell for the finish line. I'm hoping when they email us pictures from the race that they got a picture of this because it was so funny. For the rest of the day Connor kept reminding me that he beat me to the finish line and that next time I should really try to run faster. I let him wear my medal ;)

So happy to cross that one off the list! Thank you to my family (especially Andrew!!!) and friends for their kind words and encouragement. Finishing this race really meant a lot to me and I am very appreciative of the support!!

Father's Day Weekend

My Dad came up for a visit this past weekend, making our Father's Day weekend even more fun! A big highlight for the kids was that my Dad brought his dog Oliver with him. My kids are obsessed with dogs (particularly Connor- he's going to make such a great dog owner some day!) Leyla more just likes to look. Or quickly touch and then run away.

Leyla and her Gramps.

 Funny action shot of Oliver. He loved CT!

 On Sunday morning (Father's Day- the one morning he especially should have slept in)-- I found Andrew up early. He had made the coffee, unloaded the dishwasher, and was already out to finish assembling the swing set so that the kids would be able to spend the rest of the day playing on it. Connor was helping every step of the way (which was really cool for him but obviously slowed the process down tremendously) Andrew truly is, such an amazing Dad!

 Finished!

 The assembly crew! Special thank you to my Dad for all of his help too. It was so fun having him with us on Father's Day. Looking so good too!

 Just before heading out to lunch.

 Nice Andrew.

Happy Father's Day to Andrew, who has (far) exceeded my wildest dreams of what a husband and Dad to our kids could be!

 It probably comes easy, since he's just a big kid himself (here they are doing cartwheels...)

Also want to a wish a very happy Father's day to my Dad, Gerry, Andrew's Dad and my Grandpa Don- we are SO BLESSED to have so many amazing Dad's in our life!!

Sprinkler Fun

It was a hot one today!

 My sweet girl.

 The water was so cold!

Little water balloon action too.

The Littlest Snow White

My friend's daughter outgrew this and gave it to Leyla. Needless to say she is thrilled!

Iphone Pics

From the last couple days...
 Pool time!

BBQ at Ashley and Jason's. Love their kid table!

Building Connor and Leyla's new swingset.

Leyla likes the "super fast slide."

Andrew relaxing with a 'rita and a cigar during naptime on Father's Day.

Connor's last swim class was this past Monday and they brought in this cool float thing. He especially loved going down the slide.

Miss L at the pool.

Dressing like Daddy.

Just Do It

The following post is mostly for me, because I want to be able to look back and remember how great I felt this week ;)

For the record I've always wanted to be a runner. It's so not in my DNA but I'd like to think that what I lack in body type I make up for in heart ;) This weekend I'm crossing a biggie off my bucket list- I'm running my first ever 1/2 marathon! The Fairfield 1/2 marathon--13.1 miles or bust. When I started this running adventure a couple months ago I was running only 2-3 miles at a time (and proud of myself for that). When I saw that this race was coming up in June I thought- heck with it- let's do it! It's something I've always wanted to try for but the timing was never right.

I've been following an online training schedule, one for super novices like me whose goal is really  only to finish the race. My longest long run was this past Sunday- a 10 miler. Apparently (per the schedule) the adrenaline of the race atmosphere will carry me through those last 3.1 miles. Here's hoping! I'm definitely proud of myself for accomplishing the training alone- as a stay at home mom (with one that rarely leaves my side) this hasn't been easy. I took it day by day- with a combo of running before the kids woke up, the YMCA with the daycare, stroller runs with Leyla, or on our home treadmill during nap time (did a lot of midweek runs this way). All of my Sunday morning long runs were done outside, around my (very hilly-eek!) neighborhood. During my last couple long runs I've tackled a biggie- Benedict Hill. The last .5-.75 miles of my street is a straight up (extremely steep) hill. For all intents and purposes let's call it a mountain. Advice given to me was that around mile 6 or so of the Fairfield 1/2 marathon there's a pretty substantial climb, so if I could find some good hills to run on tired legs (after 6 or so miles) it would be good for my training. Side note, before this training began I could barely walk up Benedict Hill, let alone run it. So imagine how proud I am when I've been able to run up it (without stopping, on tired legs) these last couple weeks! Towards the end of my 9 miler, when I was 3/4 of the way up the hill, a middle aged man came huffing (down) the hill. He gave me a wave and a fist pump (which I took to mean something along the lines of "carry on warrior!" ;) I was basically gasping for breath at that point so I could do little more than nod. During my climb this last run, the freaking Tour de France came down. I kid you not- there are no casual cyclists around here- everyone is dressed like, and seems to ride as fast/seriously as Lance Armstrong. So here I was huffing up it, when like 30 cyclists came speeding by. There were many waves and cheers and another few fist pumps. I sort of want to run up this "mountain" one more time, I'm convinced next time there would be a marching band ;)

Things I've learned during this training:
*I am capable of so much more than I ever gave myself credit for.
*5-6 miles is my happy distance going forward.
*Post-run endorphins rock! And I found that my energy levels have soared. Surprisingly, I have more energy at the end of the day when I've run 4-10 miles than on a day that I didn't run at all. Go figure.
*On really long runs, those gel/sport bean things are my friend.
*It feels good to be doing something that's just for me. And have no guilt about it.
*The only runs I regret are the ones I didn't do ;)
*I have, hands down, the most awesome and supportive husband- always happy to take over so I could get my runs in. He's been my biggest cheerleader too. My training inspired him to get out there more as well.

My Dad (more pics to come from his visit and our great Father's Day weekend!) took this picture of me this past Sunday, just as I was heading out for my 10 miler.

Wish me luck!!!

Tball Trophy

Today was Connor's last day of tball and with it, came an end of season trophy. Connor was so excited (he'll live off this trophy high for weeks!) I mean that grin is just too much!

Pre-game pancakes.

 Connor's team- the Anaheim Angels.

 Connor on base.

 Trophy time!

Yay Connor!

 Sheer joy.

Love this one!