Mission Accomplished!

Today, I ran a marathon.  The Yuengling Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA, to be specific.  It was great.  Totally great.  And I will be sore for days!

We drove up to VA yesterday for a leisurely day of shopping and hanging out.  We first went to the Race Expo to pick up our packets.

My race bib.  I love that random people know your name and can "personally" cheer for you.

Mallory, me and Michelle.  The best running partners EVER!

After the Expo we went to lunch at Baker's Crust. Yum! But it took forever. We only had time for Trader Joe's and Target before heading to our hotel.  We got our act together and put on a few more layers (it got COLD!) before heading out to a great dinner at Isle of Capri.  Yum again!

The girls, ready for dinner!

The view from the front door of our hotel.  We got a little silly and a lot like 3 middle school girls at a slumber party!  The only difference-we didn't stay up all night giggling.  We were asleep by 9:30!

This morning we woke up before our alarm went off and got dressed for the race.  We were lookin' good!  We got a lot of comments about our shamrock tights along the course!

The shamrock capris.  Yikes!  Cute little shamrocks around the knees. . . Giant oversized shamrocks around the thighs and butt! ;)

The wind was howling, the temperature was really cold, and we started 15 minutes late.  Other than that, the start was great!  Mallory was not able to run, due to some health problems, so she was able to take a few pictures of us along the way. 

Can you believe there was someone else wearing the shamrocks?  The girl in the shorts was not with us!

The first 20 miles were fine.  It was after that that things got pretty tough.  We started to walk through the water stations and walked maybe a tenth of a mile another time, just to get through it.  We knew that Mallory was going to meet us at mile 23 and run us in the final 3 and I have never been so happy to see someone in all my life!  She was there at just the right time.  Michelle moved on ahead a bit and Mallory stayed right with me.  She even took my picture!

I don't really look like I've run 25 of 26.2 miles!  But I promise I was feeling it!

The last 2 miles were like torture, if I'm being honest!  Thank goodness I had Mallory with me or I might have started walking.  She encouraged me to finish strong, and finish strong I did.  My final time was 4:59:23.  My goal was to run it in less than 5 hours and I accomplished my goal!  Hooray!  I'm very pleased with myself.

I ran a marathon today.  I can't believe I just wrote that.  And I plan to write it again some time in the future.  Just not the near future!  Or even the sort of near future!  It will be a while but I think I will do it again.  I feel amazing.  Even if I can't walk tomorrow!

A Hiking We Will Go

We went for another little hike through Nags Head Woods recently. This time Dada was invited and came along! Everyone had a great time. We are looking forward to more hikes when the weather finally decides to warm up for good. It is perfect for a whole family outting, as well as a great way to burn off some energy. And since we are "changing our naps" these days (which Kingston says every day and I have taken to mean he wants to skip his nap), I like to make sure he is good and tired and ready to go to bed earlier than usual.

Chase me!

The one-legged pose.

A great family shot, even if it does look like an advertisement for SmartWater! Too bad I'm too lazy to edit my photos. . .

Family shot, take 2. The lighting was better in the first, but the composition is better in this one, if you want to get technical about it.

Handsome hiker.

We hiked about a mile and that was a plenty this time. There are a few more trails that are longer that we will try later. We had to ease Dada into it!

And on a totally different note, we have less than 2 weeks until our Marathon. Zoinks! (I've been watching waaaay to much Scooby Doo recently.) I think we are ready but I'm not totally sure!

Run! **UPDATED** Ran!

This morning, I ran. Right now, I am laying in the bed and I'm not sure that I will ever get up and use my legs again!!! Here is the update:

Tomorrow morning, I run. I will run my first 1/2 marathon. I am pumped! I am excited! I am totally ready!

So here is what I plan/hope to do:
*Wake up about 5:15 Nope. Got up at 5:00.
*Eat a Clif Bar and drink some water Yep. But only because Michelle shared hers with me. I forgot my Clif Bar.
*Make it to the shuttle bus in time for its 5:45 departure Did it. There were tons of buses and it worked out great.
*Arrive at the race start on time, with plenty of time to spare Done.
*Pee one last time Did it. Quickly. Very little wait at the port o'.
*Run the entire 13.1 miles without stopping (shouldn't be a problem since I have already run 14 with no worries) Easy. At least until the last 3 miles. They were pretty tough.
*Finish the race happy as a lark, injury free and ready to celebrate For sure! Unless you count the giant blood blister on my left arch as an injury. I don't. It's more of a Red Badge of Courage, if you will.

My realistic goal time is 2:25. My "I'm really pumped" time is 2:10. My trainer's goal time for me that seems really out of my reach is 2:00. So basically anything under 2:25 will be satisfying. And since this is my first 1/2, I don't really know what to expect. So what did you expect? If you expected 2:06:49 then you were right!!! I was so excited about my finish time. Very excited. And my girls finished right there with me. And my dad finished right there, too! It was awesome!

I'll keep you posted.

For tomorrow, I run! Today I ran. And ran well. Thankyouverymuch!

A Run Down Memory Lane

Tuesday I spent the early morning hours running through Manteo. I had to go to the courthouse by 9:15 in order to get my expired registration ticket dismissed (what a pain!) and I also had to do 5 miles. Solo. Tuesdays are the days when I run by myself and 5 is going to be the most I have to do on a Tuesday. It was the first time doing 5 solo so I thought I would try to make it a little more interesting.

So here's what I did. I called my Aunt Freda, who conveniently lives in Manteo, and asked her if I could take a post-run shower at her house before having to be in court. (I like say, "having to be in court" as if it was for something scandalous, or as if I was a lawyer or something! No, I just serve barbeque for a living, thankyouverymuch.) Of course she obliged, and the plan was made. I left home around 6 and got to her house just as the sun was coming up, orange and huge. I ran along the docks on the Manteo waterfront and had the most beautiful view. The sun was coming up, fish were jumping, geese and ducks were floating, and the docked boats were still in the water. Awesome. I ran through Festival Park and along the boardwalk there. I saw a rabbit and a few ballsy squirrels.

Then I channelled my inner Manteo High School Cross Country runner and ran along some of the training routes we used to do daily. I ran behind the Manteo Cemetary (where people are just dying to get in (hahahahahahahahah)) and up the road leading to Manteo High. I smiled as I passed "Cancer Corner" where all of the teenage smokers used to hang out and smoke, one step off of school grounds, and entered the Manteo High campus. I was overcome with memories of high school!

I ran one lap around the track, remembering exactly where my dad was standing, by the away team bleachers, when during an 800m race he told me to "turn it on and pass her!" when I was not far behind a Senior teammate who I never knew I could beat until he told me I could. And I did. I had to hold myself back as I got to the middle of the last turn in the track before heading into the final 100m where I should have been giving it all I had on the way to the finish line. I held back this Tuesday because I still had 3 miles to go! I remembered the part of the fence where my mom always stood, near the finish line, with all of the other parents, at every single track and cross country meet. Bless her giant heart!

And then it was on to Mother Vineyard. Try as we might, in high school we could never find a cut-through to shorten that loop, which my Garmin told me was a good 2 miles. I didn't need or want to cheat this time, and loved the easy, pretty neighborhood loop, writing my blog post in my head as I travelled. After the Mother Vineyard loop I headed back to Aunt Freda's house, a mere 5.1 miles later. It was a great run! I will be running in Manteo again soon, for sure.

And I even got to watch a few minutes of the Today Show and read a little of my book while sipping a cafe au lait in a cute little coffee shop before my big court appearance. I had a great morning. All by myself.

Sometimes that is much needed. A little time to run solo.

Let the Fun Begin

Half-marathon training officially starts tomorrow. It is pretty sad how excited I am about this! There have been times in the not-so-distant past that I would have thought running 1 mile would kill me, and I'm about to go on a journey that will take me 14 miles on one run in a matter of weeks. Crazy! But so exciting!

Tomorrow I will strap on my new Garmin Forerunner 305 (thanks, Mom!) and go for my first "official" training run. At 5:15 a.m.. Wow. Wonders never cease.

And on a totally different note, I made the really bad decision to not fight Kingston about taking a nap this afternoon and instead let him lay in my bed and watch a movie in hopes that he would doze off. What actually happened was I laid down with him and fell asleep for about 15 minutes but he never once shut his eyes. And I paid for it later, that's for sure! My boy still needs his afternoon nap. So much so that I put him in bed at the record early time of 7:15 and he was quiet (and asleep, I assume) by 7:30. Lesson learned. Crisis averted.

So tomorrow, I hope 2 things: 1. I hope my first training run is wonderful with my new watch! 2. I hope Kingston doesn't wake up at 6:00 since he went to bed so early!!!

Race Time and a Mouse in the House

On Friday afternoon Kingston headed to Nana and Wo-wo's house and Nigel and I headed to Virginia Beach to spend the night before my big race on Saturday morning. We stopped for a quick bathroom break for Nige and a quick self portrait for me.



We spent the night on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront only a few blocks from the starting line of the race. The people-watching in VB is beyond compare. It takes all kinds, and they were all at the boardwalk on Friday night! So entertaining.

I got up early on Saturday morning, got my stuff together, texted my friend Dallas to tell her I was heading out and took the short walk to the race check-in. Dallas and I met up, lamented the fact that we had to wear the scratchy timing chip velcroed to our ankles (and, yes, I have the blisters/raw spots to show why it was a valid lament), and moved into position for the race. It all came back to me! I hadn't run a race since high school but it was like riding a bike! I had to fight the urge to sprint out of the starting line and start picking people off at a rapid pace. It was a lot of fun, and brought back a lot of great memories.

I had set a few specific goals for myself and I ended up meeting 2 of the 3. My first main goal was to finish and not walk-done with ease. Another goal was to run the 3.1 miles in under 30 minutes. I didn't quite meet that one and I'm slightly bummed about it. My official chip time was 30:46. Close but no cigar. If I would have just. . . Regardless, I am satisfied with my race.



Here I am posing in front of the finish line. It was hot. Damn hot.

And meet Dallas, my partner in crime and the head OBX Running Mama. The race was her idea and it marked her 1 year "runniversary". I'm so glad she suggested the race because it was so fun!

On the homefront, Kingston had a bit of a sickness this weekend. Nana and Wo-wo took such good care of my little boy. His fever was gone today, although his appetite is still not great. For example:

Here is my little mouse sitting on his perch-

And here are the crackers that used to be whole and used to have melted cheese on top. I made them for his afternoon snack after he turned down everything else I offered to him.

He ate all of the cheese off the top of the crackers and took one little bite off of each of them. Silly little mouse!

Tomorrow it's back to early morning running, Ms. Cindy's house and work.

Happy July!

So far July has been busy and filled with fun. We went to some friends' house the day before the 4th (which would be the 3rd for you people who are good with dates) for a pot luck and fireworks. The party was so much fun! There were tons of people there and the number of kids under about the age of 10 was staggering! Kingston enjoyed playing and wandering around and getting jumped on in the bouncy house. We had a great time. Until. . .

We geared up for the fireworks. We had our chairs out, our juice (or beer, as the case may be) cups, and our flag.



Kingston marched to the patriotic music and kept asking when the big-loud fireworks would start. He was pumped!


The fireworks were a big hit. Actually the first 2 were pretty cool. After that, and after the noise got really rapid-fire and loud, the ash and cardboard started to rain from the sky, and people started running for cover, Kingston was not having any more of it. He fa-reaked. Screaming, "I wanna go hoooome!" I picked him up. "My juice cup!" I grabbed it. "Mommy juice cup!" I grabbed it. "Chaaaairs!" Nigel gathered them up. "Backpaaaaack!" Snatched it up. Headed to the car. We tried to convince him to watch them from the car but he was having none of it. He kept repeating that he wanted to go home. He has told the story over and over and over since then.

Fireworks. Maybe next year. Notsomuch this year.

On the actual 4th of July we spent the afternoon and evening at Jerm and Cole's house. They have a party every year and this year was possibly the best yet. Kingston loved swimming in the pool and even played a lot in the water without his swimmies on. He kept asking to jump off my leg and sink and then try to come to the surface. He can almost get himself back up to the top! So cute and so brave!

Nigel and our friend, Granger enjoyed a few PBR's by the pool.



Uncle Bill helped Kingston and Da-da build a "big, big choo-choo track."

Kingston enjoyed some coooold watermelon.

The 4th was great-especially since we didn't see a single firework. Kingston was happy about that.


On Tuesday we went with my friend Michelle and her 2 kids to a special showing of Sesame Street at Festival Park. It was totally lame! Well, Kingston was fairly entertained but I was not a fan. The costumes were pretty bad and the characters voices were not even close to the real thing. The only character who sounded fairly close was Grover. And Kingston got to hug him after the show.

The best part of the morning was having a picnic on the lawn with a bunch of friends.

We've been spending a lot of time at the beach, and Kingston is really starting to have a great vocabulary and appreciation of language. He is starting to pick out rhyming words and really cracks up when I say things like, "You ate a peach at the beach!"

I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer brings! So far so good.

And on the running front, my knee is feeling great and I actually ran 4 days in a row this week. Granted, I never did more than 2.8 miles, but at least I was out there. Tomorrow I am going to do a mock 5K and see if I can get some faster splits. I may be running a 5K race next weekend. More on that if it really goes down!

Proof!

I'm running again! Hooray! I am still taking it really slow and easing back into things, but I ran 2 days this week (only 1 mile, then 2 miles but still. . . ) and did crosstraining one day. My knee is feeling better with only mild pain while running. I've been so jealous of my running buddies and the miles they have been logging while I have been sitting on my butt. In a few weeks I should be right back in line with them.

And starting August 1, one month from today, I will begin training for the Outer Banks 1/2 Marathon in November. I will be doing this with the help of a running coach, Tonia, from Racing With Babes. She is friends with my friend Dallas, who is blogging about the running adventures of the OBX Running Mamas. Such solid girls and I'm so excited to go on this journey with them. Check us out when you can. Things could get a little crazy when the miles start to add up!

Running Around

We've been busy running around the past few weeks. We finally got over the illnesses, and have jumped back into life as we know it.

There has been watermelon.



Train rides at Dare Day.

Reading about trains with Dad.

And a visit to the hospital to see Grandma (Nigel's mom). Kingston especially like the fact that she could make her bed move!

And in other "running" news, I am officially announcing to the world (all 3 of you) that I have started running again. I haven't run consistently or semi-seriously since college, so this is a big deal for me. I started about 4 weeks ago and have already gotten up to doing about 4-5 miles at least 3 days a week. And catch this: I'm running at 5:30 in the morning. And I'm tossing around the idea of training for the Outer Banks 1/2 Marathon in November. Crazy, I know. But I'm at least going to try the training and see how it goes.

I'm quite proud of myself, if you can't tell. I have been meeting some other girls early in the morning and they have inspired me to get a move on! I'm hoping to shed a few pounds, get in shape, and feel better physically. So far so good! I'll keep you posted on how things progress.

Off to bed! 5:15 comes early these days!