My Boys on Playground Toys

 

This past Sunday was kind of a lazy day for us. We spent most of the day at home lounging around. In the afternoon, we did take a little walk to the playground near our house. The boys spent time playing on the swings and the jungle gym. They went down the slide and across the monkey bars. We even spent a little time playing baseball. I should have taken a picture of Gabe's batting stance. He gets so into it he looks like a big leaguer, it's so cute. Here are some of the pics I took.

St. Luke's Women's Fitness Celebration 5K

 

Today was the day for the St. Luke's Women's Fitness Celebration 5K. This event was special to me for two reasons. First of all, it was the first race I would run with my mom, my sister and my sister-in-law. Second, it was the anniversary of the first 5K race I ever ran.
I had two goals, the first was to cheer my mom and sisters over the finish line and the second was to beat my time from last year's race. The bonus was to get a personal record for my 5K time. I met both of my goals but didn't get the bonus. Here's a RR (race report) for the day:
I set my alarm for 6:05 am. The girls and I had planned to meet at Mom's house at 7:15 so we could make it downtown to the start line by 8:00. I got ready and got in the car to leave; there were left over raindrops on the windshield from a shower the night before. The forecast for the day was not good: chilly with rain most likely. Now, Boise has not had any rain in the last 59 days. That's right, almost two months. But on the morning of the biggest women's 5K in the nation, it rains! Just before I got into Boise it started pouring. Not little raindrops but big, fat, heavy drops of rain. The kind that echo off the roof of your car. It had eased up a little by the time I got to Mom's but when we made it downtown it was a downpour again. We walked (quickly) toward the start line, but just before we got there we decided to take cover in a parking garage. We took a couple of 'before' pics and a picture of the street outside.
I was running in a different wave than the other girls so I waited with them as long as I could. Soon, I had no choice but to leave the parking garage and brave the rain. I took a little warm up jog to my start line and tried to keep warm by moving around.
Finally, the gun went off. It was still raining and I was already soaked. You could wring the water out of my ponytail. My hands were freezing. But I started running. The course was very nice. There was a little uphill and a little downhill for variety, it passed by the historic Boise Train Depot, and also took us down a residential street past beautiful old homes and a spectacular rim view of downtown.
I finished the race with a Nike plus time of 28:06, about 45 seconds shy of a PR. I could blame it on race day conditions (it was stinkin' cold) but I won't. I could have prepared more and I think I could have pushed a little harder. But I did improve on my time from last year--by almost 5 minutes--and I did have fun. It was great to see my mom and sisters finish their first 5K race. It was also great to know that we weren't going to let a little(or a lot of)rain stop us. We are already planning for our next Dickson Girls' race--it should be the Barber to Boise 5 and 10K in October.
We'll all continue to train and I will post a RR to let you all know how we do then!

Check Out My New Ink...

So I had to put that title because it doesn't sound like anything I would ever say!! But it is true--I did get my very first tattoo. My opinion on tattoos has always been 'to each their own'. While I have been suprised by what some people will permanently etch on their bodies I have always respected the fact that it is THEIR body.
It wasn't very long ago that I decided I wanted a tattoo. I started running a little more than a year ago and I decided if I ever finished a big race (half or full marathon) I would commemorate it with a tattoo. Back in April, I signed up with a running group and registered for my first half marathon. The training program in itself was a trial. They increased my mileage very quickly and I battled a few injuries. Even through those I didn't give up thinking that I would be able to finish the race. It wasn't until the last long training run that I really considered not running in the half. The last training run was 12 miles and I underestimated the difficulty and didn't hydrate or rest properly. The run made me literally sick. I seriously spent the rest of the day in bed. Even the day after I didn't feel well. I honestly wondered if I was willing to put myself through all of that again. Was it worth being able to tell myself that I had finished a half marathon if I was miserable for two days afterward? 'No pain, no gain', right? It was a tough question for me to answer. But I wasn't willing to trash all of the hours I had put into my training, and I wasn't willing to quit.
Running is a very passionate thing for me. Even when I have a bad run, I love every minute of it. I love the way I feel when I finish, even if I'm hurting. It's a weird love/hate relationship. So, I decided I would do it. I was prepared to feel crappy, I was even prepared to walk part of it. But I wasn't prepared to not finish. I ran it, and I finished. So I decided I needed a very permanent reminder of it.
I did a lot of research. I wanted to make sure that the tattoo I got was something I would want on my body forever. I also knew that I wanted it on my foot. So many people told me that tattoos are much more painful on your foot and they tend to need touching up over the years. But I was okay with that--that was where I wanted it.
I decided on a Latin phrase, 'Alis Volat Propis', it means 'She flies with her own wings'. It's on the side of my right foot (the foot I take my first step with on any run) and I love it! I had it done by Hollywood at Tattoo Revolution in Nampa and he did such a great job.

Back To School

Okay, so I know I'm behind and this post should have been here last week but we have had such a busy summer. I think I might be glad it's over!
CJ and Caleb started school last week. They are now my BIG second and first graders. I can't believe they are getting so big. Everyone always says--"Oh the time goes by so fast, your kids grow up too soon". When they are keeping you up all hours of the night and throwing two-year-old tantrums you think-"Yeah, right!".
But it's true. Frankly, I have a hard time believing I'm old enough to have a second grader, let alone two kids in elementary school! And Gabe is just starting to get into the "terrible twos". I think this will be an interesting year.
But we did have fun getting the kids Red Sox backpacks. We had a little hang up when one of the back packs we ordered ended up being junior size. It wasn't even big enough for a folder to fit in. We took it in stride and "handed it down" to Gabe and ordered another one. Now all three boys are the happy owners of Red Sox backpacks! Hopefully this will be a great school year.
Soon to come...pics and post of the most recent camping trip!