Second Chances....

Remember last year about this time? Probably not. But I won't ever forget. I vowed after that day that I would redeem myself one day. Only. Winter hit and I vowed I would never run another half marathon again in this lifetime. Every time I ran with my girls they'd talk about training for one. I'd completely ignore the conversation. I ran a 10k in March with them and renewed my feelings of complete devotion to the 10k. I love them. Summer hit and I started training with a personal trainer. My running severely suffered because I was sore and exhausted all the time. But I still managed 3 or 4 miles a few days a week. My trainer moved, summer ended, and I somehow was convinced to run 7 miles with a few of my girls. One girl (Michelle) that particular day needed to run 8 because she was training for a half. Guess what? After 7 miles I felt good. Good enough that I went the 8 distance. It was that day that I decided it was time. Time to redeem myself. And to prove to myself that distance isn't my mortal enemy. So I did it. I signed up for the Waddell & Reed Half Marathon slated for October 16th. This was early September that I decided. The race? Today. This morning. Some of my girls got the bug too, so Jennie, Sarah, Michelle, and I headed down yesterday afternoon. We shopped our way to our hotel, then headed over to the race expo to pick up our packets. We were a giant bundle of nervous energy. So was the feeling of the entire expo. Glorious.

We were starving after the expo so we headed to Noodles & Company to load up on carbs. No pictures taken because by the time we got there I was starving and inhaled my food too fast to even think about photo ops. Back to our hotel and all ready for bed by----8:45. We couldn't believe how early we were ready to settle down. Of course, we chatted until 10:30 or so. But. We were actually in bed. Fabulous.

5 AM came pretty early. Because it is just that. Early. Nerves. What to wear? Long sleeves? Jacket over short sleeves? Too hot? Too cold? We questioned every move we made and everything we put on our bodies. We opted for short sleeves and shorts because it was 55 degrees out. Exactly what weather we'd been training in. Perfect running temperature.

We drove to the race start, parked our car, then waited. And waited. For 1 hour. With 2 bathroom stops to kill time. Nervous bladder. Gets me every time. We lined up at 7:15 with 11,000 other runners. Amazing feeling to be surrounded by so many people. Excitement was abundant for sure.

The race was hard. We knew there was a nasty steep, long hill at mile 3. We were mentally prepared for that one. It was the other one at mile 4.5 that I didn't know about that caused a little bit of psychological warfare on my mental status. And then when I read that the last 3 miles would be completely downhill, but they weren't, I was almost spent. The wall at mile 8.5 was hard to push through. And then mile 12. My brother Ben recommended a song once that he used to run to that helped him push through tough spots. That song started to play. I started to cry. Ben was recently diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). Running isn't in his future. And it hit me at that moment. Hard. But then I couldn't breathe. So. I tried to calm myself down. But I had to slow down to do it. I honestly didn't know if I could make it the last mile. I also knew that I was too close to stop. So I pushed through. And I finished. 10 minutes faster than that dreadful last years race. I was tired. Shaky. And actually dizzy enough I thought I was going to pass out. We grabbed some water and made it inside the Crown Center where we laid down for a bit. Something we knew we shouldn't do for fear of seizing muscles. But had to do to avoid passing out.

Once we felt good enough we headed back outside to enjoy the sunshine. And of course document our accomplishments.

Then we headed back to our hotel to shower, get dressed, check out, and head to the cheesecake factory for lunch. But stopped for a photo op on our way out.

I've officially re-affirmed my feelings that I'm a 10k girl at heart. My body loves them. My mind loves them. I'll be rocking some of those out this next year for sure. As for Half Marathons? Right now I say I will never again participate. But. Sometimes words are just that. Words.

Running Girls. You. Are. Awesome. You make getting up at 5:30 to train for races enjoyable. Thanks for letting me be the one graced with your early morning presence, and the joy of finishing something we worked so hard for together.

The Picasso Period....

Sunday was one of those glorious stayinyourpajamasalldayandeatcinnamonrolls type of days. Because it was General Conference so church was on TV, it was easy to do. At noon, Presley went down for a nap. She kept chatting in there. I'd hear her every 15 minutes or so. This went on for close to 2 hours. But. She exhausts me and I needed the break. She wasn't crying or anything, so I let her be. She started to scream and cry after 2 hours, at which point Shawn went to get her. She'd served her time. After opening her bedroom door, Shawn says "Jayne. You need to get in here please. Now." As calm as usual. Only he never commands me to do anything now unless it's urgent. That's his panic word. Funny. I know. Unless he says it. Upon entering Presley's bedroom, this is what he found:

What the?! Her crib is behind her, you just can't see it. How she ended up managing to get into the drawer, I'll never know. How the dresser managed to stay upright and not tip (which would have crushed her chest, or head, or both) was a blessing. You think that's all for little miss mischief? Wrong. That was just her grand finale. The dresser was once full of "you can't touch these things" kind of things like markers and nail polish. Notice how it's empty in the above photo? She'd already used said items and had abandoned them to climb into the drawer. She used them on things like this:

And this:

And don't forget this:

These pictures don't even do her masterpiece justice. She had covered her shirt and pants as well. And her blankets. And the actual dresser itself. And pretty much anything else in her cribs radius. Did I mention the purple marker was permanent? It was. Thank goodness for Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. We did some serious bonding that day. So much for the sanctity of nap time. Good thing she's so cute or she'd be on the doorstep with a FOR FREE sign around her neck.

Family Time...

Two weeks ago Shawn checked into a hotel for an entire week. Only an hour away from us. He has his oral anesthesia boards coming up and has been seriously neglecting the books. The week gave him time to see "where he was at" and gave himself a jump start into diving in before the big test. It also gave me and the kids an excuse to meet him for dinner in the city. We chose Fritz's. Definitely for the novelty. The food wasn't anything to write home about.

The restaurant has a train theme. After you order by phone, a small train runs on a track above your head, places your food on a conveyor that runs down to deposit it on your table. Pretty cool for kids. And they thought it tasted better than anything they've ever eaten. I beg to differ. But the experience made it worth it. Because the weather was unbelievably gorgeous, we took the opportunity to run around outside for a bit afterwards. Too cold to play in the splash fountains, but perfect for running near them. And wearing out their little bodies.

Unfortunately, the pictures I have don't actually depict very much movement, unless you count thumbs hitting buttons as exercise. But I promise. Those kids ran. And ran. And we made it home just in time to get to bed.

Because this post seems pretty lame to me, I'm adding a picture of a recent activity between Jack and Landon. Jack likes to carry Landon around like this. And Landon actually encourages it. Crazy kids. But pretty creative if you ask me.