Home Sweet Home...

Ok, so blogging on vacation didn't happen. Ooopps. So I won't be blogging about the whole week because I don't have that much time and I am sure you don't want ten pages to read. But all in all, vacation went very well. The boys did great there and back. No one threw up! We had great weather for driving also.

We spent the week with Josh's parents and sisters and their husbands and babies. It was really nice to have everyone together(it had been 3 years). I was still able to get my runs in which was really nice. I did a lot of hill training. There is not much flat land but it was a good change. I did get my long run in yesterday and ended up doing 9.2 miles through the hills. Good stuff. There is this hill down the road from Josh's parents house called Wart Hill. Why? I am not sure but it is major, I mean major and I knew I wanted to try and run it once while we were there. So, Wednesday was the day and I dragged Josh with me. On one side of this hill the incline is one mile long. There were points that it got so steep that I had to walk part of it. If Josh wasn't there pushing me along I probably would have walked the majority of it, but he did and we ran it. My calves and butt were burning! Anyway, it was a great challenge.

Oh and another good thing, I got a call from HeadStart saying that they have an opening for Everett to start preschool!! We have been on the waiting list all year, I sure hope the spot stays open since I didn't get any of the messages until today. They called us three times this past week. I shall find out on Monday.

We are all home, safe and sound. I am ready to be in my own bed. Hope everyone had a wonderful week! God is Good, All the Time!! LOVE.

NINER...

Yup, that's right, niner!

Up at 5am got some breakfast and set out to meet the girls for the longest run of my life. I have only ever gone 7.5 miles and today was my 9 mile day. A bit chilly out but didn't feel too bad. Just towards the end of the first loop(4.5miles) Tracy decided to run the second loop with me. Yeah! I really didn't want to do it alone and plus it is kinda creepy out that early in the morning and in the dark. So we set out for the last half of our long run. Feeling pretty good. Only almost got hit two or three times. I just don't understand how the drivers can't see us, we were both wearing head lamps and flashing red armbands. It is those crazy morning drivers!! Probably texting, talking, drinking coffee, eating breakfast and trying to drive! lol.

But onto the good stuff! We did! And at a good pace. Finished 9.1 miles in 90 minutes flat. I RAN 9.1 MILES...AWESOME! What an outstanding feeling. Now onto finishing cleaning and packing for vacation. I am hoping to get everything done before Josh gets home so we can hit the bed early.

Oh, one more thing. I love seeing how God is working in my family and how the boys pick up on so much. We pray every night with the boys and read Bible stories. This morning Winton and Everett were playing in the hallway and Evie fell and hit his knee. He got a little cut and we put a band aid on it. Winton was telling Everett he was sorry, although it wasn't Wintons fault. Then Winton asked if we could put our hands on Everett and pray for him! How awesome is that?! God is so good and it is really amazing to see Him working through my boys and in their lives. Thank you Lord for continuously showing us your love. May it continue to pour out!! May His love be revealed in your life today! LOVE.

One gray hair...

Good Afternoon!

This week has been a bit crazy trying to get things together for vacation and getting the house cleaned before we leave. Have to be able to come home to a clean house! Also I have had to make time to get all my runs in also this week and so far so good. Got to Curves this morning and wasn't sure if I was going to actually workout because of the knee issue and I still had to do speed work today. But I decided that I would try to and see how I felt. It went pretty well, a few machines I took it easy on and didn't have too much pain. Ended up burning 911 calories. I also started taking a joint supplement for my knee. I still need to get on the treadmill and get my speed work done, shouldn't be too bad.

I love my husband. I do, but he thinks that it is so funny to make fun of my gray hairs(and I have a few). So last night laying in bed I noticed one single gray hair on his head! Sweet. Finally, I am not alone. hehe. Enough of that. Time to get Nolan to bed so I can get things done. I'll be updating on vacation. LOVE.

Three head lamps are better than one...

This will be short but had to tell of my morning run. Tracy called me last night to say that Becky was going to run with us in the morning. Sweet! Got up 5:20am, dressed in my gear, running shoes on, heating pad on my knee, ate a banana and had a half cup of coffee. Did some stretching and checked the weather. 20 degrees! Headed out at 5:45am to meet the girls. Had a problem with my tights falling down but they stayed up for the majority of the run. My shoes felt great, which was one thing I was most worried about. My knee was ok. We revised our route from Monday and hardly hit any traffic, nice. Plus Becky brought an extra head lamp. All three of us had one. We are NOT going to get hit by those crazy morning drivers, who probably think we are those crazy morning runners. It was chilly out but warmed up as we got going. We hit some hills but powered through them. We pushed it today and I ran just over 6.1 miles in 58:53. Wow, that felt great! Our goal for the 10K in February is to finish in under an hour. We are on our way. Tomorrow is speed work and I'll be doing that on the treadmill after I get home from Curves. Friday we are just doing a short run, about 4.5 miles. Saturday is our long run, 9 miles! Praying that my knee heals and pain goes away. I am still icing after and heating before runs. May your Wednesday be Wonderful! LOVE.

Left foot, right foot...

I was just sitting down to collect my thoughts for a blog and heard a thud. Hmm..I'd better check, paused Biggest Loser and found my son, Everett, on the floor. Opps, had to get him back into bed and tucked in tight. It didn't even wake him.

Today was trial day for my shoes. My knee has still been hurting a bit but I did some reading on it and it could mostly be caused by my worn out shoes. I am not sure if my knee is causing my foot pain now or what. Anyway, laced up my shoes and headed down to the treadmill. Luckily I only had to do a short run today. My left shoe felt amazing, just as a good new shoe should probably feel. My right shoe on the other hand, felt tight and just not good. But I got through it and finished 3.5miles. I have been icing my knee after runs and heating before runs. I am hoping this plus having new shoes will help the issue.

Tomorrow morning I am running again with Tracy and Becky is going to join us also. We're going about 6.5 miles at 5:50am. It really starts the day off right. Hopefully I don't have any feet or shoe issues. I am loving this morning run!

I'll let you know how the shoes, feet and knees do after my run. Praying for a pain free run!! LOVE.

A Size What...?

So today was THE day! Yup, got NEW running shoes. Not only got new shoes but got fitted by people that actually know what they are talking about. A friend told me about this place called Running Circles in Grand Haven and when I got there this morning they were closed due to a family emergency. So someone else had told me about Gazelle Sports in Holland so I decided to plug it into my Garmin and be on my way. Although it was more of a drive then I wanted to make for shoes, I knew I needed to be fitted properly. The lady there was great! Spent time getting to know me and my feet. I tried on 6 different pairs and finally picked the Adidas Supernova Glide. Feels amazing. The real test will be my run tomorrow. I sure hope they don't let me down.

The funny part about getting fitted properly was when she measured my feet in socks. I have been wearing a size 10 shoe for as long as I can remember. My feet measured at an 8 1/2. WHAT?? Yea, so my running shoes are a 9 and totally work. Weird though. When you lose weight do your feet change too?? Guess I don't really know, but glad I am in the right size now. Also hit up Kohl's and used my Christmas gift card on some great running gear, which was also on sale, SCORE!

But before any of this happened I had a great, no, pretty awesome run this morning. Got up at 5:30am and met Tracy for a 6.5 mile run. It was awesome being up and out in the fresh air. Sure beats the treadmill. We had a great run, felt relaxed and strong! I was happy that was my last run in those old shoes. Although we hit some traffic and Tracy nearly got her leg taken off by a car, it went well. Going to revise our Wednesday run so we don't hit that traffic. I am sure many of the drivers were not happy to see us running in their way! Oh well.

I get to be at Curves tomorrow to give the ladies a killer Power Workout, they had better be ready. What are you waiting for? Do something good for yourself! You deserve it!! LOVE.

To Run or Not To Run...?

That is the real question. To run the 25K River Bank Run in May. I have been looking at this training schedule for the past couple days and I keep thinking, I could do this! But I get these butterflies just thinking about it and don't want to fail. Aghhh, the decisions. Could my body really run for over 2 hours? Would I be able to finish? The training schedule seems very doable. The runs during the week are no longer than I am already running and then there is one long run a week on Saturdays that would really test me. I have not ran farther than 7.5 miles and Saturdays run is 9 miles. I am sure I could do it, probably not fast, but I would finish. Hmmm....I think I might try the training schedule and see how it goes and then decide in a month or so.

One good thing is that I am going to get fitted Monday for shoes! Totally excited because my knees and feet are really feeling it. Maybe that will get me motivated to actually commit. Oh and also buying running tights, nice. Not hiding anything in those puppies! Going to get some great runs in on vacation. Run, run, run!! LOVE.