It's Saturday

1. I had a plan to get up and run today. It is gorgeous outside. Sunny, bright and warm. Unfortunately, after driving for 8 hours yesterday I woke up to a very sore hip. I am hoping to let it stretch out through out the day and then to hit the treadmill tonight.

2. Today is the last day of April. I am glad to see it go. We had a very cold, wet April and I am ready to move onto the spring and summer. While May is super busy. Lacrosse and riding for the kids, 2 half marathons for me (Heartbreak Hill Half and the Run to Remember) and Trav has some traveling for work I am excited.

3. I am slowly getting my eating under control. While I was on vacation last week I definitely slacked off, but tried to do the right things. Now that I am home in my own surroundings I am looking forward to getting everything under control.

4. Did I mention last night that we found our back door open and realized that none of our animals were in our house? 1 6 month old Corgi and 2 indoor cats. It was like a jailbreak. We found them all in the back yard. Needless to say the dog smelled like dog poop and required a tub and one of the cats threw up upon their return into the house. uhhh...nothing is ever easy:)

5. and finally #5 oh #5......I have a 4 year old that will not stay in her own bed. I wake up and she is there. I bring her back to her bed, wake up and she is back. It is never ending. Any ideas? We have done the sticker chart and it worked, but after she got her prize she went back to her wicked ways. Bad dreams seem to be the culprit.

Now...off to get ready for a day of Lacrosse! So glad it is not raining.

It's HOT!

Okay....I know that I have been complaining about the cold for the past 5 months. You know the normal complaints. "I am tired of dressing like a snowman to run." "I wish my shoes wouldn't slip in the ice." "I can't wait to wear my skirt and tank top, it is so much easier...." Today I got my wish. I had on my skirt, my t-shirt and socks. I hit my normal route when visiting my mother's house and I was flying. At one point I looked at my Garmin and it said 8:30....whew I was running fast today! It went on for about 2 1/2 miles then I returned to my mom's neighborhood. Did I mention at this point I needed water. It was hot...I was sweating the 3 cups of coffee that I had this morning were starting to come out of my poors. I had 6 miles on my agenda, but I was beginning to think that that was not happening. Maybe I am not as ready for the heat as I thought.

Now, I am back in my mom's neighborhood. Her house is in the middle of ......HILLS....there is a hill leaving her street, a hill coming back to her street and hills coming the other hills. These hills aren't just little rolling hills, they are huge, straight up in the air hills, my pace dropped to 10:30 at one point, but I kept going. Finally, at a little over mile 4 I saw my mom's, my legs ran toward there and I followed.

Dr. Looney had said no hills for awhile. He obviously has never been to BRS, PA, because no hills is no option. 6 on the agenda for tomorrow. Fingers crossed! (oh and planning to start a bit earlier before the heat)

TTT.....packing edition

1. I am packing for our annual spring break trek to my mothers in PA. This year has been a little more tedious as we have to pack Easter clothes and Easter treats. The boys are already freaking out about "collar shirts" and Siri's dress shoes don't fit her. (It is amazing when your child wears a uniform to school everyday that you don't really have "extra" clothes/shoes laying around.) I packed my skirts etc... hoping to get a couple of runs in.

2. My mom is pretty cool about my need to run. She and my father were both runners in their day. Now my mom is a walker due to arthritis in both of her knees. They are not totally in to all of the gadgets that go along with running now and my dad just laughs at my skirts...he is from the school of just throw on shorts and go, but they are both so supportive. I am lucky that I had the two of them to look up to. If it weren't for them dragging us to races every weekend I don't know if I would have caught the running bug.

3. We don't have to many plans for the week. We need to come back on Friday because the boys have lacrosse all weekend and Travis is going to stay through Wednesday. Hoping to get some outlet shopping in and maybe a trip to Gettysburg. Also hoping for warmer weather. It is freezing here, YUK!

Happy Spring Break!

Whew...I am so tired....

Spring has certainly sprung here in New Hampshire. Don't get me wrong it is stil soooo cold (44 today) and we don't have leaves on the trees yet, but I did see my first Bumble Bee outside today and my lilacs are starting to have leaves. The pollon is also horrible and now I am taking Claritin and 2 of my kiddos are on Zyrtec....I am not a big med person, but man we are suffering. I am thinking that allergies are the reason that I am so tired.

Now let's talk a little Boston. First off the expo was incredible. Every running company you can imagine was there including one of my favorites....RunningSkirts. I know you are all wondering what I purchased...the Pinkaliscious skirt with 2 strappy tops. I also got to meet Christy. Can you believe that she worked the expo for 3 days and then went and ran the Marathon? Pretty unbelievable. I also saw Kristin Armstrong (Lance's ex wife). She was signing her book Mile Markers at the Runner's World table. Ryan Hall was also signing his book and he looked great. IT was so exciting. So much energy, people with their bags and their numbers. Everyone smiling, talking about the race and just as gracious to those not running as those running. IT totally reinforced my feelings about running the race. I will get there, I don't know when, but I will get there. I am hoping with Izzie in full day Kindergarden next year that I will be able to put a little more focus into my running. Preschool is tough, only 2 1/2 days a week and one full day. When she is with me I don't always want to drag her out to the gym or in the stroller. (she is getting kind of heavy) I also am feeling like this is her last year with me and I am trying to be WITH her instead of dragging her WITH me. Oh well...in the end I will get there.

Well, I am signing off for the night. The boys are at Lacrosse practice and the girls are playing school. I am going to read for a little while and get ready for my day tomorrow. Happy Tuesday night everyone.

Three Things Thursday....Boston Edition

1. It is here. The weekend everyone has been waiting for.....The Boston Marathon. I love the Marathon. When I lived on Chestnut Hill Avenue in Brighton I would sit on my stoop and watch the Marathon with my friends. We had a rolling cooler that we would travel with and drink and scream and cheer and hit each other and say we could never do it. We would then make our way up to Beacon Street and watch the racers there. When you are 24 and live in the city I swear it is the best day of the year!

2. I am not running Boston. I am not even close to qualifying. My first marathon was 4:32, but suddenly tonight I am thinking of ways that I can qualify. What do I have to do? What would my training plan be? Do I wait until I am 40, I think then I would need a 3:55? (it could be 3:50 the qualifying standards changed.) I am running Chicago and Richmond this year. People have said with the right training Chicago might be the place.

3. I am going to the Expo on Saturday with my friend and then to the Marathon on Monday with Izzie. Trav's Nana lives at the bottom of Heartbreak Hill so we are going to go and visit her and cheer for some runners. On Saturday I am visiting the Running Skirts booth etc...So fun! Luckily it is payday:)

Happy Thursday!

It's Sunday!

Wow! It is beautiful here today. The sun is shining, I think that it is supposed to be close to 60 here today, a great day for a run. I had thought about a local 10K today, but I think that I just might hit the roads in my town. I love going to races, but I hate when they start at random times. Today's race starts at 1 pm, with lacrosse practice this afternoon it is probably just not going to work.

I am slowly getting back into my running workout. I can't get over how slow I feel at times, my legs are definitely a bit tired. I guess it will take me a few weeks to get back into the swing of things. I also wore my old Brooks yesterday and they did not feel great on my feet, so I am feeling good about my shoe change to my new Saucony's.

I met up with one of my husband's good friends last night. We started talking about some local races and realized that we were at some of the same ones. We are going to try to start running together when she is in town. It is always good to have a few running besties.

How are you spending your Sunday? Running, biking or a swim....Would love to know.

Happy Sunday!

Where has The Week Gone?

Woooo.....I have had a crazy week. Not a crazy running week. Dr. B (my ART) therapist said that I could run, but no further than 5 miles at a time. 4 days this week. It is really hard because I feel pretty good, but I am definitely not ready to go further than 5 miles. My legs were tired after 4 yesterday morning. I am having that starting from scratch feeling and for some reason it is stressing me out. I am getting nervous if I will be ready for my Half on Memorial Day Weekend. Did I mention that I need a sub 1:50 to get into a coral at Chicago? Yes, I am feeling a little stressed.

Now....as for the week. I have 4 kids and can you believe that all have 4 different activities at 4 different places sometime today. Aaargghhhhh......the worst is Siri's drama practice in Nashua at 6 pm tonight. Let's just say I will be glad when this play, gets sucked up into a tornado and disappears. (they are doing the Wizard of Oz) Supposedly the mom directing the play had a "freak out" (Siri's words) last night and called them all MUTTS. I don't know if this is true, Siri has been known to stretch the truth, but I don't think that the play will be on our horizon next year. Siri is not the actress she thought she was. She is great unscripted at home, but it seems like the stage might not be her thing.

Okay, let the day begin....I think it might be a long one.

Beyond the Rainbow 5K

I ran the Beyond the Rainbow 5K today in Newmarket, NH. I had not run a 5K since November. It is not my favorite race distance, but there was no way that I was going to be able to run the Great Bay Half Marathon (going on at the same time), so I changed to the 5K.

I will start by saying the 5K is not my favorite race. I am not particularly fast and it usually takes me 3 miles to even get into my groove. I made a playlist since I wouldn't be with my 2 running besties. (they were running the half) We all started together and I was with M and G to start. I was running a bit fast for them and that is when M tapped me on the shoulder and told me to go on....so on I went. I felt good for the entire race. This was not an easy race, A LOT of HILLS! I tried to zone out and find my pace. I thought that I found it, but the hill on the last mile was a killer. 25 minutes later I crossed the finish line. I felt good, my hip didn't hurt, my feet didn't hurt. I walked to the car and got all of our stuff and waited for the girls to finish. Shout out to G who got a 1:50 PR.

The race was run by ClubLoco which is a great running club in the Seacoast area. They definitely know how to do a race. Plenty of course support, a great after party and genuine love of running. They ROCK.

So what a week. It was my first week of running 4 times since January. I am feeling good and hopefully on the road to true recovery.

Happy Sunday Lovies!!!!

Music and Running

The dog days are over

The dog days are done

The horses are coming so you better run

Run fast for your mother run fast for your father

Run for your children and your sisters and brothers

Leave all your love and your loving behind you

Can't carry it with you if you want to survive

This morning I was working on a playlist for my 5K tomorrow. It is part of the Great Bay Half Marathon which is what I was supposed to be running. Last week when I realized that there was no way that I could run a half I e-mailed the race director and asked if I could switch to the 5K. I am definitely bummed. M and G-1 are running the half, I should be running the half, but what is a girl to do. A girl should make a playlist so that she can maybe get a 5K PR? I know nothing about the course, my 5K PR is on a totally flat course in Amherst that I got on an 80 degree morning so maybe tomorrow the 50 degree morning will be even better.

I am a music lover in general and if I am by myself I definitely run with a headset. I know, I know I should enjoy just being, focus on my form, look around the environment, but honestly that is not me. I don't always want to focus on the run. I want to be taken away sometimes and my music choices say that. On my long runs I might listen to podcasts, (This American Life is my favorite) on 5K's and 10K's definitely music. The kids had many suggestions this morning. Izzie picked out some Chipmunk songs, Siri likes anything Usher and Ben and Andy picked Throw the World by Lil' Wayne and Emimen (excuse me uhhh....how do you two know this song and who downloaded it for you? Thanks Trav). I didn't go with any of those songs. As I was going through my list and came across this Florence and the Machine song (Dog Days are Over) I adopted it as my starting song. The lyrics are so appropriate as to how I feel about my running right now. Am I 100%, SO NOT! I might be 50%. Am I ready for Spring and Summer running, so ready! My feeling is that the Dog Days are Over. I am feeling ready to run, bike, swim whatever comes my way and that is good. It's a start, so in the words of Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas....

LET'S GET IT STARTED!!!!!!!!!!