Girls Inc. Run for the Treasure...and another PR!

This past weekend I ran my third 5K. It was my second since I've really started running, and my second to run with my dad. A few weeks ago when we realized Matthew was going to have Columbus Day off from school, we knew we wanted to go down to Florida to visit my parents. Right away my dad and I looked up some races we could do together. We eventually picked the Girls Inc. Run for the Treasure 5K, 10K and half marathon. One of the reasons why we picked this race was that it was right across the street from my parents house at Pier Park. And it had a pirate theme to go along with the pirate festival that was beginning at Pier Park later that day. No, we didn't dress like pirates, sorry.

Since my dad had picked up our race packets the night before, and we had less than a five minute drive, we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn. But we did get there early enough to cheer for the half-marathoners as they started their race at seven am.

Before the start of the race.

My dad was running the 10K, so we warmed up a little and then he sarted his race at seven thirty. I was all on my own until the 5K started at eight. I was so nervous! At least this time I remembered to get closer to the front of the pack at the start. Last time I was little annoyed with how tight it go at the start. When the horn finally blew everyone took off like they were shot out of a cannon. I try really hard to pace myself slow for the first mile, so a lot of people passed me right off the bat. I tried not to worry about it, and promised myself I would pass them later! I saw my dad on the other side of the road about one mile in as he was heading back in the 10K. Around the halfway point I knew I was doing pretty good, because my Nike app told me my time was thirteen minutes. After the turnaround I was running right into the hot, hot morning Florida sun. Ugh. It was a little brutal. When I turned the corner for the final stretch to run back into the park for the finish line my dad, having aready finsihed his race, came running out to see how far back I was. He said later, he was surprsied to see me so close to the finish line already! He also told me my mom, Matthew and the kids were waiting for me at the finish line and that definitely helped me finsih faster! Also, he told me he had my time at 25 minutes and change. I couldn't believe it! I guess I had stopped paying attention to my GPS on my phone and was just running. I had no idea I was going that fast! When I finally turned around to the home stretch I saw Elijah right away, he was wearing red and I took out my headphones so I could hear them shouting "Go mommy!" 

Matthew was my official race photographer. Also, I look hilarious running...

Sort of smiling.

After I crossed the finish line and met up with my family we waited for my official time. I had the time off my app, but you know you have to get the official one! They had a big screen TV with the leaders for each age group announced and I saw right away that my dad had won grand master, he also came in third overall for the 10K. So we waited and finally I saw the results for the female 25-29...and saw that I had WON my age group with a time of 26:43! Basically the fastest run ever for me. I was so excited and proud of myself it's ridiculous. And it was so much more fun to share the experience with all of my family!

My little fan club.

One more! (Elijah was already dressed for the pirate festival.)

With my lovely medal. It even says "First Place!" 

My dad getting his award from the pirate wench.

So, here's the breakdown. I came in 1st out of 5 for my age group. 18th overall out of 105. And 8th out of all the women.

My next race is November 9th, if the National parks are open again by then! 

Getting a little ahead of myself...

If you know me at all, even just a little bit from this blog, you know how much I love my birthday. As the years pass I always find myself wondering if this will be the year I stop looking forward to and enjoying my big day. And every year that passes leaves  me with the same answer, "nope!" Anyway, as usual I was thinking about my birthday the other day. See, we just passed October 3, meaning my birthday is six months away. I already told Matthew what I want to do to celebrate my 29th birthday. Atlanta. Shopping. Cheesecake Factory. See, I'm easy.

But then it hit me, if I'm turning twenty-nine next year, that means the year after that I will be *gasp* THIRTY! Like any female leaving her twenties, I freaked out a little bit, but then I shrugged it off. (No, really!) Because the older I get, the more I learn, the better person, mom, and wife I become, so why would I be bothered by another year? And I mean, really, I already have grey hair, so how much worse can aging get? Nevermind...don't go there...

Which brings me to my point (yes, I have one!). So it's the trend now to do something BIG for your thirtieth. Skydive. (Um, no thanks.) Get a tattoo. (PASS!) Go on a big vacation. (Too expensive.) And then I realized what I would do to celebrate my thirtieth. It was an easy choice...RUN A HALF MARATHON!

Yes,  I said marathon, but notice I said a HALF! That's ONLY 13.1 miles folks. And yes, at this point the most I've ever run is 6.2, so I definitely have a loooong way to go, but I have a year and a half to get ready. I'm excited already!

In other news, I'm running my third 5K tomorrow down in Florida with my dad. It should be awesome!

Ten minutes...

(I know I'm way overdue for an update on here. Life has been crazy!)

So, three years ago I let my dad talk me into doing a 5K with him. This decision was basically insane, considering I'd never ran before in my life. But I did I it anyway, because I'm insane, apparently. Did I mention at the time I had just had a baby eight weeks before? See? Insane. Or better yet: stupid.

Hi there. 

So yeah, I pretty much thought I would die during those 3.1 miles, but I finished. I walked most of it, but I finished. My time of 39:19 was not impressive, but I FINISHED!

And I never ran again...

Until we came back to Georgia at the beginning of July. I've always been a workout junkie but running was the one hurdle I'd never seem to overcome. Until now, that is. Since we are staying with my in-laws for a while I thought I would start making use of their treadmill.When we went down to visit my parents in mid-July my dad talked me into running outside a few times and gave me quite a few tips to help me out. After we came home from Florida I starting running outdoors early every Saturday morning, so essentially I began training for running a 5K.

In the beginning my goal was simply to complete another 5K. Then it was to PR. Then it was to run the whole thing. Then it became my goal to run a 5K in under thirty minutes... 

The race I signed up for was this past Saturday. I was nervous, I was excited, but more than anything I was ready!

Lucky number 160.

And so I ran and it was all kinds of awesome. After three miles were up I passed six people (yes, I counted!) just before the finish line. 

Oh and the best part...I did PR... By a full ten minutes!

Booyah.  

Now, the worst part was that the race was so badly planned that it was actually 3:6 miles, making my official time something like 33:47. Thankfully  my phone recorded my 5K time so I can compare. And the race results weren't that detailed, but I calculated that I finished 30th put of 91 runners.

Let's do it again!

Road jams...

We're getting close to our final day here in Connecticut. Almost everything is packed, the moving truck is reserved, snacks and car activities are all ready for the kids, overnight bags packed, hotels booked, routes planned ect... It's going to be a long drive,  about seventeen hours, and it will be made even longer by the fact that I will be driving every mile of it. Matthew usually drives on all our trips. It's not that I can't drive for long distances, but I'm usually busy taking care of the kids in the backseat while he drives. Oh and I'm the navigator too, I can read a map like nobody's business! Much like our move up here four years ago (not counting the extra addition to our family this time) Matthew will be driving the big truck while the kids and I follow in our Rav. The only reason I'm slightly nervous this time is that Sophia is not as good of a traveler as Elijah was at this age. She gets a little nuts after just a few hours in the car. But like I said, I'm armed with snacks and other new goodies to occupy her. Not to mention we do have a DVD player and  Kindle Fire for emergencies!

But our favorite thing to do on long car trips is listen to music! Our car is on the older side, so we just have a CD player, so I'll be hauling a stack of CDs on the seat beside me. Sophia is as big of a music lover as I am and often gets cranky if it's not loud enough! Elijah is more inclined to just read for the whole seventeen hours.

So here's what I'm bringing along:



One Republic, Native. I've always liked One Republic's songs, but never owned any of their CDs. When this one kept popping up on my Pandora I realized every single song I heard was amazing. If you love upbeat, pop music this is a must-have. I've already listened to it 100 times and could listen to it 100 more!



Taylor Swift, Red. This is actually Sophia's CD, but even I have to admit, it's not too bad. I'm a little sick to death of "I Knew You Were Trouble" but you all know that's Sophia's jam. I might have to let her borrow my iPod shuffle with headphones just so I don't have to hear it for the millionth time.



Bon Jovi, Slippery When Wet. After was pass through New York City on the GWB we'll be cruising through New Jersey for a while. And I while I do I'll be blasting everyone's favorite New Jersey rock band. This was actually a tradition I started four years ago on the move up here. Matthew thinks it's hilarious.



Bon Jovi, Bounce. Just in case I'm in the mood for some newer Bon Jovi. The Bounce tour was the one my dad and I went to, back 2003, so good memories!




Bon Jovi, The Circle. Another new one. Probably listen to "Brokenpromiseland" as I'm watching Connecticut disappear through my rear view mirror. Ha ha.



The Beach Boys, The Very Best Of. I don't think this one needs an explanation. This is actually my CD for our drive down to Florida in a few weeks. But I might bust it out and visualize myself already there if I get stuck in DC traffic!



Led Zepplin, Mothership. Again, no explanation needed. Kashmir just might be my all-time favorite song. Sophia will hate this though. She's not a huge Led Zepplin fan, much to my dismay.



Lifehouse, Smoke and Mirrors. I have every Lifehouse CD that's ever been put out, but if I had to choose just one, this would be it!




 I also packed No Name Face. Just because "Hanging By a Moment" is on there.




Lifehouse, Who We Are. Did I say I was just going to pick one Lifehouse CD, because I'm apparently bringing them all in the car. I just found this one in the stack too.




Lifehouse, Almeria. Last one, I promise. Their latest, but not my favorite. "Between the Raindrops" is good, though!



Linkin Park, Living Things



Linkin Park, A Thousand Suns. Again, the kids will probably protest these too, but maybe I'll keep it down low. OR NOT!



Rod Stewart, The Very Best Of. Now that was quite a musical 180, huh? Come on, "Forever Young"!

That's all, the rest of my CDs are packed. And I just now realized I forgot to leave out my Journey CD! NOOOOOOO!!!

See y'all in Georgia...

A series of successes and failures...

I  feel like this title could describe most trips with small kids. Let me preface this post by saying, in case you didn't already know it, I'm totally a type A personality. Planning is my middle name. So when Matthew suggested last Sunday that we take a last-minute weekend trip to Boston, my first instinct was to say no. But after thinking about it for a few minutes, I realized I would actually regret not seeing the town.

Since we spent the week swamped with moving preparation, it wasn't our best planned trip. For once I didn't pack until the very last minute. Which unfortunately resulted in me forgetting some things. So I give you our Boston trip: Successes and Failures...

• Driving away from the house I realized immediately that I had forgotten to pack the camera. FAIL!
• But we just circled back around the block and I ran inside to get it. Thank goodness I remembered before we had driven too far. SUCCESS!
• Not long after that I realized I had also forgotten to throw my makeup back into the suitcase FAIL!
• I would like to add that I'm not that vain, I can easily go a day without makeup. However, I was more concerned with the fact that I had put my deodorant in my makeup bag. But our hotel had a little store where you could buy essentials, so I was able to replace it. SUCCESS!
• We forgot to put the stroller in the car. MAJOR FAIL! See, we keep it in the mudroom for trips to the beach. We don't go many places these days that require Sophia to be in the stroller, so it never crossed our minds. There is no success here, except for the fact that Matthew and I both got a good workout carrying her all over Boston yesterday after she tired out.
• We got lost multiple times, UGH FAIL!
• I can read a map pretty well and we had our GPS Ehhh, success?
• In fact, we got pretty lost in downtown Boston yesterday trying to find a parking garage. FAIL!
• Our re-route ended up taking us down Boylston Street, the site of the recent Boston bombings. This was a place we hadn't planned on visiting, but I'm glad we got see so we will never forget. So that was a success, I think. There was also a 10K taking place in the area, so it was pretty eerie and sobering to see so many runners up and down the street.
• It was pretty hot and sunny yesterday in Boston, and I woke up with a headache. So it was a EPIC FAIL to leave my sunglasses in the car!
• Fortunately my very sweet little boy offered me his baseball hat to shield my eyes until I started feeling better. SWEET SUCCESS.

So yeah, it was that kind of trip. But all in all, I think I'll call it a success. And I'll keep in mind from now on, being a type A personality isn't always a bad thing!

Hahaha, this is such an out-take! FAIL!

If you want to see the good pictures of the trip, check out my blog post on the family blog!

Currently...

• I am sitting in a perfectly quiet house while everyone else sleeps. I've been going to bed so early (like 9:30) that I wake up around six and can't go back to sleep. This morning I went ahead and got up to do some yoga.
• I have Boston's "More Than a Feeling" stuck in my head.
• I'm still in my pjs. Yoga in pjs is awesome.
• Drinking my coffee and I already ate breakfast! I'm the worst about skipping breakfast, but after my yoga I was hungry so I had some Greek yogurt with honey and granola.
• I'm planning on going to the beach this afternoon with a friend, but stressed because I really need to pack more. Yesterday was too busy to pack and tomorrow will be as well.
• I think I'm still in complete and utter disbelief that in eight days we will be living New England for good to move back to the South!

Why Georgia?

(Isn't that a song? Look at me!)

I've lived in Connecticut for not quite four years now, in fact we arrived here in West Haven July 29th. We're leaving here on June 28th, so we'll miss our four year anniversary by just a month. (Darn!)

Anyway, so I thought I'd take the time to clear up some confusion. No, I'm not from Georgia, but I do consider it "home". For one thing, I'm a military brat, or was, I guess I should say. My childhood consisted of several moves that went like this: Washington State-Missouri-England-Germany-Texas-Georgia. I was seventeen when we moved to Georgia. I'll be the first to admit that I didn't see what all the fuss was about. But it didn't take me long before I grew to love it there. It was in Georgia that my parents bought their first house (yes, when I was seventeen!) we spent the first few months painting every wall in the house just because we could! It was in Georgia that I started cosmetology school and basically had the time of my life. (I know other people go to college blah blah blah, I went to "beauty school" and got my hair colored every Monday.) And it was in Georgia that I met a certain Georgia boy who pretty much swept me off my feet faster than you can blink. In Georgia I said "I do". In Georgia I gave birth to my first baby.

So yeah, Georgia is pretty much home.



We moved around a little our first year of marriage, but eventually settled in Athens for Matthew to attend grad school. The above picture was taken in June of 2006, the day we moved into campus housing. (HI, is it just me or do we look like we were teenage parents or what?)

We left Athens in July of 2009 to come here, but we have always missed it!



It's been a good four years up here. It hasn't been easy, but it's been good. Sophia was born here, of course, and I can honestly say that was the brightest spot in the past four years. And we've kept some traditions alive.



It doesn't hurt either that we'll now be within close driving distance of my family down in Florida! So in a few weeks, say four or five, I hope to be right here...




Only with Matthew for once! (Last summer he'd already taken two weeks off to go to Israel, so he didn't get to come to Florida with me and the kids!)