I ran 16 miles!

That's right, 16 miles! The most I have ever run in my life! On Saturday morning, Lauren and I drove up Spearfish Canyon about 13.5 miles and then ran down the canyon. When I got out of the canyon, I still had 2.5 miles to go and that was hard, because by that time, it was around 10am and already 80 degrees. I ran around the park a few times finding shade wherever I could. Thankfully, I had a 2nd bottle of water on the back of my car so I grabbed that after I got out of the canyon and that's what really kept me going those last 2 miles. After 15 miles, I was SO tired and hot, but I knew I had to keep going with less than a mile left to go. I finished in 2 hours 50 minutes and 55 seconds and I was happy with that. The 13.5 miles that I ran in the canyon are actually the last 13.5 miles of the marathon in August, which was nice to do a little training on the actual course. So now, here's my thinking. I ran 16 miles - just 10.2 more for a full marathon and I can run 10.2 miles no problem! :) But the thought of running 10.2 miles after running those 16 miles is a little intimidating at this point! Thank goodness I have 7 more weeks to train! This weekend, I'm shooting for 18 miles! Wish me luck!

Fun Times in the Sprinkler

The kids have been having so much fun with the HOT summer weather that is finally here. Every afternoon, after naps, they want to go outside to play in the sprinkler or pool or both. The daycare kids bring their swimsuits too so everyone can have a good time.

Pa Comes to Visit!

Last Friday night, my dad, was coming through Belle Fourche and hung out with us for the afternoon and night. The kids LOVE Pa and were so excited about him coming - I heard about it all Friday morning. I took the kids over to the park for a picnic lunch to get their mind off of him coming, but taking 7 kids to the park by myself is a lot work! Especially when they are all under the age of 4! Right as we were leaving the park, we spotted my dad's semi coming down our road. He started honking and the kids went wild. He also brought Dairy Queen, which of course all of the kids were excited about. We had a great time hanging out while the kids played in the sprinkler and ate as much ice cream as they wanted! That night, we went to dinner at Applebees so we could see Lauren, because she had to work and then we went bowling. My kids love bowling so much and always ask to go. And they know they get to go when Pa comes to town, because it's one of his favorite things to do too. Our bowling alley has bumpers too so the kids never get a gutter ball. I wish I could say the same for me! Here are some pictures of our fun with Pa!

Happy Father's Day!

Today is Father's Day and when we asked Chris what he wanted to do, he said eat at the Pizza Ranch. For those of you who have never been there, it's a pizza buffet place with lots of different kinds of pizzas plus fried chicken and a salad bar. It it connected to the Howard Johnson motel, which is where we stayed when we moved to SD while we waited for our house to close. So, we ate at Pizza Ranch a few times during that time! We got Chris the cool Seahawks T-shirt pictured here, but it won't get here until tomorrow so he will have to wait. Also today, Walmart finally got Chloe's bike in and said we could pick it up. My dad bought it for her for her birthday which was almost 2 weeks ago now! So, she was excited to say the least. As soon as we got home from Pizza Ranch, Chris was hard at work putting the bike together. It didn't take long and as soon as it was done, Chloe wanted to try it out. This is her first time on a big girl bike so it was pretty hard for her. She kept pushing her legs backwards, which would cause the bike to break. So, she needs some practice, but I'm sure she will catch on quickly. We rode our bikes across the street to the park and played for a while. Caiden wanted to take all kinds of pictures (I wonder where he gets it from!) and he and Chloe played on the slides and swings and had some races too. Now, we are back home and going to play outside as today is just as nice as yesterday was - wow, 2 nice days in a row! I'm not quite sure what to do with myself with all of this sunshine! :) I hope all of the father's out there have a wonderful father's day!

I want to thank my dad for being the best dad ever and for always putting up with me and helping me out whenever it was needed. I seriously have no idea where I would be right now if it wasn't for him. You're the best dad! I love you! PS - I need new running shoes! :)

My Dad and My kids

Chris and Our kids

I ran 14 miles this morning! 8 weeks till the Marathon!!

So after the Deadwood/Mickelson Half Marathon last weekend, I had serious doubts about my ability to run a full marathon. I mean, I was TIRED after my half and doing a full would be twice that long! The thought of still having to train after my half was not something that sounded like fun to me. And boy was I sore on Monday and Tuesday. But on Wednesday, I stopped feeling sore and told my self that the pity party was over and that I was going to accomplish this goal of mine come August! I ran an awesome 4 mile run on Wednesday and talked some a few others who have run marathons who gave me some great advice so I felt much better about the situation. So, today was the big run - I had to run 14 miles which is farther than I have ever run before. I had a lot of questions going through my head: Where should I run? How many gels should I take? How am I going to take a water bottle with me for 14 miles? How many times will I have to stop to walk? How long is this going to take me, really? And WHY am I doing this again?? Oh, right...the feeling of accomplishment. So, I wake up at 6am and eat a small breakfast so I have some fuel for the long run. Chris has a water bottle with a strap that you can hold and I thought I would hate it, but you kinda forget about it after a while so that worked nicley. I took 2 gels and figured I would take them each after an hour of running. I take off at 7am and the first 3 miles fly by. I just run around town and enjoy the quiet of a Sunday morning. Before I know it, I am done with 5 miles and take my gel. It might just be in my head, but I really feel that this helps me keep going. And I'm keeping an 11 minutes per mile pace, which is just fine with me. After 5 more miles of pretty steady running, I am feeling good, but I still have 4 miles to go and I am feeling a little tired so I stop to walk a little and take my 2nd gel. BIG MISTAKE. It actually hurts more when I walk and my legs feel like lead. So, I take my gel quickly and take a big drink of powerade and start running again and tell myself that I am not stopping to walk again. After I get back into my groove, I feel really good and I look down at the Garmin and it says 12.75 miles...wow! I have almost run a half marathon! I just have 1.25 miles to complete my 14 miles. And really, I felt good the entire way. I think the combonation of having my gels, my gum, and my powerade, I was able to have a great run. I'm not saying that I would have wanted to run anymore today, but I probably could have if I had to (which I will come next week!) I finished in 2:33:30 which is a 10:58 per mile pace, which I was very happy with. Now, if I could just hold that pace for 12.2 more miles, I could run a marathon in under 5 hours! Yeah, we'll see! I really don't care about my time for this first marathon - I just want to cross the finish line and say that I have run a marathon before I turn 30! And after today, I feel like I can do it!

Hayfever Run/Walk, Car Show, Chili Cookoff, and Swimming, Oh My!

Saturday was a busy and very sunny, hot day! Nice days are hard to find in our neck of the woods so we take advantage of them every time we have one! Saturday morning was the annual Hayfever 4 mile Run/Walk for our local community center. Chris won this race last year so he wanted to defend his title this year. The kids and I did the walk and I pushed them in the stroller. Caiden's preschool teacher, Rebecca, walked it with me so it was nice to have a friend to chat with while we were walking. When we got there, Chris told me that the local cross country and track star was there so Chris would not be winning this year, but he thought he would be able to get 2nd. This kid even had to stop at the top at the hill to puke and still won by 3 minutes! But Chris finished in 26:52 which is still under 7 minutes miles for the four mile race. Awesome job, Chris! The kids and I finished in 59:11 so it was under an hour, which is what I wanted to do - pushing 70 pounds of preschoolers is hard, especially up the hills! :) It was a really fun race and lots more people did it this year than last year so that was good too!

Saturday afternoon we went to the car show and the state chili cook off at the park across the street from our house. Our neighbor makes a delicious chili and was part of the contest, but he didn't win this year so we were bummed. It was fun trying all of the different chili's and some of them were HOT, but I still tried them! The kids had fun jumping in the bouncy castle and eating snowcones and Caiden wanted to look at all of the yellow cars. He really liked the ones with flames on them too! When we got home, we filled up the little pool and cooled off and then Chloe and I took a little snooze on the couch while Chris cooked us an awesome dinner! :)

So, that was our day Saturday! I'm thinking summer might finally make an appearance, but I don't want to talk to quickly, because then it will probably snow tomorrow!

Happy Birthday CoCo Bean!

On Saturday evening after a busy day of preparations, we had Chloe's 3rd birthday party. Her birthday was actually Monday, but because Lauren was making the cake and was in Montana last weekend, we had it this weekend. So many of our friends came, which made it so much fun! I love having people come over! In addition to the party, we also had a pasta feed because 5 of us at the party were running the next day and we needed to carbo-load. :) So, we had a pasta buffet, that was really yummy if I do say so myself! And Lauren's cake was a huge hit! Many people didn't even realize it was a cake and thought it was just a decoration. The kids had a blast playing outside - it turned out to be a beautiful sunny evening - and they ran around, blew some bubbles, colored with chalk, and ate lots of pasta and cake and ice cream. Chloe got so much cool stuff; she was very excited! She is very into princesses and horses right now so she is in heaven playing all of her new stuff. I think the party was a huge success and I hope everyone had a great time! Happy 3rd Birthday Chloe!

Caiden's 1K Race Report!

On Saturday afternoon, we headed to Deadwood for Caiden to run in another 1K race. The weather was a little chilly, but not too bad, until we got there of course and it started raining on us a little. Chris had a Seahawks beanie in the car and Caiden found it and insisted on wearing it for his race. Chris checked him in and got his shirt, which he also wanted to put on for the race. We go and sit in the car to warm up before the start and then Chris calls us to tell us that it's time to line up. After a brief directional about where to go, they are off! A 1K is just over half a mile, .6 of a mile to be exact, so we see the first group of older kids come in just after 4 minutes. And Caiden's wasn't too far behind those older kids! He came in at 6 minutes and 32 seconds! And he was really excited to tell me about passing some kids and even passing Daddy while he was running! :) He had a fun time and Chloe had a really good time cheering him on! She said she is going to run the next one too! Great job Caiden! We are so proud of you for doing your best!

Deadwood/Mickelson Half Marathon Race Report

Yesterday, I finished my 2nd half marathon! It was a great race and I actually feel pretty good today considering the 13.1 miles of running. Don't get me wrong; I am sore, but much less so than last August after my first half. The race was very scenic along the Mickelson Trail which runs from Rochford to Deadwood. People were actually stopping to take pictures along the way!

Chris and I left the house around 5:30am and got to the buses around 6:00am. When we got there, Chris saw the first full marathon bus already leaving so he thought he better get on the next one before they all left without him! :) So, I make my way to the half marathon buses (which were actually nice buses, compared to the school buses that the full marathoners rode!) I sat next to a girl, Jill, who is a kindergarten teacher in MN. We chatted the whole way up to the start line, which was such a nice way to make the time on the bus fly by. We get to the start and immediately get in line for the porta potties. Don't want to start a race when you have to go to the bathroom. So now, we have about an hour to wait until race time. It was chilly up at the start line so we leave our jackets on until the last possible minute to stay warm. But I am so thankful for the blue skies and sun since we had been having rain every day for the past 2 weeks. It was going to be a beautiful day for running. We meet 2 sisters, one from Sundance, one from Bismarck and we find some sun and chat with them until it's time to start. They tell me that they are planning on running the full marathon in August in Spearfish too so I will see them again! My friend, Amy finds me right before the start and we say good luck to each other and before we know it, it's time to start. There are 1200 runners so it's a big race. It takes a couple of minutes to get to the start, but considering how many runners there are, a couple of minutes isn't a big deal. My new friends and I wish each other luck and I tell them that I will see them at the finish line, because they are all way faster than me! So, we are off!

Mile 1 & 2 - These miles fly by and I don't even see the first mile marker so I don't look at my watch until the 2nd mile marker and it says 20:25 so about 10:12 miles

Mile 3 - 9:53 - I'm feeling pretty good so I try to speed it up a bit

Mile 4 - 9:40 - I try to keep the speed up because I feel really good

Mile 5 - 9:46 - I meet up with Jill and we stay together for a about a mile

Mile 6 - 11:10 - Yeah, there was a hill that we had to go up after going down a hill and my legs are feeling it big time. I hope it goes away because I have 7 more miles to go!

Mile 7 - 10:47 - I feel much better, I take my Hammer gel and "hammer" through...haha...funny, I know - still a little slower, but under 11, so I'm happy and I'm over half way now! Whoo hoo!

Mile 8 - 10:43 - My miles have slowed down, but I'm keeping them under 11, which was my goal. That way, I could finish in 2:25 and beat my previous time by 4 minutes

Mile 9 - 10:18 - I'm feeling really good again, which is odd because 9 miles is usually a wall for me - I guess my training really did work! :)

Mile 10 - 10:30 - Slowed it down a bit, getting a little tired, but still good - Jill comes up behind me and we ask each other how we are doing and she looks just awesome and she speeds up in front of me. There is no way I'm keeping up with her now!

Mile 11 - 10:38 - I am really feeling it now - I play mind games with myself and think to myself that I can't walk because I only have 2 miles left to go - 22 little minutes - but then I also think that I should be able to walk and take a break because I have just ran 11 miles. But I don't walk, just slow down a bit

Mile 12 & 13 - 22:18 (a little over 11 minute miles each mile) I totally miss the 12 mile marker, but I'm not sure if it was actually there, because I saw Jill at the end and she said she didn't see it either. I am TIRED these last 2 miles and I know I have slowed way down, esp in mile 12. The last mile was a little easier, because we are in Deadwood and I start to see people along the trail cheering us on. We have our names printed on our bibs so people are yelling, "Go Shannon!" and "Finish strong Shannon!" As we round the corner I see the mile 13 marker and know that I am there! I cross the finish line in 2:16:14, which is 13 minutes faster than my last half in August! A minute for each mile! And that is exactly what my average pace was - 10:24 - compared to 11:24 last year. Lauren and the kids missed me finish as they had to go back to the car to get Chloe's coat, but such is life with little kids! We take a few pictures, get some post-race snacks, and just unwind after the race.

We wait for Chris to come in after his full marathon and he finishes in 3:36:55 (the first half of the full marathon is all uphill so it's a tough course to say the least!) and that is a great time! You can read his race report at http://runaholic-chris.blogspot.com/ as soon as he gets it up!

After some Chinese food, a hot shower, and a little nap, I feel pretty good, but really tired. I wasn't sore yet, but my quads are pretty sore today. I think I'll take today off, but it's back to the grind tomorrow to continue training for my full marathon in August....yes, I think I am crazy too! :)

June Already?!

I can't believe it's June already! Tomorrow Chloe turns 3, which is just crazy to think about. Three years ago today (the day before she was born) we signed the papers to buy our first house. Now, we live in an entirely different state, Chris has a desk job and isn't gone all summer fighting fires, and I stay home with the kids, so a lot has changed over the past 3 years. Chloe was a shock to us when we found out we were having her, but I could not imagine my life without her now. She brings so much joy, love, and laughter to us everyday.

As of today, I have lost a total of 32 pounds for the year! Now, I have less than 15 pounds to get to what I think my goal weight will be! That's very exciting! It's been slow moving the past couple of months, but that's ok! I'm in no hurry! In addition to the 32 pounds, I have lost 20 inches since January. That's a lot of inches! It's unbelievable to me sometimes to see how different I look with losing just 32 pounds - it really makes a huge difference!

I ran 85 miles in May which is 2 more than I did in April. The grand total of miles ran for the year is 340! It's WAY more than all of last year, esp since I stopped running last August for reasons still unknown to myself. But that is the past, and I have no plans to stop running at all this year!

I ran 2 5Ks (that makes 4 altogether this year along with a 10K!) in May, both of them being out of state. The first one was in CO the day before Chris ran the CO Marathon and the second one was Memorial Day in Las Vegas and I got to run it with Mindy, which was so much fun! I didn't get a PR in either of the races, but they were both a lot of fun to run.

I am still training hard for my next (my 2nd) half marathon which is now just a week away! Back when we decided to run it, it seemed like June was so far away, but here we are!

I hope June brings more weight lost, more inches lost, more muscle gained, and more miles run. I hope May was a good month for all of you and that June will be a great one too!