Hello?

Wow. A year and a half-ish since I last posted on here. A lot has gone on since the.  Great stuff, additions, drama. You name it, it's probably happened. So, for posterity's sake, I'll try to give you a run down of the highlights as best I can. 

Lets see, I last left off with our second half marathon completed in Jan of 2012...

In March we ran the Publix Half Marathon. I don't remember my time - 2:20 something not great. I wasn't feeling good and I walked more than I would have liked. The weekend prior I ran the Silver Comet 10k in under an hour (a PR for me) but I paid for it on race day. My IT band on my right leg was giving me issues so the downhills were quite painful. I even walked a few downhills. DOWNHILLS! I never walk downhill because that's my opportunity for a bit of recovery. I think another issue was that we didn't prepare for this race like the others. I think our mileage topped off around 8 miles this go round. Also, silly me took advantage of the Gatorade at water stops. While on any given day Gatorade is fine, but I had never drank it while running before and my stomach did not thank me for that. I had to take a 5 min pit stop around Ga Tech, mile 11 or something. I know better. Oh well, other than that we enjoyed the race and def want to do it again.

A couple weeks later my best friend and I ran The Color Run. I was a colorful, messy experience and I can't wait to do it again!

April was uneventful. We ran a few more races I can't remember. But we did decide around then that we wanted to think about expanding or family. So...

In May (TMI alert) I had my IUD taken out. We ran another race, I had like 5 cavities filled because I haven't been routinely flossing and my first pregnancy wreaked havoc on my teeth. 

On Father's Day, I took a test. It was positive. Holy cow. I was 4 weeks pregnant... We were going to have another kid! A few weeks later we went on our annual family beach vacation. We ended up telling my best friend, my parents, and our extended family. I wanted to wait, but my parents were in the midst of making some big decisions and I felt that they needed to know that important information. 

July 4 - we ran our third Peachtree Road Race. This time with Jon's dad! He has gotten into running and is running circles around us. He and Jon could have started in corral C, but they start with me in F. I finished in a less than stellar time, but it was hot and humid, and I was secretly pregnant. At the finish, I walked through the gate into Piedmont Park, I step in a hole camouflaged by tall grass, and I sprain my ankle. I got to spend about 45 min in the first aid tent getting it iced and wrapped, then start the slow and very painful uphill journey to the MARTA station. 

July 7 we have our first ultrasound and tell Jon's family that evening. Everyone is happy. 😃

August - we run the Vinnings Downhill 5k again. I am 13 weeks pregnant and tell the Facebook world that I am so. 

September - Claire turns 2! I can't believe how much and how fast she is growing! She doesn't quite grasp the fact that we are having a baby. 

October - we find out we are having a boy! My instincts were telling me it would be a boy, but they said boy with Claire too so I didn't pay them much mind. So far, the pregnancy had been the same. No morning sickness, but I did have a few more food aversions. I made myself a promise that I wouldn't gain more than 25-30 lbs. My doc didn't want me to gain more than 25. I committed to continuing to exercise as long as my body would let me. And my doctors were awesome. They encouraged me to keep running. One of them was a runner too. 

November - We had a multifamily yard sale and thankfully got rid of a lot of junk (one man's junk is another's treasure). We had Thanksgiving at our house and deep fried the turkey again. It was yummy. 

December - Christmas! I'm still running and going to spin class. 

January - Sometime this month I quit running. I know it was week 33. It just hurt good bad. During the run was ok, but that night and the next day I paid for it dearly and could barely walk. 

February - Eek! Little man is due on the 21st! If you recall, I had a c-section with Claire, but my wonderful doctors were ok with me attempting a VBAC. Another reason I wanted to exercise and keep my weight in check. My doctors performed a growth ultrasound around week 37. He measured about 7.2 lbs. Big, but Claire measured 8.5 lbs at 38 weeks so I thought I was in good shape. I had only gained 27 lbs so far and I was still exercising! My doctors would not allow me to go past my due date, so for plan B we scheduled a c-section for Feb 22. I was confident I could do it - I would go into labor on my own! And I/we did everything in the books to try to help things along. But no dice. C-section it was. 

The morning of I was still carrying high and had no progress to speak of. I was so nervous and had really psyched myself out about the RCS. They always say anticipation is the worst part. I was scheduled for an 8:30 surgery, but I didn't get in there for another hour due to an emergency c-section. I'll spare the majority of the details, but I was bound and determined to remember as much of this experience as I could. Don't get me wrong, it's all a blur, but it's funny how certain things really stick out in your memory. Like, I remember the bright blue glasses my doc was wearing, the the huge video monitor so the students could watch without crowding the table, the vacuum looking machine (I assume it was a vacuum for the amniotic fluid and stuff), the pattern on the ceiling tiles, and all the different colors of lights in the giant spot light they used during surgery. I remember as they pulled him out of me, lying there with my arms strapped down, looking upside down at the surgery time and the actual time (9:47). I remember his cry and watching my husband at the warmer while they got our son all cleaned up and me put back together again. Connor weighed in at 8 lbs 13 oz (a half pound lighter than his big sister) and 21.5 inches long (1.5 inches LONGER than Claire). 

Recovery was like night and day from the last time. I had no pain pump so I wasn't loopy and out of it for the first 24 hours. And the next morning I felt so good when they got me up that I felt like I could go home that day! In total, we spent 3 days in the hospital. It was the first time we had ever been away from Claire for that long, but she was having a good time with her Nina. 

Connor is 4 months old now has been a wonderful baby. Dare I say better than Claire? He is so laid back, doesn't cry when other people hold him, and he didn't have the extreme colic like Claire had that had her screaming every night from 6pm till 1am for 2 months. And I really hit the jackpot with him. He slept through the night at 3 weeks old and has gotten on the same schedule as Claire and takes a 3 hr nap during her nap time (let me find the largest piece of wood to knock on...). Claire loves her little brother and he is just so transfixed with her. Anytime she is around, he just stares and smiles and laughs. I pray that they are close and will look out for one another. 

I feel so blessed to have our perfect little family. 

Robins Air Force Base Half Marathon race recap

We did it! We finished our second Half Marathon! I had 3 goals going into this race: beat my previous time, run for more than 8 miles without stopping, and not be in pain when I finish.

I am happy to say that I met and exceeded all my goals!

My time was 2:20:35. Thats 4 minutes faster than my Silver Comet Half time was! I am really excited about that. Also, I am very proud to say that I ran the ENTIRE 13.1 miles without walking. Best of all, I wasn't in excruciating pain this time when I finished. My legs were definitely tired and I had absolutely nothing left in me, but in didn't feel like I wanted to lie down and die right there at the finish line.

The race was really great and you got to see things that you normally wouldn't be able to (like an entire 3 miles run along side the runway). I grew up basically down the road from the base so it was a nice and short 20 min drive from my parents house. It was a chilly 29* when we got there to get our race numbers but they had a large hangar turned museum that held all 1500 people and thankfully kept us warm.

Now, I had never run when it was this cold, so I was very worried that I dressed too warm. The temp didn't raise that much while we were running so I only took off my gloves. There was enough of a breeze and shade that cooled you down quickly.

Miles 1-6 were rather uneventful. The race started out in what I like to call the airplane graveyard. Basically it's where they have parked a few select decommissioned planes for visitors to walk around and see. It was always my favorite part of the museum.

At mile 5 we could see the end if the runway and as we crested the Jill could see the entire 3 miles that laid before us.

Mile six there was a slight uphill and here I started talking to an older man running it for something like the 5th year in a row. He said last year there were F-16's doing touch and go exercises which I'm sure was quite amazing to see. Alas, no planes this year. This 3 miles was tough mentally because you could see this looong stretch of road before you but it seems to take forever to get there. The man I talked to also told me about a pretty steep hill around mile 10. I filed that away and held back some on the last half of the runway run where it was slightly downhill.

Miles 9-13 took us through a campground and horse riding area (25 years living in this area and I had no clue this was back there). Then mile 10. Definitely steeper than I was expecting, but I got through it telling myself I only had a 5k left.

Miles 12 and 13 were physically tough. I was feeling really tight in my hips and I wanted more than anything to stop. We had topped out in our training at 12 miles this time which was a huge help.

Somewhere around mile 12.5 this little Korean lady passed me (a Korean running club from Atlanta was participating) and I remembered passing her way back at the beginning. She kept me going. No words of encouragement, just my own competitive spirit.

So, I finished and got my medal! Jonathan finished a few minutes ahead of me, beating his previous time by about a min.

So, now begins continued training for the Publix Half Marathon. Technically we are already in week 4 of training. Once we are done with that one, I think it is going to be the last for a while...

(Whew, sorry, this was a lot longer than I had initially planned.)

Mobile blogging...

So, I know it's been over a month since I last posted. In that month, I got an iPhone, and I'M LOVING IT! So count this as my attempt to make a post from my phone. Just for kicks. And, I'm going to try to post a few pictures I took.

First up is Claire with Santa. Let's just say she was not a fan.

Than there is a pic of the 2 of us. Cause she is just so cute.

Ok, so how did it do?

Edited to add: How do I change the order of the pics? Or do they just get added in the order I took them and I'm sol?

I finished a Half Marathon!

As I sit here watching the repeat footage from the New York City Marathon, it reminds me that I need to write my race recap from last weekend's Silver Comet Half Marathon.


As my title suggests, Jonathan and I finished our first half marathon! The race was Oct. 29, and it was probably the coldest race I have ever run. The race was capped at 2000 people, so race morning number pickup was thankfully an option. We arrived around 6:45 am and got through the line fairly quickly and struggled to attach our race number with 3-4 safety pins in the dark with frozen fingers. I only got 3 pins on, and somewhere in mile 2 I lost a pin and my number was flapping in the breeze.


The race started a little after 7:45 and the first 1.5 miles were on the road and uphill. When we finally made the turn onto the Silver Comet Trail we ditched our sweatshirts and that's when I realized I lost a safety pin. Jon gave me one of his and somehow i managed to run and not stab myself in the abdomen. The first 6 miles flew by. The trees were gorgeous, there was a lot of conversation around me, and since the trail is an old rail bed, it was nice and flat. However, I looked over my shoulder around mile 5 and noticed that we had been running slightly downhill for the majority of the time thus far. I made a mental note of how much those last 5 miles were gonna suck.


We ran under a large over pass and Jon and I tried guessing what Hwy it was. It also looked like a canyon on the trail. You could tell how the trail had been cut out of the rock, and it was really cools to look at and see the layers in the rock. Also made for a great landmark because we ran under 3 overpasses and I knew on the way back this would the last if them.


At the 10k mark, I checked my time and realized I had just run a 10k PR time of about 1:02. Yesss! Around mile 7 I started wondering where the heck the turn around was, but I busied myself by munching on my Sport Beans. Gotta keep fueled! Jonathan had pulled ahead of me around mile 6, so I got to see him after he had already gone through the turn around. I believe the turn around was around mile 8.1, and at point I had just continuously ran the farthest ever. I did walk at mile 9 for about 30 seconds - so that I could gulp down a cup of Gatorade.


I started feeling tight in my hips and hamstrings and felt the desire to walk, so I paced myself with a couple ahead of me. That carried me through to mile 11, when I had to stretch my hips because it felt like they were about to rip off my body. Now, since 11 miles was where we topped off in training, I was venturing into new territory here. Let me just say, when I started running again, that was perhaps one of the most painful things ever, or so I thought.


I walked again around mile 12, and I knew I just had 1.1 miles left. As I was walking, I was trying to convince myself that I could do it, I could make the last mile, that i had run 8 without stopping so I could make it one more mile. Then the most wonderful thing happened. A girl that had been pacing me passed me and gave me some words of encouragement. I don't remember what she said, but it was exactly what I needed to hear to get me running again. I tried to catch her and pass her at the end, but my legs were not having it. I also tried finding her after the race to thank her, but I couldn't find her.


I finished, relatively strong, with a time time of 2:24:and some change. I did it! I had set a goal of 2.5 hours and I beat it by 6 minutes. Jon finished in 2:17:something. We got our medals and made our way over to the line to get our race shirt. Standing there, my calves and hamstrings got so tight, and at that point I was in about the most pain ever. Just about as much pain as c-section recovery had been.


Despite the pain, it was a fantastic race, and I hope we have the opportunity to run it next year as well. Also, we are now signed up for the Publix Half Marathon in March. Yay!

Also...

Umm, I forgot to mention that I now have a 1 year old! I don't know how or when that happened, or where the last year went.

Her birthday was September 27, but we had her party on the 24th. It was great. All our family and close friends came to help us celebrate. I made the cake and the decorations, we grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, ate potato salad and cole slaw, and of course enjoyed the cake. Also, Claire made off like a bandit in a toy store.

The cake, smash cake, and two cupcakes (for my mom and Jon's dad's birthdays which are the day before and the same days as Claire, respectively.)



Cake table and tissue paper pom poms



Yummm, cake!

Squishing cake between the fingers.

Run For The Health Of It 10.5k race recap

Jon and I were able to race in a 10.5k yesterday. It was about a 30 min drive from my parent's house and we were going to be visiting anyway, so it worked out really well. It was a really really small race. I found it on the RunGeorgia.com website, and there was no race website associated so I did have to do a little bit of searching. The only thing I found only was a .pdf of the application.

We arrived Saturday morning around 8:15. The 5k race had already started, but ours didn't start until 9:15. That alone should let on to how small this race was. I think there were about 50 people running the 5k, and we were able to cheer them on when they came in. We arrived, got our race packet, and went back to sit in the car because it was cold! (I love this weather for running.) We lined up for the race start and we counted about 30 people running the 10.5k, and a few of them had already ran the 5k that morning.

The race started out on a slight uphill - good for keeping that adrenaline start under control. Being that we were in South/Central Georgia, the race was pretty much flat. While it was an out and back race, there were quite a few turn arounds and loops in an effort to keep the race off the main highway. I am going to save the mile by mile details because well, there isn't much to tell. It was flat, we saw a snake sunning on the asphalt, and we were even sharing the road with semi trucks at one point (we were coincidentally running on Industrial Parkway). We did pace ourselves with a lady the whole race. She had a good pace, and since she was in front of us it helped motivate us to keep going when it started hurting.

Overall, it was a great race. 10.5k is about 6.8 miles, and our time was 1:07:01. A PR for the 10K (~1:04), and a first for the both of us - running for 6 miles without stopping! The lady ahead of us really helped push us along, unfortunately we were not able to pass her at the end. She picked up the pace about a half mile from the finish and I knew I wouldn't be able to maintain that. I don't care though. I am very happy with my race and proud of us for doing as well as we did.

Vinings Downhill 5k race recap

Yesterday morning Jonathan and I got up bright and early to drive to Vinings for the Vinings Downhill 5k. Since this race is mostly downhill (as the name suggests) with a net drop of about 300 ft, I was hoping for a PR.

We really enjoyed the race. It was relatively easy to get to with FREE parking. Packet pickup was race morning so we arrived around 7:00. We made our way to the port-o-potties, and just kinda hung around and people watched. I love people watching - the second best place to people watch after the airport is races. While we were waiting for race start, I saw two other bloggers, Lee and Lindsay, and I finally got to meet them.

Around 8:05 the gun finally went off, and we started off almost immediately downhill. Quite a steep downhill. The first major uphill was a little after the first mile. I read and was told there are two hills, but I honestly wasn't expecting a hill as long or as steep as the first one. No matter, I knew it was the worst of two, so I powered through. I did briefly walk through the only water stop. No matter how hard I try, I cannot run and drink out of a cup. I end up wearing more than what gets in my mouth.

The second hill wasn't quite as bad, however, I did walk for about 30 feet. The sun was bright, I was starting to get winded, and I wanted to save it for the rest of the race. Hindsight, I wish I hadn't walked.

As we turned onto 41, I saw Lindsay across the street having already finished (in just over 19 minutes-the girl is amazing). I saw the entrance into the Chatahoochee River Park, and I knew we didn't have much longer so I started to pick up the pace. Down a hill, around a corner and under the over pass for 41, I could see the finish line. I was really hoping to finish within 30 min. Unfortunately my time was 31:13. Fortunately, I did PR, by about a minute and a half.

I finished breathing hard, but I knew I could have pushed harder. I was afraid of starting out too fast, but not having run this race before I didn't know what to expect. Oh well. Next year I will know and I can really push it. Jonathan finished in just over 29 minutes.

The post race Jubilee was a mile walk (or bus ride, but we chose to get a little more exercise). There we got our shirt and lots of swag. Lindsay and I got a picture together (I look horrible and am standing really strange), and then we headed for the half mile trip back to the car.

Hopefully we will run a 10k on October 1, and as of right now we are half way to our Silver Comet Half Marathon. Oh yeah, we are officially registered for that too.

Where did August go?

So here I am again, more than a month since my last post. Ho hum. I don't understand why it's so hard for me to find time to post. I really enjoy it, and it's a good outlet, but I just can't seem to find time anymore. Maybe it's due to a little someone named Claire...

Oh, well. What are ya gonna do?

The month of August flew by. On August 6 the son of a family friend got married in Macon. Beautiful wedding. The ceremony was in the Newton Chapel on Mercer University's campus. Imagine this, old chapel (built in the late 1800's), dark wood, stained glass all around you, and a massive organ as the back drop. Gorgeous. And the bride was gorgeous.

My mom, Claire, and I flew up to Edmonton, Alberta from August 16 - 23 to visit my grandmother and all our family. Claire did absolutely amazoing on the airplane, and I will try to recap with pictures our trip another time.

Jonathan's birthday was the following weekend, and then it was September. I am also starting to plan Claire's 1st birthday. When on earth did that happen?!

Doesn't seem like a lot put down like that, but it was. Oh, we also registered for the Silver Comet Half Marathon. As of today, we are at the end of week 5 of training. Tomorrow we are running in the Vinings Downhill 5k. It is almost all downhill, and a fast race, so hopefully I can get a PR. I am ready to get back into races. This summer has been so hot, and this past week was such a pleasant reprieve from the heat.

That's really about all I have at the moment. I need to get to bed, 5:30 comes early.

Silver Comet Half Marathon!

So, Jonathan and I are tentatively commmitting to the Silver Comet Half Marathon. I say tentatively because if I can't manage to stay injury free, it obviously won't happen. We are going to wait to register until the end of August because that is when the price increase is, and a month of running should give me a good idea of how the running will be going.

To try to stay injury free, I got a new pair of shoes (an anniversary gift - our 4th was this past Thurs), and I will be following Hal Higdon's Half Marathon training program. I followed that program a year and a half ago for the ING Marathon that didn't happen because Jon was sick that morning. I could have gone without him because I was totally ready, but I didn't.

I also took advantage of today's Groupon. $29 for 10 group classes at Gold's Gym. Since Claire was born and I'm staying at home, I cancelled my membership there. I am really missing it and I need something for my cross training days. I'll get my 10 classes in and then I'll probably join again. I love group fitness classes and they help me stay motivated. They also have an in-gym child care area. Woo hoo!

So, training starts tomorrow!

I fail at blogging

Are you getting tired of seeing those same berries every time you may (or may not) look at my blog? I am.

A lot has happened since June 9. Let's see...

June 18-26 we went on our annual family vacation to Panama City Beach. It was, as usual, fabulous. But it was even more special this year because it was our first family vacation with Claire. She absolutely loved the water, and was even entertained by the sand. We always go with our family friends and we have two of those square shade tents/cabanas that we set up so we have lots of shade. I took a blow up baby pool for Claire to play in in the shade. Wonderful Jonathan carted buckets of fresh water all the way down from the wash off areas Claire would have salt free water to play in. Unfortunately, we didnt spend too much time in the ocean because there was a lot of that nasty seaweed that makes the water all soupy. But the pool is always nice and a welcome releif from the heat. I worked with Claire in the pool to get her used to going under water. I would say it was a success because by the end of the week, she would hold her breath and close her eyes when I counted to three. About midweek Claire expereienced her first boat ride when we rented a pontoon boat. We had an infant life jacket for her, and while she wasn't too crazy about it, the breeze and other boats distracted her. All in all, a fabulous vacation and I can't wait until next year when Claire is running around and can really enjoy it. Also, Claire learned to crawl on father's day!

June 27 Claire turned 9 months old! Shes been an outside baby longer than an inside baby! Where has the last 9 months gone? She has 4 teeth-all on bottom, is crawling all over the place, is a pro at putting food in her mouth and holding her own bottle, says Yum Yum when we ask if she is hungry or is presented with food or drink, And I'm pretty sure she is saying Dada. At her 9 month checkup she was 21 lbs 3 oz (90th percentile), 29 inches long (90th percentile), and a 49 cm head (>95th percentile).

July 4 we ran in the Peachtree Road Race. It was hot, there were hills that we didn't train for, but it was a fun race. We ran this race two years ago so we knew what we had in store, but between nursing a leg injury and it being too stinking hot to run with a jogging stroller, we just didn't get our hill training in. That's ok, we have next year!

And here we are caught up to today. It doesn't seem like too much written out, but July has just flown by for me since we've been so busy. I'm looking forward to the next couple of months. We have a wedding at the beginning of August, my mom, Claire and I are going to Canada for a week mid- August to to visit my grandmother. Our Half Marathon training also starts the first week of August. We will be following a 12 week program for the Silver Comet Half at the end of October. That is if I can stay injury free. Claire's first birthday is September 27! Oh my gosh! And finally we will be taking our annual trip to Gatlinburg in October as well.

Speaking of staying injury free... No matter how careful I am, increasing my mileage by no more than 10% a week, I still can't seem to stay injury free. I think it's my weight. To be brutally honest, I am having a heck of a time losing weight. I am still 10 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight and no matter what I do, I can't seem to get it off. I cut out almost all sugar (I still allow a small dessert every now and then) and managed to lose 5 lbs, but I've hit a plateau again. I know if I can run more frequently that will help me lose it, but my weight is causing some lower leg injuries, so I can't run. Ugh, so frustrating. I wish I still had my gym membership so I could go to classes or use the elliptical or bikes. I need something to crosstrain with because all I have access to at home is my treadmill or running outside.

Anyone have any ideas about how I can lose the weight in a healthy way? My short term goal is pre-baby weight (10 lbs to lose). My long term goal is wedding weight (40 lbs to lose). Yikes. Seeing my long term goal written out really sucks.