PCS Dallas Half Marathon

Half Marathon #5 DONE!  Sunday, December 9th I ran the PCS Dallas Half Marathon.  Shanna came with me again to spectate (do I have the best friend or what?!?).  We left a little after noon Saturday.  I had it all figured out.  Leave at noon.  Drive 3.5 hours.  Check into our hotel around 4, have plenty of time to walk to packet pick up to get my bib and then wander over to the expo.  We left a little after noon.  We stopped in Norman for a quick bite to eat at Jersey Mikes.  We got to our hotel with very little trouble at all.  We waited in line for while and finally got checked in.  We went up to the room, got situated....and I looked at the clock.  5:05.  This is bad.  Packet pick up closes at 5.  There is no race day packet pick up.  The packet is essential.  It has your bib and timing chip.  With out the bib, you don't run.  Period.  It was close, and with one way streets I decided it would be best to walk as fast as we could.  We hustled our bustles.  We found packet pick up and all the doors were closed.  Locked and closed.  I'm near tears.  Beyond stressed out.  There was a man approaching the doors at the same time.  A security guard opens the door and informs us it's closed and we can't go in.  I'm so glad that man was there.  I would have accepted her answer and left.  And not run.  And been sooo mad with myself.  But the guy says, (In a British accent no less) it's okay, we're with the staff.  And breezes on in past her, ushering Shanna and I with him.  Turns out he just needs safety pins for his bib.  I turned to him and say, "Thank you, I want to give you the biggest hug ever right now, but I'll use my self control and keep my hands to myself."  We went to the counter, he got directed to the safety pins and another nice gentleman helped me find my bib and even gave me a race shirt.  He says, "hurry and leave.  My boss won't be happy if she sees me." They were closed down.  There were about 6 volunteers. The shelves were empty. They were packed up.  Gone.  I got SO LUCKY!!!  What is it with me and racing?!?  I miss one start, almost miss another and now am late for bib pick up.  I am NOT a late person!  This is so unlike me!  At least that was our last hiccup.

The race started at 8.  Shanna and I set the alarms on our phones for 6am and I got a 6am wake up call.  And we got up at 6.  I had plenty of time to get ready and walk to the start.  I was in corral A.  You guys.  Corral A is for fast people.  There must've been some mistake...because I'm am NOT one of the "fast" people.  Anyway, I got my watch on and figured out (when I turned it on it was on the multi-sport setting and I had a HARD time figuring it out, but I did!) and I left Shanna at the start and I went to the back of corral A where they had Police Academy Cadets checking bibs to make sure everyone was in the right place and slipped into the back of my corral.  They had pace markers up, which was great, starting with 6:00 minute miles.  That's crazy.  I stayed at the VERY back of my corral where I met some really nice people.  2 people from Sioux Falls among others.  

There was a wreck which delayed the start about 10 minutes, so shortly after 8am, we were off. 

I knew at the beginning of this race that it was going to be a hard run.  It was 70* (which I think is HOT to run in) and 89% humidity.  And I was right.  I knew from mile 1 it was going to be a tough run and it was.  Instead of holding back at the beginning and increasing my pace throughout the run, it was a run and hold on or die trying!  I sweat buckets.  It the humidity was really wearing.  The first part of the race was pretty unattractive, but the second half was great.  The weather even improved as the race went on.  Sometimes I would catch a breeze and the humidity improved as well.  But it wasn't enough.  It was a tough run and really took it out of me but I did it and I didn't walk. 

You can see my clock time, but my official chip time was 2:04:17 I got 2324 place out of 9877, 805 out of 5531 women and 153rd out of 969 women ages 30-34.  Not a PR, but still a great run that I'm proud of because it was WORK and I worked HARD at it for 13.1 miles.

And then Shanna and I went out to eat and to IKEA before heading home.  Kyle said while I was gone, Luke prayed that I would "do good" in my race.  So sweet.  And since I get a medal every 1/2, the kids always think I win.  And really, why would I try to correct them?

Current racing: Not registered for any races until the OKC Memorial Marathon in April.  Considering registering for the Dallas Rock 'N Roll in March.

Current running: Non existent.  I have plantar fasciitis in my left foot so now that there are no races on the horizon I'm trying to rest and stretch.  Hopefully that'll work.  Because I've only missed 1 run, and I'm already going a little crazy.

Lighting of the Commons

Leta really likes horses so I had decided that this year would be perfect to try to get the kids a ride on a horse drawn carriage.  I assumed it would be downtown and I was prepared to faithfully stalk Groupon in hopes of a deal.  Before we made it downtown, I found out from our small group bible study about Oklahoma Christians annual Lighting of the Commons where there are carriage rides, pictures with Santa and an outdoor concert.  And everything was free.  We were in.  We loaded up the kids on a Tuesday night, which was cold enough for heavy coats and hats, but not super cold where it would be TOO cold for the kids and create a problem.  When we arrived the line for carriage lines was long, so Kyle hopped in line right away and held our spots.  I chased the kids around (I'm not sure who had the better gig, Kyle or me) while they looked at Santa (the line was too long to sit on his lap and have a picture) and Max photo bombed a picture-taking session.  We finally headed outside and went to the outdoor concert, missing Accapella (bummer!) but we did get to hear the Summer Singers and New Rein and the kids loved it.  We stayed at the back of the crowd and Leta and Luke danced and Max worked on perfecting his "run away from Mommy" skills.  He's pretty good.  After the concert was over, they just ran up and down the sidewalks in front of the library.  Finally it was our turn, and just in time because when our ride was over, they gave the 15 minute notice. There were MANY who waited in line a long time and didn't get a chance to ride.  We crammed in on one side to allow a mother and daughter to ride with us.

Thanksgiving

I'm behind!  So behind.  And I have been for the last 16 1/2 months, really...Hmmm, what happened 16.5 months ago?  Life with 3 kids is definitely busier!  Anyway.  Thanksgiving was bittersweet in many ways.  This was our year to celebrate Thanksgiving with Kyle's family in Hobbs.  Our last trip to Hobbs, was memorable, but not really in a good way.  We got there, went out to eat, went to bed, Leta threw up in the night, we got up the next morning and came home.  We are needing some Hobbs redemption time!  We had plans to travel there, but then some things came up and we decided it would be easier if everyone came here.  Then more things came up and Hap and Vicki were to come before Thanksgiving and Bridget and Danny after.  Then more things came up (poor H&V got sick) so they stayed home and didn't want us to drive 7.5 hours just to get our kids sick, so we ended up scrapping travel plans.

We ended up in Ponca City (yay for only 1.5 hour drive) for Thanksgiving with my moms side of the family. It was great to see Marjorie and JoAnne, Doug, and Jimmy, plus mom and dad and Pappaw and Grandma Key.  We went and spent some time at the nursing home with Pappaw (he's home now) that afternoon and while it was hard with the 3 littles, it was also great and I thought they did really well.  Luke really stepped up and hugged Pappaw quite a bit and wasn't afraid to talk to him at all.  Leta and Max were scared, but Leta was brave and hugged and kissed Pappaw before we left, completely making my day.

The Ford broke while we were there and wasn't drive-able so Kyle and my dad spent much of Thursday looking under the hood and calling tow trucks etc.  We weren't planning on spending the night and so were weren't prepared to do that so my parents let us borrow their car and we got home right at bedtime.  It was a complete disaster getting it fixed and everything surrounding that situation, but it's done now and we're thankful we broke down AT Pappaw and Grandma Key's HOUSE not along the interstate somewhere with 3 kids! Yikes!

And, like the organized person I am, I got NO photos from the day.  *sigh*

Route 66 Half Marathon

Another half marathon done!  #4  I was set to go with my friend, Shanna, again, who is a great specator, but her little boy got sick with a) strep b) double ear infections c) viral rash d) all of the above.  The unfortunate answer for poor Karter (And Brandon and Shanna!) is D.  So, of course, Shanna stayed home with her poor sick little boy.  It would've been more fun with her and I missed her, but guys.  I was ALONE from 2:15pm Saturday until 1:45 pm Sunday.  It was fabulous!  Mia Soper (as Leta likes to call her) was up for being our first ever overnight babysitter.  I started my alone time with a quick trip into the Goodwill in Edmond for some "throw-away" clothes.  I spent < $5 on a pair of sweats and a zip hoodie that I wore over my racing gear to the start and while I waited, then I took them off at the last minute and threw them to the side of the road.  They have volunteers who pick up discarded items and they then donate them to Goodwill or the Salvation army.  Staying warm for that hour was worth the $5 to me =).

After Goodwill, I headed to Tulsa and checked in at my hotel downtown, which was about 5-6 blocks from the start) and then headed over to the race expo before it closed and checked in and got my packet.  Then it was back to the hotel for me.  Since room service wasn't too outrageous, I opted for that instead of trying to find a restaurant and eating alone or getting carry out.  I felt very fancy pants eating in my hotel room.  I was in my jammies and reading in bed by 7:30.  Fabulous.  I just relished the quiet and didn't turn the TV on once the whole stay.

After a couple of incidences where I have barely made it to the start or have been late, I turned the ringer way up on my cell phone alarm, took the time to figure out the hotel room alarm AND had a wake up call.  I was up at my desired 6:30 wake time, had slept wonderfully and was ready to go!  I got ready nice and slow and headed out the door to walk the half mile or so to the start.  I timed it perfectly and after a short wait for a port-a-potty I headed into my corral (B) to wait for the start.  They started the race in "waves" Each subsequent corral was started 5 minutes after the one in front of it.

Soon I was off.  The first half of the course was gorgeous.

It was constant small hills for the first 6 miles.  We ran through a revitalized shopping district, down Cherry Street, through beautifully landscaped and well maintained old neighborhoods and past a gorgeous stone monastery.  I talked to a lady who was also running the half around mile 6 who said she felt terrible and that the hills were killing her, I down played it, but I felt wonderful.  I felt great the entire race.   After we hit the halfway mark, we ran on and out and back that was flat and boring.  But, the good thing about that (and being relatively slow! ha.) was I was able to see all the super speedy runners and people ahead of me so there was always something interesting to look at.  The course was pretty well lined with spectators and people holding up signs.  There was a saxophone player I saw twice, a drum line, a guy doing karaoke, several bands and a belly dancer.  This was a really fun race and one that I'll definitely want to run again in the future.

I picked it up the last 5K or so and then was able to really run strong to the finish.  I passed A LOT of people those last miles.  

I got 1090 place out of ???? and 98th in my division out of almost 500 runners by running a new PR of 2:02:51.  Still chasing a sub 2 hour half, but I am proud and happy with this race. It was FUN!  And it also helps that I felt strong throughout the run ;)

First trip to the E.R.!

Saturday night Erin was watching the kids while Kyle and I were going to catch a quick bite to eat and then to see a movie.  As we were leaving Panera I got a call from Erin saying Leta had fallen off her stool while eating supper and had pretty severely cut her chin.  She had texted a picture of the cut to her mom asking if she thought she would need stitches, but her mother was unsure.  I had Erin text me a picture.  Behold.

 And this doesn't really do it justice.  So, I got this text from Erin, to which I replied asking her to clean in up a bit and send a new picture so I could see the cut better.  No.  This IS the cut.  Our neighbor and wonderful woman, who happens to be a nurse, came down and checked it out and confirmed she thought it would need 2-3 stitches.  So, no movie for us, we came home.  I took Leta to the new Integris hospital to their ER.  I put her in her PJ's because I was expecting a long night.  She wanted to wear her crown she'd gotten earlier that day at a birthday party.  She was by far the cutest person in that ER.  We lucked out and no one else was in the waiting room and we got right in.  We saw the Dr, and turns out glue is the new stitches, so he pinched her cut together, secured it and then spread glue all over it.  We had to hold her head still and hands down while the glue dried since that glue is apparently really powerful stuff!  If you think her cut in the above picture looks bad, you should've seen it after the nurse cleaned it.  It looked even worse.  It was so deep!  Leta was a trooper though and never once cried or complained.  She followed the doctors and nurses directions perfectly (making me look like a terrific parents...thanks Leta! hahaha) and won the star patient of the night award.  All the staff just really went on and on about how great she did.  And I have to say, I agree.

 All bandaged up in the ER

Happy Halloween!

Fall is my favorite time of year, which is really saying something since that's high allergy season.  From Luke's birthday to trick-or-treating, fall activities are my favorite.

Luke is a dinosaur, Leta is a witch, and Max is a Chinaman.

This year we attended Memorial Road church of Christs' annual Trunk-or-Treat, which the kids had a really good time at.  We went with Karter and the kids really enjoyed it.  Leta really liked looking at the different trunks and how they were decorated.  Luke was interested in getting candy ;)

Then a couple of days later, we loaded up our trio and met Karter and Brandon and Shanna near Lake Arcadia for their annual Storybook Forrest.  Leta, especially, loved it.  The kids walk along a wooded trail and as they walk along there are scenes from classic nursery rhymes and fairy tales with very short summaries of each story.  Leta had to read each story and examine each scene and ask about 100 "why" questions at each stop.  We spent the evening telling Luke to slow down, wait up and stay with us!  Leta's two favorite scenes were the one from Rapunzel (Rapunzel was up in a tower with her hair extending all the way to the ground and was throwing the candy down to the kids) and Hansel and Gretel.  For Hansel and Gretel they had a few different scenes all from that one story and one of them was when the witch was pushed into the oven and the scene showed just her legs sticking out from an old pot bellied stove.  Leta thought this was just fantastic and asked over and over to go back and see the witch again.  We also discovered that by hanging out longer at each station usually resulted in her receiving more than one piece of candy.  Maybe if Luke would've realized that we wouldn't have had such a problem with him wanting to forge ahead so quickly!  After our walk through the woods, the kids listened to several stories read aloud and got to roast s'mores with Kyle.  I was able to chase Max, who has zero survival skills or instincts that tell him staying close to mom in unfamiliar situations is best.

Then on Halloween night the kids and I met the Hayes' (noticing a trend here?) at Home Run Sliders for slider sized Burgers before heading to a nearby neighborhood (chimney hill) for Trick-Or-Treating.  We put Max in the stroller and gave him a sucker.  1 child happy and taken care of.  Then Luke and Karter raced to the houses and spent a great deal of time waiting for Leta ;)  Karter does not enjoy scary looking things or costumes really, so the decorated houses and houses with people in scary costumes were not his favorite and he took quite a bit of coaxing to go to those houses.  He kept saying, "I don't like Halloween!"  Leta, on the other hand was his polar opposite.  She loved all the decorations and costumes and wanted to see them all, touch them all and take it all in.  Her favorite costume was a boy in a "big bad wolf" mask.  She requested to see him many times.  She even hit the jackpot and had one man empty the rest of his bowl into her bucket and she thought that was the greatest ever.  3 tired children on sugar highs went to bed that night.  Also, while out trick-or-treating Leta asked when "kissmiss" (Christmas) was.  She is READY!

Happy Birthday Luke!

Luke turned 5 on October 18th (yes I realize that's almost a month ago now).  He has been wanting a pet and after a visit to the pet store with Kyle he settled on a Guinea Pig.  He didn't want a fish, because you can't hold them, he didn't want a mouse because they're too fast and get away too easy and the list went on. I was actually pretty impressed with his reasoning skills, but am still not too fond of him having a guinea pig.  But he did get one, and he named it Piggy.  He lives in a cage on the window seat in his bedroom.  So far he's doing well at feeding it and there haven't been any fits about cleaning his cage, so I guess pet ownership is going well.

The 2$ I spent on party hats was the best investment of Luke's birthday, I think.  He really loved them and wore his around the house for days.

We have decided in our family that we would steal Kyle's sister, Bridgette's, idea for celebrating birthdays.  Friend parties on the big birthday years, (5, 10, 13 etc.) and family only celebrations all other years.  So that means that this was Luke's first year to have a friend party.  We went to Bouncin' Craze (an indoor inflatable play place) which is Luke's favorite place to go.  I thought the best part was getting to play when it wasn't crowded at all.  My friend, Sara (who is from Nebraska, btw) came to take pictures for us (since her boys weren't able to make it) and let me tell ya, she is much better with a camera than me!  She can consider herself invited to any of my functions from now on!

 Luke and Kenron

 Max wasn't feeling the best that day, and it shows!

 Look at those blue eyes!

 Cooper trying to help Max feel better

 Luke and Karter

 Luke, Karter, and Jack

 L, K, and J holding up their fingers to show how old they are!

 Birthday royalty!

 Kenron, Luke and Karter

 Axel, Jack, and Kenron

 Cooper, Karter, Leta and Jack

 Corey stole the show and handed out quarters for the quarter machines.

 Leta and Cooper

 Luke and his school friend, Eli

 Kyle, Max, Luke and I

Eli and Luke

Luke managed to get a black eye at his party.  I never even heard him cry (and trust me, he doesn't hold back), so when I asked him about it later he said he did cry, but he had to cry quietly because all his friends were there.  Luke has some really sweet friends.  I will pray that I can always continue saying this.

Seen and Heard

Luke (behaving hysterically): I'm all goofed up. 
Me: You're about to be all spanked up. 
Luke: Then I'll be all cried up.

Pictures from Mother Road Half Marathon

 This is about mile 6

 After the race with my "cheering section" Shanna!

 I tried SOOO hard, but I didn't beat her.  Although I certainly look like I'm having a LOT more fun than she's having ;P

 The big finish!

Official chip time: 2:04:00