Memorial 2010

Memorial was wonderful as always. None in our brood attempted to drink or eat anything they shouldn't have, and nothing was spilt. 2 out of 3 were well behaved, all 3 stayed awake although that was a bit of a battle for one of the girls. Another year, another Memorial. I always wonder if "this year" will be the last one, and if it is, what will I remember most about it? One thing I couldn't capture on camera, but would be what I would remember most, was just after the Amen before the passing of the wine, the sound that came over the building. Something of a cross between a train going by (there are none near the building) and very strong winds. It as a heavy downpour of rain on the metal roof, but it was dark out and hard to figure out what the noise was at first. The sound and the timing were neat.

The Weekend Report

We had a beautiful weekend here in CA! We've had sunny and comfy weather all weekend which was great! The weekend started off with us scrapping our Friday night run...part of the beauty of not training for anything currently! Instead, we headed out in search of a green tie for Brian to have for Memorial. After McCaulou's and Ross, we found just the right one at Target. We will now officially all look springy and match in some way.

Saturday morning we had a work party at the Kingdom Hall in preparation for the Memorial on Tuesday. We don't actually have our Memorial at the Hall, we rent a place in Lafayette and meet with another congregation. The Korean Congregation does meet at the Hall though, so thus the work party. Emma and Brian got up and headed down to the Hall and Emma was thrilled to weed the flowerbeds for a few hours.

After that, we set out on our first long run since the marathon on the 7th. We wanted to do a minimum of 13 miles. The plan was to run 6.5 and access how we felt, and decide to turn around or keep going. Well, after 6.5 miles, we decided to kick Bubba and Sophie out of the jogger and have them walk for a mile, then turn around. We've been trying to make sure they are getting some exercise of some form on a regular basis, not just sitting in the stroller. We walked to a friends house that we have run by probably 100 times w/o stopping, but for some reason, on Saturday, we decided to drop by. Well, turns out friends from out of town were visiting, and they were having a kids party...with a bounce house, snow cone machine, the works. We were there at 2:45, and the party was set to start at 3. They wanted us to stay, but we didn't' want to crash it, so we let the kids play for 10 minutes, then made a bolt for it so no one coming to the party would see us all gross and sweaty and in running clothes. Our friends did manage to convince us to go home, get cleaned up, and come back later. Of course the kids didn't want to leave at all and were in a hurry to get back home so we could get back to the party quicker. We hustled back6.5 miles in 55 minutes, which is pretty good for us! We showered and changed and got back to the party by 5:30. The kids had a total blast, and we had a great evening visiting with friends. It has been since last summer that we've gotten all the kids together, so they really enjoyed it!

Today, Em and Brian had their morning in service together and a lunch break together. Bubba and Sophie have been two peas in a pod today. Bub has a bit of a cough that has been turning into a wheezing, nerve racking mess at night. It's not a seal bark, or whooping cough, his cough is just a dry, non concerning cough. Its the frantic gasping for air afterwards that is frighting. I took him in on Thursday and the Dr didn't seem 100% sure of what it was, but of course prescribed an antibiotic to cover all basis. He did have a 102 temp on Thursday, but hasn't had one since, and seems fine during the day. He just has these gasping attacks at night that are scary. He had a spotted face by Thursday evening when Brian got home from work from straining so hard for air and breaking the veins in his face. Anyhow, I kept him home from meeting today so he wouldn't get anyone at the hall sick right before memorial,(although I don't think he's contagious as non of the rest of us have anything) and so he could have a down day at home. Soph wanted to take care of him and keep him company, so they have been hanging out together all day. I have gotten the house clean, got some sun in the back yard, and fixed our pool pump, which had been leaking. Nothing super exciting, but definitely the most relaxed, layed back weekend I have had in a long time. Which is nice, because this week already promises to be busy. Meeting tomorrow night, Memorial the next night, Open house at the girls school on Wednesday night, secretly getting all the laudry washed and kids packed and suitcases hid by the weekend. . . . then we head to our 'Happy Place' (maybe everyone's Happy Place!) for the best Spring Break ever!! The kids have no idea : ) Bubba is tall enough for everything but Indiana Jones, and 3 rides in CA Adventure. It is so strange that we can now go on almost all the big rides together as a family. We will take up our own log on Splash Mountain!!

Ok, this video has nothing to do with this post at all, but here are my 2 little ladies in 2006, watching their favorite movie. They used to think that Burt was talking to them, and they would just sit and stare at him when he talks. Where did those little girls go? Sophie turns 6 this week, hard to believe! I think she was around 8 months in this video, so Em was 2.8 yrs.

Lets go For a Trail Run!

With all the training and road running we have been doing, it has been too long since we have done a trail run. I would say trail running is our first love as far as running goes, although we don't' get to do nearly enough. We have to time them between training and any road races that we have on the calender. This is mostly due to the high probability of me falling, or one of us sustaining some other sort of injury that we need time to recover from before "the next race". It is such a privilege to live in an area where the trails are beautiful, abundant, and challenging! I've promised Em a few 5k's again this summer and I can't wait, especially after watching this video.
Here's a neat video made up north in WA. It has some great trail footage, and some great incite on Trail Running. Enjoy!

Almost Gave a Smackdown at Safeway

Growing up, my dad always instilled in me a strong sense of right and wrong. You often hear of people who see things Black and White, and that was my dad. On occasion, this lead to an altercation or two, especially if someone treated his daughters 'wrong'. Scary at times, but I always felt protected, and that he would always look out for us and defend out honor. If someone treated us in a way that could fall into the 'wrong' category, he let them know.

Through the years, I found myself doing the same,especially in my late teens, and early 20's, pre kids. If I felt I was wronged, you better believe I let the person who wronged me know they screwed up and how I felt about it. As the years continued to go by, and especially after meeting my hubby, it is something I have worked hard on. After all, it is hardly a Christian way to go about living life. We are supposed to cover things over w/love, right? Not jump on opportunities to put others in their place, and let them know we don't appreciate the way we are being treated. Mildness, meekness, humility.....not compatible with looking for a confrontation when wronged.

There was an occasion when Brian and I were newly dating when we were at the 12am opening of a moving. There was a group of us, and my job was saving a row of seats for us. I had my row which was up against a wall at one end, and i was blocking the other end. Well, a man came up and informed me he would be sitting there. I said no you wont be, these are saved. About then, Brian walked up, just as the man shoved me to the side, walked into the row and sat down. I was shocked, and looked at Brian like "what are you going to do?". And my mild, Christ like boyfriend says "its ok, we'll find other seats." Then I was just mad, because he did nothing to defend my honor, or let the guy know what a jerk he was. My dad would have dragged the man outside and had a "talk" with him, which is what I was expecting and wanting Brian to do. Of course I got over it and came to appreciate Brian's mild manner as refreshing.

Don't' get me wrong....there are situations that call for outspokenness, but really, they should be few, and far between. I seem to find myself in one of these every few years. I will probably deal with suppressing that rage that wells up when myself or a member of my family is wronged until the new system, it's in my DNA after all. But continuing to put on the new personality requires I make every attempt possible to keep myself and my response to things in check, and most times I am able to do that.

Bearing that background in mind, Friday night at Safeway put all of my restraint to the test! We do part of our grocery shopping at the Safeway on Bancroft. It is usually understaffed with long lines, but it's close to home and has a Starbucks, so that's where we go. Well, lines were super long. We were about 4 back, with 3 or 4 carts lined up down the isle behind us. Directly behind us was a short, heavyset, 60ish woman. She had glassed perched on the end of her nose which she was glaring out over the top of. She was cramming her cart right up against us, and inching forward next to our cart. I had my face in a magazine, oblivious to what was happening, but evidently she had repeatedly ran into Emma with her cart. All of a sudden Brian turns around to her and says that she needs to move back. She mumbles something, and Brian informs her that she's repeatedly ran into his daughter and she needs to move back. By now the magazine was stuffed back on the rack and she has my full attention. She says to Brian "Well, I don't think I hurt her!" Brian informs her that's not the point and turns back around. Bring on the rage of a mother bear! So I ask her " So you are saying that its ok to repeatedly hit someone's child as long as you don't hurt them?"...and not very quietly at this point. She is looking at me with the condescending smirk and says "Well...." and I say "Well, nothing! That's exactly what you said!" Seeing that she hasn't moved an inch back, I say "Here's what were going to do. I'm moving your cart over" which I did, and stood directly in front of her, creating a buffer between her and Emma. I then say "Ok, now...if you hit me, your going to have an even bigger issue on your hands." She says "Oh really?" and I say "Yes, really!" She then calls me an....well, a word that has 'hole' in it and we exchange words about her language in front of three little kids.
Needless to say, we had the attention of the whole line, and I had no idea what I would do if she did decide to hit me and see what happened. Thank goodness she didn't.

But man, I hate that feeling!! The rage that was set off by the combination of 3 things. #1. Someone hurting my child with no regret or apology. #2. Something making my husband mad (he never gets mad or upset, and when he does its always valid) 3. The generation that think they are old enough that they deserve, w/o earning it, respect no matter what their actions, and how dare anyone question them or even worse, try to correct them. That is the one combination that no matter how hard I work on showing love and being Christ like, it never fails to set off the rage! It may seem odd that those 3 things would combined and confront me repeatedly in life, but believe it or not, situations of those 3 things present themselves every few years, almost predictably.

I had fear all morning in service Saturday that I would come across this women in service! What an awful witness that would have been! Not to mention how freaked out the kids were after we exited the store. Emma kept asking what I would have done to her if she hit me, she was sure we were going to get into a fist fight. I remember the fear I would have at times watching my dad when he would be outraged with someone, and of course I felt awful. But, we used it as an opportunity to explain to her that there is a time and place to stand up for yourself, and that it's never ok for someone to think they have the right to hurt you, whether that be emotionally or physically. We also explained about store managers, calling the police, and what assault is. : )

Family Fun

That sums up what we've been up to lately! We took a week off from the "Planks and Fartleks" post marathon, and focused more on the "Family Fun" part.

Brian and I both felt that we recovered much quicker from the 26.2 this time than last time. By Wednesday he was back to riding his bike to/from work. I had a field trip w/Emma's class last Tuesday that I was a bit worried about as I was very sore the Monday after 26.2. We walked from Civic Park to Lesher Center, then up all those stairs. It was ok though, and the show was great! Friday was my first running attempt. I ran from Emma's school, up the hill on Treat to Cowell and home. Short, but steep, it felt ok.

Which brings me to the weekend. Saturday was the first day of the Special Invitation work for the memorial. This was exciting for Emma as this is the first year she's been an unbaptized publisher and able to really get what was going on. Of course, a morning of hard work is always wrapped up nicely at Sweet Affair w/ treats! Then we were off to Tilden. I hate to admit that we had never explored up there at all. It was such a beautiful day, and what a beautiful place! We walked through some pretty gardens, then set off through the woods with a map. We covered some pretty muddy, slick trails, and ended up lake side at Lake Anza. We made our way around the lake, and down a trail on the far end. There was a pretty neat waterfall back there that the kids loved seeing. Dark woods and wet ground make for great salamander hunting! They found more than a few, and got to experience the "losing of the tail" that they had heard so much about. We made our way the rest of the way around the lake, and back up another slippery trail to where we started. From there we hopped in the car and headed to the Steam Train, which we had heard whistling through the woods as we had been hiking. What a treat for the kids! They loved it.

From there we drove home, but turned on Grizzly Peak just to see what was on that road. We ended up finding Sibley Volcanic Park. Brian had known about it for a few years, but he says we were too out of shape to attempt walking it when he first read about it, and then he forgot about it. Well, the sun was setting, and it was getting pretty chilly, so we just looked at the staging area at some volcanic rock and info about the park, and promise the kids we would come back the next day.

Sunday is Brian's one on one service morning with Emma. Its their special time together and his time to help her progress in the ministry. She looks forward to her mornings with papa all week! We have afternoon meeting now, and after that we had a previous commitment that we went to. We managed to be back at Sibley by about 5:45 ish, and wow, what great timing!! We had enough time to see everything, and the lighting...wow the lighting!! WE were treated to the most amazing sunset ever! From the top of the volcano area you can see forever, past the Golden Gate Bridge, out to the ocean, all of San Fran, Marin headlands.....it was spectacular! Besides the amazing sunset, we saw lots of different types of lava flows, walked down into the center of a volcano, and saw areas where they are digging for fossils. The kids loved it! After the sun set, we had to pick up the pace to get back to the car as it got dark quickly and we had about a mile to go w/all 3 kids walking and tired at that point. We finished up in the dark, which the kids thought was neat, in that half scared, half having fun sort of way. They all slept well that night!
This week we have been settling into our 'summer running' routine, thanks to the time change and added day light in the evenings. It is a bit funny that our non training schedule involves more mid week running than our training schedule, but we have less long runs on the weekends, so it all evens out. Now that the Reservoir is open later, we were able to start back up there this week. What a brutal run that is! It had been nearly 3 months since we had run there, which us long enough to forget about the pain of the hills on the second lap. We run 2 laps on Monday and Friday, and 3 laps on Wednesday. Tues and Thurs we run a flat route from Brian's office on his lunch break. Every other weekend we will do a long run (anything over 13). On the in between weekends, we play it by ear. We may do a run, or we may do a hike, or we may not do anything, just depends on the kids and what we feel up to doing!

I had a very nice run this week with a friend on Tuesday. After dropping the girls off at school, I headed to her house. When I got out of the car I could already smell the sausage!! Her house smelled so good, that mix of sausage and coffee, so yummy! We had some oatmeal and coffee, then headed out w/the boys for a 4 mile run. She is a much stronger runner than me and smokes me on the hills, but seeing her way up ahead keeps me pushing to try to keep her w/in site. Half way we stopped at a park and the boys played for a while. We used to go there when we only had 1 child each for the play dates and it was funny to be there again all these years later with 2 kids each in school, and our 3rd growing into big boys already. Time has flown by! It's a treat to have a friend who's been around all those years and who also "gets" the whole running thing. It was a fun morning, and a nice break to the normal running routine.

Ok, so I think your up to date now on the past week and a half. I promise to be more regular about posting as I realize most of you dont' have time to sit and read these super long post!
I will be posting more pics from this weekends adventures on the picture site tonight.
Get out there and enjoy this sun!!

Marathon Photos

MarathonFoto was on course taking pictures throughout the marathon.
Here are the links to view both Brian and mine. Remember, the goal was to finish, not look good! Also, although nearly every picture looks as though I am grimacing in pain, I was squinting from the sun : )

Brian's are here. You'll need to enter bib number 1098.

Beth's are here.

Post Marathon Post

Well, first, we did it!! We finished, which is always the first goal. We were able to PR by 6 minutes under our last marathon time, which was the second goal. Above everything else though, we had fun, enjoyed amazingly beautiful scenery, and spent 4 hrs and 42 minutes soaking in the wonderful sun!! If you are into times, our chip time was 4 hrs 42 minutes, our gun time was 4hr 43 minutes.

We headed to Napa on Saturday. First we went to the expo at the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa. We checked out all the booths, got our amazing duffel bags, shirts, free goodies, and checked out the Marathon College for a while. We got to hear amazing and inspiring stories from Joe Henderson, Dick Beardsley, John Keston, Mary Coordt, and Roberta Gonzalez. They are all amazing athletes. Roberta Gonzales is a local weather gal on channel 5, but she has also completed a ton of marathons and 7 Ironmans! They each recapped their most memorable marathon experiences. After that, we heard from Dean Karnazes! He's just one great story after another. After that, we hit Whole Foods for sandwiches and salad and drove the course one last time. Then we hit Whole Foods again for some sweet treats, went to the hotel, and were in bed by 8.

Sunday we were up at 3:40, left the hotel at 4:40, went to the school where the race would be ending, got on a bus and were headed to Calistoga to the start by 5:20 ish. We could see the stars, so we knew it was going to be a clear day, which was nice to know, although it was barely 40 at the start. It ended up being completely clear, bright blue skies, and 67 degrees! One of my favorite visual memories was coming down the backside of a hill and looking out across the beautiful clear valley and seeing 3 hot air balloons rising up at the far end. Just amazing!

This course was very challenging. Technically it is a down hill course, you start around 400 ft and end at 50 ft....but that doesn't mean it was all downhill!! It was basically one uphill after another, followed by a little bit more of a downhill. The hills really killed us! A lot of the course the road also sloped off a bit, which if you run you know how painful sloping roads can be, it ruins your stride, and hurts your hips and knees because you are running tilted. We did get swept up in the flow a bit and our first 4 miles were right at 9 minute miles, which is a bit too fast for us. We try to maintain a steady 10 minute mile for marathon distance runs...but we felt good, so we just went with it. We were able to stay ahead of our pace until mile 19. Mile 19 was an epic mile! You climb steadily until just after mile 20. It just never ended. We knew if we just made it to mile 20 we would have a nice downhill, and then flat until the finish. But, mile 19 drained us so much, the downhill and flat that followed wasn't much help!! We really struggled to mentally stay focused, maintain forward motion, and try to maintain close to a 10 minute per mile pace. We ended up averaging a 10 and change minute pace, but we managed to stay in the 10's!!

As brutal as those last 6 miles were, it was over way too fast! Yes, we ran for 4 hours and 42 minutes, but it went by so fast! It makes no sense, but your mind is so busy the whole time, thinking about times, how to keep moving, what is causing that pain, look at the hot air balloons, look at the blue sky, look at that runners polk a dot tights, take a picture, get a water and Gatorade and sports beans, high five those little kids cheering you on, keep pushing, do I want an orange slice or a banana, on and on and on.....and then its over!

This was a first class marathon!! As you'll see in the pics, the shirts, swag bags, expo,the guest speakers, everything...was first class! They really take good care of the runners. I am glad we did it, but it will for sure be a one timer for us, I have no desire to repeat those hills!! We also learned that we are able to keep our minds distracted better when we have all the hype that comes w/a larger marathon. Our previous marathon had over 20,000 runners, was lined with spectators and bands....it was loud, and entertaining, and all that really helps keep your adrenaline going, and your mind focused on other things besides the pain and how tired you are! This marathon was the complete opposite. It said there was 2300 runners, but there were around 1700 finishers so it was drastically smaller (which is why they can go the extra mile and make is such a first class event), no bands, no hype, and I think only 5 or 6 spots that are accessible to spectators, so it was very quiet!! Definitely more about the beauty of the course! Overall, we did have a great time though and spent a great, challenging day together!

A shout out to our friends, Derrick and Angela Behrens, who killed this course! They are machines!! Derrick was going for a sub 4 hour time, and finished in 3 hrs, 57 minutes. Angela PR'd by a lot, with a 4hr 16 minute time! Congrats you guys, those are amazing times!!!

We did go out to eat afterwards at the Red Hen. Matt, you were right about the post run eats....mine just wouldn't go down! I looked forward to those nachos for weeks, but I just couldn't get them to go down. I ate the cream off the top of my Pina Colada, but couldn't get it down either. The waiter did make an ice bag for my knee though, so that was nice! I did have 5 slices of Papa Murphys late last night for dinner though, and still woke up hungry today.

If you are wondering how the day after feels, it hurts! Pretty much everything hurts, toes, nails, shoulders, legs of course....it all hurts. My cheeks are surprisingly sore from running into the sun for the first 4 hours and squinting, so my face even hurts. No unexpectedly bad pain, just what you would expect after a marathon. Brian was determined to ride his bike to work today, but after he woke up this morning and felt the pain, he let me drive him instead.

Ok, pictures are here, sorry for the blurry ones! Also, we met this dude, pretty cool!! There is a good post race re-cap here.

We also just want to say thank you to you guys for being so supportive and encouraging! Your comments, inspiring blogs, and words of encouragement mean a lot to Brian and I, so thank you!!

I am now off to do nothing today!!

Double Woo Hoo!!

WOO HOO!!

Excitement is in full gear at our house!! Do you see that ticker over there?? There's a 1 in the days column!! A 1!!! Did I mention the new improved forecast??
Just have to make it another 1 day and 18 hours w/o twisting an ankle and we are good to go!!
WOO HOO!!

Finale Marathon Preparations in Progress

In one of my first posts I promised honesty, so if you are easily queasied, this is your warning that this post may be considered gross by some, but honest by all.

I have a friend who once told me running marathons was extreme. I tried to explain that without proper training, running a mile could be considered extreme. Lets face it, most activities could be viewed as extreme in some way. IE - growing up riding horses I know that riding in shorts isn't' wise. The saddle tends to pinch your inner thigh waddle. Is horse riding extreme if you walk around with thigh waddle welts afterwards? How about that sister in law who tends to tip over for no reason while walking, resulting in repeated ankle damage over time? Is walking extreme? Or, are there certain risks that are a normal part of that activity? If properly trained for a marathon, it is really just another long run. Just something to think about, food for thought as I describe the less glamorous but normal marathon prep we have done this week.

For me, the week started with toenail prep. After our last marathon, my big toe nails on both feet were very tender, black, and one has been half way lifted off ever since (5 months ago). The black parts were just about grown out, but after our last long run 2.5 weeks ago, they are black again. Not painful at all during the runs, just tender a few days afterwards. I like to do my toe prep about a week early. I trim everything as short as possible, and give myself a week in case anything is too short and hurts, I have a week to grow it out a little. Keeping nails short is supposed to help eliminate the blackening/loosing of nails. Then, after the trimming, I painted them a bright blue that Emma picked out for me. Next, glitter. I now can't see the black that is already there, and wont' be able to see whatever damage results from Sunday until I take the paint off. Also, I got a pair of flats for service and meetings this week as I will not risk my ankles in heels this week. On our run Saturday, there were a number of unavoidable puddles. As a result of my feet being wet, I developed a blister on my little toe. If it isn't gone by Sunday, that toe will have to be wrapped in tape to prevent more friction. Tape stays in place better than band aids.

For Brian, the forecast of rain brings its own worries as far as raw nipples go. (remember, you were warned!) Guys definitely have a bad deal as far as rain and friction goes. For the dudes, the wetter your shirt, the worse the friction is. See funny nipple video here. I've read many a race recap describing how many of the men finished w/blood spots on the front of their shirts. Normal wear and tear, considering the undertaking. There are different methods for dealing with this issue, band aids, Vaseline, Glide, experimenting w/fabrics, ect...or just sucking it up and wearing a dark shirt so its not noticeable. That is Brian's style, so we got him a black whicking mesh tank and new pullover jacket of the same material. He ran in it on Saturday w/no issues, although it wasn't raining and was half the distance Sundays run will be.
I should mention he doesn't worry about his toes, as he hasn't had too much of an issue so far.

Other than that, we are still figuring out what to carry with us, if we will wear our packs or not, jackets or not, hats/visors or not, what to put in our drop bags. (no worries, carrying the camera is non optional!) Drop bags are bags you can put your last minute things in, like if you wear sweats or jackets to the start that you want to take off right at the start, or if you have food/drinks you want waiting at the finish, you can put that stuff in a bag at the start and they take it to the finish and have it waiting for you. You can also have drop bags at certain aid stations waiting in some races. If you know you want chocolate milk and GU at mile 20, you can have them take your bag and have it waiting there for you. Since we will be arriving at the finish and then being bused to the start, what do we do with things like car keys, wallets, purses, ect?? Hide it in the hotel, car, or drop bags?

So, there are quite a few of the smaller issues that we are working out this week. Trying to get to bed early, nap when possible, get as many protein shakes in as possible. Actually, one of the biggest challenges of the last few weeks before a marathon is eating as much protein and complex carbs as possible w/o seeing your weight increase. Since you are tapering during this time and not running as much, it is a constant balancing act! This is also the point that if people are going to question us on not eating enough, it usually happens. Leaning out is just a normal thing that happens when eating this way and putting in the miles/workouts. We always just chuckle when it comes up because most people have no idea how much eating is involved in this process, but lets just say to keep up endurance for this sort of undertaking, there is a lot of eating that goes on!

Then there are things like making sure the laundry is done because I need to have our things and the kids things packed on Friday, although I am aiming for Thursday, and don't want a big hurried rush at the last minute. Keeping the house clean all week to avoid one massive cleaning spree is also a challenge with 3 little monkeys running around. Brian needs to get in for a hair cut on Friday, he likes to wait until the last possible minute before a long run as he gets a tan line, so the shorter the hair at race time the better. Making sure the kids are prepped for service and studied for Sunday meeting and know what their answers are, meeting bags packed, ect....

So, its a busy week, which is probably a good thing!! I have 2 more workouts and 2 runs left this week, but just resting after Wednesday. Brian is trying for 2 more runs this week also, and will ride his bike to work whenever it isn't raining. For the most part, the physical training is really over, just a little more prep of the small stuff and we are ready to go! I think overall we are feeling ready, calm, and looking forward to a weekend away, and what will no doubt be an adventure!