Tomorrow is it! The last day of school for the girls. Seems like we just started this year...with the girls so excited to get the teachers they wanted, so excited they would get to be each others "big buddies"......and tomorrow the year is done with already. Everyone always said that once we had kids the years would fly by.....I would add to that once your kids start school, the years fly by.
Today was the big party day, Em and Soph's class had lunch together, then what has become the annual water balloon fight ensued. Tomorrow, no party, just the good bye's and a few tears (they already started this afternoon). Both girls have really had a perfect year, and amazing teachers. Equally amazing is the office staff that has worked hard to keep our family at the school after our unexpected move mid year. Thanks to their hard work, Bubba will be joining the Woodside family next year as a kindergartner! Hard to believe that the time has arrived already. And as if I needed to create things to be emotional about, it hit me today that tomorrow morning will be our last morning together, just the two of us. The last morning it's just me and him, with his sisters at school. He has kept me thoroughly entertained the past 4.75 years, and my mornings will not be nearly as fun with out him here at home with me. But, he is ready, and excited to be a "big boy" and start school.
So, tomorrow morning Bubba and I will do our last "moma and me" run, doing our slow 8 miles, stopping for a treat at Chevron, watching the ducks, playing at the park.....I plan on soaking in every second and making it last as long as possible!!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Doubled up Weekend
So as you know, we had the City Solve Urban Race on Saturday, and the See Jane Run half Marathon Sunday.
We do not normally double up events back to back like that. We know that we lack self control during most races and are always all out, so racing back to back days is not a genius move for us. If we could show restraint and go easy the first day, then day 2 would be ok...but we don't. But, See Jane was already on the calender when a very good deal on the City Solve race popped up that was too good to pass up. So that is how this weekend came to be.
Saturday we headed into the city to Thirsty Bear Brewery where the race would start and finish. We met up w/friends Angela and Derrick, and also saw our friends Matt and Sabrina. They were decked out in gladiator gear/Egyptian princess. Costumes are always an option at these sort of races, but we went with our running clothes. We had prearranged to figure out our clues w/Angela and Derrick at the business center of a hotel. Once we got to a hotel that let us into their business center, this worked out great, but it took about the first 45 minutes to get the clue sheet, get to a hotel and figure things out and map out our course. Once that was done, we ran a nearly flawless race. It was well mapped out, we didn't miss anything that was required, didn't have the wrong spot for any clue. We would end up running 7 miles, stretching nearly all the way across the city. We ran some tiring, tough sections, lots of up hill, and at a much faster pace than normal. It's funny how at the time, when you are weaving in and out of people and trying to avoid any slippery metal spots or slippery bricks, you are just focused on that and going fast, but not really aware of how hard you are running. Don't get me wrong, we were wiped and Angela and I knew that we would be paying for it the next day during our half. So that was about it, we finished up back at the brewery. Results are not posted yet, so I have no idea how we did other than we finished in somewhere around the 3:45 point and there was a 4:30 time limit. Afterwards we headed to Bucca's for some salad, fried food, and pasta, which tasted great!
Sunday we were up early and headed to Alameda for the See Jane Run half marathon and kids race. There were maybe 10 sisters who would be there this year, doing either the 5k or the half. I think there were 6 of us doing the half. Pat, Angela and I started off together. I had my music going and just focused forward and ran. I wanted to stay in the 9 minute mile range for a few miles and settle down into a 10 for the rest of the run. Doing that I should have been able to stay under my goal of 2:15. By the end of mile one my legs were dead. I immediately knew they were shot from Saturday, and this was going to be a long and possibly painful run. I tried to keep telling myself I wasn't in pain, just tired. There is a difference between having tired legs, and sore legs, and I tried hard to tell myself my legs were just tired. If I keep pushing them, they will get me to my goal, they aren't hurting, just tired, so just keep them moving. (they were actually hurting pretty bad, but the mind is a powerful thing!)Somewhere along the run, maybe mile 5, Angela and Pat were again next to me. Around then Pat pulled ahead, and Ang and I were together. We were both wiped. I was wanting to take a walk break, but she said she wanted to get to mile 7 and then see if she needed to walk. When we did eventually try to walk, it hurt much worse then running, so we picked it up. Somewhere around mile 8-9 I fell. I caught myself with both hands and saved my legs any scrapes, but it hurt. We were on a narrower trail and I was afraid of getting run over before I even hit the ground, but Ang got me up and water to rinse off and moving again quickly. Between being tired, sore, falling, bleeding hands...I started to loose it. The tears started, my chest got tight, I tried to run and breath and the wheezing started. Ang kept me focused, calmed down, and moving.
Despite all the drama, I stayed about 3 minutes ahead of the pace I had to maintain to hit goal until mile 11.5. I kept telling Ang when the time comes and you kick, please just go and don't worry about leaving me. She replied that I know her, and she would, but that she had no kick in her today....but I know her running well and she always kicks no matter how beat she is. I stopped to loosen my timing chip ankle strap as it was digging into my ankle, and when I looked up she was out of range for me to catch her. This was a good thing to me because like I say, I know her and she always has enough left in the tank to finish stronger than she thinks she will, and she did. She finished about 2 minutes ahead of me. I slowed down quite a bit the last 1.5 miles, even walked at times, but it's all I had left. I pushed as hard as I could, for as long as I could.
I came in at 2:14:46....14 seconds under my goal! Ang and I were 103 and 108 in our age divisions(out of about 300), and both in the 500's overall out of 1500 runners.
I was done in time to see Dawn, Micaela and Sarah finish their halfs, and see my kids do their run. Congrats to Micaela for taking 2cd in her age division, and to Sarah on completing her first half marathon!!
Needless to say, my legs have seen happier days! They are shot. I slept the afternoon away yesterday and haven't been too productive today. While I can't afford to take much time off from training, we have rearranged runs this week so the legs have some recovery time before our 16 miler this weekend. No exercise today, will workout tomorrow, and hopefully be up for a run on Wednesday.
So overall, lots of fun, memories, fatigue and pain! A well rounded weekend : )
We do not normally double up events back to back like that. We know that we lack self control during most races and are always all out, so racing back to back days is not a genius move for us. If we could show restraint and go easy the first day, then day 2 would be ok...but we don't. But, See Jane was already on the calender when a very good deal on the City Solve race popped up that was too good to pass up. So that is how this weekend came to be.
Saturday we headed into the city to Thirsty Bear Brewery where the race would start and finish. We met up w/friends Angela and Derrick, and also saw our friends Matt and Sabrina. They were decked out in gladiator gear/Egyptian princess. Costumes are always an option at these sort of races, but we went with our running clothes. We had prearranged to figure out our clues w/Angela and Derrick at the business center of a hotel. Once we got to a hotel that let us into their business center, this worked out great, but it took about the first 45 minutes to get the clue sheet, get to a hotel and figure things out and map out our course. Once that was done, we ran a nearly flawless race. It was well mapped out, we didn't miss anything that was required, didn't have the wrong spot for any clue. We would end up running 7 miles, stretching nearly all the way across the city. We ran some tiring, tough sections, lots of up hill, and at a much faster pace than normal. It's funny how at the time, when you are weaving in and out of people and trying to avoid any slippery metal spots or slippery bricks, you are just focused on that and going fast, but not really aware of how hard you are running. Don't get me wrong, we were wiped and Angela and I knew that we would be paying for it the next day during our half. So that was about it, we finished up back at the brewery. Results are not posted yet, so I have no idea how we did other than we finished in somewhere around the 3:45 point and there was a 4:30 time limit. Afterwards we headed to Bucca's for some salad, fried food, and pasta, which tasted great!
Sunday we were up early and headed to Alameda for the See Jane Run half marathon and kids race. There were maybe 10 sisters who would be there this year, doing either the 5k or the half. I think there were 6 of us doing the half. Pat, Angela and I started off together. I had my music going and just focused forward and ran. I wanted to stay in the 9 minute mile range for a few miles and settle down into a 10 for the rest of the run. Doing that I should have been able to stay under my goal of 2:15. By the end of mile one my legs were dead. I immediately knew they were shot from Saturday, and this was going to be a long and possibly painful run. I tried to keep telling myself I wasn't in pain, just tired. There is a difference between having tired legs, and sore legs, and I tried hard to tell myself my legs were just tired. If I keep pushing them, they will get me to my goal, they aren't hurting, just tired, so just keep them moving. (they were actually hurting pretty bad, but the mind is a powerful thing!)Somewhere along the run, maybe mile 5, Angela and Pat were again next to me. Around then Pat pulled ahead, and Ang and I were together. We were both wiped. I was wanting to take a walk break, but she said she wanted to get to mile 7 and then see if she needed to walk. When we did eventually try to walk, it hurt much worse then running, so we picked it up. Somewhere around mile 8-9 I fell. I caught myself with both hands and saved my legs any scrapes, but it hurt. We were on a narrower trail and I was afraid of getting run over before I even hit the ground, but Ang got me up and water to rinse off and moving again quickly. Between being tired, sore, falling, bleeding hands...I started to loose it. The tears started, my chest got tight, I tried to run and breath and the wheezing started. Ang kept me focused, calmed down, and moving.
Despite all the drama, I stayed about 3 minutes ahead of the pace I had to maintain to hit goal until mile 11.5. I kept telling Ang when the time comes and you kick, please just go and don't worry about leaving me. She replied that I know her, and she would, but that she had no kick in her today....but I know her running well and she always kicks no matter how beat she is. I stopped to loosen my timing chip ankle strap as it was digging into my ankle, and when I looked up she was out of range for me to catch her. This was a good thing to me because like I say, I know her and she always has enough left in the tank to finish stronger than she thinks she will, and she did. She finished about 2 minutes ahead of me. I slowed down quite a bit the last 1.5 miles, even walked at times, but it's all I had left. I pushed as hard as I could, for as long as I could.
I came in at 2:14:46....14 seconds under my goal! Ang and I were 103 and 108 in our age divisions(out of about 300), and both in the 500's overall out of 1500 runners.
I was done in time to see Dawn, Micaela and Sarah finish their halfs, and see my kids do their run. Congrats to Micaela for taking 2cd in her age division, and to Sarah on completing her first half marathon!!
Needless to say, my legs have seen happier days! They are shot. I slept the afternoon away yesterday and haven't been too productive today. While I can't afford to take much time off from training, we have rearranged runs this week so the legs have some recovery time before our 16 miler this weekend. No exercise today, will workout tomorrow, and hopefully be up for a run on Wednesday.
So overall, lots of fun, memories, fatigue and pain! A well rounded weekend : )
Sunday, June 5, 2011
PIctures Are Up
Both City Solve and See Jane Half pictures are up on the site. I usually blog first, then post the pictures, but I am too wiped to do it right now.....
www.dropshots.com/beefydrut
They are under Friday June 3 and Saturday June 4....don't know why
www.dropshots.com/beefydrut
They are under Friday June 3 and Saturday June 4....don't know why
Mercy
That was.....difficult.
No recap right now, just wanted to say how grateful I am to Angela for being there during this run when I needed someone to be there the most.
We ended up together for the middle miles of this run, both of us feeling yesterdays race and the toll it took on our legs.
I did something today that has never happened during a road race, only during trail runs....I fell. I wasn't lifting my feet high enough, on a narrower paved trail section of this run. I was instantly afraid I was going to get run over. She was there with water to let me rinse my bloody hand, there to let me cry while keeping me moving, and there to calm me down so I could breath. She also knew when to go ahead and pull away and finish strong, letting me finish at my own pace without feeling like I was slowing her down. She makes not only a great friend, but a great running partner!
We both pushed hard and left everything out there.
Thank you, Angela, for keeping me going!
No recap right now, just wanted to say how grateful I am to Angela for being there during this run when I needed someone to be there the most.
We ended up together for the middle miles of this run, both of us feeling yesterdays race and the toll it took on our legs.
I did something today that has never happened during a road race, only during trail runs....I fell. I wasn't lifting my feet high enough, on a narrower paved trail section of this run. I was instantly afraid I was going to get run over. She was there with water to let me rinse my bloody hand, there to let me cry while keeping me moving, and there to calm me down so I could breath. She also knew when to go ahead and pull away and finish strong, letting me finish at my own pace without feeling like I was slowing her down. She makes not only a great friend, but a great running partner!
We both pushed hard and left everything out there.
Thank you, Angela, for keeping me going!
See Jane Float!
All right my See Jane Sisters.......
Today is our big day! Time to put on our game faces and rain gear!!
For a lot of you, last year was mentally a challenge as it was your first race ever.
I am guessing this year is proving to be just as much of a challenge knowing it's going to be a cold, wet day.
We can do this! Remember it's temporary.....the cold, the wet, the pain....but the feeling of accomplishment when you cross the finish and hear that beeping timing chip, that is yours to keep forever!
So, lets do this!!
Today is our big day! Time to put on our game faces and rain gear!!
For a lot of you, last year was mentally a challenge as it was your first race ever.
I am guessing this year is proving to be just as much of a challenge knowing it's going to be a cold, wet day.
We can do this! Remember it's temporary.....the cold, the wet, the pain....but the feeling of accomplishment when you cross the finish and hear that beeping timing chip, that is yours to keep forever!
So, lets do this!!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
June-uary
Well, it's 8:15 a.m. and long standing rain records for today's date were broken over an hour ago....
Gonna be a wet run today. There's a 4.5 hour time limit, but man....I don't want to be out in this junk that long!!
As for tomorrows half marathon.....round 2 of this storm hits tomorrow morning. Gonna be a wet run tomorrow. Last running of this half = 2hr 3 min. Last half I ran = 2 hr 26 min. Tomorrow's time? Gonna go all out.
Have a great weekend.
Enjoy the weather where you are.
Hopefully you are not in CA.
Gonna be a wet run today. There's a 4.5 hour time limit, but man....I don't want to be out in this junk that long!!
As for tomorrows half marathon.....round 2 of this storm hits tomorrow morning. Gonna be a wet run tomorrow. Last running of this half = 2hr 3 min. Last half I ran = 2 hr 26 min. Tomorrow's time? Gonna go all out.
Have a great weekend.
Enjoy the weather where you are.
Hopefully you are not in CA.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Bookended by Wonderful Weekends
Last weekend was great! Due to the holiday and furlough days, the kids had a 5 day weekend, and Brian had a 3 day weekend.
It started off with our Circuit Assembly, which of course was wonderful.
Monday we all slept in. A long run was due, but between being tired and our less than stellar weather, we were dragging our feet a bit. We agreed on one of our favorite runs and headed into the city towards Golden Gate Park. We were expecting cold weather, but much to our surprise we had very comfortable, partly sunny skies. We started at Ocean Beach, at the Beach Chalet and Windmill. The first half of this run is uphill. If you are familiar with the San Fran Marathon course, you are aware of the climb through Golden Gate park. We've run through here often and know what we are in for, but it always is a bit of a surprise after a few miles of how challenging it can be. We settled in for the climb and made our way to the polo field for a few laps. The girls had a blast on their bikes and took off to see how fast they could go on the track. It is banked on the corners, and there were some hard core cyclists out getting in their mileage on the track, so the girls had fun trying to keep up with the big dogs. Out the other side of the field, we ran down the middle of several streets that are closed to traffic. We ran by the museums, through the Rhododendron Garden, and eventually out the other end of GG park at Haight Street. Then the loop back begins, and the down hill! We swing through the Conservatory of Flowers, down the middle of more closed streets, and then up hill to Stow Lake and around it and the island in the middle. Eventually we made it back to the beach, and the kids flew kites and played in the sand for a bit. It is always such a great, challenging run! While it us uphill the first half, and down hill the second, each little off shoot we take is a maze of hills itself. There is so much to see and it's never the same twice in that park. You are always guaranteed to see something random, San-Fran-ish, hear neat music, see extreme Frisbee taking place in the woods, see bison, small model racing boats on the lakes, waterfalls, flowers, and tons and tons of people who are also out with their families running or biking. You have your choice of parks to stop and let the kids play at. We picked this one at the last minute (we usually don't stop at a park during this run, but felt like it today) and the girls had a blast riding down this hill. Here are a few pictures....
I have already mentioned our 2 raced this weekend, the urban adventure race and half marathon. We are expecting Saturday to be a drench fest as we are expecting quite a storm this weekend. Sunday I am hoping things have cleared out, but definitely a chance of running 13 in the rain. Either way, it should be a fun, challenging weekend ahead!
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