Scenic Sandpoint - 5k Fabulous

A few days before my planned half marathon (Scenic Sandpoint), I was stressing about the race and feeling under-trained and over-tired.  My cool-headed husband says, "why don't you just run the 5K?"  I fretted - won't you think I'm giving up?  But I signed up for the half and I have to follow through!?  He tells me it's no big deal (true) and that he'd rather see me push myself hard in a shorter distance since we both know that I can plod along through a half marathon and cover that distance (also true, and I laughed, envisioning myself plodding along!)

So, that is what I did, and I am SO GLAD!

Half Marathon start

It was really fun to race the 5k, and it was also comedic.  My sister was also running the 5k, and we thought it was scheduled to start at 9 am.  So, after watching the halfers start, and then seeing the 10k folks line up around 8:40, I casually walked over to use the bathroom.  On my walk back (around 8:45am) I hear the announcer saying that the 5k will be starting in 1 minute (?!).  So I see my husband, and quickly try to hand him my vest and long-sleeve shirt and explain to him that the race is starting, and my mom runs over asking if I've seen my sister (and I hadn't!).  Thankfully, my sister runs up as the announcer says "20 seconds to start" and we frantically try to pin her race number on her shirt.  As the race starts, I am facing the wrong direction, finishing pinning on her number and we both start running, nearly trip each other, and thankfully manage to run the rest of the race smoothly. 

See me in pink and my sister next to me in the sunglasses?

I just kind of took off at a pace that felt hard but manageable for the distance.  There were no mile markers, but I had my Garmin so I could track my pace.  It was a small race and out and back, so I counted the number of women ahead of me as they turned around.  Less than 10!  I think my miles got progressively slower, and my chest was feeling tight as I came through the final turn to the finish.  I got totally humbled though when this 12 year old girl sprinted past me to finish just under 25 minutes, I finished in 25:04.  I had to laugh because she reminded me of my 12 year old self, since that's when I started running 5k road races and loving it!

I still hope to run the half marathon another day, this just wasn't my day.  It was a beautiful morning for running, and the process of switching races was very smooth.  We had a delicious (peppery - as in, the bacon was covered in pepper) breakfast at Trinity, right next to the finish line, so we got to see my friend finish her first ever half marathon!

All in all, it was a fun day.  We originally intended to participate in this race with my mom and my other sister too, but my sister couldn't make the trip out to Idaho. =(  Hopefully, we will get her out here for another race soon!

He was cheering "Go Ms. L" for my friend, finishing her 5k race!  He was such an enthusiastic fan!

Who ran the Scenic Sandpoint Half Marathon?  What did you think?  Tell me about it!

7QT: Special Cousin Moments

Seven Quick Takes from our week with my sister and her son (aged 3).

 

 My sister and her son came to visit us for a week recently, and my parents also flew in from the East Coast for the weekend.  I was so glad to get to spend time with them!  It is so much fun to watch M play with his big cousin - he really wanted to wake him up everyday, and would greet him with an extra joyful "Hi, E!" as soon as he saw him.  Here are some scenes from our time together.

1

Lunch time at the craft table - we were breaking all kinds of meal time rules here - toys at the table, etc.  Living on the edge!

--- 2 ---

We took them to story time at one of our local libraries.  It is a fantastic program and the boys loved it!  And they loved showing the librarian the monster on their (matching) shirts.

--- 3 ---

Walking to the playground in the bike trailer.  It makes a great double stroller!  A slightly older girl and boy came over and admired the airplane (not pictured here) that M & E took to the park.  There was a little bit of a staring contest between the big kids and our boys, which my sister and I observed without intervening because it was no big deal.  Later, E told my husband that the big kids called them "spiny heads."  Hm......

--- 4 ---

You can't come to CDA and not visit Mudgy and Millie!

--- 5 ---

We stopped to visit the dam in Post Falls too, it had a great, old-school playground with some of the (not) dangerous playground equipment that has probably been banned from the newer parks (i.e., the spinning carousel). =)

--- 6 ---

Playing at the train table in Barnes and Noble after we took our parents to the airport.

--- 7 ---

TV time in Buffalo Wild Wings.  

We loved having our family visit.  We spent a lot of time outside, went swimming, explored the woods and spent a day up in Sandpoint too.  

In case you are wondering, yes, we did dress them alike the whole time they were here.  When my sisters and I were growing up, my mom and her sisters dressed all of us girl cousins alike when we got together.  So we are just keeping the tradition alive. =)  

We are so thankful for our family!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Outside Family Fun (in the Summer)

Well, now that fall is "officially" here (it is still 75 degrees outside, yes, in North Idaho!), this will be my final post extolling all the wonderful things we got to do during summer.  Until this summer, we have been real sticklers about M's bedtime, which often means that he goes to bed two hours before the sun goes down!

This year, I tried to make more of our summer nights.  D works hard all day in the office, and I haven't forgotten how that goes, so it has been nice to have some adventures when he comes home from work.

I tried to stick to quick, simple meals so we could get back out the door, and relaxed a little bit on bedtimes - at least once M didn't go to bed until 8:30 (which is shockingly late for us)!  He doesn't always make it up by sleeping in, so we don't do it every night, but as we get closer and closer to the weekend, it becomes more important to do some fun things together.  We've taken to calling Thursday evening the "little Friday" - so we have a little bit of fun on Thursday to celebrate the approaching weekend.

Here's how we spent our summer fun, without spending all of our dough too!

Family bike rides or walks to the splash pad - the splash pad in our neighborhood doesn't open until 11, but it stays open until 7 pm.  So it is great to hit it in the evening after an early dinner.  Plus, it counts as a bath!

A face not made for selfies ;)

The concerts in Riverstone Park on Thursday evenings!  These don't start until 6:30, so we can easily finish dinner before riding down there.  Plus we get in about 5 miles of biking! #fitnesseverywhere

Dispersed camping.  While I was unnecessarily a stress case on our last camping adventure, I do want to go camping again!

Friday Pizza Picnics at the Beach.  When we lived in Virginia Beach, we used to go take Chick-Fil-A and magazines to Chick's Beach and eat dinner and read on the beach as the sun went down.  It was the most relaxing way to start the weekend, and IT. WAS. AWESOME.  We aren't very fancy now, are we?  Our Idaho variation on that theme is to take pizza to the beach.  M loves to play in the sand, and he may or may not eat very much/get totally soaked.  But it is even more fun as a family of three!

Exploring in the Woods.  There is a small pine forest near our house, and M loves to go walking in the woods.  He loves finding sticks, pine cones and squirrels, and even the occasional excavator or two (since the area is actually being developed into another neighborhood!)

I heard they also had free family movies in the park downtown, but these were just too late in the evening for us, so we never made it to any of those.  Maybe in a few years!

We're still trying to get our evening walks and bike rides in as it turns (a little bit) cooler.  Forest exploration is even more fun and interesting now that the leaves are changing.  What are your best ideas for family fun outside in the fall?

Family Time

Hurray for family time!

My sister and her son arrived today from San Diego.  My parents are coming this weekend!

Yay, family time.

Running Lately

The Scenic Half Marathon is one week away, and I think I am a little bit burned out, running-wise.

My longest long run this training cycle was 10 miles, about two weeks ago.  That run felt so hard!  I was just exhausted afterwards, and usually I feel really rejuvenated by having a nice, long run on a weekend morning.  Then last weekend, I didn't run long at all.  I ran Monday for a 30 minute stroller run.  It went fine, but was nothing special.  Wednesday I did a tempo run, which felt good, but was still only about 30 minutes total.  D thinks (and I now agree) that my long runs have been disproportionate to my total weekly mileage.  I haven't been getting enough mileage in during the rest of the week (cutting too many runs too short!), so my fitness hasn't really been improving as my long runs have been getting longer.

Today I did a little over five miles.  It felt fine, but over all I know this race is not going to be an easy one!

I am looking forward to getting through the race, and then maybe focusing on running more days, and working more on strength training too to try to build up some strength.  So those are my thoughts on running, lately!  Wish me luck next weekend!

The pic doesn't capture it, but the leaves are starting to change!

Library Finds

This past month I decided to take a break from the stack of non-fiction books on my bedside table, and picked out a few random fiction titles from our lovely library.

My Library Bag

Also, knowing that we'd be spending a lot of time at home (potty training), I grabbed a bunch of new books for M.  He loves, loves, loves reading, so I am always looking to add new books to our collection.  When I look for books for him, I just skim a few pages to make sure it's not too long or too short.  I don't read the whole thing, because I know I'm going to be reading it one hundred times at home and I like to be surprised too!  (At least for the first time!)  As it turns out, I picked some winners and losers.....

For Me:

Sing You Home

Jodi Picoult

I read this in two days, so it falls into the category of "can't put it down."  I would say I was captivated, but I didn't love it.  I have read nearly all of Jodi Picoult's novels, and there is always some twist that I don't see coming, but I didn't like how the novel attempts to tie everything all back together neatly.  That made it seem kind of superficial, even though the characters became very complex.  Maybe I would have liked it better if the ending kept some of the messiness of real life?

Portrait of a Lady

Henry James

This has been on my "to-read" list for ages, and I finally found it at the library! I am really enjoying it and desperately trying to finish it before I have to return it, ha!

The Assassins
Joyce Carol Oates

Started it, switched to Portrait of a Lady, then ran out of time to finish it this month!

Winners for M:

How Old MacDonald Got His Farm

Cute rhyming story with great illustrations.  I think this has been my favorite one to read this month!

Looking for a Moose

M is LOVING this one, but I'm over it.  But if it's about a moose, you know we have to get it because we live in moose-land out here!

Gossie & Gertie

These two are so cute.  Plus, M now says that I am his "best friend" so I love that this book taught him the concept of best friends!  Ha!

How to Hide a Lion

This was a cute book.  M loved to point out the "naughty burglars."

M liked some of these books, but I didn't enjoy reading them as much:

Gramps and the Fire Dragon

M does like to read this story, but at first I was concerned that it might be a little scary to him.  I turned it into an "oh, what a SILLY fire dragon" and that seemed to take care of that! But...

Mrs. Tittlemouse

He is scared of Mr. Jackson, the frog?  Maybe it's because he might break the rocking chair?  Go figure.  Fire dragon --> not scary.  Frog wearing a three piece suit --> terrifying!

Duck & Goose Go To the Beach

Cute story, nice illustrations, but I don't like when books for kids always have a character who is complaining/whining.

********

In all, M really likes all these books and wants to read them over and over again, except for Mrs. Tittlemouse.  I have just found some of them to be more annoying (to me) than others.  If you are my real life friend with a kiddo, you just might find a copy of How Old MacDonald Got His Farm under your Christmas tree this year, that's how much I liked it!

Did you find anything good at the library this month? Got any fiction recommendations for me?  I am looking forward to finishing "Story of a Soul" next; it has been burning a hole on my Ipad!

Thankful for Friends

Shortly after we decided to attempt potty training, my husband returned to the East Coast for an unexpected business trip that extended into three weeks.  Back in our Navy days, a three week trip was considered a "short trip," but I think that is the longest trip he's taken since we moved to Idaho, so it seemed like it was never going to end!

That's part of why I quit potty training - it was just too lonely/boring/poopy/not working being stuck at home all day and night, without even really any breaks for a run longer than 30 minutes.

Anyway, I'm so thankful for the friendships that we've made here - while D was gone this time, friends invited us to play and for dinner, offered to watch M so I wouldn't have to take him to the grocery store, invited us to birthday parties and even helped remind him to use the potty. ;)

We're so very, very thankful for these friends, and I am mindful of all my girlfriends, including my sister and my sister-in-law, who endure those long Navy deployments year after year.

Stitches

Hello!

Last week, I was all set to post a cute recap of our fabulous weekend.....and then on Tuesday M fell at the park, hit his forehead on a rock and had to get TWO STITCHES!!!  I felt awful.  I still feel awful about it!  I took him straight to his doctor's office and by the time we got there, he was already asking to watch the movie (they play movies in the waiting room) and saying "I feel betta, Mommy."  They come out on Tuesday.  It does seem to be healing nicely and he is kind of proud of his "owie" and likes to tell people about it.  Maybe now we will just keep bike helmets on while we play at the playground?

Back on our bike a few days after the "big bump."