Running Wild and Free

Bizz Johnson Training Week #5

2011-06-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

Almost forgot to recap last week! It will be brief...

Monday: Spin class
Tuesday: 7 miles (8:29 AP), weights
Wednesday: 7 miles, weights
Thursday: 8.5 miles (7:43 AP), weights
Friday: 3
Saturday: 13.5 miles (8:51 AP)
Sunday: 7.5 miles (9:15 AP)

Total miles: 46.5 :)

This week my mileage will be off because I am having endometrial ablation surgery today! Yikes!! I took a much needed rest day on Monday, ran a quick 5 yesterday, and a slow 3 miles this morning. I made a promise to my Doctor that I would take the rest of the week easy. If I can get in a total of 20 miles, I'll be happy. Next week I begin my next 6-week block of training. I'm both excited and nervous because I will be starting speedwork and longer tempo runs. I've been messing around with the Garmin over the past two weeks, but starting next week my goal is to run at a certain pace 2x/week. The rest of the week will be scheduled easy runs to boost up my weekly mileage (which will also be increasing). Big changes ahead!

I LOVE my little girls!

2011-05-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

Long runs on the weekends are something I look forward to. It's like going on a mini adventure. This morning, for example, I didn't plan where I was going to run...I just made it up as I was running. I used to plot out my courses the night before on mapmyrun.com, but now I don't need to. I just leave out my front door start running!

This morning my plan was to run for two hours or 15 miles...whichever came first. I wanted to take it easy today since I pushed Thursday's workout pretty hard. I ended up running 2:01:00 and completed just under 14 miles. The weather was not ideal. It was overcast and cold. Blech.

My left ankle is still bothering me. I injured it the first week in February up on Mount Lassen. I made the mistake of glisading down the snowy mountain while wearing crampons. The crampons made my body come to a quick stop and I rolled my ankle pretty bad. I've been able to train through the pain, but it really aches after long runs. After this morning's run I came inside, grabbed an ice pack and lay on the floor with my foot elevated on a shelf. No sooner did I get on the floor, my two little ones climbed on top of me full of laughter and excitement.

(Not the most comfortable position to be in, but it made me stop thinking about my ankle!)
I can't even begin to express how much I love our girls, Leah and Natalie. They are such a blessing! (In this picture, they are riding a train of chairs.)

I'm 6 miles away from a 45 mile week. My plan is to wake up early tomorrow morning and run before church. Tomorrow is the last day of week 5 of 6 of base training. I'm excited to bump my mileage up and get into a more serious plan after next week! I'm using a Jack Daniels plan...something that is new to me. From what I've experienced the last 5 weeks, I really enjoy it. I'm nervous about starting tempo runs but at least I know my base work is strong. I feel good and as of this week, my weight is starting to stabilize once again. I'm down 3 pounds since last week and feeling strong. I've been trying really hard to limit sweets in my diet and did well with the exception of yesterday and today. I purchased a bag of Jelly Belly "belly flops" and have been eating them like crazy. Plus, a friend gave me some chocolates today. How can I resist chocolate?! As for the jelly beans, I have a plan to give the remainder of the bag to a friend tomorrow. If they're not in the house (or in my car's glove box hiding), I won't eat them, right?

Week #4 Bizz Johnson Training

2011-05-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

I ended up running every single day last week. My plan was to take Monday off, but I ended up running a mile and a half with clients. I'm finding that most of my runs tend to be at an 8:30 average pace (according to the Garmin). My heart rate has been averaging in the mid to upper 140's, so I know there is still room for pushing my pace even faster. I have this week and all of next week before the next phase of my marathon training begins. I'm still working on maintaining a weekly base of 40-45 miles, which has (so far!) been a lot easier than I thought it would be. :)

Monday: 1.5 miles
Tuesday: 7 miles (with speedwork on the treadmill)
Wednesday: 6 miles
Thursday: 7 miles (4 in the morning, 3 in the late afternoon)
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 10.5 miles (8:30 average pace)
Sunday: 7.5 miles (hilly course, 8:50 average pace)

Total Mileage: 44.5!! (My highest total in years!)

I've been trying really hard lately to get my eating habits back under control. My meals are never the issue... it's the snacking inbetween meals that kills me. I absolutely LOVE candy and it's been difficult to keep it to a minimum. Today, for example, I've already had a licorice sugar stick and 4 small chocolate candies from a chocolate store in town. I wake up each morning thinking...okay, NO candy today. But then after lunch my body craves sugary snacks. I even stocked our fridge and freezer this weekend with my favorite fruits, but I still reach for the candy. :/ I don't mind having candy if it's an occassional thing, but eating it every single day of the week has got to stop!

Anyway... that's my rant for the day.

Week # 3 Bizz Johnson Training

2011-05-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

What a weekend!! I took first place in the Chocolate Chase 10K on Saturday with a time of 40:48. My prize was a sweet looking chocolate shoe and a cute medal. :)

On Sunday, Dave and I participated in the 100th Bay to Breakers in San Francisco. It was so much fun. It was set up similar to a marathon where each coralle has a different start time. We were in coralle A so our start time was at 7:00 am. Most of the crazies started behind us so the race was fairly normal and calm when we ran...only difference was people were in costume. Every few minutes we'd spot someone either walking or running nude...gross part was most nudies were over the age of 50. Not pretty--especially the men. Yuck. :/

Here are my totals for the week:

Tuesday: 9 miles easy
Wednesday: 7.5 miles easy
Thursday: 9 miles (with 3 miles of speed intervals)
Friday: 4.5 miles
Saturday: 7 miles (6.2 were part of the Chocolate Chase)
Sunday: 8 miles (Bay to Breakers)

Total: 45 miles! (My longest week ever!)

My chocolate shoe prize!

Dinner in S.F.

Bay to Breakers

Bay to Breakers (I made my costume years ago while pregnant with Leah)

Chocolate Chase medal

Bay to Breakers medal

2011-05-13T16:22:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already Friday! This week has gone by way too fast...

Monday was another typical rest day that included strength training, a 10 mile bike ride and a yoga class.

On Tuesday, my husband Dave dropped me off at one end of town and I ran along the flumes until I got near the back side of our house. I enjoy running near the river around this time of the year because the water is constantly changing. I ended up running 7 miles at an 8:10 average pace. (I'm liking the new Garmin!)

This is one of the many catwalks along the flume.

One of my favorite swimming holes in the summer time!

Wednesday was a tough day. I did not feel like running at all. My body felt tired and sluggish from the past few days of training. I ate poorly and it was reflected in my run. However, I still managed to get in 7.5 miles.

Thursday I felt great and was ready for some speed work. Throughout the day I ran a total of 9 miles. I did two different speed work sessions on the treadmill that totaled 3.5 miles, then ran the rest of the miles with clients throughout the afternoon.

Today is Friday and my plan is to run to my nephew's baseball game. I need to get in 6 miles today.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend!! Tomorrow morning is the local Chocolate Chase 10K. If I win the race, I will win a chocolate shoe made by Joy Lynn's Candies. I'm fairly confident that I will win tomorrow because it's an event put on by the gym I work at, and as of yesterday there haven't been too many sign-ups that I should be concerned about being faster than me. ;)

Immediately after the race, Dave and I will be headed to San Francisco for this:

We are really excited to be a part of this event! Thunderstorms are in the forecast for Sunday, but with 50,000+ people signed up for the event, I'm sure rain will be the least of our worries. Dave plans on dressing up as Darth Vader (my brother has a costume) and I will be a version of Princess Leia. (My dress is white, but that's the only resemblance!) Plan B is to wear our normal running clothes if it ends up raining. I'll post pictures early next week.

The last piece of news is I was contacted by Fleet Feet sports yesterday to review some different socks while training for the Bizz Johnson Marathon! There will be a bag of socks waiting for me at the store when we get back into town next week.

Life is good!

Week #2 (of 24...) Bizz Johnson Training

2011-05-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

Last week was a good week of running for me. I've been nervous about increasing my weekly mileage, but so far it's been a smooth and easy transition. Highlight of the week was yesterday's long run along the Feather River flume. I'll make sure to bring my camera next time I run there--it is beautiful.

One thing that is new for me is having a day of scheduled rest. Monday is my scheduled rest day, but it's really difficult for me not to stay active. I'm okay with not running on Mondays, but I feel the need to still do something...anything!

Here's last week's recap:

Monday: (Scheduled rest.) Strength training in the morning (1 hour), bike commute to work (8 miles round trip), yoga class (1.5 hours).
Tuesday: 7 miles of easy running, strength training
Wednesday: 6 miles easy, strength training
Thursday: 7 miles (including 4 x 800m repeats), strength training
Friday: 4.5 treadmill run, strength training
Saturday: DIVA DASH 5K!! (see previous post for details), new PR of 19:11!! 5 miles total running on this day.
Sunday: 9.5 miles on the Feather River flume.

Total mileage: 39

One of my friends gave me his Garmin this weekend to use while training. My plan is to start using it tomorrow and keep a record of my stats. Should be fun!

This upcoming week is my first scheduled 40 mile run week. I was tempted to run an extra mile yesterday when I saw I was only one mile short. Oh well... I figure in a few weeks I'll be wishing for shorter run weeks again, so I don't want to push it too much!

"You're my hero, and you don't even know it!"

2011-05-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

My mom and I met my sister-in-law, Mindy, in Chico this morning for the 1st annual Diva Dash 5K. We signed up for the event on Easter thinking it would be something fun to do together in honor of Mother's Day. I knew in advance that the event's main focus was to benefit the Girls on the Run program, but didn't realize HOW big of a focus it was until this morning when we showed up and saw numerous women and small girls in their pink racing shirts. I figured out fairly quick that this event was more of a community event than a true "race."

I didn't wear my pink shirt that came in our race packets because it looked horrible on me. It made me look like I have jaundice! There are certain colors that bring out the yellow pigments in my skin, and hot pink just happens to be one of those colors. The rest of our goodies were pretty cool. We got a pair of pink Balga socks and a finisher's wine glass with our race entry. I'm excited about the socks. I love wearing new socks.

When it was time to line up for the race I knew I was going to be the first place finisher. I am aware of who my local competition is and none of them were at the race. (Sheri was there, but was running with some of the young girls.) Paul Smith, who is an amazingly fast running, was at the event to do the bike lead. His bike was covered in pink streamers which was fun to follow.

The Race:

Three elementary aged girls and myself took an early lead. The girls dropped their pace about 150 yards down the road and I didn't see any other runners until I finished and watched them come in behind me. I've never led a race before in Chico and it was a pretty cool experience. Granted, it wasn't a huge event, it was cool to know that I was the race leader. I chatted with Paul off and on throughout the race, but for the most part kept focused and tried to keep a steady pace. My goal was to finish under 20 minutes with a dream of finishing around 19:20. (My PR up to this point was a 19:33 that was set in November at the Almond Bowl.)

At Mile One, I checked my watch and was pleased to see a split of 6:12. It felt effortless. At Mile Two my split was 6:10. Even Paul noticed before I could say anything that my time was faster. At Mile Three I was amazed once again when I looked down to see another negative split. This time it was 6:09. I smiled and cruised in the rest of the way to a finishing time of 19:11!! I was so happy to have a new PR and that is was fairly easy to accomplish.

The race today felt like a major breakthrough. I recently set a new PR for myself at the Bidwell Classic 1/2 Marathon the first week of March (1:29:33), so to have a new PR for a 5K made me confident that training is going well. I'm setting my sights high on breaking 19:00 in the 5K this year. I didn't think it would ever be possible, but after today I know it is.

Below are some pictures from today's event:

Race goodies

My mom and I before the race

1st Place!

Posing with my new medal :)

Almost forgot!! The quote that is at the top of this post, "You're my hero, and you don't even know it!" came from a lady who passed me on the way to the bathrooms about 30 minutes after the race. It was really nice and made me feel good. :) I'll post either tomorrow or the next day with a recap of this week's mileage.

6 Week Training Plan

2011-05-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

One of my goals for this year is to qualify for the Boston Marathon. In order to do so, I need to finish under 3:40:00. I've been talking to a few friends and the owner of Fleet Feet in Chico over the past few weeks, and with their help I'm starting to come up with a game plan to make my dream a reality.

I happen to be one of the "lucky" ones who can race well with minimal training. At most, I tend to average between 25-35 miles per week no matter what event I'm training for....be it a 5K or 1/2 marathon. This time around, I want to train more according to the book with a higher volume of weekly miles.

My first goal: increase my weekly mileage to 45 miles per week. I'm giving myself 6 weeks to make this happen. From there, I'll merge into an 18-week full out marathon training plan. This initial 6 weeks will be used to increase my base mileage. I'm hoping to create a marathon plan that peaks around 70 miles per week. Right now, that amount of miles sounds crazy high.......but, if my body responds positively, I'm willing to give it a try. Realistically, I'm guessing I'll peak between 60-65 miles per week. Right now it's too early to tell.

Here's my first draft of my 6-week plan:

And now, the nicer typed up version:

Week One of this plan went very well. No major issues. I'm not planning on introducing any intervals or strides until week 3. My plan is to just get the miles in.

Recap:

Monday: 6 miles, weights
Tuesday: 5 miles (3 in the morning, 2 at night), Bike: 16 miles, weights
Wednesday: 7.5 miles (4.5 in the morning, 3 at night), weights
Thursday: 5.5 miles (2 in the afternoon, 3.5 at night), weights
Friday: 4 miles, weights
Saturday: 9.5 miles
Sunday: Wildflower bike ride, 76 miles

Totals:

Running: 37.5 miles
Biking: 92 miles
Weights: 5+ hours

It was a good week overall. On Saturday, our family watched the Gold Nugget Parade. Here's a picture of the girls and me. :)

New Year!

2011-04-26T23:22:00.000-07:00

Wow! I've been keeping up with reading my friends' blogs yet haven't written anything since last June! Since then, a lot has changed. Here's a quick recap in pictures:

Leah is now 5 years old...

Natalie is 22 months old...

(They are both still super cute!)

I purchased a new dress. (I now own 2.)

Lots of biking and a few adventure races

And I finally did a winter summit on Mt. Lassen

My main reason for starting up this blog again is I'd like to qualify for the Boston Marathon this fall. I will be running the Biz Johnson Marathon on October 9. I've been running consistently for months, but began a 6-week plan yesterday to build up my weekly milage. I'm hoping to build up to 45 miles a week, stay there for a while, then increase it again during Marathon training. (In my mind, training for Biz Johnson started yesterday........but the official training plan will start about 16 weeks before the race.) I'm hoping to use this blog to express my thoughts during this experience. I'm fairly confident I can qualify--I'll need to finish under 3:40:00. My goal for this race is to finish between 3:15:00 and 3:30:00. I'll have a better estimate as the weeks pass by and I see how my body responds to training.

Week of the Upset Stomach

2010-06-13T21:52:00.001-07:00

Sunday: My first time riding up to Inskip!!
Inskip in the background.

Tuesday's ride with Jenette.

Tuesday's Ride: Covered Bridge on Honey Run Rd.

Tuesday's Ride: Bike path in Chico that leads to Honey Run Rd.

This was an interesting week in training. I did okay with my bike mileage but not so good with my running mileage. I went to bed Monday evening feeling sick to my stomach. I thought it was just a reaction to the huge strawberry sundae I shared with Leah a few hours earlier and didn't think much about it. When I woke up on Tuesday, I felt horrible. I was sick to my stomach and felt like I needed to throw up, but never did. This feeling came and went in waves up until Saturday morning. Ugh....... Finally, early Saturday morning, I woke up around 4 am and threw up in the toilet. Woke up a few hours later and didn't feel up to running the scheduled hour and 40 minutes. I took our dog, Nicki, on a 5 mile walk instead. By the afternoon, I felt 100% better. I'm hoping to make up some mileage this week on my feet. I really need to be ready for the 1/2 marathon part of the triathlon next month!!

Biking went amazing well this week. Tuesday morning, I took my friend Jenette on a 35.5 mile ride around Paradise, Durham & Chico. We went at her pace, so it was a fairly easy ride for me. Most of the ride was flat with the exception of climbing Honey Run. Thursday morning, Dave was nice enough to let me sleep in until around 8:45 am while he took care of the girls. We went on a short hike after breakfast, then I took a nap (something I rarely ever do). I didn't feel very good but still felt the need to get in some time on the bike, so I rode an easy 10 miles up and down the bike path near our house. I didn't go very fast because getting my heart rate up high increased the nausea feeling.

Since I felt pretty good this morning (Sunday), I called up my friend Brad and asked if he wanted to go riding with me. He did, so we met up at my parent's house and rode our bikes up to Inskip & back. It was my first time riding my bike up there, so I was pretty intimidated. There are three major climbs: one on Coutelenc Rd., one up to Sterling City, and the last hills leading up to Inskip. It took about an hour and 40 minutes to get up there, and about an hour to get back (I think). Total time for the 38.5 mile ride was 2:34:00. Fun, fun, fun. I will do this ride a lot this summer. Especially as the days get warmer.

Here are my stats for the week:

Running: 11.5 miles

Biking: 84 miles

8 Weeks Left Until Barb's Race

2010-06-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

Sweet Natalie on my back while hiking.

Leah got roller skates for her birthday. I took her to the park earlier this week to practice.

Concentrating...

The weather has been so weird lately. This was taken while riding my bike on the first day of JUNE! I am so ready for the heat to be here.

The next few pictures were taken while running along the flooms to the Head Dam. This is one of the catwalks overlooking the Feather River.

The Head Dam. In a month the water will be safe enough to go swimming! (This is my turn around point.)

So pretty...

This was a good, solid week of training for me. On paper, it was a "recovery" week but since my running has slacked off lately, the distances were perfect. I'm thinking about borrowing some aero bars for my road bike. The course for Barb's race is most likely flat, so with aero bars I can increase my speed by at least 1-2 mph. At this point in my training, I feel fully confident in my biking skills but a bit shaky in my running. (Which is so weird--usually I feel great while running. I need to increase my weekly mileage and focus on building up my weekend long run.)

Here's what I did last week:

Running--I got in 26.5 miles this week. On Wednesday, Dave watched the girls and I took Nicki on a run along the Feather River flooms. We did a 5 mile loop that went up to the Head Dam and back. This is one of my favorite runs to do in the summer time. Right now the water is still pretty high because of the rain, but in a month or two it will be calm enough to jump off the Head Dam and swim a little bit. So cool.

Biking--85.5 total miles on the bike. On Tuesday morning, I rode my bike up to DeSabla Lake and back. On Thursday, I rode down Neal Rd. to HWY 99 and back (from the club). Saturday morning I met up at the club with Diann and we rode to the top of Coutelenc Rd. On Sunday, I repeated the same ride and ran for 20 minutes after getting off the bike for a brick workout. All of the riding felt great. I need to purchase some new cycling shorts. Mine suck. They are too baggy in the butt and are not attractive. I'm hoping to find a pair that have a lower waist.

Here We Go...

2010-05-30T20:21:00.000-07:00

Dave & I filled up 200 water balloons for our niece's 7th birthday party. So fun. :)

Leah on her final day of preschool. "Mud Day"

My best friend, Jill, sent me these flowers. Thank you, Jill. They are beautiful! I love you!!

Dave graduated from the Fire Academy last week. Great job, Dave!

A picture of Christine, Jim & I at the Wildflower Century ride. Get well soon, Christine. I love and miss you!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The last two and a half weeks have been rough. My friend Christine is still in the Neuro ICU. This week was a better one for her--the week before that, we thought we were going to lose her. Scary. The doctors are reducing the coma-inducing medicines and slowly working to get her off life support. I'm praying hard that she will pull through this.

As for training, my original plan was to begin training for a half marathon. I was going to be the runner in a 3-person relay with Lynn & Christine for Barb's Race on July 31 (1/2 Ironman event). With Christine in the hospital, Lynn and I made the decision for me to take her place in the cycling portion. Lynn will be swimming 1.2 miles and I'll be riding 56 miles followed by a 13.1 mile run. It makes me sad that Christine is unable to be with us, but at the same time it is an honor to take her place. Training has gone well this week, especially on the bike, because Christine is on my mind throughout all of my rides. I will race my heart out for her come race day!

I plan on taking a short break from swimming until this race is over. I may swim for fun occasionally, but most of my focused energy will be on biking and running. Here are my totals for the week:

Biking: 91.5 miles (I rode for 3 hours on Saturday and got in 45.5 miles. While riding up Honey Run my bike passed the 1,000 mile mark.)

Running: 21 miles (I skipped the scheduled 1.5 hour run today, which would have given me about 8-10 more miles, in exchange for filling up 200 water balloons and attending my niece's 7th birthday party. I'll do it tomorrow on my scheduled rest day.)

Rough Week

2010-05-16T23:29:00.000-07:00

This has been one of the most difficult weeks of my life. Without going into much detail, my friend Laura was in a freak accident and taken off life support Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, my close friend Christine crashed on her bike and is in critical condition at Enloe hospital. She fractured her skull in the accident and swelling has been a major issue. I was at the hospital the night of the crash and have been there every day since. She means the world to me and my heart is very heavy. I feel numb and am praying like crazy for her to pull through this.

As for working out, it was a scheduled recovery week. I took a few classes at the gym and went on a mini run early in the week, but have done absolutely nothing since Wednesday. It hurts to even walk past my running shoes and bicycle because so many memories are associated with running and biking with Christine. I haven't had a true meltdown moment yet and I'm afraid that either of those activities at this point will trigger one.

Get well, my friend.

City of Gold Triathlon Race Report!!

2010-05-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

The City of Gold Triathlon was a huge success! I was the 2nd overall female and 9th place overall finisher.

The Swim: (17:34)
The race had a two-wave start. The men took off first, and the women began 5 minutes later. The water was a bit chilly (61*F) but since all of us were wearing wetsuits, the temperature wasn't really an issue. When the race started, it was difficult to get into race mode. I didn't get kicked in the face (thank goodness!) but got pushed in the butt once or twice. I felt giddy more than anything else. I was thinking, "wow! I'm really doing this!!" Swimming is still somewhat of a new sport to me--to be swimming in Lake Oroville was huge! I was happy to be doing something new without fear. During the swim, there were other female swimmers on both sides of me--I didn't try to pass anyone because I didn't want to run out of energy. I was hoping to breathe bilaterally like I do in the pool, but it didn't happen. Whenever I tried, I felt like I wasn't getting enough oxygen. I figured it was better to swim comfortably. My goal time of 15 minutes in the water didn't happen--I finished the 1/2 mile swim in 17:34 (2:11/100 average pace). Much slower than the pool, but again...I'm okay with that. I was just happy to be in the water!

T1: (4:24)
I exited the water a bit dizzy and nauseous. I wasn't expecting this. I must have swallowed a bunch of air and water for this feeling didn't go away until part way thru the run portion. I let out a lot of slow little burps, with each one my stomach eased up and felt better. Back to the swim-bike transition... I exited the water, tore off my goggles & swim cap, and ran with them in my hand up the looooong boat ramp. Once I got to my bike, I stripped off the second half of my wetsuit and put on my cycling gear. It was a smooth transition--no major issues (except for an upset stomach).

The Bike: (38:49)
I rocked the bike portion of this race. I hadn't been on the course but predicted it would take about 45 minutes to complete the 12 miles. Once I got on the bike, not a single person passed me for the rest of the race. I was the one passing others which was a pretty cool feeling. The course started and ended with a lot of hills. Most of my training has been full of hills, so they were not an issue for me. Instead, I used them to my advantage. My average speed ended up being 18.7 mph. I was very pleased. :)

T2: (:56)
I got off my bike and ran it over to my transition spot. Once I got there, it only took a few seconds to tear off my helmet, sunglasses, gloves and cycling shoes. I slipped on my Solomon trail shoes that were already laced up and took off running... in the wrong direction. (oops!) Luckily, a few friends that were watching yelled at me to exit out the correct way.

The Run: (21:36)
The first mile of this run was all uphill. The bike to run transition felt a little strange, but I was able to block it out because I was concentrating more on not throwing up! My stomach was still upset and I feared running all out because I was right on the edge of losing it. I crossed Mile 1 at exactly eight minutes and realized I needed to pick up my pace. Shortly after reaching the first mile marker, the trail began to descend so I took off. I let out a small burp and almost instantly felt better. The nausea was gone, so my plan was to race hard to the finish line. Miles two and three were most likely in the mid 6 minute range because my average pace was 6:58/mile. It felt great to cross the finish line. I felt fast despite a slow run start.

Overall, I felt like I raced well. I could have swam a bit faster but I feel I gave 100% effort on the bike and run portions. I look forward to doing this event next year!

Stats!!
1/2 mile swim: 17:34
T1: 4:24
12 mile bike: 38:49
T2: :56
3.1 mile run: 21:36
Total time: 1:23:19
(And, by the way, I was 3 minutes away from being the #1 female finisher. She killed me on the swim. Her T1 and bike times were about a minute faster as well. Next year... ;)

Here are a few pictures:
This is the swim start--I'm in the second row, splashing (not helpful, I'm sure).

Bike finish.

Run finish. Zoomed in, this is a pretty cool picture. I look mean!

Three of us from Beyond Fitness placed in the top 3 for the 30-34 age group. Pretty cool!

Modeling the race shirt, participation medal, and 1st place age group award.

5 More Days Until City of Gold!!

2010-05-03T22:40:00.000-07:00

I took the girls fishing this afternoon. In this picture, Sweet Natalie is holding the pole. Shortly after taking the picture, she put the end of the pole in her mouth like a teething toy.

We didn't catch any fish in the afternoon, so I took Leah back to the pond after dinner. We caught two fish but only brought home one. (Why? Because I had help from the people next to us with fish #1... by the time we reeled in fish #2 our help was gone, and I was clueless of what to do with the fish.)

I am so excited and ready to race on Saturday! This post will be short because I am tired and need some sleep. Here are last week's totals:

Swim: 4,800 yards (includes a 40 minute open water swim in 55* Lake Oroville water--brrr!)

Bike: 64 miles

Run: 16 miles

I'm not too nervous about the race yet. I'm sure as the day gets closer I will have a bit of anxiety, but right now I feel good and have faith in my training. I've been working hard 6 days a week for the past two months. I feel prepared and ready to race well. My goal is to be one of the top 3 female finishers, with a "secret" goal of being the overall female winner. It's a realistic goal if I am healthy on race day. Wish me luck!!

City of Gold Training--Week #7

2010-04-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

These are the wonderful friends I stayed with in the Wildflower Century ride on Sunday!

This was a great training week. I'm to the point now where I feel fully confident in my swimming, biking, and running skills. I feel balanced and ready to race! This was an amazing week for cycling, being that I got in a total of 154 miles. I started the week off right by taking Brad's spin class. As always, it was a great workout. On Wednesday, I rode my bike to Chico. It was so incredibly windy while riding down Neal Rd. There were a few times when I thought I might get blown over--scary! On Thursday, I rode with my friend, Jenette, up Honey Run Rd. It was her first time making it to the top, so it was fun to help out. I remember when it was such an intimidating ride a few years ago... On Friday, I hooked the bike trailer up to my mountain bike and took the girls to two different parks in Paradise. Finally, on Sunday I participated in the Chico Wildflower Century ride. It was my first time and I rocked it! I rode with some of my cycling friends and did really well. Great event!! (pictures below)

Swimming this week was also exciting. Julie gave me some swimming advice on Friday that has been helpful. I swam a 800 yard time-trial in 14:15. I'm not sure if that's a good time or not, but I felt strong and was happy to be under 15 minutes. (My goal for the City of Gold is to finish the 1/2 mile swim in about 15 minutes.)

Running kind of sucked, but I'm not too worried about it. It was another low mileage week.

Here are my totals:

Swim--4,800 yards

Bike--154 miles (yah!)

Run--12.5 miles (boo)

Proof that I rode 100 miles on Sunday!

This picture was taken during the Wildflower ride.

This picture was taken upon reaching the top of Table Mountain. There were about 4,000 riders this year...so fun!

This is me with my friends, Jim & Christine. They are seriously amazing cyclists. I was able to hang with them (& Diann) during the 100 miles. Our average pace for the ride came out to be 16mph (hills & flats included!). On the flats, we stayed between 20-21mph!!! For miles, and miles, and miles we stayed at this pace. It was hard work but so rewarding. My max speed for the day was 37mph while riding down Pentz Rd. (Christine, Jim, Steve & Diann made it to 52mph--amazing!)

Our group riding across a bridge on Cherokee Rd.

Less than 3 weeks to go...

2010-04-20T21:44:00.000-07:00

Leah modeling her new knee pads & helmet at her 4th birthday party.
I love Leah SO much!!

I took this picture while riding down Honey Run Road.

This picture was taken at the Honey Run Bridge.

I love looking at the bluffs while riding on Honey Run Rd. So pretty.

This post is a few days late, but better late than never, right?

Last week was a decent training week. Here are the details:

Swim: Just under 5,000 yards.

(I went with Dave and the girls to Oroville to test out my wetsuit. It was kind of scary starting out, but went a lot better than I expected. The weird part was seeing blue when my head was above the water, and green when my head was under the water. Luckily, I couldn't see the bottom of the lake. This helped me from totally freaking out!!)

Bike: Approx. 65 miles this week. (I'm too lazy to grab my training log--the couch is comfy.) My favorite ride of the week was on Saturday after Leah's birthday party. I rode solo down Honey Run, up Centerville and back home. I saw 18 riders in a 2 hour time frame. It was a beautiful day. It was nice to see other riders out getting ready for this weekend's Wildflower Century ride.

Run: 24 miles. Not bad for only running a few days this week. Favorite run of the week was on Sunday. I ran from our house to my brother's house across town for a BBQ. I like destination runs.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Leah turned 4 years old last week (on Tuesday). She is such a special little girl. We have such a tight bond. I love her more than I could ever describe. :)

Week 5 Training + The Coolest Ride Ever

2010-04-11T21:15:00.001-07:00

This was a scheduled recovery week. I did good staying on schedule until Friday, then slacked off a little bit. I ended the week with only 2 swims & 2 runs (instead of 3). I'm not too worried about it though. I'll be back on track this week. (Plus, although tomorrow is a scheduled rest day I'll most likely get in the run that I missed.) The City of Gold sprint triathlon is now less than a month away. I had plans to test out my borrowed wetsuit in Lake Oroville today but there was no way I'd be out there in the rain. No way!!

I went on a solo bike ride around the back side of Table Mountain yesterday. I really wanted to ride this loop because it is a part of the Wildflower Century ride which is coming up on April 25. I had heard that the last mile before the top was comparable, if not harder than climbing Honey Run, so I was curious to try it out. About 10 minutes into the ride it began to sprinkle on me. Luckily, it only lasted for a few miles because riding my road bike in the rain makes me nervous. (I'm afraid of falling into the road and getting smooshed.) As I was going down Pentz Rd. I let out a huge scream because my bike was traveling way too fast. It was scary! There's also a brief portion of the ride, towards the end, where I had to be on HWY 70, that freaked me out. Again, I was going a bit too fast and a huge gust of wind hit me in the side. It was a miracle that I didn't get blown over--seriously! Besides that, the ride was pretty mellow. The hill wasn't bad at all. I just used my easier gears to make it up. :)

Here are my totals for the week:

Run--10.5 miles (pathetic, I know.)
Bike--74 miles
Swim--2,900 yards (missed a day)

The pictures are from the ride up to Table Mountain...

I like this picture because it shows the different shades of green. Plus, the clouds look pretty.

Looking at the mountain I was about to climb.

On Cherokee Road, on the flats before the big climb.

A view of Lake Oroville.

I had Dave take this of me upon arriving home. I was so happy!

Crazy Long Post: Tri Training, Week 4

2010-04-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

What a great week for training and having fun! There were several mini accomplishments during the week that I am proud of. Running has always come fairly easy to me, but this week I am beginning to feel more confident in my biking and swimming abilities. The weather was chilly and rainy but I was able to get in 99% of my scheduled workouts. (I cut Friday's run short because I didn't feel like putting more miles in the pouring rain. It was cold!!)

Here are my stats for the week (plus a short description of each day):

Monday:
Scheduled rest day. I really felt like taking Brad's spin class because I hadn't been in awhile. I finished the class drenched in sweat. Loved every minute.
Spin: 1 hour/~13 miles
Run: 1 mile (w/ clients)

Tuesday:
I rode my bike solo up to Paradise Lake. It was a nice ride but my feet were chilly! Just as I arrived back at the gym, it began to rain. Phew!
Bike: 17.5 miles/1:15:00
Run: 1 mile (w/ clients)

Wednesday:
It was raining again so I chose to run my speed intervals (10 x 1 min.) indoors. Swimming felt good--my flip turns are getting better.
Run: 5 miles/40 minutes
Swim: 1,650 yards

Thursday:
Jenette wanted to test out her new road bike so I took her a little ways down Neal Rd. and messed around on the bike path. It was nice to just chill and enjoy the conversation.
Bike: 14.5 miles/1:20:00
Run: 2 miles (w/ clients)

Friday:
It was raining HARD and I must admit, I was not looking forward to swimming. Walking out to the pool in my swimsuit did not seem normal for how hard it was raining. I swam in a lane next to my friend Shelley and had a blast! I was so glad she swam with me. It made the workout enjoyable--plus, swimming in the rain was kind of ...gulp... fun. Part of the workout called for 8x25 yard sprints. I finished most of mine in 18 or 19 seconds. I feel like my freestyle stroke is improving. My times are faster with less energy wasted. Nice! As for running, I had put in about 15 minutes on the treadmill with clients earlier in the day and did not feel like running in the rain. So I skipped out on the extra 25-30 minutes I was supposed to do.
Swim: 1,650
Run: 1.5

Saturday:
I met up with Alisa (yah!), Christine & Diann at the club early to go on a 50 mile bike ride. Lots of stories from this ride--a day filled with freezing feet, beautiful green scenery, big hills. and reckless drivers on Honey Run Rd. My bike now has over 500 miles on it! To me, that's a big deal! :)
Bike: 51.5 miles/3:45:00

Sunday:
I was the overall female winner in the Trail Less Traveled 1/4 Marathon. Go me! It was a tough course and I got a side ache, of all things. (My guess is leftover soreness from riding the bike yesterday.) Lots of friends were at this race which made it extra special. My best friend, Jill, ran her first ever 5K and did great!! Alisa paced with her while her hubby placed first in his age group. He also beat me...grrrr. ;) My time was 46:24. A PR of 1:30 from the last time I ran it two years ago. I made it to the club this evening and swam a crazy fast swim in the pouring rain. I was able to complete 1,800 yards in 30 minutes. For me, that's fast. I left the club cold, but happy.
Run: 7 miles
Swim: 1,800 yards

Weekly Totals:
Run: 17.5 miles (a bit low, but I'm okay with that)
Bike: 83.5 miles!! (or ~96 miles if I include spin class)
Swim: 5,100 yards

Enjoy the pictures!!
This is the t-shirt from today's race. I really, really like it.

This is me with my crazy prize. I have no idea what to do with this thing...it's huge!

The race director wanted me to lift the vase over my head for a picture. I was too embarrassed to do such a thing.

Part of our group before the race: Me, Jill, Alisa, Justin

No...these are not new recipes, but I have been cooking and baking more! Leah helped me make these cupcakes for an Easter potluck. We also made deviled eggs. They were not pretty. I apparently cut the eggs the "wrong" way. I cut them in half instead of lengthwise. Who knew? ;)

Leah and I made sugar cookies from SCRATCH. Believe it or not, this was a new recipe for me. Usually I just buy the pre-made stuff.

Oh, hey look...a hearty casserole! Not a new recipe, but I did cut up a red bell pepper which is a change. (Note: the cheese isn't melted yet because I had just put the dish in the oven.)

A picture of Leah and I making the sugar cookies. I let her stay up with me until after 10pm that night. So fun...

I can't forget to add a picture of Miss Sweet Cheeks. This is a picture of her in her little Easter dress. She's so cute!

City of Gold--Training Week #3

2010-03-28T18:08:00.000-07:00

Riding my bike has been so enjoyable. It takes me back to the days when we were kids and bikes were our main form of transportation. This picture was taken while riding down Neal Rd. on Tuesday.
A view of the mountains while riding down Neal Rd.

This was a tough week of training. I completed all of the scheduled workouts, but had a hard time getting started on several of them. For example, this morning when I woke up I knew there was a 50 minute run and 1,600 yard swim scheduled but I was NOT looking forward to either one. I thought about swapping tomorrow's rest day with today's workout. I think part of it is fatigue...I've been working really hard the past 3 weeks. I also have a minor sore throat which isn't (and shouldn't be) a big deal. I ended up doing today's workout as scheduled and felt good at the end. I was able to swim 1,200 yards without stopping which for me is a big deal! Last week, I took off too fast and had to take a 1 minute break at the 500 yard mark. Today I was able to start out slow and end my last 200 yards at faster pace. :)

Here are my weekly totals:

Run--23.5 miles

Bike--68.5 miles (so fun!)

Swim--4,900 yards

Running was pretty uneventful this week. I had the most fun on the bike. Christine & I went on a 35 mile bike ride yesterday morning. It was so beautiful. My confidence is growing on the bike and in the pool. Next weekend, my plan is to bike about 50 miles with Alisa (yah!) and be one of the top 3 female finishers in the Trail Less Traveled 1/4 marathon race on Sunday (Easter). My friend, Jill, will be in the 5K. I'm really excited for her because it will be her first race after having baby Rilan. :)

Tri Training Week #2 + New Gear!

2010-03-20T20:49:00.000-07:00

I got a pair of new shoes at the Bicycle Shop yesterday after a nice ride with Christine & Diann. They are so pretty and sleek...I love them!
Christine surprised me earlier this week with the gift of a new jersey. I love, love, love it!! It fits perfectly.

As for the second week of training for the City of Gold, this week was amazing. Monday is a scheduled rest day but because Shelley & I were driving home from S.F. on Sunday, I did Sunday's workout on Monday and skipped the rest day. Today was day 7 of working out with no rest...I'm really looking forward to resting tomorrow.

My totals for this week really made me smile...

Swim--5,900 yards

Bike--70 miles

Run--18 miles (seems low because it is. I spent more time biking.)

The past two weeks have been so enjoyable. This week has been especially nice because the weather has been sunny & warm. It felt so good to be on my road bike again. So good. With the new addition later in the week of the new jersey and shoes, it really sparked my excitement even more for this season of training. I'm still nervous about swimming in Lake Oroville (creepy!), but my confidence is growing now that I'm spending more time in the pool.

Triathlon Training--Week 2

2010-03-16T23:24:00.001-07:00

I went to Palo Alto & San Francisco this weekend with my friend, Shelley. We had such a good time together and the weather was perfect. We walked across the Golden Gate Bridge (one of my 2010 goals). :)

Could Natalie be any cuter??

And Leah, my goodness! How I love this girl!!

I am in my 2nd week of training for the City of Gold sprint triathlon. The race is on May 8 in Oroville, and it will be my first open water swim triathlon. So far the training has been amazing. I purchased a book from Barnes & Noble a few weeks ago (Essential Week-By-Week Training Guide by Matt Fitzgerald) and found a plan that I am loving. I am so happy to be out riding my road bike again. Plus, it's been nice getting in the pool to work on my swimming. The only element I plan on changing is the amount of miles I put in running each week. This plan does not call for a lot of mileage, and already I am missing my long weekend jogs. Besides that, I am excited to be training for something NEW! (I've done quite a few triathlons in the past, but the swim has been either in a pool or swapped out for the kayak. It will also be my first triathlon on my new road bike! No more mountain bikes for me--in a race, at least!)

Here is what my week looks like:

Monday: scheduled rest day, but since I was in S.F. this weekend, I did Sunday's workout on this day. 4 mile run, 1,200 yard swim.

Tuesday: 1:10:00 bike ride, 17.25 miles (4 x 3 min. intervals). It was beautiful today! I rode from the gym up to DeSabla and back. It feels so good to be outdoors on my bike again.

Wednesday: 1,650 swim, 34 minute run (w/ 14 30 second intervals)

Thursday: 50 min. bike w/ 5 x 20 sec. intervals

Friday: 1,650 swim, 35 min. run + strides

Saturday: 1:15:00 bike

Sunday: 40 min. run, 1,400 swim

In the future, I would like to do an Olympic or 1/2 Ironman distance. But for now, with the girls being young and limited training time, this will have to do.

As for other upcoming events, April is a busy month! The Trail Less Traveled 1/4 marathon is on April 4 (Easter--which also happens to be my parent's 40th wedding anniversary!! My best friend, Jill, is also in town and running the 5K!), Leah's 4th birthday is on April 13, and the Chico Wildflower century ride is on April 25. I have never biked over 50 miles before, so biking 100 should be interesting.

Leah will have so much fun tomorrow morning... Dave and I cut out green footprints and taped them all over the walls of our house. The leprechauns have left chocolate gold coins and other goodies for her. We've been talking about St. Patty's Day all week, and she was so excited this evening to fall asleep so the leprechauns could visit our house. We even cracked a window open in the kitchen. I'm excited to see her reaction in the morning. :)

Bidwell Classic Race Report + February Goals Recap

2010-03-07T12:43:00.000-08:00

Leah wearing my prize hat.
Coming around on Lap 1.

I won the 30-34 age group division. Leah came up with me to get my award. I'm wearing socks because my feet hurt.

Finishing the race.

This picture has nothing to do with the Bidwell Classic. I just think it's super cute. This is how we shop at Costco.

The Bidwell Classic 1/2 Marathon in Chico yesterday was amazing. The weather was nice--I was so thankful that it didn't rain on us! My goal time going into this event was to finish between 1:30:00 - 1:35:00. Breaking 1:30:00 was my dream but would also mean keeping a 6:53 average for the race... at this point in my training, a pretty lofty goal.

I finished the race in 1:33:21. An average pace of 7:09 per mile. Not bad! Especially considering I ran the first half of the race WAY too fast. Plus, for whatever reason, my double sock method failed me miserably. My left foot has a huge blister (which began bothering me at mile 5), and my right foot has multiple blisters (which aren't as bad, but still painful).

Here are my splits. The first half of the race is quite speedy; the second half I was in survival mode.

Mile 1: 6:37

Mile 2: 6:40

Mile 3: 6:43

Mile 4: 6:32

Mile 5: 6:42

Mile 6: 7:05 (a quick stop to adjust my socks...didn't help)

Mile 7: 6:52 (the pace I would have needed to break 1:30:00.....what was I thinking with the earlier miles??)

Mile 8: 7:21 (another sock adjustment, my left foot is on fire)

Mile 9: 7:21

Mile 10: 7:44

Mile 11: 7:39

Mile 12: 7:44

Mile 13: 7:29

The .1 of 13.1 Miles: :45

Total Time: 1:33:20.

Although I am really pleased with my time (a PR of over 3 minutes), this race reminded me once again that I need to work on pacing. I went out way too fast as if I were running a 10K rather than a 1/2 marathon. I must admit though, it was pretty cool to come around lap one as the #3 female. At the end of the race I had dropped to the #8 female, but that's okay with me. It was a fun event and when I train with Fleet Feet in the fall for their marathon program, the area of pacing will be fresh in my mind of something to work on.

Tomorrow I begin training for the City of Gold Triathlon! I am excited because it will be my first triathlon that includes an open water swim. I have done sprint tris before that had a kayak portion, but only two have included a swim. And both times, the swims were in a swimming pool. (Much different.) So this will be an exciting change! I have 9 weeks to train. My plan is to run 4x a week, bike 2x, and swim 2x. I have a basic training plan written out that I can build upon if it seems too easy.

****Moving on to a recap of February Goals****

Okay, so to check in with my 2010 goals, February was a good month. I cooked 5 new meals and 2 desserts. I ran another 100+ mile month with a total of 139.5 miles. (One downside to training for the sprint tri is my weekly mileage will most likely drop.) As for reading, I only finished one book. I really thought I would begin reading the Harry Potter series but I just can't get into the story. I successfully training a group for the Bidwell Classic 1/2 Marathon! My group of ladies (+ Dave) did well at the race yesterday. I was very proud. :)

Two New Recipes

2010-02-12T21:37:00.001-08:00

This is the finished product of the Moroccan-style chicken plus a side of rice.

Simmering chicken....mmmmm.

This is a picture of what "NOT" to do. These are the cinnamon chips that got tossed in the trash.

Leah and our plate of 8 chips & dip.

The fruit salsa and 8 cinnamon chips.

I tried two new recipes this afternoon. The first one was cinnamon chips with fruit salsa. The recipe called for 10 tortillas, each cut into 8 pieces. We only had 3 tortillas left in the fridge so we had a grand total of 24 chips. Our oven has a tendency to cook food extremely fast so even though the chips were supposed to stay in the oven for 15 minutes, I kept them in for 12. Sad thing is, they still burnt!! So instead of having 24 chips, we were now down to about 8 good ones. (I threw the rest away because the sugar crystallized.) Told you I'm not a good cook! The fruit salsa turned out very sweet. It was pretty tasty. Problem is we have a ton of leftover salsa being that we only made 8 decent chips. If we had made the recipe using all 10 tortillas, we would have had 80 chips...needless to say, we were about 72 chips short.

The second recipe was Moroccan-style chicken. How spices make chicken taste like it's from Morocco is beyond me, but it turned out really good. I will use this recipe again. I boiled different spices along with onions and garlic in some chicken broth and put some chicken breasts in. While the chicken was cooking/flavoring, I made some white Jasmin rice as a side dish. I wasn't sure how long the meal would take to prepare and was surprised when dinner was ready by 4:45 pm. Dave was home so we had an early dinner. He really liked it--I could tell because he had two pieces of chicken.

I'm really enjoying cooking, believe it or not! I thought it would be a struggle to get into it but I'm having a good time finding recipes and testing them out. Most of the meals and desserts I've tried so far this year have turned out "ok." I wouldn't say too many of them were great, but tonight's chicken was pretty darn good.

Best Trail Run

2010-02-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

I have a friend, Charles, who lives up in Magalia. We've done some training and an adventure race together in the past, but haven't trained together in a very long time. The last time we did anything was shortly after I found out I was pregnant with Natalie. He sent me an e-mail the other day that asked if I'd like to do a 90 minute trail run with him on Sunday (today). Of course, I said "yes!" and met up at his place this morning at 9:00 am ready to go.

We literally started our run in his backyard which quickly led to the most beautiful trails I have ever seen. (At least lately...) It rained heavily over the past few days so we ran through lots of puddles and the creek was higher than normal. The coolest part was I didn't even know these trails existed until today. I have lived in the Paradise/Magalia area since I was 8 years old... how did I not discover or hear about these before?? Incredible.

We ran up and down the canyon on switchbacks and beside a small waterfall. I'm telling you, it was absolutely amazing. I love living in this area. If anything, today's run makes me want to go exploring. Even if I venture back to the same trails we ran on this morning, I know for sure there will be more to discover. Hands down, best trail run to date.

This picture is an example of how GREEN the moss was on the trees and rocks. It was everywhere!

Here I am on the trail that ran right beside a small waterfall. My only regret is I didn't climb on the moss covered log for a more interesting picture. It was tempting...

This "bridge" was so slippery and wobbly. I had to walk across it.

What's this picture doing here? Just kidding. Dave and I went to the Rotary crab feed last night. The theme was Mardi Gras, but being typical Paradise people arrived to the event either decked out in fancy clothes/costumes or had on jeans & a t-shirt. Paradise is so weird like that. Even if an event is advertised as formal, it's hit or miss if people actually dress up. Dave and I rarely get a night to ourselves so we enjoyed getting fancy for the event.

I made the mask and found my dress at a second hand store for $25. (It's a Jessica McClintock dress--love it.) I splurged on the shoes, sort of. I had a 25% off coupon so total cost came to $47. The shoes are Steve Madden. The best part about the shoes is the black roses that stretch across the top of the foot. It was the roses that made me want to buy them. :)

Total running miles for the week is 36.5. The Bidwell Classic 1/2 marathon is a month away, 3/6/10. My ultimate goal is to break 1:30:00. It's possible to complete if I stay healthy and run a smart race. Really, I'll be happy if I get under 1:35:00, but it would be so cool to break an hour and a half.

End of January

2010-01-30T20:57:00.000-08:00

Since tomorrow is the last day of January I thought I'd report how my 2010 goals are going so far. My goal of running at least one 100-mile month has been met. This month I ran a total of 110.5 miles (and this number will be slightly higher after a short jog tomorrow). I didn't realize I had completed so many miles this month! At this rate, I will surely surpass my goal of running over 1,000 miles this year. I may up my goal to 1,300 miles to make it more challenging.

As for my goal of reading at least 1 book per month, I am currently almost finished reading my 5th book for January! As dumb as this sounds, my evenings have much more time available for reading since I quit messing around on Farmville. I plan on reading the Harry Potter series within the next week or two.

Cooking has been interesting. I ended up cooking 4 desserts and 4 new entrees this month. The desserts all had a similar theme of chocolate and peanut butter. (Peanut butter kiss cookies, chocolate peanut butter cookies, chocolate peanut butter bars, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.) I'm hoping February will bring more variety in this area. As for the entrees I made Thai Chicken Fettuccine (YUM!), Santa Fe Crock Pot Chicken Tacos, a horrible crock pot Roast (seriously disgusting), and homemade Meatballs (mmmmm). Cooking has been fun but I'm having a hard time finding healthy options. Plus, there is the dilemma of finding recipes that aren't meat-based. My plan for February is to find recipes that are lean and not so hearty.

My goal of training a group for the upcoming Bidwell Classic 1/2 Marathon is in full effect. I have a group of 7 runners that have been consistently training over the last 4 weeks. It is exciting to have such a fun group of people to work with. Our run this morning was a hilly 10-mile loop around the streets of Paradise. For three of the ladies, it was their farthest run ever. They were exhausted but proud to complete such a lengthy distance. As for me, the distance wasn't an issue... my main issue was eating a bean dip with cheese and a child's super burrito from La Comida the night before. About 6 miles into the run my body went from feeling great to feeling absolutely miserable. I HAD to use the bathroom immediately. I quickly jumped over a ditch and went to the bathroom about 6 feet away from the main road, in a residential neighborhood. To make the situation worse, my toilet paper consisted of a pile of damp oak leaves (it was raining). Ugh. Needless to say, I felt better and the rest of the run went well. Christine and I finished in 1:35:00. The other gals finished in about 2:25:00. They should have no problem finishing the 1/2 marathon on March 6. I told them since they were able to finish today's crazy course with all of the hills, the flat course they'll be on in the race will be a breeze.

One Mile at a Time

2010-01-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

My friend, Shelley, took this picture near the finish of the race. (I'm the one with the gray shirt, black pants.)

My sweet Leah. I am so glad she is able to watch Dave and I run. It's cool how she just knows it's normal to hang out at a race all morning.

Leah took this picture with my camera. Not bad for a 3 1/2 year old! I was feeding Natalie a quick snack of squash while waiting for the results.

Another picture taken by Leah of her sister, Natalie. I love her chubby cheeks!

**Frost or Fog 1/4 Marathon Race Report**

I couldn't be happier with today's race. It will go down in history as one of my favorite races to date.

Last night and this morning I was really nervous about running this race. I had done some research and figured there would be three other females about my same pace, all racing for the first place finish. While warming up, however, I didn't see any of them. At the start line, I realized that it was going to be a race against the boys today. None of my rivals showed up.

Mile 1: 6:31

I didn't want to start out too fast, so I stayed at a comfortable pace and cautiously checked to see if any other females were nearby. There weren't any around so I knew during the first mile that I would most likely win the race. My strategy now was to race smart and not get injured by tripping over a rock or getting my socks unnecessarily soaked by stomping in a mud puddle. (The course was a mixture of single track trails, asphalt, random puddles, and gravel--excellent.) I passed about 3-4 runners about 1/2 mile into the race that had taken off too quickly at the start. My body felt great. No soreness or issues to worry about. I breezed through the first mile feeling strong and in a good rhythm.

Mile 2: 6:44

The second mile was a bit tricky. I felt (and was) trapped a few times on the trail behind runners whose pace slowed down. As we crossed the road, a lady called, "look out for the puddle!" From a distance it didn't look very big, but at the last second I realized how large it really was. I did a quick sprint and did my best ballet leap over it. The narrow trail came to an end and we were now running on asphalt for the first time in the race.

Mile 3: 6:41 (3 mile time--19:58)

Around this point in the race, most of the runners around me had found their position and seemed happy to stay there. I passed one guy and then kept my eyes focused on the group in front of me. It was a group of 4-5 men, most of whom I know well from other races. One man is an older guy whom I beat by 1 second at the Run For Food. He finished ahead of me by over a minute at the Jack Frost 10K. (We even ran the first mile together at that race until I told him to run ahead...I was sick that day.) The other guy in front of my was a guy named Ken (head of a new Tri group in Chico). He also beat me at the Jack Frost 10K and a few other races recently. The other two guys looked familiar but I don't know their names. Anyway, I saw them running together in a pack about 30 yards ahead of me so I did my best to pace off them.

Mile 4: 6:58

As we were approaching the turn around spot, I noticed that the gap between myself and the pack of men was getting smaller. Were they slowing down or was I speeding up? I wasn't sure and was a bit confused at that point. I caught up to them just as we were turning around and I could tell they were a bit surprised to see me with them. (Or at least it seemed that way...) I hung with them for awhile and got a few cheers from Dave and a few friends that saw me running in the middle of the man pack. It gave me a boost, so I took a chance and sped up.

Mile 5: 6:20

This mile felt incredible!! Not only did my body feel strong, I had dropped the entire man pack with the exception of one guy! I passed them and didn't look back. (In all honesty, I was afraid to look because I thought they would be soon passing me back!) The guy that stayed with me battled it out until the last 1/4 mile of the race. Knowing that he was there actually made me run even faster. It was awesome.

Mile 6: 6:45 (6 mile time--40:01...only 3 seconds slower than my 3 mile time.)

This mile was pretty cool because I passed a bazillion people coming in for their 5K finish. I was working really hard because I could still hear and feel the lone guy who stayed on my shoulder the last mile and a half. My body felt good but I was ready to be done with the race. I knew that I had the title of first female, but at that point it didn't matter. I really, REALLY wanted to come in ahead of this guy.

Mile X: 3:27 (the .55 portion of the race)

As we rounded the last corner headed towards the bridge I saw my Dad, Shelley, Leah and Natalie cheering me on. That was all I needed to see to realize it's not the end of the world if this guy beats me. It felt good to cheer him on, so I turned around and said something lame like, "come on dude...you're almost there. We're almost to the finish..." He grunted and then ran past me. I tried to stay with him but couldn't. He was gone. I crossed over the bridge and went through the finish line. We quickly found each other and complimented each other on a great race. It was a great race!! Later on I ran into most of the other men from the man pack and we congratulated each other. It was nice to hear from them that they thought I ran a great race. It's one thing to hear compliments like that from family or fellow runners, but it felt awesome to hear it from these guys. It was cool to run in their pack and have the experience to break out of it. Indescribable.

My total time for the race (unofficial, for the results are not yet posted) was 43:29. When I ran the same course two years ago my time was 44:40. I will remember this race for a very long time as being a great one! :)

Random

2010-01-13T20:57:00.000-08:00

Leah and I drove to Chico a few days ago to go grocery shopping. While we were driving, I noticed the fog was coming up the canyon toward Paradise. We quickly pulled over at Lookout Point to take a few pictures. It was so cool to watch the fog come our direction and swallow us up. We stayed for about 10 minutes then drove down to Chico.

I baked a second dessert for the month of January. Chocolate peanut butter cookies. Yum! I made 2 dozen cookies and they were gone within 48 hours.

This is a short video of our sweet Natalie. She has discovered the art of sucking on her tongue. It's quite entertaining for our family. It's hard to believe that she will be 7 months old in a few days. Where did the time go??

The Frost or Fog 1/4 marathon race is on Saturday. Dave and I are running this race along with several of our friends. (My parents are running the 5K.) I'm excited for this race and kind of hope it rains this weekend. I haven't run a race in the rain in a very long time. Because this race is a mixture of pavement and trails I think it would make for an interesting experience.

I began training a group at our gym for the Bidwell Classic 1/2 Marathon which will be held in Chico on March 6. 14 people came out last Saturday to run a very hilly 6.75 mile course I had set up. It's fun to see so many friends excited about training for this race--for many of them, it will be their first 1/2 marathon race ever! Very cool. I've never trained a group of this size for a race of this distance before. I'm a bit nervous, but more excited than anything. If all goes well, perhaps I can train a group for the CIM in December...

Natalie just woke up from her sleep--gassy, again. Good night!

January Cooking

2010-01-07T13:02:00.000-08:00

One of my 2010 goals is to cook more. I'm hoping to use one new meal recipe and one new baking recipe each month. January is already done...there are still several weeks left before the month is over, so I may try some more and exceed the goal #.

I chose an easy baking recipe to make my all-time favorite cookies. Growing up our neighbor Catherine used to make these for me every winter. They are so easy to make I don't know what took me so long to try them myself. My only mistake was I made the dough balls too big. The recipe called for 48 cookies--I only came out with 24. Ooops. They were still good. Even better the second day.

Looking at the next picture, it looks like I made a big noodle mess. It does not look very pretty in the pan. This recipe is called Peanut Thai Noodles. Leah thought they were too spicy, I thought they tasted too peanut buttery. Turned out pretty good. We ate all four servings.

This is a bonus picture of what is currently sitting in our kitchen window. I bought two of these little plants the day before my scheduled c-section with Natalie. The one pictured I got in memory of Leah, the second is a bit smaller to represent Natalie. Luckily, neither plant has died yet. (I'm not very good with plants.) The pumpkin is a project Leah made in preschool. The small crystal was found on a long run with a friend several years ago.

2009 Racing Recap and 2010 Racing Schedule

2010-01-01T19:42:00.000-08:00

I searched all over this evening for my 2009 training log only to realize I didn't keep one for the months of January thru July. Ooops. Looking back, even though I was pregnant with Natalie for half of the year I should have kept one anyway. I started keeping a log the first week of August, so most of my running stats are from the last 5 months.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

2009 Races: 10 total (all except for two were done between the months of August thru December)

* Four 5Ks (two of them while pregnant)
* Three 10Ks
* One 1/2 Marathon
* One Full Marathon
* One Mini Triathlon (kayak, not swim)

2009 Mileage: 457 in 5 months (Aug. 1 thru Dec. 31)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I've been putting together a race schedule for 2010. I originally wanted to complete an Olympic distance triathlon this year but don't see it happening until 2011. I don't have enough hours to train well for one. So instead I plan on doing at least two sprint triathlons this year just to get a feel for the dreaded open water swim. The ones I have been researching have a 1/2 mile swim which seems more realistic for where I'm currently at with my swimming abilities. If I feel okay at this distance in the open water then maybe, just maybe, I will attempt a longer distance next year. Here is my tentative race schedule for 2010:

January--Frost or Fog 1/4 Marathon

February--Nada. Train like crazy and support friends running in the Almond Blossom.

March--Bidwell Classic 1/2 Marathon

April--Trail Less Travelled 1/4 Marathon, North Forebay Triathlon (kayak), City of Gold Duathlon (either as a participant or spectator)

May--Wildflower 1/2 Ironman (spectator), Bay to Breakers (San Francisco...I would really like to try this!)

June--Mudskipper! (I have a free entry to this race!)

July--Tri-4-Fun (1st ever open water swim tri!), Eppies Great Race (If I can't compete, I will at least be there to watch my friends), Barb's Race (1/2 marathon as a part of a 1/2 Ironman relay)

August--Summer Sizzler 10K (maybe...depends on $$), Luna Bar All Women's Tri

September--Salmon Run 10K (again, at this point it depends on $$)

October--Paradise Adventure Relay (wouldn't miss it for anything!)

November--Almond Bowl 5K, Run for Food 5K

December--CIM! (Dave & I have decided to run this marathon together. My goal is to qualify for Boston!), Jack Frost 10K (again...depends on $$)

That is my dream schedule. Of course, I want to do it all!! I'm really excited about trying a few triathlons this year that actually involve swimming! I'm so used to doing ones that substitute kayaking for swimming, so I am looking forward to trying something new. A bit scared, but more excited than anything.

Happy 2010!! :)

Race Report & Tour of Lights

2009-12-23T23:14:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken at our final destination spot during the Tour of Lights fun run.

This is me pushing the stereo in the jogging stroller. I look like a dork....but who cares?! We all looked a bit dorky that night. :)

What we looked like running down the streets........

This house is off of Tara Lane. It is CRAZY! Such a cool photo though with all the lights around us.

This is a picture of me getting my 1st place prize at the Jack Frost 10K. I'm wearing warm clothes because it was freezing!!

********************************************************

This post will be short because I'm tired and want to get in bed!

The Jack Frost 10K went very well. I won the race with a time of 42:23 despite being sick and not feeling 100%. I won a pair of Brooks running shoes which I picked up this afternoon with Dave and the girls. They are really pretty--kind of purple-y. I love purple...

The Tour of Lights fun run was much more exciting than the Jack Frost 10K. Eight of our friends showed up wearing head lamps, Christmas lights, flashing red lights, reflective clothing and jingle bells. We brought our dog, Nicki, and Korin had her dog, Roxy. Nicki wore a flashing red light on her collar and we wrapped Roxy in battery operated Christmas lights. They looked like such cool dogs. Long story short, we took off at 7pm and jogged a five mile course around Pentz Road. I had my stereo strapped into the jogging stroller so we had Christmas music to run to. We had such a great time--I'm sure it will be an annual tradition. :)

This morning I met up with Alisa & her husband, Justin, to go jogging in Bidwell Park. My bestest friend, Jill, showed up and ran the first mile with us! Go Jill!! :) We had a great run out to the base of South Rim & back...total run time was around an hour and a half. Lots of fun!

I am so excited for Christmas. The festivities began this evening at Dave's parent's house. The girls were spoiled with lots of presents--the best being art supplies for Leah. She got a set of Blendy Pens that we colored with for over an hour. Both girls got super cute clothes that I can't wait to see them wear! Natalie got a cute little sweater dress that is adorable. She fell asleep before I had a chance to try it on her. Tomorrow we will be at my parent's house to eat dinner and open gifts after the Christmas Eve service at church. Christmas morning we plan on having our friend, Shelley, over for pancakes. Fun, fun, fun!

Night!

My 2010 Goals

2009-12-19T15:59:00.000-08:00

I love setting goals. This time of year is always exciting for me because I like to dream up things that I'd like to do or accomplish. Most of my goals for 2010 revolve around training and racing, and that is very normal for me. Those tend to be the easier goals to reach. The personal ones are usually more meaningful because they require more effort and, in some cases, more bravery.

::MY GOALS::

RACING GOALS:

* Qualify for the Boston Marathon.
I plan to sign up for Fleet Feet's marathon training program in the Fall and qualify at the CIM with a time of 3:40:00 or faster.

* Complete a sprint triathlon in the Spring (Auburn Sprint Tri) and possibly an Olympic distance triathlon in the Fall.
Realistically, my schedule only allows enough time to train for a sprint tri at this time. Plus, it will be my first open water swim. Pretty big deal for a new swimmer!

* Attend the Wildflower 1/2 Ironman as a spectator.
If I ever get brave enough to do a 1/2 Ironman or Olympic tri, the Wildflower would be my #1 choice.

* Run at least one 100-mile month.

* Run at least 1,000 miles in 2010.

* Train a group for the Bidwell Classic 1/2 Marathon.
I wrote up the program and have a couple of people interested. My goal is that they will finish the race injury free.

TRAVEL GOALS:

* Visit Jill in Utah.

* Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.

* Build a sand castle. (Preferably at Pismo Beach.)

* Climb Mount Shasta

PERSONAL/OTHER GOALS:

* Take 2 math classes (Statistics & Trig) at Butte College.
I would like to take one class per semester over the next few years to add a Math supplemental to my teaching credential. Eventually, I would like to start teaching again once the girls are a bit older. This would allow me to teach PE and Math.

* Find and use TWO new recipes each month. One meal and one dessert.
Crap. Let's face it. I'm a horrible cook. It's time I step it up around here a little bit and help out in the kitchen. If Julie from Julie & Julia can cook thru an entire cookbook in a year, surely I can accomplish this!

* 100 push-ups on my toes. Non-stop.
I found a push-up challenge on another blogger's website last week. Jenette, Jody and I are all working towards this goal.

* Read 15 books in 2010.

* Grow my hair out.
I will only have trims this year. No drastic cuts.

*Tithe 10% of all earnings to the church.
For years I used to be so diligent in this area! I have been so random in my tithing over the past two years, it's time to be consistent once again.

* Host a food fight.
My plan is to lay out a bunch of plastic and invite all of my friends and clients over to our house for a massive food fight. It will be sometime in the spring and it will be spectacular.

Those are my goals for 2010. Wish me luck!!

1st Annual Christmas Lights Tour Fun Run

2009-12-17T21:20:00.000-08:00

Dave and I watched a great running movie the other night. "Run for Your Life." It's a documentary of the man who created the New York City Marathon. It was such an inspiring movie. I loved it because the man had such great vision and was able to live out his dreams. Who knew it would be possible to run a marathon through all 5 districts of New York (including the Bronx), shut down over 200 intersections, and unite a city during a time when it was best known for it's crime rate... incredible.

Watching the movie inspired me to create a Fun Run for my friends this weekend. It is a 5 mile point run that starts at the Fast Trip gas station and ends on Vineyard Street. We will be running mostly on Pentz Road with occasional weaves down a few side streets to view the Christmas lights. What makes the run exciting is I told my running friends to wear reflective clothing, battery operated lights, bells... anything to make us extra visible as we run on the streets. My plan is to decorate our jogging stroller with lights and strap a stereo in the seat so we can run to Christmas music.

Although I only foresee a few people in attendance this year, my vision is that this fun run will grow into a community event. How hard would it be to shut down a portion of Pentz Road to traffic for an hour one night a year? I can see in the future people knowing that their home is our 5 mile course and hanging up Christmas lights to show support. Who knows? Maybe one day it will be large enough that people wait outside their homes knowing that a group of crazy lit up joggers will be passing by...

That would be really cool.

I am running the Jack Frost 10K Saturday morning. They will have prizes for the top 3 males & females. My goal is to win the 2nd place prize--a $50 gift certificate to Fleet Feet. (1st place wins a pair of Brooks shoes; 3rd place wins a $25 gift certificate to Fleet Feet.) The weather should be nice and my body is finally recovered from the CIM (no more sickness--yah!). Hopefully it will be a good race.

I will post some pictures from this upcoming weekend soon!

**Special news: Sweet Natalie is 6 months old today! She can sit up on her own and is eating simple baby foods like rice cereal and butternut squash. Her laugh is super cute! We are blessed with two beautiful little girls. xoxoxo

Race Report--CIM

2009-12-09T15:03:00.001-08:00

This picture captures my joy upon seeing Dave & the girls around Mile 14. I had enough time to say a quick "hi" and give each girl a kiss. Then I was off running again. (You can tell we were near an aid station due to the large amount of cups in the street.)
After the race, I weaved through the crowd and found Dave & the girls near the Capitol steps. I was so relieved to find them so I could finally lay down and relax. Leah was very nurturing. :)

I love this picture with the girls. For whatever reason, the weight of the medal was too much for my sore neck so I let Leah wear it. I like how Natalie is sticking out her little tongue.

I completed the CIM (California International Marathon) on Sunday. For those of you who don't know the story, a friend from the gym offered me her spot in the race about 2 weeks prior to the race. Normally, I would spend months training for a race of this caliper but being that I was offered a free race entry, I decided to just go for it. My longest run was the Big Sur 1/2 Marathon. The CIM is double that distance: 26.2 miles!!

Dave and I woke up at 3:15 am the morning of the race. I had packed my bags the night before and put them in the car, so the only things we had to do before leaving was make breakfast-to-go and nurse Natalie. We woke up the girls and were on the road by 4 am.

As we got into Folsom, we knew ahead of time that I was going to have to walk a ways to get to the start line. The race had designated "drop-off" zones about 1/2 mile away from the start. Dave dropped me off shortly after 6am, so I knew I'd be on my own until the race was over. Part of me was wishing I would have grabbed my cell phone...just in case I had to quit the race halfway through. At this point, I was starting to get nervous. I knew that due to my lack of training I was going to hit the wall. It was just a question of when it was going to happen.

I picked up my race bib and timing chip from a friend (thank you, Tina!!) and lined up for the race. There were about 8,000 people in the race so the start line was packed! I stood near the guy holding the 4:00 finish time sign and almost instantly regretted my decision. When the gun went off, I realized that the pace was too slow. The bad thing was there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. The first few miles were so jammed pack with people that passing was close to impossible. I went back and forth between hanging out at a slower pace and occasionally weaving around runners to get ahead. Finally, about mile 3, I settled into a nice rhythm and was near the 3:45 pace group.

My splits were amazingly consistent for the first 20 miles. I thought for sure that I would be tired by mile 15 or so, but that didn't come until Mile 21. I was running along just fine and then WHAM...fatigue hit out of nowhere. For the first time in the race, I was forced to slow my pace down to a walk. For the next 4 miles, I would shuffle along at a slow pace and take frequent walk breaks. I wasn't upset. If anything, I found the process somewhat humorous. People on all sides of me were showing signs of fatigue. I saw runners walk over to the curb and sit down, find a street pole to stretch tight calves, and witnessed one lady vomit in the middle of the road. I allowed myself to walk but made a decision that I would not stop. I had to keep moving--even if the pace was painfully slow.

Speaking of pain, by now my hip flexors were on fire! It took great effort to lift my legs enough to maintain a normal jog. So I just shuffled along. When I reached Mile 25 I decided to turn off my iPod and jog the last mile. Even if it killed me, I did not want to walk. The streets were lined with spectators cheering all of us runners on. In fact, this race was pretty cool because there were people cheering us on throughout the entire race. I was able to run the last mile without stopping just under 11 minutes. Slower than I would have liked, but I had survived! I was so happy to finish! My time was 3:56:30. Not bad for training only 1/2 the distance! :)

My splits were pretty funny. It is obvious when the race got tough because my mile times got significantly slower. If I run a marathon next year, 1.) I will train for it, and 2.) I will train with a focus of keeping consistent splits throughout the entire race...not just the first 20 miles.

Here are my splits: 9:14, 8:32, 8:26, 8:10, 8:25, 8:27, 8:20, 8:21, 8:19, 8:05, 8:11, 8:15, 8:17, 8:48 (that was Mile 14 where I saw my fam), 8:36, 8:34, 8:19, 8:36, 8:35, 8:55, 9:22, 10:00 (starting to feel it), 11:43 (ouch!), 11:17, 11:42 (double ouch!), 10:39 (final mile!).

After the race, the hardest part was walking to find Dave & the girls. When I found them, I laid down on my back for about 20 minutes like a slug. Finally, we got up and made the slow journey to the car. Walking took great effort and it took us about 30 minutes to get there. For the rest of the day and the next day, my body ached. I woke up yesterday with a sore throat and major headache. Last night, I lost my voice and developed a cough and runny nose to add to the mix. Today is Wednesday...my body is feeling like it has recovered, but I am definitely sick. Not fun. I'm hoping that if I rest up the rest of this week, I can start training again by Saturday or Sunday.

2010 Goals are still in the works. I have a scratch piece of paper with a lot of ideas for next year. I will post them later on this month.

Race Report--Run For Food 5K

2009-12-01T14:13:00.000-08:00

Leah--our comedian.
Natalie--our rice consumer.

5 Months Old

This post is almost a week overdue, but I had a great race and would like to blog about it!

I joined up with Dave, my parents, and lots and lots of friends for the 4th Annual 'Run For Food' 5K on Thanksgiving. I didn't want to put a lot of pressure on myself to run fast, being that I had a FAST 5K a few weeks prior at the Almond Bowl. My goal for the Almond Bowl was to get under 20 minutes (which I did...19:47 was my time). My goal for the Run For Food was to get under 21 minutes. I figured if I gave myself an extra minute to finish the race it wouldn't be as stressful.

Minutes before the race began, Tyler West joined us at the start line. His goal was to get under 21 minutes (something he has never done before) so I told him to hang with me and we'd reach his goal time. The gun went off and Tyler did a nice job of hanging with me as we weaved thru the crowd. About 6 and 1/2 minutes into the race I realized that the course was not marked. (Usually the races in Bidwell Park are marked with signs telling you what mile you are on.) I knew we were going fast but it was hard to tell how fast we were going because there were no signs. My guess is our first mile was right around 6:00...we were flying. Anyway, Tyler and I ran together until we got to the bridge. At that point, I felt like I could run faster so I took off and left him behind. My time (surprisingly) was 19:34!! Tyler was seconds behind me and finished in 19:50. So he not only broke 21 minutes, he ran under 20 minutes! Amazing!!

After the race I waited about 10 minutes to watch my family finish the race then took off and ran the 5K course a second time. Being that there were 3,000+ people there, it was fun to jog past all the walkers and families who were out on the course. A nice way to cool down.

In other news.....I am running the CIM on Sunday. YIKES!! I am not in marathon shape. A friend from the gym got injured and offered me her race bib. I couldn't resist a free race! So Dave and I are waking up early Sunday morning (3:00 am) with the girls to drive to Folsom. He will be dropping me off and then taking Leah & Natalie on an adventure (breakfast?) while I run the 26 miles to Sacramento's Capital. Even though I'm only in half-marathon shape, I'm really excited to be racing on Sunday. I don't have any goal times. My main goals will be to finish the race without injuring my body and to have fun! If I run smart and start at a really slow pace the race shouldn't be too hard. Stay tuned for an update next week!

In other, OTHER news.....both Leah and Natalie are doing well. Natalie is such a little cutie. Her cheeks are still big and chubby. She is also developing a very sweet personality. We get a lot of laughs and smiles out of her. Dave and I are blessed to have such beautiful girls.

I'm working on writing goals for 2010. I will post them on here once they are completed. (Thanks Alisa for the idea!)

New Fav

2009-11-23T23:31:00.000-08:00

I have a new favorite song to go running to... funny thing is, I haven't even tried it out yet but I know it will be a favorite. I saw it on the music awards last night: Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z and (my girl) Alicia Keys. Ahhhhh...... it's always nice to find new music.

Big Sur Race Report

2009-11-17T20:59:00.000-08:00

My race medal!

The Big Sur 1/2 Marathon was a huge success! I couldn't have asked for better race weekend conditions. The weather was sunny and warm; a beautiful morning for a race along the ocean.

Amy and I drove to Monterey and met up with her Mom on Saturday. I really like Amy's mom. When we arrived at her house to pick her up, she had just finished picking up a few items at a art studio's yard sale. The items she got were so interesting that I walked down the street to check it out for myself. It was a studio full of multiple props used in plays that were no longer wanted. I picked up a large amount of colorful beads, a paint tray, and a lettering book. I also purchased a black & white checkered mask that I thought would be fun to wear in the race. Before going to the race, I knew that there would be multiple photographers on the course taking pictures. Since I do not live in Monterey, I figured I'd never see any of these people again... a perfect opportunity to try something random.

As it turns out, running with the checkered mask was a lot of fun! I put it on when the start gun went off and was a bit embarrassed. I even told my friend Christine, "I can't believe I'm racing with a mask on!" I figured I'd wear it for a mile or two, then keep it up on my forehead. Ends up, it was easy to wear and actually served as a good windbreaker for my face. I kept in on for many miles. Little kids on the street loved it! I gave out multiple high-fives. :)

The race went really well. My goal was to get a time of 1:45:00 or better, with a wish of breaking 1:40:00. When the gun went off, Christine and I decided to run the first mile together. I assumed we were running at about an 8:00/mile pace. However, at mile 1 our time was 8:30. I knew if I wanted to reach my goal, I'd have to speed up.

Shortly after mile 1, the race took us through a tunnel. There were two people playing bagpipes on the opposite end of the tunnel, so as we entered the music was soft and got louder as we approached the end. It was really cool. There were several other musicians that stood out--one was a guy playing the Chariots of Fire theme song on a keyboard. The other one that I enjoyed was a group of African drummers. My feet naturally ran to the rhythm of their drumming...I liked that. :)

The ocean was within sight throughout the entire race which was really, really pretty. There were times when I forgot I was racing and my thoughts were totally devoted to checking out the beauty around us. The water crashing on the rocks, seagulls in the air, the smells of the ocean... just a really cool place to run. Another thing that was cool was because the course was an out-and-back course, we got to see the elite runners on their way back. Their bodies were so lean; their technique flawless. The top male finished the course in approx. 1:03:00, the top female finished in approx. 1:15:00. They were flying! My time was 1:36:44. A personal PR by about 8 minutes!! Average pace: 7:23/mile. No complaints. I felt great and am super happy with my time.

This picture was taken during the first few miles of running through the streets of Downtown Monterey.
This picture cracks me up because as I'm finishing the race wearing a mask, the guy behind me looks like an airplane.

This picture shows the beauty of the course. We couldn't have had a prettier day to run along the ocean. :)

Death

2009-11-07T21:13:00.000-08:00

I haven't written in a long time--almost 2 months. I'd like to say my time was spent doing really important things, but I'm sure my blogging time was replaced with Farmville. I have a nice farm, but writing is still more enjoyable for me.

Sweet Natalie will be 5 months old on the 17th. She is such a sweet baby. She has a good temperament. Full of smiles and uncontrollable wiggles for me when she's happy. It's such a great feeling being a mom to Leah and Natalie. My girls mean the world to me. I went to a funeral today where a mother spoke in memory of her daughter, who was lost to cancer way too soon. It was a good reminder that life is short--sometimes too short--and that, more than anything, I want my girls to know that they are deeply loved.

Lately, it seems that the topic of death has been coming up a lot for me. I just finished reading "Have a Little Faith" by Mitch Albom, which is a true story of the author preparing a eulogy for his Reb. A common theme that stuck with me while reading it was that people are most afraid of being forgotten after they pass away. I've been thinking about that a lot over the past week. I think there is a lot of truth in that thought. Yesterday, a friend I went to high school with passed along an article from the New York Times to me about how our culture deals with death. It was very interesting and beautifully written. It talked about how in the past, memorial services were often times followed by a trip to a cemetery where mourners watched the casket get lowered into the ground. Basically, following the dead to their final resting place and how our current culture is getting away from that tradition. I know this to be true for when both of my grandparents passed away, we were not allowed to see them buried. I remember being upset because it was strangers that surrounded their caskets in those final moments. I wanted to be there.

Add that to today's funeral, it's been kind of a heavy week. Not necessarily in a bad way, but more reflective on the topic of death for sure.

A few friends and I are participating in the Big Sur 1/2 Marathon next Sunday (the 15th). We signed up for the event in either July or August, so I am really excited that the big day is almost here! Training has been going well. My goal is to get a time of 1:40:00. My fastest 1/2 marathon time was a 1:46:00 or so, but I think I can run faster this time around.

Time to read... ironically, it's another book that deals with death. "The Hunger Games." One of my clients recommended it to me--so far, it's pretty good. Should be a quick read.

Night!

Swim week #2

2009-08-18T10:13:00.000-07:00

I am having so much fun in the pool! Granted it's still somewhat new, I've had nothing but positive experiences so far. Shelley met me at the pool this morning with a new workout typed up. Today was a fun workout because I got to use my new paddles and Shelley's kickboard. The paddles are a great learning tool. I was able to feel when my stroke was incorrect because I'd get "stuck" momentarily in the water. The kickboard made me kick soooo fast! Her kickboard is so much nicer than the ones they have at the gym pool. I need to buy one of my own.

Here's the workout:

200 warm-up
4 x 100 on 2:30 (My fastest 100 today was a 1:42--3 seconds faster than last week!)
150 pull with paddles, concentrate on long strokes, no kick
150 kick with kickboard (only ankles come out of the water)
6 x 50 on 1:30 (Note: 1:30 seemed a bit too long, so on my last two intervals I went on 1:15)
200 cool-down
Total: 1400 yards

I completed all of this in about 40 minutes--give or take a few minutes for talking with Shelley.

Yesterday morning, I went for a 2 mile run and a 12 mile bike ride. I'm already starting to feel like a triathlete, as lame as that sounds. I even got a log book the other day at Barnes & Noble titled, "The Triathlete's Training Diary." I figure I might as well train like a triathlete now even though my race isn't until May 2010. It will get me in shape for my many running races coming up.

I have 4 races left this year. The Salmon Run 10K in September, The Paradise Adventure Relay (3 mi. run, 10 mi. bike, 1.5 mi. kayak) in October, The Almond Bowl 5K in November, and the Big Sur 1/2 Marathon in November. It is such a good feeling to be active again.

In other news, Natalie turned 2 months old yesterday. She had a doctor appointment and her first round of shots. Her weight is 13 lb. 1 oz; height is 22.5". She is starting to have more of a personality lately. She coos and kicks her little feet when she's happy. Leah is doing well. She starts ballet this afternoon. I got her two leotards, some tights, and a pair of ballet slippers to wear to her class. She looks absolutely adorable. I'll post some pictures after today's class.

Brick Workout

2009-08-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

I found an Olympic Triathlon I'd like to train for. Folsom: May 24, 2009. More details later...

It's waaaay too early to start an actual training program for it, however it's never to early to learn how to swim more efficiently. I had my second "swim lesson" with Shelley this morning. We went on a 40 minute bike ride and then repeated the swim workout she had me do the other evening. I felt more comfortable in the pool today and not as self conscious about my form. Today my big lesson was to focus on keeping my head down in a neutral position. I tried focusing on the black line on the bottom of the pool. That helped a lot. Total time swimming was in between 45-50 minutes. I timed myself on one of the 100 yard intervals. My time was 1:45. I don't know much about swimming, but I wrote it down in my training log so I at least have a starting point.

In other swimming news, I almost had a MAJOR swimsuit wardrobe malfunction today. None of my normal swimsuits fit--being that I'm still a few pounds off my normal weight--so I've been wearing an old suit that has wooden O-rings on each side of the bottoms. I had gone to the restroom and when I went to pull my suit back up, a 1/4" chunk of wood broke off and the side of my suit flew open. Luckily, I was in the bathroom stall because my cha-cha was suddenly hanging out. If this would have happened walking around outside or in the pool, I would have been mortified.

That little event was enough motivation to buy a new suit from Big 5 this afternoon. I got a black & green speedo. Not a big fan of one-piece suits, but I couldn't find a two-piece in my size. I got a great deal on the suit. Original price: $72. Sale price: $29.99!! It was such a good deal, that I picked up a new swim cap to match my new suit! :)

It has been exciting getting back into shape. Knowing that a triathlon is in the near future, it has been fun swimming in the pool and riding my bike again. My plan for now is to have 2 swims, 2 runs, and 2 biking session each week. I'm not going to worry about the picky details yet, but minimum time will hopefully be 30 minutes each session. (Note to Alisa: I know you are getting into Triathlons also.....please pass on any interesting info that you have on training, etc.!)

Swim Lesson

2009-08-12T22:22:00.000-07:00

I have a new friend, Shelley, who is an amazing swimmer. Tonight she was nice enough to write up a swim workout and help me with my freestyle stroke. The last time I had a swim lesson was in early elementary school--I must have been under the age of 10, for sure. Over the years, I have developed my own version of the freestyle stroke, which works, but is not very efficient. My hope is to improve my swim skills so I can enter an Olympic triathlon next year. I've done a few Sprints, but never an Olympic distance. It's a new adventure...

So tonight, I showed up at 6 not really knowing what to expect. I thought I'd maybe swim a few laps as she watched and made corrections. When I got there, she had typed up a special workout just for me and covered it in Saran Wrap. She started by having me swim 50 yards to check out my form. I felt like such a dork. She said my kick looked pretty good, but I needed some work with my upper body. My arms were crossing the center line on every stroke, so I worked most the evening trying to correct that and a few other things. It was amazingly helpful to have her watch me and critique my form. Just from our little session today, I feel like I learned a lot!!

My workout was as follows:

200 yard warm-up
50-100-150-100-50 (30 second rest)
3 x 100 (1 minute rest)
3 x 50 (30 second rest)
200 yard cool-down

(1300 total yards)

It was soooo much more interesting that what I normally do in the pool. (Make up a number--like 50 laps--and then swim until I reach that number.) Plus, I felt like I had a ton of rest breaks which made the workout seem easy. The hard part was working on my upper body. I've been swimming "wrong" for so many years, it's going to take awhile to feel comfortable in the pool again. But, I love this...I really do! It's nice to have someone coach me in the water.

I saved the workout that she gave me and plan on practicing again either on Friday or Saturday. If I can schedule my workouts to get in the pool twice a week it would be lovely. :)

Summer Sizzler 10K Race Report

2009-08-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

The race this morning took me by complete surprise. My goal was to finish between 45-50 minutes, but I didn't think it would actually happen. Really, I didn't. The furthest I have run since having Natalie is 5 miles, and my average pace on most runs has been between an 8:30-9:30 pace. This morning, my time was 46:51 which averages out to 7:33 miles. Unbelievable!!

Driving to Chico this morning, I had a huge pit in my stomach. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself on race days. This morning I was especially nervous because 1.) it was going to be my first time post-Natalie racing, 2.) in training, I hadn't run more than 5 miles, and 3.) I was afraid I would "hit the wall" at some point in the race and finish over 50 minutes.

We arrived 15 minutes before the race started (thanks, girls!) so my warm-up consisted of pushing the girls in the stroller to find my mom in the park, and then a quick jog over to the bathrooms and to the starting line. Normally before a race, I like to be there early enough to scope out my competition and get a good warm-up in. This morning, there wasn't time for either one.

The gun went off and I ran at a moderately fast pace. I'm used to completing my first mile in races around 6:15, so my pace felt a lot slower than normal. Much to my surprise, my time at Mile 1 was 7:08. For whatever reason it felt much slower than this. At this point, I sort of panicked because I knew I had gone out way too fast and wouldn't be able to maintain such a quick pace. Mile 2 I was able to settle into a slightly slower pace which, unfortunately, happened to be the same pace as Mr. Heavy Feet. I ran within a few feet of this guy for over 4 MILES!! It was an older guy whose feet were so noisy while running--I did my best to make the best of it. I even tried to think of songs that went to the rhythm of his feet--Fergie was too fast, but what seemed to work well was some songs from Leah's nursery rhyme cd.

Mile 3 was rough. I got a mild side ache and was thinking about taking a walk break upon seeing the #3 Mile sign. Thankfully, my thoughts on walking passed and eventually the side ache did, too. Mile 4 flew by. Mile 5 seemed long. And I felt like I was going to hurl on Mile 6.

Here are my splits:

Mile 1--7:08
Mile 2--7:27
Mile 3--7:50
Mile 4--7:21
Mile 5--7:58
Mile 6--7:26
The K--1:38

My pace varied quite a bit, as you can see, but I was happy to have all my splits under 8 minutes. Again, I have no idea how my body was able to do this. My mental game was on, but definitely not at 100%. I had my moments of doubt and wondered why I didn't sign up for a 5K first. When I finished the race, my lungs felt like they were on fire. Almost as if someone was sitting on top of my chest. It took a long time for that sensation to go away. Other than that, my body felt pretty darn good.

The results took me by surprise. I ended up being the 4th overall female finisher and took 2nd place in the 30-40 age division. I was really excited. :)

This picture was taken shortly after the race. It looks like I'm wearing some kind of weird mask, but it's Dave's shadow hitting my face. Dave ran his first 10K ever today and did really well! His time was 49:11.

This is me at the finish. It looks like I'm holding my wrist, but I'm actually getting ready to hit my stopwatch. If you zoom in close, you can see the anguish on my face. I was soooo glad to be done!

This is a picture of me walking up to get my prize. $25 for being the 4th overall female finisher, and later I would be called up again for my 2nd place ribbon. (A cheesy little ribbon, but a prize nevertheless.)

Natalie came with me up to get my prize money.

Here's Natalie holding my "special" ribbon.

It's great to be racing again. My next races include a 5K in September (the Salmon Run), a mini-tri in October (the Paradise Adventure Relay), two 5K's in November (the Almond Bowl & Turkey Trot), plus...THE BIG SUR HALF MARATHON (also in November). Hope to see some of you at the races!

Vacation!

2009-08-05T02:26:00.000-07:00

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS THE LONGEST POST IN THE WORLD! IT'S REALLY JUST A BUNCH OF RAMBLING. DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU! :)
*****************************************************************
Dave and I took the girls on vacation last weekend to the coast. We stayed at a KOA about 45 minutes south of Mendocino. It was one of those trips that looking back now, and I'm sure for years to come, will stand out as one of our most memorable vacations. Not because it was wonderful, but because it was absolutely NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I were to say nothing about this trip and only display photographs, it would appear that it was just another ordinary vacation. Hang on tight because here come the details:

THURSDAY: PRE-VACATION PLANNING...
Since Dave is out of town, it is up to me to get our family packed and ready for a 4-day adventure to the coast. I thought I was doing so well. Dave called to make sure I packed warm clothes because "sometimes it gets cold on the coast." So I did my best and packed myself one pair of pants and a running jacket, and each of the girls were given the same in their little bags. I packed two sleeping bags and zero blankets, assuming the girls could sleep with us.

FRIDAY: THE DRIVE...
"It only takes 4 hours to drive to Fort Bragg," says Dave. "our campground should be about 30 minutes south from there." He says this as we are packing up the car in the morning. Meanwhile, I have a feeling that little Natalie is getting sick. She's lethargic and feels warmer than normal. Turns out that Natalie WAS sick and experiencing her first fever, which naturally made me a bit nervous. Should we go? Should we stay home? We decided to go for it and left shortly after 11am.

No joke. It took us 7 and 1/2 hours to get to our campsite! Natalie's fever ended up being a blessing in surprise because she was amazingly quiet and calm for the car ride. It took us longer than expected to get there because Dave read the map directions wrong (oops). When we got to our little KOA cabin, the weather was pretty chilly. I realized that I didn't pack myself any pajamas. I'm so used to sleeping in a tank top & undies that I forgot to pack warm clothes to sleep in. As for Leah, I'm so used to her being a sweaty sleeper that the only pjs I packed for her were her summer ones. (Double oops.)

Since I was the one who packed the car, Dave was surprised that I assumed the girls would sleep with us. He asked where Natalie's port-a-crib and Leah's sleeping bag were, to which I replied, "I didn't pack them." We had a double bed in our room, so we connected the two sleeping bags to make one big bed for all of us...

This lasted about 20 minutes.

I was on my side trying to nurse Natalie while Leah was attempting to sleep perpendicular with her feet jabbing into Dave's shoulder. She was so excited to be sleeping with us that she went a little crazy! I was laughing, but Dave is pretty serious when it comes to sleep time so he bundled up in his sweats and slept on the bunk bed--with no covers. We had the only covers in the cabin. I offered one of Natalie's blankets (all 3 feet of it), but he refused. :)

SATURDAY: MENDOCINO HIPPIES & FT. BRAGG VOMIT
Saturday morning was pretty nice. We spend the morning on the beach and played in the sand. All was well, except for poor Natalie was burning up from her fever. After lunch, we thought it would be fun to drive up to Mendocino and walk around downtown. When we got there, we had no idea what we were doing. We weren't even sure if we were in downtown, that's how lost we were. Natalie was fussy, so I nursed her on a park bench while Dave roamed around looking for a public bathroom with Leah. Everywhere we looked, there seemed to be men/women with dreadlocks and homeless looking people. And tourists. It was just a weird atmosphere. We took off shortly after Natalie was done nursing and headed up to Ft. Bragg.

On the way there I spotted a roadside carnival. Leah and I both begged Dave to stop. I love carnival rides! We saw that tickets were $1 each and all rides were a minimum of 3 tickets each. So basically $6 to ride one ride with Leah. We made the poor child scope out all the rides and choose only one ride because we didn't want to waste a bunch of money. She chose "Surf City," a ride where you sit in a car and go around in circles. All I can say is it was better than Mendocino!

By the time we got to Fort Bragg, all of the little side shops were closed. Even the Skunk Train museum was closed. We decided to find a place to eat an early dinner since there was nothing else to do. We found a nice little restaurant that was on a second story which overlooked downtown Ft. Bragg. Everything was going well until Natalie projectile vomited all over my shirt and shorts. I swear, it was like someone dumped a full cup of fluids onto my clothing. It was disgusting! I handed Natalie off to Dave and used all of our table napkins to wipe up the mess. Dave offered to get my one pair of jeans from the car, so I held the baby and answered multiple questions from Leah while he ran to get them for me. Poor Natalie was covered in puke, so Dave got a new outfit for her also.

It had been a long day and we were not looking forward to spending another night with the current sleeping arrangements (all 4 in a bed), so we swung by Rite Aid to get a sleeping bag for Leah. We paid $19.99 for a cheap fleece bag and set it up for Leah on the bottom bunk. Shortly after turning out the lights to go to sleep, Leah got upset about not being able to sleep with us. Rather than dealing with the tears, we gave in. And once again, Dave was on the bottom bunk again. (At least this time he had a sleeping bag!)

SUNDAY: KOA & LIGHTHOUSE DAY...

After two days of drama, we decided it would be nice to have a mellow day and not travel far. We spent the morning letting Leah play on the KOA playground and took walks around the campgrounds. For lunch, we drove up to Point Arena (I think this is the right name) and ate pizza and strawberry ice cream for lunch. We thought it would be fun to check out the lighthouse, so we drove over there after lunch. We got out of our car and the view was beautiful. The weather was nice and clear which made the ocean and lighthouse look really pretty. We were so excited to check out the lighthouse up close until we noticed a small sign and kiosk booth. "Adults, $7.50, Children, $3.00." Since when do you need to pay money to see a lighthouse up close?? We didn't want to spend money to see it, so we just took pictures from afar.

The rest of Sunday was pretty uneventful. We just hung out and ate drumsticks.

MONDAY: MORE VOMIT...

We packed up early and were on the road by 8am. We knew the trip home would be a long one, especially now since Natalie was feeling better. (She doesn't like riding in her car seat.) The first hour of our ride home was nice. Dave and I laughed about the crazy moments that happened on the trip and talked about how it was nice to get away for a few days. We happened to be driving on an extremely windy road and Natalie started to fuss a little bit. Next thing we know, Leah had vomited all over herself and the car seat. Dave panicked and yelled, "Quick, Sarah! Pull over!!" Well, it wasn't that simple because we were on a super windy road with not many places to pull over safely. Still he insisted I pull over, so I literally stopped the car in the middle of a huge turn. I thought, for sure, we were going to get rear-ended by another car. Dave was worried about Leah being covered in puke. I was more worried about Dave flying out the window because he had unbuckled his seat belt and I thought for sure we were going to be in a car accident.

Finally, after a few intense moments, I convinced Dave that we needed to keep driving until we reached a turnout. Once we got to one, I turned around to look at Leah and she was a mess! I felt so bad for her. She was covered in puke and the car seat was soaked in it. We cleaned her up the best we could with paper towels (we had run out of baby wipes by this point, so we were changing Natalie's diapers with paper towels also...yah, not fun). We dumped a bottle of water on the car seat and tried to clean it up with a sandy beach towel. Despite our efforts to clean up, the car reeked the rest of the way home. Oh, and to make things even more exciting?? Natalie cried non-stop from 11:30 am until 2:30 pm. 3 hours.

3 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We stopped for lunch mid-way thru so I could nurse her. We both thought for sure she'd calm down after having a full belly, but no. She just cried. Luckily, we made it home although I'm sure we looked like zombies after riding in a stinky, screaming car for so long. When we got home, Dave took a shower. When he came out of the bathroom his head was shaved. I guess the stress of the ride home got to him. Not that he had a lot of hair to begin with, but seeing him walk out of the bathroom with a white, shaved head made me laugh and realize this was definitely a trip we will remember and talk about for years to come!
This is Natalie and me on our first day at the beach. She was wearing a Puma jumpsuit and little bunny slippers....so cute!

Leah liked to be covered with sand.

We took this picture of Leah dressed up in Dave's coat & hat moments before Natalie ralfed on me in the restaurant.

This was our view of the lighthouse. Looking back, we should have paid the $$ to go check it out!

Our family!

Sweet Babies

2009-07-29T23:15:00.000-07:00

Natalie--6 weeks old today!
This picture is for you, Jill!! Side profile at 6 weeks. Total weight loss: 24.5 pounds....only 5.5 to go! (Notice that Leah is holding up 6 fingers and I added some antennas for you!)

First off....Congratulations to my best friend, Jill, on her new baby boy, Rilan! I just saw some pictures a few moments ago and he's a cutie!

Speaking of cuties, Natalie is starting to coo and is more alert. She often times has a stern look on her face, but there are a few moments each day now where she smiles at me with her eyes. I can tell she loves me because she frantically kicks her feet in excitement at the tone of my voice. It's pretty darn cute. Leah has been a good big sister. She acts a little weird with Natalie when either one of the grandmas are around. Like she'll stick a foot on Natalie's chest or "accidentally" sit on her. (Normal big sister activity, I guess. I wouldn't know. I was always the "younger sister.")

I signed up for the Summer Sizzler 10K. The race is in Chico on Aug. 9th. Running has been going extremely well. I ran 5 miles on Tuesday at a 9:30 AP, and 3 miles this afternoon at a 7:30-7:45 AP on the treadmill. My goal for the race is to finish between 45-50 minutes AND to beat Dave. He told me that his goal was to beat his post-pregnant wife, so it's only fair to have a goal to beat him. Last year, my time was just under 41 minutes for the course. Crazy...

Dripping With Sweat

2009-07-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

Leah & Nicki at the Feather River. Love that girl!!

Have I mentioned before that I absolutely *LOVE* to sweat?

My parents watched the girls tonight so I could use their upstairs room to workout. (They have a really nice treadmill and some free weights--plus air conditioning.) I have Jillian Michael's book, Making The Cut, which is so much better than her Shred video. I did a 45 minute strength circuit that kicked my butt, and I'm sure I'll be feeling it tomorrow morning. 200 squats, sprints, mountain climbers, burpees.....a workout that is right up my alley. When I finished, sweat was dripping into my mouth and my clothes were soaking wet. My mom's response when she saw me was, "Ew, gross. You're all sweaty."

After the strength workout, I immediately took off for a quick 15 minute run. My original plan was to run to the end of Dean Rd. and back. However, moments after I started running I came up with a new (and better) plan. I've been watching the Tour De France every morning since it began and with tomorrow's time trial in mind, I decided to do a little time trial of my own. I was going to run the 1.8 mile loop around my parent's house in under 15 minutes. A side-ache midway thru the run made me a little nervous that I wasn't going to make it, but I pushed thru it and finished with a time of 14:54!! Again...my parent's neighbors must think I'm crazy, but it felt so good to sprint with all my might and finish under 15 minutes. Average mile pace was 8:17, or something like that. (See side bar for a more accurate #.) My speed is improving which is encouraging. I need to up my mileage, but that will come in time. (Hopefully soon...like in a few days. I signed Dave and I up for the Summer Sizzler 10K in Chico. Race date: August 9th!!)

It feels so good to know I'm able to push myself in workouts again. When Dave gets home this weekend, my plan is to go for a long run. Even if it's at 4 in the morning before the girls wake up, it must be done. The most I've run since having Natalie is 3.5 miles. I'd like to run a 6 miler before the race. It will be here before we know it!

By the way......I absolutely LOVE running and working out to "I've Got a Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas. No joke, I listened to it 4 times tonight. It's especially fun to run to.

Post Pregnancy PR

2009-07-15T22:11:00.000-07:00

Leah helped me make matching shirts with puffy paint. I wrote their names on the shirts and Leah did the decorations.

Last week I ran a 2.6 mile hilly course around our house in 26:23. I ran the same exact course on Sunday and finished in 23:35. (A 9:05 mile average pace!) It has been so nice to #1.) be able to actually run again, and 2.) run in the hot summer heat! I love finishing a run completely drenched in sweat. I love the feeling, I love the smell, the rawness...everything about it is amazing. I *LOVE* to RUN!

My parents watched the girls for me this evening so I was able to go for a run in their neighborhood. I haven't plotted the run yet on mapmyrun.com yet, but total run time was just under 27 minutes. I stopped the clock at the base of a hill and finished off my run with 3 fast hill repeats. My parent's neighbors probably wondered who the weirdo was running up and down their street, but I didn't care. It felt awesome. Afterwards, my mom and I watched "So You Think You Can Dance" (I, personally, CANNOT dance.....yet love the show and appreciate the dancing). I did 10 sets of 10 push-ups during 2 of the commercial breaks and stretched my back and legs a little.

Natalie is 4 weeks old today and is super chubby and cute. I took the girls to Walmart yesterday to get their pictures taken together. I'm a sucker for buying cute pictures, and ended up buying a picture of the two girls together and pictures of each of them individually. My friend, Wendy, happened to show up at the portrait studio while I was there and gave me a coupon. I thought that was sweet of her. The pictures turned out really nice. The one of Natalie by herself cracks me up because the photographer propped her up in a seated position which made her look extra chunky. Her little cheeks sagged and it made her neck disappear. I loved it!

Speaking of the Littles, these pictures were taken on Monday. I forgot to have my mom take my weekly side profile shot today (sorry Jill!). I'll have her take it tomorrow. :)

Jill...this post is for you!

2009-07-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

Jill asked me what happened to the weekly side profile pictures, so here they are! (In random order, of course.)
This picture was taken a few days ago when Natalie turned 3 weeks old. She looks kind of different in this picture, for whatever reason. I think my arm squished her face.

This is week 3--I should stick to wearing dark colors when taking these pictures. These are my new shorts I bought at Fleet Feet for my birthday. I love them!

Week #2

Week #1

This is my first "official" side profile picture. It was taken about 2 days after Natalie was born. My stomach looked (and felt like) a deflated balloon. My Mom took this picture of Leah and I taking the baby for a walk around the OB.

I went for a jog this evening after the girls went to bed. I ran 2.6 miles in 26:23, which averages to about 10:05 per mile pace. It felt great to run on a warm summer night around our neighborhood. I got several waves and a honk. I felt like a local celebrity. Weight loss to date is around 23 pounds. Amazing considering I've been snacking on candy and fudgesicles! Staying active and nursing really must make a difference.

Post-Major Abdominal Surgery Workout!!

2009-07-08T20:42:00.001-07:00

I am sooooooo excited! Not only because sweet little Natalie is 3 weeks old today, but because I was able to run on my parent's treadmill this evening! My Doctor said to wait 6 weeks before trying to jog, but I've been feeling good and decided to test out my body anyway. I'm glad I did because I had such a fabulous workout. Here's what I did:

1/2 Mile Jog (7:22) Yes, seriously slow. But I just had a c-section, so I'm okay with my times.
Strength Circuit:
* Wide Squats x 20
* Stationary Lunges x 15 per side
* Push Ups x 15
* Barbell Chest Press x 20
* Hip Raises x 15 (5 with both legs on floor followed by 5 on each side with one leg up)
* Overhead Shoulder Press x 20
* Biceps Curls x 20
* Overhead Triceps Extension x 10 per side
* Bent Over Rows x 20
* Plank Hold x 30 seconds
1/2 Mile Jog (6:15) Bumped speed up a little.
* Repeated the strength circuit
1/2 Mile Jog (6:06)
* Repeated the strength circuit
1 Mile Jog (11:36)

I ended up with 2 and 1/2 miles of jogging, plus 3 sets of 10 strength exercises. It felt SO good! I may not be able to sleep tonight or get out of bed in the morning, but it will be totally worth it! =)

What made the workout even more fabulous was being plugged into my iPod. I turned on my "Short & Sweet" playlist and it really made the workout enjoyable. Here's what's kept me going:

* Lose Yourself (Eminem)
* Here I Come (Fergie)
* Boom Boom Pow (Black Eyed Peas)
* American Idiot (Green Day)
* Wind It Up (Gwen Stefani)
* I Know You Want Me (Pitbull)
* Enjoy The Silence (Depeche Mode)
* Beautiful (G. Love ft Tristan Prettyman)
* Billie Jean (Michael Jackson)
* "Forgot the Title" (Gorillaz)
* Wiggle Worm (G. Love & Special Sauce)
* Let Me Blow Your Mind (Eve ft Gwen Stefani)
* I'm Like A Bird (Nelly Furtado)
* Low Rider (War)

Music makes a huge difference. This is one of my favorite running playlists. It starts out fast with good bass notes to run to. By the time "Beautiful" by G. Love comes on, I'm warmed up enough to sing along. (If you've never heard this song.....youtube it. It's the best.)

Overly Ambitious

2009-06-29T16:14:00.000-07:00

Leah playing in the sprinklers at my parent's house.
Before the clothes came off...

I'm planning on taking a side profile picture every Wednesday. This picture was taken last Wednesday, one week after Baby Natalie was born. (15 pound weight loss at that point.)

This picture was taken at Dave's Cal Fire graduation ceremony last Tuesday. This was his first time meeting Natalie.

I just completed the workout. 2 sets of everything wasn't enough, so I added an extra set of all six exercises. I am sweaty and feel FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Note to self: I wasn't able to do full range lunges with my right foot in front--stretched the lower abs a bit too much. Planks need to stay at 20 second intervals until my strength gets up.)

Both of my sweeties are still sleeping and Dave is still in Chico. He came home last night around 7pm and is taking off tomorrow morning around 5:30am. (sigh...) He is working for Cal Fire this season and is stationed at Westwood (up near Lake Almanor). His schedule is Tues/Wed/Thurs "on" and the rest of the days he will be home. (Unless there is a lot of fires.......then his schedule could be a bazillion days "on.") My 31st birthday is on Thursday, so he's down in Chico right now getting me a gift certificate for Fleet Feet. I love that store!! He asked what I'd like for my birthday and I told him a gift card to go towards new running shoes. I have some Saloman trail shoes that I got for Christmas and a pair of Sauconeys that I won at last year's Summer Sizzler 10K, but would like a new pair to kick start my running workouts. I would like to start running again towards the middle or end of July and it would be nice to have new shoes to train in. I want to go running so bad. Walking is okay.....it gets me out of the house, but nothing compares to running. I love running in the heat and summer is my favorite season to train in. Late night runs, coming home drenched in sweat... I love it! :)

Baby Natalie Update, Working Out, and M.J.

2009-06-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe I'm a major dork but I pulled out my Michael Jackson #1 Hits cd and am currently downloading tons of his music to my iPod. I already had Billy Jean and Man in the Mirror on one of my playlists, but there are so many more songs of his that I enjoy I just had to add them! My Mom and I watched a one-hour special on the preview channel yesterday which highlighted his top 5 or 6 videos. My Mom is a M.J. fan also, so we enjoyed watching it together. Growing up, with the exception of my Dad, our family loved M.J.'s music and especially his music videos.

Baby Natalie is doing great! She is 12 days old and is gaining some weight. Her head still bobs around a lot, but is slowly getting stronger. She is starting to get into a somewhat predictable sleeping and eating pattern which is a big relief! The first couple of nights were rough because it seemed like I was feeding her every hour! Ugh... Lately, she will nurse every 2 hours or so depending on how long her nap is. It's pretty cool when she is awake and looks around all wide-eyed at everything. It will be fun to watch her grow up and develop her own little personality. Luckily, she is a calm baby and doesn't seem to have colic or any other medical issues. :)

I've lost 20 pounds in 12 days. It's incredible! I gained a total of 30 pounds during the pregnancy, so it's cool to know I'm only 10 pounds away from my goal weight. Especially because I haven't even made an effort to lose weight yet! I have been taking two walks each day since I've been home--one in the morning and one in the evening--but they aren't even what I would consider workouts! My walks have ranged from 1/2 mile to 1 mile in length. I guess pushing both girls in the stroller makes it harder than normal...who knows. I wrote out a strength workout that will take about 20 minutes to complete. It will be a trial run to see how my body--especially my lower abdominals considering I had a c-section--can handle certain exercises. It will be my first strength workout since having the baby. Here it is (and don't laugh...I know it sounds incredibly easy, but I don't want to hurt myself):

Squats, 2 x 25
Stationary Lunges, 2 x 15 per side
Push ups, 2 x 20
Hip Raises, 2 x 15
Table (because I don't have a bench) Dips, 2 x 15
Plank Hold, 2 x 20 seconds

I'll update later on how it goes!

Natalie Mae

2009-06-24T13:36:00.001-07:00

Leah holding her baby sister in the hospital.
Relaxing in the hospital.

A quick peek over my shoulder after breastfeeding for the first time.

Natalie is one week old today. She is such a beautiful baby. This has been the most amazing week. The c-section was not as scary as I thought it would be. It was almost too easy! I was able to talk with the doctors during the surgery which helped ease my nerves. I got to see Natalie moments after she was born. She was covered with mucus and blood, but still a beautiful little girl.

Leah has been adjusting well to her new sister. She helps me change the baby and I let her hold Natalie when we are lying down or sitting on the couch. It melts my heart to see them together. They are both so little and sweet...although Leah suddenly doesn't feel so little anymore. She seems so huge next to the baby that it feels strange when I hold her now. Her body feels strong and fleshy in comparison to Natalie.

Dave got to see Natalie for the first time yesterday. He had a graduation ceremony up at Lassen College so we rode with Dave's parents to see him. Dave immediately got choked up when he saw us.......it was a sweet moment. He didn't cry, but emotionally I could tell he was close. We're hoping he gets to come home on Sunday, but we won't know until later in the week. The time has flown by for me since he's been gone--mostly because of our family constantly being here at the house and from taking care of Leah and Natalie. It's a different story for Dave though. He's been busy working and studying, but is surrounded by people he's just met.

I feel like this blog post is so random and scattered, but so much has happened over the last week! It's hard to describe how cool it is to have baby Natalie with us. It's also nice knowing that I'm not pregnant anymore!! My plan is to chill until July 1st, and then put a workout program together. I've lost half of my baby weight already. I gained 30 pounds but 15 pounds is already gone. I'm excited to start running and cycling again.....it should be a fun fall season of training and racing!

Baby-Free Weekend!

2009-06-12T16:02:00.001-07:00

This is our last baby-free weekend for awhile being that little Natalie will be here on Wednesday. The reality of it all is slowly starting to hit me. What scares me is such a minor detail but I can't stop thinking about it...

For those of you who don't know, Leah was an emergency c-section and I was put under general anesthesia for her delivery. I have no memory of her being cut out of me or what she looked like in her first moments of life because I was totally knocked out. With Natalie, I will be given a spinal and awake for the birth. So in a way, it will be like giving birth for the first time because I'll be able to see her right away. What scares me is that even though I'll be given drugs to not feel the incision, the doctor told me I'll be able to feel a "tugging" sensation. I also know that I'll be hearing fluids get suctioned out of me. Both of these strike me as gross and make me nervous.

Dave leaves for his seasonal firefighting position on Sunday. I'm glad he got the job although the timing is incredibly inconvenient. Thank goodness for family and friends who live in town! It's been a productive week where I've been able to clean practically every inch of our house. I'm saving the best part of mopping the floors until Monday.......it will be nice to come home from the hospital to a clean, organized house. I've been throwing tons of junk away, selling clothes on craigslist, and dropping stuff off at salvation army. It's been refreshing to say the least! :)

No pictures today. I took a few of Leah at her swim lessons that turned out cute. I'll post them next time.

Round

2009-06-04T16:26:00.000-07:00

After seeing this picture, I am feeling very ROUND! Leah decorated my stomach this afternoon with temporary tatoos. I'm thinking about having her put more on before my next Dr. appointment. It would be funny to see his reaction. :)

This picture is crazy because I do not feel as large as I look. No wonder people look at me funny when I show up at the gym pool in my bikini!

Two Weeks Left!

2009-06-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

Baby Natalie will be here in two weeks!! :) I had a Dr. appointment today that went well. To date, I have gained about 28-30 pounds. I still feel really good except for it seems like I'm constantly having to go pee.

Leah came out of her room this afternoon all dressed up. She's such a cutie. It will be interesting to see how she reacts to Natalie. She's going to be a great big sister!

Natalie's Bedroom

2009-05-27T15:58:00.000-07:00

Natalie's Bedroom!
Norma DeGrado made the beautiful white and rose bear that sits nicely in Natalie's crib.

A shot of Natalie's closet.....full of clothes and toys!

Leah helped me put all of Natalie's baby shower items away this weekend. If it looks like a ton of clothes, remember that most of them are Leah's hand-me-downs! The baby will be here exactly 3 weeks from today. We are SO excited! :)

3 Weeks Left!

2009-05-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

Leah wearing her "I'm the Big Sister" shirt at the baby shower.
We had Natalie's baby shower on Saturday at Grandma Carmen's house. It was beautiful! Dave & Carmen have been working in their backyard for weeks to make it look nice for the shower--they did a great job! The food was also amazing. We left the shower with TONS of new toys, clothes, and other things for the baby. I feel blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. Thank you everyone!!

Dave called me this afternoon to let me know he got hired on as a seasonal firefighter for the Lassen/Modoc unit! He's been really hoping to get a job with the fire service, so I am thankful he got the position. The only bad news is his first day of work is June 15...which happens to be TWO days before Baby Natalie will be here. Hopefully, he will be able to be present for the baby's birth!! I'm glad that both of our parents will be in town (and in the waiting room) that day, but it would be sad if Dave had to miss it.

I took a few pictures of the baby's room. I'll post them in another blog. Isn't this last picture cute? Leah loves helping us wash the cars. She especially likes washing the car with Dave because she gets to take her shirt off! :)

One Month Left...

2009-05-17T16:33:00.001-07:00

Only one more month until Baby Natalie is here! The c-section is scheduled for June 17 at 7:30 a.m.

I look HUGE (as you can see in the picture), but feel really good. The only time I feel uncomfortable is while watching TV or trying to read in the evenings. I was suffering from allergies earlier in the week, but thanks to some otc medicine and Kari's nasal rinse I'm feeling better, although my nose is still a bit stuffy. (If you have never experienced a nasal rinse.....it is a crazy sensation. This morning I rinsed so hard that I was seeing spots floating around the bathroom.)

Leah helped me hang up some of Baby Natalie's clothes today. I washed all of Leah's 0-6 months clothes last week, but didn't have any extra baby hangers until this afternoon. It's fun seeing her room slowly come together. I'll post some pictures after next week's baby shower. By then, her crib sheets will be on which will make her room look more complete.

I drove to Chico this morning to watch my parents race the Master's 4-mile run/walk at Bidwell Park. My mom did really well and placed 1st in her age group! My dad got psyched out within the first mile and didn't do all that well. But he didn't quit and finished the race, despite walking numerous times and telling me at Mile 2, "I'm not running anymore..." Those of us who run know that there are good days and bad days, good races and bad races. Hopefully he'll keep that in perspective and not be discouraged. Speaking of racing...........I can hardly WAIT to start training again! I am envious of all the non-pregnant runners out there who tease me by running past our house. Soon enough I'll be out there. Ugh. But then I remember I have about 2 months left before I can even attempt to run again (thanks to the upcoming c-section).

Enough rambling for one day! We are headed to the gym pool for the second time this afternoon! (I need to buy a cheap pool raft. I saw a pregnant lady on one at the gym earlier today and it looked soooooo comfortable! I haven't been able to lay on my stomach in months!)

Dr. Visit

2009-04-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

Baby Natalie sucking her thumb.
I'm the mom so I can say this.....in this picture the baby has huge lips and a big nose!! (My mom's first reaction was, "Look Sarah...she has your lips!" I looked at her and rolled my eyes.) :)

This picture was taken two weeks ago. The two above were taken on Monday of this week.

I had a Dr. visit on Monday. The c-section is scheduled for June 17th, which means the baby will be here in exactly 7 weeks from today!! We got some amazing pictures of baby Natalie--in one of them she is sucking her thumb. The doctor told us to frame the picture because it is rare to see a photo like this...in his 15+ years of practice, he's seen babies sucking their thumbs while in the womb but says it's rare to catch it on film. (He saved a copy of the picture for himself as well.)

Leah just went down for a nap. I was going to finish reading my book, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, but I'd rather get things moved into the baby's room instead. The crib and curtains are set up, but now it's time to clean up the changing table and toys. Let the fun begin!!

Catching Up

2009-04-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

Wow. These are in the wrong order. Oh well....
This is what the curtains look like in Natalie's room--I made one for each of the two windows.
Leah posing like the dog.

This is Leah moments before she walked for the judges at the kid's costume contest.....she kept picking at the other girl's feathers!

This is what Leah wears most every day from 12-2pm at the pool.

Going down the shoe slide at Fairytale Land.

It's been awhile since I've posted anything, and a lot has happened!! We took Leah to the Sacramento Zoo and Fairytale Land on Saturday. Besides that, we've been spending a lot of time out in the sun and playing at the pool. I love going to the pool this time of year because kids are still in school--come summer time, it will be crazy and packed full of people. Right now we usually have the pool to ourselves which is nice.

I began making curtains for baby Natalie's room yesterday and finished them this afternoon. They look really cute! Much better than the boring white valances that were hanging before. I didn't use a pattern or anything....just kind of sketched out what I thought would look nice and went to work. Now that the crib is in and the curtains are up, my next project will be to find things to make the walls look pretty. I painted the edges of a bulletin board pink and found a few items at various yard sales that need a little TLC...enough to keep me busy for awhile. The next baby appointment will be on Monday. I'm hoping to schedule the c-section for June 17th. (About 1 1/2 months to go!!)

Another thing I almost forgot to mention was we entered Leah into a kid's costume contest on Sunday. Granted there were only 6 or 7 kids in the event, Leah got 2nd place for her costume! The dress was given to us at her baby shower over three years ago. Normally it's a part of her dress-up clothes, mixed in with princess dresses and fake high heels.

More Fashion Pix & Baby Natalie Update

2009-04-13T18:28:00.000-07:00

Jody gave this outfit to Leah.
This outfit is from Grandma Phyllis.

Same white pants from Aunt Trisha, tank-top is from Mom.

I had a baby check-up today. Everything is normal and looking good. I've gained 24 pounds so far, yet still feel really good. My due date is June 25, but we found out today that I will be having the c-section a week BEFORE the due date.....which puts the baby's due date at Wednesday, June 17th!! (This changes my work schedule a tiny bit because I told my lovely clients at the gym that I would be taking the month of July off. Not anymore! My new plan is to take the last two weeks of June and the first two weeks of July off~~June 17-July 12 to be exact~~before returning to work.)

On May 1st, I have "permission" from Dave to begin setting up Baby Natalie's room. Right now I am keeping myself busy by clearing out the spare room, patching up nail holes, and making new curtains.

I rode my bike with Jenette, Jody, and Amy this morning up to Pentz & back on the bike path. Tomorrow, Jody and I have plans to go kayaking on Paradise Lake. We're mixing up our normal training routine this week because Jody will be entering her first ever triathlon this weekend! The North Forebay Triathlon consists of a 3-mile trail run, 1.5 mile kayak in the Oroville Forebay, and a 10-mile mountain bike ride. I was the overall female winner the past two years in this race, so it will be fun to watch the event this year. (Of course, I would much rather be participating...but after volunteering at the Trail Less Travelled trail run last weekend, it will be fun to attend the event to cheer Jody and my other friends on.)

Fashion Show

2009-04-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

Wow, these pictures turned out really small...
This first picture is an outfit given to Leah by her Aunt Trisha.
Same pants, but a tank top from Mom.

Again, same pants but this time a t-shirt from Trisha.

The princess dress is from Jenette.

Lastly, here is my favorite Easter picture of Leah and Nicki. They had a stare-down over the Easter eggs.

Leah's 3rd Birthday

2009-04-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

The Birthday Girl...

Leah blowing out her candles (with Mia's help)...

I love this picture of Will and Haley!

Finishing the race (this picture is out of order)...

The "kids" race...

We celebrated Leah's 3rd birthday today at Bille Park. Good food, lots of friends and family, fun presents...we even had a race! One for the kids and one for the adults. I wish I could've taken pictures or a video clip of the adult race, but Dave took off with my camara! (He ran holding a can opener too, go figure...)

Leah was given some really cute clothes at her party. I'll dress her up in them later and add some more pictures. Plus, Easter is tomorrow.......it's become a tradition to pin a bunny tail on her each year. It's the same tail that was pinned on her little toosh when she was only 2-3 days old. :) I'll try to get a picture of that also.

Cats Galore

2009-04-01T14:15:00.001-07:00

I love April Fool's Day.

Trick #1: A few months ago, my brother placed 4th in his age group at the Frost or Fog 5K (a local race held in Chico each January). The organizer of the event accidentally gave my brother the 3rd place prize, which was a drawstring backpack. He found out later when the results were posted on-line that he shouldn't have received the bag...yet decided to keep the bag anyway.

I had my friend, Jenette, call him this morning from her cell phone pretending to be one of the race organizers. She left a lengthy message on his answering machine stating that there had been a mistake and they needed the bag returned. Steve wasn't sure if it was a joke or not, and had 2 or 3 conversations with Jenette before realizing it was a prank.

Loved it!!

Trick #2: My husband HATES cats. I took some time this morning and re-organized his computer with as many cutesy cat things I could find. I set his desktop with a picture of a cat licking a snow cone--HA!--and set the sound to chime "TA-DA" every time he opens or closes a program. His screen saver is set to "bubbles" and is scheduled to go off after one minute.

Trick #3: Speaking of cats...my parents have a feral cat who randomly sprays on their deck. My mom set up one of my dad's raccoon traps to try to catch it about a week ago. She's been putting in fresh cat food and canned cat food almost daily to entice the poor cat into the trap. The only thing she has caught has been their neighbor's cat by mistake.

When I get off of work tonight, my plan is to park my car a few blocks away...sneak up on to their deck, and throw something inside of the trap. Maybe one of Leah's stuffed animals or something. Not sure yet...

It should be a fun afternoon!

50 Mile Bike Date

2009-03-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

Dave and I took our bikes to Sacramento on Saturday to ride the American River bike trail. We left Leah in Paradise with Dave's parents, so it was a nice little date for us. We parked at Discovery Park and rode to the Fish Hatchery and back. It was about 47 miles round trip, but I rode extra miles until my odometer read 50 miles. The weather was beautiful and we didn't have any issues with our bikes (which was nice for a change--I'm used to getting flat tires).

Afterwards, we drove into downtown Sac and ate at Ernesto's. It was a nice Mexican restaurant with a patio and great food. We chowed down on chips with beans & salsa, I ate a burrito, then we shared vanilla filled churros for dessert.

We both agreed that we would have to ride the trail again after the baby is born. It was definitely a fun and much needed date!

Table Mountain

2009-03-26T15:45:00.000-07:00

Wildflowers on Table Mountain.

Leah washing her knees off in the stream.

My little hiker!

I took Leah hiking on Table Top Mountain for the first time this year. The last two years, I was able to hike around with her in the backpack. This time she had to walk because there was no way I was going to hike around with a 40+ pound pack on my back while pregnant!

She really impressed me with how far she walked. For those of you who know the area, she walked from the parking lot all the way to the big waterfall and halfway back! I carried her the rest of the way on my shoulders because she said her little legs were hurting. Poor girl. Sometimes I feel bad for making her do so much exercise when she's not even 3 years old yet. At the same time, she did really well and I was proud of her. :)

Pregnant Bellies

2009-03-19T13:43:00.000-07:00

My best friend, Jill, is in town this week. We got together at Kola's Cafe today for lunch which was a lot of fun. We wanted some pictures of our bellies together, so we had Leah be our photographer. She didn't do too bad! (Although most of the pictures were either of just our stomachs or our heads...only a few turned out where both were included.)

My mom is watching Leah tomorrow afternoon so we can go shopping in Chico together. It will be nice to spend more time before she goes back home this weekend.

Love ya Jill!! :)

Picture Tag

2009-03-18T14:33:00.001-07:00

I have never been "tagged" until a few days ago by my friend Jill (who is pregnant also and in town this week...yeah!). The assignment was to post the 6th picture from my 6th folder, so here it is. It's a picture of Chase, Taylor, and Leah on Christmas. Pretty cute, yes?

I officially tag Kari and Cindy because I know their picture are interesting...especially if it involves riding bikes with scarves underneith their helmets. :)

How to Throw a Dog a Party

2009-03-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

It was a rainy day today so we decided to have a birthday party for the dog. She will be 4 years old tomorrow, which really isn't that big of a deal, but for Leah (and Nicki)...it was the highlight of the afternoon.

We made a confetti cake with strawberry frosting. I painted on a dog and sun, while Leah filled it in with sprinkles.

Next, we lit a candle and sang Happy Birthday to Nicki. Leah blew out the candle, then Nicki gulped down a slice of cake.

Leah made two birthday cards for the event.

It definitely made for an interesting day. :)

Weed Whackin' Woman

2009-03-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

Attention all females: if you have never used your husband's weed whacker before, it is an experience you must try at least once in this lifetime. I have watched Dave use ours before and never really thought twice about it until today. Last year's garden was overgrown with 3 foot tall weeds, so I decided after lunch today that Leah and I would make it look nice again. It took about 5 minutes to realize that a rake wasn't going to cut it. I needed something stronger... something more powerful... I needed the Weed Whacker!!
If I could describe the experience in a word, it would be: exhilarating. I felt like the toughest girl on the street. Pouring in the 40:1 gas mixture, messing around with the choke, and getting splattered with wet grass chunks made me laugh. (With my mouth closed, of course. If it were open, all kinds of weeds and moisture would have flown in.)

Leah had an accident today at the gym, so they put this outfit on her. The pink cowgirl boots made it complete. The pants were boys 5T (she wears 2T) and the shirt was a youth XS that read, "I had my party at Beyond Fitness." Classic. In the background, you can see the weeds before I assaulted them.

Lastly, this is the finished bathroom. I love the color! It turned out really nice. :)

The Other Side of Paradise

2009-03-11T20:41:00.000-07:00

Paradise is an interesting town. As much as I love living here, there are days when I see a side of Paradise that is a bit scary. After working this afternoon at the gym, I called Dave to let him know I was going to walk home for exercise. (We live about 2.5 miles away from the gym...I figured we could drive back later to get my car.) I walked down the same bike path I have been traveling on for YEARS, but today it was different. Usually when I am on the path I'm either jogging, riding my bike, or conversing with friends so I don't pay much attention to my surroundings. Well, today I noticed EVERYTHING! I'd say about 80% of the "homes" I passed were at or below the poverty level. Broken fences, tarps serving as roofs, overgrown landscaping, mobiles with cracked paint, blankets hanging for curtains...it was a mess! Our little house is far from perfect, but it made me realize that I should be thankful for where we live. It could be a lot worse.
Another thing that caught me off guard today was my experience at Walgreens. At this point in my pregnancy, it is way obvious that I am an expecting mother. I stopped by Walgreens with Leah to pick up a few items, and when we came out of the store a grown man approached us and asked me if I had a cigarette. I was dumbfounded by him even thinking I looked like a smoker, gave him a "your kinda stupid" look and simply said, "I'm pregnant." And continued on to the car. So lame.
In other news, the bathroom has been finished since Monday. I just need to upload recent pictures. It looks really nice. The only thing we need now is a rug for the floor. Pictures coming soon!

30-Day Shred

2009-03-08T19:27:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to try Jillian's 30-Day Shred workout video today! I've heard a lot of positive things about it, so I picked it up at Target yesterday. Being pregnant...I started with level 1. It was really easy, but fun because I had my little workout buddy, Leah, with me. I don't have any hand weights, so I used my shampoo and conditioner bottles. I'm guessing it would have been more challenging with actual weights. :)

I finished painting the bathroom today. It looks really good now that the second coat has been applied. Dave and I got a new shower curtain and toilet paper holder this afternoon, so I plan on hanging them up tomorrow. I'll post more pictures once the bathroom is totally done.

Good day today. Painting was fun, working out with Leah was fun, and going for a walk with the dog in the sunshine was fun. I'm about to take a relaxing bath then watch my favorite show, The Amazing Race, at 8. Goodnight!!

Saffron Surprise

2009-03-07T20:49:00.000-08:00

I began painting our bathroom this afternoon. It's been a project that I've wanted to get done for a long, long time. I painted it tan about a year and a half ago, but was never happy with the color. Why, you ask? Because it turned out dark peach. And it was UGLY! I figured now was a good time to re-paint because the baby will be here in a few months, and life will be much crazier when there are two little ones in the house.
Last night I used TSP to clean the bathroom walls. I made the mistake of not wearing rubber gloves and completely disintegrated my finger tips. At first I thought there was glass in my sponge because each finger had about 4-5 micro cuts. I kept working despite the pain and finished with ultra shiny hands and curled up fingers.

Leah took a 2+ hour long nap this afternoon which gave me plenty of time to prime the entire bathroom. Once the primer dried, I painted the ceiling and door molding with a Frost white color.

When I began painting the walls, I about had a heart attack. The nice, subtle "Saffron" yellow color I chose was soooo bright. My first thought was, "Oh no...Dave's gonna kill me when he gets home!" The paint should have been titled "Saffron Surprise" because it was shockingly more yellow that what was on the paint sample. I kept painting and the color wasn't as bad as I initially thought. It's actually really pretty. Bright, but definitely better than the old peach.

When Leah woke up, she was curious about what was going on in the bathroom. She sat on the toilet seat lid and was content to watch and ask questions about the paint. Tomorrow I will finish the second coat of paint and Dave's going to help pick out a new shower curtain. Fun times...

This morning was the 33rd Annual Bidwell Classic in Chico. Several members of my 5K training class showed up and raced well. My mom got first place in her age group and won a beanie. I ran the race with Jody and we came in at 35:02. It was a PR for her by about 45 seconds, so we were happy. It was easy to run with her, even while pregnant, because the pace was, uh... slower than normal? (Remember, my most recent non-pregnant 5K time was 19:34.) Amy also got a PR, and Jenette ran well so we were a happy group.

ToTnAsTiCs

2009-02-27T14:07:00.000-08:00

Leah had her first Totnastics perform-ance at the Paradise Rec Center today. She has been practicing every Friday from 10:30-11:30 since the beginning of February.

She had the largest fan club by far! My mom, Dave's parents and sister, two uncles and an aunt, and one of my clients. Nine people in all, including myself!

The performance lasted about an hour, which amazed me. I thought it would only be a few minutes long. The kids walked along the balance beam, did somersaults, straddle rolls, handstands, and various other tricks. Leah was very brave today. I was a proud mom. :)

Flowers and a FO

2009-02-26T12:41:00.001-08:00

I finished the Ballband Dishcloth last night. It was a quick and easy project. My only mistake was not checking the weight of the pink yarn. It was slightly lighter than the blue, therefore making the pink half of the dishcloth look narrower than the blue half. No big deal though. Leah has been using it as a blanket for her Polly Pockets since this morning. She even brought it into the gym's daycare today and seemed proud to be holding it. Here are the knitting details:

Size 8 needles

Red Heart (cheapo) Yarn in Pixie Pink

Green & Blue yarn (forgot to write down the brand name)

Knits, purls, and slip 1 purlwise

Pattern from Mason*Dixon Knitting

When I got home from work this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see this blooming in our yard. Usually, it is the ugliest shrub that I constantly cut back during the summer months. It didn't even bloom last year. If anyone knows what kind of shrub this is, please let me know!!

Ballband Dishcloth

2009-02-24T13:51:00.000-08:00

I started another project yesterday. The pattern is from the "Mason*Dixon Knitting" book I found at the library last week. It's a dishcloth made from 2-3 different colors of yarn. I'm using blue and green yarn right now, but I'm thinking about adding hot pink in towards the end. Just to spice it up a little. Here's what it looks like so far:

There was a break in the weather yesterday, so I grabbed the dog and took her on a run. It was sooooo nice to get outside. We went on a 3.5 mile loop near our house that I haven't been on in over 2 months. What a difference 2 months makes in a pregnancy!! The hills that I normally cruise up and down with ease were tough! It was the first day while running pregnant that I really felt the extra weight my body has put on lately. I'm in the middle of my 22nd week and have gained about 14 pounds. The run was still nice and I'm glad I had a chance to be outside...but, man, was it difficult! Nicki (our dog) trotted patiently beside me without any complaints. I think she was just happy to be out for a jog instead of hanging out on her dog bed.

The Bidwell Classic next Saturday (March 7th) has a 5K and 1/2 Marathon. I'd like to do the 5K run with Jody and help pace her to get a PR. She ran a 35:45 last Saturday at the Almond Blossom 5K, which was her 2nd race ever. The only problem is I don't want to pay the $35 entry fee. I might pull a "Tina" and run unofficially. :) Shhhhhh.....

"Big Bad Baby Blanket"

2009-02-17T17:23:00.000-08:00

This is the yarn I chose for my next project: a baby blanket for Natalie. It's a huge project; I'm guessing it will take a few months to complete. The original pattern calls for 100% wool, but I chose to use 100% fine acrylic instead. (A huge change, I know, but I didn't want to spend $50 on yarn.)

This is how my project looks after casting on 126 stitches and seed stitching 1 row. Just this much alone took about 30 minutes...ugh. It's my first time using circular needles. My first project, the $42 scarf, used size 17 needles. These are size 9's. I'll post more pictures as the blanket begins to grow.

This is a picture from Stitch & Bitch of what the blanket will look like. It's not the best picture, but if you look closely there is a seeded stitch border. The bulk of the blanket will look like the smaller picture to the right. It's a big project, but one that will keep me interested for awhile.

Kitschy Kerchief

2009-02-16T15:57:00.000-08:00

I found these knitting needles today at the Hospice Thrift Store. I was thrilled because the lady sold them to me for $.30 each! They normally start at about $3.99/pair, so I saved a lot of money and came home with 5 new pairs of needles!

Another picture of my thrift store needles...

Okay, so this is the "Kitschy Kerchief." I found the pattern in my Stitch & Bitch knitting book and began working on it over the weekend. It was a fun project because I was able to increase stitches in a new way and learned how to make ties, which will come in handy if I ever want to knit a hat. Plus, there are zero mistakes! The only bad thing about this project is that I wouldn't be caught dead wearing it in public. This type of kerchief is made for women with bangs...or small children. I'll try it on Leah when she wakes up from her nap. Perhaps it will look cuter on her than it did on me.

This is a picture of some girl wearing the kerchief that was featured in my book. It looks much better on her than it did on me. The turquoise color helps--mine is a dull gray. But then again, that was planned because I wanted to use up the extra yarn from the $42 scarf.

Diva Night (recap)

2009-02-12T22:20:00.001-08:00

Two 10-minute massages, personalized bra-fitting, good company, coconut haystacks, purple grapes, and the sight of Brent Farris's bare arms.....all of this made for a fabulous Diva Night at Fleet Feet. The only disappointment was the 4-person fashion show. With so many cute clothes available to choose from, I was surprised that they only modeled four outfits. My friends Janette, Jody, and Amy showed up and we had a good time talking and laughing together. It was nice to see everyone in "normal" clothes instead of our sweaty gym apparel.

Next week, Fleet Feet is having a sports psychologist from Chico State come in to discuss the topic, "Training the MIND to run." It's basically about mental toughness and not letting your thought process defeat your training. I signed up last week and a few other people from my 5K Training Group are coming as well. I'm glad that Fleet Feet offers free programs like this to the public. I went to a nutrition seminar last month, tonight was Diva Night, next week is the sports psychologist.....very cool.

Diva Night

2009-02-12T13:02:00.000-08:00

Fleet Feet is having a "Diva Night" tonight from 7-9 at their shop. There will be appetizers, wine tasting, massages, bra fittings, kettle bell demonstrations, and a fashion show. I'm really excited about going!! It will be nice to get out of the house for a few hours and do something different.

I asked Leah if she wanted to play Beauty Shop with me. Of course, she said "YES!" so I got out some eye shadow, blush, and lip gloss and we gave each other makeovers. Leah has been sick since Monday, so we've been stuck inside most of the week doing random activities. Lots of painting, playing with Polly Pockets, and reading books. It's been fun, but I'm excited to have some time to myself later this evening at Diva Night.

Oh, That Girl...

2009-02-07T21:22:00.000-08:00

Leah is such a goofy child. I let her borrow my scissors to cut a piece of paper, and she gave herself a haircut! At first, Dave and I were pretty upset and put her in time-out. But it only took about 1o minutes for us to cool down and realize it wasn't that big of a deal. She's so cute sometimes that it's hard to stay mad.

Leah and I met up with Steve and the kids (Chase & Taylor) at the high school today to play some tennis. It's an interesting game when you try playing with kids ages 7, 5, and 2! I had Leah wear her Paradise Bobcats shirt and pink skirt, so she looked extra cute on the tennis courts. :)

It's a GIRL!!

2009-02-03T21:25:00.000-08:00

I had my 19-week pregnancy appointment yesterday morning...

We are having a baby GIRL! I've gained 13 pounds so far, and everything is looking good. We plan on naming her Natalie. Sweet little Natalie. I think a good middle name would be Star: Natalie Star Johnston. Once again, Dave thinks otherwise. :) But I still think it sounds pretty cool.

I haven't felt the baby move around much yet. Sometimes I'll feel a little flutter in my upper abdominals, but that's it. Nothing dramatic. This pregnancy has been really easy. The hardest part has been finding a comfortable reading position at night. (I'm used to reading in bed while lying on my stomach.) So much for late night reading. I still try, but end up getting frusterated after about 10 minutes of twisting my torso around. Plus, my reading lamp burned out so I try to get comfortable, read, and hold a flashlight all at the same time. It's not working. Grrr...

Happy 60th Birthday, Mom!

2009-02-03T14:57:00.000-08:00

Mom blowing out 60 candles.

Opening presents with the help of Leah and Taylor.

Chase, Leah, and Taylor at the "kids" table.

We had a 60th birthday party for my Mom at our house last night. It was so much fun! About 20 people were crammed into our tiny living room for the celebration. The highlight of the evening was when my brother and father-in-law snuck out and came back in dressed as old men. My brother wore a gray hair piece, plaid pants, and had a cane. My father-in-law wore a baby blue leisure suit. They both serenaded my Mom with songs: Steve singing "All My Rowdy Friends" by Hank Williams Jr., and Dave sang "Cracklin' Rose" by Neil Diamond. Both performances were really funny! :)

It was nice to see my Mom laugh and enjoy the company of her friends. She hasn't had a birthday party since her 40th, so it was nice to see everyone together (usually we just celebrate with immediate family).

Valentine's

2009-01-27T14:16:00.000-08:00

Leah and I made the Valentine's Day cards this afternoon. They turned out much nicer than the ones we did yesterday. One of them--the one that looks like a big pink blob--turned out a bit funky, but the others are pretty cute. :)

I got the picture ideas for mine by looking at one of Leah's placemats. It has turtles, owls and trees on it that are much more creative than something I would have thought of on my own. For Leah's Valentine's, I printed out some pictures from the internet onto her hot pink paper. From there, she painted and used random stickers to decorate her cards. I'm happy with how they turned out--it ended up being a really fun project!

Valentine's and Flip Turns

2009-01-26T20:27:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I don't have any pictures to post of the Valentine's cards yet. I got Leah set up with her paints and hot pink paper, but then made the mistake of cooking dinner while she painted. If I stay at the table with her, she tends to do really creative work: smiley faces, snakes, circles, and so forth. Tonight it was just a big blob of all the paints mixed together--she didn't take her time and instead had more fun mixing colors and making a mess. We'll try again tomorrow.

I swam 60 laps (1,500 yards) in the pool tonight! I'm not a very efficient swimmer, so although I enjoy swimming...I feel like a lot of energy is wasted. Tonight I thought it would be a good idea to practice my flip turns, like the real swimmers do. It was SO hard! I found myself either missing the wall completely or flipping so low in the pool I had to rush up to the top for a breath of air. If anyone reading this has any tips, please pass them along my way! In the meantime, I'll keep practicing and talk to my swimming friends (all 3 of them).

Leah

2009-01-26T14:20:00.000-08:00

Leah and I had fun in Chico this afternoon. We picked up food from Plutos for lunch and ate it at the downtown Chico fountain. Leah took off her sweats, jacket, shoes and socks and decided to play in the fountain for about 20 minutes. I had fun watching her run and laugh as the water drenched her little dress. In the pictures, the weather looks sunny and warm but it was actually a cold and windy day. This morning there was even some ice on our car.

I love Leah so much. She is such a sweet little girl. She crawled into bed with me this morning after Dave left for work. She told me how she dreamed about snakes, what she likes best about painting, and that she has six "Natalies" in her tummy. I love our conversations together. They make me smile when I reflect back upon them.

When she wakes up from her nap, we plan on making Valentine cards together. I'll take some pictures and post them up here later today.

Frost or Fog 5K

2009-01-18T17:22:00.000-08:00

I entered the Frost or Fog 5K yesterday and was the 2nd overall female finisher! My plan was to take it easy and complete the race in about 25-26 minutes. When the race started, I took off at a mellow pace and was able to talk and joke around with John. I stayed at that speed and was surprised when my first mile time was a 7:32. I caught up with and passed Dave and about that time realized that there was only one other female racer in front of me. Mile two was a 7:31, and my last mile was fast enough to put me at a 23:03 finish. Not a PR by any means, but better than I expected. In a weird way, it gave me great joy to know I was the 2nd female finisher while 17 weeks pregnant. :) The winning time was a 22:30, so the competition was not very fast. In a normal 5K race, the winning times are in the 18's and 19's. Either way, it was a great day--my 5K team did awesome--and I'm glad things turned out nicely.

Contraindications

2009-01-14T12:43:00.000-08:00

The pregnancy has been surprisingly easy so far. I am in the middle of my 16th week and still feel totally normal. I have been training a few people for the Frost or Fog race coming up on Saturday--originally with no intentions on racing it myself--but since my body still feels okay while running, I decided to sign up for the 5K. Although my goal is not to run my fastest on that day, I do think it is possible to place 3rd in my age group. Last year at the same race I won a really cool pair of gloves for placing 1st overall and 1st in my age group. If I remember correctly, they gave out gloves to the top 3 in each division. So my goal is to win a pair of gloves.

Next weekend I plan on going to Sacramento to go rock climbing with some women from church at an indoor rock wall gym. I climbed a little bit last week on the wall at our gym and felt fine, so I don't think it will be a problem. If anything, I'll just show up wearing a large sweater in case the gym has rules against pregnant ladies. I don't know how else to explain it except for doing these activities doesn't worry me because both running and rock climbing are so easy to modify. For example, at the race this Saturday my pace will be much slower than normal. At the rock wall, if I get winded I can just take a break. My stomach is still relatively small so I don't have to worry about it bumping into any fake rocks.

On to other things...

I'm really excited about the Frost or Fog race this weekend because the 5K group I've been working with has been doing really good lately. It will be Jody and Sven's first 5K ever, so seeing them finish the race will be exciting. My parents, who are also in the group, will be racing as well. I am constantly amazed at how quickly they have transformed themselves into runners. My dad ran a 8:22 mile last week while my mom ran an 8:33! When they started the program a mere 3-4 months ago, running 1 lap around the track was a challenge. Did I mention they are both 60 years old? I can only hope I will be able to run times like theirs 3o years from now.

Knitting news: I taught myself how to do the purl stitch, stockinette stitch, and rib stitch over the past couple of days. I'm trying to do a basic pattern of a heart over a stockinette stitch, but keep messing up about 10 rows into the project. My problem is I'll accidentally add a stitch and then get confused when I try to fix the mistake. I'll post some more pictures soon when I have more mini-projects completed.

My First "FO"

2009-01-10T17:34:00.000-08:00

I finished my scarf last night at Steve and Mindy's house, so I have my first official FO ("finished object"). It looks nice although the edges are a bit uneven in places. The project took around 10 hours over the course of 2 weeks to complete. The most tedious part was sewing in the loose yarn ends from all of the multiple times I had to change colors. I thought it would be a quick process, but it took about 45 minutes.

My next project will be a test square to practice the purl stitch. From there, I would like to try making a little cardigan for Leah or a hat. My main goal is to make a blanket for the new baby. I have a pattern in my Stitch and Bitch book that is really pretty.

Spiders and Smiley Faces

2009-01-05T21:03:00.000-08:00

Leah drew this picture for me today. It's now my new bookmark because it's her best smiley face drawing yet. Her other favorite thing to draw is spiders. The picture starts out with a circle, then she adds about ten lines around the outside and calls it a spider.

We had our 15 1/2 week pregnancy check-up today. On our next appointment, Feb. 2 (which is also my Mom's 60th birthday), we will be able to tell if the baby is a boy or girl. If it's a girl, both Dave and I have agreed upon the name Natalie. If it's a boy, we are still undecided. Correction: Dave is still protesting my favorite choice for a boy's name, Miles. When I think of the name Miles, a confident, well-built tan kid comes to my mind. Dave thinks it's a sissy name. (Which is funny because he suggested Shannon, which is a girls name!)

The scarf is still coming along about as slowly as it's taking me to finish book #4 in the Twilight Series. I really want to finish it, but at times it's painful. Not so much because I don't like the scarf or the yarn, but more so because I'm not really a scarf wearer. I'd rather be knitting a cute hat. Either way, it will hopefully be done soon within the next week or so.

Introductions

2008-12-29T14:25:00.001-08:00

This is our daughter, Leah, in her new toddler bed she got for Christmas. She is 2 and 1/2 years old.
This is my husband, Dave, with Leah on his shoulders. This was taken on our 5th anniversary in San Francisco.

This is one of my favorite pictures. It was taken this summer at the Feather River. Leah would ride on my back as I swam across the river. Our dog, Nicki, would swim right next to us.

I like this picture of Leah because she walks with such confidence at times. It was taken at the Feather River while walking along the flooms.

This picture was taken after a 6-hour adventure race that included running, canoeing, and mountain biking. This is what I look like most every day--except while pregnant. :)