For The Record...

I am nervous about the Frisco Railroad Run Marathon. I admit it. It's more than the usual pre-marathon jitters. This is a whole new world for me. This is the first time I have ever tried to piggyback one race with another. The Cowtown Marathon was just nine weeks ago! I took about three weeks to just "knock around" only running small amounts, and then I had five weeks of "hard training" prior to this week's semi-taper. With my Hanson-inspired training plan, I made it up to 15 miles for a longrun. One can see how I may be feeling a bit anxious.

It's a very small race. As of this moment I am one of 48 marathoners. There are 99 10-mile race entrants, 26 50-milers, 20 50k'ers and a few 50-mile relay teams. The course is a rural out-and-back. My great hope is to buddy up with a 50-mile person on the way out and then find another a 50k'er on the way back in. My goal is simply to just run 26.2 miles and walk away with the AWESOME medal (photo coming soon)!

In a nutshell, I feel a bit unprepared. This is the first time that I have not spent 3-4 months training for a marathon. I am a firm believer that it's better to be undertrained than overtrained, and I am thanking my lucky stars to not be injured. But, still, I am worried. Here goes nothin'!!!

Easter 2011

Oh what a big week! I tell ya... once you have a child, a one-day holiday morphs its way into an entire week. Isaac had THREE Easter egg hunts this week, plus the one we did at our home today. Yeesh! Specifically he had one at each of his Mother's Day Out programs, plus a full-blown Easter party through my "mommy group." That's a LOT of plastic eggs and empty calories. No wonder this country is obese.

Here Isaac eats "cheesy poofs" at the Easter party. He's never had those before.

Table full of toddlers. Oh the cameras were snapping!

Isaac only wanted to do a small bit of coloring. That's how he rolls.

It had stormed, so the kids hunted eggs in this church's sanctuary. Here, they wait to go in.

Some DUMMY brought confetti eggs. Heaven help us all...

Isaac had a great time. Here he naps on the way home with his BFF "stinky dog."

I gave Isaac about 2-3 pieces of candy per egg hunt, and that's it. And silly me gave up sweets for Lent. Man oh man - it has been a challenge. So very little sugar was consumed around here until midnight. And then... it was ON! I practically tackled Chasen on my way to the stash of the "good stuff" Isaac collected all week. Mmm mmm mmm! That's a tasty way to officially ring in Easter!

Here is Isaac, all ready for church. I actually had to iron that shirt. Ugh!

Here Isaac pretends to be a Rockette. Ha! I must say, he's a pretty cute one.

Mr. Serious is thinking "Stop with the pictures and let's go to church! I have people to see!"

Isaac and Daddy at the Easter Brunch. Two sharp dressed men!

Isaac and Mommy -- true love, what can I say?

Here we are right before the amazing service began. We LOVE our church.

After lunch we had an empty egg hunt. Isaac is now a hunting eggspert. :)

I am so proud of that head of hair - I admit.

Isaac would rather pick up sticks than eggs, though. We had a storm recently.

And he's proud of it, too. The boy loves to be out in the yard.

Yard man for hire! He'll work for milk and goldfish crackers!

Our Easter will wrap up with a good meal (ham, mashed potatoes, vegetables, rolls) and more fun with Isaac. A great day all around!

Home Sweet Home

First the running, then the good stuff. I had two 10 mile runs this week (and that's it... bad) one was horrible and the other was fabulous - at marathon pace! Then, after twelve long days, we made our way to the airport to pick up Chasen! Hooray!

He took this photo of us waiting for him at the end of the corridor.

Oh what a warm welcome it was! And Isaac has not left Chasen's side since he returned. Twelve days is a LONG time for a 2-year-old, as you can imagine. Those boys have made up for lost time! Once the dust settled a bit, Chasen and I booked out trip for marathon #6. One of the perks of having a husband that travels semi-frequently is hotel points (and airline points, but we have yet to use those). As of this point there are 35 entrants for the marathon. There is also a 10-mile race, 50-mile and 50k. BIG stuff in a small setting - and I just can't wait. What's more? There is a Lambert's Cafe just a few miles down the road. We will definitely be eating there after the race. Yum-o! I just hope my 3-4 runs per week will be sufficient for the race. Time will tell. 13 days to go!

Here are my boys today on our newest purchase (a necessity for a 1.5 acre lot).

Tomorrow I am going to be virtually cheering on my DEAR friend Petra as she runs her Boston Marathon. I couldn't be more excited. She has worked so, so hard to get where she is and she inspires me greatly. Go Petra go!

Stay tuned for more glimpses into my busy, crazy life.

Glass Half Full

Could someone please press 'pause' on my life - just for a little while? :) After the 5k I did a few weeks ago, for the following days I just couldn't seem to get out the door to go running. Between rain, cold, lazyness and Isaac... well, you get the picture.

On a rainy day we met our lovely friend Ashlyn at the Pink Palace Museum.

My little explorer tried to figure out how the awesome circus display was created.

After that I decided to get back on the horse. Otherwise, marathon #6 just might not happen. So, according to my Hanson-inspired training schedule, I headed out for an 8-miler that Thursday after dropping Isaac off at his Thursday Mother's Day Out (which is not his 'normal' MDO, where I usually start my runs from... this one is just for this spring). I had never ran from there, but figured it would be alright. Well... it just wasn't my day. It was super-duper hilly, and I just had nothing to give. Fortunately, I was doing an out-and-back. I did cover the 8 miles, but a lot of it was spent walking. Ugh.

I really contemplated throwing in the towel after that. Seriously. Just pack it in and not run for months! You'll be happy to know that by that evening I had come to my senses. The next day I did 10 miles and was super successful. I even noted it as 'excellent' on my Buckeye Outdoors training log.

Saturday recovery runs have not been happening for me. Sorry, Hansons! The next day was my 6th wedding anniversary and I had too much going on, both anniversary-ish and not. And guess what happened that Monday: Chasen headed to China for work! Again. For 12 days. Ack!

So now I am in "I must run while Isaac is at MDO or I don't run" mode. I have been pretty successful, at least this first week of single motherhood.

On Tuesday I ran 10 miles. It was tough because I had a headache for most of it, but I managed to average 13:29 per mile. Not terrible. On Wednesday, sans MDO, Isaac and I headed to the park. I was supposed to do 6 miles, but I didn't figure that would happen. As it turned out, it was so windy that I only lasted 1.95 miles. Ick. On the upside, Isaac got to enjoy the playground! On Thursday I ran 6 miles at 12:41 per mile average. I ran through some new areas, so it was successful by many degrees. Then on Friday came the mother of all Hanson-inspired training runs: the 16 miler. It was h-o-t and humid. 16 turned into 15 and it was all I could do to average 13:52. You know me - I picked a very hilly course. I walked quite a bit toward the end.

This week, with a bit of extra walking added to the training runs, I logged 33.50 miles. For a 'single mama' I think that is incredible (and I don't usually toot my own horn). They weren't all pretty, but I did it and I am proud. I have a bit of a head cold now, but I think I can forge ahead this next week. If I do... I believe I'll be making a trip to Willard, Missouri for marathon #6 at the end of this month!

As for Chasen, his stay in China is as busy as the last, if not worst. But the sweet guy did go to the market in Shanghai yesterday to purchase these for me: (photo via Skype)

THREE Chitalian purses! (Chasen's word for Chinese knock-offs of high-dollar Italian purses)

As I type this I have completed day 6 of 12 of single motherhood. I am trying to keep the "glass half full" attitude and not the "13.1 miles of 26.2 done" mindset. Here goes nothin'!!!