Official Shots from October 20th

Here are some official shots from the Kansas City Half Marathon on October 20th....the above picture was within the first two miles of the half marathon and is my favorite.

Can you see me???  I'm right under the carefully placed yellow arrow. :)

This was by far the best course I have ever ran.  It took us through a lot of very cool areas of Kansas City including Union Station, Liberty Memorial (and the monster hill leading up to Liberty Memorial), The Plaza and Hyde Park....just to name a few!

I wasn't able to find my Team Endurance jersey for the race so I borrowed Chad's.  It was a little on the large side for me, but I figured I would wear my purple running jacket for the entire race with the chilly conditions at the start.  But as always, I forget how quickly a person warms up while running and shed my jacket within the first 5 miles of the race.  Even though I was photographed wearing red on a KSU Saturday...I was sure to flash my Wildcat Pride during the last few steps of the race before the finish! :)

Leaveapaloosa

One thing that is so great about our neighborhood are all the large, mature trees...then our grass disappears in October.

Today we started our rake-a-thon, and quickly had the back of our old truck filled with just one side of the front yard.

So we made huge piles of leaves....now if they would just magically find away out of yard.

Because after these pictures of a pick-up bed filled with leaves, we still had the backyard to contend with!

But the boys had a fun time in the giant leaf piles!

I haven't ran since the half marathon last Saturday....but raking leaves for 2+ hours has to count for some amount of cross training....right?

Love and Logic

Last night at dinner, Collin was trying to get me to see his way (all in fun) on what he wanted to do.  Here is how the conversation went.  And again this was all just Collin being playful....this time. ;)

Collin to me: Mommy, which do you choose?  You can have my decision....or my decision.  Which do you want to do?
Me:  But I don't want those
Collin: Which do you choose this decision (pointing to himself) or this decision (pointing to himself again.)
Me: I think I'll take Mommy's decision.
Collin: That's not an option

At this point Chad and I couldn't hold back the laughter.  I had just been given a healthy dose of Love and Logic....by my 4 year old.

Watch out for this one world!

My 6th Half Marathon

I did it!  Today I completed my 6th Half Marathon!!!!!

This was a huge accomplishment for me.  I have wanted to throw the towel in on this race many times for multiple reasons.  I wasn't sure how I would handle this course, namely the large hills...including the monster at mile 2(ish).  But I did it.  And I never walked once on any of the hills.  In fact, I felt pretty strong for most of the race.

My official time was 2:15:23.  I averaged about a 10:19 mile pace.  No where near my fastest time, but this was also the most challenging course by far I have ever taken on in a half marathon race.  The fact that it wasn't my slowest time either seems like a huge accomplishment!

499

After my 3 mile easy run today, I have now logged 499 miles running in 2012.

   Now only 3 days until my 7th half marathon and just one more 3 mile run left to go in my training schedule to accomplish.

I know these pictures have nothing to do with running almost 500 miles or the last few days before I take on another 13.1 mile race, but they are pretty darned funny.

Cousin Fun in Ames

We had a quick weekend trip to Ames, IA to watch the Kansas State become 6-0 on the season.  The boys were also very excited for two reasons.  Staying in a hotel and playing with cousin Daniel.

 Thankfully the wet and stormy conditions were mostly gone by game time and we all made it through the game without being soaked to the bone like we had feared.

These last two shots are my attempts to get a group shot of the boys together.  As my previous blog title stated...this was an epic fail.

But the boys made a lot of fun memories together this weekend!

Epic Fail

This is how Mitchell would describe his first attempt at cutting his own hair...

At least we've already had picture day at school!  Oh, the lack of impulse control that an 8 year old boy can have.

It's 9 days until 2012 Waddell & Reed Kansas City Half Marathon.  This race has me nervous.  I am hoping to conquer this course and push my mental toughness to it's limit when it comes to running hills.  The website is promoting this link below for people to track runners during the race.



http://onlineraceresults.com/event/view_event.php?event_id=9700

I have no doubt that my time will be much slower than previous 13.1 mile races I have completed in the past.  But my goal is to finish and be proud of myself for taking on this type of course elevation for the first time.  Finish....I WILL finish!!!

Floored

"I run because I used to be envious of people that could run, and now I am that person." - Kendra Thompson

Mitchell has started a new trend on the weekends that I think is crazy.  Sleeping on the floor.  This is a big treat for him and he is always so excited when we "let him" pull out his sleeping bag and sleep on the floor in his room on the weekends.  As you can see, last night all of the stuffed animals joined him for this event.  This is what he wants for a week of taking care of all he needs to do in the mornings without having to be asked/told 50 times to get ready every time it's time to get up for school.....really, this is what he is working for.  Sleeping on the floor.  This floors me, but whatever works ,I guess!

Less than two weeks to go before half marathon #6 and today I made sure to tackle as many big hills as possible on my 5 mile long run.  Hoping my legs and mind will be ready for October 20th!

3 Amigos

Mitchell's latest artwork during free time in 2nd grade.....

Mitchell calls this "Weird Mexico"

Me:  Tell me about this picture

Mitchell:  It's three guys from Mexico.  The first one is surprised because someone shot something at his hat.

The next one is just happy and crazy.  Then I added an invisible guy later on when I was adding more stuff.  The last guy is shy.....

Me: Oh, he is acting shy....okay.

Mitchell: Yes, I called it "Weird Mexico."

Me: and what about this head at the top?

Mitchell: That's part of what is so weird about it.

 

I'm still trying to get over the last guy who is acting shy......

 

It's never a dull moment in 2nd grade!