Take a Rest

Tonight while I was making dinner, Collin was repeatedly asking me if I was finished so I could play with him.  Finally he said "Mommy!  You need to take a rest.  Can you play with me too?"  I just couldn't deny this kind of logic.

It seems I have also taken a rest when it comes to running.  I took about 10 days off after my last half marathon and have run several times since then, but can't seem to get back into a regular routine again.

I have to admit, I was starting to feel a little burned out during my training this past fall and thoughts of throwing in the towel after half marathon #6 started to enter my mind.  But the Waddell and Reed Half Marathon was a good race for me mentally.  While I know my mind and body needed to take a rest, I also know that I will definitely run my 7th half marathon in 2013.

Old Navy

I never noticed the total imbalance of the clothing selection between baby/toddler/children clothing until I became a parent.  I could devote several paragraphs surrounding this, but to some it up for those of you who haven't experienced this: In just about any major department store, the selection of clothing for little girls is about twice as large as the selection is for boys.  What does this say about our society and how it play into gender stereotypes....I'll let you decide, but as a parent of two boys, I can tell you it's a limited selection just about everywhere you go.  And if you are like me a refuse to buy anything with a skull & cross bones, it gets even narrower.

But every once in awhile, between the purchase of the standard striped or solid polo for the boys....I come across something the boys can actually get excited about when it comes to clothing.  The above Lego Star Wars shirts are the 2nd best find to date.  Playing second fiddle only to.....

THUNDERCATS!!!! Thank you Old Navy....for putting a little excitement into our world of stripes and solids.

Fall 2012 Pictures

I've meant to include some of these shots in recent posts.  Fall has flown by!

It's never a dull moment in a house full of boys.  There is much to be thankful for during this month of Thanksgiving!

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!