11Miles, Saturday Sundaes and Mono

11 mile long run is in the books! Thanks to a great running partner, Kenna who helped me push thru and finish even though I was struggling. Good conversation and I know I wouldn't have completed all 11 miles without her company!

Collin finished his basketball season today and we were very proud of the improvement he made from the start of his first ever season playing basketball. And he had a great time...even though he was sure he wouldn't when we signed him up. :)

We celebrated the end of the season by having lunch with Great Grandma! And of course she had her favorite hot fudge sundae.

After over two weeks, Mitchell seems to have overcome mono and can finally return to swim team next week. He's glad to be feeling better and ready to hit the pool with his Marlin Friends!

10 Miler on Valentine's Day

I am lucky to feel loved by Chad and the boys all year, not just February 14th. Flowers and running gear were a great surprise this past Sunday.

And Sunday afternoon I decided mid-run to take advantage of the weather and time to complete my 10 mile long for the week. I hadn't really planned this and therefore my nutrition wasn't quite what it should have been and I lost all steam with 2 miles left to go. 

My pace suffered dramatically at the end from this quick decision, but I finished my first double digit run of 2016.

Mitchell had a rough weekend, spending almost the entire extended 4 days off as sick as I've seen him in quite some time. He ended up with strep throat and an additional virus that he has finally recovered from since its onset Thursday...as he said "worst 4 day weekend-to-date."

Last week was very difficult for 

our family. Emily and her family remain ever present in our thoughts and in our hearts. I've appreciated those family and friends who continue to uplift them in prayer.

Where are the Bunger's and a Smile

Where have the Bunger's been recently?  I have been bad at updating my blog so to start this post, here are some quick updates on all the happenings between now and my last post:

Collin started his first ever basketball season!  And we are happy to report that he is enjoying going to practices and games.  Trying something new and wanting to participate in something that is new is always a hard for Collin, so we are celebrating this.

Now if we could only learn to pass, dribble and shoot all in the same game.....he would be set!

Mitchell's 5th grade music concert was last week and he was very excited to have a speaking role and even a solo rap during one of the songs!  His character was a rapper named Rondo and the song was all about form.

This character role was right up his alley!!!

Collin thought the performance during the school day was so awesome that during the evening performance for parents, he wanted to wear his own rapper bling.  I'm sure we got lots of looks in the crowd as our son walked in wearing a women's gold chain, but a brother has to represent for his older brother....right?

No snowstorms in our neck of the woods last week so it was a warm weekend which made perfect weather for me to complete my 9 mile long run and also for time at the park.  Collin was committed to a "sinister" character for this park visit and brought the props to match.  His words.  This kid. 

And Mitchell had more pool time over the weekend, this time in Lawrence.  We have been amazed by this growth this fall during swim team.  He improved his times in the 3 out of the 4 events he raced in, won one of his heats and missed qualifying for districts by 1 second.  We are so proud of how hard he has been working and it is really starting to show in his recent meets!

Growing up, I took for granted that everyone had a loving extended family that they were close with.  I only had first cousins on my dad's side of the family and all were virtually within a few years of me in age.  Some of my best memories are of times spent with my cousins at my grandparents house and summer trips to each other's homes for week-long visits.

Yesterday my kind, always-thinking-the-best-of- people and loving cousin Emily passed away after a courageous battle with cancer.  Her fight was long.  She endured so many treatments, set backs, surgeries, trips to the specialist and I'm sure basically went through hell over these past 5 years.  But her smile and compassion for others remained steadfast.  She gushed about her husband and how amazing he was to her every time I saw her,  the same way I remember her excitedly telling me all about him when they first fell in love in high school.  And if you ever asked how she was getting along, she'd downplay her treatments and talk more about her family, her two wonderful children and the many ways she was so proud of them both.  I have known few others with such a genuine and giving spirit.  Her faith and love for the Lord just as true and genuine.  My family is a whole group of people who hug.  This can be a bit uncomfortable to others who aren't used to this kind of outward affection, but it is how we grew up and I am so glad for this now more than ever.  We give each other a kiss and hug hello and good-bye and we all tell each other how much we love each other when we are fortunate enough to all be together.  Because of this, I have no doubt that Emily knew how much I loved her, even though our adult lives kept us apart more and more.  We never missed a hello or good-bye hug and I love you.  I will miss those hugs.  I will miss hearing her tell others to "stop it" when she wouldn't quite get a joke or sarcastic comment as soon as everyone else would and we would end up snickering even harder.  But most of all I will miss that smile. I'm not sure a person could ever help but smile right back at her.  While I know she is now at peace, my heart breaks for her husband, young children, her parents and siblings.  She was loved by so many.  If you believe and are a prayerful person, I would ask that you uplift her family in your thoughts and prayers.  There are things in life that just don't make sense.

Reframe

Even with our crazy schedule these past few weeks, and dealing with the flu virus running through the Bunger home not once but twice, I have been able to keep up with my training schedule for the most part. 

And I think I can finally say we are all illness free at our house and can hopefully have more fun events like is pictured above. Collin was able to have his first sleepover at our house, and he was so excited!

I decided to take advantage of the warm weather and tried to get my long run of of 8 miles accomplished this past Thursday. Less than a quarter of a mile into my run I tripped and fell yet again. This is the third, yes that's right the number three time I have fallen while running in a year.

I'm not sure what hurts worse, the road rash on my palms and my knees, or my pride. Initially, I was pretty upset with myself and was well on my way to a pity party while I began to clean up my knee. However, I quickly decided to reframe my thinking while I bandaged my knee up and decided I would go back out and try to finish my 8 mile 

distance. I knew if I didn't get back out and finish my run, I would be thinking about it all night and wishing I would've just gotten back out there. So I decided to suck it up, and count my blessings that I had both the health and ability to be able to trip and fall while running three times in one year. 

I'm not going to lie, it was not a great run. It was the slowest I have ran in quite some time, but I finished. Road rash and hurt pride can slow me down, but it doesn't have to stop me.

Faster in 2016

Mitchell had his first swim meet of 2016 in Topeka over the weekend.  He was such a trooper, swimming both Saturday and Sunday sessions.  His age group swam in the morning sessions so both days he and Chad were on the road before 6 a.m.

We were super proud of Mitchell!  He improved his time in all but one event total for the weekend!  His coach was very excited and told Mitchell he was glad to see him more competitive in the water.

He even placed1st in his heat for the 50 Backstroke...something he hasn't accomplished before.  He continues to improve and really enjoys swimming and being a part of the positive atmosphere the Manhattan Marlins create.

Sunday I  ran outside in the coldest conditions I can remember!  The 8 degree windchill was probably pushing the limits for me running outside, but the idea of running 4 miles on the treadmill (and having to drive to said treadmill to accomplish this task) made me decide to brave the bitterly cold weather. 

After my run, I couldn't seem to warm up the rest of the day, but this little snuggler tried her best to help me out.  It was a cold run and a bit of a struggle but I averaged a 9:35 mile pace.  I guess the freezing temperatures and wind chill were a great motivator to keep the pace up!

New Tech and 101

It took me a couple of days in 2016 to accomplish my first run after almost breaking my second toe on a door jam (super clutz), but today I ran 7 miles during my week's long run.

I was pretty happy with my time and  even ran mile 4 at a 9:02 pace. And I've loved my Christmas present from Chad and the boys...a new Garmin Forerunner that syncs all my workouts to my phone automatically. Great upgrade!

And today we celebrated Great Grandma Craney's 101st birthday....amazing!

Back to school tomorrow...it's time for the spring semester of work and school.

774 Miles in 2016

In 2014, my mileage was on the low side...and in the fall/before Christmas, running and I were officially "on a break."

So when I started training for my next half marathon of 2015, it was rough and slow. I was frustrated and felt like I was starting all over again and made a goal to run more miles in 2015 then the 593 I ran in 2014.

I only ran in two races this year, but they were both half marathons. Neither were my fastest times, however they also weren't my slowest half marathon times either.

My last run of 2015 happened this morning and I ran a total of 774 miles this year! That is my highest year-end mileage to date!

2016 Goal: Beat my 2015 half marathon time in one (or both) of my upcoming races this fall.  I was able to run 3.25 miles today easily at a 9:51 pace. I am hoping that the time I have put in and my recommitment to running this past year will help me achieve this goal in late March and/or May. I can't control the weather conditions/wind on race day, but I'll keep reminding myself of this goal as 2016 begins and I train for my 11th and 12th half marathon races.