My 11th Half Marathon

It was cold. It was wet. But I successfully completed the Wicked Half Marathon in Wamego, KS this morning! This was my 11th half marathon since 2010, second time running this race and also my second experience of running 13.1 miles in the rain.

I was glad I could recall our prior experience of running in these kinds of conditions during the OKC Half several years ago, so I was much more prepared this time around.

The weather had been crazy all week so I wasn't surprised/mentally freaking out about the almost certain cold and rainy conditions for Saturday's race.

The race coordination had several hick-ups which lead to a late start and also all of the half marathon runners were led astray to start the race...resulting in most of us running almost a full half mile longer than needed.

This may not sound like a big deal...but if you've spent 2+ hours in 40 degree temperatures with a steady/hard rain for over 8 of those miles...it's sort of a sore spot for participants. Ok, at least this particular runner!

But I was aware something was off and watched my time on my Garmin when the race SHOULD have been over. :) I finished my 11th half marathon in 2:11:01! This is a full minute faster than last year. I had hopes earlier in my training for this to be even faster, but with today's conditions...I was still happy with my time.

Chad and the boys were there when I needed them most at the end of the race...cheering me on and making me laugh. And my wonderful, thoughtful husband had dry clothes, a towel, blanket, and flowers for me afterwards.

Time to eat some starburst jelly beans, celebrate the Easter Holiday and let some blood blisters heal on my poor toes due to my soaked socks for most of the race. Then it's 8 weeks to the Bill Snyder Highway Half Marathon!!!!!

Spring Break Clean Up and More

The boys earned their spring break technology time for the week on Monday with a massive yard clean-up.

3 truck loads of leaves/ yard debris and 4.5 hours later, this time was well earned .

And Friday, Chad and I took a short adult only trip to Wichita with our good friends, the Ingram's. We always have a great time together!!!

And now Aunt Amy and Daniel are here for a visit while they are on spring break!

And thanks to grandma for hosting their Easter egg dye-dash...hooray for the prep/mess being contained in today's cousin time. :)

I think they finished coloring 3 dozen eggs in well under 5 minutes.

Back to work Monday. :( Only 9 weeks left in this school year and less than a week until my next half marathon!

Nebraska and Starting Spring Break 2016

We started our 2016 Spring Break with a weekend trip to Nebraska.

We had some fun with Wyatt and Aiden! The Kearney Archway was built right before Chad and I graduated from UNK and we hadn't been through it since, so it was a fun trip Saturday afternoon.

We got thru the actual archway pretty quickly...

But I think they really had the most fun running around at the outdoor exhibits/bridge/trail!

Saturday night we took in Beauty and the Beast at the Minden Opera House where Grandma Bunger was one of the accompanist. We all enjoyed it and it brought back memories of when we were first married, living in Minden and I was in their production of The Sound of Music.

And we passed on this junior bounce house to our younger nephews! We were so grateful when this was given to us by Chad's aunt and uncle...it was great to see these two and their excitement!

Spring Break is here! It's a Staycation week for the with some fun sprinkled in around Manhattan. A week away from work/school is just what is needed!

Bat Cats, 12 Miles and Kid Stuff

It was a perfect spring-like weekend to take in a K-State Baseball Game!

It was the first home series of the season for the Bat Cats...we had a great time!

And Chad got us ICat wristbands so soon after the game started we got to upgrade our GA tickets to this sweet vantage point.

I started Sunday morning extra early to get my 12 mile long run completed before the crazy wind was in full force.

This was my last long run on my training schedule...time to taper down before the Wicked Half at the end of the month.

One more week until spring break is here!!!

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.