Ups and Downs

Saturday we had fun trying a new burger joint in town. He's a tough critic, but ended up liking it in spite of himself!

Then it was on the KSU Spring Game on a p spring day.

And that night Collin was thrilled to have a second sleep over with Collin C and Daniel. It was also our first outdoor meal of the season.

However luck ran out around 10 PM last night and we had to call the sleep over off due to Collin falling ill. Poor guy!

And with less than a month to go before the Bill Snyder Highway Half, I've really been focusing on getting in as many hills as possible to get my legs prepared.

Next weekend is the first swim meet of the long course season so I'll be looking to complete my last double digit long run of 12 miles at some point during the week. A busy schedule and more hills are in my future for the days ahead.

10,11 and a Whopper

10 miles last Friday..

11 miles yesterday....

Only 2 more double digit long runs to go...12 and 13.1 on May 21st.

We got a sneak peek of the 5th and 6th grade after school choir, Marlatt Music Machine at the K-State Open house today...they were great! Can't wait to hear them at their concert in a few weeks.

The warm weather has meant lots of fishing with dad for both boys. Look at this whopper!! Mitchell has been learning to fly fish and has successfully caught several already this spring!

Race Stats and Marlins Swimathon

Even though the Wicked Half Marathon is finished, I jumped back into my training this week. After taking several days off, I ran 4 miles at a tempo pace mid week, and then accomplished my 8 mile run Saturday afternoon. Here are are some quick stats from my 11th half marathon! I placed 62 out of 221 female runners overall.

13 out of 48 in my age group.

And 110 out of all 297 runners running the half marathon. My blisters from running in wet socks are healed and it's time to keep training for the Bill Snyder half marathon on May 21st!

The boys had a great time participating in their first Manhattan Marlins swimathon fundraising event Saturday morning.

We are also appreciative of everyone who made a donation to the boys for this event and also to those who bought a raffle ticket, all to support the Marlins swim team!

Collin swam 80 laps during the swimathon and Mitchell completed his goal of swimming 200 laps!

Afterwords there was a breakfast banquet to refuel all the swimmers after the morning event, and celebrate their hard work during the short course season.

Being a part of this team has been such a positive and fun experience for both boys! We are looking forward to their first long course meet at the 

end of the month!

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!!!