Category Archives: running

five favorites (09/05)

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Happy September! I have quite a few posts I’d like to catch up on this month, but I thought I’d start it all off with my classic “five” from the past week!

ONE. We’ve been soaking up the last of the summer weather (and the 100% humidity has been literally soaking us), but I’m making the very most of it while it lasts. Autumn seems to come and end in the blink of an eye in this region. Historically, our winter temperatures have lasted for up to six months, so I’m in no rush for the weather to change!

Kaya took her schoolwork outside to the hammock. We were writing “All About Me” books this day.Kaelyn joined in!Kaya and Kaelyn asked to have a picnic out on the deck for lunch one afternoon. These small things make them so happy. (Nella is still way too messy to join in on the fun just yet, so she ate in her normal seat!) Baby cuddles in the hammock for me! What could be better?TWO. I’m all clear to run! After my postpartum break, I’m ecstatic to be back at it. It’s slow going, but more distance and speed will come with time. For now, I’m just happy to be out there at all. It feels a little strange to run without my big belly, and I do miss having Eve with me, but I’m excited to get stronger and maybe race again sometime in the upcoming months.THREE. While I’m out running, Daddy and the girls are dressing up and dancing!I just love seeing what they get into with Daddy!FOUR. If you can’t tell from this picture, Nella is baby obsessed. Real baby in one arm, baby doll in the other!Babies holding babies.This was just a lucky shot, but I LOVE it! Smiles for kisses!FIVE. Can we talk about these cheeks? I’m seriously obsessed with our littlest lady. We’re really looking forward to having family in town for her baby blessing soon!

monument avenue 10k (2018)

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I can’t believe this was a whole month ago already… it actually feels like a lot longer than that! We put another Monument Avenue in the books, and this might have just been my favorite one yet.

We drove down to stay with my parents on Friday night, and I woke up at 4:30 am on race morning. We didn’t need to leave home until around 7 am, but I’m always a little too excited to sleep before a race, so I got up and started getting things ready. I was less nervous than I usually am for these types of events, but I definitely still had some pre-race jitters.

Kaya had been talking about “running a kid race” for months, so I had signed her up for the Virginia529 Kids Run, which started about an hour and twenty minutes before my wave. We drove into Richmond, pinned our bibs on, loaded the two littlest girls in the stroller, and hustled from the parking garage to the start line.

At the last possible moment, we decided to register Michael as a “companion runner” for Kaya, since there were so many more people than I had even imagined, and I didn’t feel comfortable sending her out on her own (despite the security measures they have in place). I’m so glad they did this together.

I wasn’t sure how long it would take her to finish, but Kaya shocked us all by running the mile in about 13 minutes, which I think is really great for a 5.5-year old! The look of pure joy (and the hug she gave her dad) as she crossed the finish line was so memorable and sweet. Her excitement was contagious, and actually brought me to tears because of how much joy and pride I felt seeing my baby want to do something that I love doing. I also love knowing that she likes running because she knows it keeps her body healthy and strong.She smiled all day long! Did I mention how proud I am?She now has her medal hanging from her bunk bed!We had three of the four grandparents at the race this year! My mom had never been before, so she rode down with us, but seeing my in-laws was a complete surprise. They met up with us right before Kaya started, and I am so grateful for all the support and love these three (plus my Dad, who stayed home to watch the dogs), give us.I had enough time before my wave started to sunscreen up, use the bathroom, put on my pregnancy support belt and find Lelia! Do you see us in the starting corral?We started off in a slower wave, because when we signed up (back in December), we had predicted that by this point in my pregnancy, I wouldn’t be moving so fast. Surprisingly, I haven’t been as slow as I thought I’d be, so we ended up passing a lot of people, but we really got into a great rhythm.

Lelia and I are great running partners- we just match each other so well as far as pace and stride. Look how synced up we are here! This race was a little extra special, because at Christmastime, I told Lelia we were pregnant by saying that we’d have another “Monument baby” (Nella and Bryce both did this in utero!), and she was instantly willing to run with me. I was super grateful to have her as a buddy/bodyguard.I knew the miles with Lelia would just fly right on by, and they did! It was a gorgeous day, but a little warmer than I’m used to running as of late, so I definitely appreciated all the water stops, and Lelia pouring the rest of her drink down my back at one point. I started to feel tired around halfway through, but I honestly couldn’t believe the splits we were getting, so I didn’t want to slow down. We finished with an official time of 59:52, which put us at a 9:38 min/mile average. My goal going into this was an average pace between 10-10:15, so I was ecstatic!Sweaty hugs all around! We did it! I think I cry every time I see the finish line in a race.Finishers with our “Monument babies”! I can’t believe two years ago I ran this with Nella in my belly, last year Lelia did it with Bryce, and now our newest princess has done it, too. I hope they’ll all look back on these pictures one day and think it’s as cool as I do.27-week bump!When Lelia did this last year at 30 weeks pregnant, she had said she wished she had a sign on her back so that people wouldn’t get too close (this is a busy race, and some people are absolutely crazy when trying to pass you)! I printed out this little sign, laminated it, and brought it to wear on race day. I was so glad I did, because I felt like I had a little extra security with this on.Another one done!Of course, there had to be donuts afterward! We headed to “The Treat Shop” in Richmond for these.And because Kaelyn was at the race, but didn’t want to be in any pictures, here’s one of how she eats a donut. Frosting first!Adorable even when she’s a total mess…I’m so thankful for all the family time we got to have that weekend, as well as the love and support I feel from all of them. Completing a race wouldn’t mean half as much to me without having family waiting at the finish (or running alongside me)! This is it as far as racing goes until after the baby comes, but I’m already looking forward to a postpartum comeback!

five favorites (02/07)

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There’s nothing wrong with writing a Five Favorites post on a Wednesday, and still doing a Five on Friday in a couple days, right? I  have so many little moments from last week that I’m feeling grateful for and just had to write down.

ONE. I wanted to put a little thank you in here to everyone for their congratulations, love, and support on our pregnancy announcement for baby #4. It means so much to me that so many people love our family! To be honest, I was a little nervous to announce this time around, because once you get to four kids, it seems like people start to question your sanity a little. Don’t worry, we are probably crazy, but we love our kids. I can’t imagine life being any more fun that it is in this stage.

I thought it’d be funny to share a blooper photo, but I actually didn’t end up with many! This is as close as it gets- Nella looks a little grumpy (about not being the baby anymore?), and Kaya’s one is backwards. Ha!

TWO. The sweetest little moment happened first thing one morning last week. Nella saw her Daddy, immediately grabbed a book off the floor, and crawled up into his lap, waiting for him to read it to her.

THREE. Kaya got her first pair of running shoes! I have to say, I don’t know if she was more excited, or I was! These are Sauconys (just like the pair I use for shorter runs), and I got them for under $15, so definitely a win! She’s signed up for her first “kid race” (fun run) this spring, so she was definitely pumped to try them out.I also realized it’s been far too many miles since I replaced my main pair of shoes (my legs always start to let me know when it’s time), so some new Brooks came in the mail for me, too! Something about bright blue shoes gets me excited to hit the pavement.
FOUR. Confession: since Nella was born, I almost never go shopping with all three kids on my own. I usually send Michael to the grocery store, but there’s no way he wants to go to the craft store for me, so we made a stop there when we were in the neighborhood last week. I have such good girls, but it was still a little chaotic. See all that yarn in the basket? Yeah… I wasn’t buying any of it, but the girls sure wished I was, and they kept finding every “pretty color” and throwing it in the cart! They told me they needed yarn to make something for me, which was so sweet in theory.When you’re so tired and want to grab everything off the shelf (but your pigtails look cuter than ever)!

FIVE. The new favorite activity around here is helping Nella ride the rocking horse! She would do this all day long if she could. Google created a nice little GIF that made this activity look even wilder than it really was, but I love their smiles. And yeah, that’s pretty much what my living room always looks like by mid-morning… toys everywhere. It partly makes me crazy, but I also realize that the mess is evidence that some awesome, creative kids live here, and they’re happy.

five favorites (01/23)

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I missed my “Five” post last Friday, so obviously, I had to make up for it somewhere! The end of the week turned into one big whirlwind of activities, so there literally wasn’t time for me to get on the computer at all. It’s crazy how life really can get that busy these days.

Anyway, some of my favorites from last week:

ONE. To piggyback on the cuteness overload in my last post, I had to start off with the sweetest little smile of the happiest baby girl! Her feet might not reach the pedals yet, but watch out, there’s a new driver in town!(And there are headbands all over the outside of the car because her sisters “decorated” it for Christmas…)Move on over!

TWO. It’s a good thing… a really good thing… she’s so dang cute, because then she turns around and does stuff like this! Newsflash: Cucumber slices are NOT hair accessories. Her hair was so slimy and crusty that she needed an emergency bath!

THREE. When your kids are in the bathroom and yell for you to “come see”, you never know what you might find… but I walked in to see these girls being sweet, sharing the step stool and hugging while getting ready for the day.

I know it seems like such a small thing, but these are the moments that remind me why I’m so grateful for our homeschooling schedule. There’s actually time for the girls to be together, whether that’s in the morning because we aren’t running to catch the bus, or just throughout the day in general. Don’t think they always get along like this, but that’s part of the beauty of it all, too- working through the rough parts of our most important relationships.

FOUR. We had enough snow, ice, and cold temperatures that the public schools canceled all but half of one school day last week! I missed a run, but to me, it is just not worth risking slipping on black ice (which we had a ton of around here). When most of it had melted, I was excited to get out for my run, even if it was only 10 degrees! I obviously needed a frozen-faced photo when I returned:FIVE. We let the girls stay in their jammies for most of the week, since we were snowed in anyway. They were looking so adorably snuggly that I just had to get a picture of all of them together, but despite all the marshmallow-bribery in the world, these were still the best I could do. Nella was just too busy shoving those marshmallows in! For fun, I let Kaya try to take a real picture on my DSLR for the first time ever. She actually did really well! And hey, here’s to maybe getting in more photos.I don’t know why Kaelyn looks so hesitant, because she willingly joined me for this one. Oh well, I still love it anyway!And now, of course, Kaya is asking to take pictures all the time… so she’s saving her allowance for a real camera of her own. I really hope she follows through with it, because I’d love to see a glimpse of the world through her eyes.

Happy Tuesday!

race 13.1 roanoke recap (my first half marathon!)

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On race morning, I woke up to the engulfing blackness of night that still exists at 4 A.M. I was excited, jittery, and just the slightest bit nervous for the day ahead. I picked up Nella so she could nurse, and Michael gently woke the older girls, managing to get them to use the bathroom and get buckled into their car seats while they were essentially still asleep.

We left home around 5 A.M. to make the hour or so drive up to Roanoke. We needed to be at least a little early so I could pick up my race packet! I ate half of a Kind bar on the way, but I was too anxious to have anything else but some water.

We were some of the first people to arrive, so there was no line to pick up my bib. I had plenty of time to use the bathroom, take a pre-race photo, and try to nurse Nella again before I had to leave her for the next couple of hours.
Around 6:45, we heard the national anthem, and then all half-marathoners were called to line up. The only other race I’ve run is the Monument Avenue 10k, which has an excessively large number of participants in comparison to this half marathon. Needless to say, I was surprised (and a little relieved) to see so few people lining up.

I tightened my shoelaces, the countdown began, and we were off! I got to wave to Michael and the girls on the way out!
I started out right behind the 2:00 Race Pacer, and I got a little ambitious and thought that maybe I would be able to stick by him through most of it. Thankfully, by mile 3, I wised up and decided that I needed to just do what felt good for me based on my training.

The course was a very flat trail, winding through some trees near a river. Around mile 4, I heard the guy behind me repeatedly asking race volunteers, “Is this the hill up here?” I knew there were going to be hills, but I really wasn’t worried about them, since I’m used to running in this area. I wasn’t sure what this other runner’s preoccupation with “the hill” was, but as soon as I saw it around mile 4.5, I knew.

It was the steepest hill I’ve ever run in my life! So many people immediately started walking, but I pushed on. Another runner girl cheered for me. Once I was past it, I was worried for the turnaround, because next time, I’d be trying to go down it.

The course was no longer flat after that point- we had one more large hill and then some slight inclines and declines all the way to the turnaround point at 6.8 miles. I was starting to feel the effects of only eating half of a granola bar before the race, so after circling through a tiny parking lot at the end of the route and getting back on the trail, I pulled out my fruit snacks and ate one at a time over the next couple of miles. I was drinking Gatorade out of my pack, as well as taking some at all but one of the aid stations. I was also surprised to see that so few runners had brought their own fuel belts, and although it was a perfect day for racing (overcast and not at all hot), I was glad to have mine.

In my training runs, running miles 1 through 6 would feel almost effortless. On race day, however, I felt like I was pushing my body the entire time, and I was just tired. Once I was at mile 7, I started playing number games with myself:

“I just have to run 3 more miles until I reach 10, and I can run 3 miles easily. Then I just have to make it 1.5 more miles to get to 11.5, and then it’s basically just one more mile until that finish-line adrenaline kicks in. No big deal; I’ve got this!” I know it sounds crazy, but when you’re pushing through the miles, somehow, that thought process is convincing.

At mile 11, just like in training, the muscles in my legs and feet started to burn. My respiration and heart rate felt just fine, but my legs were absolutely ready to be done. These last few miles definitely weren’t flying by, but I was managing okay.

At mile 12.5, I started to see the buildings where we had started out, and I heard the music at the finish line. I remembered how Lelia had encouraged me to give it my all for that last quarter of a mile, so I started to kick it into gear, despite how tired my legs were.

To my surprise, Michael and girls were waiting for me at mile 12.9! They were just standing there, chatting with a race volunteer, waiting for me to come over the bridge. I was so happy to see them, but Michael shouted, “Keep going!!!”, which was probably a good reminder, because I hadn’t thought I’d see them until it was time to stop. Michael started jogging with the stroller behind me.

I gave that last 0.2 all that I had, and when I crossed the finish line, I felt so much relief, and even some sadness to realize it was already over. 13!!! Nella was the only one of our kids still in a good mood, so she was willing to take a picture with me! The other girls were absolutely exhausted from being up so early, an I can’t say I blame them! Nella takes medal-wearing very seriously.
My average overall pace was 9:53 min/mile, and I finished just 29 seconds before my goal time. Overall, I’m really happy with how I did. And now, it’s safe to say I’ve caught the half-marathon bug. I’ve already been contemplating which race will be my next!

running and shutters (weekend)

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This past weekend started off very exciting- Jeff and Lelia welcomed their first baby into their family on Friday afternoon! I am beyond excited for them, and I can’t wait to meet baby Bryce in a few weeks! Kaya and Kaelyn are just as eager to hold him as I am.

Meanwhile, we started off our Saturday with some sweet baby Nella snuggles! One of the best things about Saturdays is being able to move a little more slowly and enjoy time together before we start the day’s projects.I had my longest training run planned for that morning- 13 miles! That’s the farthest I’ve ever run, so once I was finished, I was felling really proud (hence my hands in the air- woohoo!). All the muscles in my legs wanted to quit when I hit mile 11.5, but I pushed through, and when I reached the end of my route, Michael and the girls jumped out from around the corner and started yelling and cheering for me. They said they had to practice for race day… obviously! I’ll take “practice cheering” anytime. I love my thoughtful family.I was very ready for a nap after all that running, but first, we all helped Daddy finish putting the new shutters on the house. (Kaya insisted on wearing those blue toy glasses all day long!)
On Sunday morning, Nurse Kaelyn gave everyone checkups. She loves playing with this dress-up outfit and always tells me that she wants to be a “nurse [who] takes care of babies” when she grows up.

The rest of the weekend was filled with naps, homemade paninis, and church. What could be better? I love these simple weekends with my little family.

halfway to half-crazy (half marathon training update)

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Someone’s always talking about some new life-changing diet or health fad that will improve your life by 1000% and make all your dreams come true… but you don’t need any of that stuff, trust me. I’ve discovered the real secret to success:

Want to test your willpower? Make your ab muscles sore without doing any crunches? End up with a smokin’-hot farmer’s tan? Sleep better at night? Have a good reason for healthy snacking? Beef up your calves so that it’s hard to get your skinny jeans over them? Have an excuse to go (running) shoe shopping?

Train for a half marathon!

I’ve got just under one month to go until my first-ever half marathon, and overall, I’m still feeling pumped up and excited for race day. After nearly 8.5 years of running, it’s been really fun to follow an official training plan and challenge myself in a different way each day. I know I’ll never be the fastest (and speed intervals completely crush me sometimes), but I’m having a good time trying new things.

I discovered that the amount of sleep I get makes a huge difference in my pace and how I feel during a run. Sometimes, when the baby is up in the middle of the night or it’s been an insanely busy week, I question why I ever thought doing this was a good idea, because being a parent just makes you so tired. But slow miles are better than no miles, even on little sleep.

And I can’t help but feel accomplished when I get out there and get it done, despite the wind or rain. If I even come close to finishing in two hours on race day, I will be ecstatic.Thankfully, my sister-in-law Lelia has already done this a few times, and she’s been able to give me some great advice along the way, including coming up with healthy post-run snacks, since I’m a pretty picky eater. Kind bars, string cheese, and almonds have all been my favorites after finishing a long run.

Once I hit about 6 miles or so, I usually start to feel like I could just keep on running forever (although once I finally stop, my legs are always a little achey, reminding me that running indefinitely isn’t an option quite yet). I’ve actually been surprised to find that my sorest muscles after a long run are my abs, which I usually notice when I wake up and try to roll out of bed the next morning.

I invested in a second pair of running shoes (Saucony Kinvara 7) after reading this study, which found that runners who don’t always use the same model of shoes have a 39% lower risk of injury. Plus, how can you go wrong with all this neon?

Here’s to a few more weeks of long runs before RACE DAY! 🙂

five on friday (04/28)

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It’s the final Friday of April… what?! We’re already moving past spring into summer, and I can’t believe how the time is flying by.

ONE. We’ve had a tremendous amount of rain here for the past week and half, so when the sun finally came out again, we were more than willing to run outside! This little princess is the calmest baby. She’s happy to just sit in the stroller and watch everyone else play or work. That little tongue!

TWO. Between Michael being out of town and then all the rain, there wasn’t an ideal time to cut the grass this week, so our yard was starting to look a bit like a jungle. Michael was working late on Wednesday night, so I decided to mow the lawn as a surprise for him. This was my first time ever mowing the whole thing on my own, and I won’t tell you how long it actually took me to finish… but Michael was so happy and I felt pretty accomplished for getting it done. Plus, this totally counts as cross-training for my half marathon, right? Kaya took the picture- she’s getting good!

THREE. Speaking of my half marathon… Overall, I’m still feeling really pumped up and excited about it, and training is going well. I ran nine miles this morning, which is my furthest-ever distance. Running greater distances makes me want to nap more, and my appetite is a lot larger, too. #runallthemiles #takeallthenaps #eatallthefood

Needless to say, I was pretty happy when we all went out for Chinese after my long run last week! We’ve been trying to have one “family date” out for dinner each month, and it’s really been fun for all of us.

Don’t be fooled by all that chicken on her plate… Kaelyn pretty much gorges herself on Jello every time. Good thing she’s still only two and free!

FOUR. Anytime we go anywhere, Kaelyn loves pretending to drive… …and if you can’t drive the real car, a pretend one is a good substitute! Both girls love getting this grocery cart at Kroger. I’ll admit, it makes running errands a lot more fun!

FIVE. When your dog starts to shake off in the middle of you snapping a photo… haha!Linking up here, here, and here today!

monument avenue 10k race recap (2017)

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This was my second year running the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k, and I had even more fun this year than last!

I convinced Karl to do this as his very first race, and I was so excited to be able to start together! Any reason to see my brother is a good one, especially now that he lives several hours away from us. Credit goes to my dad, who came to cheer us on, for these first couple of photos!
Karl and I started at the same time, but we didn’t stick together- I told him I’d see him at the finish line, and I took off! I started a little fast, but I decided to keep it up for as long as I could (and pass up some of the slower groups).Apparently, I also do really weird things with my fingers while I’m running…I took the first half a little too fast, and I really started to feel it around mile 3.5 or so. I slowed down, but still tried to stay within my goal pace of 9:00 min/mile. At the finish, I clocked in at 53:34, which was an average of 8:37 min/mile. While training here in the mountains, my best 6-miler averaged out to 9:14 min/mile, so shaving off that much time made me ecstatic!Last year, I was so nervous for this race, because I was in my first trimester of pregnancy, and dealing with a lot of nausea and fatigue. My only goals last year were to finish and keep the baby safe. This year, all I could think about was seeing my family and holding my sweet little Nella at the finish line. It’s amazing how much can change in just one year. Photo-bomb courtesy of Karl!Jeff and Lelia ran too, and we met up with them afterward! Lelia gets some serious credit for doing this at 30 weeks pregnant. Mom and Dad Irwin also came to see us finish, but they had to leave shortly after.
Of course, there had to be donuts afterward, so we picked some up and hung out at Jeff and Lelia’s place for a little while. These were delicious, but I’ve realized that almost anything tastes amazing after a run.Here’s to another race down, and more to come- I’ve got the fever now!

five on friday (04/07)

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ONE. We spent a lot of time outdoors this week, enjoying the sunshine and trying to wear the puppy out (and let’s be honest, the kids too)! It’s a good thing we soaked in the warmth while we could, because today we’ve had snow flurries and wind gusts of up to 40 mph. April’s weather is full of surprises!

Nella loves riding in the stroller……and napping in it, too!Sidenote: when did Kaya’s legs get so long?!We met up with Daddy at the playground one day after work. The girls eagerly wait for him to come home each day, and I love seeing him act completely silly and play with them when he does.

TWO. Scout’s been learning all the important things a puppy should: house-training, not jumping up on people, sit, stay, and oh, you know, how to go down the slide.  When your best friend is four years old, that’s what you get! She actually did this completely on her own- no pulling, pushing, or coaxing needed (although it might’ve had something to do with retrieving the stick she dropped)!

THREE. One reason I like going to Kangaroo Kids each week is that I can play with my girls without getting distracted by all the things on my to-do list at home. Nella usually takes a little catnap while we’re there, and that’s when I get to be crazy! This week, I helped each of them into these little tunnels and then rolled them around.

I wish they’d never get too old for this.

FOUR. A few months ago, I gave Kaya a lesson on how to tie her shoes. She didn’t seem to understand yet, so I just let it go and figured we’d come back to it another day. This morning, while she was playing with a larger pair of shoes I had stored away for her to use in the future, she randomly came up to me and said, “Look! I tied my shoe!” At first, I almost thought she was somehow trying to trick me, because we haven’t practiced since that one day, and the shoelaces were tied so very neatly.

She then proceeded to show me how she did it. No tricks here!

I’m so proud of this little girl!FIVE. I guess I’m still on a high from running the Monument Avenue 10k last weekend (blog post on that coming next week), because I went ahead and signed up for my very first half marathon. I’ve wanted to try the distance for a few years, and I figured that now is as good a time as any to just go for it! I love seeing what my body can do and how I can grow stronger.Happy weekend!

Linking up here, here, and here today!