Photo Dump

My life for the last 4.5 weeks... 

FRIENDS! I hate the winter. 

FaceTime w my boo! He's blowing me a kiss.

The best way to keep a child occupied at Target- pop pop

Elmo is stuck to the velcro. What fun! 

Do y'all know how hard it is to get a good photo of 1 toddler, let alone two? 

#butchplease

Small children + winter gear = nightmare

Don't worry, I let out the carseat straps, so it actually buckled before we got moving. 

Best trivia team ever. HA! We had a strong first half (like the Vols) & then went downhill from there. At least we had a creative name. 

I am now part time in the boot! I didn't wear it to church this morning. It's nice to wear 2 shoes again. 

Let It Snow/Ice Ice Baby

It has been a crazy last couple of weekends weather wise in East Tennessee. Last week, it rained for days and days and days... MIS. Thursday, they were calling for snow. A lot of schools either closed for the day or were let out early, but not Tate's. Since they had said the snow was supposed to start in my area around 3, I kept looking out the window, but nothing... Let me tell you- that was the day from you know where. Little Miss was being extra dramatic & I could not put her down. I had to hold her all day & she didn't nap at all in the morning, threw up her lunch all over her outfit & didn't have any extra clothes. I had to put her chunky thighs in B's clothes. I held her until she fell asleep in the afternoon while my hand & arm went to sleep. Anyway... not our best day. Meghan got home at 345 & told me to go home right then & she would watch the kids until Jamie & Lauren got there. I left just in time because I barely made it home- y'all know my roads are bad on a normal day, but they're awful in snow. 

This was taken at 330pm 

And this one at 430 when I got home

My power went out around 6pm. Thank goodness for generators, we stayed nice & warm. School was cancelled on Friday, so I got a 4 day weekend bc of MLK day. 

We had another round of weird weather this weekend! I woke up Friday morning to my car encased in an inch of ice. Obviously, school was cancelled! Another long weekend! I had definite cabin fever Friday. Thankfully, everything was melted by Saturday morning & I went to the bball game with Andrea!

And then of course to TR to play with my friends after :) 

St. Jude Marathon 2012

I guess I should do an official post on the marathon. I mean, I did spend 4.5 months training for it. The training was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I went out twice from July-Dec 1. I went to two football games & only tailgated for one. If you know me, you know how painful that was for me. I think I picked a great season to run a marathon though- I didn't miss much. Watching some of those games was actually more painful than my runs were. 

My running was schedule was: TWR & Saturday with cross training on Sunday. Wednesdays were the longest weekday runs. I got up to 10 miles. It was rough. I ran outside in the dark in the mornings at 5, so I could get the run in before work. I literally can not run in the afternoons. I was so tired from chasing after heathens all day & had ZERO motivation. I got up at 5am every Saturday morning & was running by 7am. A lot of times, it was dark for the first hour. I had no social life & I was completely boring. I also had the appetite of a 15 year old boy. I ate ALL. THE. TIME. Greek yogurt & protein smoothies were my BFFS. Let's be honest, still are. I have a serious obsession with Cho, but anyway. 

I got sick twice during training- once early with the stomach virus & then the week of my last long (22) mile run, I got a nasty cold/sinus infection. I, thankfully, got meds & was all better pretty quickly, but I didn't get to do the full 22. I was worn out 10 miles in, so I had to change it up a little bit. I feel like I could have done better if I hadn't gotten sick, but such is life. 

This is the runner's version of arm candy

GoSportID, Garmin & Shop All Tied Up bracelet

The GoSportID is awesome bc it has 2 sides- one with emergency contact info 

& I put a Bible verse on the other side: Hebrews 12:1

This was just a normal Wednesday run. I was exhasuted all the time.

I DID IT! 20 freaking miles.

Rog & I went to Memphis on Friday, Nov 30. Kathy took me to the expo downtown which was not crowded at all. We picked up all my stuff & the girls' things, as well. I was so proud to be a HERO! & raise money for those sweet kids. 

We loaded up on Hero goodies! St. Jude is so awesome & I am so happy I picked this marathon to run. 

The only pic I have of the 3 of us from Friday night! Dan made a great spaghetti dinner for all of us & I was asleep by 10pm. I slept GREAT. I was so surprised because I could not sleep at all the night before my first half.

I think Little Miss was more excited than any of us about this whole thing! She & Oscar made signs!

I ran the first 13 miles without seeing anyone I knew, but because it was fine because the first 16 miles had great crowd support. It was probably the most fun race I've ever done. There were water stations basically every mile which was awesome. It was a HOT day for running & for December. It was 72 degrees by the time I finished. They were handing out cold towels at several stations & I was SO thankful. That really was the best thing ever. 

Start Line- eek. I was not nervous, but I did have to hold back a few tears when I first walked up. I had worked so hard. 

I don't know if you can see this, but this is CHLOE! It was so cool to see her. This was about mile 12 & I wanted to scream out "I KNOW HER! I KNOW HER!" But I didn't ;) This was obviously near the end of the half marathon & people were really happy at this point. 

FINALLY! I saw my friends & I was so happy!!! This was mile 13 & I was still feeling pretty good, but it was HOT. I think it was close to 11am at this point. 

I saw Amy, Nick, Rog, & the kids around mile 16! I was not feeling my best, so I decided to listen to music, but since I don't listen to music normally, I hated it. I stopped around mile 18 to try & throw up. I hadn't ever stopped during a long run, but I really needed to throw up. It was so hot & I wanted to run faster, but I couldn't. Anyway, the last 8 miles were flat & boring with MINIMAL crowd support. The only people I remember seeing were some frat boys running a water station & my dad at mile 23.5. OH & the beer shots at mile 22! HA! 

Never once did I think that I wasn't going to finish. I had worked too hard for too long to not finish. I would have crawled across the finish line if I had to. By the end, I was running 3 minutes & walking 1. I was SO over it. As soon as I rounded the corner into AutoZone park, my friends were waiting for me. That was the BEST! I have never been happier in my life. I could see Amy & Chloe in our suite when I finished which was awesome. 

BE WARNED! GROSS PIC BELOW

This is what happens when you run 26.2- GAH-ROSS.

I could not walk after I sat down in that chair. It was horrible. Also, I had my shirt on backwards the entire time. I didn't notice it until I was in the car on the way home. Bahaha what? Who doesn't notice that?? 

Anyway, I ran it & I do not think I will ever run one again. The training was too much on my body & my social life ;) 

Marathons are hard work :) 

SO thankful for all the support I had! 

SO FUN! 

I took a few days off after the race & then began a reverse taper until...

Today marks week 3 of the boot & week 4 of no running. I am going NUTS! I never realized how much I loved running & how sane it kept me. Riding the stationary bike has been torture. 

I think this was God's way of telling me to slow my roll. I have only been working out every other day & not doing near as much as I used to. I hate it. I have been working on my upper body which I did not work on at ALL from July-December. I need to be looking good for Charleston in 2 months. 

Anyway, I finished a marathon & I am so proud of myself! I can't wait to run the race this year - the HALF! It was absolutely the best. The crowd support was phenomenal & running through St.Jude campus was SUPER cool! Seeing those sweet angels was so inspiring. 

I lost my phone charger, so I don't have a cord to upload any recent pictures. I need to work on that this week. Oh & I definitely thought I would cry multiple times during the race, but I never did. I was so shocked. I  was so hungry when we got home & SO looking forward to dinner. We got dinner & my order was wrong & I LOST IT. Uncontrollable sobbing. I had been holding it all in & that set me off. So funny! I needed to let it out :) 

Women's Half Marathon + Birthday

In the middle of marathon training, I decided I would run a half marathon. I needed to redeem myself for Country Music Half, where I almost passed out. I chose to run the Women's Half Marathon in Nashville because it was a close race. Also, Stephanie was training to run it as her first half & I wanted to be there for support. 

 

It was a really great race! I felt super prepared & I had a PR of over 4 minutes from the Knox half!!!!! The race was extremely hilly (which I am used to), so I was super pumped with my time. I had to run 1 mile before & 1 mile after the race to get in 15 for the day which was my scheduled training run. Marathon training is not a joke, y'all.

The next weekend, I had a 16 mile run. I can't listen to music while I run esp during a race, so I listened to 4 or 5 books during training. I listened to about 3 songs during the marathon & had to turn it off. I can't focus on running with the music. 

Enjoyed a lovely dinner at Lakeside with my friends- not sure where the group picture is :(

Enjoyed a lovely lunch with my family in Cookeville 

I am alive!

Hello! I am alive- the stomach virus did not get me :) however, I feel like I have lived another life since I last posted. I was just over a month into marathon training & I really had no idea what I was in for. No idea! It was one of the hardest things I have ever done (training), but I set a goal to run a marathon in 2012 & I did! More on that in a later post though. 

Lived in compression gear for the last 4 months

Labor Day weekend at the Roo

My bestest buddy

Only game I got to tailgate for

Why am I blogging on a Saturday night instead of out with friends doing something fun?? Oh, that's because I am recovering from a horrible stomach virus. Thankfully, the worst part only lasted about 12 hours, but MAN. That was a rough 12 hours. It is a very contagious little bug because it spread to almost everyone I came in contact with this week + everyone they saw. Be glad if you did not see me. I lost over 5lbs from Thursday morning to Friday morning. I was scheduled for a 12 mile run this morning, but needless to say, that did not happen. I don't think half a sleeve of Saltines & a can of chicken broth in a span of 36 hours are adequate fuel for a long distance run. I am definitely on the road to recovery now. I pretty much despise throwing up more than anything in life & it just wouldn't stop. 

I guess I should blog about my vacation which was awesome- a week on the beach with NO children to be responsible for. I just had to worry about me. Man, is it humid in South Carolina. I was soaked from head to toe every morning after running. I got a massage which was wonderful- if only I could relax. What is wrong with me?! I am more & more obsessed with Charleston every single time I go. Seabrook was perfect. 

View from the deck- out front was the ocean

I want one.

MAC&CHEESE EGG ROLLS. AMAZE.

As you can see- super crowded ;)

I made bang bang shrimp & it was spot on. 

I hate deer & these stupid ones are not scared of people at all.

Sunrise beach run

I definitely got used to this view every morning

Eating at one of my Charleston FAVS

Amontillado burger- Mom's

Tell-tale heart aka heart attack on a plate

Burger, bacon, cheese, onion straws, & a fried egg

Take me back, please.

New Tervis water bottles - babies can't open them 

Success.

Thanks to that little blonde for giving me the stomach virus

Also, Melissa & I went to the J Crew factory sale a couple weekends ago. I've been before & it was totally fine. I got there when it opened, walked right in, & shopped until I was ready to go. They haven't had a sale in a few months, so I was super excited about going. Everything is under $100 with most things under $20. I think $25 was the most I paid for something & that was a $178 blazer. 

Anywho, we get up before the sun & get to Asheville at 730 (sale opens at 9am). We could not even get a spot in the parking lot of the warehouse. There are probably 300 people in line before us. HOLY MOLY. We just drove 2+ hours, we aren't leaving now. So, Mel & I waited in line from 730am until 1pm when we finally got in. Only 75 people are allowed in at a time, but there is no limit on how long you can stay inside. We were in there for about 2 hours & we only got about 3/4 through all the stuff, but we were just exhausted at that point. 100% worth it because I got $1100 worth of clothing for *drum roll please* $185. BAM! 

I love every single thing. SO happy. 

Bring on the next sale. 

That's about it for me! Football starts Friday & it's Labor Day weekend :)