Running Against Yourself

Running Against Yourself? What do you think?

I seem to hear this saying frequently. I have been thinking a lot about it. It applies to my experience with this past race. My last time was 1:59:24. I wanted to beat 2 hours...and I did. It was a great feeling.

But, I've noticed over this year that my pace has improved. I wanted to see how fast I'd be if I pushed myself and did some speed work. I don't think I'll ever be able to run a 6 minute mile....I'm too short for that anyways! But, it is fun for me to keep challenging myself. I love running, training, working hard, and then realizing that I have accomplished my goal. Maybe I am making up for lost time in my teenage years. Anyways, in August, I decided I wanted to run another race to see how fast I could be. I wanted my pace to be "in the eights."

*note: there is a huge shadow behind my thighs...I hope they aren't that big in real life*

Well....I am so excited because I did it. I came in at 1:51:19!!! Next time it is going to be below 1:50. My overall pace was 8:30 min/miles. I almost made the top 100. I came in 102. This was very exciting for me!

Here were my thoughts during the race:

Mile 1:

There are so many people. We were doing mostly canal running. I kept worrying that I'd fall in as I tried to pass people. I felt good but needed to push slightly. I didn't want to start out too slow. But I needed to conserve energy to burst it at the end.

First Water Station:

People came from the sides, cut me off, and then started walking. It irritated me!!! Threw off my pace for a few minutes. Overall, my cup grabbing technique has improved this year!! I don't think I got anyone wet this time, except for myself :)

Mile 3: I cheered....Yay! 3 Down!

Mile 6.5:

Turn-around time. I still felt really good. I wanted to hang in there for about 3.5 miles before pushing the last three miles to the end. It was hard to resist running too hard. I made this mistake last year and was exhausted at mile 11. But these miles went by fast. A lady with a bright pink tank top was in front of me. I tried to keep up with her. She kept waving and cheering and had great race energy.

Mile 9: Should I push now? Or try to hold off another mile? I started to push. But it worked out fine.

Mile 10 - 13.....

FASTER. Push!!! I was so excited because at the last 1/2 mile, I saw Maddy waiting on the corner with my kids (and a few cute ones of hers)!! They were cheering for me. I started to speed up and run as fast as I could the rest of the way into the stadium. It was a good spot for them to motivate me. It was so sweet of her to bring my boys so early in the morning. Thanks, Maddy! Wish she could have ran with me...it felt strange to not see her in front of me and have to find my own pacers.

Finish:

Sprint to finish. I haven't had the energy to do this my past 2 races. I was proud of myself for finishing strong. I was happy with my time, too!

I have been so hungry all day, though. I don't need a spoon, I need a SHOVEL!! I am not sure why, but even with my training I haven't been this hungry.

I am glad I did the training. But now what? I think I'll have to get another schedule to follow, even if I am not training for anything.

Until next time.......

A Great Halloween

Happy Halloween!!

We had a fabulous Halloween this year. The kids got so into it. They were excited about dressing up and trick-or-treating for weeks. It was so much fun. Here are some pictures of our celebrating.

Pumpkin Carving Time

Daddy is a fantastic carver. Daven and Logan got creative and helped draw their pumpkin faces. I offered to help carve, but Mike quickly assigned me to gutting the pumpkins. I guess it is an art form and I didn't get that talent :) Glad I married someone who has it.

Ward Trunk-Or-Treat

The Ward Trunk-or-Treat was on Friday, October 28th. The kids were SOOO excited to dress up. Daven was at a birthday party, so I took some cute pictures of Logan and Aves before we left. I love their little dancing in this picture.

We were waiting in front for daddy to come pick us up with Daven. Avery suddenly became so happy and excited. She needed someone to share the excitement with. She stretched out her arms and gave Logan the happiest hug ever. I made them stay there so I could take a snap shot! So CUTE!!!

Daven got dressed in the car and then the kids were ready to trunk-or-treat. Mike and I took off early to go to dinner with friends. Maya, our babysitter made sure they got lots of candy! Avery spent all morning Saturday taking one or two bites of everything. She had so much fun!

Minnie Mouse

Avery was excited because there were THREE Minnie Mouse's at the trunk-or-treat. She felt really special.

We put sponge curlers in all day for Halloween. She was a giant frizz-poof of tight curls. But they looked really cute!

Sparkly shoes!

Minnie Mouse kept saying she was tired. She fell asleep in this camping chair. It was really sweet.

BATMAN!!

Logan was super excited to be Batman. He wanted to wear his costume every day during the month of October. It was really sweet. He made a very adorable batman.

Passing out candy is almost as much fun as trick-or-treating!

NINJA!

LOVE this picture!

Dav loved passing out candy, too!

Halloween Street Party

Recycled White Trash Costume! I guess that is what White Trash folks do....recycle!

So the street behind us is the place to be on Halloween. My friend, Lisa, invited us to crash her street's party. It was so sweet of them to invite us. We brought camping chairs and sat in the driveway. We also had yummy soup and nacho-cheese dip. It was fun to see everyone. Since several people in our ward live out in the county, they came trick-or-treating on our neighborhood. So it was fun to see everyone. Wish we would have bought a house on their street :)

Baby Chloe...11 days old. This is Lisa's neighbor, Debra. They hung out with us and their baby was the cutest, littlest thing ever.

This is really the only costume I have.

The Jensen's came and visited us, too. Love the super girl costume!

Happy Halloween!!!

Firsts, Lasts, and New Beginnings

This summer was a busy one for our family. It was filled with exciting firsts, some tearful lasts, and a new beginning for our family in our new house. Here are some highlights.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: I took the kids to Utah for the month of June. The thought of spending summer in HOT Arizona overwhelmed me. So I thought that if we went to Utah, it would be cooler. We would get a chance to see our family. I felt we outstayed our welcome. We also missed daddy a lot. But we did have a lot of fun times & made great memories. It was so great to spend time with the kids' cousins, Mike's sister, Grandmas, my sister, and lots of good friends.

The KAYSVILLE Parade:

How is it we've never been to this parade? It was amazing. I couldn't believe all the loot we came home with. My kids' hats weren't even big enough to hold it all. We went with my sister and her husband, Nick.

After the parade, we hit TACO TIME. Everyone gets most excited about the TACO TIME float. They threw out millions of balls. We came home with at least 20. Well, their business plan worked. It was packed after the parade. I actually love TACO TIME, wish there was one here.

2. It's a GIRL for Nick and Erica.

I was so excited because Erica invited me to her ultrasound when they found out the sex of the baby. It was even on my birthday!! I couldn't have picked a better way to spend the day. I felt so loved to be invited to this. Their baby girl is so cute. I can't wait to meet her. I'm going to fly out next month to visit them.

My mom and I threw Erica a baby shower. It was so much fun to see everyone. My sister looks so cute. She was hardly showing when I got to Utah and had the cutest little belly (very little) by the time I left.

All three of these ladies were pregnant and due around the same time. My cousin, JoDee on the right actually had her baby girl, Hailee about 2 weeks ago. That means Erica is getting close!

3. Daven learned to ride his bike!!!

My mom has a big park right behind her house with a giant trail. We kept going out to practice. One of the days, Daven told me to just let go. So I did. I was amazed at how far he went. He just took off and didn't fall for a long time. He had so much fun going around and around the track. Way to go, Daven.

And some Lasts:

1. Daven had his last day of first grade.

This was his teacher Ms. Vogt. She was one of those true angels. I can't describe how sweet and loving she was. Daven had a great year. We will miss Ms. Vogt and we will miss his old school!! He had 2 great years there. We are so lucky he had the chance to go there & have 2 wonderful teachers.
2. Logan had his last day of Preschool with Miss Heidi.

I loved her preschool, too. Logan learned so much and I really felt like it prepared him for Kindergarten. I loved that it was a small group of kids. He learned so much. Thanks Miss Heidi! And there were so many cute boys for him to hang out with. He's always been surrounded by a neighborhood of girls, so this was really fun.

3. We said good-bye to our old house...

And moved into our new one. Grandma and Papa were so sweet and came to help us move. I cannot even tell you how hard they worked. Sun up to sun down. We were so grateful for their help. They did so much!!!
4. We hosted our last playgroup at our swimming pool.

Sniffle, sniffle. I miss this so much. We have so many great memories in this pool..... with both family and friends. I miss the squeals I used to hear from the backyard. Maybe someday again :(

We are now getting settled into our new house. I will have to post some pictures soon. I still miss our old house, though. I had to get it all cleaned out for our renters. When it was empty I walked around from room to room and just cried. I kept picturing the kids in the tub, in the pool, in their rooms and it made me sad to say good-bye. It was our home for the last 8 years..the house we became a family in. I still love and miss it sometimes!

Only in Kindergarten

Logan hopped off the bus on Friday wearing this hat! (It's a racoon.) He came running towards me with the biggest grin on his face. I thought, only in Kindergarten are you so proud to show your mom your awesome new hat! In fact, he was so excited that he helped Avery make one of her own.

We are starting to get settled in our new house. It has been a big process. I seem to have forgotten all that's involved with a move.

We moved in on a Thursday and the kids started school on Monday. And a new school at that! I was so worried about them having to go through so many changes. It was hard the first week for them, but I think they are starting to adjust. I think we are going to like it here. We aren't too far, just about 10 miles from our old house. But in some ways, it feels really far! We miss the closeness to all of our friends. And we miss Daven's old school.
This little munchkin thought she was going to hop on the bus right along with her brothers. Every day she wishes! She kept saying "I go preschool.....????" One more year little girl. It has been such a great experience to have just me and her during the day. We have never had that. It does feel really quiet and lonely, sometimes though, too. I miss my boys. Avery misses them, too. The first day of school we were leaving a brunch with friends and she suddenly burst into tears, screaming "GA-GA, my GA-GA" (That is short for Logan). But I think spending time alone with her will be so great for us. It has already cut down on the tantrums.
Mike watched the boys get on the bus. Then I drove to school and met them. They are lining up in this picture and waiting to go inside. I was excited because our new school will let you walk them to their seats on the first day.
I can't believe this little guy is a kindergartner. He has a late birthday so I wondered how he was going to handle all-day kindergarten. Plus, he is my little sweetheart. But, he seems to be doing really well. The first week was exhausting for him. He had a melt-down around 4:30 each day from being so tired. But, I knew things were going to be okay when he told me he was excited for school last Monday. He has made a new buddy, Carter at the bus stop. They sometimes hold hands as they get on, which thrills me to death! It's going to be okay!!!

His favorites are library and P.E. I can't even describe how excited he was to show us the first library book he picked out. Finally he gets to be big like his brother, too!
This handsome guy is in 2nd grade. I think he is going to like his teacher. They haven't had many outdoor recesses since it is so hot here. But he has really enjoyed playing Legos at indoor recess. I know he really misses his best buddy, Nathan from last year. But we are hoping he'll make some more great friends.