18 miles later...

...and I'm one sore mama! I wish I could say this weeks long training run was "invigorating" or at least "exciting", but sadly it was neither. I knew I was in trouble when my knees hurt during my short 3 and 4 mile training runs during the week. Trouble is exactly what I found myself in out on the trails this week. One near asthma attack (no, I've never had asthma EVER in my entire life) & a limping left knee is what I ended up with by mile 17! Mile 18 was down right UGLY...but I finished (many thanks go out to my mentor Jodi for that)!

The Friday night before my long run I was in a bad mood because NOTHING in me wanted to get up at 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning and subject myself to such cruel and unusual torture. Yet, there was this deep sense of duty I was struggling with that just wouldn't let me entertain thoughts of sleeping in, and skipping the torture that awaited me on the trails. I knew I would have to get up at the insane hour of 4:30, even though the rest of the world lay sleeping in their cozy beds. With the call of "duty" weighing heavy on my shoulders, I finally rolled out of bed at 4:45 (no, those extra 15 minutes didn't help me any) & stumbled to the kitchen to begin my Saturday morning "routine". Oh, how I wish that "routine" involved coffee...but sadly it does NOT!

The run started off good, I kept doing a mental body check... "knees...good - breathing...good - no cramping - no weird aches - no unusual pains" & I was pleasantly surprised to find that all systems seemed to be in good working order (the 2 ALEVE I took at 5:00 a.m. were probably playing a significant role here). I'm even happy to announce that everything was even looking good around miles 6, 7, and 8! I think it was around mile 10 that I began feeling my knees say "NO MORE"! What! "They CAN'T be doing this to me now...I still have a LONG way to go"...(I'm pretty sure I said that out loud). I think you get the picture from here. I tried adding a few more walking intervals to "rest" my knees a little more, but that didn't really do jack-squat to relieve the pain.

Oh, and the weird breathing thing hit me around mile 17, just before I was finished. Out of NO WHERE I started wheezing and gasping for air! This was something completely new to me, as this has never happened to me before & it took me completely off-guard. Luckily, it only lasted a couple of seconds & I was able to just "walk it off" & finish the run, but man that was scary!

So, there you have it! My not-so-heroic 18 mile story. Oh, and for those of you "Nosy-Nelly's"...it took me every bit of 4 hours to finish that run. Although, A LOT of time was spent lingering at water stops & looking for Porta-Potty's along the way. For the most part, the actual running times were pretty average. SO... the lesson I learned from this weeks torture...er, I mean training run - "Sometimes finishing doesn't look pretty...but it always feels good".


*Does anyone want to offer me a free massage? LOL!

"Big People" Halloween Fun.

Jon and I had the RARE opportunity to attend an "adult only" costume party last Saturday. While the outdoor party was a bit chilly for my taste, it was still a ton of fun! Naturally, we went dressed as 80's "rockers". Not that I remember that much of the 80's....but apparently the 80's look is back (God help me), so the costume was pretty easy to put together from the choices on the clearance rack at our local Target.



Of course, my husband spent most of the evening playing the guitar....


Jon was trying to look cool...but I think he missed it by a long shot!




Jeremiah the retro 70's dude & Darcy the tiger.

"The Man In The Yellow Hat"



Watch out...Martha's got a gun!


Wait....is that a costume?

"Berlin The Blizzard" ??
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As soon as I find my USB cable, I'll download the kids halloween pics. I guess I better go check Maya's crib-LOL!

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

McKenna's preschool went to the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago (shame on me for being so late on this post) & it was a lot of fun. In September I went to the apple orchard with Chandler's preschool, so I wanted to make sure McKenna and I had some special time together also.


*This is McKenna and her best friends Taylor.


The corn maze was a lot of fun to "get lost" in.


My sweet girly!



The hayride was one of the best parts of the day.


McKenna LOVED feeding all the farm animals.



"Milking" the cow...what a hoot!


Seriously....what's more fun than sliding out the butt of a giant caterpillar?