Mother Racer

Monday: I met up with Amber, Rachelle & Mac for a 8 mile run. We finished in 1:04.02. It was a nice recovery run… I needed it. At home, the girls did their chores (after much crying :))… We did tell them once they were done, we would take them swimming at my friend Rachelle’s clubhouse pool.

We had fun! We left right in time for lunch… The girls wanted to make lunch today. I have a hard time letting my girls make their “own food”. So I let them make Mac & Cheese with spam…

Corom and I decided to bring in the outside climbing dome. I figured the girls would play more with it if it were inside during winter…

They loved it. Me… I just kept thinking, what a mess this is with all the blankets… Oh well! It kept them busy the rest of the afternoon. We had the Barney’s and Fullmer’s over for dinner and family night. The girls then slept in the jungle gym (dome) fort.

Tuesday: I met up with Amber and Mac and ran for 1:05.33 minutes… I was so tired this morning and I felt lousy but I got it in. I babysat for my neighbor today… But I was able to get away for an hour to work in my oldest’s classroom. I had fun… And she actually wanted me to help her! 🙂

I ended watching a few more kids before I headed to track practice.

The distance runners ran 2 miles warmup, 8-10 hill surges, then went out for another 3 miles to finish it off. The girls had friends over, Corom went to a meeting and then it was bed time. I went to bed way too late again (watching the Bachelor) but it’s my own fault!

Saturday: Well the morning started off with a 3:45 a.m. alarm. It was tough but Corom and I got up, got dressed for the race this morning, picked up Mike, Wes and another friend Melanie. We made the 3 hour and 15 minute drive to St. George to run the 1/2 marathon. (Corom and Mike ran the 5k.) Of course we got pulled over, just 6 miles from our destination. 😦

Once we arrived to the start, Melanie and I went on a 10:30 minute warmup. I decided that with this being the 1st race since my marathon I was not going to race. I know that I am not ready (mentally) and have not done the proper speed training to race. I wore my training shoes even! But once the gun went off, I took off because I was racing! It was a very hilly course (some long and some steep)… And I felt good. Once I hit mile 5, I began to have those thoughts creep into my head of dread; dread of how much longer I had to go!!! I kept thinking, if I would have held back and not raced this I would have enjoyed it more. But there was no turning back and I knew I had to push through the pain for 8 more miles! I was in 2nd place from the start and finished in 2nd. I knew I couldn’t catch the 1st place woman, I didn’t have it in me and the competitive me didn’t want the 3rd place woman to catch me. I did have a friend (Jeff) stay with me from mile 5-7 which helped. I made him go because I knew he could do a lot better! It was a mentally tough race for me today and there were times during this race that I didn’t enjoy it. But I think that that is ok! I know it will help me in future races and will help me to become stronger!

I was happy to cross the finish line!!! I came in at 1:22.54 (I believe). It was slower than my last years time but I am totally ok with that!

The lady who won, rocked it. She was so strong… There were times I couldn’t even see her in front. Good times (well after it was over :)). Corom and Mike ran well in their 5k! They ran around a 24:15… It was a beautiful morning and great weather. It was great seeing so many friends down there!

(The bigger picture is of Corom and I… :)) Corom and Mike did skip away for an hour (well a little over an hour) while we were hanging around the finish line… They went climbing somewhere nearby.

We left shortly after the awards and went straight to the running store for new shoes. I do like getting new shoes, especially when you have a $100 to go towards the shoes. We grabbed In-N-Out for lunch and headed back on our 3 1/2 hour drive back. Yep… It was a quick trip! I picked the girls up from grandmas (Corom went to a church meeting… Priesthood meeting)… It is Stake Conference for our Stake. That evening Corom and I went to the adult session for Stake conference. It was very nice to listen to the speakers without kids! Is that bad to say? Both Corom and I were so tired tonight!

Sunday: We went to church today… Like I said… It was Stake Conference so all the Wards (8 or 9) met together this morning. I struggled today!!! My kids were everywhere today. They fought tons, cried a lot (all 4 of them), and were very loud. It was hard today to keep them quiet and to keep them from fighting! It was nice to come home after church ended. The Burks came over today and cooked us lunch… Chicken, potatoes, tons of veggies, etc. They have these pots that they are selling for a company… They need to cook dinner for 30 families… So of course we said we are good for them to come over. The dinner was amazing! They did a great job and it was nice hanging out!

For dinner we headed up to the Fullmer’s… It’s Amy’s birthday this week so we celebrated it a little while her sister was in town. My girls continued to fight there too…

My youngest bit my 3rd daughter, my 3rd daughter pushed my youngest and she fell and hit her head. This is normal for my girls. It is so hard sometimes, well a lot of the time! They did sit in time out for a long time and then had to hug it out. Yeah… Corom and I are at a loss. But It wasn’t all bad with the kids today…

The girls really wanted to play in the mud… So we let them. They had fun! And it was beautiful out for this time of year.

Tuesday: I met up with Beth and ran Harry’s loop with her (I ran that loop yesterday with Amber… Harry’s hill is a mile long, steep climb run… With more hills along the loop). We tried to tempo 2 miles down once we reached the top but the roads were snow packed and it was hard to run on. It was the fear of slipping. I was able to capture a picture of the beauty of our route when it was light out and the roads were plowed…

Today was my long day of babysitting… I didn’t get much done but it’s all good. It didn’t stop my kids from doing what they always do.

I did work in my 2nd daughter’s classroom for a little while. Her teacher is working on something in their class and took pictures of all the kids and ran it through an app to age them 100 years…

It looks a little freaky!

I went to indoor track practice and sent the distance kids off on a run… I was only able to follow them for a little while today. They are good kids! I don’t ever have to worry about them ditching out on a run… But I do always express to them that it is up to them to get what they want to out of practice.

Corom had a meeting at the church and the girls and I did the homework/bedtime routine. We did have a friend stop by this evening and before we knew it, it was 12:30 a.m. It was fun visiting with you, Julie.

Wednesday: Well I was unable to get up at 4:50 for my run… So I finally pulled myself out of bed around 6:45 and went for a 30 minute run. It was horrible! I felt lousy and my legs wouldn’t go. I babysat again today. Then I took the 2 older girls to their piano lessons.

Corom worked late tonight and I went to bed early!

Thursday: I met up with Danny this morning for a 11 mile run in 1:21.48. It was a great run. I had a PTO meeting at the school for the Art Festival coming up…

… Later the 2 younger girls harassed all the junior high kids as they walked by…

Yes my kids can be quit annoying but it’s fun to watch. 🙂 I sent the HS kids on a fun Fartlek run…

Then I headed over to the elementary school for SEP’s (end of the term reviews) and to sit at the table for the book exchange.

We let the girls have a few friends over for a movie and playing around…

It was a loud bunch but they had fun. 🙂

Friday: I went out for a 43:38 minute easy run this morning. It was a lone run but I enjoyed the time to myself. I had a lot of time to think… These past few days, I’ve been going through my blog to write down my workouts for the 4 months leading up to my marathon at CIM. I am sending it to a friend of mine to revise it and see what I need to do different… I realized that I am not running enough miles. I have averaged about 50-55 miles for most of my weeks. Now I will see what he has to say. Today there was no school, so we did all our chores and then friends came over. I should have my kids do their chores after friends leave! 🙂 The kids did crafts, played bingo, games and made treats (muddy buddies)…

My friend Stephanie hung out… I was so grateful to have adult interaction! My patience level was short today with my kids. They fight so much… No matter how many activities I have or if they have friends over, they still fight! So it was nice to have her there. After dinner we took the girls up to G-goats (grandma’s). Well on the way up we had to get gas… The girls all had to get out to help dad wash the windows.

We are staying the night up here because Corom and I are doing a race in St. George in the morning. We have to leave by 4 a.m. to make our 3 1/2 hour drive. The things we do for a race.

Saturday: I met up with Amber, Mac & Aubrey for a 1:36.53 minute run. I believe I went about 12 or a little more but I was so done today! The others went another 4-5 miles but I stopped and went home. I think basketball took a little more out of me. The rest of the day was getting things done around the house. I was also able to get the track workout schedule done today (from the 800 to the 2 mile). It felt good to get the season taken care of. In the evening, we watched a movie with the girls and then I had 50 cupcakes to make for the young women in church tomorrow.

Sunday: We went to church. The girls were not the greatest today but it was normal kids stuff. I did have to take my 4 (almost 5 year old) out of sacrament meeting because she was screaming. After church, Corom had his usual Sunday meeting, I had a camp meeting at my house and then went to another meeting at a neighbor’s house. Shortly after dinner, we (Corom, the girls and I) went to the church for my 2nd daughter and her Baptismal preview. All the kids in her Sunday School class and the families came. It was a nice little program.

Monday: I met up with Amber for a 9+ mile run. It rained on us but I loved it! We ran Harry’s loop and I helped her with her 3 1/2 mile tempo. It felt good to pick it up for a few miles. We hit a 6:39, 6:40, 6:39, 3:20 for the .5. It was a good run. All I have to say is, my youngest is out of control!

I did take her (and the 6 month old I babysit) to story time at the library (the other 3 were in school)…

I felt bad because my 3rd daughter wanted me to play with her but I had to get some coaching stuff put together… So my guilt won and I actually combined the 2… I was able to work on what I needed to while we played the matching game.

She beat me all 3 games, not because I let her but because I was at a disadvantage and not paying attention to the cards being flipped over. 🙂 It was still raining for track practice. I sent them on the Harry’s loop I went on this morning. It’s a good hill climb for the 1st half. They were soaked but kept going strong.

We had 4 families over for dinner (from our block). It’s our turn to clean the church, so we decided to eat dinner before and then head over to the church for cleaning right after…

It went by fast. After, we had a nice relaxing night…

Thursday: This morning I met up with Jeff and Amber. We went out for a 11 mile run in 1:22.23. I felt good (especially after not running yesterday)! I was able to go into my kindergartener’s classroom to help with “centers”.

Corom was home for the day, so he was able to take over for me at the house while my sister, Missy, and I attended my Aunt’s funeral. It was a very nice service. It was great seeing family but it’s too bad it was under these circumstances. My Aunt was a neat lady! She had health issues and has been dealing with it for a long time.

I made it back in time to send the distance runners at the HS on their workout run. It was a nice little run with a 2 mile tempo.

Shortly after we took our girls to the indoor Quarry for rock climbing. We met up with the Fullmer’s. The girls loved it! They were a lot braver than I was climbing up the wall.

They are crazy! The didn’t want to stop!

Once the girls went to bed, Corom went to his meeting at the church and I went to a friend’s house for ladies night and games…

Friday: I went out for a 9.21 miles in 1:04.19. I started off a little sore and tight but after the 1st couple of miles I was able to get into a good rhythm. Today was a day of cleaning (well I guess, having 4 girls, every day is a day of cleaning). The girls had friends over and then the Barney’s came for dinner. Megan and I took off to play basketball (at the church… They set up a league for the women so we can all play).

Yep… We lost but it was fun! Back at home, Corom and Travis were organizing all of Hobowear (Corom’s brand of clothing)…

Megan and I got a little carried away in the pool of balls. 🙂

Corom and I are watching a movie while I am doing this. 🙂 But now I’m done and I’m ready for bed.