Mother Racer

Saturday: I woke up early to get a 1:09 minute run in before I headed off with the cross country team to our Region (finals) meet.

This season we had a few struggles with trying to keep the HS kids motivated or the wanting/desire to race… But after watching today’s meet, they proved to me that all this hard work of coaching and their practices paid off! They all ran well!!! The JV and Varsity runners left it all out there. I think everyone PR’d. It was a fun meet to watch and I was proud of them. The girls team and the guys team made it to State…

At home… It was one of those days!!! The girls bickered all day (I got home from the meet around 11:30)… At one point during the day, we caught my youngest chasing my 2nd to youngest (3rd child) down the hall with a knife. She is only 4 years old… So that freaked me out on all different levels!

Corom did sit down with our youngest and had a really good “conversation” with her, explaining the damage and pain, etc. A knife could cause. About an hour later, my 2nd child a youngest (4th) were fighting. My 2nd child pushed the 4th and the 4th fell and hit her eye on the wall.

After many timeouts, room times, and other means of discipline, we finally decided to take the girls to the pond right across the street from us now. 🙂

There is a pathway that leads around the pond… I love it! I did have to take off for a little while. I was asked by some guy, that is trying to put his sport’s portfolio together, to take pictures of me running on the trails… We had to hike a little ways and I had to run down the same 4 trails about 20 times each. It was kind of fun though! 🙂 And it was beautiful!!!

I then headed straight to the HS for the Homecoming dance. I was helping my friend out with the pictures…

It was fun to see a lot of the kids that I coach not in there running attire! At home, Corom and I watched a movie.

Sunday: Today was church. The girls were good in sacrament meeting… That is always a bonus. At home, we had a few families over for dinner. We had a fun time. It was a nice day!

Monday: I went out on a run this morning… I ran 9.5 miles in 1:09.49. It felt good! I ran errands with my youngest while the other 3 were in school. Then I was able to work on a lot of the PTO stuff. Today, my 2 younger girls ate lunch with my 2 older girls. It was fun to sit with them. We decided to join them for recess…

The girls played with friends, then we all went to cross country practice…

They ran a 7 mile recovery run today. We visited Dottie tonight…

Then we did the whole pumpkin carving thing for Family Night. 🙂 The Barney’s joined the chaos for the evening. Always a good time!

We had a hard time putting the girls to bed tonight… Now that they are… I can work on this, Corom is watching a movie and I am going to bed!

Wednesday: I met up with Amber, Mac and Aubrey for a 6 mile run… I forgot how long it took us but it was nice. I babysat today, worked at the school for PTO stuff, home stuff, etc. Then it was time for the 2 younger girls horse lessons. We didn’t do it for awhile because the other people had to sell their horse.

The 2 older girls were at their piano/violin lessons. It was off to coaching for me (and the 2 younger girls)…

Then there was the soccer game for my oldest…

Corom had to work late tonight and I went to bed early! It felt good!

Thursday: I met up with Rachelle this morning… She wasn’t feeling well but still came out with me because she knew I had to do a speed workout. 🙂 I ran 10 x 1-2 min ons with a 1 minute recovery. On my recovery, I would turn around and run back to Rachelle. It was great having her out there. I ran about 9 miles in 1:00.32. My legs were tired but I felt good! All the girls went to school this morning (I ended up watching my neighbor’s 2 kids for a little while), then Corom and I headed down to do a commercial/advertisement for the new sport drink, XOJO.

I am not good on camera… Thank goodness for lots of editing! 🙂 Corom left to go teach his class at UVU, my 2 older ones went to horse lessons…

… The 2 younger ones and I went to cross country practice…

… I then took the girls to their soccer games (one more week and we are done with soccer :)).

… We (Corom, the girls and I) headed over to one of the cross country kid’s house for our tradition team pasta dinner before Region.

. The girls went to bed and a few friends came over for treats and a game.

Friday: I could not (didn’t want to) get up this morning to go for a run… We had a few of the yw come over for a birthday breakfast. 🙂

After I dropped the girls off at school and took care of PTO stuff, I was able to run for a whole 30 minutes on the treadmill. My legs felt tired today! My youngest and I did go run/ walk with the 1st graders this morning for the 1/2 marathon- marathon challenge.

Later on in the day, we headed back to the school to run/walk with the 2nd and 3rd graders…

The kids are so excited to complete this challenge! They are doing so well! I went to cross country practice and sent the CC kids off on a 3-4 mile short, easy run with 5 strides at the end. Region is tomorrow!

We had our friends over for dinner, went to my oldest’s soccer game…

… Then headed over to the HS football game. Our team won (it’s homecoming week) and my girls loved it!

I am so tired right now… I am going to bed… Poor Corom. He wants to watch a movie… I’m going to bed, he is going to watch it by himself. 😦

Monday: I met up with Rachelle and we went for a 52 minute run. I was not sore at all but my legs were fatigued. I was very relieved to be able to get out and run the Monday after a marathon!

… Just received some pictures of my marathon. I babysat my neighbors kids, sent my kids off to school, went to a PTO meeting, finished babysitting kids, dropped my kids off a the neighbors, worked at the Clarion…

… Headed to cross country, sent the HS kids on a 6 mile moderate run and while they were on a run, I took the girls into the HS to look at the decorated halls for Homecoming.

The Barney’s came over for dinner and family night… We attempted to make caramel apples (I kind of burnt the white chocolate… Not used to the electric stove :/).

Tuesday: Rachelle and I met up again for a run. We went out for a 7.1 mile run in 53:58. It felt good today. I babysat again from 7-12:15… I stayed at the school for a little while after it started (the half marathon-marathon challenge stuff). I was able to work for a good hour on unpacking (the 1st time since we have been home from St. George). I held the baby for a while… He’s so cute and needs a little more attention than most newborns (my oldest was like that). I picked up the kids from preschool and kindergarten, finished babysitting, then went VT (visiting teaching) to 4 different ladies. Then it was off to cross country (after I picked up the 2 older girls)… It was a speed day…

We had dinner, I coached my 3rd daughters soccer game (she made a goal)…

…then we hurried off to my 2nd daughter’s soccer game…

When she was done with her game, we all went to YW’s for our activity. Corom finished his Bishopric meeting and took the girls out for ice cream (I told the girls that if any of them were to make a goal we could all go out for ice cream). At our activity, we (well the girls) had to do everything with their toes. Make sandwiches, write letters, comb hair, set a table, put on makeup, etc.

At home, we decorated our new house with the little amount of decorations we have and then I had ladies night (and Corom) at my house… We watched the movie, Blended. So funny!

Late night!!! But worth it!

Saturday: St. George marathon!!! We (Mike, Corom and I) woke up at 4:20 a.m. to get ready and load the buses. Amy was up with our girls at 5:30 :/.

I was not stressed at all this morning… Today I decided I was not going to race the marathon. My race in December is way too important to jeopardize for the wanting to race this one. So I used it as a long run (I was supposed to run a 21 miler… What’s 5 more? :)). I will admit that at the starting line, it was extremely hard for me to not go out fast. I even battled the urge to “race” up until mile 8 or 9. And even when I hit the halfway point (13.1) I had the same itch to want to race… So at the beginning, I started at a 7:15 pace and eventually got up to a 7 minute pace.

The last couple of miles I picked it up and finished off with a 3:02.38. I carried my phone with me so I would be able to take pictures and “relax & enjoy” this run. I felt really good during and after the race. Yes I was sore and tired but not as sore as I usually am after a marathon. I am hoping this run won’t set me back… Come Monday we shall see! I watched Corom, Mike, Sarah (my mother-in-law), the Booths, & all my running friends come in. Many of them had great races (Beth broke 3 :)) and some did not. For Corom… Not so good, but he doesn’t train!!! So without training it’s not too bad!

As I waited in the “racer’s” area, I was able to people watch… I love marathons and races… You always see the people who are so happy and emotional and then those that are emotional because they didn’t do as well as they hoped… Then you see those that are carried away to the medical tent…

… And there is always people like these 2… 😉

(Weird :)). Good times. Amy, her kids and my kids, Yolanda (Corom’s sister) and her family all came to hang out at the finish line.

After, we (the Fullmer’s and us) went back to the place we are staying at, relaxed as much as we could (as much as our kids allowed), then met up with Yolanda and Sarah (his mom) for dinner.

The girls had a blast Back at the house we were able to stay at in St. George. They caught lizards, climbed trees, played games, watched movies, etc. Thanks again Amy and kids for watching the girls this morning for Corom and I! Later this evening, the girls went to bed and we watched a movie and ate. 🙂

Sunday: The day after the marathon… When I woke up, I have to admit that I was a little nervous to see how I would be feeling soreness wise. I threw my legs over the bed, stood up and began walking… I heard Angels singing! I was not sore at all! Throughout the day I would feel a little tenderness in my thighs but nothing to stress about. I know now that I made the right decision in not racing the marathon (well the true test will come tomorrow on my nice, easy run). We packed and cleaned up everything at the place we stayed at… The Fullmer’s took off and Corom, the kids and I went to Sand Hollow State Park to hang out with Yolanda (Corom’s older sister) and her family. They own the boat, ATV, mini store-restaurant place. So we hung out there, relaxed, listened to General Conference (in the lounge chairs) and ate some yummy food!

We left a little after lunch and we were able to listen to the 2nd session of General Conference today on the radio. Such great messages today! We have amazing leaders in the church! You can feel their love, concern and support for us. The girls did well for the first couple of hours… Towards the end of our drive… Not so good. We were all excited to arrive to our new home. We hung out for awhile and then eventually went to bed… Corom is having a hard time moving around. 🙂 Here are a few pictures I found in my photos from today…

Friday: I know I’m going out of order with days. 🙂 I woke up this morning so exhausted… I decided not to go for a run. These past few weeks have been so busy- emotionally and physically! I just felt like I needed the sleep and with the marathon tomorrow I knew I would be ok to take the day off. I did get a lot done here at the new house, then I headed over to our old house to help the new family move in.

I watched the coaches daughter for them and then they (well Marti) watched my 2 younger ones so I could ride the bus with the HS kids to their cross country meet. I met Thompson half way through the ride up to the meet… I hopped out and he got on the bus. I sadly couldn’t go to the meet because I was headed to St. George for the marathon in a couple of hours. I went to the girls school to run with the 3rd graders…

Then it was off to a late start for our 4 hour drive (usually takes us 3:15) to St. George. We went down with the Fullmer’s so with 2 cars it always takes a little longer. We made it to the expo 1/2 an hour before it closed. Corom realized that he “forgot” all his running stuff. He had to buy shoes, shirt and shorts. Yeah… A little pricey!!! By the time we left, there were not many people left.

I am so grateful that I was not racing and I did not have that pressure! I would have been so nervous and probably on edge with this Friday evening! We went to the store after for food the next morning, etc. We didn’t get to bed until late! Saturday morning came too quick!

Wednesday & Thursday I went for a 6.2 mile run in 46 minutes at an easy pace (but it still felt hard for me) on Wednesday and a 58 minute run on Thursday. I was tired this morning, too. One of those days. I babysat the newborn and 5 year old on Wednesday and then both these days (Wed & Thurs) were dedicated to cleaning and making sure everything was out of the house.

I have really good friends that helped us clean, pack things out, and had dinner for us! It made these past 2 days doable! The cross country team showed up on Thursday to my new house and brought all the boxes in for us to each of the rooms they belonged to. They made an assembly line and had a good system going.

The Fullmer’s, Ringals, Booths, Preston’s, Barney’s, Davis’s, Halls & cross country team… Thank you!!! Party at our new house next week! 😉 I worked at the Clarion Event Center on Wednesday night…

We had the girls soccer games Wednesday and Thursday night…

… What a busy 2 days! Moving out and moving in… Corom was in charge of the backyard and garage… Yeah, it was a little stressful for him (mainly because he waited until Wednesday night at 11 to start. :/). Not my worry! 😉 I love the new house though! It’s going to be fun. I am so tired and so drained!!!