Success!

I did it! I actually ran my 1/2 marathon and it was really great! The run itself was event-filled, including being thwarted by a stinky man, sprinting across the arsenal bridge (it's steel grates with the river rushing underneath and a train chugging along above), and chatting with fellow Lewis and Clark refugees. But, by far, the best part was coming around the last corner and seeing/hearing my family cheering for me. It was like Christmas morning! Really.

That's me, blurry me, really excited to see my family.

That's me realizing that my goal time was mere seconds away, so I sprinted with previously undiscovered energy to the finish.

This is me and the girls stretching out afterwards. (Everyone got a medal, if you're wondering.)

All in all, it was a really great experience. I just may have to plan my next one soon.

Unfullfilled

Since Ike made it impossible to finish, let alone enjoy my first 1/2 marathon experience, I've decided to do another... or a first. I'm planning for the Quad Cities race in a week. I planned on just repeating my last 2 weeks of training, but this week I painted the living room instead. So, we'll see, I'm at least hoping for no rain.

Here's a super cool picture of me!

The race

My dad has a phrase that he uses when he's roughing it or in a less-than-ideal situation; Lewis and Clarking it. On Sunday I was totally Lewis and Clarking it, both literally and figuratively.
I ran in what was supposed to be the Lewis and Clark 1/2 marathon. Unfortunately, hurricane Ike was timed perfectly to arrive right before and last through the race. And it did.
I woke up at 5am after a patchy night's sleep to find that it had been raining all night. After getting ready I headed down to the hotel lobby, drank some coffee and asked for a garbage bag from the front desk. I headed over to where the shuttles were picking up runners for the starting line, about 3 blocks away. The rain was heavy, but it was still warm out, so I wasn't too concerned.
On the ride over, we waited in traffic for about 45 minutes. It was Sunday morning at 6am, so it was all race traffic. On the bus, I met an older man who was running his 17th marathon with the goal of running one in every state. Our bus arrived right when the race was scheduled to start, there were still 2 buses in traffic at that time. When I got out of the bus it was really bad. It was much colder and the wind was much stronger. I huddled under a volunteer tent, clutching my garbage bag poncho, until people started moving across the starting line. With big races, you have a chip, either on your shoe or your race number, that is scanned at the start and finish, so your time is accurate regardless of when you cross the starting line. That was good for the people that started 30 minutes after the gun went off due to the late buses.
The running was crazy. There was a 30 mph headwind for the first 8 miles, pelting rain, and huge puddles. There was nothing dry. Eventually, I took off my garbage bag, it had become useless and was acting as a parachute in the wind.
Crossing the Missouri River was the worst. There was nothing blocking the wind and it was on the Interstate, so there was heavy traffic just yards away. The last 2 miles were easy, we were in town so there was less wind and there was... less wind. It wasn't until 8.5 miles that they told us that we were stopping at 10, the rest of the course was flooded.
At the end, the finish area was a disaster. There was 6 inches of water to wade through and they had run out of plastic foil blankets to give to the runners, so it was COLD. I couldn't find my family, and they couldn't find me. Eventually, I decided to head back to the hotel. Luckily, it was only a 1/2 mile from the finish. I borrowed a nice lady's cell phone and told my husband that I was headed back. When I walked into the overly air-conditioned room I was greeted by three smiling faces and a chorus of "Congratulations," "I am so proud of you," and "Hi Momma!" I don't think that Lewis and Clark got that kind of reception!

School Snack Time

Since when are Oreos a snack and not a treat? Since the big one started going to school, apparently! So far, her snack time has consisted of such treasures as rice crispy treats, cookie crisp cereal, zebra cakes, and gummy snacks - all of which are ENTIRELY COMPOSED OF SUGAR! There is not an ounce of nutritional merit to any of those things. At a time when attention deficit disorders are being diagnosed right and left, you'd think that schools would request something other than simple sugars to feed young brains.
Now, contrary to popular belief, I am not a food Nazi. I enjoy sugary goodies, but I enjoy them as treats - occasionally and sparingly - never on a daily basis and in place of nutritional food.
Last month, when I took the big one for her school physical, our pediatrician, whom I adore, told me that the current recommendation is that children start drinking skim milk after the age of 2. They need to be kept on low-fat diets because of the obesity epidemic. Hello (American parents)? That 2% of milk fat is not what is causing childhood obesity! Look in the cupboards of American families and, apparently, the snack bags of school classrooms to see why poor nutrition and unhealthy weight is so rampant. It is amazing, really.

I have been terrible about keeping up this blog, but I'm sure that I don't need to tell you that.
Since we moved, a month ago, I suddenly have things to do. We've torn up the basement, the living/dining room, the kitchen, and the bathroom. The girls' room is nearing completion and once that is ready, the rest of the house can be put away. Right now their bed is in our room, their dresser is in the basement room, their clothes are in our closet, and their toys are everywhere. It'll be like moving into a new house when their room is done!
The big one is in school and so our days have real structure, no more pajama days for us (unless there's no school, in which case, I will take full advantage.) Our weeks have real structure, too. The big one is so glad that she has a week like her dad's, with real weekends.
I have less than 2 weeks before my 1/2 marathon. Training is going really well. I've decided to drag my family along, too. Originally, I was going to go down to the race with a friend and ditch the family for a solid night's sleep and 24 hours of freedom. However, I feel guilty and I'd love to have them there to share the glory of (hopefully) not having to crawl across the finish line. So, we're all packing up and staying the night. It'll be a mini-vacation.
That's pretty much our news, I'll make an effort to post more, but I can't promise much.