Friday, April 29, 2011

First 5K sign up!!

I'm signing up for my first 5K today!!! aaaaahhhh!! I'm so so excited, but kinda nervous too. I'm signing up for the YMCA Heart & Sole Family Fun Run on May 21st.


Sounds like the race will be pretty laid back. There's no official timing system so I'll probably recruit my family to time me. My sister and mom will be competing in the 1K event. There's also a 50 yard dash for kids under age 6, so I'm going to enter the kids in that event. Now that should be pretty darn cute!
I'm thinking for this race, my goal will be to finish under 34 minutes. It's my first race, so I'm not sure what to expect. I don't want to be worrying about my time so much as just taking in the whole experience and getting my first race under my belt.

Does any runners out there have an advice for a first-timer?

Thursday, April 28, 2011

I WON!

So, turns out I'm winning today.

Charlie Sheen would be proud.



I won for best costume over at Run With Jess' Blog for her Jelly Bean Virtual 5K!! You can check my post on that run HERE. My sister got a shout out for having "Goofy Enthusiasm".

I'm seriously so excited because I haven't won anything since third grade when I did a cake walk at a Halloween party. Sad, right? Anyways, can't wait to get my prize pack in the mail!

On another note, Happy Birthday to my nephew, Brady!! He's the big 0-3 today and had a killer party at Chuck E. Cheese tonight. I kicked butt there too. Man, I'm on fire today!

Run Less, Run Faster: A Book Review

It's time for another one of my lame book reviews. Oh stop- You know you love them. And by popular request, I will continue my HILARIOUS reading pictures.

This time, I read Run Less, Run Faster from the people over at Runner's World.

I read it while playing hide and seek with the kids.



I read it at story time.

And of course, I forced the kids to read it as well and turn in a 4 page book reports.

The point of the book is that runners of any level can improve their running times by using the FIRST (Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training ) program.


The main point of the book is to use the "3 plus 2" program, where each week you include 3 quality runs, including track repeats, the tempo run, and the long run. On the other 2 days, you incorporate aerobic cross-training workouts, such as swimming, rowing, or pedaling a stationary bike. You take 2 rest days somewhere in there too.

So here's my opinion. I know this book is totally rocking people's world out there. I've read really nothing but positive reviews about this program. However, for a casual runner like myself, it's a little much. I'm not down playing the effectiveness of the plan because like I said, it seems to be a key in a lot of other runner's training.
I was a little bummed because this book says it's for runners of any level, but really, it seemed a lot more directed at people that have ran in some races and are already in great shape. I was looking forward to getting myself on an actual written training program, but I don't think this is the one for me. I have no access to the cross training activities they want you to do: Swimming and biking. Also, a lot of the lingo in this book was over my head too. Tempo runs, track repeats, ect. I was a little lost. I'm not trying to qualify for Boston, which kinda seemed like the point of the book.
The other thing I didn't like about the book is that you would be reading, and all of a sudden in the middle of a sentence, a reader's letter would be thrown in there. Weird!
I think this book would be great for an experienced runner trying to work on their time to qualify for certain big marathons out there. I'll keep looking for something a little more basic for myself.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

A Mother's Prayer for It's Child by Tina Fey






“First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels. What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen.Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short – a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, that she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. “My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.”

-Tina Fey

Monday, April 25, 2011

Weekend Wrap Up

Easter weekend is over :( Next holiday is what..Memorial Day? At least we get Monday off for that one. Here's the weekend wrap up ya'all have been dying for!


Parker wanted Callie to "pick a hand for her surprise...
Is it in that hand??


No!!


JUST GIVE IT TO ME!!!!


Oh wait! I'm just an onry older brother picking on his little sister!! I never had anything to begin with!


Here- I'll give you a noogie instead.



Then, we colored Easter Bunny pictures..


Friday I played tennis with my gal Corrin. It was so fun! Parker and Callie played at the park while my mom watched them. Parker was really liking playing tennis too. And yes, I rocked a sweatband on my head.

Saturday I got up and went for a run. It was BEAUTIFUL outside!! Cory had a baseball game against Sunnyside JV since they don't have a freshman team. We 10 runned them. I ended up kinda feeling sorry for those Sunnyside boys. Parker and Callie got ahold of my camera and took some pictures at the game. I think they did pretty good!






Then we made dinner. Thank goodness I had my 2 little helpers!





After the game, my mom and sister were going for a run, so I joined them. It was about a 1.3 mile run for me. They ran up another block so their run was further. Ooops..taking my own shortcuts again!!



After I got home, Cory and the kids and I had a little BBQ and then dyed Easter eggs.
Here's what we ended up with:
In the morning the kids got up to find their baskets. Look! Easter Bunny ate all the carrots!
Parker got a Spongebob themed basket, while Callie got a Tinkerbell one. Callie's came with beads to make bracelets and necklaces. She got her Daddy to make those with her.

She's keeping a close eye on him though!


Next, we headed over to Cory's parent's house for an Easter egg hunt and lunch. A visit to Ca Bruce's house wouldn't be complete without a little baseball!! Uncle Catlin pitched to Parker while we cheered him on. There were tons of eggs and the kids did a great job finding them all.
Next we went to Ampaw's and Grammie's for another egg hunt and dinner. The kids had a blast there too! More eggs, more candy, more Easter baskets! What a day!!!


Oops, then this happened:

Don't worry Boone, we ate too much too.

HAPPY EASTER!!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Happy Easter!

Hope you're having a fantastic Easter Weekend!! Here are some very weird Easter things I just had to share. Seriously. I think I'm bored.
If I don't get these beauties from the Easter Bunny, I will cry.

Friday, April 22, 2011

1st (Virtual) 5k!

As you know, I was signed up for the The Jelly Bean Virtual 5K over at Run With Jess's Blog. It was my first time running any kind of organized run so I was pretty excited. My mom and sister also decided to sign up so we were pumped!



Jess is giving away a bunch of awesome prizes and you get extra entries for dressing up. Our little crew decided to be "Peeps" since this was an Easter themed race. My sister was "PEEPing Tom", my mom was "Lil' Bo" (for Little Bo Peep), and I was "PEEP show". Aren't we creative? We think we're hilarious. We had a little photo shoot at mom's before we set out on our "race".

We decided to run the path between the Cable Bridge and Blue Bridge along the Columbia River. It's 3.1 miles to one bridge and back. It was cold and windy!





So the wind was blowing HARD. Had to be 30 mph winds and we were running into the wind the first half before the turn around. It was BRUTAL! Also, my ipod was dead!! I've never ran without music before. This was not going to be fun! The first half pretty much sucked for me. There was a point when I felt like I was running in place because the wind was so hard.
After the turn around part, I did much better. The wind was actually helping push me along. Here are some pics of what I got to look at while running. Actually it was really relaxing to run along the river with no music...Just peace and quiet..oh and my heavy breathing! lol
I finished with a time of 32:50. Here I am at the finish. Oh, a side note- I wore my headphones anyways because the wind was blowing so hard and they kept my ears warm. I know, I'm a nerd. I own it.
And who greeted me at the finish line? Why, all my adoring fans of course!! Trust me, the crowd went wild when I completed the race. It was insane!!! Here's a pic of the crowd..
Soon, my mom crossed the finish line next



Followed up by my sis.



Melissa talks about her run on her blog HeRE at The Brady Bulletin


Overall, the weather made this run kinda suck. BUT I had a blast with my peeps and that was the best part!!