Posted: May 15, 2011 | Author: momruncraft | Filed under: Running |
I have started and deleted this post so many times…
I went into this race with completely mixed feelings: unsure of my training, not as confident as usual, excited to get it over with. Life proved to be a major training obstacle this go round. I knew that training for a race that fell immediately following the end of basketball season would be hard and it was.
I went into the training strong. Cross training. Strength training. Long runs early. And then our car broke down. Our sitter became consistently unavailable. Testing and evaluations really picked up for the big kiddo. Fundraising and end of the season events picked up for the Husband. The little kiddo decided he wanted to make the 2’s fun for EVERYONE. It was a constant state of overwhelming obstacles and challenges with very little reprieve. And all the while I was trying to push my body and mind further and harder than ever before and REALLY train for this race. Naturally, it wasn’t possible. Something had to give. It did. I got sick. Missed a full week of training only three weeks before the race. With the momentum I had gained in the weeks before went my confidence.
I picked up as much mileage as I could pre-race and woke up race day having no idea what to expect. Hoping Rachel, Melissa, and I could push through. Finish together. Watch Rachel get her elusive sub-2. It was COLD. And then the start was pushed back 5 minutes. Then 15 more minutes. Then 10 more minutes. I am not an elite, world record setting athlete but I time my meals and water according to the start time. Plan out my Gu stops and water breaks. It all helps the mental aspect of running. Type A personality: check.
Initially I thought I would hold back. Race for fun. Save the legs for the See Jane Run Half in three weeks. Put a bib on me, surround me with racers, and holding back isn’t something I can easily do. I had a game plan: sub-2, average sub 9 min/miles, and attempt to pick it up at the end. I am a terrible pacer. Have no clue what the minutes feel like and often just run with my body setting the pace. My splits are typically all over the board.
The three of us started out strong. Holding on to our 8:30-ish pace. We lost Rach, boo, no team finish. Melissa and I fell into a comfortable pace. And ran, and ran, and ran. It had to have been one of the most BORING courses I’ve ever run. I find my home route more interesting. And more FLAT. I did, however, find it inspiring to be surrounded by so many women completing the same challenge. All different goals. All different levels. All different stories, I am sure. But we were all THERE. Doing it. We all made it to the start line, which is a HUGE victory in and of itself.
I know there are women who run in spite of circumstances far more difficult than mine. I know there are women who are running who have far less time: Rachel and Melissa inspire me daily. I know there will always be women who run faster and further. But I also know that today, for this race, I was among them, running with them, running as far as them.
I hit a wall shortly after mile 10. My longest run to date before the race was 10 miles. I had no idea what to expect. I immediately began thinking of my boys. Repeating their names over and over. Repeating to myself that I want them to SEE a strong mom, one who works hard to meet a goal, one who doesn’t give up, one who can push through…and make it to the finish line. One who always finishes something she starts. I know they will face hard times, numerous challenges, they will have times when they want to give up and they’ll likely turn to me. I want to be sincere and true when I tell them to keep going. I don’t want to be a hypocrite. Running has given me immense strength. Training for months on end is not easy. Running itself is not easy. But the rewards, the feeling as I turned the corner to see the finish line…priceless. And worth the pain, sacrifice, and hard work.
It was a very emotional finish for me.
I knew I had PR’d. I was happy. And so so so sore. As we were shopping away at the shirt table, the age group awards were being handed out. NEVER in my wildest dreams did I ever think my name would be called. Sure enough I hear an award going to a 32 year old woman from my hometown. And she even has the SAME name. Get out. Third place in my age group. Unreal.
Half marathon number six in the books. PR 1:50:01. 3rd place finish in age group. Don’t think I could have asked for more.
While I walked away giddy and excited, I also walked away mentally and physically drained. A long winter and fall at home, long three months of training…not sure what my next running move is going to be.
Posted: March 25, 2011 | Author: momruncraft | Filed under: Arts and Crafts, Fun Activity |
We’ve had about TEN days of rain IN A ROW. TORTURE for this outdoor-loving Mama. Everyday this week, we’ve had down pouring-can’t-play-outside rain and poor Jake goes to the sliding doors…”Outside Mama? Bubbles? Swing?”
Today, out of sheer desperation, I broke out our hidden art supplies. Many of which the boys haven’t seen before:
I decided to try something they both loved at school. We would paint with Matchbox cars, animals, and rubber balls. Dip item in paint…roll around in box. I had each of them find two or three cars and taped the paper down:
We tried big stamp pads first. Ty had fun but the cars didn’t really pick up enough ink to make the prints stand out:
So, we moved onto paint. And got the desired effect:
Ty liked to dip and roll. And then shake, shake, shake the box:
I also had some black canvas pieces for the boys to paint and decorate:
Jake also liked to dip and roll with the cars. It was a super easy, fun way to get them to paint. Usually neither boy is interested in finger painting (or getting their hands dirty):
I found some BIG letters and let them each paint one. First with blue and green. And then with glitter glue. The boys apparently love the bling. Biggest hit of the day:
So glad I spent twenty minutes covering every inch of our kitchen table. Thought this would make a fun scrapbook picture:
Tyson painting his “T”:
Painting some small 8 x 8 white canvas boards:
I don’t think we’ll ever paint without the box again. Kept everything contained, dry, and clean:
After a few hours, many snack breaks, many dance breaks….our final products:
Which then turned into some much needed hallway art for the house. Ty’s box:
Jake’s box:
LOVE the boys’ art. It makes me smile. And love that they were so excited to see their shadow boxes and art hanging up:
Posted: February 14, 2011 | Author: momruncraft | Filed under: Jake, Milestones, Tyson |
The boys’ birthdays are two weeks apart. Two weeks after Christmas. Last year, we threw a joint birthday party for both boys and it seemed to be the perfect solution. We timed it the weekend following Jake’s actual birthday…which happened to be Superbowl Sunday. Oops. So, this year, I planned the party after Jake’s birthday and Superbowl Sunday. Putting the party almost a full month after Ty’s actual birthday. Not sure I’ll be doing this again. Not sure I’ll be able to get away with a joint party again either as Ty had a most definite opinion regarding his guest list this year. Both boys are on a major dinosaur loving kick. My mom offered to make the cake and/or cupcakes. And the cupcake toppers. She absolutely, one hundred and fifty percent outdid herself. LOVED the way everything came out and so did the boys. The toppers:
Tyson loved the googly eyes. And promptly recalled the names of each dinosaur:
The entire spread:
Dinosaur themed cupcakes complete with a volcano:
And lava:
Party table:
Birthday collages:
Tyson’s favorite part of the party place:
Jake had his air hockey:
Tyson tried to figure out the skeeball:
Rare “mommy and kiddo” photo moment:
Cupcake time. Ty tried to block out his brother, hence Jake’s face:
Blowing out the candle like a pro:
Blowing out the candle…with mouth closed. We’ll work on this:
Fun family photo. It only took about fifty attempts:
It was a really fun and special day. Loved seeing my boys surrounded by such love and support. We have the most awesome family and friends.
Posted: February 9, 2011 | Author: momruncraft | Filed under: Fun Activity, Scrapbooking |
Posted: January 27, 2011 | Author: momruncraft | Filed under: Arts and Crafts, Jake |
One of my favorite blogs,
No Time for Flashcards, recently featured a kid activity based on a series of books both of my boys LOVE: I Spy Books. They used many of the same basics I did but laminated the pages, punched holes, and
binded them. I don’t have a laminating machine. But I do have a credit card and
Shutterfly account. I used the pictures to make Jake a
photobook. You can use sticker letters, foam letters, or write: Can You Find? on a piece of construction paper. This piece will be used with each layout and is the basis of the entire book. I also added a Thomas train in each page for Jake to find throughout the book. Cover page:
First page:
I shot this page first and then removed three to four items each time to be photographed on the “Can You Find” piece of paper:
I love that the book uses Jake’s favorite toys. He woke up from his nap early and caught sight of the pages being made. He was excitedly yelling out what each toy was. Can’t wait to see his reaction at the book…
Sneaking in a nod to my very special soon-to-be 2 year old. Heart him.
Both boys are on a serious dinosaur kick:
I have a lot of photo savvy friends and know that they could do so much more justice to this project. Like, get the white balance right. You could really do SO much with this project. So many possibilities. So fun.
Lots of train love in our house:
Working on one for Ty. Trying to make his more challenging which requires more little trinkets and more planning in the props.
Posted: January 24, 2011 | Author: momruncraft | Filed under: Scrapbooking |
I have been busy. Scrapping. LOVING it. For inspiration, I checked out a few of my old scrap magazines and saw these cute, gorgeous paper flowers everywhere. Girl layouts. Boy layouts. Loved them. So, I set out to do my best to recreate them and came up with this frame:
Girly. Flowers. Love the combination of green, craft paper, red, and blue. Blue and craft paper are a very common thread in my scrapping. If you haven’t noticed already. It was fun to step WAY out of my normal color choices and throw together something a little girly. I am not often afforded that fun opportunity with two little boys at home.
The flowers themselves are super easy. A little time consuming but overall easy to do. There are so many embellishment options: ink the edges, distress the edges, spray paper with distressing ink, spray papers with glitter ink, etc, etc, etc. The crafty wheels are turning:
I used 5 pieces of 12 x 12 paper (plus a little craft paper for the frame and leaves). The green dots for the frame. Four coordinating pieces for the flowers. You cut three varying sized strips. Make the strips into squares. Cut circles. The more imperfect the circle, the cuter the flower. Spray circles with water or a distress/shimmer ink and crinkle. Unwrap, distress edges. Layer the circles: I did some centered and then some off center. Like the look both ways. I used the leftover flowers for coordinating cards:
The hardest part will be figuring out how to smashthese bad boys into an envelope:
I went to bed far too late after having finished the above projects. All I could think about is what combination of blue and brown I could use to make some frames for the house. Once the boys went down for their naps, I raced out to the garage to throw these together. They match the alphabet canvas I made a few months ago:
And was cut short before I could finish this one…plan to add something to the upper right hand corner at some point. This frame has the flowers that were put together off centered. A little bit of a different look:
Trying to be good about not wasting scraps. Used them for this card:
Not bad for a nap time’swork:
Posted: January 4, 2011 | Author: momruncraft | Filed under: Goals |
Looking back, I made a pretty good dent in my 2010 goals:
* Craft more: one of the goals I didn’t meet entirely. I did scrap, a little, very little. I learned how to personalize wooden blocks, made a fun chipboard alphabet canvas…and that’s about it. While I love to scrap and craft, I am okay with the fact that it fell to the back burner as some fun things replaced it. Can’t do it all.
* Train for, and complete, two half marathons: done. Trained for, and completed, THREE halves in 2010. Ran the Bay to Breakers and the Grape Stomp 10k. AND broke the under-2 hour Half goal. 2010 = awesome running year.
* Cook more: done. I realized that I actually LOVE to cook. I am just not a fan of doing with a cranky toddler and wound up three year old tugging at my shirt.
* Be better about wearing sunscreen. Lotion/cream at night: done. Can’t think of anything remotely witty or wise to say about this one. I still have bags. And notice wrinkles. But am glad that I am better about the sunscreen.
* Experiment with color (in clothing): eh, one of the goals that likely was the hardest for me to implement. I will try again in 2011. There is just something about black yoga pants…
* Put the “me” back in Mommy: we hired a sitter and that helped tremendously. I love her, the boys adore her. Win, win, win. Another goal I hope to improve on in 2011.
* Read a book: I smashed this goal. After not having picked up a single book in over a year, I read 50+ in a matter of months. I fell in love with reading all over again.
* Focus on the positive: Perhaps this is a lifelong goal. Not always easy, but something that makes everything around you better. Easier.
Posted: January 1, 2011 | Author: momruncraft | Filed under: Mommy Notes |
**JANUARY**
It’s hard to believe Jake started the year off NOT walking. I can’t even remember what life was like without him running all over the place; however, in January he took what we be two of his very first steps. He didn’t walk steadily for another couple months…
We hesitantly started the potty training journey:
Tyson turned THREE:
My silly, book loving, snuggy wearing three year old:
Brothers:
**FEBRUARY**
We threw a joint birthday party for the boys to celebrate Jake’s first birthday and Ty’s third:
We all had a lot of fun sliding and bouncing. Lots of smiles:
We spent a lot of time playing in our driveway. Ty discovered the stomp rocket:
We treasure hunted our way around the Rez:
**MARCH**
Four teeth. He looks like such a baby here…
Tyson discovered hours of fun with a sensory tub:
We took the boys to Vegas:
Tyson turned into a hat-loving big boy:
While Mommy enjoyed her first ever multi-night trip away, Jake became a full fledged walker:
And quickly used those walking skills to get into everything:
**APRIL**
Now very mobile, Park visits became a lot more interesting for me and a lot more fun with Ty as Jake could truly play with him, and chase him, and run around with him:
Enjoying some indoor caped fun on a rainy April day:
Posted: January 1, 2011 | Author: momruncraft | Filed under: Mommy Notes |
**MAY**
Mother’s Day craftiness for Grandma:
Brothers and books:
**JUNE**
Tyson had his first real last day of school. Side by side of his first and last day:
Daddy bought him his first bike:
We spent a lot of time exploring the outdoors enjoying the sunshine:
Airport brotherly love:
Love this kid:
Ty’s first Bart ride:
First library trip:
**JULY**
Family trip to Train Town:
Lots of outdoor sprinkler time:
Trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s House. And the Zoo. Matching shirts so I can always spot my boys. As they often run in opposite directions. Often = ALWAYS.
First BEACH trip. So much fun. Tyson is a fish like his Mama. Jake spent a lot of time eating. In his beach chair. On the beach, in the water, in the shade…eating, eating, eating:
Water, beach loving fun:
**AUGUST**
With back to school looming in the near future, we picked up the potty training efforts. We spent much of August close to home. The boys spent much of it in their skivvies:
I spent the majority of August in our laundry room. Cursing the potty training gods:
I thoroughly enjoyed putting together a “Day in the Life” blog post (
part 1,
part 2) after a Mommy Group photo challenge. I plan to turn it into a photo book along with this series of posts.
Posted: January 1, 2011 | Author: momruncraft | Filed under: Mommy Notes |
**SEPTEMBER**
Tyson had his first day of school- now attending three mornings a week:
And is a major fan of
rain boots:
Jake had his first day of Mommy and Me Preschool:
The boys have class at the same time on Mondays. There is often an overlap of outdoor play time with both classes and they always gravitate towards each other. And this bike:
**OCTOBER**
Halloween was magically amazing this year. Trick or treating was so much fun with both of them.
Neitherof them were at all shy. Jake got the “Trick or Treat” down. Along with the candy grab:
Train Conductor Ty:
Ninja Jake:
We carved pumpkins. Ty wasn’t a fan of the pumpkin guts:
**NOVEMBER**
With their little imaginations growing more and more each day, we discovered the dinosaur hunting adventures to be found in our front yard:
Rain boots, “noculars“, and rain coat- check:
Brotherly love over Santa Mail:
Turkey day crafts:
My little turkey’s turkey:
Bath smiles:
Jake got a big hair cut. Before:
After. Sniff, sniff. Miss the baby curls:
We made holiday wishes after a muddy but fun hike:
**DECEMBER**
The magic of the season started with a surprise visit from Santa at a holiday party for the kids:
We started a new Christmas tradition as we met “Victor” our Elf on the Shelf:
We made cookies:
We visited with family:
The boys were thoroughly spoiled for Christmas and loved all of their amazing gifts. Jake LOVES this hat. He can never see where he’s going but he LOVES the thing:
Ty “fixing” our table:
Hours after hours were spent playing and enjoying their new toys:
Lots and lots of post Christmas smiles:
Told ya, LOVES the hat. And I love that he loves it:
Rainy day smiles and fun:
Tyson loved the googly eyes. And promptly recalled the names of each dinosaur:
The entire spread:
Dinosaur themed cupcakes complete with a volcano:
And lava:
Party table:
Birthday collages:
Tyson’s favorite part of the party place:
Jake had his air hockey:
Tyson tried to figure out the skeeball:
Rare “mommy and kiddo” photo moment:
Cupcake time. Ty tried to block out his brother, hence Jake’s face:
Blowing out the candle like a pro:
Blowing out the candle…with mouth closed. We’ll work on this:
Fun family photo. It only took about fifty attempts:
It was a really fun and special day. Loved seeing my boys surrounded by such love and support. We have the most awesome family and friends.
mom.run.craft 