Tomorrow is a new day.

• It is nice to have someone in your life that truly knows you.  It is even better when that person is your husband.  (I love you, John.)
• These days, I am a little sad about time passing and my kids growing up.  I miss looking at them in the back seat holding hands instead of grabbing things from each other and bickering.  I knew that those days were going to be short lived...I just was wishing we could beat the odds.
• Some teachers say that their favorite days of the school year are the first and last...as a person bad with change, those happen to be my least favorites. 
• Parenting challenges of the past seem so easy now.  I remember the stress of trying to figure out how to get my babies to sleep through the night, and what to feed them, and potty training...and I wish I could go back to those issues.  Things seem so much harder now.  But maybe that is simply because I lived through those problems already and came out on the other side.  If I could do it once, I could (probably) do it again.  But now I am in uncharted territory, and I am not enjoying it.
• I am looking forward to having coffee on my deck on a weekday at 6am.  I think I may get up early on my first day of summer break just so I can enjoy that peace and the knowledge that the whole summer is ahead of me.  
• Some days are tough.  Sometimes things snowball.  Sometimes things throw me for a loop, completely out of the blue and I don't know how to react or respond without making things worse.  Fortunately, those days are few.  And fortunately, I have people to lean on when those days come around every now and then.

Cortlan's birthday gift to me

He ran out of bed in the morning, and the first thing he did was tell me happy birthday and hand me this gift.

He had made it, found a box in which to place it, decorated the box, and wrapped it himself...with no help and no encouragement needed. He was dying to have me open it.

I will treasure it always.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is one of my favorite days of the year.  Perhaps it is because my kids say things like, "Everly, it's Mother's Day!  Do you really want to fight??!" to each other.  Perhaps it is because I get heartfelt homemade gifts and the possibility of sleeping in.  Perhaps it is because what I say goes.  Or perhaps it is because I give myself the day to not stress about anything...not the laundry, not the dishes, not a meal plan or cooking.  I even refuse to let myself think about my to-do list for the week.  Granted, sometimes this backfires, but I don't care.

This Mother's Day, I did sleep in.  When I came out of the bedroom, I was greeted with choruses of "Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!" and a delicious pancake and strawberry breakfast.  I had been given my hand made gifts and cards on the Friday prior and wore then proudly to school that day.  On Mother's Day morning, I received perfectly selected gifts that my kids bought with the Kohl's Cash that we had.  They have pretty good taste - I got a shirt and a dress that I love.

In addition, I got flowers in decorated holders that the kids had made at at Home Depot and more cards, including some that they had made completely by themselves and a very special one from Everly:

My family appeased me and we took a trip to my favorite state park, where I hoped to have a picnic lunch and a hike.  Unfortunately, it was a bit cold.  We shivered through our lunch, played on the playground a bit, and then when we saw a snowflake in the first 10 yards of our hike, we decided to bag it.  

Definitely one of my favorite keepsakes from the day was the song that Everly sang for me...

...which I absolute adored, even though after she was done, the kids immediately started singing about "stinky old toots."

You can't win them all, I suppose.  But I will take what I can get.  And what I've got are two very good kids and a full heart.

Random recap in photos

I am perpetually behind these days.  Mother's Day has come and gone.  Someday, I will post something about that.  But for now, here are some photo recaps of recent times:

Cortlan recovered from his surgery at home, but his friends didn't forget about him:

Neither did family and friends.  His aunt and cousins sent him a couple of special gifts in the mail:

Cortlan was getting a lot of special attention, which had Everly feeling a bit left out, so she and I went on a Mommy and Me trip to the mall, where we used a gift card for Build a Bear that she received for her birthday:

While he was out of school, Cortlan lost his first tooth (April 27th, 2013).  He may or may not have been disappointed with the $1 that the tooth fairy left him.  I may or may not have felt bad about that:

A robin decided that our window looked like something worth attacking, and did so repeatedly.  It became so annoying that we had to bring in Spiderman to save the day.  The robin has since avoided our window, but moved on to our neighbor's:

This was weeks ago, but Spiderman is still protecting our window.

About that race...the finish!

Between the lack of bathrooms without huge lines, some (minimal) navigation issues, and the uphill and trail runs that some of us had, the second half of our 77.7 mile run was definitely a little bit more challenging than the first.  But it was no less fun.  And it was amazing how quickly the many hours flew by.

By the time I got to my second leg of the race, the sun had warmed things up enough for me to brave removing a layer or so of running gear.  I felt the pain for runner 4 (who had the hardest leg of the race - a huge and pretty steep uphill climb) as I ran for a little less than a mile downhill and then the remaining almost 4 miles uphill.  I was glad for the many miles I had run around my house, with the rolling hills of the area serving me well for the uphill climb.  But still, my pace slowed and my calves screamed as I made my way up.  And up.

The first (and easiest) part of my second leg...I can definitely learn a few things about my running form from this pic.

Unlike my first leg, when I had passed no one and no one had passed me, there were many more people around for this 4.8 miles.  The hill did many people in; I passed 8 or 9 people but I also got passed by a few people.  I worked hard.  I had to force myself to look around and enjoy the scenery.  I was so happy to see the exchange point and I was so proud of my average pace for the difficult run: 8:16/mile.

The lake was beautiful.  The sky was clear.  The route took us through a state park and past many more wineries and distilleries.  Amanda's leg of the race took her past the winery where she was married.  The evening was upon us.  With an 8 am start, our projected time of finish was 7:03 pm if we were to hold to the 8:30 pace chart.  With some legs we would gain a minute, but with others we would lose a couple.  The uphills were challenging.  The fatigue of getting up at 6 am and running twice already was catching up to us a bit.

My third leg was my shortest leg, and despite my legs having already carried me over nine miles, it was the most fun.  I actually still felt pretty good.  I was really enjoying the day and was definitely excited to see what I could do, having never run three times in the same day before.  As Amanda ran in for the exchange, I lived up to our team name (70's Seven - You Should See Us Dance!) and danced her in.

Then I took off.

I had a great deal of confidence as I left, knowing I had nothing to lose, that I didn't have to save anything, and that we had all done our best.  I knew the worst was behind me and that this was it.  I enjoyed my music.  I enjoyed the fresh air.  I enjoyed the scenery.  As I approached my last hill of the day, I enjoyed the steady pace that I found.  I passed a few people who had slowed to a walk, and got passed by one or two, as well.

One of the people I passed was not happy about it.  She was walking when I passed her going up a hill, but I felt her right behind me as I came to the crest of the hill.  I wasn't sure how far the exchange point was from there, but when I crested the hill, I saw it.  I started to speed up.  So did she.  I sped up more.  She did, too.  By the time we got to the exchange, we were both in a full sprint, with teammates cheering us on.  Unfortunately, we would have to cross paths to get to our teammates.  We got a little tangled, but my teammate took off first.  I finished the leg with a 7:59/mile average...slower than my first leg, but I was thrilled to have broken 8:00 on my third run of the day.

The next stop would be the end of the race, where we would all reunite and cross the finish line together.  There were many start times for the race, with some people starting as early as 7 am and waves leaving every half hour until 9:30 am.  The 9:30 groups were the fastest.  Their goal was to pass everyone along the way and finish before the 7 am groups.  So, as we jubilantly crossed the finish line, we had no idea how we really did in comparison to everyone else.  But, it didn't even matter.  We couldn't have been prouder of ourselves.

Initially, we weren't sure if we would finish by 8 pm.  Then we set our sights much higher.  We ended up crossing the finish line at 7:12 pm...11 hours and 12 minutes after we had begun our race.  Our average pace was 8:38/mile.  When we woke in the morning, we discovered that we had placed 5th (out of 35) in the all-women groups and 87th (out of 209) overall.

Our team finish!

This was definitely a race that I will never forget.  I met some awesome women, laughed my butt off, and ran my heart out.  We exceeded our own expectations and had an amazing day filled with memories and experiences that will last a lifetime.  Thanks, girls, for a great race.  For a great day.

About that race...part 2

As runner three took off, we all got in the car, with runners five, six, and seven thinking of coffee more than anything.  Fortunately, not far along the drive to the next checkpoint was a little gas station.  I ran in quickly, and it was like a scene from an old movie - the sheriff sat at the counter enjoying his cup of coffee and some small-town conversation with the owner.  I filled three cups, and the owner asked, "Are you involved with this running thing that is going on?"  Yep.  I am running around the lake as part of a team of seven women.

We got to the next checkpoint with about ten minutes to spare, and then off went runner four.  Our short term goal became to find bathrooms that didn't have a long line before quickly heading to the next checkpoint.  Fortunately, there were several port-a-potties at this stop, which was one of many wineries along the way.  Unfortunately, port-a-potties without lines would not to be the norm for the next many hours.

Runners 7, 5, and 6

I began to get a touch nervous as runner five (Amanda) sped off.  There would be another bathroom trip necessary.  I was worried about what I had eaten (and not eaten).  I was definitely not used to running in the late morning. As my turn approached, I was glad that a teammate had packed some energy chews.  I ate a few and downed some water.  My adrenaline started and I anxiously awaited as Amanda flew in to the exchange point.  I grabbed the slap bracelet, slapped it onto my arm, and went.

Heading out for my first leg of the race...

It was cold.  Only in the upper 30's at best, I was not quite sure what to wear.  But once I got moving, I warmed up quickly.  Starting off, my legs felt wobbly and unsure, and I had to mentally move them for a while before I felt them calm down and I was able to find a comfortable stride.  I was excited when my team drove by, honking the horn, ringing the cow bell, and cheering me on.  I would see them again soon.  The rolling hills were much like the roads I run around my house.  I could handle them.  I ran along a relatively isolated road with but one person ahead of me, just out of reach.  I focused on him, and, for a while, thought I might be able to catch him.  I did close a bit of distance, but never did reach him.  I passed no one, but no one passed me, either.  I passed the slap bracelet to the last runner on our team.  My pace on this 4.6 mile leg: 7:42/mile.

Just finished my first leg and made the hand off

I stretched for a minute or two before we took off in the Yukon again.  My next focus was to eat.  Never have an avocado smeared on bread and a hard-boiled egg tasted so good.

We would do the whole thing twice more.  Getting out of the car, cheering one runner in as the next went off, getting back into the car, passing by our teammate, honking and yelling and ringing the cow bell, finding bathrooms (or sides of roads), sneaking in food when and where we could (the pit stop halfway through for pizza was one of the best decisions).  We were pretty close to being on our lofty-goal average pace of 8:30...at least for the first half of the race, which was predominately down hill.  The second half proved to be more of a challenge, as it was just as much uphill to get back to where we started.

Mmmm...pizza!

To be continued...

About that race...part 1

One year ago, I was getting ready to run a half marathon in the city.  I am not running it this year, but the weekend immediately before Cortlan's surgery escapade was another running adventure for me...

That Saturday morning, I headed out for a five hour drive to meet up with two members of a seven member team that I would be running with on Sunday.  It was April 20th, and less than 45 minutes away from my house, I hit the first of many snow squalls of the drive.  Beyond the snow, the drive was uneventful and easy; I enjoyed  listening to the radio stations of my choice.

When I got to my destination, I headed to the salon where my friends were and where I got a great new look with a new haircut.  We headed to lunch, went back home to pack our running gear and get situated for the next day, stopped at the grocery store for a few items, and then we were off to the lake house owned by one of the other members of our seven member team.

The lake house was beautiful and spacious.  The three of us were assigned a bedroom that had three twin beds in it.  We dropped our stuff and headed back downstairs for some introductions and socializing; eventually, we made dinner and ate at around 9 pm.  Many laughs and discussions of when we were going to get up and out of the house later, we made our way to bed a bit before midnight...definitely a late night for me, and far later than I have ever stayed up the night before a race.  But we had a great time, and I didn't drive five hours to just sleep!

The rules said that we were to arrive by 7 am to pick up our race packet.  Our entire team had to be there to sign something; the race started at 8 am.  Not everyone in our group agreed that we should abide by this rule.  In fact, by the time we left the lake house, it was 7 am.  I was quite worried that we would miss the opportunity to pick up our packet or that we would somehow be disqualified.  Those fears intensified when I realized the lake house was almost 40 minutes away from the starting point.

The third car in a three car caravan, we nervously watched as the lead drivers spoke out of their windows to race officials and police officers.  They were given instructions and information.  A couple of people got out of the car.  One shrugged her shoulders at us.  I was sure our race was over before it even started.

We finally were able to find a parking space and reconnect with our group.  I was amazed and relieved when I was asked to sign a paper and our team leader was told where to pick up our packet.  We quickly got our bibs pinned on and headed back outside.  We attempted to get a group picture, but the race was minutes away from starting.  The first runner made it to the starting line with no time to spare; the second runner ran after the shuttle that would take her to the first checkpoint as it drove past us.  The remaining five of us got in the Yukon and drove to the second checkpoint.  The adventure had begun.

The race was around a long, skinny lake - Seneca Lake in New York - and was 77.7 miles long.  There were seven of us that would cover that distance as a team, each with three legs of a total of 21 legs.  I was runner six.  Being that I had no coffee or breakfast to speak of, I was quite happy to have a bit of time before I had to run and was hopeful that somewhere along the route I could get a cup.

After we waited in line for quite a while for the bathroom at the second checkpoint, we saw a shuttle arrive and our first runner get off.  Now a group of six, we anxiously awaited our runner #2 and cheered her in as runner #3 took off.  We had a couple of loose goals:  first, to finish the race; second, to not get kicked off the course or picked up by the sweeper van because we didn't finish by the 7:58 pm race cut off.  Our third and most lofty goal was to keep up with the time estimator in the back of our map book.  It told us when to arrive at each check point if we were to average an 8:30 pace.  Our group was composed of women with a wide variety of experience and training - one was training for a marathon and had missed qualifying for Boston last year by 35 seconds, one had gone to college on a cross country scholarship, one had just run her first race in March and it was a five-miler.  Our paces ranged from the mid-7's to the mid 10's.

To be continued...