Back at it

So it's been a week since my Half Marathon and I feel my time off has come to an end.  It's time to get back at it and start running and working out again.  My blisters have healed up and formed nice callouses on my feet and my hips are no longer sore.  Actually, I've been itching to get back out there sooner, but unfortunately I have tons of excuses as to why I haven't.

• I'm in recovery mode
• I spent the weekend shopping. I probably walked several miles around the mall and stores, so that's got to count for something.
• The hubs has been sick and keeping me awake at night, so getting up early is out of the question. 
• Audrey had a project due at school that I had to help her with
• We had no food in the house and I had to go grocery shopping after work
• We are in the middle of re-financing our house and have had appointments to close every night so far this week, but something happens everyday that makes them reschedule at the last minute.
• It was raining Tuesday
• I need new running shoes

Okay, enough with all the excuse.  My old cross country coach use to tell us that excuses are like buttholes, everyone has one and they all stink. 

So first thing tomorrow morning, I'm back at it.  Let's pound some pavement!!

Also, tomorrow is a big day.  The SEC championship!!!  We at our house bleed red and black and cheer Go Dawgs on Saturdays in the fall.  So we are getting in football mode a little early.  I guess its really never too early to start cheering for our team.  The girls broke out their Georgia gear for school today.  Madilyn's teacher is a Bama fan, so she said that she had to wear Georgia stuff to support her team.  I too pulled out my Georgia scrubs.  I personally think that the print is a little tacky, but for big games like the SEC championship I will compromise style for the sake of my team.  But also, we have Alabama fans in the office and I can't let them think they have any edge over us Georgia fans. 

Gooooo Dawgs!!  Sic 'em!!!

Proud Mama

Let me just take a few minutes to brag on my kids...

This week Progress Reports came home for the 2nd 9 weeks of the school year.

Madilyn is making all A's and 2 100's!!

Audrey got great remarks since they don't get actual grades in 1st grade.  She is reading on a 2nd grade level and doing math on a 3rd grade level.

Audrey had an Inventor Project due on Tuesday in which she had to come up with her own invention, tell what it does and how it is made.  Sure I could have helped her and we could have come up with this awesome invention, but she did everything on her own.  I was there to help with spelling of some big words, and kept encouraging her along the way.  But she was proud that she did it all by herself and I am proud that she is becoming so smart and independent.

Madilyn tried out and is going to be a Flower Dancer in her school's chorus performance.  Madilyn who is normally a shy and quiet girl and is content being in the big group of chorus, is going to be stepping out from the crowd and dancing in front of her entire school and parents.  I'm proud that she is going after what she wants. 

And since Madilyn is going to be in the school musical, this momma has to make her costume.  So after doing some diligent research on Pinterest, I came across this picture. 

So next weekend I am setting out to make this thing. 

Thanksgiving Recap

I was up bright and early on Thursday to run the Atlanta Half Marathon. 

I was in start wave A, which was the first wave and set to start at 7:30 which meant I was at the race around 6:30.  This gave us plenty to time to park and walk to the start/finish area, take care of business and get warmed up.  It actually wasn't that cold considering it was November.  I think the temperature at the start was close to 50 degrees. 

About 10 minutes into the race I was wishing I had worn a short sleeve shirt. 

In my start wave was the 1:50 pace group, which I thought to myself I would try to hang with to ensure that I break my goal of finishing in under 2 hours.  We started out kinda slow, which was nice because I was actually worried about starting too fast.  It probably helped that the first mile was up hill!  And pretty much every mile after that.  The course was a beautiful tour of downtown Atlanta, but it was quite hilly.  The hills didn't bother me too much the first half, but the last 4 or 5 miles the hills started to take their toll on me.  Mile 12 was the worst, there was what seemed like the longest and steepest hill going around the Capitol Building, my legs were tired, I had a cramp in the arch of my left foot along with a blister and all I really wanted to do was stop and walk just a bit, but I told myself that I'd come too far and I had run every step of the way and I couldn't let myself down by walking in the next to last mile. So I just kept pushing and putting one foot in front of the other.  That mile was by far the slowest mile of the race at 8:53/mile.  But it was pretty much down hill from there and on to the finish.  I crossed the finish line with a new personal record for the half marathon...1:52:22!!!!  I killed my time from last year and beat my goal. 



I finished!!!

So with the race done, I was ready to get my shoes off and get home to my ice bath! 

I discovered that this little fella makes ice baths much more tolerable.  I cranked the heater up and had the bathroom nice and toasty while my lower half of my body froze in the water. 

So after I thawed out, I thawed my sweet potato souffle out that I made a froze earlier in the week.  Then I popped that bad boy in the oven while we got ready to head to my brother and sister-in-law's house for Thanksgiving Dinner. 

After dinner, we played with my sweet nephew, watched a movie and then went shopping. 

We braved the crowds and craziness at Walmart so the hubby and his brother could get some DVDs.  While the boys were digging for movies, the SIL and I went shopping.  I found some good deals on toys and PJ's for the kids and I got 2 long sleeve running shirts.  We did not go after the big ticket stuff like TV or computers so we were in and out in less than an hour. 

All that shopping made us hungry so we headed to Waffle House for a late night dinner.

On Friday I woke up and figured I would head back out to the mall and see what Black Friday deals I could find.  I think I bought more stuff for myself, than I did for people on my Christmas list. 

I found these boots for $25

And some jewelry for my dress that I'm wearing to a Christmas Party. 

Saturday, the hubby and I did more shopping and Sunday we were all shopped out so we stayed at home and just relaxed.  The hubs watched football while I watched back to back episodes of home renovation shows on HGTV.  I love seeing how those people can turn ordinary spaces into amazing rooms and homes. 

Happy Thanksgiving

This year I have so much to be thankful for.  At times I think I take it for granted all that I have.  We teach our kids to be thankful and thank God for all the blessing we have in our life’s on a daily basis.  But so many times as an adult I get too caught up in the day to honestly be thankful and grateful for all that I have.  As I sit here getting ready to write this, my mind is flooded with the simple and ordinary things that are so often taken for granted that I am grateful for.  And of course I have all the big things, the life changing things that I could not live with out.  

I am thankful for my husband.  He gets up early (like 3:45AM) every weekday to go to work.  He works hard to provide for our family.  He wants nothing more to make sure we are all taken care of in every way. I’m thankful that he picks the kids up from school and takes care of them and the house until I get home.  I’m thankful that he’s my best friend, that he’s so easy to talk to and I can talk to him about anything.  He makes me laugh, usually at the stupidest stuff, but no matter what he always knows how to put a smile on my face.  He loves me unconditionally and I love him to the moon and back.  These last 2 years have been an amazing blessing to share with him.

I’m thankful for my children, Madilyn, Audrey and Andrew.  I’m thankful that I get to be a mom to 3 wonderful kids.  I wish I could be more of a mom to Andrew, but I am thankful for the time that we do have together.  We’ve been through a lot this past year with the girls and I’m eternally grateful to everyone that played a part in us gaining full custody of the girls.  I’m so thankful that I get to come home everyday to the sound of 2 little girls playing, and helping with homework or projects, running to the ball fields for practice and games and everything that a mom has the joy of taking part in.  My girls bring so much joy to my life in the simple things that they do and say.  I’m thankful that I get to raise these 2 little people, to show them and teach them and hopefully they will turn out to be successful, happy, well-rounded adults.  

I’m thankful for my job, my boss, and my co-workers.   Because of this job, I am provided an opportunity to change people’s lives, make a difference and make their lives better.  Yes, it’s a job and there are days when it’s hard or stressful and the commute is a beast, but I love what I do.  My job provides financially for our family to be able to have and do the things we need and want.  In a perfect world, I’d love to be able to stay at home with my kids everyday and not work but I do have to work so I’m thankful for my job.

I’m thankful for my family, my parent and in-laws.  They have helped us out in many situations.  They help with the kids when we need a babysitter or help with carpool.  They come and sit on the bleachers and cheer on the kids at ball games.  They are there for school lunches and programs.  They are there no matter what comes ups. 

I’m thankful for our house.  It is not our dream house and with all 3 kids at home it is a little cramped but we’ve been able to work hard to make it our home.  That is provides a roof over our heads, keeps us warm or cool.  I’m thankful for all that we’ve been able to do around the house this year, painting and decorating, yard work and the fence.  

I’m thankful for my car.  It has held out for over 240K miles and continues to be reliable transportation for myself.  I’m thankful that it’s never given me any major trouble.  I’m thankful that it’s paid for so we able to be saving for a new car for myself, something that is in our future.  

I’m thankful for my health.  I’m thankful that I am able to run 13.1 miles and complete this race.  There are so many people in my life that have failing health or have had unfortunate events happen in their life that have prevented them from being able to enjoy life to it’s fullest due to health issues.  In those moments when I want to complain about my aches and pains, instead I should be thankful for my good health.  

I want to be more thankful for all that I have, not just at Thanksgiving, but everyday.  

Let the eating begin

It's almost that time of year...time to eat Thanksgiving Dinner(s).

I missed my family's Thanksgiving dinner that was held earlier this month due to softball tournaments and a race, but I still have two other dinners to attend this year. And I am ready to throw down and eat some turkey.

First up is my office Thanksgiving Lunch.  Every year, we do sorta pot luck dinner with everyone in the office.  The boss man provides the turkey and ham, and everyone else brings a side or dessert.  This year I'm bringing one of each.  Sweet Potato Souffle and Chocolate Chip Cake.
Then, Thursday we are having Dinner with the Hubby's Family.  Again, I'm making Sweet Potato Souffle and bringing a cheesecake that I bought from a school fundraiser. 

Sweet Potato Souffle is my go to dish.  My mom made it every year for our family dinners at Thanksgiving and Christmas and now I use her recipe for all my dinners that I attend. 

Sweet Potato Souffle

3 cups mashed Sweet Potatoes
2 eggs
1/2 stick of butter/margarine
1 cup of sugar

Topping:
1/3 cup of butter/margarine, softened
1 cup of brown sugar
1/3 cup of flour
1 cup of pecans chopped

I use whole sweet potatoes, but some prefer to use Yams from a can, in that case, just use less sugar.

Boil the sweet potatoes, then peel and mash. 

Mix sweet potatoes, eggs, butter and sugar together and spread into a baking dish. 

Combine brown sugar with flour; then mix with butter and pecans. 

Sprinkle topping over top of potato mixture in the baking dish.  (There's no clean or easy way to do this so I use my fingers.)
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. 
I went ahead and doubled my batch so that I could make a dish for my Office Dinner and my Family Dinner on Thursday.  I'm gonna freeze one dish until Thursday, then thaw at room temperature for a few hours and bake as directed.  This way it will be all fresh and warm for Thanksgiving and I don't have to cook after running 13 miles. 

I also made a Chocolate Chip Cake from a recipe that I found on Pintrest.  I've never tried it before, so here's to hoping it's edible.  It sounded so easy and yummy.

The recipe didn't call for icing, but the more chocolate the better so I added icing. 

What are you cooking or baking for Thanksgiving??

The things you see at the Zoo

So I get home from work Friday evening to find this....

This can only mean one thing...I have a boy in the house again!!! 

Eddie picked Andrew up from his mom around 1:00 and they headed straight to the girls school to surprise them.  And yes, they were shocked.  Then it was home to play and leave my toilet seat up. 

Sadly, my girls couldn't play long because they had to leave to go to their dad's for Thanksgiving break.  I'm gonna miss those 2 little girls.  They will be gone for 9 days!  This is the longest they've been away from me in 1 1/2 years.  I don't want to be one of those over-protective moms, but I like my kids to be with me!

Saturday, I woke up and headed out to run.  My plan was to get in 12 miles before the big race on Thursday.  My feet however, had other plans.  Around mile 6 I started to feel the beginnings of a blister on my left foot, by mile 8, I was in some serious pain.  So I called it quits after mile 9.  I hated that I cut my run short, but I did not want to destroy my feet and be miserable on Thursday.  I know that I've put the work in this year and I'm ready to run.... I think.

So this will only be my 3rd half marathon.  I ran one in college and the Atlanta Half last year.  Both times, I did not train like I was suppose to and it showed on race day.  This year, while I haven't stuck to my training schedule religiously, I have gotten my long runs, which is something I've not done in the other 2 races.  I've planned and practiced my nutrition this year too, so I hope that works out. 

I'm starting to get a little nervous though.  I got placed in start wave A.  I am not fast enough to be in wave A!!!  So I'm a little worried the adrenaline and the faster runners that I'm gonna be starting with will cause me to take off faster than I would like and I'm gonna die by the end. 

So after I finished whining about my blisters to my husband, we went to the store, got me some mole skin and then headed out play with Andrew. 

The boys riding the dune buggy

The hubs taking target practice 

Sunday, we went to the Zoo with Andrew.  Going to the Zoo is always fun with the kids and no matter how many times we've been, there's always something new to see.  This visit proved to be no execption. 

This visit, we not only did we see a monkey picking another monkey's butt, but we saw a gorilla playing with its poo.  And to a 6 year old boy, that was HILAROUS!! 

What kinds of inapproiate, but funny things have you seen at the zoo?

Night Running

So I ran last night for the first time in the dark.

4.54 miles
8:00/mile

With the time change, it's been hard to get my runs in.  Usually I will either run early in the mornings on the treadmill before the kids get up or run as soon as I get home in the evenings.  I preferred the evening runs to the morning runs, simply because I am not a morning person and I hate getting up at 5:00 am to workout.  But when the time changed a few weeks ago, my evening runs began to fall off.  I just simply did not get them in, therefore I just did not run at all. 

But this weekend when we went to family dinner I was talking to my cousin who is also a runner.  She does happen to be a morning person and runs at 3:45 am.  I know, crazy, right?  Any ways she gave me a head lamp for my evening runs.  She said that she has tons and wouldn't miss just one.  That was so sweet of her.  So last night when I got home from work at O'dark thirty I figured I would try it out.

Sporting the head lamp before my first run in the dark. 

My neighborhood has a few street lights, but for the most part I had to run in the dark.  It was weird, but it was nice to actually be able to run.  The one thing that I noticed tonight, that I've never noticed before, was all the animals, mostly dogs that are loose in my neighborhood.  When I run during daylight, I know the dogs are there, but they've never come out into the street and bark and chase me like they did last night.  I had one actually snipped at my feet as I ran by.  It kinda freaked me out.  I've never had to deal with dogs on my runs before. 

What do you do with animals or dogs when they chase you while you run? 

Weekend wrap up

I was off work Monday so I'm still a little behind.  So it kinds feels like Tuesday in my mind.  And my actual Tuesday was kind of chaotic so it was pretty much a wasted day. 

With that being said, I'm just now getting around to processing the weekend, my long weekend. 

The girls went to visit with their dad this weekend.  Because their dad and I are divorced he gets visitation with them every other weekend and some holidays.  I guess it's a pretty standard visitation, though it wasn't always like this (and that's another post in its self). 

So every other weekend, I try to be productive and stay busy so I don't think about how much I miss my kids. 

Friday, I pulled in the driveway just as the girls were getting ready to leave and was able to give them both big hugs and tell them bye.  After the girls left, the Hubs and I were on our own for dinner, he ate leftovers and I burnt my grilled cheese sandwich. 

So I made quesadillas instead...I didn't burn those

Saturday, I slept in...until 7:00, but was lazy and laid in bed until it got warm enough to go run.  I don't mid running in the cold, but who really wants to run 11 miles in 40 degrees if you don't have to. 

So I got my long run, 11 miles in on Saturday, actually it was 11.3 with an average pace of 8:31 per mile.  No matter how hard I try I can't go out slow, my first few miles were between 8:00 and 8:15, but slow started creeping up, mile 7 and 11 were around 8:45.  But overall I'm happy with my pace, if I can run around the same pace for the Atlanta Half then I'll definitely PR, but I want to break the 2 hour mark. 

After running, my sweet husband brought home lunch, a BBQ salad from a local BBQ restaurant.  Lately I have been craving salads.  I can't get enough.  I guess of all the things to crave, salads are not the worse thing in the world. 

So after stuffing myself with salad, I went grocery shopping since there was nothing to eat in the house.  And on the way back home I stopped and got dinner.  You guess it...another salad. 

So ate my salad and the hubby ate wings while we watched UGA kick some booty against Auburn.

Sunday, we had a family get together with Eddie's side of the family.

I made this

 It may look a little gross, but it's oh so good and so easy.

1 can of Rotel (drained)

1 can of Mexicorn (drained)

1 block of cream cheese (softened)

Mix it all together and enjoy!!

And then before you know it, it's time for the girls to come home and fill my house with the wonderful sound of sisters playing.

2 days...

So we just got word this morning that Andrew will be coming to visit for a few days...starting on Friday!!!
In 2 days!!!!
His mom currently lives in Ohio, but is relocating to south Georgia this weekend and since she has to pass right through, she's gonna drop him off with us for a few days while she unpacks and get their new house settled.  We thought that we were not gonna get to see him until Christmas when he visits, so this is HUGE!!  And since he is coming on Friday this means the girls will get to see him too!!! (before they have to leave to visit with their dad for Thanksgiving)  They really miss their brother.  They really were able to bond and forge a great relationship this past summer and I hate to see all the kids go so long without seeing each other and spending time together.  Whenever Eddie and I would go to visit Andrew, the girls would always ask to go too. 

So just in time for Andrew's visit, I recieved his school pictures in the mail yesterday. 

When I redecorated the house, I created this little picture collage with the kids school pictures.  My plan is to change them out every year and watch how they grow and change from year to year.  I had pictures of the girls, poor Andrew, we had  never recieved school pictures for him.  So before yesterday, his picture was a baby picutre from when he was about 6 months old.  I was able to order pictures directly from the photographer instead of waiting on his mom to give us one. 

So for now that wall is finished, and I just have to keep working on all the other blank walls in the house.

Brinner

On Thursday night Eddie's parents come over for dinner and to check out our new fence in the back-yard.  

We had the new fence installed last week in preparation for the kids’ Christmas present. We are planning on getting a dog or hopefully a puppy for the all the kids. (Shhh…it’s a secret)  We toyed with the idea of getting each kid their own dog, but I think we’ve settled on one puppy for all 3 kids.  We feel strongly about adopting a dog or puppy from a local shelter.  We feel that it is better to adopt and love an unwanted dog than spend a ridiculous amount of money on a particular breed.  I’m not sure yet if the Hubs and I will pick the dog and just give it to the kids as a part of Christmas morning or if we will let the kids go with us to the shelter and pick out the dog themselves.  We don’t really care what kind of dog we get and I know that it will just be luck of the draw as to what each shelter has on any particular day.  I know I am getting really excited about the thought of finally having a pet.  

Not our dog, but I sure wouldn't mind a lab.

 I always had pets growing up, mostly dogs, but we also had a few cats, some snakes and turtles and any other thing we happened to catch in the yard.  I think it's a right of passage for kids to have a pet. We are going to use the dog as a way to teach more responsibility for each of the kids.  It will be part of their daily chores to feed and water the dog.  The fence was a must for getting a dog.  We live in a neighborhood and cannot have a dog wondering the streets. And with both the Hubs and I working full time and commuting so far we are away from home a good deal of the day.  It would be unfair to any animal to be trapped in the house all day while we are gone.  This way the dog can run around and play all day and then play with us when we get home.  Yay!

Thanks to Stephens Fence Company for putting in the fence. To me they did an excellent job and the price was fair. Heck, I have no idea what a fair price for a fence is Eddie did all the research. 

For dinner we actually ate breakfast. The kids call it Brinner.  This is a favorite meal at our house.  Actually breakfast is my favorite meal period. I love all breakfast foods but unfortunately due to my work schedule and because the weekday mornings are so rushed trying to get out the door on time, we do not have time for a big breakfast.  So it is a treat to have breakfast for dinner.  I made homefries, bacon, sausage, eggs, biscuits and gravy.  My biscuits were frozen, I’ve never mastered the art of making buttermilk biscuits, but everything else was from scratch.  I ate way too much, but it was so worth it.  

To make up for over-eating last night I got up early this morning for a boring run of the treadmill. 

Now I’m ready to tackle my Friday.  

Rogue Runner Recap

So I ran the Rogue Runner Georgia race on November 3, 2012 in La Grange.  To be honest, I was a little nervous about this race for many reasons.

1.  Only 2 weeks prior Rogue Runner held their very first race ever and from the comments on Facebook I was a little worried about the organization of the race.  I read that there were wait times of a hour at some of the obstacles, no water or nutrition on a 6 mile course, poor course direction and few volunteers.

2.  I've been so focused on my training for the Atlanta Half Marathon, I've been slacking on my strength workouts.  I was super nervous about those dreaded monkey bars and my lack of upper body strength.

3.  This race only being my 2nd obstacle race and I was doing it alone.  Originally the hubs and kids were planning on coming too, but due to the girls playing softball they were not able to come with me.  I was all alone. 

So I was up at 6:30 am and was ready to roll by 7:00.  According to my directions, it should have taken me 1.5 hours and I need to be there 1 hour before my 9:30 start wave to get checked in. I thought my timing would be perfect.  Even with getting lost (thanks new Apple maps) I arrived at Pyne Road Park about 8:15.  I got checked in which proved to be more difficult than it should have been.  There were only 2 people working check-in and registration.  Everything was organized by bib #'s and the workers had to dig through 1 bag to find the actual bib and then another bag to find the timing chip that matched your #.  It only took about 5 minutes to get all my stuff since I had already printed out my don't sue us if you get hurt or die form waiver a head of time, but I was in the front of the line.  I could only imagine how the rest of the day went. 

So I got all my race accessories on and I was ready to roll.  I had my timing chip, the big bulky orange one.  I'm not really sure what the other 2 bracelets were for, but I put them on anyways.  I heard that one of them was for your free beer after the race, but who really knows.  I don't drink so it didn't really matter to me. 

So since I was standing around and was super early for my 9:30 wave, I thought why not go ahead and run in the elite 9:00 wave.  I honestly just wanted to get done running sooner so I could get back to watch my girls play ball.  The other thought that crossed my mind was, if I run early there's less of a chance of the obstacles getting backed up.  This was only my 2nd OCR, I wasn't real sure of myself and whether I could hang with "elite" runners.  But what the heck, I went for it.  So when they called for the 9:00 wave I headed to the start corral.  Once in the start corral they asked that runners that run 7:00/miles get lined up on the left side, then runners that run 8:00/miles line up in the middle and then everyone else on the right side.  So technically, on flat ground I run sub 8:00 so positioned myself in the middle, but towards the front so I wouldn't get too far behind in the start.  I looked around and noticed that there were not a lot of other women in that middle group and my mindset changed about running the elite wave.  I has here to race now, not just finish, but to compete and do well. 

So when the race started I took off.  I didn't really pay attention to the other runners at first, but just wanted to tackle one obstacle at a time and one mile at a time.   I successfully completed all by 2 obstacles, The first one I failed was "Walk the Line"

Basically looked like this, but floating in the lake. 

And the other one I failed was the Monkey bars, of course.  My goal is to be able to do the monkey bars by the Spartan Race in March. 

It's a toss up for the most difficult obstacle.  Either the Barbed Wire craw or the Mud March. 

At mile 4(ish) we were told to run in the creek and stay in the water until you get to the dock.  I'm really bad at judging distances, but it was longer than a football field and it felt like at least 1/4 mile.  At first it didn't seem too bad.  Just running really slow in some water.  But then came the mud, like swamp mud.  It was thick and smelly and at times came up to my thighs.  It just sucked you in.  A guy in front of me lost his shoes more than once.  The extra weight of the mud on your feet and in your shoes made it difficult to move fast.  And when the mud got deep the force of having to pull your feet out with every step was killer.  My thighs were on fire after that. 

The other obstacle that killed me was the Barbed Wire crawl.  You started by getting into the lake and then crawled up hill towards into the woods and then once you got to the top you made U-turn and had to come back down into the water.  I was the leading female up until that point, but got passed during the barbed wire crawl.  At 5'8" there's just no way to move fast under the barbed wire.  I tried just rolling, but I got very dizzy.  I got my hair and clothes caught a few times. 



Catapult into the tree and across the wire



Again, as this was only my 2nd OCR ever, I don't have a lot to compare it to.  I can say that the obstacles were fun and challenging.  I loved the jump off the high dive into the lake.  What a rush!!  I don't think I've jumped off something that high since I was a teenager. 

Running across "Lily Pads"

Up the wall, across the cargo nets and a few more steps to the finish line

The only negative things I have to say about the entire race is at one point on the course there was no direction whatsoever.  After crossing the creek and doing "Man on a Wire" obstacle I asked "where to now?" and was told by a volunteer to go about 150 feet, take a right and just keep going straight.  So I did just that, but when I made that right there were no orange or pink markers in sight.  I just kept going straight and made my own trail through grass and brush until I came to what was very obvious the course.  I have know idea if I was on the course or not.  There were several other runners with me so I wasn't the only one who was very confused by the directions.  The other negative was at the very end of the race they only had green bananas.  Nothing was ripe enough to eat, and I was starving by this point. 

I finished the race 1:19:04. 

27th overall finisher

3rd woman

1st in my age division

I claimed my finishers bling

Showing off my battle wounds...2 days later.

I had an absolute blast running Rogue Runner.  I think they learned from the experience in Virginia and things went very smoothly.  I loved the women's fitted shirts that we were given instead of the regular generic fitting T's.  I might actually were this one some where other than for a workout.  I hear that they are coming back in June and I'm seriously considering running it again.  What can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment.  I just can't get enough.   

Rogue Runner and Softball Tournaments

Weekend Wrap up...

For the first time in months, we had a Friday night free...well kinda free.  No softball practice since the fields were being prepped for the tournament on Saturday.  We went to dinner with my parents since Audrey was spending the night with them so my mom could take Audrey to her games until I could get back from my race.  And after dinner I had a date with my washing machine trying to get every one's clothes and uniforms washed for the weekend's events.  I had to pack for my race, Audrey's tournament and Madilyn's tournament.  Figuring that their first games were at 9:00 (and 50 degrees) and who knows when their last one would be, I packed blankets, jackets, hats, gloves, flip-flops, sunscreen, snacks, and drinks. 

Saturday started early for me.  I can never really sleep good the night before a race.  I fell asleep easily, but kept waking up throughout the night afraid that I was gonna oversleep.  Finally my alarm went off at 6:00am and I was up and ready to go.  I made a quick stop for gas and coffee and then I was on the road headed to La Grange, GA for the Rogue Runner Race.  La Grange is only about 1hour and 15min from where I live and I made good time on the drive.  So I got to the race a little earlier than planned.  I was suppose to run in the 9:30 wave, but since I got there in plenty of time, I figured, what the heck, I'll run in the 9:00 Elite wave.  So I did!!  The race was awesome (I'll recap the race later).

Showing off my finisher's bling and my race t-shirt

So after my race, I pretty much cleaned up and high-tailed it back to the softball park so I could watch Audrey play ball and relieve my mom so she could go cook for a family dinner later. 

Madilyn was playing in a tournament at another park, so Eddie was taking care of her, but keeping me updated of their success.  The Warriors stayed in the winner's bracket all day only to lose the championship game (twice).  Eddie said the umps were a little biased and the other team didn't play by the rules.  I'm still proud of my girl.  

Warriors took 2nd place in Scare-Tacular Tournament

Audrey's team played all day.  5 games total over a 12 hour period.  I was so proud of my little bug.  This was the first time she's ever played this many games in one day.  She was a trooper, never once did she complain or say that she was tired.  She hit the ball like never before.  She got a hit at every at bat and made some great plays in the field.  Her team, the Jr Aces played for the championship and won! 

My little bug with her 1st place trophy

It was a big weekend for the girls in our house.  Mommy won 2nd in her race, Audrey got 1st and Madilyn got 2nd. 

It was an exhausting day, but it was all worth it to see my girls doing what they love and doing it well.