st. paddy's half marathon {13in2013}

Can y'all believe this is #7 in the 13in2013 challenge!?
2nd half in real life; back 2 back halfs weekend!
And, it totally kicked my booty, literally.
My glutes are on FIYAHHH!

Let's get a race recap going,....

Friday, was my stretch [foam roll] this shiz out of my legs [IT band] day and we headed outdoors for some fun too; ice cream, pottery painting and park play. Hello, sunshine!

Saturday: {st. paddy's day run tacoma}
oh, another EARLY morning wakeup, 5AM wasn't so bad. (After having my iPhone screen broken, once again and waiting on a sleepless 6yr old to fall asleep, I fell asleep around midnight!) I got some more stretching in before waking the girls & getting them ready and loaded in. I sipped on coffee, and on Ezekiel toast w/pb, picked up another MRTT member to carpool with, dropped of girls at my friends place. And, off we went, 45 min drive wasn't bad at all! Sure, I was a little exhausted from the morning craziness but that's why they call me "super{runner}mama". I just keep going; make it happen. We got lucky rolling into the event location and finding a spot barely a block away, with nearly 30 minutes to spare!! We geared up; pinned bib, accessories on, stretched, bathroom break inside a warm pub!! Woohoo!! Made it to the start line and we were ready! It was gloomy and there was a 30% chance of rain. Fellow MRTT member told me she was sick all week and wanted to just walk it but as a marathoner, I knew she wouldn't.

Miles 1-5: I started off pretty steady, legs felt great, no IT pain whatsoever. I was happy but I was also feeling congested, my nose was a wee bit runny. We had been fighting sore throats this week. Ugh! So, breathing wasn't as easy, and I pushed through it. Mile 3, light rain started coming down and lingered around. Around mile 4, I had to really use the restroom, badly. And, it takes forever to get through a line. Luckily, there was a park with a few and I also stripped off layer and repined bib. Now, I was sporting the MRTT green {festive} tee,...'moms shamrock this town'. There went approx 15minutes and I never caught back up with the 2:30 pace leader. Whomp! Whomp!

Miles 6-9: once, I got back on the road, I realized I was amongst the 10k'rs, and they were hustlin', I picked up speed and was distinguished by my green bib as a half marathoner, when they did the 1/2 turn, I continued forward. Back to my world,..water station, fueled up and went on. Oh, hey,.....hills and the view along the water, uhhhhh-mazing!!! I love a good view and Washington offers it all. It makes me incredibly happy to be a girl from Texas, and exploring new places, all made possible via husband and his career in the NAVY!! I'm apart of an Elite group of women, the ones that EMBRACE their surroundings and enjoy the little things. I've been to Hawaii {paradise}, San Diego {city life}, Ridgecrest {desert town},.Washington continuously takes my breath away! Okay, back to running...

Miles 10-11: through the surrounding neighborhood, errrr, I mean hills and hills! My legs felt soooo heavy! At this point, I was trying to keep a steady jog uphill but found myself walking, and walking. I wanted to stop and stretch but kept pushing myself instead. I really wondered where in the world is the turn around,...aghh, downhill! I snapped a photo before I headed down slowly. My knees were feeling the hills, they were pretty beat at this point. Yep, no fun!

Mile 12: forever long, forever. And, I completely forgot the up hills that we went down on from the start line. I took walking intervals and again wanted to stop to stretch but it was MILE 12, no way!! There were others walking along the uphills too, I could feel the rush coming over the last hill, and I wanted to sprint so badly. I think my face had more of a "finish strong" look than my legs did. I.just.kept.going. Whoaaaa

Finished {heavily} Strong: 13.1 miles in 2:49:22!!!!

Grabbed a medal and stretch over in a squat while they cut off the time chip off my shoe. I stayed stretched over while the guy, congratulated me and repeatedly said, "way to go, you did it.", while giving me a smile and pat on the back. I sure did, I was proud, this mama, this girl, this runner completed back 2 back half-marathons!! It wasn't about setting PR's, the medals, the swag, becoming a half fanatic, {okay, a little} it was the rush, the effort, the push for myself, my inner soul needed this. I was overwhelmed, this passion was burning throughout me, I set out a goal and I crushed it!! {insert smile and tears} I found my friend at the finish line shortly after, and we chatted about the race experience, she did good too, around 2:35, not bad for being under the weather. We loaded back up for the drive and I made a pit stop for some fast food from 'sonic', it's one of those places I love! I snuck in quick shower before picking up my girlies. Even though my body felt a little beat up, I took my girls to the park to enjoy the sunshine, and afterwards got busy with an [early] dinner; fish tacos. And a corinarita for my post-race celebratory drink. Yummaayyy!!

Stand out songs: maclamore's 'can't hold us', cali swag districts 'teach me
How to dogie' and Flo rida's 'in the Ayer'.
Add them to your playlist; go!

What's next?
the jelly bean virtual race hosted by run with jess.
Squatting. Boxing. Spinning.
Kettlebelling. Bosu-ng. Yoga-ng ... .... ...
Running; squeezing in long runs.
April: backwards 1 miler & 10k
Next Half Marathon(s): May 5 & May 23!

Hope y'all had an active weekend!

tunesday!

Just can't get enough of this song from Macklemore!! yall know the guy, with his catchy 'thrift shop' song! This one kept pushing during Saturdays half (slowly working on a recap)!

"So, we put our hands like the ceiling can't hold us..."

"Don't wait to for inspiration to find you; BECOME IT!!"

fun fact fridayyyy

Hey y'all!
It's Friday and there's sunshine out here!
I've been stretching like crazy for the last 24 hrs, my IT band is not my friend! I kind of need it for tomorrow's st. paddy's half marathon. Ugh!

Lets get in another random 10,
about yours truly. Here goes it...

1. Squats while listening to ludacris, how low, is how you do it.

2. I'm ready for spring/summer, mostly because I have the cutest heels, and I want to wear them!

3. I'm always adding workout gear, notorious for tops and running bottoms. You can never have too much, like shoes!

4. Boy meets world! I still watch it,...and I want to see the new series they are planning. I love Corey!! {swoon}

5. Homemade Pizza is a weekly favorite. I make a whole wheat crust, and veggie load it. It's Sooo goooddd!!!

6. My girls are 2, 3 and 6...my oldest will have summer birthdays, so, 2, 4, and 7. They keep growing!

7. I have 2 tattoos, on the inside of my wrists, my oldest daughters names. I often forget that they are there. It was an impulse moment and I love them. When people realize them, they immediately ask where is my 3rd tattoo going? Uhmm, good question. I.have.no.idea.

8. crossfit!?! Oh, I can't wait. As anxious as I am to see my husband, I'm even more anxious for new adventures in my fitness journey!!

9. I've been on a house {projects} makeover! Each room is getting spruced up with new looks and additions!! It's a passion, home decorating!

10. Sweet Tea, please!! I haven't made it in months and its all I've been thinking about lately. It's the southern in me!

just run

when folks just run to run; no virtual miles to log for races or training miles, just running because you love the high, the thrill, the burn,.....simply running!

It's been awesome to get back into that! I'll admit it, I got side-tracked with virtual races. It was a different [easy] approach to still racing and earning bling, also supporting a good cause. Obviously, I still felt like I "raced" during this deployment madness, and juggling 3 kids. That's swindled down, I'm looking at 'on the road' races to register for. I do have 2 upcoming virtuals, that I had already registered for. And, continuing to participate in the #anywhere5k challenges. Other than that, I'm
Running....like this morning I'll be squeezing in a [timed] run with my baby girl before babysitting a friends kiddo.

I've also had happy mail with running [casual] tees, shoes and other randomness. I've been pretty consistent in running, dropped a program and trying to start a new routine. No challenges other than keeping active. And, I'm happy with that.

Do y'all run for the run or on the bling-earning bandwagon? I was happy to fall off. Haha

lake sammamish half {13in2013}

first [in real life] half marathon for 2013.
half marathon #6 for the 13 in 2013 challenge.
first road trip with a few fabulous MRTT runners.
{weekend wrap-up}


{Friday} a ferry ride to Seattle, started this awesome weekend. It was a glorious day, the sun was shining by the time we got to the packet pick-up location. I was also picking up 2 other packets, for the other mother runners, that were going. We made a detour to ikea before the drive back home, finally picking up a few items for an upcoming project. We got a surprise, my brother arrived a day early!! He was flying in from the carrier, off from deployment, he detached and has orders to SoCal. My girls were SO excited to welcome their uncle back to the USA!! They were all over him, a bit overwhelming for him, I'm sure!

{Saturday} Lake Sammamish Half Marathon
Race day; up EARLY, 4:30! After the morning chaos, and loading of 3 cranky girls, we headed to my friends house, she babysat the girls during my FIRST half marathon, last July. And, is awesome watching my girls. I met up at my friends house, where we'd get together and carpool to the ferry. This was a location, I hadn't been to, so I was happy that we made plans to go together. Ferry loaded at 6:25, after some driving, we arrived at the race location, about 8:00. Got geared up, bathroom break, tried to warm-up, it was COLD!! And, once we crossed the start line, we each went into our own 'running' world.

Mile 1-6: the course was flat, surprisingly, Washington is known for its 'hillish' routes. I was completely stretched at mile 4. I got to mile 5, and realized I needed a bathroom break, my body wanted to instantly stop but I pushed through it. Once, I finally spotted a porta-potty and the long line, I kept going. I'm not going to lie, I hit several spots where I was speeding and zig zagging my way ahead of folks and I felt like a total badass because I wasn't burnt out. I paced though. No knee pain. I was over the moon!! A lot to through your mind when you're running for over an hour...with more miles and time ahead.

Miles 6-8: I took a few walking breaks, around miles 6-8. My feet went numb, and I had to stretch a little. I even took off a layer, because the fog finally burned off and the sun was shining. The trail was mostly gravel, some paved areas. We ran alongside some houses that had lake fronts. It was absolutely beautiful. I day-dreamed, yessss while running, about never moving from this amazing state and owning a house like those.

Miles 9-11: are we there yet? Seriously!? Mile 10 had us running alongside the roadways, I actually ran the entire time, passing several folks that decided to walk. I suppose, this is the kind of running I can concentrate with the most. Just the music and the pavement ahead, I was in a zone. Mile 11 had us back on a trail, heading into the Lake Sammamish State Park. Once again, burst of energy and passing folks. I was eater for the finish line!! Woohoo!! I had Drakes 'started from the bottom' song on replay to push me! It gets annoying but it definitely had me pushing!

Mile 12: longest.mile.ever. {Young the Giant- body on replay for the finish} it was a busy park day, finishers along the trail cheering us on, Families spending time at the park, errr...or waiting for their finisher, the shuttle buses leaving back to start location. Yep, luckily, we didn't have to loop back! The zig zagging felt like the longest time, but I knew the finish line was somewhere over that tree area. The fact that I couldn't see it, was probably a good thing. The last stretch was right along the lake, I was overwhelmed with emotions; fabulous weather, amazing view, garmin watch time was setting a PR,......"my body tell me no but I won't quit, Cuz i want more, I want more..." The finish line never looked sweeter, my music was blasting and I was smiling and holding back tears of awesomeness!! It totally kicked my ass, I kicked ass and was on an amazing runners high!!

Finished Strong: 13.1 miles in 2:30:56!!!

I caught up with the 2 other mother runners and we chatted about our run, each of us setting PR's!! Pretty exciting, considering this was a flat course, which I learned was a BIG DEAL! We snapped photos, refueled and each purchased a shirt from Run Pretty Far, fabulous items. I knew I was going to jump into my shirt, to pair with my celebratory drink, sangria!! We made our way to the shuttle, car drive to ferry, ferry ride back to meeting location. It was 3pm, I rushed home to steal a shower before picking up my girls. Then, back home to cook up a spaghetti dinner; yummmayyy!! After, putting the girls to bed and cleaning the dinner mess, I finally sat down, more sangria, movie night with my brother.

{Sunday} active recovery. Ouch.
I rolled, literally, out of bed around 8am.
After a little bit of lounging, watching Wreck it Ralph.
I decided to get busy in the garage, the fact that my either was leaving Monday morning too. I wanted to relocate the treadmill into the garage. And, complete the garage gym. Err, I mean, clean the garage. Even, getting the car loaded with a hefty goodwill donation. I spent a few hours and it sure did help relieve the soreness, a little sangria helped too. It looks amazing now!! And, I've still got some clearing/trashing of toys and junk. It should be cleared out by the time husband returns. We finally have a homecoming date, finally!! I'm SO happy he will be home to celebrate half-marathon #3, we've already got a BBQ and margaritas planned post-race, his mom will be in town too. Such exciting news to a running-super active-filled weekend!!

fun fact Friday

Hey y'all!!

It's been a while, Let's get another random 10 in!!

1. Mama wants muscles!! I've got some bulging biceps and have been working on my TRICEPS lately.

2. My latest wardrobe color collection is FABULOUS!!

3. Homecoming = Runnning
Solo running, husband has been on deployment for almost 6 months, only a coupleeee of weeks left! Superrrr ANXIOUS over herrreeeee!!

4. I am shoe addict; flats, running, boots,...all over them! I've recently bought 4 pairs of sporting shoes!

5. I tend to forget that taking the ferry to Seattle (surrounding cities) is 'faster' that driving. Like, for today's drive to pick up race packet. One hour ferry ride, and 20 minute drive to location vs. the 1:30 drive. I don't mind the drive, Washington has spectacular views!!

6. I'll admit it, I've gained roughly 15 lbs since last winter, there were a few factors involved and you know what, I'm okay with it. Don't get me wrong, I'm battling to lose them but I'm not in a rush or stressing.

7. I've gotten my creative juices flowing, once again. Yep! I've been keeping busy lately, with fun fabulous projects. And, there's many more to complete before homecoming. This week: fabric spring wreath, painting/sprucing up a piece of furniture in our entry way, adding chevron to it, {back into the sewing projects}, ribbon hairbands and spring couch pillow covers (zippers included). Whoo!!!

8. I almost cry, lately, when people ask, "how old are my 2 girls?" I sadly reply, "uhmm, 2 and 3." Two toddlers, oh...it's get crazy wild daily!

9. I've become a Scentsy and Thirty-One addict!! I've been a happy customer to my friends Scentsy orders! After, a hefty order from a recent Thirty-One party, I'm hosting my first party during spring break; Muffins & Mimosas! They're spring prints are fabulous!!

10. Chevron-polka dot-owl-anchors- stripes-...obsessed!!

{5 by the 5th} #3/6

Happy March y'all!
A new month means, another 5 by the 5th virtual race.
And, I went with a spontaneous 5k.

{Monday} I woke up to a pee on laundry room floor, crazy dog!! Uhmm, this wasn't exactly my idea of a great morning start. Ehhh, I got busy cleaning, and I mean cleaning! I didn't stop until I noticed sunshine and then got in contact with a friend, who said she'd be running. I loaded my girls in the double jogger and met up with her and another gal for a park playdate, which turned into my warm-up. The sun was shining, kids were playing/exploring and we were chatting.

We parted ways, and I decided to RUN {runch = lunch run} And, headed the opposite way, tackling an uphill route. We spotted a mama and baby deer along the way, snapped a photo. Whewww, pushing/running with the double jogger is a major challenge and I kept at it! We got a 5k done! Whoop! Whoop!

Finished Strong; 3.13 in 43:07!

{Tuesday} I planned a run with a new running mama, I got there a little early and after some stretching, started to run. We got a mile in before she showed up with her little one. We walked mostly, and stopped to let the kids play.

Finished strong; 3.34 miles in 1:04.

{Wednesday} active rest day! I got some yoga in with a little foam rolling. And craft store shopping, fabulous project underway!!

{Thursday} today, I decided to shake my legs up. Baby girl and I headed out to the trail, she was cranky!! We took on some hills, speed intervals, and fabulous gloomy weather! I walked along the wood trails, as they were slippery! I kept thinking, how much I'd miss my little monsters during Saturdays trip up north for the Lake Sammamish half marathon. At the same time, I was excited because they'd want to hear all about it!! Plus, my brother is coming into town the same day, so we get to celebrate that too! He recently, became a first time daddy to a precious baby girl. He's been on deployment, same as my husband. And, will be finally settling into shore duty, new family, new state, new duty station, new baby, new beginnings. I'm so proud and excited for him!! Our family is always growing, I'm the oldest of 10 siblings!!
I currently have 3 nephews and 5 nieces and then there's my 3 girls! Wow!

Back to the running; this was the last run before the half marathon this weekend! I might spin them out tomorrow.

Finished strong; 2.16 miles in 31:10!