30 Day Shred....and Random Bits...

For some reason I thought it would be fun to start this yesterday:

I just followed the YouTube video here.

I watched it first all the way through yesterday morning, and thought it didn't look too hard. 

Well it sucked.  Right after, my legs were jelly.  I could barely walk down the stairs.  It really kicked my butt! Supposedly you are supposed to start level one and do it for 10 days and then move on to level two and so forth.  I don't know if I'll buy the dvd yet, but I'm going to try to do level one for ten days and see where I'm at.   

The nice thing about it is that it is only about 25 minutes long and you are constantly moving.  There are no rest periods at all.  So it's over quickly.  I made my husband do it with me, and he was also sweating by the time we were done.   

I'll update my progress as I go....

This little super hero was being such a cutie the other day....I put her brother's cape on her and she loved having it on.  She is just like her big sister and thinks she's already a big girl and loves to copy her big brother and sister.  :) 

Charlie's newest fascination right now are cowboy boots.  Or in this case cowgirl boots.  He loves wearing his big sister's boots.  I really need to get him some, I just hate spending the money on such nice boots when he will grow out of them so quickly! 

Onto a new recipe I just tried from Pinterest:

I've been wanting to test these tasty little things out for a while now.  I love hot dogs and I especially love a good corn dog.  I made them for me my kids and they absolutely loved them.  I ended up changing the recipe a little because I thought it called for too much sugar and also had to add in a little more milk because the batter was so thick I could barely scoop it.  

Here is the link the recipe.  

Mini Corn Dog Muffins

I would definitely make these again, but maybe next time use larger hot dog pieces or cut them into smaller cubes and just add them to the batter.  Overall it was a great recipe and one that everyone enjoyed!

Running fail and baked italian chicken

I was supposed to run three miles yesterday. 

That didn't happen. 

It was stormy so I had to run on the treadmill.  I made it like 1.3 miles and then my knees started to hurt.  So I slowed it down to a brisk walk and they were still hurting.  I toughed it out and ran in intervals of running/walking so that it wouldn't be as bad.  

I finally stopped at 2.3 miles. 

I felt awful afterwards. 

Usually I feel like I can conquer the world after working out, but tonight I just felt thoroughly exhausted.

I have a couple of ideas of why I had such a hard time.

1. I didn't sleep at all the night before.

2. I am not consuming enough calories.

3. I am not quite used to treadmill running.

4. I had a bad attitude going into the run.

5. I was already really tired to begin with. 

I have never really had knee pain when running before.  I have had pain in the arches of my feet and in my heels, but never in my knees.  They just ache.  

I hope it's nothing serious. 

I took some ibuprofen and am going to try to take it easy tomorrow.  Hopefully it's just soreness and not something serious. 

I have no idea why it's so hard for me to run on my treadmill.  I feel like the pace I go outside and the pace on the treadmill are completely different.  I feel like I can't keep up on the treadmill and that even though it's the same pace I'm running outside it feels way faster.  

My other issue is how much to eat in a day.  I feel like I'm always hungry on the days I run.  I always try to have a post-run snack and I eat three meals a day plus two snacks in between, but I am still hungry.  I think I need to up my calories.  I think that's why I am feeling so tired all of a sudden.  I'm going to try to increase my calories and see what happens.  

This whole counting calories is kind of stressful and I kind of hate it.  I would really just like to eat whatever I want (in moderation of course) and not worry about going over calories.

Onto what I ate for dinner last night:

I pretty much just threw whatever I had in my fridge in this baked dish I made for dinner last night.
The chicken ended up being really moist and flavorful.  It was kind of an odds and ends meal last night.  With the chicken we had corn on the cob, green beans, and cottage cheese. I'm telling you I really need to do some major grocery shopping.  I was going to make some brown rice to go with it, but I got lazy and decided we could skip out on a starch for the meal.

Here's the recipe

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

3/4 cup of Kraft Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing. (I used the Lite version)

1 red pepper sliced

1 tomato sliced thinly

2 slices of provolone cheese

Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on at the end of baking.

Preheat oven to 350* Lightly grease (I used cooking spray) an oven-safe dish.  Place chicken in dish and pour dressing over chicken and thoroughly coat the chicken. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until chicken is just about done.  Place sliced tomatoes and peppers on chicken and top with sliced cheese. Continue to bake until chicken is cooked through. (about another 10 minutes) Take out of oven and cover with tin foil and let sit for about 5 minutes.  When ready to serve, sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

*You could substitute peppers with roasted red peppers and also sun dried tomatoes.

Facing Reality and Taco Chili

Saturday when we went on our little ice cream cone excursion, my husband and I thought it would be a good idea to find a 6 mile loop around our area that we could run for our 10k coming up at the end of August.  So we reset our mileage thing on our car (I have no idea what that's called) and started driving.    I started to become really worried when we hit mile four....I honestly couldn't believe how far that was and I actually ran four miles the other day! It's kind of amazing to see.  I then got more freaked out when we finished our 6 mile loop and realized that we are going to be running that far in just a few short weeks. 

I honestly can't believe I'm going to be running that far.   I know it may not seem like much to serious runners who are running 12-20 miles a day, but for someone like me who was basically a couch potato and now a few short months have passed I'm going to run 6.2 miles.   I don't want to sound prideful or anything, but I am freaking proud of myself! 

Thought this was cute :)

Anyways onto what I had for dinner last night:

The other day I was standing in my kitchen and I suddenly wanted it to be fall.  I was thinking of how good a bowl of soup sounded and cuddling on the couch with my hubby watching football.  I love fall, it's not too hot, the trees start changing colors, and life starts slowing down.  I kind of love it.  

So when I was watching the weather the other night and it said that it was only supposed to be 80 degrees in our area, I got a little too excited.  I decided that Taco Chili was on the menu and I didn't care if it was too hot, I wanted to make it! 

Whenever I make chili of any kind, I pretty much rummage through my canned food and dump in what I have.  It just so happens that I was feeling like taco chili, and I had all the ingredients in my pantry already.  Which is always a good thing! 

Here is is:

I like my Taco Chili a little on the spicy side, but not too spicy that my face is burning off.   Since I had some jalepenos in my produce drawer I thought they would be great to add to my chili.  Turns out it was a good decision.  It ended up being just a little spicy.  Just the way I like it.  Now,  my husband on the other hand likes things really spicy and likes to add Tobasco Sauce to everything.  Me? Not so much.  

Recipe:
1 Pound of Ground Beef
1 14 oz can of black beans-drained and rinsed
1  14 oz can of Kidney beans-drained and rinsed
2 cans of diced chilies
1  14 oz can of Diced Tomatoes
1 can of Corn-drained
1 package of Taco Seasoning
1 cup of Beef Broth
1 onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 red pepper chopped
1 jalepeno pepper chopped
1 tablespoon of cumin

Instructions:
Brown ground beef in skillet with chopped onion until cooked.  Add meat and all other ingredients in crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  The mixture will be super thick, but as it cooks it makes it's own juices. But if you want it to be less thick then just add some more beef stock.  Serve with grated cheese and tortilla chips.

The best $1.49 I ever spent and what was I thinking?

Yesterday we promised our five year old a snow cone if she did all her chores and helped out with our deep cleaning yesterday.  She did all her work and did everything we asked.  So we packed up all the kids and went to Walmart first.  I only had like 4 things on my list, but I came out with a hundred less dollars in my account and more than 4 things.  Which pretty much happens every single time I go to that store. 

Anyways, I didn't have any cash in my wallet for a snow-cone so I convinced her we should go get ice cream cones instead.  I then remembered that I have been salivating over Wendy's Waffle Cones they have been advertising.

Like I said, it was the best $1.49 I have ever spent.  Here's why:
1. I love ice cream
2. I love waffle cones
3. I love sweet treats
4. I love ice cream
5.  Ice cream fixes everything

I think I inhaled that sucker faster than it took to order it.  After, I looked at my husband and said I could totally eat another one. :)

I know it wasn't gourmet ice cream or even probably a freshly made waffle cone, but in that moment it tasted amazing and I honestly could have probably downed three more!  It was definitely worth the 290 calories.

Now, sometimes I get into a mood where I want to organize everything.  Today I woke up and was in that mood. My husband was not happy with me. He wanted to just relax all day long and do absolutely nothing.  I however had different plans:

I decided that we have enough crap, I mean awesome stuff to have a yard sale.  So I started in my craft/sewing/junk/ room and started to go through boxes.  I then moved to our storage room and started to go through boxes.  I can't believe how much crap we acquire in such a short amount of time.

 It's disgusting.
I don't want all this crap.

 We have like 4 container bins of just things from high school/mission/college crap.  Why do we save these things?  What's the purpose? I haven't looked at the stuff for 7 years, am I going to look at it in 7 more?  Probably not.  So why am I keeping it?

I honestly don't know.   Or maybe I do know.  I think we actually enjoy hauling it around every time we move! :)

I also have about 8 containers of just holiday decorations. I mean who really needs that many decorations?  I have decorations for pretty much every single holiday.  Once upon a time I used to be really good about putting out cute little things for every little holiday. I've got Christmas ornaments coming out my butt! (I just had to buy 17,000 boxes when they went on clearance)  I haven't gotten anything out since I put Christmas away in January.  So why am I saving all this stuff?

Again, I have no clue.

So, I am getting rid of a lot of stuff.  Things I haven't used for years, things I wont use ever again, things that are just taking up space, and things I could live without.

I am not going to turn into one of those hoarders you see on that TLC show.  If I haven't used it for the past year and it doesn't hold sentimental value.  It's going.

It kind of feels good to de-junk.

You should try it. :)

4 Miles and some randomness...

Slow and steady today.  I was scared to do 4 miles. I was really struggling the first two miles.  I don't know why, I just was tired. My legs hurt and I had a bad attitude.  At mile three I started to get into a better pace and mile four was the easiest mile.  Which is so weird.  I would think that your first mile or so would be easy, but for me it almost takes me two miles to get into a comfortable pace.  

We planted our first garden this year, since we actually are renting a home that has a yard.  It has been so much fun! I am probably a little too excited about the fact that we actually grew real vegetables, but I am stoked!  Here is what we picked the other day.  We let the zucchini get too big so it was a little tough, so I ended up grating it up and freezing it for zucchini bread.
Doesn't the pepper on the left look like an old grumpy man face?  Or am I just crazy?

Strawberries are my favorite fruit to eat in the summertime. They are so sweet and refreshing, I really can't get enough of them! When they went on sale at my local grocery store, I kind of went overboard and bought 10 pounds.  

{Yes, our countertops really are that ugly blue.  Fortunately, we are renting this house and so I don't have to live with them forever!}

I like to cut the tops off and then freeze them in quart size freezer bags.  It is WAY cheaper to do this  yourself than it is to buy frozen strawberries at the store.  I also do this with blueberries when they go on sale.  They both freeze great and last forever! 

My next order of randommess is my new favorite song that I have on my running playlist.  We went to the Goo Goo Dolls/Matchbox 20 concert in Vegas and had an awesome time.  My favorite song from the whole show was this one:

I am in love with this song and I really can't get enough of it.  It is such a cute and romantic song.  I really love the lyrics.    Here are some random pics of us at the concert:

{Me, Jess, Emily, Katie}

Stuck.

I am stuck.

Stuck at 144 pounds.

The scale hasn't budged for weeks. 

I take that back, it budges from 143-145, but mostly stays at 144. 

I didn't make my 4 week goal weight. 

I am really bummed about that.

But I honestly have no one to blame but myself.

I haven't done any cross training for a month. I have only been running. 

When I weighed myself this morning and saw no improvement, I got really mad. 

 Mad that I haven't been upping my game.  

Mad that I completely binged on wednesday.

 Mad that I let a number on a scale effect my mood so greatly.  

Mad that I didn't try harder. 

I could come up with a million and one excuses of why the scale hasn't moved, but ultimately it's been my choice to stop cross training and eating unhealthy things here and there. 

 I thought since I was running more miles that it would make up for itself. Well, that's really not the case.  Every single time I have stopped doing weight training the scale never moves.  And it's not that I don't like weight training, I actually kind of enjoy doing it since my husband always does it with me, it's just I always make the excuse that I ran hard and that should be plenty.  

So weight training is starting back up again today.  I really need to be consistent about it, just like I am consistent with my runs.  I kind of feel obligated to do my runs since I am training for a 10k, so it pushes me to do my running every single week.  I however, don't feel obligated to weight/cross train. Even though I have read countless articles about how it improves your running when you do those things.  I just need to make it a priority.  

Onto happier news-

I did achieve my other two goals that I set for 4 weeks.  I even killed one of my 10 week goals. So I should really be happy about what I have accomplished and not be so negative about what I didn't accomplish.  

This little firecracker really made my morning when I went into her room this morning and she was standing at her crib and saying "up." That's the first time she's ever said it before, so it really made my morning much brighter! 

*I am doing my full weigh-in and measurements at my 10 week stat update.  That will probably be on September 1st.  So I have about a month to get my butt into gear and really step up my game and lose those few extra pounds I want to lose. 

Monroe Milk Run Recap {2013}

Yesterday I ran in my second 5k.  I wasn't nearly as nervous for this race.  I kind of knew what to expect this time around and it was nice that there weren't thousands of runners.  There was probably only 200 people running.  The race was scheduled to start at seven, but started a little late.  

{Waiting for the race to start}

As soon as I started I pressed start on my runkeeper and started running.  About one minute into it, I must have hit my phone and it stopped tracking my run.  So I had to take my arm band off and restart it which was a pain in the butt to do while running.  I wouldn't care if I didn't track it, but I like to have it on because then I know what my pace is like and if I need to speed up or slow down so I don't get too tired. After I fixed it I began to relax.  

The first mile or more was uphill.  It wasn't too bad of a climb, but my legs were definitely feeling it.  At about mile two we ran on a dirt road and it was downhill which was so nice! Then mile three was back to the road and pretty much a flat surface to the finish line.  I felt pretty great throughout the whole race.  I really wanted to beat my previous time, so I made sure to keep a faster pace.  The last quarter of a mile I booked it to the finish line.  I could see the finish clock and wanted to try to make it under 33:00, but I was just off by a few seconds. My husband and kids were at the finish line ready to take pictures and cheer me on.  Here are some of the pictures he got:

I thought this picture was cool because neither of my feet are touching the ground! :)

You see the kid in the blue jersey?  Well turns out I was racing with my two cousins and didn't even know it! They both did awesome.  Callie who is super athletic got fourth place overall! She did an awesome job and she's only a teenager! Jaxson (the one pictured) also did an awesome job!

{My Result Card}

As soon as we got into the car to go home, I decided that I was going to make "real" pancakes for breakfast.  I made them with extra vanilla in the batter and practically fried them in oil and then smothered them in butter and sprinkled sugar on top.  That's my favorite way to have pancakes. 

 It might sound weird to sprinkle sugar on a pancake, but I swear it's so good! They kind of taste like sugared doughnuts when you make them like that. I swear they tasted like heaven.  I limited myself to two, but I could have downed like six I'm pretty sure. 

After the race we had a very busy day ahead of us! We travelled up north to go to the rodeo in Spanish Fork.  We had a great time and by the end of the day we were all thoroughly exhuasted!

{My Cowgirl Diva and Little Cowboy}

 {My hunk of  a husband!}

9:48 and Shredded Chicken and Black Beans

Last night I wanted to take it easy and only do a mile since my next race is this Wednesday.  Well, that thought didn't get very far, because I got a wild hair up my butt and decided to run it as fas as I could without passing out on the side of the road. I ran it in 9:48. My personal best.  I was so excited about it, but then I realized I could not catch my breath. So I had to calm the crap down and sit down for a while.  It was the first time I actually had to use my inhaler after running since I started running.  I really pushed myself and am actually quite proud that I ran an under ten minute mile! I killed my previous goal of 10:15.  

I got this in my email this morning from RunKeeper.  It made me laugh! :)  I thought it was pretty cool, except the time on the violation is wrong. :)

Onto what I ate last night for dinner:

I have been making this concoction for a couple of years and it is actually super healthy.  You can use this recipe for burritos, salads, or you can add in more beans and some corn to make it a Chicken Taco Soup.  It is really versatile and I always have the ingredients on hand so it's a go-to meal for my family. It's also a crockpot meal so it's something you can throw into your crockpot in the morning and it will make your house smell good all day and you don't have to worry about it until it's time to eat!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

1 Can of Black Beans

1 Cup of Salsa (your favorite kind)

1 Chopped Bell Pepper (I used a mixture of green and red)

1 Tablespoon of Chopped Garlic

1 Onion Chopped

1 Packet of Taco Seasoning

Instructions:

Add everything into crockpot and turn on low for 6-8 hours.  Serve with tortillas. 

Favorite thing to eat and a not so flattering picture.....

I am stuck on this meal.  I have it almost every day and it is so filling! It's non-fat vanilla greek yogurt, fresh fruit, granola, and sliced almonds. YUM.  

I have this almost everyday for lunch.  It's only about 300 calories (depending on how much granola I want that day) and it really fills me up.  I use different fruits depending on what's on sale that week.  Lately my favorite is fresh peaches and blueberries.  

I saw this quote on pinterest the other day and laughed.  I feel like it's true!  I remember when I used to go to the gym it was more like a beauty pageant that actually seeing people workout.  I haven't been a member of a gym for a long time and so I'm not sure if it's like that now, but when I used to go I always felt like I had to "get ready" to go to the gym.  Now I just put on whatever gym clothes that I can find (that are clean) and go running.

Now here is a perfect picture that illustrates this quote perfectly! I am almost embarrassed to post this.  My makeup is smudged everywhere and it looks like I have a black eye, I am dripping in sweat, and my hair was soaking wet at the ends (gross).  This is how you are supposed to look after a hard workout! :)

I really hit it hard last night for my workout! We went out of town for the weekend and I practically binged on food.  We ate out everyday and I pretty much ate whatever I wanted.  So I figured I needed a pretty intense workout to makeup for all the junk food I consumed.  I did a 30 minute interval run.  It was so hard, but I felt great afterward.  

Longest Run of My Life.

Yesterday I thought I was feeling good enough to do my long run for the week.  I had to get it in somehow between yesterday and today because we are going out of town.  Well my goal was to do a 3.5 mile run.  I also took a new route.  I thought I needed a change of scenery for some reason.  

I felt like I was running forever.  Each mile felt like an hour long.  Apparently I wasn't feeling as well as I thought.  Because I thought I was dying by mile two when I got a really bad side ache in my right side.  I was going to stop, but somehow I talked myself to keep going.  At mile 3 my hips were SOO tight.  I never understood when people said their hips were "tight." I understand now.  I felt like I was the tin man and needed to be oiled up.  It felt so weird and was really uncomfortable.  

So by the time I finished I went inside and I started to stretch right away.  I did some yoga stretches for my hips and it helped a ton.  I really need to get into the habit of stretching before and after each run.  I also decided that I really enjoy doing my long run in the morning.  By the time my husband comes home, we eat dinner, and get kids to bed it's after eight and I am already drained.  So running longer distances that late in the day is just working for me.  I need to find a way to do them in the morning without waking up at the crack of dawn. :)

This was the sunset at the end of my run.  The picture really doesn't' do it justice.  The clouds were so pink and really beautiful.  

"Healthier" Blueberry Vanilla-Almond Pancakes

I love pancakes.  

My kids love pancakes. 

 I miss making pancakes.

I miss devouring pancakes.

Once upon a time, I used to make pancakes at least once a week. Whether it was for breakfast or dinner.  We are a pancake eating family around here. I really miss them.  Yesterday at dinner I thought I was going to die if I had to eat another bite of grilled chicken and vegetables.  I kept thinking about fluffy pancakes and salty sausage links. That's what I really wanted to eat for dinner.  Plus my daughter kept asking me to make strawberry pancakes, which wasn't helping matters at all yesterday!  So I promised her that the next day for dinner I would make blueberry pancakes.  I have a go-to pancake recipe, but it isn't very healthy so I decided to make my version of "healthy pancakes." They did not disappoint!  

I know these aren't super healthy, but they are definitely healthier than the original recipe.  Plus you get all the great benefits of fresh blueberries and some added protein from the almonds.  

Recipe:

Ingredients:
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cups all purpose white flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch of Salt
1 Cup fat free milk
1 Egg
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
Sliced almonds
Fresh blueberries

Instructions:
In a mixing bowl sift wheat flour, white flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  In separate bowl combine milk, egg, oil, and vanilla.  Whisk until combined.  Add wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Whisk until combined.  Do NOT over mix the batter.  (Since you are using wheat flour it will already be a little more dense than regular pancakes, so just mix until combined.)  Let sit in refrigerator for at least an hour. (you can use it right away, I just like to let my pancake batter sit for a little while before using it) Heat griddle to medium heat and spray with non-fat cooking spray.  Pour batter 1/4 cup at time and then put your blueberries and almonds on top of wet pancake batter. Cook on one side until golden and then flip to cook the other side.  Top with more fresh blueberries and almonds and syrup if desired.

*I topped mine with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and it was absolutely divine.
**You can use this same batter for waffles as well. Just add a little less milk so the consistency is a little thicker.

-Linking up to these parties;
Get Your Craft On!

Speeding Up and New Shoes

One of my goals is to run a mile faster. I am slow.  The first mile I ever ran was over 13 minutes.  Last night I was on a mission to beat my personal best mile time.  I pushed myself harder than ever and ended up beating my 4 week goal time of 10:45 and almost beating my 10 week goal of 10:15.  I ran it in 10:17 seconds.  

 The weather was so nice last night.  It was the perfect temperature and it wasn't very windy.  (which is rare around where I live) The sun was setting on my run and it was really beautiful. 

While I was up north I told my husband that I wanted to check out the New Balance store in Salt Lake. I wanted to get fitted for "real" running shoes.  Before I was just wearing a cheap pair of tennis shoes.  I don't even think they were meant for running.  I knew it would be kind of pricey, but from all the research I have done everyone says it's crucial to have good running shoes.  So I went with an open mind and decided that price wasn't an issue.  

The lady at the store was really helpful and measured my feet for me.  She said I had the most narrow feet she's ever seen.  Which is probably true.  My feet are really long, skinny and flat.  She had me put on some shoes so she could see how I ran on the treadmill.  She said my feet turn in quite a bit when I run and that I have a mid-foot strike.  She found the size I needed and brought out a few pairs of shoes.  I ran in all of them and decided that I liked the first pair the best.  They offered the most support and were the most comfortable.   

She advised me to do a few short runs in my shoes before I try out a long run just in case they hurt my feet.  So far I have done three short runs and I am still getting used to them.  They aren't as light as the pair I was wearing before, but they have a ton more support.  I think I'm finally used to them and they don't hurt my feet at all.  I actually really like them, which is a good thing because they were NOT cheap.  :)

My First 5k {Freedom Festival 5k}

I just got back home from a week and a half trip up north.  It feels SOOO great to be home.  I can't wait to sleep in my OWN bed. It's been 11 days.   I need my bed like I need food.  

While I was up north I ran my first ever race.  It was the Freedom Festival 5k.  

I was getting more and more nervous as the race got closer and really had no idea what to expect for my first race.  The day before we had to pick up our packet so we were ready on race day.  The packet was just a shirt (which was actually a really nice shirt), my bib (2100) and the chip that you put on your shoes to track your race time.   

The morning of the race I had to wake up super early to make sure all the kids were ready and we were all packed up to head up to my parents house right after the race.  I didn't sleep at all that night for several reasons.  1. my kids were up all night long.

2. I was nervous 

3. I was nervous my alarm wouldn't go off

4. I was worried I was going to forget something important for the race.

5. I was nervous. :)

Everything went pretty smoothly that morning, I got to the race about 25 minutes early and realized I forgot to put some chapstick on, so I had to call my husband and have him come back to give me some chapstick.  (I have an unnatural addiction to chapstick) After that I was ready.  They had us line up according to our bib numbers.  So I was supposed to stand next to people with similar numbers to mine.   Which meant they were going to be running at a similar pace.  

At 7:00 AM the race started and I was off.  It took about 2 minutes or longer for me to even cross the start line, but once I did I was able to run at my normal pace.  

My sister was at the corner by the start line and was able to snap a picture of me running. 

I actually kind of choked up at the beginning of the race because it was so awesome running with so many people!  I was doing really well and was running faster than my normal pace.  I skipped the first water station (not on purpose) I just didn't realize that it was a water station, until I was running and seeing cups all over the ground.  I was worried I was going to trip or something over all the cups!  Mile two came and I found the water station which was good news, because I was super thirsty and the next part of the race was all uphill.  

I was really worried about this uphill part.  It looked really daunting.  I started the uphill part and it was really hard, but I pushed through it and never stopped running.  I made it all the way up the hill and saw the finish line in the distance! I then got choked up again and thought I was going to have a spastic episode of crying right there on the course.  I had to tell myself to calm the crap down or I might hyperventilate and not finish the race! So I calmed down and saw my husband and kids right there at the finish line cheering me on.  

{Me being cheesy and giving my husband the thumbs up sign}

I ended up running it way faster than I thought I would.  My goal was to just make it under 40 minutes and I ended up doing it in just over 35 minutes.  

{Me and Hannah after the race}

I never imagined that I could run.  I mean really run.  I never thought I had the strength or the motivation to complete an actual race.  I can't tell you how gratifying it felt to cross that finish line and realize that I just ran a real race!  I have never felt better.  I now know what it feels like to have a "runner's high." I felt so great after that race, I felt like I could do anything!  

2100

I found out my bib number.  2100.  I might be weird, but I'm glad it's a good and even number! :) The race is this Thursday.  I am getting really anxious! In fact, the other night I dreamt that I was back in High School and I was running a 5k.  I was dead last.  It was horrible.   Other than that unfortunate dream, I feel really good! 

 Hopefully next time I post, I will have completed my first ever 5k! :)