run happy?

this weekend i was supposed to run 20 miles for my marathon training - unfortunately i woke up on saturday morning with a sore throat that was just not going away (i'd been fighting a sore throat all week).  so instead of lacing up my running shoes, i ran to the quick care to figure out what was going on :)  got an antibiotic (which i honestly don't think i've had an antibiotic in 3 years - didn't have an antibiotic while pregnant with jillian or living overseas --- really seeing the benefits of chiropractic care!)

i started feeling better on sunday - we spent the morning cheering ross on at his triathlon and the temperatures climbed into the mid-90's here by lunchtime.  so i decided to wait until monday morning (so thankful for a bonus weekend-day due to memorial day) to do my run. 

i got up at 5:30 on monday, ate some breakfast outside on the patio so i would not wake anyone up, then headed out for my 20 mile run.  it was already 77 degrees and i would guess 150% humidity.   i headed off into the lovely corn fields surrounding sturgis and to put it nicely - I . WAS . DYING!  it was hot, i was tired, and it was 6am - ugh!  mile 6 felt like mile 50.  i've only had a handful of moments in my running career where i was really "hating running"!  and monday was one of those moments!  i finished my loop around the cornfields and headed back to the house for some more water.  in fact the last mile back to the house - i ran out of water!  i actually stuck my tongue out thinking i could "drink" the humidity :)  i logged 13.5 miles by the time i arrived at the house. 

i walked in the air-conditioned house and found everyone up eating breakfast ---- i think they all thought i looked like a lost dog that had spent the night out in the rain.... i told ross that i was miserable - it was hot, i was soaked with sweat, and i was STILL not finished with my run.  i quickly changed clothes (put on my "run happy" shirt - thinking that might help me ...well ..... run happy!), filled 1 water bottle with powerade and the other with water and ice cubes, and headed back out on the road.  as i was leaving i told ross that i wasn't sure i'd be able to finish all 20 miles.  he said "just try to do 2 more and then come home".... at that time he probably knew my stubborn self would get back out there and do all 20.  and he was right!  i did it!  i actually finished the last 6.5 miles at a much faster pace than i was doing the first 13.5.

i've been doing some reading on negative split races lately... trying to figure out how to improve my time  (you run the 2nd half of the race faster than the 1st half) and on monday i did just that.  maybe a new race strategy.

lately i've aquired some new running gear:
---a visor - why didn't i get something like this before!?! love it!
---remember the days of carrying a huge tape-playing walkman?  look at how tiny the ipod is now!
---my hands-free water bottle - love it!

holy hairbows!

my friend, tina showed me how she organized some purses in her closet using shower curtain rings - i modified the idea a little bit and came up with these hairbow holders.  the first picture shows the drawer in the bathroom where the hairbows were "organized" before.  i took a piece of ribbon and sewed over the edge about 1 inch.  then i put the shower curtain ring (got them at wal-mart) inside the ribbon loop and attached it to the closet shelf.

you can also see some of the bottle cap clips that i've been making lately - the girls love the Fancy Nancy ones!  they are fun and easy to make.

jilly jayne

i just wanted to record her little voice saying her name  - she's growing up so fast - she calls herself jilly :) 

she thinks she's 4 or maybe 3 but really won't admit to being 2

Memorial Day Weeken Fun

 our pool is finally ready for swimming

 it's been so warm here that our lawn is pretty much burned out - we turned on the sprinklers and the kids had more fun running through the sprinklers than they did swimming in the pool :)

Seriously, DON'T BLINK or you WILL miss it -  it's the "one band, one police car, and no floats Sturgis Memorial Day Parade" whoo hoo!

 Jillian's first time to see a parade (we did not go to any parades while living overseas) - she was so excited!  can't wait to see her reaction to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York this fall!

Memorial Day ceremony at the local park

swim bike run daddy

 cheering for daddy at the Cold Creek Park Triathlon near Kalamazoo on Sunday

 Ross coming in on the bike (40 mile bike ride)

 the cheerleaders

 Ross just starting the 10K run

 Helen wanted to run with him

 Paul (in red) is a friend from Ross' high school

 the transition area

 at the finish!

 hot and sweaty :)

 Ross placed 3rd in his age group and 25th overall - NICE JOB!

 having a picnic lunch by the lake after the race

now that jillian is potty trained...... we must be able to use any "type" of potty, right? 

minature horses visit preschool

 a member of the church brought in his minature horses for the preschool kids to see

 saying hi to Ruby

 see jillian's hair clip?  this is as close as she would get to the horses :)

 taking a ride on the cart

 i brought popsicles for the kids to eat --- it was almost 90 degrees this morning, so the popsicles were a nice cool treat!

 jillian making herself at home on the playground at helen's school

ahoy matey!

Teddy Bear Picnic

 Jillian's preschool had their end-of-school performance last night with the theme of Teddy Bear Picnic

 jillian plays a banjo

the entire preschool together


a few video clips from the performance:
http://youtu.be/VKtu_ENv-eQ
http://youtu.be/QlO6MVQtaIk
http://youtu.be/FI4c_qiQL1Y

in living color

 helen's last soccer game of the season

 could it be?  helen a left-footed shooter? :)

 helen runs back into the action after throwing the ball in play

 end of the game handshakes

 helen's soccer team

 making silly faces :)

 graham and jayden's team shake hands at the end of the game

 the boy's team came up with the name "Hulks" - so they are being "Hulks" in this photo

 graham had his hair "cut and styled" for the last soccer game

 jayden loves his "new do"  :)

Ross competed in his first triathlon of the season - he cheerleaders are wishing him good luck.  i think it worked --- Ross finished 3rd overall for men and 5th overall in the triathlon.  It was a sprint distance triathlon (0.5 mile swim - 20 mile bike - 3 mile run).  On Sunday, Ross will compete in another triathlon in Kalamazoo with some friends from high school - this one is an international distance (twice the distances as the sprint).