Fishing

Matt has found a new hobby in fishing and the kids love to go too.  Cole asks almost on a daily basis to go.  They have a little spot out on the Bear River that they go to catch little mud-cats frequently.  I join them sometimes, but so far every time I've gone we don't catch anything.

 

Preschool Graduation

Cole's Preschool Graduation was May 16th.  He had such a fun year and has learned so much!  He is VERY ready for kindergarten.  Ms. Kira tells me that he is nice to everyone and wants everyone to feel included.  He has a hard time sitting still on the rug.  He knows all his letters and most of the sounds.  He loves file folder games and "choose time."  He likes to color and count as well.  Frequently when we are driving in the car he will just start counting randomly to 100.  He told me that the only time he gets in trouble is if he talks to Rylin too much.  Kira had 3 sets of cousin's in her class this year, so I'm sure she had her hands full :)

He did much better at graduation this year with not being so shy.  He definitely doesn't belt out the songs like Brooke, but he did sing and do the actions this time.  It has been awesome for him to go to the same school for 2 years and we love Kira.  (Bailee is going there next year)  They put together a cute little book of all the activities they did this year.  Once I get it scanned it will add it.  We are so proud of him and the amazing little boy he is becoming!

Dance Recital

Brooke had her year end dance recital Saturday.  She has been taking at Rhythm Connection this year and really loves it.  She loves to perform in front of people and she has really improved a lot over the last few months.  My camera did not like the dark so the pictures turned out horrible, but I still wanted to post them.  She insists that we get her flowers at the end of every performance.  Love her!

Ogden Marathon

I ran the Ogden Marathon again this year.  I was training and running with my neighbor Meridith up until about 5 weeks before the race, when she found out she was pregnant.  That girl is a rock star... we ran an 18 miler and I had no idea at the point that she was expecting.  After that, she finally told me that she couldn't keep going, she is awesome!!  I was super sad to loose my running partner, but I am super happy for her!  9 months and she better be ready to run again :)

I really struggled to get to race day this year.  I have posted about how burned out I am and I really wasn't even looking forward to the race.  But, I ended up having a great day.

I rode down really early that morning with another neighbor who was running the 5K with her sisters. It was supposed to be warm... and it was.  Much hotter than the last time I ran it.  I knew a lot of people running and there were a TON of people that had a really hard day because of the heat.  Luckily, I wasn't one of them.  I had several friends running that I chatted with at the start line and was excited by the time the gun went off.  I started out very steady and was feeling great.

It was nice running a race I have rim before because I knew exactly what to expect.  Last time, the rolling hills along the east of Pineview from miles 8-13 about killed Kirsten and me because we hadn't trained on hills at all.  This time I was ready for them!  At about mile 9, right in the middle of the rolling hills my watch froze.  I tried and tried to reset it, but it was totally stuck.  So from mile 9 on, I had no idea what pace I was running or how far I had gone.  I was running entirely by feel.  At the half marathon mark I was 1:35, so a little faster than where I wanted to be, so I knew I just needed to keep pace.

When I reached the big hill at mile 14, I was tired, but knew that once I got there it was all downhill through the canyon from there.  Once I got into the canyon, my legs were burning and I was getting tired, but I knew I had to keep going.  At about mile 18, my ipod died.  Lovely.  I still had 8+ miles to go.  I just kept telling myself the whole way, you can do this.  Stay clam, stay focused.  Breathe.

Turns out, having no watch and no music is a good thing.  I finally made it to the final 3 miles along the trail and into downtown.  I knew if I could make it that far the crowd would keep me going.  Any little incline along the trail felt like a huge hill, my legs were done.  But I knew I had to keep going those last few miles.  I think I counted down each block once I turned onto that final stretch!  I finished in 3:15:56.

The last time I ran Ogden I finished in 3:34 and last year I finished Boston in 3:25.  This time my goal was 3:20.  I put in a lot more miles and specific training this year than I have in the past.  Most of my training I did based on a 3:15 pace, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it.  I was excited about my time, but mostly just glad it was finally over!!  I took 2nd in my age division, 12th overall women, and 96th overall.

Matt was waiting at the finish for me, so I went and found him and we watched a few of my friends come across the finish line, but had to hurry home for Brooke's dance recital so we left shortly after.

The aftermath of the race was not pretty.  I have never been so sore in my life!!  My whole body hurt.  Mostly my quads and my upper back.  Stairs were a joke and so was sitting on the toilet :-)  By about Tuesday my legs were feeling much better, but it took a good 2 weeks for the pain in my upper back to go away.  The best I can figure I must have been holding my arms up higher than normal so that made it sore... All in all, it was a fun race, but I must admit I am ready to have it over and have a break!  At this point I'm saying no racing for a year... but we will see how long that actually lasts.

They had a ton of awesome pictures of me this time.  Usually I hate the way they turn out, but I  was actually smiling and looking like I enjoy running.  If they weren't so stinking expensive I probably would have given in and ordered some.  Someday I'll stop being cheap and actually buy some.