Last Long Run Before Dallas White Rock Marathon

Distance: 10 miles
Duration: 1:39:53
Average Pace Per Mile: 9:59
Weather: WINDY!!!!! It kind of sucked.
Breakfast: The thought of food sounded disgusting, but I made myself eat two eggs, one banana, and half of an english muffin.
Notes: No gels. Lots of water.

I intentionally delayed my long run until Sunday. I wanted to make sure my last long run was exactly one week before DWRM. To tell you the truth, this run felt crappy. I was tired, it was windy, and tapering is not at all what I thought it would be. In my dream world, I imagined tapering would be bliss. In reality it has created a lot of anxiety and doubt. :(

I've gone from 40 mile weeks, to 18. On top of that, you would think when I do go out for a run, I'd be fast (super sonic fast), but that's not the case. Perhaps, this is normal. I've read one article talking about this and so I've convinced myself ALL runners, who taper, MUST be going through this too. The taper blues. Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely excited, ecstatic, but a part of me is very antsy.

The last couple of days I've made a few race day decisions.
1. What to wear.
2. Definitely not running with a water bottle, instead I will grab water at the stations.
3. No playlist this year. I'm going unplugged. There will be plenty of live entertainment and I want to savour all of it. Although, I'm not looking forward to hearing annoying runners. If you've ever ran a race you know what I'm talking about. There are always several obnoxious runners who hee and holler.
4. I will run with 3 gel packs and pick up a (free) gel at mile 20 from the Clif Shot Station.
5. I've decided on a race time goal and don't even ask me because I refuse to publish that to the world. If you ask me in person, I will gladly share. :)
6. Marathon Mantra: BRING IT!
7. I'll carry my phone so Trey can track my route (live). If you would like to track my route, send me your email address and I'll send you the info. Don't be shy. You can cyber cheer. If you see the cursor stop, most likely I had to stop at a porta-potty. Boo!

Cheyenne's Birthday Party

While we were in Abilene, we celebrated her birthday with family.

Her Dora the Explorer theme party

Diego kept falling over. Maybe it was all the sugar...

Singing Happy Birthday

Crazy Hair
 
Cake Time

Mom, Bella, Tasha

Amy, Andy, Angelica

Jomi, DJ, Shelly

High School Football

Today, I spent the majority of my day at Cowboys Stadium with Trey, Natasha, and Bella. We watched back to back high school football games. The first game was Cooper High, they lost and the second game was Abilene High and they lost too. GAH!



We still had fun and this was Natasha's first Cowboys Stadium experience. We sat near Brandon and Maghen. Yeah, everyone from Abilene was up in there!

I've been to the stadium several times, but this was my first time to enjoy the "good seats." Haha, gotta love high school playoff games! I love this stadium...

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

A few weeks ago, we tried to take family portraits at a local studio. Well, Cheyenne frowned the entire time, so a week later we rescheduled. The second time around, we got lucky, kind of...She was still not as photogenic, but we mangaed to get a handful of great portraits.

As a back-up plan, the day before, our dear friend Serena took some portraits of us too, so at the moment we are good in the family photo department. I think Serena is still editing those, but I will share those too, as soon as we get them.

Hope you like these pictures, you'll be receiving a Christmas card of one of them soon.

CHRISTMAS: It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Thankful. Grateful.

I started the morning off with a 3 mile run. I've been taking it easy this week, since my right leg has been sore. Originally, I had planned on running the Abilene Turkey Trot, but decided last minute it wasn't worth it. I know how I am and if I pay for a race and especially if it's a small race, I will run fast and try to place. So, I played it smart and just ran a nice steady pace around my in-laws neighborhood. It was a cold run too.

The night before, I made several desserts and Jomi basically had everything ready, so it was a stress free Thanksgiving meal. Everything was delicious.

Again, Chey was not feeling the whole picture taking thing. She was crying because she wanted to hold the camera.

Chey wearing her Thanksgiving tee that Mrs. Erin got her: Everyone is thankful for me. Yes, we are. Yes, we are. Thanks for the tee Erin!

Jason and Trey hanging around the dessert table.

Chey with her cousin, Andy.

Dora made an appearance on the Macy's Day Parade. Could Chey be any closer to the TV?

Here is the cheesecake I made. Oh, it was good and it looks a lot better than the one I made last year. Every time I bake this cake I think of Linda. :)

She took a quick cat nap while we were on our way to my mom's house. 

Trey, Bella, and Hillario

Angelica and Amy. Angelica: No pictures PLEASE! 

Seriously.

Natasha wrangling my daughter

I'm thankful for my wonderful family.

Thanksgiving Eve

Cheyenne didn't want to participate in a family photo...Hmmm...So, it goes. Happy Thanksgiving!

Honey Do List = DONE

Trey didn't tell me he was going to put the Christmas lights up. I came home from work and saw the house lit up like a Christmas tree. It was a nice surprise.

For over a year, the ELEMENT passenger side window has been out of service. The motor that rolls down the window broke, but thanks to Trey it is back in business. He had to take the door panel off and install "stuff." Yeah, he's quite the handyman, I think I'll keep him around.

Oh, that looks messy.

Everyone have a great Thanksgiving with friends and family.

12 Mile Long Run

Distance: 12 Miles

Duration: 01:53:00

Average Pace Per Mile: 9:26

Weather: Cloudy. Humid. 65 degrees. When I started, the wind was SSE at 11 mph.

Power Songs: Go Radio, Thanks for Nothing and Paper Route, Carousel

Fall Running. LOVE IT!

12 Miles...14 miles, it's all the same at this point. I planned on running 14 Saturday, but decided to move my long run to Sunday. So, Saturday night I set my alarm for 5:00 am. Well, apparently I set the alarm to go off at 5:00 am SATURDAY MORNING!!! When I eventually woke up, I knew I was in trouble because the sun was up. I thought about writing the run off as a lost, but figured starting a long run at 7:00 am is not that bad...The lies I tell myself. I'm weird, I prefer running early, especially when it involves anything over 10 miles.

In the end, I ran 12 instead of 14 miles, so I could go to church.

For the first few miles, the wind was fierce. The tips of my hair slapped my eyes a few times. Ouch! Once I got to the trail, the trees helped shield me. Around mile 9, I paused to refuel at a fountain and I stared at a port-a-potty....I thought, I can hold it till I get home. Mistake.  However, mother nature carried me strong to the end. Thanks upset stomach! That was a close one. I only have myself to blame, I ate oatmeal with milk before I left the house.

DWRM Nightmares:

1. Getting slowed down by runners at the start line

2. Having to stop during the race to go to the bathroom

Dear stomach, please be good...pretty please. I promise I will give you treats when I'm done. How does greasy pizza sound? Or donuts? You haven't had a donut in forever. 

...And so the taper continues. My last long run will consist of 10 miles. In marathon world, that's like running 4 miles. :) 11 more days.

Birthday Girl

Yesterday, we celebrated Cheyenne's 2nd birthday! We celebrated by baking a chocolate cake.

Cheyenne enjoyed eating the batter. Do you blame her?

I can't believe mamma let me eat that!

Chey's Sunday school teachers mailed her a birthday card with two dollars. She spent less than half of her money on a calendar/color book. She's saving the rest for Black Friday.

Saturday Spent with Family

Saturday morning, we woke up early and ate breakfast at Waffle House. Yummy. I've been craving WH for several weeks. It was delicious. After that, we headed to Coppell. Trey and Jeremy attended a Christian men's conference about sexual purity. While they were at the conference, Chey and I stayed behind and spent time with Jerrica and I finally met baby Jayvin.

Jayvin and Jerrica

Chey loved holding him, she is so gentle with babies. In my opinion, Jayvin looks just like Jeremy.

I like the way she tilts her head and lowers her voice when she talks to babies.

Later, Brian, Susan and their boys arrived. It was great seeing everyone!  We took the kids to the park.

Chey and Brian

Slide Time!

If there is a slide, within a 5 mile radius, Cheyenne will find it.

Friday Night with My Family

We spent our evening eating pizza and Trey and I watched the Prince of Persia. Everyone have a great weekend.

Dallas White Rock Marathon Approved Route

I like to watch the news, right before I go to bed. Last night, the local news station covered a story about the Dallas White Rock Marathon. Big news: The route has finally been approved. 'Bout TIME! Now, I know where I'm running. Not really, but at least I can view it on a map.

Here is a snapshot, but to see a better view here is the link.


Lately, I've been reading DWRM '09 race reviews. I've read nightmare stories about the start line. The main issue seems to be the corral areas. From what I understand, race coordinators separate runners in corrals A, B, C, D, E .... A wave of runners start and then a few minutes later the next group takes off and so forth. The idea is to have the fastest runners start (corral A) and then the slower runners follow. Sounds like a great plan, but from what I hear a lot of runners are not realistic with their finish time and find themselves in corral A or B and minutes after starting they WALK. This can result in a nightmare for everyone behind them...Remember, we're talking about 20,000+ people.

DREAM SEQUENCE:
So, last night I had a dream I was running DWRM, but instead of it being in Dallas it was in Abilene, near Abilene Christian University. WHAT THE...???? I was assigned to the last/slowest corral. Once it was my time to run, I took off and got stuck behind all the walkers. All I could think about was failure! It was a running nightmare. I think I'm going to take a break from reading reviews and make the most out of my own experience. I'm assuming this dream sequence and anxiety is normal for first time marathoners, at least I keep telling myself that.

16 DAYS

All Things Dora

Chey loves all things Dora.

So, I was surprised when Trey conviced her to wear plain brown boots, instead of her usual Dora the Explorer crocs. I should also mention, that for several days, I have tried pleading with her to give Dora a break. When I TRIED to put boots on her, she would yell....."NOOOOO!!! DEEE-AAAAAAHHHHH!" I don't know what Trey did to convince her to wear the boots, but whatever he did worked.

It's going to be a sad day when she out-grows her Dora shoes, but at least I know it won't be the end of the world...she will wear other shoes.

Tomato Sauce Mush

This recipe was featured on the Oprah Show. Since, I devoured Jessica Seinfeld's roasted chicken recipe, I thought I'd take a stab at her crockpot lasagna recipe too. Big mistake! It was terrible, gross, disgusting! I guess the only way to truly describe it---is to say it tasted like tomato sauce mush. GAH!

At least I tried. If you have a better crockpot lasagna recipe, please forward my way. Trey was so disappointed when I served this for dinner. I don't blame him. The oven baked lasagna, I typically make rocks, I wanted to try something new. Also the idea of a lasagna crockpot was so enticing, to bad it didn't turn out. Perhaps, I should try MY lasagna recipe, but instead of baking it, using the crockpot. LIGHT BULB MOMENT!

That night, Chey was the only one who enjoyed dinner, so I saved the leftovers, just for her.

The next day, I fed it to her again and she just took handfuls of it and smushed it...so much for that.