6 miles and a Carb Avalanche

Yesterday I ran the 3rd Leg of the Baltimore Marathon. Carrie snapped this pic just before I handed her the chip to finish up the race.

The run was great, but the event could have been a bit more organized. We hit quite a few logistical issues, but I don’t feel like focusing on the negative.

The Leg I ran was 6.3 miles. I ran it in 1:04:16.

Not bad. Not bad at all!

After the race I watched my Little Guy play soccer and then went out with The Husband. With Grandma and Grandpa visiting we had built in babysitters. :)

We went to see The Thing and it was awesome. If you liked the 1982 Thing you’ll like this one. It may be the most seamless sequel ever. We both loved it.

This morning started nice and quietly. Grandma watched Transformers with Little Guy…

while I made eggs. Some for breakfast…

and some for later this week.

(Click here for my video on making the perfect hard boiled eggs)

The boys shared a mango.

(I made Little Bean’s mango like this)

Everyone seemed to enjoy breakfast, especially Little Bean.

Click here to see a video of one of his cheerio experiences.

While we were eating I had a squash in the oven.

I could lie and tell you it was for Little Bean, but the truth is I wanted some too. :)

(If you are interested you can click here to see how I make it)

The rest of the morning was filled with tummy time…

and cool cars that follow drawn tracks.

Midday The Husband took his Dad golfing and I took Grandma and the boys to Ikea.

Once Grandma and Grandpa left we were all business. Our dishwasher broke AGAIN so we had to do the weekend’s dishes by hand.

(yes that is what you think it is lol)

And the laundry went in the washer, although it’s still not done yet. The husband is folding it now.

Before it got too dark we decided on a family walk.

I carried Little Bean in the carrier…

and we walked.

And walked.

And walked.

Awesome weekend overall, even though I ate my way through it. I really did. I swear it started with those gosh darn fudge stripe cookies. My carb cravings are out of control. I have to ease up on the sugar and high carb, easy to grab snacks. They are always the start of a bad food choice avalanche and I’m buried right now. Buried. It’s time to dig myself out.

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13.1 Miles of Sensational Sunday-ness!

Yet again I have a ton of pictures and not enough time to tell you everything swimming in my head. I’ll do my best though. This was quite a day!

It all started at 6:30 AM as I got ready for the run.

Yesterday my baby turned 6 months and today I prepared for a half marathon, my longest run in well over a year. Scheduling this run did exactly what I wanted it to do, get me back into running.

All the boys were sleeping when I left.

I headed to the start with my friend Missy and a few other folks. One of whom did NOT know who Bret Michaels was or at least what band he sang with and I felt exceptionally OLD! (you know who you are ;)

There were guys selling pretzels at 7 in the morning!

I don’t know about you, but THAT is not something I want sitting in my stomach for 13 miles!

Missy and I waiting at the start…

It was INSANE.

So insane that this is a picture of the leaders who already looped while I was still waiting at the starting line. Can you see them?

I didn’t actually get going until 1/2 hour into the race.

3 miles in I saw the boys and they saw me!

The husband couldn’t catch the next few minutes on camera because he had the baby but Little Guy ran with me for about a block and it. was. AWESOME. I had to fight back tears.

I felt great for about the first 6 miles. Just keeping a nice pace. I took a nice walk break around the half way mark and snapped this. It was a gorgeous day for a run.

At the 10 mile mark I asked someone to take my picture.

My last training run was 10 and it nearly killed me. Now I was in uncharted territory.

My legs were getting sore but I just kept trucking. The only thing in my head was "forward progression." "Forward progression." I knew I would cross the finish line if I just kept making forward progression.

The race was fun. They had stages, music, and cheerleaders all scattered along the route. If I ever do another marathon I may just make it a Rock and Roll event. They put on a good run.

All my forward progression thinking got me across the finish line. I did it!

My official time was 2:18:12. I averaged a 10:33/mile. My time 5k in was 30:42, 10k in was 1:02:29 and 10 miles in was 1:43:47. I’m quite surprised. My goal was 2:30 so I was ecstatic!

My post run snack of choice was a banana and these little gems…

Loved that they had more fruit options! It was a very refreshing post-race.

I had a little over a mile walk back to the hotel.

It was seriously a beautiful day.

I got back to the hotel and my boys.

We checked out and hit the town!

We walked to Independence Hall

And saw the Liberty Bell.

Then it was off to Linner! (Late lunch/Early Dinner)

We split some Calamari..

Love that Little Guy splits them with us.

I got tuna.

And we split dessert.

I don’t do cannolis, but the husband really wanted one. Little Guy and I focused on the cake. :)

We got home around 5PM and just vegged for about an hour. Then the Husband and Little Guy played soccer…

while I took Little Bean to the grocery store. I really wanted to start the week on a prepared note.

When I got back Little Guy helped by washing (and taste testing) all the fruit and veggies. :)

And I stocked up for more than just this week.

Once the kids went to bed I made a fun snack and organized the photos from the day.

That was key lime yogurt with strawberries and crushed graham crackers. It was totally yum!

It really was a great day. I can’t believe I ran a half marathon this morning! Then again, I can because my feet are STILL throbbing!

This was actually my 3rd half. Click here to read my first and here for my second and here for a recap of the marathon ran in 2009.

Hope you had a great weekend!

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9 Miles and Sensational Sunday in Pictures

I’m getting pretty good at this going to bed early thing so I’m going to cut this short, and just share a few photos of my day….

9 miles today! only 2 weeks until the half. This is the breakdown of each mile.

I came home to my boys and we had breakfast.

I started with a Dark Chocolate Banana Almond Smoothie and had some eggs with some "happy" toast.

I had the BEST company at breakfast.

Then the boys worked on our LEGO Calendar.

We were a couple of days late for the new month.

The family hit the grocery store and I went a little nuts in the produce department. (notice The Husband in the background, he was venting about the Notre Dame game NOT my produce. lol)

We decided to snack on some pears.

Then it was GRILLING time! We had friends coming over.

Little Guy caught a Black and Yellow Garden Spider after dinner.

She was beautifully creepy!

It was hot enough for super soakers…

fun enough for smores…

and got dark enough for flash lights.

Really a fabulous day! I had a bit too many Mike’s Light Hard Lemonades so excuse any typos above my normal 5 or so. ;)

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