Run Day Sunday

** You may not want to read any further if you have a fear of feet/blisters/pain/suffering and do not want to see photos of said feet/blisters/pain/suffering! **

Well, I did it! I did an 11k race and I am here living to tell about it.

It was quite an experience for many reasons. This past week leading up to the race was pretty bad in terms of my preparation. It was mainly due to the blisters I have acquired on my feet.

About 2 months ago, I got new shoes which I raved about on my blog. They were great until they turned into the Blister Inducing Shoes of Doom. They gave me pretty bad blisters on the arches of my feet. I tried to break them in to no avail. So I exchanged them but when I did, they told me I absolutely must let the blisters heal before I wear them. At this point, 2 weeks ago, it was not an option to let them heal because I had to train for this race. So they just got worse. This is how my feet looked on race morning yesterday, before the race:


I warned you, didn't I?

I wrapped my feet up using a combination of moleskin and duct tape. I was determined to do this run!
It worked like charm. Blisters were not even an issue during the run, but the heat definitely was. We are in the middle of a Seattle style heatwave right now and race day happened to be the hottest day yet. By the time we started it was already super hot and nothing like what I have been training in.

My wonderful friend Lynette did the 5 k run . Here is our cheering section at the finish line:



I ran the entire way except for a hill that appeard at around the 4.5 mile mark. I turned a corner and there it was. Everyone was walking it! I had to weigh out the possibilities quickly to decide whether to run it or walk it. Hills really hurt my hips. And with the heat, was running this hill going to kill me for the rest of the run? I wimped out and walked it.

With the finish line in sight, I cranked up all of my cylinders and sprinted to the finish. Here I come!


After the race:


I think I was telling Lynette about the hill right here! (she ran it!). Look how nice a refreshed she looks and how hot and sweaty and red I am!


To Lynette: thank you for running with me. I thought of you many times before and during the race. I watched my watch before the race and knew you were running your heart out. You inspired me during your training because I know this is far out of your comfort zone. Your determination to do something you probably never thought you could do was such an inspiration to me. I am very proud of you and love you very much!

*******

There were times when I wanted to give up and not run but there was one thing that kept me going. The run was organized to benefit the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. I ran with my Dad in mind. He passed away from cancer in 1974 at the age of 33.

Craft Fair Preparation

Some of you know I am going to be selling my wares at a craft fair in July. I have been busy over the last little while coming up with a display for it. I started out with a heap of goodies from "the Mecca" (Ben Franklin):




And here is what I came up with:


I have 2 small covered boards like that for my photo pendants and I will have 2 big boards with ready-to-buy pendants. I have been creating those lately too and here are some photos:
Be sure to read my next entry, I put this one on top because I know you guys are waiting for it!

Just Updating

I have been sick this week and it was really the worst possible timing for me. The weather has been gorgeous and I have been feeling crappy. My 11k run is this weekend and being sick really does not help one physically or mentally when facing such a long run! Not to mention that the husband is out of town this week. Thank goodness for my friends who have helped me with the kids when I have needed to run or needed a sanity break!

On the positive side, I have run through the cold and my training has been good this week. Instead of snakes on the trail, my last run brought out 3 rabbits and a baby raccoon.

I heard from Prisca (Priscal? Her name is spelled both ways depending on the letter I get) and her latest letter was so very sweet. She spoke of her friends Mary and Selima who she likes to play jump rope with and "pig in the middle". She told me she loves dolls but doesn't have a real doll, that she ties pieces of rags together to look like a doll. She thanked me again for choosing her and said "I feel like I have a mother in America. That is my joy".

Warning

It Finally Happened

I knew that one day something bad would happen to me while running on the trail by myself. Today was the day.

I first went to the trail with the kids on a weekend to ride bikes and it was quite busy. But during the week it can be very quiet. On overcast days, I sometimes don't even see one other person on the trail.

It took me about 2 1/2 months to decide that it would be ok to wear my iPod while I ran. Up until that point, I just didn't feel all that safe and figured it was better for me to be aware of what was happening around me.

Now that the warmer weather is here, the grass on the side of the trail is growing quite tall and there just seems to be less visibility of what is going on in the bushes etc.

So today I set off for my run and everything was going well. I had my ipod in, it was middle of the day and there were a good amount of people on the trail. I was cruising along when all of a sudden I look up and I see...a 2 foot garter snake in front of me.

Now, those of you who know me know I don't "DO" snakes. At all. Never. But here I was, faced with this creature basically laying right in my way. What did I do? I jumped about 6 feet in the air and danced on my tippy toes with my hands flapping. It is the same dance my Mum does when she sees a snake (thanks Mum for passing this on to me!). I also was probably screaming just a little but I couldn't hear myself with the iPod in.

The snake was just kind of sitting there, not wiggling around. So I had 2 choices. To either get past it and keep running, or to turn around and get back to my car. I decided in a split second to not let this snake ruin my run. I didn't let the creepy guy making comments about my cute booty ruin my run and this snake was NOT going to ruin my run either!

So I dashed past it, leaping like a gazelle and probably still flapping my hands. And I lived. And I ran. And my adrenaline was pumping so hard. And then I realized that I had to go back past it again on the way back. And then I wanted to cry.

Pandora

A friend told me about Pandora Radio.

It is a website where you can create your own radio station. You just enter an artist or a song that you like and it will build a playlist for you based upon that selection. For example, I have a Rascal Flatts station and it plays Rascal Flatts as well as other songs and artists that have been determined to have the same musical qualities.

It's a great way find and listen to new songs.

Hippy Chick

Well, it's good news. I ran this week when I was supposed to and all is well with my hips. I had my fastest run ever this morning with my average pace at 7.5 mph. I can definitely feel myself improving, even with the week off.

When I took a week off, I didn't run at all but I did the Boot Camp class instead and some light weights. I truly believe that the cross training is helping me. Hip flexor issues are directly affected by many other muscles and what kind of strength and shape they are in so I am trying to work on those as well.

Graduation Day

Lucas "graduated" from preschool over the weekend. It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen.

They did a little play for all of the parents and Lucas was "Bear #2" in the play. He remembered all of his lines and looked precious up there :)

When the kids came up to get their "diplomas" they were playing the graduation song and they announced the child's name and what they wanted to be when they grow up. There were some really hilarious things like "wants to design fans and robots", "wants to be a mermaid", and "wants to be the lead singer of a hard core punk band".


When they announced Lucas' name, they said "When Lucas grows up, he wants tobe a pilot and fly 787's, 777's, 767's, 747's"!

I asked him about it later and he said "Daddy can do all the work and I will just fly the things".