18 miles

It was rough. I struggled. I'm not feeling especially proud of this run. My arms felt exhausted, legs felt like jello, my back hurt, I ended up with blisters on my hands but I did it. That's the important part, right?

Eric had to rescue me at mile 13. I was starting to lose it (pathetic, I know) and ready to give up but he took Ethan and the jogger and encouraged me to finish what I had set out to do. Thank you honey!

But I did it. And I can say that today I ran 18 miles. Yay.....

I was all jazzed about this route that I chose because it was an actual loop (I've been doing mostly out-and-backs), it was totally doable with Ethan in the jogger, and I have been carb loading since Wednesday. More like Tuesday. Oh gosh, who am I kidding, I have been carb loading since signing up for this marathon. Mmmm....I'm suddenly hungry for a bagel.....

So anyway, this route seemed perfect. The first nine miles were mostly flat and then I'd have a slight downhill, then I would head up a serious hill (about a mile of the most nasty, beast of a hill) and finish off with a mostly flat five miles. Sounds great, right?

I don't know what I did to screw up preparing for this run. Maybe I just started out too fast and burned out quickly. Running with the jogger might have something to do with it, the warm weather might have played a part, maybe I wasn't hydrated enough. Luckily at mile 13 I was close enough to home that I could just drop in, freak out a little and have Eric get me back on track. That last five miles was much easier and I did reach lucky number 18.

Sweetness

Ethan just came over to me and put an arm around my shoulders, leaned his head to mine and said "I wuv you".

Completely out of the blue, without responding to it being said to him.

Needless to say, it made my evening.

And if that isn't cute enough on it's own, I have more to share. Rian started brushing his teeth and Ethan (who is obsessed with brushing his teeth right now) ran into the bathroom shouting "Brush teeth! Brush teeth!" Rian happily got the toothbrush all set for Ethan and they are in there giggling and brushing.

Ahh, savoring this sweet moment. I know any second it could (most likely will) change from giggly fun to arguing and inevitably, Ethan screaming.

Yup, there it is. :)

It's On

I finally did it. I registered for my very first marathon!!

It's official. No turning back now.

(AND, I'm getting it done before I turn 30!! YAY!!)

My confirmation email had a message from the race director that says, "You have just registered for one of the most scenic and demanding marathon courses around." Yikes. Isn't a marathon demanding enough by itself??

This should be fun!! All my former ambitions of finishing under so many hours have been thrown out the window. I'm just focusing on finishing now (ESPECIALLY with that whole "demanding course" part). Running my 26.2 miles and getting my butt across the finish line alive.

I started training and ran 14 miles last weekend. I thought I'd be all proud about it because that's that farthest I've run so far in one run. (Dude, from here on out every long run will be the farthest I've ever run, HA!) I'm kind of embarrassed about it though because it took me forever and I ended up walking some of it. I hadn't run that much that week, Ethan came along for the ride and I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before so I had a few strikes against me. Oh well. This weekend will be better!

It has to be. I have 5 weeks and 3 days left!!

Feels like something is missing...

This morning Ethan and I drove Rian to his first day of SECOND GRADE.

Holy cow.

HOLY COW!! I can hardly believe we have such a big boy.

He was darling. I almost cried. You'd think I would be used to this. This year was different though. He actually ran into his classroom. Ran. Didn't even say goodbye, just took off for Room 1. Last year he cried and didn't even want to go in (it was AWFUL). Today I got teary just thinking that it'll probably be like this year from here on out. He is becoming so independent and it makes this momma want to snuggle him and keep him little for a while longer. (Haha, although I must say it is nice to be able to hear myself think this morning...)

I gave him a few minutes and just watched through the window. I seriously don't think he would have noticed if we just left right then. I watched his face light up when he recognized fellow classmates from last year and then (with great enthusiasm) hug them. He's such a sweet boy.

We finally headed in and helped him get settled at his table, which was also super exciting. Ethan actually tried to join the group at Rian's table by sitting down at an empty seatand grabbing a pencil. Rian pointed out the few new faces and already knew their names, giving one girl a little wave. (Remember how this is the first day of school?!)

Yesterday Rian expressed some nervousness about starting school again and how difficult the work would be in second grade. This morning, however, I saw an independent, completely confident, enthusiastic boy.

Second grade, watch out!! Rian is ready!

Dang, I miss him already.