December Recap

Well this is awkward! I haven't said one hot word on here about running since my Top of Utah Marathon recap back in September. Truthfully, I took some time off from running for a few weeks after the race, then I took longer off from the blog. It was a great time of recovery and giving increased focus to some other parts of life for a while. I didn't run a heck of a lot in October or November. But I'm back, with some miles and some pics.

Miles Ran: 68.9. I'm really good with that.

# Runs: 12. No speed work, but some variation in distance.

Favorite Run: It's always hard to choose, but running with my friend Tessa in the snow at the Jordan River Parkway was really, really nice. It was a sunny, bright day, with mostly clear paths, but with the sound of our shoes crunching on the snow here and there. We ran 7 pretty quick miles that day.

Other Notable Runs: Just before heading out for the run pictured above, I realized that I was 20 miles shy of hitting a pretty big number (stay tuned for the year end!), and decided that was my goal. After Tessa and I ran, I had 13 to go. I planned to split them up Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week (December 29-31). Monday, 5 miles, check. Tuesday, 3 miles planned....wind gusts up to 50mph, felt like it was -10. Our pipes froze (seriously). We heard on the news that there were hundreds of accidents on the interstates, so driving to an indoor track seemed like a bad option too. So today, NYE, I was due to run 8 miles. Mr. Joanna, the kiddo, and I all packed up and headed to the Utah Olympic Oval. It's a 442m/lap indoor track that loops an ice skating rink. The boys skated while I ran. It was really fun to get to watch them. And what runner wouldn't get inspired by all the Olympic paraphernalia? So cool. (if you can't make it out, the banner in the background says "US Olympic Team Trials").

Training Update: I am still in the off-season. I've registered for a half in June, but nothing else yet for next year. I'm mulling my options for a great race season. In the meantime, I'd like to drop some weight. My clothes are all fitting well, but I'd still like to drop some. 

House Project Completed: Unfortunately it's been a bumpy road on house projects (I'm planning a whole post called "What I Learned from Renovating My House for a Year"). However, so much has happened since I last shared. I finally finished re-painting my craft desk and putting the office back together. My Mom finished the window treatment for the master bath. We chose an area rug for the living room (love!). I painted the dining room, and am working on painting the master bedroom. I found end tables for the living room (finally), and some accessorizing in various rooms has happened. We've also given away and sold a bunch of stuff, which, if you know me, you know I love to de-clutter. So freeing. Our house is coming together, finally. It's been quite a process. 

Other Lovely Things from Life: White Christmas. Sledding. Hot chocolate. Knitting projects finished. Baking lovely things. New friends and very new friends. 

I hope your December was great, too!

The Internet's Latest April Recap

Ok, ok. I wasn't going to do an April recap. Then I had to go through my stats anyway to figure out how old my shoes were (400+ miles old!). Then it seemed silly not to write one. So, I'm posting the world's most ridiculously tardy-to-the-party April recap.

Total miles: 103.7, making this I think my first ever set of back-to-back triple digit months!

# runs: 16

# other workouts: 2. I went to yoga two whole times.

Favorite run: The Salt Lake Half!! A new PR! A race with new friends! Beautiful weather and got to see my family mid-race.

Setbacks: Part of the reason this post is so late is that I had to put together mileage from two different Garmins and miles kept just on paper. I'm thankful that I was able to get a new Garmin when the old one died though, so it's not a complaint!

An update on the Achilles: it continues to hurt some, but I've been better about foam rolling and that seems to help a lot. I'm going to keep at it and hope it continues to improve.

House projects completed: It's not exactly a house project, but I did finish a baby sweater. And now I'm working on a Christmas stocking for one of my nieces.

Significant progress has been made on our bathroom and some other projects, but nothing is finished yet. Hopefully I'll have updates by the end of May!

April also saw both my birthday and my younger son's 2nd birthday. In case I've never mentioned it, I love cake. 

Training update: After Salt Lake, I more or less took off the following week (I ran twice). Then I completed the workouts Monday through Wednesday of the following week, then promptly got sick, missing the Thursday through Sunday runs. The following Monday I did part of my scheduled workout, and have been back on track since. I have a little under 5 weeks to go until the Utah Valley Half!! (note: I replaced my shoes before my 5/10 long run)

My training schedule is way more aggressive than what I'd been doing, and I'm loving it. I've surprised myself by being able to hit my training paces consistently. Fingers crossed for a new PR!

Things I'm enjoying/looking forward to in May: 

• First and foremost, to have our bathroom and closet finished!! I'm so over the dust and disorganization that accompanies home renovations.
• Also, early May brought the end of the semester and my release from grading jail--woohoo!! 
• The grandparents are visiting for my older son's birthday later this month. 
• Focusing on the next two weeks of training, as they are the peak of the training cycle for Utah Valley. 

At long last, there you have it. April in review. I'd say I'm looking forward to reading everyone's, but I think I already have!

Mondays in Love: Staycation!!

Pretty soon I will be making decisions and signing up for spring races. Before we get to those decisions, I'm enjoying running when I wanna and having some extra family time. It was a thankful Thanksgiving in that way. Rather than doing a traditional Thanksgiving, my brood and I really needed a break and some down time, so we planned a whole staycation and had an absolute blast.

We stayed at a hotel with a pool (HUGE hit with the kiddos), went to the Thanksgiving parade and saw everything from the Grinch to this:

Yes, a huge shopping cart. wth??

We went out to a fancy Thanksgiving dinner, played games, and went to the Arch. The baby woke up just in time to take in the sights. 

I topped the weekend off with a perfect 5 miles on Sunday, done with a smile on my face and early winter in the air. Life is good this holiday season!! Were you thankful for running this year? 

Wordless Whatever Day It Is

I know a lot of you do Wordless Wednesdays and this would be well suited to that. Well, my days are all basically one big blur at the moment so I'm gonna do a mostly-wordless-whatever-day-this-is! I have a 10-day old--I get to pretend it's whatever day I want! :)

Without further intro, a few pics from my maternity photo shoot from a few weeks ago. All photos were taken by Love & Life Photography.

Mondays in Love: A March Recap

I know, I'm wearing the Mondays in Love theme a little thin by claiming a March Recap. But truthfully, I'm so unbelievably happy to have a March recap, that I'm going to claim it as a legit LOVE post.

**Disclaimer** I am writing this on Sunday night and setting it to auto-post. At this point there is no update on Baby Brother. Stay tuned and if you're the praying sort, please keep me/us in your prayers for a safe and speedy birth!! I'm officially due on Tuesday. 

Miles ran/walked: 23 (although I didn't count all of my walking around the neighborhood--if it was less than a mile or so I didn't count it)

# workouts: 8

Favorite run: Undoubtedly my 3.1 mile run/walk on the 15th. It was my last pregnant run and I 100% enjoyed it! I love that I could run at 37 weeks pregnant. That seriously makes me so, so happy! 

Current obsession: I will give you one guess. When is this baby going to show up?!? We are ready! 

Pregnancy Update

# weeks: 39.5/40 (basically 9 months)

Weight gained: ~28 lb. 

How this has affected running, life, etc.: At this point the pregnancy has more or less affected everything about life. It has meant a halt to running and on most days even walking requires that I stop every now and then for a Braxton-Hicks (not real) contraction or other related aches and pains. It has meant that work has finally slowed down (I'm officially on leave beginning Tuesday or tomorrow if Baby Brother decides to come a day early). It has meant lunches with girlfriends celebrating the upcoming birth. 

It has meant savoring these last days before The Kiddo becomes a big brother, and making these days as fun for him as we can. This has meant extra Kiddo-Mommy baking time and trips to the Science Center and Zoo. That has been wonderful. 

I want to be honest about what this is like--the good and bad. It's uncomfortable, yes--I have heartburn. I'm crazy hormonal. I wake up at least 3x/night to pee. I have to sleep sort of propped up for the first part of the night to keep the heartburn in check. I have the land speed record of maple syrup. I'm eating like 85% carbs (at least that's what it seems like) because most of the time real food is not appetizing. Even my maternity pants are kinda uncomfortable, so I'm mostly just rotating between my 4 warm-ish weather maternity dresses and doing laundry more often. Yes, these things are true. 

But when the doctor asked if I wanted to be induced, the answer was "absolutely not." And not just because I don't want unnecessary meds, but because I am absolutely savoring this. There is no magic in the world like this. The wonder, the curiosity, and the absolutely surreal reality that our lives will so dramatically change so quickly, and so soon. It's not like anything else in the world. 

Mondays in Love: Two-thirds

It seems like it's been far more than a week since last Monday. Is that just me? Ok, so this Mondays in Love is all about the fraction two-thirds. Two-thirds of it is about running, and two-thirds of it is about things I actually loved.

#1: Running and Thing I Loved
Friday morning I greeted the day with the best run I've had in weeks. It was sunny and crisp at about 30 degrees. The miles clipped by at what now seems fast: 10:11, 10:33, 10:18, and a slower cool-down mile. After a pretty stressful week, it was just what I needed. That feeling of being free. That feeling of smiling because I felt so free. The beautiful morning. love the run. It was perfect.

#2: Thing I Loved and Not Running
Donuts. Specifically, heart-shaped homemade baked donuts, made with the kiddo. I impulse purchased a donut pan a few weeks ago and it had been crying about its neglect ever since. It came with a recipe on the back that was easy to make and tastes yummy.

#3: Running and Thing I Did Not Love
You've almost certainly heard of the tendency for enormously pregnant women to nest. Well, I'm there. I've taken to washing practically everything that isn't nailed down, and feel the need to get out the baby clothes, wash them and get everything organized. Some of this I've made myself wait to do, but a lot of it I've started. Well, yesterday morning it seemed like a great idea to mop the first floor of my house. WRONG. Yes, my floors are gloriously clean. But my back has also been killing me since then. It hurts to walk across the house, which meant my planned afternoon run/walk was promptly cancelled. Boo!! Here's to hoping I'm back up and running--literally--within a few days!

Mondays...Tuesdays on Notice: Overwhelmed

It's Tuesday. I know. It's not that I forgot yesterday, or that I absolutely couldn't have found the time to post this. I'm just gonna lay it out there for you: it was that I am completely overwhelmed in virtually all arenas of life and struggled with what to say. I need to ask for a little grace around here. When in doubt, I'll stick to running! That is, after, what this blog's about.

On Running: I went out Sunday afternoon to get in a weekend run. I think I totally made some dude's day when he passed me, looked over (I get looked at a lot these days when I run!), and I said, "Some day I'll be fast again!" He just laughed like, is she for real?? He was probably about 50 and was only running a 9:30-9:40 pace. Needless to say, my run was not my fastest, which was fine. But what wasn't cool--my tailbone did NOT respond well. It felt ok during the run but hurt afterwards. So, back to run/walk for me for a few more days.

On all other things: I am completely overwhelmed. I have a huge work deadline looming in mid-January and a whole series of smaller (but mandatory) deadlines on separate projects between now and then. And beyond those deadlines, work has been bat shit crazy (and stressful) with some non-project things. On the home front: our house is not ready for Christmas. Cleaning up for this has meant getting everything ready to move out of my office into the guest room so we can turn my office into a nursery. We're not there yet. Christmas itself is complicated by family stuff that I don't understand.

There is some beauty in this mess though. Some of my time recently has been absorbed in finishing not 1, not 2, but three Christmas stockings. They are all different color combos, but generally along these lines:

My little boy makes us smile every.single.day. Here's a glimpse of life with a three-year-old:

And just this past weekend we got to celebrate the marriage of our friends Chris and Kayla. Their wedding was beautiful and the reception was absolutely the most fun I've ever had at a wedding reception. Uhhuh. I brought my own ball. :) And bowled in a floor-length gown (thank you, Kdot!!). 

That's what I've got, peeps. Needless to say, I am waaaaaay behind on reading blogs. There is no break in sight, but I will keep chipping away at the Reader list as I can. I promise! 

Three Things Thursday

I have three things to tell you, it's a Thursday, so let's do this!

1. A big THANK YOU to Jodi over at Run Jodi Run for spotlighting me today. I've had so much fun getting to know her and am thrilled and honored to be part of her blog for the day! Read it here. You might learn a thing or two about me. :)
2. Yesterday was National Running Day. I ran 4.8 miles and added it to the Competitor.com miles reel. They were hoping to get 500,000 miles and ended up with about 12,000. Er...that's embarrassing! Did you know there's an International Mustard Day (August 5th, don't ask how I know)? Why shouldn't we have a Running Day?!? Mustard versus Running--I'm gonna be really sad if Mustard has more Facebook friends. 
3. Summer has arrived! That means more frequent water stops while running, more time outside, a still-crazy-but-less-scheduled work life, and a few of my favorite things--painting (aka, finishing decorating) and staring longingly at the empty space where our back-ordered porch furniture belongs blowing bubbles with the kiddo.