There are some moments in life that I hope just etch themselves into my mind so that years from now, when my children are older and time has slipped by, I can return to those wonderful tibdits and recall what once was. Last night was one of those times. A little before 2am, I sleepily wandered down the hall to Luke's room to gently wake my firstborn with kisses. While he strained to climb out of his slumber, I began to tell him that God had a special treat in store for us. I explained that while it was still the middle of the night, we were going to get up together...just him and I...and go outside and watch a special 'shooting star show' in the sky. As he rubbed his tired eyes and pulled on the sweatpants I had brought to this bedside, I could see understanding wash over him and excitement began to replace the sleepiness. Hand in hand, by the light of a single flashlight, Luke and I decended the stairs, grabbed the blankets and snack I had set out earlier in the night, and wandered with whispers into the backyard.
As we settled ourselves beneith our cozy cocoons on the trampoline, I explained as best I could what a meteor shower was, what to look for and why is was so special. Together, side by side, we munched on animal cookies there in the silent, cool night and eagerily searched the sky for its beautiful show. How precious now the memory is of him there beside me; the hood of his sweatshirt about his face while we quietly but excitedly called out time and time again "Whoa! Did you see that one?!". I smile now just recalling it. As the cool evening settled into our bodies and we snuggled deeper under the blankets, the sky seemed to give up its show. There were long stretches between the excitement, and as we whispered, I silently prayed for a special little treat...a bold star to fall across the sky. And I am not kidding...no sooner were the words thought in my mind did the brightest, most brilliant star of the evening go streaming across the sky straight above us leaving a trail in its wake, immediately followed by a second in the opposite direction! A most beautiful sight! I told Luke then that I had just prayed for a star and that God had given us those two to delight our hearts. We smiled together and I was gently reminded that how the Lord cares even about the 'small' details of our lives and longs to delight us. I love that about Him!
We lingered there in the night for awhile longer until our teeth began to chatter and our eyelids started to droop. Then we ventured back into the house and upstairs into the warmth of our beds. As we climbed the stairs Luke said, "Thanks, Mommy for this little vacation. I loved watching the stars with you." A vacation. How cute is that?! And so it was...Luke got to see his very first shooting stars and I got to be the one to share it with him!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Camping pictures
Hi again!
Just posting a little slideshow from our trip. I don't have time right now to actually write a recap....maybe later on? We'll see. I will say...we had the most WONDERFUL time camping! I could not have asked for a better trip (aside from it being longer!) The kids did great and we each loved every second (well...except for maybe the one night that Luke woke up at 1am and I had to perform a rescue mission in the pitch dark to find his Bear!) Lol! Definitely something we hope to do year after year from here on out!
*I added a little song if you're interested in turning on your speakers*
Just posting a little slideshow from our trip. I don't have time right now to actually write a recap....maybe later on? We'll see. I will say...we had the most WONDERFUL time camping! I could not have asked for a better trip (aside from it being longer!) The kids did great and we each loved every second (well...except for maybe the one night that Luke woke up at 1am and I had to perform a rescue mission in the pitch dark to find his Bear!) Lol! Definitely something we hope to do year after year from here on out!
*I added a little song if you're interested in turning on your speakers*
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Thursday, July 29, 2010
The Long, Lost Blog
It has been quite some time since I came to this quiet spot to blog. But like a life-long friend, I find comfort and familiarity as I sit here mulling over recent months, making feeble attempts to articulate my absence. Yet contrasting my sense of ease as I come to type is how I feel so...umm...well, different. Changed in some intangible, inexpressible way. Four months. Longer than that really, if you count my dwindling posts in the latter part of 2009 and early 2010. I realize that I never really explained by sudden departure from sharing our life here. And quite honestly, there have been many days where I don't quite understand it myself. The best way I can sum it up is to say that my words were simply taken from me.
Most of you who know me well know that I see life in a series of analogies. Word-pictures. Even the simplest things of life often blossom into symbolic little tidbits for me that the Lord often uses to speak to my heart. For a long, long time, as I went about my days, these little tidbits would just pop into my mind or, at times, burn hot in my heart, and I simply just had to share them here. I felt driven to blog...encouraged to share my silly or subtle stories. But for whatever reason, as 2010 dawned, my words started to fade quietly away and the desire to blog dimmed like the fading sunset. In their place came a sense of dread when I thought of blogging. A feeling of obligation replaced the urgency to share. And most startling to me was how the word-pictures and symbolism seemed to die away. Life, in essence, got really, REALLY quiet. At-least life in this crazy little head of mine! LOL!
Looking back now, I sense that the Lord wanted to hush me. He wanted me to sit and be STILL. He wanted me to listen. He had some work to do in my heart and He knew that the only way to accomplish whatever it was He had planned was to take away my biggest distractions. And, knowing me as only He does, He knew that the only way for me to actually be still was to take away my drive to 'DO.' Photography, the blog, running....these are the things that always seemed to have me 'on the go', and they all fell away. I lost interest. I lacked motivation. It all simply felt unattractive to me.
Ironically, as my interest in those things waned, my deep desire to make the most of my time with the kids and Ty flourished, and I felt a keen pull to just be with them. Nothing else really seemed to matter more than just making the most of my moments and days and hours with them. Even my "gotta have it just so" attitude/perfectionistic qualities took a good long beating, and I found myself replacing all those "have-to's" with "whatever" and "whenever" more often.
Ultimately, as I try to quantify the "why's" behind all these things, I can say with certainty that the Lord wanted me to put first things first and get back to the basics. He wanted balance where there had been disparity. He wanted my motivation for things to come less from the sense of obligation or guilt and more from a deep desire to please only Him.
While I sense that much ground was gained on this journey He has set before me, there is still work yet to be done, as there is within all of us I am sure. But little by little, He is graciously returning my words, my motivation and my precious little tidbits of understanding. I can't say whether or not I'll be here to blog much, but I know that at-least *ONE* of you is still out there keeping an eye on us, so I will be sure to add a few pictures here and there so life doesn't continue to pass us by undocumented. ;) Our recent camping trip is certain to be recapped in a few days, so stay tuned. :)
Most of you who know me well know that I see life in a series of analogies. Word-pictures. Even the simplest things of life often blossom into symbolic little tidbits for me that the Lord often uses to speak to my heart. For a long, long time, as I went about my days, these little tidbits would just pop into my mind or, at times, burn hot in my heart, and I simply just had to share them here. I felt driven to blog...encouraged to share my silly or subtle stories. But for whatever reason, as 2010 dawned, my words started to fade quietly away and the desire to blog dimmed like the fading sunset. In their place came a sense of dread when I thought of blogging. A feeling of obligation replaced the urgency to share. And most startling to me was how the word-pictures and symbolism seemed to die away. Life, in essence, got really, REALLY quiet. At-least life in this crazy little head of mine! LOL!
Looking back now, I sense that the Lord wanted to hush me. He wanted me to sit and be STILL. He wanted me to listen. He had some work to do in my heart and He knew that the only way to accomplish whatever it was He had planned was to take away my biggest distractions. And, knowing me as only He does, He knew that the only way for me to actually be still was to take away my drive to 'DO.' Photography, the blog, running....these are the things that always seemed to have me 'on the go', and they all fell away. I lost interest. I lacked motivation. It all simply felt unattractive to me.
Ironically, as my interest in those things waned, my deep desire to make the most of my time with the kids and Ty flourished, and I felt a keen pull to just be with them. Nothing else really seemed to matter more than just making the most of my moments and days and hours with them. Even my "gotta have it just so" attitude/perfectionistic qualities took a good long beating, and I found myself replacing all those "have-to's" with "whatever" and "whenever" more often.
Ultimately, as I try to quantify the "why's" behind all these things, I can say with certainty that the Lord wanted me to put first things first and get back to the basics. He wanted balance where there had been disparity. He wanted my motivation for things to come less from the sense of obligation or guilt and more from a deep desire to please only Him.
While I sense that much ground was gained on this journey He has set before me, there is still work yet to be done, as there is within all of us I am sure. But little by little, He is graciously returning my words, my motivation and my precious little tidbits of understanding. I can't say whether or not I'll be here to blog much, but I know that at-least *ONE* of you is still out there keeping an eye on us, so I will be sure to add a few pictures here and there so life doesn't continue to pass us by undocumented. ;) Our recent camping trip is certain to be recapped in a few days, so stay tuned. :)
Monday, March 22, 2010
Weekend Wanderers
We had a beautiful weekend together as a family! Spent time working in the yard, washing cars, hanging out with great friends and enjoying a Sunday afternoon stroll through the canyon yesterday as dusk. And since I haven't been much a blogger lately, I just thought I'd share a couple pictures from our wandering through the wildflowers. All I can say is that we are so blessed! Life is good!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Getting caught up
Guess it's about time for another post, eh?
We've had a fun few weeks around our house! Aunt Kim was here to visit for the last week of February and we had a wonderful time with her! We took the kids to the Living Desert one day, had a mini-family reunion out at my sister Jenn's house that evening and just soaked up the moments of being together. Honestly, it doesn't happen very often, so I cherish the times when we can all be together under one roof. Luke and Ellie ADORED having Aunt Kim around and she won their hearts with her silly antics and playful ways! We miss her!
We celebrated Ty's birthday this past Friday also! This year, when asked how he wanted to celebrate, Ty simply wanted to spend some time with us. :) Love him for that! So on Friday, after a yummy lunch at home and a relaxing massage from his wifey, we took the kids out bowling for the first time! Let me tell you....we had SO much fun! Both kiddos absolutely LOVED bowling! With the help of the bumpers and a cool kid-friendly bowling ramp, both Luke and Ellie racked in the points and I think they even beat me more than once (which isn't all that difficult I might add, 'cause I'm certainly not an avid bowler! LOL!) We had a blast! Can't wait to go back again sometime! Here's a little glimpse of Ty's special day...
After bowling, we went out for a bite to eat, then came home for cake! But before those pics, I couldn't resist showing you this cute shot I got of Ellie! She came straight downstairs from getting her jammies on, marched into the playroom to grab her pink grass skirt from the dress-up box and gingerly put in on. She pranced on tip-toe into the family room, threw her hand up over her head, and declared that she was now a ballerina! Her little dance was the just about the cutest thing I had ever seen!
I was pretty proud of her too, for the way she coordinated her outfit! Pink socks to go with her pink skirt, which were both just enough to accent the flowers on her pajamas! ;)
Then in was onto dessert...
What a fun day!
Saturday morning brought Luke's very first soccer game! He was giddy with excitement from the moment his feet hit the floor that morning, and literlly could NOT wait to get his uniform on (which, at first, he called a costume. Lol!). It was an 8am game, so we were up and at 'em pretty early that day! During breakfast, we showed Luke Daddy's picture from his first year of playing soccer. Luke thought that was pretty cool!
Then we were off to freeze our booties off at the game and we counted our blessings that the rain held off until the afternoon! Here's my little "Stomper" (that's their team name) strutting his stuff!
And wouldn't ya know....he got lucky #7 for his jersey! :)
They ended up technically loosing their game, but at 5 years old, who really cares?!? The kids all had a blast and we got several good chuckles at how cute they all looked as they ran around chasing the ball in a state of serious confusion! Someday their skill and ability will matter. For now though, its all about having fun! :)
We spent the rest of the weekend visiting with friends,going to church, working in the backyard and snuggling under cozy blankets in front of a couple of good movies. Couldn't ask for much more! Life is good!
And now, my friends...you are offically caught up! :)
We've had a fun few weeks around our house! Aunt Kim was here to visit for the last week of February and we had a wonderful time with her! We took the kids to the Living Desert one day, had a mini-family reunion out at my sister Jenn's house that evening and just soaked up the moments of being together. Honestly, it doesn't happen very often, so I cherish the times when we can all be together under one roof. Luke and Ellie ADORED having Aunt Kim around and she won their hearts with her silly antics and playful ways! We miss her!
We celebrated Ty's birthday this past Friday also! This year, when asked how he wanted to celebrate, Ty simply wanted to spend some time with us. :) Love him for that! So on Friday, after a yummy lunch at home and a relaxing massage from his wifey, we took the kids out bowling for the first time! Let me tell you....we had SO much fun! Both kiddos absolutely LOVED bowling! With the help of the bumpers and a cool kid-friendly bowling ramp, both Luke and Ellie racked in the points and I think they even beat me more than once (which isn't all that difficult I might add, 'cause I'm certainly not an avid bowler! LOL!) We had a blast! Can't wait to go back again sometime! Here's a little glimpse of Ty's special day...
After bowling, we went out for a bite to eat, then came home for cake! But before those pics, I couldn't resist showing you this cute shot I got of Ellie! She came straight downstairs from getting her jammies on, marched into the playroom to grab her pink grass skirt from the dress-up box and gingerly put in on. She pranced on tip-toe into the family room, threw her hand up over her head, and declared that she was now a ballerina! Her little dance was the just about the cutest thing I had ever seen!
I was pretty proud of her too, for the way she coordinated her outfit! Pink socks to go with her pink skirt, which were both just enough to accent the flowers on her pajamas! ;)
Then in was onto dessert...
What a fun day!
Saturday morning brought Luke's very first soccer game! He was giddy with excitement from the moment his feet hit the floor that morning, and literlly could NOT wait to get his uniform on (which, at first, he called a costume. Lol!). It was an 8am game, so we were up and at 'em pretty early that day! During breakfast, we showed Luke Daddy's picture from his first year of playing soccer. Luke thought that was pretty cool!
Then we were off to freeze our booties off at the game and we counted our blessings that the rain held off until the afternoon! Here's my little "Stomper" (that's their team name) strutting his stuff!
And wouldn't ya know....he got lucky #7 for his jersey! :)
They ended up technically loosing their game, but at 5 years old, who really cares?!? The kids all had a blast and we got several good chuckles at how cute they all looked as they ran around chasing the ball in a state of serious confusion! Someday their skill and ability will matter. For now though, its all about having fun! :)
We spent the rest of the weekend visiting with friends,going to church, working in the backyard and snuggling under cozy blankets in front of a couple of good movies. Couldn't ask for much more! Life is good!
And now, my friends...you are offically caught up! :)
Friday, February 19, 2010
All About Ellie
My sweet, little girl (who, by the way, is growing like a weed, talking up a storm, stirring up as much drama as she can muster, and stealing my heart every day!) became a big two-and-a-half-year-old this week! How is that possible?! By this time with Luke, Ellie was due in just a few weeks time! How is my baby already so big?! Anyway....the big two-point-five! Lol! You would think she was turning 16 by the way she acts though! So grown up in her facial expressions, words, and body language! She certainly knows how to steal the show and make us all laugh out loud...especially when her hands land on her hips, her head tilts to the side and she tells me to "hurry on up" with all sorts of exasperation when I am not moving as quickly as she'd like! Lol! (Its cute, but she does usually get scolded for such rudeness!)
Anyway, to 'commemorate' the big day, (just kidding...I mostly just needed an excuse) I thought I'd share a bunch of pictures of her week. :)
We had a somewhat impromptu meeting with Auntie Laura and Maddie at the park on Tuesday while we waiting for Luke to finish up at school! I just love how they've grown into good friends!
They even love to share their pedicures with each other, just like her mama and I! :)
Aren't they ADORABLE?! Look at Maddie's contemplative examination! Lol!
One afternoon, Ellie and Luke decided to get all dressed up and jump on the trampoline. Luke was Buzz Lightyear and Ellie decided to be a mouse. After one too many somersaults, I snapped this one of her and her crazy hair...
And then yesterday (again while Bubba was in school)we decided to kill some time with a mini-photo shoot. Something I haven't been able to do for quite some time and have missed desperately!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one of the two of us. It gently reminds me of the huge responsibility God has given me to be a good example to my children!
And lastly, my silly, life-loving little girl! Love you sweetheart! More than the sky!
Anyway, to 'commemorate' the big day, (just kidding...I mostly just needed an excuse) I thought I'd share a bunch of pictures of her week. :)
We had a somewhat impromptu meeting with Auntie Laura and Maddie at the park on Tuesday while we waiting for Luke to finish up at school! I just love how they've grown into good friends!
They even love to share their pedicures with each other, just like her mama and I! :)
Aren't they ADORABLE?! Look at Maddie's contemplative examination! Lol!
One afternoon, Ellie and Luke decided to get all dressed up and jump on the trampoline. Luke was Buzz Lightyear and Ellie decided to be a mouse. After one too many somersaults, I snapped this one of her and her crazy hair...
And then yesterday (again while Bubba was in school)we decided to kill some time with a mini-photo shoot. Something I haven't been able to do for quite some time and have missed desperately!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one of the two of us. It gently reminds me of the huge responsibility God has given me to be a good example to my children!
And lastly, my silly, life-loving little girl! Love you sweetheart! More than the sky!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Surf City 2010
Mission accomplished!
And what a weekend it was! There are so many lessons from the road! Suffice to say that it didn't turn out the way we had hoped, but it was sweet nonetheless! Let me recap...
We headed down to the race on Saturday afternoon after dropping the kids off at my mom's for the night (thanks again, Mom!!) Ellie wasn't entirely happy with us for leaving, but I'm told she did great once she settled in! Phew!
We got down to the beach, checked into our little room for the night and headed straight for the Race Expo to pick up our bibs and race shirts. Surf City is a HUGE race and they really work hard to make the big event run smoothly! The expo was super neat....lots of venders and cool running gear to purchase! I got to pick up a new pair of sunglasses and a gear belt! Whoohoo! A couple of things I had been needing for awhile now. We were able to get our bibs really easily, despite the ga-zillion people who were there! I have to say, the people who put this race on are definitely organized!!
We left the Expo just in time to miss the downpour of rain that ensued! Oh how I was hoping that the rain would be done by the morning! Running in the rain is not my favorite activity for sure! We drove the race course after that and I grew so excited for what was to come the next morning! The course was BEAUTIFUL...all along Pacific Coast Hwy, with expansive views of the ocean on one side and the wetlands on the other! Off in the distance on Sunday, when the rain had cleared, you could even see the mountains covered in snow. By far, the most gorgeous place I have run!
After checking out the course, we made our way to any early dinner at Bucca di Beppo (YUM!)and filled out bellies until we couldn't eat another bite!
It was still early when we finished dinner and being kid-less and all, we actually got to make a spontaneous decision (imagine that!!!) to see a movie! Seriously people....I was so excited to just be in a movie theatre! I honestly can't even remember the last movie I saw in the theatre, let alone WITH my husband! Awesome! We saw "When in Rome". A chick-flick for sure, but Ty sweetly obliged (though we didn't have much of a selection for the time slots we were there. Lol!)
Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the next morning and get some rest. I was surprised at how calm I felt and how easily I slept! I really would have thought I would have been a LOT more anxious, but I slept peacefully and woke up calm! Amazing!
5:30am came quickly. Again, I was so surprised to feel really calm when I got up. Before the last couple of races I've done, I usually feel jittery and anxious beforehand, but I hardly felt that way on Sunday! It was a welcomed relief, actually! We hydrated well, got ready and ate our usual peanut butter sandwiches before jogging the 2.25 miles to the start line.
With 20,000 runners, parking at the race was predicted to be a little nuts, so we opted to just do our warm up ON the way there. We jogged to the race and got to witness the most gorgeous sunrise along the way. (The picture hardly does justice to how pretty it was!) The weather was simple p-e-r-f-e-c-t! Clear blue skies with big, puffy, white clouds! Beautiful!
As we got to the race, I was amazed at the sea of people! There were lines of people everywhere you looked! Lines for the bathrooms...lines to check in your gear (which we did 'cause the weather was a lot warmer than we expected!) and lines of people as far as your eye could see down the course. Amazing! The air was buzzing with excitement as we found our way to our wave corral. The race started in waves based on your predicted finish time so that runners could be spread out more along the course and so we could run with people at the same general pace. We were part of the 2:00:00 wave, as we had hoped to cross the finish line around the two-hour mark based on our previous running pace. (I finished the the two 13-mile runs I did in training at 2:08:00 and 2:01:00 so my ideal goal had been to complete Surf City as close to the 2 hour mark as possible.) Here we are just before our wave took off....
The first 3 miles were AWESOME. The pace felt easy and my body felt good. The energy of all the people running beside us was so cool! We jig-zagged in and out of the group, trying to find open spots on the road and pass the runners that we hindering us. There were SO many people! It was hard to find open spots to run! They had live bands playing at different spots along the course too! So fun! Things were looking good!
And then mile 3 hit. :( It was pretty much all downhill from there...metaphorically speaking of-course. It was around the 3rd mile marker that I started to feel weird. There really aren't other suitable words to describe it....I just did NOT feel like my normal self. I began to feel dizzy. My heart was beating harder than it should have been and by breathing more labored for the pace I was running. My Ipod even began to grate on me and I had to turn in off. My head began to pound over my left eye and I just generally felt crummy. :( I took in some water and a few energy beans to be sure it wasn't a blood sugar thing and kept on running, though noticeably slower as I saw our pacer runner and her sign for the 2:00:00 finish goal slip further and further away. Soon, she was far out of sight and so was my dream of finishing near the two hour mark. :(
By mile 6, I was walking and near tears. Frustrated and annoyed that my body was doing whatever strange thing it was doing. I felt nauseous and dizzy still and honestly so discouraged that I considered quitting right then and there (which is SO unlike me!) It was then that my dear, sweet husband (who had begun to experience some pain of his own in his knee, and who been graciously running s-l-o-w-l-y behind and beside me when I walked because jogging seemed to hurt him less than walking) wrapped his arm about my waist and began encouraging me that I could do it. He reminded me of what I had written days earlier....that it wasn't about the clock at the finish line, but rather the journey that had brought us to this point. And little by little, as he spoke words of encouragement to me, we picked up the pace and jogged on a few miles further.
It took everything in me to keep from walking in those miles. My body screamed to walk. My gut cramped up, my head ached and I felt woozy. But I knew that each step I took got me closer to being done. And at that point, there was nothing I wanted more than to just be DONE!
Somewhere around the 8th or 9th mile, Ty's knee began to hurt so badly that he actually had to stop running and sit down on the side of the road. My poor husband! He was in some serious pain! He was pretty sure it was a deep muscle that was cramping in there, but he could not massage deep enough to relieve it. So, being strong-willed to the core and insistent that he finish, he pushed through a 9 out of 10 intensity pain and jogged on and off over the last 5 miles. I can honestly say that I have NO idea how he did it! My husband has a mental toughness that I cannot begin to understand!!! He is the most driven and determined man I know!! There would have been NO way that I could (or would) endure that intensity of pain for FIVE miles! But he was determined to finish! At one point, he urged me to just run ahead, but just as he stuck by me earlier on, I was not leaving his side! We were going to cross that finish line together....if it took us two and a half hours or two and a half days! For better or for worse, right?
Here are a few photos that I took while we walked. It really WAS a beautiful day! The surf was high, the air bright and sunny! You can see the throngs of people climbing the hill in front of us! There were SOOO many people! It was really amazing!
The last 1/2 mile almost made the entire journey worth it! As we neared the last mile marker, the roads became fenced off on either side and spectators lined the streets, cheering us runners on, clapping and whistling! We could see the finish line up ahead and as I looked from my husband's grimacing, red face to the crowd and then to the finish line, my emotions got the best of me and I broke into tears. I was just SO incredibly thankful to be done....to have it made it to this day...to this point....not only having endured a horrible morning of running, but to have come to the end of a half year of preparation for this moment. So as we took those final steps across the finish line, we held on tight to one another's hands, raised them high over our heads and ran victoriously across the finish line with the clock reading 2:25:23.
And what a weekend it was! There are so many lessons from the road! Suffice to say that it didn't turn out the way we had hoped, but it was sweet nonetheless! Let me recap...
We headed down to the race on Saturday afternoon after dropping the kids off at my mom's for the night (thanks again, Mom!!) Ellie wasn't entirely happy with us for leaving, but I'm told she did great once she settled in! Phew!
We got down to the beach, checked into our little room for the night and headed straight for the Race Expo to pick up our bibs and race shirts. Surf City is a HUGE race and they really work hard to make the big event run smoothly! The expo was super neat....lots of venders and cool running gear to purchase! I got to pick up a new pair of sunglasses and a gear belt! Whoohoo! A couple of things I had been needing for awhile now. We were able to get our bibs really easily, despite the ga-zillion people who were there! I have to say, the people who put this race on are definitely organized!!
We left the Expo just in time to miss the downpour of rain that ensued! Oh how I was hoping that the rain would be done by the morning! Running in the rain is not my favorite activity for sure! We drove the race course after that and I grew so excited for what was to come the next morning! The course was BEAUTIFUL...all along Pacific Coast Hwy, with expansive views of the ocean on one side and the wetlands on the other! Off in the distance on Sunday, when the rain had cleared, you could even see the mountains covered in snow. By far, the most gorgeous place I have run!
After checking out the course, we made our way to any early dinner at Bucca di Beppo (YUM!)and filled out bellies until we couldn't eat another bite!
It was still early when we finished dinner and being kid-less and all, we actually got to make a spontaneous decision (imagine that!!!) to see a movie! Seriously people....I was so excited to just be in a movie theatre! I honestly can't even remember the last movie I saw in the theatre, let alone WITH my husband! Awesome! We saw "When in Rome". A chick-flick for sure, but Ty sweetly obliged (though we didn't have much of a selection for the time slots we were there. Lol!)
Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the next morning and get some rest. I was surprised at how calm I felt and how easily I slept! I really would have thought I would have been a LOT more anxious, but I slept peacefully and woke up calm! Amazing!
5:30am came quickly. Again, I was so surprised to feel really calm when I got up. Before the last couple of races I've done, I usually feel jittery and anxious beforehand, but I hardly felt that way on Sunday! It was a welcomed relief, actually! We hydrated well, got ready and ate our usual peanut butter sandwiches before jogging the 2.25 miles to the start line.
With 20,000 runners, parking at the race was predicted to be a little nuts, so we opted to just do our warm up ON the way there. We jogged to the race and got to witness the most gorgeous sunrise along the way. (The picture hardly does justice to how pretty it was!) The weather was simple p-e-r-f-e-c-t! Clear blue skies with big, puffy, white clouds! Beautiful!
As we got to the race, I was amazed at the sea of people! There were lines of people everywhere you looked! Lines for the bathrooms...lines to check in your gear (which we did 'cause the weather was a lot warmer than we expected!) and lines of people as far as your eye could see down the course. Amazing! The air was buzzing with excitement as we found our way to our wave corral. The race started in waves based on your predicted finish time so that runners could be spread out more along the course and so we could run with people at the same general pace. We were part of the 2:00:00 wave, as we had hoped to cross the finish line around the two-hour mark based on our previous running pace. (I finished the the two 13-mile runs I did in training at 2:08:00 and 2:01:00 so my ideal goal had been to complete Surf City as close to the 2 hour mark as possible.) Here we are just before our wave took off....
The first 3 miles were AWESOME. The pace felt easy and my body felt good. The energy of all the people running beside us was so cool! We jig-zagged in and out of the group, trying to find open spots on the road and pass the runners that we hindering us. There were SO many people! It was hard to find open spots to run! They had live bands playing at different spots along the course too! So fun! Things were looking good!
And then mile 3 hit. :( It was pretty much all downhill from there...metaphorically speaking of-course. It was around the 3rd mile marker that I started to feel weird. There really aren't other suitable words to describe it....I just did NOT feel like my normal self. I began to feel dizzy. My heart was beating harder than it should have been and by breathing more labored for the pace I was running. My Ipod even began to grate on me and I had to turn in off. My head began to pound over my left eye and I just generally felt crummy. :( I took in some water and a few energy beans to be sure it wasn't a blood sugar thing and kept on running, though noticeably slower as I saw our pacer runner and her sign for the 2:00:00 finish goal slip further and further away. Soon, she was far out of sight and so was my dream of finishing near the two hour mark. :(
By mile 6, I was walking and near tears. Frustrated and annoyed that my body was doing whatever strange thing it was doing. I felt nauseous and dizzy still and honestly so discouraged that I considered quitting right then and there (which is SO unlike me!) It was then that my dear, sweet husband (who had begun to experience some pain of his own in his knee, and who been graciously running s-l-o-w-l-y behind and beside me when I walked because jogging seemed to hurt him less than walking) wrapped his arm about my waist and began encouraging me that I could do it. He reminded me of what I had written days earlier....that it wasn't about the clock at the finish line, but rather the journey that had brought us to this point. And little by little, as he spoke words of encouragement to me, we picked up the pace and jogged on a few miles further.
It took everything in me to keep from walking in those miles. My body screamed to walk. My gut cramped up, my head ached and I felt woozy. But I knew that each step I took got me closer to being done. And at that point, there was nothing I wanted more than to just be DONE!
Somewhere around the 8th or 9th mile, Ty's knee began to hurt so badly that he actually had to stop running and sit down on the side of the road. My poor husband! He was in some serious pain! He was pretty sure it was a deep muscle that was cramping in there, but he could not massage deep enough to relieve it. So, being strong-willed to the core and insistent that he finish, he pushed through a 9 out of 10 intensity pain and jogged on and off over the last 5 miles. I can honestly say that I have NO idea how he did it! My husband has a mental toughness that I cannot begin to understand!!! He is the most driven and determined man I know!! There would have been NO way that I could (or would) endure that intensity of pain for FIVE miles! But he was determined to finish! At one point, he urged me to just run ahead, but just as he stuck by me earlier on, I was not leaving his side! We were going to cross that finish line together....if it took us two and a half hours or two and a half days! For better or for worse, right?
Here are a few photos that I took while we walked. It really WAS a beautiful day! The surf was high, the air bright and sunny! You can see the throngs of people climbing the hill in front of us! There were SOOO many people! It was really amazing!
The last 1/2 mile almost made the entire journey worth it! As we neared the last mile marker, the roads became fenced off on either side and spectators lined the streets, cheering us runners on, clapping and whistling! We could see the finish line up ahead and as I looked from my husband's grimacing, red face to the crowd and then to the finish line, my emotions got the best of me and I broke into tears. I was just SO incredibly thankful to be done....to have it made it to this day...to this point....not only having endured a horrible morning of running, but to have come to the end of a half year of preparation for this moment. So as we took those final steps across the finish line, we held on tight to one another's hands, raised them high over our heads and ran victoriously across the finish line with the clock reading 2:25:23.
So will I do it again? Yeah, probably. Well...actually...yes. I am already signed up for another half in September. But I think this whole experience has been a lot like childbirth. You need a little time to forget the pain before you even consider doing it again! Lol! But even today, just 2 days later, I already feel the intensity of the awfulness of the day slipping away and it is already beginning to not seem so bad. Amazing how that works, isn't it?!
In looking back, I am definitely grateful for the experience! I have learned a lot and gained a confidence in my ability that I lacked before. And more than anything else, I am grateful to have had this deep bonding experience with my husband! Crossing that finish line with him is a moment I will not soon forget!
Thank you, Babe for enduring all of that for my sake! I know you wouldn't have chosen to run a half marathon for yourself, but you sacrifically did it out of your love for me. Your support, encouragement and selfless attitude speak volumes about your character, committment and love for me! To have you there with me meant more than I could ever express. Thank you! Love you so!
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