10-10-10

No, I'm not racing on 10-10-10.

However, I will be one of the loudest cheerleaders in Portland!

Cheering for Julie as she runs her heart out. She is such an inspiration to me. She is the poster girl for mental toughness. When my pansy #$% wants to quit, I think of Julie. What would Julie say? What would Julie do?

I can tell you what she'd do.

She'd push through the pain.

She has answered more running questions from me than I can count on all my fingers and toes. She gets excited for me when I get excited. She drives me to Fit Right in Portland because she knows I'm terrified of driving in P-town. (Okay, she only did this once. But, it meant the world to me!)

Good luck amazing friend! I cannot wait to watch you cross the finish line!!

Then, there's Ashley.

For some reason, thinking about Ashley right now makes me cry. She is such an emotional support to me. She lost her mom to cancer and as my brother faces his battle with cancer, she always seems to know what to say, or what to ask. She is a blessing!

In my head, Ashley is a quiet warrior. She is a powerful runner. She is humble. You would never guess, but I'm pretty sure there are invisible flames flying off her backside when she runs. Her body rebelled in Seattle when she and Julie ran their 1st marathon together. Now, many of us will be on the sidelines cheering her toward the finish line. I can guarantee this emotional mess of a runner will be bawling when I watch her cross that line!

Good luck my sweet friend! I cannot wait to watch you cross that line!!

My dear friend Wendy is running her 2nd marathon. After running in Seattle with her good friend, she now wants to see what she can do on her own. I am so proud of her! Wendy's daughter is our babysitter and although we've had good talks here and there over the years, it wasn't until I started running and we went on runs together that we became better friends. She is such a blessing to me. I love running with her! I honestly think I do my best when I run with her. Our paces are similar enough to push each other along. She is such a blessing!

Good luck Wendy!!! You're going to kill your time!!

Jenae is running her 5th? 6th marathon? I always forget. She makes is look like old hat. She is one of the sweetest people I know. I cannot wait to watch as she runs that race. I can pretty much guarantee a smile will be on her face as she races along. She is amazing! Oh, and did I mention, she's also running Seattle in November! She is a machine!

Good luck my friend!!! Please don't mind the crazy lady screaming for you on the side of the road!!

Sarah from RLAM is running in Portland and although I don't really know her well, I'll still be cheering my heart out for her. After all, we did run together for a whole 5 minutes in Eugene :) Their book, blog and facebook page have become such a support for me. When I know that my facebook friends are sick of hearing about my running, I know I can head over to RLAM and share my excitement. There are so many supportive women over there. So, even though I don't know her well, I'll be screaming from the sidelines as she races towards her goal.

Good luck SBS!!! You are going to rock it!!

It's funny, I'm not running this race yet I have a bit of an anxious stomach as I think of all my friends who are. I know that I will shed tears. I know that I will cheer my heart out. Such inspiring women. Such blessings. Thankful to be able to be down there on 10-10-10!!

Less

Less time than it takes to get from one corner of Target to the other to take 4 kids to the bathroom and get back again.

Less time than it takes to get out of church and into the car.

Less time than it takes to check Facebook and my email "really fast".

Less time than it takes to go to the bathroom. I mean really go.

Less time than it takes for those "5 more minutes" before I'm ready to go.

Less time than it takes to load 5 kids in the car.

Less time than a trip out to the chickens.

Less time than it takes to walk to the mailbox.

Less.

To say that I had some arguments going on in my head this morning is an understatement.

There were battles.

Full out wars.

Arguments doesn't even cover it.

When the alarm went off at 5:10, I seriously thought about rolling over and going back to sleep.

When I walked to the kitchen to make coffee, I seriously thought about crawling back in bed and going back to sleep.

When I walked back to my bedroom to get dressed, you get the picture...

I sat at the computer drinking my coffee, eating my Zone bar, and looking for inspiration. Thankfully, Tonia, at Racing With Babes, had a little funny on her blog. And, with a little giggle, and knowing she kicks some serious tail, I was inspired. Kind of.

Mile repeats.

I really do love them.

But, I didn't want to.

One whole half mile into my warm-up I was still talking myself into it. Yep. Hard stinkin' core.

3. 2. 1. GO!

Finished up my first mile.

Ready to puke.

Tired.

Are we there yet?

Half mile recovery. Laughing to myself about the word recovery. Picturing nurses there to carry me on a gurney while I recover.

3. 2. 1. GO!

Pushing. Hard.

Breathing. Harder.

3 more laps.

2 more laps.

Almost there.

Done!

Recovery. Telling myself I can do one more. Just one more. Then, we'll talk.

3rd verse. Same as the first. And second.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

One more.

One more.

Mental toughness. Right?

Telling myself it will take less time than all the above statements. Seriously. They all went through my head. Telling myself I can do it. Telling myself it's okay if I puke. Telling myself it's okay if I hurt. It's not supposed to feel good. Truly.

Wondering why in the world I am putting myself through this torture. Yes. Torture is what it felt like. Reminding myself that I WANT to be doing this. Really.

3. 2. 1.

GO!!!

3 more laps.

2 more laps.

Come on, Meredith!!! 1 more lap!!!

Thankful that there was no one else there for that last lap. Almost yelling at myself out loud, "come on!!" "GO!!" "You CAN do it!"

Deep breath. Ready to puke. Done.

Finishing with a mile cool down.

7.5 total miles.

I pushed. Then pushed harder. And it wasn't until I got home and Cory asked me my times that I even dared to look...

1st Mile Repeat - 6:48
2nd Mile Repeat - 7:07
3rd Mile Repeat - 7:13
4th Mile Repeat - 7:06

That is what I call puketastic! In the most positive sense of the word. It was worth the feelings of wanting to puke. It was worth getting out of bed. It was worth yelling at myself out loud, thus looking like a complete lunatic. It was worth it all!

Cory's jaw dropped when I said 6:48. I could hardly believe it myself. But, the best part? When my oldest asked me how my run went this morning, I replied great and asked if he wanted to know how fast I ran my mile. He said no. He said no, because I keep getting faster. I don't think he likes that his mom runs faster than him. When I told him 6:48 I have to say he was a bit impressed. That definitely made it worth it!

Then

Taking a little detour from running talk today.

Instead, taking a little journey.

Almost 17 years ago.

To a night when my heart fluttered and I wondered if the boy I sat next to in the car would stop me before I got out of the car. Wondering if we would talk about the fact that we were holding hands. Deciding that unless we talked about it THAT night, I could no longer hold my best friend's hand. We were best friends, after all. Right? My heart that fluttered. My stomach that turned. I was beyond confused.

I reached for the door and he said, "wait."

We talked. He asked me to be his girlfriend. We kissed. I was 16.

Then.

Have you heard the song by Brad Paisley?

"And now your my whole life.
Now your my whole world.
I just can't believe the way I feel about you girl.
Like a river meets the sea,
Stronger than it's ever been.
We've come so far from that day,
and I thought I loved you then"

This song reminds me of our journey. 4 1/2 years dating. 12 years of marriage. 4 babies together. 1 adopted nephew. Sickness. Health. Death. Miracles. Love. Life.

My heart swells, really, if I think about it. I truly love him more every day. (Well, almost! Of course there are bad days. We are not perfect.) I am so thankful for him. For his love. For his support.

As I came walking up the driveway on Saturday after my 13.1 he was working in the yard and asked me how it went. I showed him my watch and he said, "good job!" He was excited for me. In his words, he knew I could do it. Everyone knew I could do it. I just needed to know I could do it.

And although he's not a runner. And although training schedules make no sense to him and if I say, "I'm only running 3 times next week. 3, 5 and 3." it makes no sense to him because that's still 11 miles before the half. He still tries to support me. He is gracious... he is letting me run my very first marathon on his day - Father's Day. He knows that running is important to me. And for that, I am so thankful.

I can only imagine where our love will be in another 17 years. When I'm sure I'll look back and say, "and I thought I loved you then!"

Can You See Me Now?

To say I was excited about this morning might be a slight understatement. You see, I got a new little baby last Friday. Can you see it??

Cory took the day off last Friday and we spent most of the day celebrating our sweet Brenton. We decided that for a birthday surprise we would let him choose his own present at Toys R Us. And, lucky for me, Toys R Us is not far from my fave little running store that I not only had a 15% off coupon for, but also a store credit to spend.

Fit Right NW is like a candy store to me. So many textures, colors, styles.... makes me pee a little in all my excitement! Okay, not really. But, you get the point.

I browsed the clearance rack. Found some cute Saucony shorts to try and a great short sleeve New Balance top. Browsed through Nike. Brooks. Adidas. Oiselle. Tried on the most amazing running tights ever! CW-X. Oh my word. At $98 bucks, I felt like one of the women on Say Yes To The Dress (Yes, I watch it. Yes, I've been married for 12 years. No, I'm not getting married anytime soon. But, one of my dream jobs is to work in a bridal salon. I love weddings!) Anyway, on that show they often advise against trying something on that is WAY out of the budget. Yeah. $98 is WAY out of my budget. But, I just had to. And they were yummy! Then, I had to pull myself away.

I had pulled a few jackets to try as well and Cory found one too. Since I am running in the dark more and more thanks to fall darkness, safety and visibility were my #1 concern. Keeping me relatively dry and warm were important too. Enter this little beauty...

I took her for a spin this morning while running in the pitch black. She kept me nice and toasty with just a tech T underneath. And, I felt nice and visible as I bounded along. Not to mention, I actually love the bright color and there's even cute fabric on the inside of the zipper and a cute reflective curly q on the sleeve. Add to it a wonderful pocket for my I-pod and I'm in love! With my coupon and store credit I ended up spending $15 on this baby. Thanks Brooks for making such a great jacket!

Yesterday was the first day that really felt like fall. Cool morning temps. Crisp air. I couldn't wait to get out and run in it this morning. Mandi ended up cancelling just as I was lacing up my shoes so, I headed out in the darkness alone. Complete darkness. No lights on the side of my country road. Just stars and moonlight. Once I got past the creepiness, it was pretty cool. I couldn't help but feel a little hardcore.

Funny too. It was so dark that the only way to see my watch was to click the button that turns it on for a quick second. I glanced at it when it hit a mile. Then, winding through a little neighborhood I glanced again. 1.75 miles. Finished off the 2nd mile in the safeness of the neighborhood then headed back out to the road to finish off mile 3. It felt so good just to let my body do it's thing.

3 easy miles.

9:46. 9:01. 8:49.

A nice deep breath to start the day. The beautiful sun shining in the crisp morning air. Can you tell I love fall?

Secrets Of The Taper and A Giveaway Reminder

In less than 2 weeks I will be running the race that started it all.

Last year, many of my friends ran the Girlfriend's 1/2 Marathon in Vancouver, Wa. After reading the race t's they had received I had tears in my eyes and inspiration in my heart. My friends are so important to me. I love them. I love that they are all different. That I can talk deep with them. That I can talk chickens with one. Running with others. Kids. Life. That they know me better than I know myself at times. My friends are such blessings!

So, after reading their shirts and hearing about their race, I decided. I would run that race. I would challenge myself. I would. Who knew that in wanting to run one race, I would find something that I love that has blessed me in so many ways?

One of my dearest friends is coming up from Phoenix to run the race and I cannot wait for her to get here. While we won't be running together, it means so much to me that she is here. My angel is also coming up from Eugene. I get excited about this too because God is just so cool like that!

As the days get checked off the calender. As the runs start to slim down. I get stuck with the question that I just don't have the answer to.

HOW DO YOU TAPER FOR A HALF??

Every schedule I have seen has you running at least 10 miles the weekend before. Mine says 11. But, for some reason, 11 sounds like so much to do the week before. So, I had settled on ten. Then, last night, I seriously got the evil eye from my good friend Wendy who is running Portland on 10-10. She says I should go no more than 8. Her words, "remember what happened at Cinco?" I ran 10 the weekend before and wondered if my body was still tired for my half.

Is this a question that only my body can answer? What do you do? This is only my 3rd half and I'm obviously still learning... Would love to hear how you taper for your half.

And don't forget to enter my giveaway. As Run Faster Mommy just reminded me, Christmas is just around the corner. While $45 at CSN for yourself would be marvelous, you could also use it to get some Christmas presents. Aprons for the kiddos. A vanity for your princess. Binoculars for your explorer. Some slippers for your sweetheart. Or, perhaps, you need to throw a Pilates Toning Set under the tree for yourself. There are so many options!

Laundry beckons and those fall decorations are begging to be released! Happy shopping and don't forget to tell me your taper secrets!

4 Years

4 years ago I looked like this...

Headed to have my last baby.

Number 4.

Being induced. Anxious. Excited.

I would never have been able to tell you that 4 years after my baby was born, I'd be a runner. That 1 day shy of my baby's 4th birthday I would run 13.1 miles and love it.

I love my babes with all my heart, but I sure am glad that running entered my life! It has made me a better mom and wife. It's given me a place to clear my head. To have some quiet. To achieve success. To savor life.

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby boy! Thank you for bringing so much joy to our lives! Thank you for saying that you'll always be my baby! However, just because you are 4 now, please remember it's still not okay for you to say, "Oh, cwap!" like your Mama! Love you sweet boy!

Can You See That??

2 warm up miles.

Rode the downhills until mile 5.

Flat from 5-8.

Then uphill until mile 12.

Gave it what I could at the end.

Take that suck monkey!!

Girlfriend's 1/2 Marathon, here I come!!