B.S.C.

i'd be remiss if i didn't (and i finally got to throw in a nasty swear word for good measure)

mention this part of the day which also happens to be eric's favorite.

when we reached the bothell exit i was hanging on for dear life.  having already puked in the plastic bag my stuff was stored in at the gear check.

we get into the neighborhood and the f-ing garage salers (i know i've mentioned how much i hate garage sales) this compounded that hatred.

we get near our driveway and eric starts hitting the opener and the damn garage door wouldn't open. 

now, it closes the door just fine but i have to hit it several times before it opens.  eric has told me for literally months and months to get a new battery. yeah, that's ALWAYS the first thing on my mind.

at this point i am freaking out and he had the you know what's to start in on me about the battery.  i was like "NOT THE TIME TO BE TALKING ABOUT THIS" and at that point i open the door before he pulled in stumbled out of the car, water bottle rolling down the hill, stepping out of my rain coat and flinging the puke bag in the drive way as i am running into the toilet. 

i'm not really sure if eric's favorite part was how i got out of the car or when he had to pick up my puke bag.  

i'm just glad we (read: HE) can laugh about it.

train wreck- this post is not for the weak hearted: contains stories of bodily functions and maybe some swearing

yesterday i was a gong show, today i am a train wreck.

i ran my second half marathon today.  the cinco de mayo half in snoqualmie.  our friends from cresent bar mentioned this winter that they were doing it and that i should think about it.

so i thought about it and signed up.  

when i ran my first half, the rock and roll last june, i finished almost 3 minutes past two hours so naturally my goal was to finish sub 2 hours. if it was 1:59:59, i would have been perfectly happy with that, or so i thought. ( i also had a horrible afternoon recovering from the run).

i've struggled the last two weeks. wrestled with my mind, thinking about how all i wanted to do was finish under two but in the very dark recesses of my brain i wanted to finish 1 or 3 minutes under.  

i was so nervous all week and extra nervous this morning.  i knew i could do the distance, i just didn't know if i could get a good time-i don't push myself much when i am running. 

well, i did it. the course was beautiful and there was barely any incline.  i highly recommend it if you'd like to feel very successful at an 8 k or half marathon.  

i ran a fast (for me) first mile and continued to do so for the next 4 miles.  i was kind of shocked when i looked down at my watch.  my biggest struggle was determining if i could maintain that pace the rest of the run.  

by the time i hit 7 and 8 miles, i was getting kind of excited that i was going to beat my goal.

between mile 10 and 12, i had the great opportunity to run with a co-worker of eric's, peter.  i told peter not to feel like he had to stay with me but we kept pace together for at least two miles.  once i hit mile 12, i was tired but feeling like i was going to make it so i tried to pick up the pace.  

i ran through town and was absolutely ELATED when i could see the high school not far off and then the ultimate thrill was looking up and seeing my sweet family right there on the curb cheering me on and waving.  ULTIMATE THRILL.  i wanted to cry but there were no tears. the only fluid left in me was in my bladder.

i peed my pants a little.  yes, yes i did. 

that was approximately the moment.  fortunately it didn't really matter. see how soggy wet it is? 

and you have no right to judge until you've been there. i really should have gone just one more time before but the lines were super long. 

you run the last 300 meters or so on the track. it was a lonely run. i wish i could have really speed up for that 300 meters like i had practiced in my speed work, but it wasn't happening for me. 

and i finished. 



that was clock time not my chip time.  turns out my official time was 1:52:05. i ran 8 minutes 33 1/2 second miles. and of course i am a little pissed at myself that i didn't kick it into high gear and shave that 5 seconds! but, i will never see that time again. you'll see why shortly...

photo with peter, one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.  yes, we've established the fact that i have BIG ears and visors do nothing for them.

and one with kim.  we road to the race together and had a great morning. she is an awesome runner.  and fast too!

we headed to the gym to change into dry clothes and 15 minutes later the stomach cramps hit.  eric's going to be so grossed out with me for talking about this.  but i really don't care.  it's alternately funny and disgusting and maybe a little bit sad.

before the race i, you know, pooped twice.  i was feeling as high as a kite.  monumental feet for the distance runner, right?  apparently, all my water drinking, miralax consuming, fiber eating missions over the course of the last few months haven't been working as well as i had assumed. 

i puked on the way home. and dry heaved. the girls were in the back seat.  i think they were terrified.

and once i got home, it was a 5 hour puke and bowel movement fest.  it was really NOT good. 

the moral of the story is that i think i'm going to go see a naturopath about my little issue.  maybe gracie and i can get a 2 for 1 discount?

fortunately eric has been mr mom today and my caretaker.  i told him we could make mother's day today.  i'm sure he's thinking "is this going to be what it's like every time she runs a half? cause it's not what i signed up for!"

i sincerely hope not or my half marathon running career is going to be really, really, really short.

on that note:

Happy Mother's Day!!

 

we made it

through a ski season.  

here's to hoping that next year goes a bit more smoothly.  

after her comedy show, annie lit in to how she didn't want to ski.  to be fair, she really hasn't felt good for a few weeks now (i'm feeling another trip to the doc is in order).

we got to the mountain and she absolutely refused to ski.  lori, her instructor was so disappointed. annie went to daycare and we went to the rental shop. 

i had told annie that i'd check on her twice to see if she'd changed her mind. so i checked on her right before we headed up the lift for the first time.  

nope.  but as i was taking gracie to her lesson, lori was heading to daycare to see if she could coerce annie into a lesson.  i gave her carte blanche to do whatever it took to get her on that rope tow.  

eric and i took off with joe and gracie.  after two runs we headed to the bottom of the mountain to check on annie and lo and behold lori had convinced her to ski!!!!  i waved my arms and lori saw us and waved back.  eric and i were elated. 

eric and i were able to take the most runs that we've ever been able to take together and had a great time.  he did great. 

when we finally caught up with gracie and joe at the end of the lesson we learned that she had done very well too!  she was proud that she hadn't fallen once. 

so we went to the lodge to celebrate with hot cocoa and french fries.

it was well received.

good bye mountain, we'll see you next year. ok getting a little teary.  it was hard to say goodbye to joe,  lori, dave and company.

now we're home and eating the dinner of champions.  wine and cheese and crackers.  so good.

nighty-night.

 

skiing

i finally took my camera out so i could get some snapshots of the girls during their very first ski season. man it was a lot to manage and my camera wasn't in a bag so i skied down the hill with it around my neck praying i wouldn't bite it.  

i'm glad i had it because it was gracie's first time up to the very top of mission ridge (mine too!)

where we've spent some time this year:

and mimi, the lift we've spent ALOT of time on. i'm sure we'll be spending even more time on it until annie gets comfortable.

coming off the lift. how cute is her helmet? her gloves are all taped up so she could grab the rope tow well.

checking out the view from the top

which way do we go?

crazy joe telling us about the bomber wing

annie and her awesome instructor

she made it so much fun

thank you mission ridge sports center

annie will eat snow anywhere 

after skiing we went to our favorite place to eat in wenatchee

and we got our FIRST TIME EVER seat by the window.  yay for natural light.

we had a yummy dinner and ordered dessert for the first time.  can i get a three cheers for a big chocolate chip cookie baked in a 5 or 6 in cake pan topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.  annie ordered it, but she shared it with mommy and daddy.  

i think i need to get me some small cake pans 'cause we'll definitely be revisiting that dessert.

 

 

apple cup

go huskies!

it was super fun today, but man it was cold! i stayed sober so right there i was ahead of the game.

my dad came down with a couple of our friends from lake mayfield

 

that's rey- i think he was making negative comments about how i like to shop

this is my husband's tv set up. ironic how i took a picture of the screen right when it said "beavers all access."  eric will like that.

  the gang

 

i had to sit by these two yahoo's during the game.  let's just say that they were both in rare form.  this was right before i took a shot of maker's mark...barf!  i only did it because cass really wanted me to. yes, i caved to peer pressure. it was the only drink i had all day. janette poured me one of her concoctions but i just couldn't do it. 

i love these two guys!

 

oh, there they go. i like how we convinced michael to have a shot. but he didn't have a cup.  "oh i'll just drink from the bottle," he says.  i wonder if he knew a photo of it would end up on my blog.

and here's the after effect.  it's something akin to bitter beer face, except this is "bitter maker's mark face, i think my insides are on fire, i might breathe fire face."  i love the look on eric's face.  it's even too much for him.

 

the three amigos. i missed their wives, one was sick and the other was home with a sick little baby.
 
 

and with the exception of emily, the motley crew
 

sweet!

 

victory!