Halloween

 We really celebrated Halloween at our ward trunk or treat this year.  We all dressed up and had fun playing games outside with the kids.  Stephen even had the night off from work, so he dressed up, too!  I made a corn hole game and handed out full size candy bars to the kids who could get the bean bag in the hole.  I thought it was a great challenge.  We gave tiny candy bars to the kids for trying.  Every year I try to come up with a fun way to challenge the kids and give them a huge reward.  Edward and Nolen are sort of starting to get a little too "grown up" for Halloween.  I hope I can keep them dressing up with me for seven more years.

I am becoming more and more nostalgic as time moves forward and seeing my children as teenagers is harder than I thought.  They grow up so fast.  I want to just capture every second of their lives and write all about it; however, they do not like photos at all.  Too bad for them.  I LOVE photography.  

State XC Meet

 Nolen ran really well at his state meet on Saturday.  He has been training with The Athletes Playground for a few sessions and he is already seeing some improvements in his running form.  He has a goal of running under a 7 minute mile this season and I know he can do it!  He ran a 14:19 for a 3K and that is a 7:41 pace.  His team came in first!  They rocked it!

A Concert and a Meet

 Nolen auditioned to play cello with the Albuquerque Youth Symphony.  He got in but they rehearsals are Saturdays from 9-12.  That is right in the middle of all the meets we run at during the fall and spring.  So we had to find another alternative.  I emailed LBJ middle school and got Nolen into the top orchestra at the school.  They meet every day from 8-9.  It is a bit of a commitment for a home schooler but so much better than a Saturday.  Nolen had his first concert on Friday.  It was awesome.  

 

Then Saturday, Nolen had another meet at Los Poblanos open space.  He ran great.  It was perfect weather to be running outside.  We are very close to finishing up the season.  We just have state, regionals, and nationals.

 

A Marathon and a birthday

 

 The marathon weekend has come and gone!  What an incredibly hard day.  I woke up early and got ready for the race with eating a piece of toast and taking a bunch of vitamins. Pam parked at my house so we could ride together, and then we drove over to pick up Craig.  It was cold, windy, and rainy.  Not ideal weather for me, but what could I do?  I tried to stay positive.  

 

We all drove over to park in the parking garage but found the line to get in was at least 20 minutes long.  So we left the line and drove over to Wells Fargo to park.  This ended up being a better spot.  It was close to the race start and it was outside so we could fit the bikes on the rack with out moving the car.  We headed straight to the bathroom then to the start line.  That was it.  All our time was up.  All our training.  All the early mornings. All the long runs.  The last four months came down to this moment.  It was intense at the start line.  I found the 4 hour pacer and joked with him.  I told him I didn't want him to pass me.  I would cry.  That was true.  My plan was to stay with him for the first three miles, then to speed up and run 8:40's the entire marathon.  

 

I mostly followed that plan.  I kept up my pace until mile 20 when I couldn't eat anything and I wanted the race to be over.  I tried desperately to get some pickle juice down, but no luck.  I just kept running until mile 23 where I slowed down to an 9:23 pace.  I kept telling myself to just keep running, and so I did.  I ran and ran.  I finally saw the finish line and was so relieved it was over.  I finished in 3 hours and 56 minutes.  Just under a 4 hour marathon.  That was my goal.  I am so glad!  It was a lot of work.  Stephen followed me on his bike for the last 6 miles.  I am so grateful he was there.  My boys and parents came to the finish line about 10 minutes after I finished.  We all waited to cheer on Pam who finished in 4:15 then Craig finished in 5:55.  It was incredible to watch.  All of our hard work paid off and we all crossed the finish line feeling confident.  

After the marathon we celebrated my moms 70th birthday with cake and pizza! 

Ins and outs of October

 

 Fall is officially here.  We are running almost daily now.  All I am thinking about it getting through the marathon on Sunday.  I am so glad the big miles are behind me now.  Pam and I ran 20 miles and I biked 37 with Mary during Balloon fiesta.  I will be so glad when my life slows down just a bit so I can catch up on all the things that are important to me, like blogging.  HA!