Training update and new addition to Bible study family

I think I forgot to ever post my training update for last week. Let me keep this the shortest post ever b/c I know I wrote about my long run already. So last week...

Monday: 5 miles on Tmill

Tuesday: REST

Wednesday: 10 miles in the dark. Was supposed to run with Ruth but her alarm did not go off and so while I was standing on her driveway at 5am looking like a peeping tom, I ended up going alone. My garmin died on this run so actually think I did closer to 11 miles.

Thursday: 20 miles at the Y. See last post for details.

Friday: Bike at the gym for one hour

Saturday: 5 miles on the Tmill. I hate running when I am on call. I had to stop at least twice I think.

Sunday: 10 miles (10 laps around my one mile loop) with no garmin, no music. Just me and my on call phone. Luckily it did go off until the second I walked back in my house.

Total: 50 miles of running. 1 hour on the bike.  Diet sucks. I am hardly logging my calories anymore. Need to get back at it. Today I am 6.2 pounds away from where I want to be.

I had a ton of fun on Sunday following several people (via my home computer) do the Louisville ironman. So inspiring. Made me want to get back in the pool and buy a road bike sooner rather than later. Still as much as I would love to attempt that someday I realistically doubt it will ever happen (although it would be a great goal and an awesome way to celebrate turning 40 in 4 years). I think in the meantime I have a much more likely chance of attempting an ultramarathon in the next few years.

Okay that is all for now. I just finished a 6 mile run. Remind me never again to run around the neighborhood on trash day. The smell made me want to vomit the entire run. Now I just need to go shower, start some laundry and go visit Stephanie and Lucy at the hospital.

 

Lucy was born 8/28 weighing in at 6lb 12oz. Mom and baby are doing great. This makes baby #4 for Steph and girl #3! Congrats to the Curts family! I can't wait to meet her. I hear that Matt Bates and I might be fighting on Friday nights at Bible study on who gets to hold her the entire time. Matt...I might be small but I am stronger than I look:)

 

 

ADDENDUM: Back from hanging out with the cutest princess!

She was so sweet and never made a peep during the 1.5 hours I got to love on her!

 



First 20 mile long run done

My title is a little deceiving. I have a done a 20 mile long run before (once) but not during this recent training session.  This go round I have will have at least 3 but probably 4 twenty mile long runs. Actually I need to make one of those 22 probably. Since I haven't posted a picture in forever I took one today. Here it is....

Since Jaime is doing a half in her home town this weekend, she did not do a long run today. Without her, I did not feel like driving 45 minutes north to run by myself on the Monon. I also did not have any desire to do twenty laps around my one mile loop. So I decided I would do laps around the Y instead. This makes only my second time running outside the Y, so at least it was fairly new. I texted my friend (who happens to be a Hendrick's PT at the Y), Christine, this morning to let her know if someone was laying on the trail it was probably me and she should call 911. I went directly from the bus stop to the Y b/c I knew it was going to get warm, and I wanted to start as soon as possible. I took  a cooler with all the ice we had in the house and put some water and Gatorade in it and parked right next to the trail so I could grab a drink or gel instead of wearing a fueling belt.

Since my garmin has decided to die (b/c Clark and I must have screwed it up when we tried to clear everything so it would stop just saying full) I borrowed Clark's garmin. I used to use this one and man did it feel huge on my wrist. It annoyed me at first, but I got used to it. I had already figured out that I was going to have to do 13 laps to make my 20 miles. So I started running. I wasn't really sure if the garmin was going to beep at me each mile and give me my pace for that mile. Well, it did beep, but it doesn't give the pace. Again, annoyed at first but then happy b/c I didn't care what my pace was but did really want to know my distance. It was actually kind of nice b/c I only looked at the time once at 13.1 miles otherwise I just listened for the beep and knew how far I had gone (or actually I don't think about that I only think about what I have left and mentally pretend that is all I am doing).  My right leg was hurting from the get go. I has been letting me know a little more recently that I am neglecting it. Still I knew that my 2 Aleve were going to kick in soon and if all goes as it has lately, the pain would get better by mile 5. It did. The trail at the Y is very very flat (as in NO hills at all), but it is curvy with lots and twists and turns. My legs didn't exactly love that but after the first 4 laps I turned and went the other direction. I changed every couple of laps after that.  At 13.1 miles the time was 1:47:20. I saw that and thought oops maybe I started a little fast, and I was really hoping that would not prevent me from finishing. Still at that point I only had 7 miles and I just kept telling myself I have done 7 miles a million times. I mean really...I am running the same loop over and over so I play a lot of mind games with myself. I counted laps and was hoping that since it was less than total miles my brain would just think of it as that many miles. I mentally broke up the run in just about every way I could. I have been getting A LOT of calf cramps in the middle of the night. I feel like I am preggo all over again (which I am NOT and will NEVER be). I almost started to think this was going to happen to me during the run. It would feel like one was coming but never did. I stayed on top of fueling and took gels a total of 3 times. I never got to the point where I thought I had to have something, so I think I did it right. I would carry my drink for a little bit then toss it in the grass only to pick it up again on another lap. I passed a lot of the same people who were also running or walking on the trail. Some lady told me I had "too much energy" as I ran past. I should have mentioned this up above but I bought a new iPod shuffle finally (since Clark lost mine after my Cleveland marathon when I asked him to hold it) so I listened to music the entire way.  I was starting to get really tired by the end of the run. I never hit a wall today but was sure that if I had to go any farther either that darn wall or those muscle cramps would have attacked.

When I stopped running I was a little dizzy and out of it. Nothing horrible but just not mentally thinking all that great. I went into the Y and bought a large drink from Subway. I didn't give the lady the right amount of money but was too slow to figure it out so she took 7 cents from the penny cup and paid the rest. Finally, I figured it out and put 7 cents back in the cup and apologized for being a little out of it. She must have known I was running the trail b/c she asked how many laps I did. She was quite shocked when I said I ran 20 miles. I am glad she asked and I am glad I told her b/c when I got in my car and looked in a mirror my entire forehead and half my face was covered in salt (white salt plastered all over me). I am sure I looked like freak to anyone who saw me. That might explain another woman's comment of, "are you alright?"

I was happy to be done and did very little for the rest of the day except lay out by the pool until the kids came home. Kept trying to actually fall asleep, but it never happened. My legs feel like I ran 20 miles. They are appropriately tired but not bad. My shoulder hurts like hell!!! I will add to this and post my mile splits if Clark ever comes home and shows me how to get it off his garmin.

I do love long run days! Happy training!!

Training Update

I think I might go back to making a separate weekly training update just b/c I have nothing much else to talk about right now. I just can't tell you exactly what week in training I am in since I have not 100% confirmed what race I am doing. I had my mind all made up after my last blog post, but then I got an email on Friday saying they cancelled the meet for Alexis in October b/c too many people were going to be gone on Fall Break. That was one of my big reasons for not doing it. Still probably not doing it, but it is back on my mind. I would still do the Monumental full two weeks later I think. Actually I still need to make the phone call to upgrade from the half to the full. I sent an email about it but b/c I have to pay more it is going to require a phone call, and if you know me at all you know that call is just going to take awhile. I will do it...eventually!!

Here is what this week has looked like. I really did not follow any schedule b/c I considered it one of my extra weeks. I just did whatever I wanted to do.
Monday: 5 miles on the T-mill

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 6 miles very early in the dark. This is becoming a favorite run of mine. It is just refreshing and cool outside. It is nice to have this done before getting the kids up. Just gets me ready for the day. After the kids were off to school Clark and I went to the gym b/c he did not have any surgeries in the morning.  So I did 30 minutes on the stationary bike. Clark then had to leave, and I did another 15 minutes on the elliptical.

Thursday: Since I could not meet early, Jaime ran with another friend. Sadly, I think our Thursday Monon long runs are over now that the kids are in school and I need to be around to get them on the bus. Anyhow, I went to the Y and did 10 miles on the T-mill. Then I did 30 minutes on the bike. Then I went outside and did 5 more miles on the trail around the YMCA. I had been saying I wanted to try this out forever, but I rarely do anything by myself the first time. This day I thought what the heck. I knew that there was no chance I could get lost since it was just a loop around the Y. I enjoyed it. It felt much like my mile loop in the neighborhood (which I am finally starting to get bored with). I am not sure how I will feel about doing 20 miles on that loop but next Thursday if I don't feel like driving 40 minutes to run the monon by myself, I will probably find out.

Friday: Went to the gym and did the bike for 1 hour. Also had my PT appointment with Shane. I think what I got out of that visit is that I have the worst posture ever, and we need to seriously work on that. I am seeing him for my shoulder pain and thumb going numb issue. I have known forever I have the worst posture. It is the number one thing I hate about my body. I used to joke that I needed shoulder implants b/c I slouch so much. My purses are always falling off my arm. No normal bra straps stay up (which is why I like work out clothes and sports bras). Off the shoulder shirts look ridiculous. Anyhow...it is horrible. I know that. I also have no flexibility in my left shoulder. Finally once again Shane got to tell me to relax a million times. He probably thinks I need a xanax before our appointments (for the record I have never taken a xanax). I just keep telling him I don't know how to relax. It is the truth. So I have 2 new stretching exercises to start with. Then I see him again next week. In the meantime I have to work on sitting/standing straight. During my bike rides he does not want me leaning over the entire time. I was able to sit up for half of it I would say.

Saturday: I met Cathy on the Monon and did 13 miles. She was doing great until about mile 9 and then hit a bit of a wall but also started to have a lot of knee pain along with some hip pain. She is still seeing her trusty PT whom she thinks is the greatest!!  We did make it the entire way and did exactly 13.1 on my Garmin at 2:00:02. Her goal for the Women's half is to do it under 2 hours. I am running it with her, so I really hope I can push her to do it. I love running with people who get a certain PR they are hoping for. I am also trying to convince Christine from PT to run this with us. I think she could do the same goal.

Sunday: Today I will do 5 miles.
Total for week: Running: 44 miles. Bike 2 hours. Elliptical: 15 minutes
Next week is a hard week with the first of several 20 mile runs if all goes according to schedule. I am also on call for the weekend so never know if I will get everything in.

As for my diet update...this week has sucked. I really don't understand or like the scale. I am logging all my calories, so it really should not be that hard. I am burning off more than I am taking in so why the hell it is going up I don't know. I am only 8 pounds off my goal. Was only 6 pounds off my goal but whatever! I do see why people get frustrated and give up. I used to think there is no way they are not just eating more and not admitting it, but after the last few days I realize that sometimes it just happens. I am not secretly binge eating and not counting those calories. I know what I am taking in. If anything I overestimate if I don't know the exact calories of something. Okay..moving on and hoping for a better week next week. It is just a fine line b/c you have to have enough calories to make it through the work out but still not over eat so you lose. This is why they say it is not the best idea to diet when training.

Finally my Bible reading update: I am still reading a lot. I have made it a priority to get through the entire Bible. At the start, my friend Matt was just telling me which book of the Bible to read next. Now I feel so bad bothering him every few days that I just figure something out. Last night I finished 1 Samuel  and 2 Samuel . It is a darn good thing I am not reading any of this out loud b/c I can't pronounce the names.  Since our church is about to do a study of 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy  I also read that one night last week. I am sort of all over the place. I just want to get through it once and then start over (hopefully with study guides or something) to really dig a lot deeper. I am kind of doing what I did during all my years in school. Read it fast once and then much slower and more in depth with all kinds of highlighting and underlining, etc after that. At least with the Bible it is a lifelong study:)

I do have a new favorite Bible verse that I think is perfect for me. 1 Timothy 4:8 which says, "Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come." LOVE IT. Just a great reminder of what is really important!!

Speaking of God...time for church...gotta go!
 

Change Of Plans

So in the last week I have had a change of plans with my running. I was originally planning on doing the Columbus marathon as my next marathon, but for some reason (mostly b/c I wanted to make sure I was not injured) I never actually signed up for the race. I knew it would likely not sell out and so I could wait until closer to time.  Now I am not going to do that race. No...I do not have any injury taking me out of running right now. Instead of Columbus, I am just going to do the Monumental marathon instead. Yes I was already signed up to do the monumental half and had totally committed to running it with Kimberlee but she gave me the blessing to just go ahead and do the full. I had 2 main reasons for this change. First, Clark and I officially booked a St. Lucia Sandals vacation for his 50th B.D. week. It is expensive. We are staying in one of the Ultra Grande Rondoval suites with private plunge pool,  whirlpool and butler service. You only turn 50 once and since we are doing this instead of a party, we sort of went more on the expensive side. All that means for me now is that I go into a super saving mode. So Monumental is cheaper b/c there is no hotel or travel involved. Plus now only doing one race instead of two. The second reason I am not doing Columbus is b/c I will be missing one of Alexis' meets (gymnastics) b/c of our vacation. There are only 8 meets in all and I am bound to miss some based on next year's call schedule as well. The Columbus marathon also fell on a weekend where she had a meet. Now I will be able to go to that one. So there you have it. I am doing Monumental and not Columbus. Decision made. Now I just have to make the phone call to upgrade my 1/2 marathon to a full.

I also now have 3 extra weeks of training to play with so I am trying to figure out how to manipulate the training schedule to factor that in. I think my plan is just to alternate hard week (50 miles for week with 20 mile long run) with taper weeks. So that makes this week a taper week. For the taper long run I will do anywhere from 12-15 miles depending on how I feel I guess. This will put me off schedule with Jaime's long runs which kind of sucks, but I think it will work for me. It also puts me on a taper week the week I run Women's 1/2 with Cathy so that works out better.

Alright, I need to get things ready for the evening madness of getting kids to sports with dinner and homework on the run!

Hope everyone is having a happy day!!

In Full Swing

I know it has been a long time since my last post. This will just be a quick update post to catch up on our busy life.  If I had found the time to write a post yesterday I think it would have had an entirely different theme to it, but after going to Bible study and having someone mention Philippians 2:14, 'Do everything without grumbling or arguing', this will be toned down a bit. That is probably a verse I should commit to memory and then meditate on every morning before the day starts. Of course when Clark heard this mentioned at Bible study he just looked at me and said, "impossible for you." That is okay and probably fair. I whine and complain a lot! Hence the need to think about this verse at the start (and probably ever hour thereafter) of each day.

So school is in full swing and we just completed our first full week. So far, so good. I think everyone is having fun. I can never tell about Ryan b/c he certainly won't admit he might like school. With him, I will settle for not having any strikes and no tears getting on the bus. I will say that I am still figuring out how all this is going to work. I am ashamed to admit, but I did more screaming at kids in this last week than I have in a long time. The hour of getting them all ready in the morning is not going well. I end up so frustrated b/c I repeat myself and every step seems like a huge struggle. By the end, I am screaming at them all. I must say get up, what do you want for breakfast, get your shoes, brush your teeth, etc etc 100 times each. The kids seem to fight (often literally with constant wrestling) and argue about everything down to who leads on the way to the bus stop. So what we are doing or how we are doing things is not working. I need to come up with something new. I think I will have to do some sort of chart for just the morning routine with rewards or something. I also think that if I start my day reading my Bible even if only for 15 minutes before I get the kids up, I will better be able to handle whatever is thrown my way. I did feel better when at the bus stop all the moms were talking about how much screaming goes on to get their little ones ready. I am clearly not alone. In fact one mom who has only one child to get ready has to start over 2 hours early b/c there is so much drama along the way. That made my mornings seem not so bad. We just need to find our groove and I need to establish some more control over both the kids and my own emotions. I can do this!!!

As soon as the kids step off the bus it all just starts over only now the fights are over what snack they get and who gets to do what once home and fits about not eating dinner, etc etc! Homework has started to trickle in and this coming week I think will be much more realistic on what to expect with that. I am still trying to figure out some system to keep everything straight. On Friday I spent almost an hour going thru the newsletters from 5 different teachers. I had to take notes just to keep straight who has to do what. Once the classes get into more of a routine this should get easier.  Aside from homework there is no doubt  that what makes our evenings INSANE, is the sports. Our kids are gone M-Th from nearly the minute they get home until almost 9pm. Homework gets done in the car or when wasting time up North waiting for someone to finish their sport. It really is insane. I have already told Alexis that we are going to have to start doing things on the weekends b/c otherwise there is no time to get it done during the week. Doesn't sound like Nick will have the school stuff on the weekends to do so he will just get less sleep. Let's not even talk about the weekends. The gymnastics meet schedule just came out. The hockey tournaments are slowing making their way to the schedule. It is nothing short of IMPOSSIBLE! We just keep adding things to the google calendar and I guess our plan is to figure it out as it comes. Nick being on travel hockey means there are sooooo many weekends away. Alexis however has sports on weekends too so she has to be here. Clark has already had to ask his partners to change call weekends to make some work. It is all causing me so much anxiety that I would rather just not talk about it anymore.

Let's talk about happier things like my training update. I did see Dr. B this week for my shoulder popping, pain and numb thumb while running. He wasn't sure but thought some type of thoracic outlet obstruction impinging a nerve causing my thumb to go numb. Nothing all that bad but probably need some physical therapy to stretch muscles and consider taping? I see Shane starting next Friday. My week in training has looked like this:
Monday: 4 miles
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 9 miles (7 miles then break to get kids off to school then 2 more miles). This was my first run in the dark. It went fine. I took a little light and was glad I made it home in one piece. I did see a shooting star and I loved watching the sun come up. It was also much better weather!
Thursday: 10 miles on Tmill at gym. It was storming this day so the long run with Jaime got moved.
Friday: Bike at gym for one hour
Saturday: 19 miles on Monon with Jaime. Weather was perfect. This was a really fun run. Our overall pace was only 8:53 per mile, so I really felt fine at the end.
Sunday: I hope to do an easy 5 miles

Clark had fun on his bike ride in Colorado last week. One of his friends was not feeling well and stopped 5 miles into it so it ended up just being Clark and Steve for the rest. I think parts of it were really cold but most of it was a "beautiful" ride. Not near as challenging as the ride he did last year but a great ride still. He thought the place they stayed in Colorado was really nice. If his friends would post some pictures I would be happy to add some here:)

As for Clark and I as a couple.....all the above has made life hard. He has been gone twice within a short time. His calls have been very busy even when home. Add in sports and kids stuff and well...we just don't see each other much. That is never really a good thing. You all know how important I think dating your spouse is!! I write this all the time but at the end of the day when the kids are grown and gone you have still like your spouse b/c that is what is left...haha! A marriage is constant work. It is important work and should be one of your highest priorities..... even more so than the kids. Kids need happy parents!! So much like my morning routine that needs some tweaking so does my marriage. Don't read anything into this that is not there. We just need to remember to focus on each other and not let this year of pure insanity drive a wedge between us. Heck if I do nothing more than just remember that Bible verse I mentioned above, my husband would be happy. He needs me to complain less and just get what needs to be done, done! As for me, I need him to take me on a date. In fact I have pretty much banned any sort of physical contact until that happens..haha! So here is how we are tweaking things. Clark turns 50 this November (now that last sentence I just wrote about physical contact won't bother my husband a bit, but the fact that I just mentioned his age is going to make him mad::)) I am not the party planning type of person. Nobody with a social phobia does this. So there will not be a 50th B.D. party for all to attend. Instead Clark and I are going to take a trip. A trip without the kids where for one week we just focus on us. I can't wait. Really....I CAN'T WAIT!!  We are in the process of booking the trip, but right now it looks like we will be going to St. Lucia on a Sandals trip. Since we are celebrating something big we will do this trip right and stay in one of the nicer rooms (looking at one with private pool, whirlpool, butler service, etc). On a smaller scale, hopefully we are going to go on a date TONIGHT. I am thinking a dinner or a movie. It is our last chance for awhile!

Okay I have done enough updating for one day! I hope everyone is out enjoying this amazing weather! Happy training/racing to all!

First Impressions of School

So we are two days into school and the first day excitement has worn off for some. Okay actually just one....Ryan. The first morning things went great. Kids got right up and were excited. When they got home they were all frustrated with me b/c I had 5 kids all wanting my attention and all talking at once. It was hard to follow what anyone was saying. Basically I could tell they all had a good day. Everyone likes their teachers. Nobody got lost. I don't think anyone cried (at least I wasn't told about about anyone crying). I definitely get the most info out of Alexis who would be willing to give me a second by second replay of the entire day if I wanted. Basically she is in Heaven. She loves school. She loves seeing her friends and being a little social butterfly.

Moving on to day number 2. The morning routine was much harder the second day. Ryan from the get go was whining that he was "NOT" going to school b/c he didn't want to go to library. It was a struggle just to get him out of his bed. Then I got to argue with him over whether or not he was going to eat breakfast. He insisted he was not. Considering he is in the only KG class that does not have a snack, I really could not allow him to go without eating something. Finally, I managed to get him to eat. Luckily the rest of the kids behaved so we managed to get all necessary stuff done and get to the bus stop with time to spare. During meet the teacher night I remember Adam's teacher telling us to expect the kids to be tired and cranky at first. That was an understatement for how my kids were once they got off the bus. Since Alexis was already late for gymnastics (b/c she is the only one on her team already in school so practice times are still on summer schedule) we had to jump in the car and leave from the bus stop. This started Landon's meltdown b/c I would not take him home for his Ipod. Then Ryan just whined and complained to no end for what felt like forever. Even Adam at one point burst into tears/tantrum b/c while riding in the car something fell off his lap. Ryan said school was boring and he didn't like it. Adam and Landon didn't give me much detail but sounds like overall things went fine. Alexis is still loving every minute and has been perfect from a behavior standpoint. In fact, she has given herself an earlier bedtime and has this list of rules for herself (like shower daily, read before bed, pick out clothes, etc etc). Nick who is old enough not to be all that excited for school is actually enjoying himself although he would never admit to that. I can just tell based on the stories he tells me. He really likes his teacher. I could have told you after the meet the teacher night that he would. I don't know his teacher really, but he did mention he is a runner, and that alone can make me like someone...hahaha!

In the kids words when just asked what they thought about school:
Nick: I like school I guess.
Alexis: AMAZING! I LOVE IT! I have the nicest teacher ever (when I told her she says that every year she said, "doesn't matter.")
Adam: I like going outside (aka recess). I like school work. I like snack time.
Landon: My favorite is playing in centers. My second favorite is outside. My third favorite is drawing pictures. Then all the rest I like a little.
Ryan: My first favorite is playground. My second is playing with computer. Third playing in centers. My last (aka least) favorite is gym and library.

While picking up Alexis at gymnastics we saw Adam's teacher at the InterActive Academy. Adam just thought this was the coolest thing ever. His teacher was also surprised to find someone from Brownsburg in Zionsville. I talked to her for a long time. She seems like the sweetest person ever. I am glad she is coming back at the start of the new year after she has her baby. After gymnastics we had to go directly to Bible study. At this point I was just tired of listening to whining kids. My Ryan caused the most trouble of all the kids at Bible study. He pushed Stephanie's son off the top bunk of his bed. Yep he got in trouble. By the end of the night as I was walking out people were just telling me they were praying for me. It is true that some days I need lots of prayer that I have the patience to deal with all my kids.  I hate when Clark is out of town, and there is no doubt I could never survive as a single mother. I was pleasantly surprised to find a box on my porch containing my new running shoes when we got home at 10pm.  It was just what I needed to end my night on a good note. They were not even supposed to be available until mid month so getting them early made me very happy.

Clark sounds like he is having a great time in Colorado. I haven't talked to him much b/c I am busy, but he keeps texting me telling me how pretty it is and how he wishes I was there.  I am thrilled he is having a great time but if he sends me another picture of a beautiful calm peaceful looking scenery I might scream! His bike race was/is today. I don't know when he was starting or even how far he was going. If I had to guess I would say 80 miles. I assume he will text once he is done. Speak of the devil. I just (like right now) got a text saying, "Near end of ride just before last big hill. Overall going well. I love you."  So there you have it. He is doing fine! He owes me some kid free time.............

As for my training...I am still running. This past week was a taper week so here is how it played out.
Sunday: 11.9 (hooked up with a group of friends. Ran 6 miles with Keith and Shane. Another 2 miles with Keith. Ran 2 miles by myself. Ran a couple more with Carrie and Aimee).
Monday: Sick sick sick. No running
Tuesday: Always a rest day
Wed: 9 miles on Tmill at gym
Thursday: 13 on T mill at gym. Jaime is out of town o/w I would have been on the monon. I didn't run outside b/c garmin was dead and although I thought I charged my new iPod shuffle it did not work. Was not running without music.
Friday: Bike one hour
Saturday (today): hoping to take the kids to Depot so I can run 9 miles (switching today and tomorrow's run b/c flying solo and no depot on Sunday). This is weather permitting b/c it may storm, but I really want to try out my new shoes.

Now I am going back to see Dr. B next week. This time not for my legs (although they are starting to get a little pissed about how much I am working them...but still allowing me to continue if I take 2 Aleve instead of 1:)  I am seeing Dr. B b/c for the last 2 weeks my left shoulder has been popping when I run. It pops loud with every forward and backward motion of my arm. It was annoying but not hurting at first but now it is bothering me more. Even more annoying is now my thumb is going totally numb when I run. It really bothered me during my 13 miles on Thursday. I kept trying to move my hand and arm to get the feeling back. It would come back during the very brief stop to reset the treadmill when I could have my arm straight but then it would go numb again. So I asked my PT and he thought I should have Dr. B take a look. Both my PT (Shane) and Keith heard my popping when I was running with them last week. So we'll see what Dr. B has to say.

Okay this post is really all over the place. Hope you were able to follow along. I am not sure how much blogging I am going to be able to do now that life just got really busy again. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

First Day of School 2012

I already said this on facebook, but I will say it again..... I can't believe this day is finally here. I have thought about this day a million times since the triplets have been born. Today I sent all my kids off on the school bus. We made it.  All our kids have entered the school system. It seems unreal that the triplets could really be old enough to be in KG. It feels like yesterday I was bringing them home from the hospital.  For years I have said I would be the one standing in the street jumping up and down with joy once that yellow bus pulled away. Having said that so many times I was quite shocked when I stood in the shower with tears streaming down my face. I was an emotional wreck for some reason. I think it was tears of joy and tears of excitement and nerves for them and our entire family as we begin a phase of life that is going to be busier than ever. The tears stopped before I even got the kids up. Since Clark left at 5am for Colorado, I was flying solo for getting them all ready. Once I woke the kids up there was no time for a lot of thinking. It was a very busy hour. They were all very full of energy. We have spent the last 2 nights meeting teachers and getting everything ready. I was sort of shocked to find out that 3 of 5 teachers (Adam's, Landon's and Alexis') are all about to have babies in a few weeks. Landon's teacher is not coming back. They don't yet know who is going to replace Alexis's teacher. Lots of unknowns. I was already stressed about keeping up with 5 teachers. Now it seems I will need to keep track of 8 teachers. Let's just say my  organizational skills are really going to need to improve...like now if I plan to keep all this straight. For example, everyone has different gym days. Need to make sure I have tennis shoes on the correct kid. Adam takes his own snack per day. Landon has to bring classroom snacks sometimes and Ryan...well his teacher does not allow snacks of any kind. I personally think that sucks b/c if some KG classes do it, they all should. If any of my kids need a snack, it is Ryan. I can hardly get him to eat breakfast. Oh well.....I will have to have a special snack after school for him so that he thinks it is fair. Okay although I have a lot more I could write about, I also took a ton of pictures today and so I will cut the chit chat short and get on with photos of the kids. They were so cute!!


Here is a picture of the fabulous 5!!

I always said once the trio started KG we would stop matching them. So no more matching. They may still coordinate but not match on school days! They are in different classes and it is time for them to be treated as individuals rather than just a trio!

Everyone picked their own backpacks!

Ryan

Landon

Adam

Nick

My beautiful Alexis. All kids had haircuts yesterday. Her cut was the most drastic. We went short for awhile.

I love this girl!

I love these boys! I am so proud of them!

The long walk to the bus!

First ones at the bus stop! Shocker::))

My firstborn. Growning up so fast!

Landon

So early they wanted to sit down for awhile!

Adam

Nick

Ryan

 Alexis with friends

Here comes the bus

It has now taken me so long to get these photos posted that it is almost time for the kids to come home. I can't wait to hear all about their day! Will try and write a post about their first day reactions tomorrow!