Three Things Thursday

1. The Sugarloaf Marathon and 15K is Sunday and I am in no way prepared. Oh well. But, like I've said before, it's an automatic PR and I'll be cheering on my fellow Rail Trail Chicks in the marathon who are currently reaching their breaking point with taper madness and stress. My poor girls. Hugs all around...it's almost over, ladies!

2. So apparently I've been nominated to do a triathlon in August. There is a teeny tiny problem...actually two problems. The last time I was swimming (as in not just floating) was in college in the 90s and don't recall ever swimming a length of the pool. Fish, I am not. While I have a bicycle, it is of the mountain bike variety and I haven't ridden in over a decade. I did own a 10-speed once when I was around 10. Not sure this tri thing is really going to happen...sorry Andy...you can keep trying though. Pun absolutely intended.

3. This week has been like vacation. For whatever reason I wasn't scheduled today and the weather was just gorgeous! The boys and I headed back to Popham for some time on the beach. I love that I live so close to a place so awesome. I'll leave you with some pictures from the day.

Yup, really sucks to live in such an ugly place, right?

Weekend Wrapup

What a wonderful weekend it has been. Actually, my weekend also consists of Monday so it is still going on.

Saturday I worked and had to open, but that just meant I was done by 2:30 PM. That night I had dinner with my running gals to celebrate Stacy's birthday. We always go to our favorite place, Slate's in Hallowell. We had our usual blood orange margaritas and the food was delicious, as always. And the company is the best. I've really missed these girls since they have been training for the Sugarloaf Marathon and I dropped down to the 15K. Hopefully we will hit the beach and the Rail Trail a lot this summer!

Once I got home, I realized that I hadn't done my plank for the day. I've challenged myself to do a #plankaday for a month. And of course I had a glass of wine with my husband (on top of two margaritas) and was still all dressed up, but I was pumped up to do this plank! All of a sudden the clock was well over the one minute mark and I knew I could get to two minutes! 

I guess I was at that buzzed stage when I have super-human strength or the alcohol just masks all discomfort and pain, not sure which.

And then yesterday I was treated to a wonderful Mother's Day. I woke up to some beautiful artwork from Zeke and we headed out to brunch with my mother-in-law.

I was then treated to my gift of shopping at Joann Fabrics without children (yes, this is what I asked for)! The sun came out and I got to go for a nice 5-mile run (even though my stomach was in knots from running later in the day), but still clocked an average 8:33 pace. 

We then visited with my parents and had dinner with them. What a great day! And yes, I got my plank in yesterday too, though I took it easy and only did 30 seconds. Oh, and someone offered to take my shift at work, so I'm treated to two whole days off in a row!

Today is Zeke's Kindergarten screening, and I frankly can't believe it is time for this! I'm not ready!!!

This week is race prep and taper time, which is quite laughable because I feel like I've been tapering since September. Looking back at my training log, I haven't run over five miles at a time since mid-March when I did a 14.4-miler and made the decision not to run the marathon. Next Sunday's 9.3 miles are going to be a sufferfest, but I am really looking forward to it all the same. 

Have a great Monday!

Thirteen Things Thursday: What I Love

I had originally just wanted to post the typical Three Things Thursday to shout out the things I'm loving right now, but the list is longer than three. I've super-sized it and am going with thirteen!

In no particular order:

1. Garmin Forerunner 10

Since I've been running for fun and not following a training plan, it has been nice to just get out there without a specific route and just run. I still want/need to track my mileage for my shoes and frankly, I am still tied to recording the numbers for my running log. I just need to know! Not only is the Forerunner 10 a super cute color, it is easy to use and small enough to wear as my everyday watch. It's fun to pick out the runners who come up to my desk at work, because more often than not they'll ask me about it.

2. Mizuno Wave Precision 13

With just over 300 miles on my Precision 13s I have decided to retire them from running to become my work shoes. They are still in excellent shape with very little wear on the soles and have a decent amount of cushioning and could probably go another one to two hundred miles. But since I don't have very comfortable work shoes with one job having me run around for hours non-stop and the other standing on concrete floors, these leave my feet still feeling great after a long day. They will always have a special place in my heart as they are the shoes that carried me on my first 26.2.

3. iPhone 4

Wow! Love, love, love! I can do so much with this gadget! Believe it or not, I can see it simplifying my life. The fact that I'm blogging with it while I'm sitting on the couch is blowing my mind. I got her a pretty blue and white case yesterday that could probably be it's own "thing" for this list. It goes great with my Garmin. Yes, I'm a geek, but a fashionable one.

4. Springtime.

Finally, it has arrived in Maine. After a long, cold winter the last week or so has been beautiful. We had some rain overnight and some more in the forecast, but the sun has us spending a ton of time outside. And everything is getting so green and pretty. I love sitting in the yard and looking up at this tree against the blue of the sky. It goes so well with my Garmin and iPhone! Haha!

5. My orchid.

Ian got this for me for Valentine's Day this year and it seems to be thriving! Seven new blooms have opened since it has come into our care. I always thought orchids were hard to care for, but apparently it likes living here.

6. Creating signs.

Apparently, I am the go-to person for making the signage at Home Depot. Things are pretty good when you get to spend your time drawing, coloring, and painting. The only problem is the constant interruptions with customers coming up to the desk, it takes forever to get one done. Maybe I need to stop over achieving...

7. Exploring our neighborhood.

Now that the weather is more on the warmer side, it's great to get out and check out our surrounding area. The boys and I went for a walk the other day down a few streets we hadn't been down before. They both made it a full half mile on their little legs! 

8. Running with Ian.

I look forward to every Monday as that is the day we go on our family run. He's training for a local 5-miler on July 4th that we are both going to run together. Any bets on who will win?

9. Newman's Own Virgin Limeade.

To me, there is nothing more refreshing on a warm day.

10. This T-shirt.

Emily and the crew at tshirtprinting.org sent me this shirt. Super comfy 100% cotton and the fit is great. Nothing like spreading a little blog love.

11. New work gloves.

My old gardening gloves were splitting at the seams and giving me blisters, so it was time for a new pair. These have nice padding on the palms and back of the hand and provide good grip. They were essential for tearing out 200 square feet of deck last week. Only $9.97 at Home Depot...and they match my phone. ;-)

12. Caramel deLites (aka Samoas, back in the day)

My favorite Girl Scout cookie...ever. Seriously, I have the hardest time not eating the whole box. I have to make these babies last a whole year. I even put the one in the photo back in the box. Pure will power, I tell ya.

13. These two boys.

I am so thankful that I am able to spend the days home with them. They are my whole world.

Well, that's it! Congrats on making it to the end! Tell me, what are some of your favorite things?

Almost Wordless Wednesday

For these - 

More randomness...

I promise I'll get back to writing posts that are actually planned out and about something specific, but for now I'm just trying to keep up.

I'm hoping this baby will help me do just that.

Ian and I finally ran out of minutes on our crappy Tracfones at the same time, so we pulled the trigger and got iPhones! We are both very excited and stayed up past midnight last night playing with them. This baby is going to open up a world of opportunities for me (and you, my readers, as well) just in regards to this blog. I am stoked!

After picking Zeke up from school, we all headed to the bike path in Brunswick for a family run. I'm loving Monday in that respect...plus it's my only day off of the week. I'm probably the only person in the world who actually looks forward to Mondays! I ran one mile pushing the stroller, the continued on for another solo mile while Ian stopped to stretch with the boys. I was flying with my pace in the 7s and even saw a 6:45 on the Garmin when I was almost back to the boys. My split was 8:07 for that mile only because Zeke was running out to meet me with .02 to go, so that affected the time. Then one mile back with the stroller for a total of three miles.

That's all for now because it's turning into another beautiful day out there! Maybe I'll take some pictures since I had now share them instantly! 

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Update Full of Randomness

And yet again, I've have been experiencing radio silence here on my blog. Big surprise. After the Boston Marathon, I wasn't really motivated to write about it, or anything for that matter. It was horrific and I will never get those images out of my mind. I was not there and thankfully everyone I know is safe. But, like so many of my running friends in real life and online, this event did not make me afraid and will not stop me from running and chasing a BQ.

I participated in the #BostonStrongGardiner run organized by my dear friend Jen (Running With The Girls) with the boys and Ian. It was a great turnout and I kicked some butt running with the double stroller. Zeke even managed to run an entire mile. I am very proud of him.

Photo courtesy Running With The Girls

While my running miles are still on the very low side, I've been doing a lot of strength training through yard work and demolition around the house. Over the course of three days, I ripped up our back deck (over 200 square feet) with my own bare hands. Well, I was wearing gloves, but that is just a technicality. Finn helped for a split second, but the rest I did completely on my own. 

Old, rotten deck before we moved in

The deck is now the neat little pile on the left

I finally registered for the Sugarloaf 15K. I don't have any real goals going into this race other than to have fun. I'm not expecting to run fast given my lack of training, but it will be a PR regardless. With my other girls there all running the marathon (Jen's third, Jill's second, and Stacy's first!) I am super excited to lend support at the finish and spend the weekend with them!

The weather is finally warming up here and it's been in the 60s and sunny for the past few days. It's just beautiful and we've been spending as much time outside as possible. We're planning on heading to Popham Beach after picking up Zeke from school today to enjoy some ocean views.

Anyway, until next time...hopefully it will be soon!

Some Things on Thursday

Instead of running early this morning (and because I had a tough time waking up), I took the boys out for this years' inaugural stroller run. I picked it up at my mother-in-law's early this week and we cleaned it up last night. Today is a beautiful sunny day with temps in the 40s, though it feels warmer than that. We made a couple of stops along the way to shoot off rockets and collect cool rocks and I'm grateful for the breaks. It seemed much more difficult to push them this time, though I haven't taken the stroller on a run since our family run at the Father's Day 5K last June. With the boys weighing around 80 pounds together and with a slightly flat tire (need to get the pump from the old house), it made for a good workout even though we didn't travel too far from home. We covered 2.76 miles total in 26:57 (9:46 pace). Maybe we'll go a little further next time, but those hills are killer!

My view

Shooting rockets at the dog park

Zeke captured the rocket in flight. Can you see it?

Pit stop #2 - South End Boat Launch

I can see us doing a lot of exploring with the stroller this spring and summer. I am so happy to be living where we are.

There is still plenty to time to enter my giveaway for a pair of kid's New Balance 890v3 Rainbow shoes and one-year subscription to ChopChop Magazine. 

Our review of the shoes is here and you can enter the giveaway here. You can tweet every day for more entries. Another opportunity to win is directly from New Balance at www.newbalance.com/rainbow. 

Have a great Thursday!