Sparkly weekend

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm looking around my house thinking I should probably throw in a load of laundry and pick up the living room, but my parents won't be here for dinner for a couple hours, so I think I'll blog and watch NCIS instead.

Ahhhh......weekends!

Yesterday, the kids and I ran in a 5K for Best Buddies.   We were on a team that my friend Amanda put together, which included a lot KES friends and several of Matt's pals and Cross Country teammates.    11 and 12 year old boys are quite confident in their abilities.  I giggled when I saw this photo of the starting line.  If you look behind the guy in the bright turquoise t-shirt you'll see Matt....poised right in the front.   (next two photos are taken by friend Kristen Mayfield who photographed the event)

Me....I started quite a bit farther back in sea of kids, people with knee braces and other like-minded people who otherwise abandon running during the summer months because it's too stinking hot. 

Turns out my boy did pretty well.    It was a hilly course (as they all are in middle Tennessee) and he barely looks tired. 

As for me, I had planned to stay close to Gracie, who had hooked up with a bevy of pals.  I didn't think she would be able to run the whole 3.1 miles without walking, but what I didn't expect was that she would break up the running with dancing, skipping, high knees and butt kicks.  She would also sporadically break in to mad sprints.   Entertainment for everyone!  Satisfied she was fine, I headed off on my own before we hit the first mile marker.  

After the race, Gracie went to a spa party for one of her classmates.  The girls got facials, mani-pedis ad got their hair done.   Gracie's super cute braids also included a heavy coat of glitter spray.  Of course, glitter spreads like a bad cold, so it's now in my car, on the couch and her bed.  Oh joy.

Hard not to love a girl who can pull off sequins shorts, a fringed top with Doc Marten boots. 

And 5 pounds of glitter in her hair. 

Sunday already . . . and that's okay.

It seems the Blue and Gold banquet was just the start to a very busy weekend. 

On Saturday,  woke up another year older.  Okay, technically, I woke up another day older, but how I answer the question, "How old are you?" has officially changed (although "None of your business" still works). 

42.  

Sigh.

While Matt and Bassam played a round of golf, Gracie and I went in to Franklin for the Main St. Festival.  We ended up running in to Tammy and her friend Rachel who was visiting from Miami, so together we checked out all the art, jewelry and other things that a good festival brings, ate a Kona ice and bought a bag of kettle corn for Bassam.  Despite a bad forecast, the day ended up sunny, warm and beautiful, so we spent as much of the day outside as possible.  My folks and B's parents came over for dinner and we did a joint family birthday party for me and Gracie (her birthday is Tuesday).  Bassam and the kids got me a beautiful Fender Alkaline Trio Malibu Acoustic Guitar, plus I got some fun jewelry, a new wallet and the DVD set of West Wing season 4 from my parents and the in-laws, so it was good to be me!

This morning we went to church, grabbed a quick lunch and then were off to LP Field for the Kids Marathon.  Both kids were happy to have a good friend to run with.  Gracie ran with her pal Amelia.   Matt did the race with his friend Gavin as planned, but ended up running during the heat for 3rd grade boys, along with Gavin's brother.   Since it is not a timed raced and it got us out of there at least an hour earlier, it was worth it.   Everyone was happy to add another piece of hardware to their collection!

After the race, we went to Tammy's to celebrate her birthday (tomorrow) and have dinner at Taco Mamacitas!  Yummy!  She is more than happy to tell anyone who will listen that I am currently older than she is.    Tomorrow will be a different story.

Now I'm looking to the busy week ahead, the many loads of laundry that await me and for the kids, TCAP testing, that begins on Friday.

Ready, set, GO!

Substitute Runner!

On Saturday, I was registered to run the Women's Half Marathon here in Nashville.  However, because of my last minute trip to Chicago, it didn't happen. 

On Thursday, I emailed a handful of my running buddies to see if anyone wanted to take my place.  My friend Susan emailed me back immediately and said she was interested.  I still had to go to the Expo to pick up the bib, chip, shirt and goodie bag (for my non-runner readers, you cannot transfer a race entry and have to show I.D. to pick up your loot) but left it with her on Friday afternoon before my flight.  

Well, sweet Susan had a great race on Saturday, despite the fact that she had trained for it even less than I had (which is difficult to imagine, since I basically had two long runs under my belt this month).  She finished in 2:12, which means I finished in 2:12, since the time is listed under my name.   However, the fabulous guitar-shaped medal is all hers!  So proud of my friend -- and glad the registration didn't go to waste!

Weekends in the fall . . .

A beautiful sunny fall day in Middle Tennessee.    What I wouldn't do for a month full of weather like this. 

We started off the day at Kenrose for the Hoover Run for Hope.   As Bassam was scheduled to golf with Wadih, I had to bypass the 5K as there was no one to hang with the kids while I ran.  Instead, I ran with Gracie in the 1 mile kids run, which both kids competed in. 

Matthew finished his mile in 9:02 and Gracie in 10:40.   Gracie actually placed 2nd in her age division, which scored her a medal.   Naturally, this was a little upsetting to Matthew who's time put him in 4th place for his age division, but he handed his disappointment well.  We let him chose the location for lunch and once again all was well with the world. 

The rest of the day was spent enjoying the sunshine and going to see Matthew's pals, Jackson and Scott's, team play in the flag football playoffs.  I love that he wanted to go see them play, even though his own team was eliminated last week. 

Whew!

A very busy couple days in our world. 

Friday was the Fun Run at Kenrose and was also the Country Music Kids Marathon.   Matthew ran just over 2 miles during the fun run and then completed his final 1.2 miles for the marathon over at LP Field that night.  Overall, he logged  over 30 miles since mid-February! My parents arrived on Friday afternoon so they were able to see his race, too!

Today was equally action packed.   We started the day with a 9:00 soccer game for Matthew.  Perfect weather for soccer--sunny, breezy and in the lower 70's.   Hard to believe that one year ago we were in the midst of devastating rain that flooded our city.   It seemed even more ironic that when when my folks and I made a run to Home Depot this afternoon we saw folks from Alabama loading up their trucks with generators, fuel tanks and other supplies.    

The Williamson County Community Band played at Main St. Festival today, so we all headed in to Franklin.  While I sat on the stage, Bassam, GG, Gus and the kids explored the festival  for a bit before catching the last part of our show.   In a particularly brutal twist, the stage was down-wind from the Kettle Corn stand.   The whole time we played the smell of kettle corn was all around us.   Not fair!! 

After a quick dinner we dashed off to My Gym for Gracie's birthday party with her friends.   It was a fantastic time.   I think I had as much fun watching it as Gracie did actually being part of it.   The staff working her party were phenomenal and made it a really special day for Gracie and all her friends.  

Another highlight was this fabulous cake that my friend Tomika made for us.   Gracie wanted a "Charlie cake" and that's exactly what she got!  Love!!!

One more birthday celebration tomorrow with the family.   Then I think we will finally close the books on Gracie's 5th birthday!!!

Everyone exercised . . . except Bassam!

An even busier Saturday than normal, if you can believe it.

The day started early for me as I participated in the Women's Half Marathon in Nashville. It was the first time Nashvegas has hosted a Women's Running Magazine race and it was pretty good event. Unlike the Country Music 1/2 Marathon & Marathon, there were just 5,000 runners at today's race. This year the CMM had 34,000. Too crowded. Plus, as the name of the race implies it was basically an all-estrogen crowd. A few men running with wives/girlfriends/mothers, but that's about it. Race shirts are cut for women (a rarity!!) and there is pink as far as the eye can see!

As I was struggling with yet another foot injury (or just the same injury revisited), I knew my 2:05 goal was probably out of reach. I think was on target for a 2:07 or 2:08 until mile 12 at which point we reached the biggest hill of the event. Yes....at mile 12!!! Now, I should say that ALL Nashville races are hilly. This is a hilly town, so there is no avoiding them. The first six miles seemed like they were all uphill. But we were feeling good, so it didn't seem so bad. Hit another big one around 9. That was took the wind out of me, but I made it. Then I hit the Shelby Street bridge at mile 12. This is a very long, very steep bridge. I kid you not when I say 80% of the people around me were walking or running so slow they might as well have been walking. I started up and then had a throbbing pain in my calf--kind of felt like a charley horse. I was forced to start hiking. When I reached the top, I decided enough was enough and ran, albeit awkwardly, the rest of the way in. I ended up finishing in 2:10. One of the Vanderbilt medical staff must have noticed my gait and pulled me into the medical tent where they wrapped my calf (quite impressively, may I add) in an ice pack. I gathered my medal and hobbled off to get some chow and meet up with my friends.

Of course, there was no languishing to be done after the race. Matthew had a game in the morning. And I'll be darned ---the kid scored his second goal of the season! So proud. Gracie played this afternoon and perhaps for the first time didn't score a single game. Granted she only got to play 1/2 the time because we had 11 players and other side had 6, plus she got sidelined for a bit because she got kicked in the head (ouch!), but she finished with a smile on her face, so all's well.

Directly from soccer we headed over to church for the annual Oktoberfet celebration. So much fun! The kids had a ball and brought home copious amounts of prizes from the different games. While the food smelled terrific, my post-race stomach is always a little touchy, so I skipped the brats and just got a soft pretzel. The gift baskets I put together for the silent auction brought in over $40, so I was happy about that, too.

The rest of the night will undoubtedly be quiet. Bassam is heading over to WB's Bar (our neighbor, Warren's, kegerator) and the kids are going to bounce on their trampoline. I'm going to enjoy the peace and quiet for a few minutes and then see how my tummy feels about a little beer, too.

Knock on Wood

Do you knock on wood?

I do. Sometimes. I remember years ago we looked up the reviews of the car my mom was driving and it cited "an excessive use of simulated wood grain finish" as a con of the car. That always struck me as funny. So as you can imagine, we have been known to say, "Knock on simulated wood grain finish" at the Gustafson house.

But I'm digressing, aren't I?

I usually knock on wood or at least my head. It's not that I'm incredibly superstitious, but why leave things up to chance, right?

Earlier this weekend a friend asked me how my training for the 1/2 marathon was going. I briefly lamented about the heat the last two months (96 today! Seriously, where is fall?) and told her that my orthopedist insisted on me trying the Galloway method for this race, which I didn't love. But I didn't stop there.

I proceeded to say, that for the last 6 weeks (which is really as long as I have been preparing --BAD!), I haven't had any foot pain. Yes, my recurring metatarsal injury had stopped recurring.

This would have been a good opportunity to knock on wood.

After a rather lazy weekend (from an exercise standpoint, at least), I decided to do a quick 9 miles this morning. Race is on Saturday, plenty of time to wind down beforehand. Okay, I just realized I used the word "quick" to describe a 9 mile run. You know I'm slow as molasses, right?

Anyhoo, I finished the run and my foot HURTS! Four ibuprofen later it is feeling only marginally better. Of course, I spent the better part of 2 hours in a meeting this afternoon. Sitting around in a chair doesn't aggravate the metatarsal too badly! But I've noticed that I'm back up and about the pain is flaring up again.

Grrrr!

The moral of the story is KNOCK ON WOOD!

Double digits

My lack of training for the upcoming Women's Half Marathon is well-documented. Injury, hot weather and lack of time have all worked against me the last two months. However, I was thrilled today to complete my 10 mile run. I always know once I complete an 8 mile run I can finish a half marathon. What's another 5 miles, right? But 10 miles is always better. Something about the double digits, I guess.

Hooray for double digits!

I'm starting to sound like a broken record, I know . . . .

Ran the longest 7 miles of my life today. Per my orthopedist's request, I'm trying to follow the Galloway training plan for my next race to give my foot (which I managed to aggravate AGAIN!) a little more time to heal. Jeff Galloway is a world-class marathoner and author and recommends a run/walk (actually run/"shuffle") method which is suppose to help with both endurance and injury prevention. He cites countless examples of world-class runners who have actually reduced their marathon or 1/2 marathon times doing this. Still, as I've run every step of every 1/2 marathon I've ever competed in, this was a bit of a hard pill to swallow. Walk??!?

Then it was August in Nashville.

With temperatures in the 80s before the sun even comes up (and today I ran with girlfriends and didn't hit the trail until 8:30), beating the heat and 100% humidity is all but impossible. I've stuck to the treadmill when I can, but beyond 5 miles, I just can't seem to tolerate it (even with music or TV to watch).

So I completed my 7 miles at record-slow pace outside on the trails. Every stitch of my clothes was soaked with sweat. My tiny pig-tails were standing straight out. My face was flushed as red as the dumb guy you inevitably see on a beach vacation who is too cool for sunscreen.

But you know what? My foot didn't hurt.

Thoughts from the race course . . . .

Well, we were able to run the race today. Sorry meterologists, you got it wrong AGAIN! I guess, that's not completely true. By 10 a.m. it was pouring rain. So the timing was just off. A little bit later, lightening followed. What did the people still on the course do? Glad I wasn't with them. It was bad enough we sat in the parking lot of LP Field for TWO FULL HOURS trying to get out. Last night at the Kids Marathon there were 4,000 kids running and cops all over the place directing traffic. Today, 30,000+ people and bad weather and there was not a Metro Cop to be found. Not kidding.

Speaking of the kids race, Matthew did awesome last night! He was so proud of his first real medal and declared it "the best day ever." I love his enthusiasm for running and hope it continues!!

My race wasn't quite as a great. They ended up starting the race 15 minutes early ---and since I rode with friends who didn't leave Brentwood untnil 6:15, I was not in my corral at 6:45. In fact by the time I took a last minute pit stop, left my gear bag at the trucks and hit the corrals it was 7:00. I have no idea what corral I actually started in --and clearly everyone and their mother changed to try to finish by the storm because I saw bib numbers ranging from 3,0000 -24,000 in one corral.

I started out at a brisk pace --had no choice. The crowd was really moving. By mile 3, I was already feeling a lot of pain in my foot. By mile 5, I was praying that my orthopedist was correct in his statement that I couldn't damage my foot worse by running this race. By the time I hit the halfway point, I knew my pace was slowing and admittedly, let my feelings about that get the best of me. "Run through the pain, run through pain . .. . " is what I kept telling myself. Bassam and the kids were on the course, but I missed seeing them. Bassam subscribed to the text-tracking service so when he saw I hit mile 10 they headed to the finish line.

I ended up with a 2:14. I am disappointed not coming in under 2:10 (and in my ideal world at 2:05), but trying to be glad that I finished and with a time that is respectable (even though it was off by my goal by 5 minutes). This was the first time I haven't reduced my run time since I started competing in 1/2 marathons. Maybe just chalk it up to running through an injury and do better on the next one.

Other random thoughts from the race course . . . .

1. Loved the two guys running wool suits. Yes, wool business suits. I saw them at mile 7 and they were sweating through. Yuck! No performance fabric on these guys --they told me they were "running for office." Clever . . .but it was very muggy all morning and quite warm in the sun. There was also a strange guy dressed in pink shorts and pink and grey tube socks --no shirt. Didn't get that look, but it made me giggle!

2. Why do some spectators along the race course smoke? Seriously? We're running 13.1/26.2 miles here. . . . a little clean air goes along way.

3. Many more beer stops this year. Lots of private homes, especially along Belmont, had small dixie cups filled up with beer shots. Gave me a good laugh, although I didn't partake.

4. Loved the 10 year old kid on mile 6 shouting things to random runners. To me he yelled, "Hey 13,908 ---you're totally going to win this! It's all you. Pass all these slow pokes." Much needed smile!

5. The Deloitte sponsored water stop on mile 8. Makes me think of my friend Dana and that the cheers are coming from her (instead of these random Nashville Deloitte people).

6. To the two clowns I personally passed pushing strollers. The "absolutely no strollers allowed" rule really does apply to you.

7. There are at least 3 really stinky areas in Nashville on the race course. Pee-eww!!!

8. Music was a bit of a downer this year. Caught a lot of slower tunes or between song breaks. Thank you to Bassam for loaning me his I-pod (mine is acting nutty).

9. Kudos to Publix for sending their best folks out to the finish area. As I picked up some yummies from their table, a young Publix employee was telling people, "You did it! I am so proud of you!!"

10. Glad it's over!

Happy Birthday, Mrs O! Were you surprised?

Just a little rain on race day?

It is 5 am and it's just drizzling outside. It seems since I went to bed last night they've revamped the forecast. It looks like there is one patch of storms rolling in now . . . and then we might get a bit of a break (with just light rain) until 11 or so.

It is true? I don't know. But I'll take it!

Friday musings . . . .

It's just 10 am and already been a busy day. The Kenrose Fun Run is this afternoon, so at 8 am this morning I was at Kenrose ready to haul out tables, chairs, flags and other paraphernalia to set up for the event. Gracie was a slightly unwilling partner in this opportunity, but I promised her a pack of fruit snacks afterward (Yes, bribery . . . what of it?), so she played along. I didn't even attempt to bring Matthew to help. Put him on the bus at 7:55 and then headed over to school.

After set up, dropped Gracie at school, ran a couple errands, walked the dog and am now back home, laundry in the machine and updating my the blog. I have to be back at school at 12 to help with Matthew's class at the fun run, so the day feels a bit disjointed.

Tonight, we're off to LP field for the Country Music Kids Marathon. The weather is clear, but quite warm. Matthew is super excited about it. It's supposedly crazy crowded and for reasons that aren't quite clear, the kindergartners run LAST. Whatever.

The looming topic is really tomorrow's 1/2 marathon for me. The weather forecast continues to worsen and I find myself a bit nervous. The folks at the Country Music Marathon keep assuring us they "have a plan" in case they have to call or stall the race, but so far as I can tell, they are unwilling to share any details of this brilliant plan. As I look out the window at the beautiful sunshine and light breeze, it's hard to imagine that in 24 hours it will be as bad as they say. I really don't mind running in the rain, although I would prefer it not be pouring as we stand around and wait for the starting gun. It's really the thunderstorms and hail that I'm thinking won't make for ideal conditions!

Keep trying to remember a phrase I used to preach to my staff back at USCA (it probably drove them nuts, even though they knew it was nothing but true): You can only control the things you can control.

Weather . . . definitely not in that category.

Whew!

Today was decision day for me in terms of the Country Music 1/2 Marathon. My 12 mile run on Monday was so painful that I probably walked nearly 4 miles. I called Bassam from the trail in tears and even considered phoning a friend to pick me up. Yeah, it was that bad. A trip to the Orthopedist on Wednesday allowed me to get the insightful diagnosis of "Bio-mechanically, your feet are just messed up."

Nice, huh.

Anyway, after taking the rest of the week off, I told myself I would do 10 on Saturday morning (when it was cool) and if I was able to complete it in a reasonable amount of time without an unreasonable amount of pain, I would go ahead with plans to race next Saturday. I did 10.8 miles and felt pretty good (although I could tell I had taken time off--whew!). There was some discomfort in my feet, but what I would consider manageable. I know there will be no personal record for me on Saturday--and my time will undoubtedly be slower than last year (but hopefully not the year before that), but hopefully I can make a respectable finish. In the meantime, I'm seeing a physical therapist on Wednesday and then waiting to hear about a consult with a guy who specializes in orthodics for athletes.

Once the run was done it was on to the rest of our Saturday craziness. Both kids had soccer games---Matthew played incredibly well and had 3 successful stints as goalie. He had two shots on offense that looked promising, but one just missed and the other got stopped by the goalie.

Gracie scored just one goal this morning. I shouldn't say "just," because it really is fantastic! One of her teammates had her best game ever and scored 3 (her first 3, might I add!), unfortunately, she scored 2 of them by stealing the ball away from her own teammates, one of whom was Gracie. You can guess how pleased Miss G was by that. Still, as the coach I was oh-so-proud of the whole lot of them!

After soccer, Gracie had a birthday party for her pal, Lilly. Then we headed over to the Hale's for dinner (Portillos and Italian Sausage---Yummmm!!!!!). The kids are off to bed, and I'm not far behind. A poor night of sleep, plus the run and the rest of the festivities wore me out!

In the meantime, here are some fun shots I captured today. There are two where I managed to catch the aftermath of a ball Matthew kicked that whacked some other poor kid in the face. Caught some crazy facial expressions. It was totally an accident on Matthew's part (although you'll see in another one he willingly joined in to what was some VERY aggressive play).

Thoughts on driving . . . .

After missing it due to rain on Friday, I had to get my 9 mile run in today. It was cold, damp and I had to do it alone -- definitely not something I was looking forward to. I decided to head over to Ravenwood High School in hopes of getting some of my miles done on their track. I'm nursing another metatarsal injury (and by "nurse," I really mean trying to pretend it doesn't hurt) and thought the spongy track surface might feel better on my feet. Alas, their was a big track team contingent there (on a Sunday!??) so instead I found myself looping around the campus (which incidentally is 1.24 miles around). As I circled the outside of the parking lots, I discovered I was not alone. There were others taking advantage of the empty parking lots.

Student drivers.

You can spot them from a mile away. Most obviously because they pull into the parking lot and immediately parent and child swap seats. Then, as they drive through the abandoned parking lots they make complete stops, use signals prior to all turns and drive very slowly. The parents can also be seen looking behind the kid's seat making sure they didn't cut anyone off after turning. I feel their pain on that one -- I'm 36 and my dad still does that.

I'm not going to lie, I had a good giggle at this whole thing. There were at least 4 of these drivers trolling around the lot. I don't think my parents did a lot of parking lot driving with us when we learned, except for the mandatory trip to the Dominick's parking lot on a random icy Sunday night where my dad had us practice what to do if we started to skid.

Of course, as I thought about all this I was reminded that I actually learned to drive right after I turned 15 -- a full 7 months before I got my learners permit. Growing up, we used to spend a week down in Wenona with my Grandma and Grandpa Gustafson each summer. Sometimes Amy and I did it the same week, but sometimes it was a different week --always without our parents. As he had done with my sister, as well as my cousins Theresa and Paul, Grandpa took me out to the country roads and gave me my first driving lesson. I'm fairly certain the car was never allowed to go over 25 mph and he would start warning me to slow down about 100 feet before a stop sign (never mind that I had spotted it at least 100 feet earlier). Regardless, it was one those special things we got do the summer after turned 15 --and of course, were NOT supposed to tell our parents. Secret came out on that one several years ago --and we lost my Grandpa back in 1994, so I suppose it's safe to talk about now.

Of course, Grandpa's driving school was followed by Dale's driving school. He had a couple of favorite driving tests. The first was to wake you up really early on a Saturday morning and have you drive him into Chicago to the office so he could pick up things from work. Even on a Saturday morning, it's the Eisenhower Expressway and demands respect. The other one I recall is the day he taught me to parallel park. While Bassam learned on his driveway between two traffic cones (and there is a funny story there -- you should ask him!), my dad took me to downtown Westmont. It's no metropolis, but there is steady flow of traffic. I remember panicking and saying that there were too many cars behind me and I wanted to practice elsewhere. His response? "Well, you better hurry up because they're going to start honking at you."

Nice.

Hard to imagine that in 9 years or so we'll be taking Matthew to the high school parking lot to learn to drive. I think we may have to find a better way to teach parallel parking, but I bet I'll be checking behind him to make sure he didn't cut anyone off.

Wild and wacky weekend

Sunday evening is almost upon us --and as usual -- I'm exhausted.

Having said that, I think I earned it this time.

Friday night we hosted 4 student from Carthage College. The problem was when we picked them up after their concert we were greeted with the news that they did NOT have to be back at church at 8 a.m. on Saturday as previously reported. They had to be back at church at 5:30 a.m. SERIOUSLY!??! Since we live 30 minutes from church, that meant leaving by 5--and for me, getting up by 4:30 to finish putting their lunches together and pulling out stuff for breakfast (which was nothing more that juice, Nutrigrain bars and fruit). Needless to say, I felt a bit tired the rest of the day. Later that morning, we had a make up practice for Gracie's soccer team. We have 4 new girls (but only received 3 new uniforms--that's another story), so we're having to go back to the basics of "no hands on the ball" and kicking in the right direction. Gracie seemed off her game on and didn't get her foot on the ball much during the scrimmage. Having said that, she didn't complain about being tired or needing another water break, so she was ahead of the game on that front.

After her practice, it was time for ME to practice. I attended a 2 hour coaching clinic that was awesome. Learned some great games and other activities to implement in practice. And they didn't just tell us about them. We actually played them all. I got quite a workout! I was also reminded that for being a coach, I have very limited ball handling skills. Definitely my last year of coaching.

Right after the clinic, we headed to Matthew's final basketball game. He had 2 points, 2 rebounds and 2 fouls! Mom was proud --even of the fouls! He added his 7th trophy to his collection! Yeah, Matthew!

We rounded out Saturday with a birthday party with the Clarks. It was Renn's 3rd birthday and they had an awesome party (featuring all things Curious George) to celebrate. Beth cheffed up some amazing homemade pizza and they served the most beautiful monkey cake I've ever seen. Bassam even broke his Lenten fast to partake in a bit.

This morning we went to church. Matthew seemed really under the weather, even dozing off on the way to church. We skipped Sunday School and he rested in our bed for an hour or so watching--wait for this --professional bowling!! Later, he went outside to soak up the sunshine and shoot some hoops and seemed much better. He's definitely congested --but hopefully it's not more than a cold. *fingers crossed*

As for me, I did an 8 1/2 mile run with my pal, Holly. Between the amazing weather (60+ degrees and sunny) and the good conversation, the miles sailed by. Having said that, I'm pretty tired right now and imagine it will be an early night.

All in all, a great weekend --but whew-- it wore me out!!

Marathoner in training . . . .

Matthew had his first training run for the Country Music Kids' Marathon today. The idea is that the kids run 25 miles over the next 2+ months and run the last 1.2 miles at the CMM (actually the night before) at the end of April. The organized runs at school have been delayed because of the bad weather the last couple weeks. Even today turn out was light due to cold temperatures and snow flurries. Still, we showed up at 7:40 am and Matthew ran 1.5 miles before school! He really did great and ran almost the whole thing. He still flails his arms around a bit, but I guess we've got time to work on that.

Needless to say, we're going to need to do some running on our own to get on schedule, but I'd say we're off to a great start.

All-sports Saturday

A fun but exhausting Saturday!

We started out at Kenrose for the Hoover Run for Hope. I wasn't able to participate in the 5K because Bassam was at work and I had both kids. Matthew, however, signed up for the 1 mile Kids' Run. He did so awesome!! Could it be that the "running bug" bit one of my kids? Hope so! Now he wants to participate in the Country Music Kids' Marathon in April (kids do 26 1-mile runs, the last one being the night before the regular 1/2 and full marathon!). Can't wait!

After the race, it was off to Gracie's last soccer game. Tough match, but the girls did well! Gracie scored 3 goals, but the real highlight was the party afterwards. After all, it's tough to top pizza, cake and trophies! Our team very generously gave Bassam and I gift cards to Stoney River and Cozymels. Now we just need get a date night on the calendar.

Right from there we went to Matthew's game. It's not his last, but the team did great. The weather was so amazing -- 70 degrees, sunny and breezy! Matthew had two stints as goalie and didn't allow a single goal! Yeah!

Needless to say, all those sporting activities took up the majority of the day. The kids are down at the Clark's house and Bassam has ribs in the oven! Mmmm mmm!!!

Run

Not only can I cross #6 off of yesterday's to do list, I actually surpassed it. I ran 10 MILES -- solo -- no running buddies.

Tired, but proud . . . .

Back to the heat . . .

We supposedly just had the mildest July on record for Nashville. Not only did the month of July end, but so, too, did the mild temperatures. It was 91 degrees today and very humid. Not a great day for a run, but my pal Joanna and I took a short 4-miler at 8 am this morning. For as hot and tired as we were, you would have thought we ran twice as far, but I guess 4 is better than nothing.

Yesterday we cooled down at the pool for a couple hours, today we just stayed inside. Storytime at the library with friends (today's craft was a hedgehog covered in flowers after we read "Harriet Dancing") and Gracie's class at My Gym rounded off the day. Not very exciting, I suppose. We are off to Heather's tonight so the rest of the family can meet Baby Claire!

Happy Birthday to Me!

All in all, I'd have to say the 36th birthday was pretty great! Despite hot and uncomfortable conditions, I finished the 1/2 marathon in 2:10. This was my goal--so I am proud of myself. I kind of "hit a wall" around mile 11--which thwarted any hopes of finishing quicker, as did some pretty bad foot pain that I've been struggling with the last few weeks (promised Bassam I would go see an orthopedist this week). My running pal Holly also had a difficult run. The heat really bothered her so we ran the majority of the race separately. She had to walk the hills (which there are a lot of!) and if I start walking I can't get started again. Needless to say, I'm not used to doing distance runs solo and didn't even have the company of my I-pod! She finished just a couple minutes behind me --and we both decided this was the hardest one we'd ever ran! But again--happy about the time and a great way to start out my 36th year (or I guess it's actually my 37th year).

Bassam and the kids showed up on the course around mile 9 to cheer me on. It was great to see them--although they almost missed spotting me. They headed off to baseball after I ran by --and Holly dropped me off at the ball field to catch the end of the game. Matthew had a great game--and hit two coach-pitched balls (versus off the T), although was thrown out at 1st and 3rd at his two times at bat.

I was treated to lunch at 5 Guys--and Bassam made a fantastic dinner of crab and scallops! I got a nice haul of loot, too! Although one of my favorite gifts was 36 kisses from Matthew! So sweet!

Tomorrow it's back to our busy reality--church, baseball practice and then Gracie's birthday party with her friends. We've done barely anything to get ready (it's been a crazy week), so it's sure to be a nutty day.