My first BolderBoulder

I thought maybe another title for this is "Look at you turning into a runner!"  It's what my friend Wes said this afternoon after I told him how the race went.  I love it!  It could be taken bad or good, so I took it as good.  And coming from an awesome runner that knows how this last year has been for me, that makes me feel great.

Today's BolderBoulder was quite an experience for me - a couple of facts.

1. I lived in Boulder for 3 years and never saw this. 
2. I have done 13 consecutive years of the Denver Race for the Cure, so I understood what it was like to do a race with 50,000+ participants. 
3. I ran 6.2 miles (10k) last Sunday in 1:10:48, so I knew already that I could do it. 
4. Nikki and I were in the FH wave, which was one of the first non-qualifying waves - sub 70 min.
5. Our official BB time via the shoe tag was 1:08:18.  Via my watch, it was 1:06:40.  
6. I wore a white/teal Brooks tank top with black/teal spandex, and matching nail polish.  Yep, I was one of those girls....  LOL

Now, here are my thoughts on the race today.

1. Road racing is a lot harder than being on a track, treadmill, or trail. 
2. It was only in the 60's, but being on the asphalt made it feel a lot hotter.  
3. The heat made it really hard to breathe towards the end, not matter how hard I tried to regulate my breath.
4. I felt so sick towards the very end of the race.  The end is a hill climb up to Folsom Field, and then you run most of the way around the football field to the finish.  As we were climbing up the hill, I had to suppress every feeling to vomit.  And as soon as I crossed the finish line, I had to go stand by the trash can because I couldn't stop that feeling.  
5. The joy I felt when I started into the stadium and I saw my dad waving and then my mom is unexplainable. 
6. I have not been able to get the smile off of my face.  I am extremely proud of my accomplishment, and of myself.  When I wanted to stop, I didn't.  I pushed my way through it, concentrating on my breath and saying aloud "We can do this!".   
7. If I had been by myself, I would have stopped, but with Nikki by my side, I had to keep going.  Plus, I wanted to see what I could have done!!!  If I had walked, I would have to wait a year before I was able to see what I was made of.  
8. Okay, okay.  We did stop - twice.  The first time was because OMG I had to pee.  I had read in Runner's World that you should drink about 16 oz of water 1-2 hours before your race to ensure that you are properly hydrated.  Well, apparently 16 oz was too much for me.  So, that added 30-45 seconds to my run.  And then, my shoe came untied!  Just figures.  But I tried to hurry to remedy them both so it didn't add too much to our time.  
9. We kept a pretty good 11 minute pace, so that was awesome. 
10. I feel like we did amazing for OURSELVES - I am trying not to compare my run to others.  Period. 
11. I am really super sore, and I am afraid for tomorrow!
12. I felt great putting on the purple hair bow for Fibromyalsia.  Not that it did anything to raise awareness, but I am supporting my friend Susie.  It was my little way of showing her that she is amazing and that we are all here for her in our own little ways.

I might add to the list, but there it was.  Another wonderful thing that happened just after it that added to my enjoyment was a picture text  from James of the boys in the backyard laying my my hammock.  Put a smile on my face on top of the other smile that has been there all day!  We wandered for a short time at the expo, and then went home.  I had a wonderful day, and I can't believe that this wild dream of ours actually came true.  I might have to add to this after a while, but I loved it!

My best run...

I am super excited that I ran 6.2 miles this morning - so I am going to tell you my thoughts/feelings about it!  (I need to stop comparing my accomplishments to others.)  Nikki and I met at Wash Park this morning to do our log run before the Bolder Boulder.  The BB is a 10k race (6.2 miles), and the only people I have known to run it were qualifying in the first few waves.  5 months ago, Nikki and I decided after the 5k that we were going to run the Bolder Boulder.  We talked about doing a qualifying race to get into one of the qualifying waves, but opted to go with one of the running non-qualifying waves.  I have been running for it, and have been seriously working my butt off.  My husband loves the way I feel about myself, and today, I really understand why!  I had never run over 4.5 miles, and today I did 6.2!  I am going to keep saying it because I am in awe of myself for doing it!  I want to scream it to the world....  I am trying not to scream it, as I my friends did 20 miles more than me this morning.  But Whoo Hoo!  We had planned to do 5.5 miles, but after around 5 miles, I said "If we make it to 5.5 miles, maybe we should keep going to see how far.  Maybe we can make 6.2 just to see if we can do it!"  And she said she would.  That was how I got to the 5k - just keep going!  I know that I couldn't do it by myself.  it helped so much that I had her by my side.  She pushed me, and I pushed her.  That is how I know we will rock it during the BB.  And, we did it in 70 min 48 sec.  Our wave is a sub 70 minute, so we only have to shave off 48 seconds!
Okay, I am going to go have a water fight with my boys now.  Have a great rest of the day everyone!

My Mother's Day

My Mother's Day didn't go as I planned, but it was fantastic beyond belief!!!  This is how it was supposed to go - I was supposed to run 5.5 miles at Wash Park with Nikki at 8:30, then come home, shower, go to Home Depot to get my flowers to plant, to my mom's to take her the Mother's Day gift, home to nap ( oh yeah babe! ), and then whatever.  But this is how it went.  I woke up at 6:45 and remembered that I didn't put my Garmin watch on the charger, so I got up, let the dogs outside, and fixed my Garmin.  I crawled back into bed and cuddled with James for a while, but we were both up, so we ended up talking (and stuff).  At 7:15, I needed to take a pill, so I got up, took it, and got my personal phone to take upstairs - just in case.  Just as I got upstairs, Nikki texted to let me know that she was going to bail because it was pretty chilly out and it had rained the night before.  So.... I crawled back into bed.  We talked about what we felt like doing that morning, and when we couldn't decide, we went downstairs to discuss it with the boys.  The decided to go see Pirates - Band of Misfits at the Movie Tavern at 9 - that's when they serve breakfast!  We went and enjoyed the movie, hit Home Depot to get some of my normal Mother's Day flowers.  We went to my mom's and hung out for a bit.  Then we hit the grocery store so we could get it out of the way.  I took a good nap with Aaron, although it took him a while to fall asleep and he kept playing with my hand.  They gave me the Final Battle for Hogwarts Harry Potter lego's that morning, so we sat together after nap to put it together while watching the last Harry Potter movie.  That was the first time I had put together a lego set - James had always helped Dylan before.  It was so great!  We watched the last Harry Potter movie and then the first one.  And now we are watching Dogma.  What a great day!!!!  Although I wanted to run, i was glad that I spent the day with the family instead.

Funny stuff....

Lot's of very funny things have happened over the last couple of days with the kids, so I wanted to write them down.

• I was driving to take my youngest to preschool, and he asked me if he had boobs.  Very random.  So I tell him No, Only girls have boobs.  He was questioning it because he has nipples and a chest.  So I had to explain that girls have boobs because they are fatty and can fill up with milk to give their babies.  It was an awkward conversation trying to explain it in 4 year old terms. 
• Aaron has a friend who asked his mom about "pee-balls".  She cracked up the whole time she was telling me about it, and I was laughing so hard as well.  So, he thought that a boys balls hold his pee - that's their purpose.  Very cute!!!
• We were at On The Border for dinner tonight for an early Mother's Day dinner out.  Dylan went to the bathroom and was back super quick.  So I asked if he washed his hands and he said "Yes".  So James touched his hands and was like "No you didn't"!  So I tell him quietly "You just had your penis in your hand and now you are going to eat your fries? That's gross!"  Very seriously, he puts up his right hand and says "I used this hand for that.  I can eat with the other one."  Wow, kid logic....
• The little 3 year old that lives across the street was misbehaving on the way to school the other day, and his mom told him that he wouldn't be able to go to Dylan's birthday party if he couldn't walk correctly and behave the next couple of weeks.  So all the way home he kept saying that he wanted to go to the "birthday cake".  When his mom corrected him and said it was a birthday party, he started calling it a "birthday cakey".  Loved it!  He got that there was an EEE sound at the end of party and just attached it to the word he really wanted to use.  So incredibly adorable.

Ooooh, more random thoughts....

1) My favorite part about getting my Glamour and Cosmo magazines is the smell of them.  The mix of the different perfume and cologne ads is intoxicating.  Even mixed they smell great.  I love re-reading them for that particular reason. 

2) Teaching a boy how to shower is just as awkward as teaching one to hold his penis while he pees.  I know he won't do it correctly for years, but I still work hard to teach him the correct way to do it.  Even after 3 years, I worry that Dylan is actually getting clean while showering.  I put Aaron in the shower with Dylan the other day and Dylan struggled to do it correctly, but he has been doing it by himself for 3 years.  How long could it possibly take for a boy to learn to shower?!?!?

3) When you (a girl) are on the toilet peeing (yes, random), do you sit erect, or do you hunch over?  A comedian several years ago, I can't remember who, said that women look like they're waiting on a bus.  And I thought about that tonight as James was standing in the doorway as I was peeing.  Do I have a different look when I am going #1 as opposed to #2?  Just curious.

4) Kevin Hart, the comedian, has a bit where he says when women fight, they sing their words.  "I WISH YOU WOULD, BOO BOO!"  So James has been saying that lately, and he just happened to walk by the boys saying it while they were eating their snacks and both of them said "BOO BOO" after the "I wish you would...."  We both died laughing....

5) Saw the post "I'm not the girl next door, I'm the bitch down the street."  Crap, I actually am the bitch down the street, but due to my polite nature, everyone just thinks I am the girl next door.....

6) When you're with someone all the time, you tend to speak the same.  For example, we walk with another mom and her 2 kids to and from school every day.  This morning, we were on the corner waiting for 2 brothers that we pick up along the way.  After a couple of minutes and they didn't come out, we started to cross the street to keep walking towards the school.  As we were in the middle of the street, the 1st grader came out and yelled "WAIT".  As if on cue, Kristen and I both turned on the spot and yelled simultaneously "CATCH UP!"  And then we turned to each other and cracked up laughing.  Then my first thought was really childish - '"Jinx, buy me a coke!"

7) When I was a senior in high school, I started eating ice.  I had done it before, like if I finished a drink and there was ice leftover. My dad had always done that.  But about then, I started eating a JUST a glass of ice. It kept me from snacking and gaining weight, which I was terrified of.  That habit literally lasted until after I was married - so, like 5 years!  I stopped when I finally had a house with air conditioning and it was too cold to continue.  I had always thought that people thought I was totally annoying by doing it.  And really, I would bet 90% of people I was around hated it.  But James said that he missed it, and it was strangely romantic.