What I'm Working On - Tshirt Quilt Week 2

I didn't finish my first tshirt quilt yet. I'm trying to be as thrifty as possible on this quilt so I used tshirt scraps to piece together the back. It took a while, but it's done:

I actually think it looks prettier than the front! I guess it will be reversible. I have begun basting the batting to it and will get this sucker quilted. That's the part where I'm starting to get a bit uneasy for lack of a better word. Sewing the pieces together, while time consuming, was a cinch. I can't wait to show the finished product and get started on my running quilt!

2014 Mercer County Run for the Pets 15K

This past Saturday, I ran the Mercer County Run for the Pets 15K for the 2nd year in a row. I truly love this race. It's one of the only local races that offers the 15K distance which is a good challenging distance, yet not as strenuous as a half marathon. 10K is still my favorite distance to race. 5K is too short and 15K still leaves me with a running hangover. But I like the challenge. I'm like a running Goldilocks.

Dressed in my Mississippi State game day race outfit

A couple of friends were going to ride with me, so I got up early, got the car cleaned out somewhat and waited for them to arrive. One of them got confused about what street I lived on and ended up in Lawrenceburg, which is about 7 miles down the road. So, we were running late....which I hate. I had grabbed something to eat about 30 minutes before the race, but with all the rushing around, I forgot. We got to the beautiful town of Burgin about 10 minutes before race time. It's a small race, so we had no problem registering and getting to the start line in plenty of time. My friends were both doing the 5K and I was one of only maybe 50 doing the 15K. I knew there might be a good chance that I would come in dead last...it's never happened, but I relegated myself to the possibility.

The weather was beautiful and we got started just a few minutes past 8 AM. Now, if Run the Bluegrass is one of America's prettiest half marathons, I would like to nominate this race for one of the prettiest 15Ks. I love country runs. I love running past livestock farms. There was a fiesty little Angus bull about half a mile in that desperately wanted to break through his fence and make this race a running of the bull(s). I already had my escape route planned. 

Pics don't do it justice,

The course is quite hilly. It's one of the hilliest races I run. I like hills and I hate hills....it just depends on the day. I liked them ok this time. There are some really good downhills to give you some relief.

I have to say that once again, the runners were incredibly supportive. It was a modified out and back, so  there was lots of meeting up with other runners headed the other way. Tons of high five and "way to go's" were exchanged. It's the best race I've ever done in that aspect.

I had 8 miles on the training calendar for this weekend so my plan was to train for 8 miles and then do what I could for the last 1.3 miles, but not worry about it. I like to maintain less than 13 minute miles when I do my runs longer than 5 miles. I was slightly below that when I got to mile 8 (I walked a lot after 10K), so I was good. I pretty much walked the last 1.3 miles. I came out too fast clocking one of my fastest 5K times in the past year. Then the hills got to me. Over all, I was happy with my time of 2:03ish. I wasn't last, but almost...not that I would've cared. I don't care about being slow...I don't compete with anyone other than myself. I'm happy my body allowed me to go 9.3 miles without breakfast.

My beautiful running friends. Katie H(center) won 3rd in her age group in the 5K

As some of you may know, we plan to move to Tennessee next summer before Joseph starts kindergarten. I already plan to come back yearly for Run the Bluegrass, Derby mini, Great Buffalo Chase, and the Iron Horse. I plan to add this race to my list. Seriously, if you are local and not running this one, you're missing out.  $20? A beautiful 15K course? Gels on the course (although I wish the super nice volunteer had not opened mine for me...I really wanted to wait until mile 5 to take it)? Plenty of water stops and a decent amount of post race grub? A super soft well designed shirt? A great cause? What's not to love? The only thing I would have pushed it over the top completely would have been gatorade (or the like) on the course (or at the finish). I was out of GU brew tablets and got a bad dehydration headache afterward....but that might have been that post race margarita......I'm not saying.

Photo Dump

Did I mention that I actually get a nap time now? That doesn't mean I nap...but I could. Joseph now goes to all day preschool so once James goes to take his nap, I'm FREE!!!!! I've missed it so much. That is why I have time to blog and peace enough to compile some thoughts. I thought I would do a photo dump from my phone today with pictures from the past week.

I took James to the Kentucky Horse Park last Thursday. He loved it...except that he couldn't sit on the tractors. That made him mad. He really didn't care that much about the horses...I guess he's used to them. 

Man O War statue. James loves fountains.

Horse drawn trolley ride. 

"Lovie" that cat at the Hall of Champions. She bit James....not so lovie after all.

He loved the museum. Here he is "calling" Daddy.

Lunch with Daddy after the horse park.

On Friday I took the boys to the Louisville Zoo.

Train Ride

Joseph playing in the water. It was rather warm and humid.

James chillin outside the bathroom.

Carousel! James didn't like it.

Joseph loved it!

James' 2nd Birthday cake. Chocolate chip cake with cookie dough filling and cookie dough frosting. YUM!

Yummo!

Cheese!

Taking Shelby for a walk.

Donuts = (mostly) tear free shopping trip

Morning person

The AcoUstiKats came to do a concert at our church. They are a men's acapella (sp?) group from the University of Kentucky. They were on the tv show The Sing Off last year and did amazing. It was seriously so much fun.

AcoUstiKats!

Thanks to my wonderful friend, Patricia, I had fantastic seats. 

Check out some of their videos here & here.

What I'm Working On

Pumpkin refused to move.

Long time, no....type. I find blogging to be kind of like going to the gym. When you take off for a while, it's really hard to come back. I kept wondering how I would ever be able to cover all that time I missed. Here's the answer: I'm not. I will attack this blog like I attack gym hiatuses. I'm diving right back in. However, I hope blogging doesn't leave me quite as sore....

So. Recap: Life happened. Stuff went down. Awesomeness. Sadness. Everything-ness. Joseph turned 4. James turned 2. I ran...A LOT.

Now that we are all caught up, let's get down to business, shall we?

I would like to dedicate my Wednesday blogs to my crafts.

Oh how I love crafts. There aren't many I don't dabble in...unless they involve yarn and hooks. I don't crochet or knit. Wish I could....I'm just not talented that way.

For the longest time, I have wanted to make a tshirt quilt. I have an abundance of 5K shirts that I simply don't wear, but I can't bear to part with them. I have begun work on that quilt, which is a huge undertaking. As practice, I am making a smaller quilt (think personal sized) out of some shirts from college and high school and just some cool shirts in general that I also don't really need (most didn't fit anymore...I was a bit more svelte in college...and I liked to wear my shirts a bit tighter). I have finished the front panel, and it really didn't take me too long. I'm using some tshirt scraps to make the back and then I'll get some quilt batting to finish it up. After it's done (hopefully this week unless the batting isn't on sale), I'll get back to work on my running quilt (It's gonna be AWESOME!).

So, hopefully next time you see this, it'll be finished!!!

So many memories.....

I'm BAAAAACK!

Long time no blogging. Honestly, I hate blogging from my iPad and our laptop is painfully slow and the screen is all jacked up. Michael and I toyed around with buying a new laptop, but then we decided that we do have a perfectly good Mac Mini that was hooked to our living room tv. We rarely used it. I didn't like sitting on the couch and blogging with the tiny wireless keyboard while looking at the huge screen....Im just picky....

Anyway, we got a little 19" tv to use as a monitor and set me up a little computer area in James's room....which is now Joseph's room. Yes, we switched their rooms in the process. Joseph LOVES his new bigger room. They are playing fairly peacefully now while I type.

So, where to begin....

This winter is about to kill me. I hate it. I hate snow. I hate ice. I generally hate cold. I don't find snow days fun. I don't want to sled. I have managed to get some runs in. However, I started having some weird lower leg pain last week. My trainer urged me to see my doctor...who I hate (the doctor, not my trainer...she's fabulous). So I went to the doc and he said it was just muscle strain and to take a week off from running and doing anything that aggravates it. That was easy to do since I came down with a stomach bug this weekend and couldn't do much of anything. Seriously, I wanted to die. I still don't believe that it's just muscle strain....but I hope I'm wrong as that is the easiest fix.

The boys are good. Life is crazy. I try to stay busy.....sometimes too busy. I will attempt a couple of miles running tomorrow...hoping to be pain free.

It's good to be back. I look forward to blogging more. I will be getting my pics all organized soon so I can post with pictures. Time to put the wee one down for nap!

Iron Horse Half Marathon 2013

Horses running to meet the runners. Beautiful! (Photo by Mike Zimmerman)

This past Sunday I ran the Iron Horse Half Marathon in Midway, KY. I have heard about this race for a few years now. At first, I was in the "I can't ever see myself running that far" camp. Then at the end of 2011, I decided that running the Iron Horse would be my goal for 2012. BUT...I found out I was pregnant the day after Christmas and that was out. YES, I know you can run while pregnant....YES, I know it's "POSSIBLE" to be half marathon ready 6 weeks post partum.....for some people....but not for me. I won't go into details of what happened when I tried to run when pregnant with Joseph....let's just move on.

Anyway, this year was the year. I registered the day registration opened. For 3 reasons:

1) Entry fees are the cheapest

2) The race ALWAYS sells out...usually 2 months before the race.

3) If I spend the money on something, I'm dang sure going to be ready.

I had wanted the Iron Horse to be my first half. However, my friend Katie talked me into running the Nashville Women's Half Marathon a couple of weeks earlier. Hopefully, I will recap that one soon. So this was my 2nd half. I was more scared because of running the other one, actually. I really fell apart at mile 11 in the last one. BUT, it was a good learning experience. This time I was better prepared.

Michael and I went to the UK vs Alabama football game the night before and didn't get home until after 11. Then I had to get everything ready for the next morning. After that, I had trouble going to sleep. Luckily, for the first time, James slept through the night. He ALWAYS wakes up a bunch the night before I have a long run or a race. I got up at 6, grabbed a banana and a zip fizz and was out the door.

I was worried about parking since Midway is a very small town and there would be 1500 runners coming. I got there really early though and had no trouble parking. Then it was just a bunch of waiting around.

The weather was cool and it was a beautiful day. I really couldn't have asked for better. I felt good. I took a GU about 20 minutes before the race and was ready to go. 

The course was hilly but beautiful. There were plenty of water/sports drink stations. My goal was to run the first 8 miles. The worst of the hills (in my opinion) were in the first half of the race. I felt good though and took another GU a little after mile 5. I passed by the 8 mile sign still feeling ok. So I continued on. However, the hill from mile 8 to almost 10 was relentless and I walked for the first time a little before mile 9. I accidentally paused my MapMyRun app somewhere between 10 and 11. Grr. So I just started checking my clock at each mile to see how I was doing. At mile 11, it was 10:20 so I was at 2:20 gun time. I wanted to beat my previous time of 2:57 so I knew I had 37 minutes to go 2.1 miles to tie it. I could do that walking....and I wasn't planning on doing much walking. I trudged on and enjoyed the nice downhill from mile 11 on. I honestly didn't feel terribly tired until about 12.5 miles. Then my hip started hurting. But the turn to the finish was in sight and that kept me going. Then I saw my boys close to the mile 13 marker. They all gave me high fives and I had the pep to run strong to the finish. The clock said 2:48ish, but my chip time was 2:46:34!!! That is about 11 minutes faster! I love a PR!

 I got my medal (love some bling) and grabbed some food.....I was starving! Joseph loved playing on the caboose that was downtown and James was scoping out people who had ice cream.

 I loved this race. It is very well run. The volunteers are amazing. The course is beautiful and there is plenty of after race snacks and drinks. I will definitely be doing this race again. Michael even said he might do it with me next year.

I LOVED this sign! (Photo by Ruby Cline-Eaton)

A Farewell to Smokey

 

I've sat down numerous times to type this blog entry. I gave up each time when I couldn't seem to find the words. How do you say goodbye to a dog? A dog that was like a furry child to me. I still don't know, but I'm going to try.

We adopted Smokey 2 years ago. He was 7 months old and every bit a puppy. He was not always a good dog. We went through the normal puppy things like chewing, accidents, etc. There were many times I just wanted to take him back to the Kentucky Humane Society, but I made the commitment to Smokey and I do not take that lightly. Like I said, my dogs are like children to me...and you can't just "give them back."

In the past few months, Smokey had gotten so much better. He was good about telling you when he wanted to go outside, reminding you that it was time to eat, and he didn't stray too far from us....unless he was after a squirrel....or a cat....or basically any small creature. He was a tremendous running buddy. I never felt unsafe when I was running with my Smoke Dog. He would take down other dogs and I'm sure he would go after shady people too, but I haven't had any problems. In fact, Smokey could care less about other people....and generally didn't care if people were walking in front of our house...but there were times he would go ballistic about people around our house. And I would get kind of a weird feeling about them too. I think Smokey was a good judge of character. I don't think dogs "profile."

He really was a good dog.

That all ended this past weekend while we were in Tennessee for a visit. I had gone in the house to give James a bath and put him to bed. I let Smokey and Shelby out to do their business. It was dark and Michael was working on the horse trailer at my parents' house across the road. So, naturally, the dogs went over there. I was going to let them back in once I got James out of the bath, but before I got done with him, I heard very loud, very hectic barking...not Smokey's normal bark. I went to go let them in and saw Michael laying Smokey down on the carport. He said he had been hit by a truck. I got a phone and started calling our vet's emergency number, but Smokey was gone before I could get a hold of the on call vet. The truck was probably going 60 mph in front of the house...way too fast. And they didn't even stop. I think it's common courtesy to stop. You don't hit a 35 lb dog and not know something happened. But that's neither here nor there. 

We buried Smokey out back next to Chloe. I still can't believe he's gone.

He was very close with Joseph and it was very hard to explain it to him. I have always been very straight forward when it comes to death. He cried a bit. I don't know that he fully gets that Smokey isn't coming back. He has spent this week in Tennessee so I don't know where he is on the situation. I wasn't much older than him when our family dog, Belle, had to be put down. I remember it being hard, but I handled it ok. I sometimes think we don't give kids enough credit.

Shelby seems to be doing fine with it. We are having trouble getting him to eat just like we did before we got Smokey. He doesn't do as well running either without Smokey to pull him along.

I will miss Smokey. I have cried over him even when I thought I was done crying. I cried when I put up his crate and vacuumed all his hair up. I cried when I washed his bed. I cried when I read an article about a dog running a half marathon by himself. I cried when I took Shelby for a walk and realized it was the first time in 2 years that I have only walked one dog. I cried when someone emailed me a listing for a dog that needed to be adopted (WHO DOES THAT?! I'm in mourning...I don't want another dog just yet....I'll get one later, but I need some time). And I am crying now as I write this.

I'm going to leave this with some pictures of Smokey....I don't have many....he was very camera shy.