Half Marathon – Life of Jill

March 16, 2015 September 5, 2016

I’m Not Even Sure That I Can Keep Up With All This

Our weekends may not be as busy as they once were, but it is incredible how much we cram into such a short amount of time. I’m exhausted just thinking about it. I’m also exhausted because of it. Even with the expectation that this would be a busy weekend, I’m still amazed by this level of tired. It wasn’t until I scrolled through the pictures from the past few days that I fully realized just how nuts we are sometimes. Okay, often. We are nuts on a super regular basis. But scrolling through these pictures was a reminder that I wouldn’t change any of it. There’s nothing I would want to miss. *F*R*I*D*A*Y*

Love these two, Life of Jill — Love these two: Beezus and the Birthday Girl

Friday we celebrated a certain someone turning 18 with a huge family dinner. Words cannot express how weird this is especially since Beezus is right behind her. It was just yesterday they looked like this:

I’m not sure what got into all of us, but we were a rambunctious group. A musical, messy and completely insane kind of rambunctious. I’m sure we must be the only ones to find us funny, but does YOUR sister convince your dad to turn his plate sideways so that she can slop more ‘green slime’ onto his plate from across the table?

My guess is no. Unless you’re related to me and we have the same siblings. (Most of it actually made it onto the plate if you can believe it. Most of it.)

*S*A*T*U*R*D*A*Y* We are new to the band life and all that entails. We’ve had band concerts and parades and carnivals, but this was our first experience with a band festival. I guess I would liken it to a softball showcase except there are festival judges that score and critique each band. My kid was a little disappointed with their score, but this was supposed to be a learning experience only. They’ll be even more ready for the next one. (We also ran into my brother who was out there representing the company he works for. It was kind funny and hilarious that we got to hang out there for a bit.)

After a late breakfast and taking care of a few things around the house (and maybe a nap) it was time to get ready for the high school crab feed. I was so excited to have some of our favorite folks join us and we had just the right amount of us to splurge on a VIP table. It wasn’t even that much more (really, not at all) and it was sooooo worth it. We. Had. A. Blast. We had our own waiter (Joey!) and some little extras here and there that were super enjoyable. Courtney has taught us all how to come prepared for a crab feed (complete with a candelabra, of course) and our brand of fancy won us the best table! (It may have been called something else but I’m going to believe it was BEST TABLE EVER. Especially since Joey said so.) The Dude (aka The Mayor for this particular crab feed – only to us) picked out our gift basket. Some of it immediately went *SPLAT* on the floor, but the vodka and martini glasses were spared.

I fully expected this to be my last crab feed with the high school, but we had SO MUCH FUN (and they really do a bang up job) we’ve preemptively committed to next year along with plans for t-shirts and complete with nicknames.

This picture doesn’t really have much to do with anything except for it’s AWESOME. Sarah wanted to take a picture of Amy and I standing in front of the flag mural before the crab feed and a two-gal salute was the only answer. (I have no idea why that sentence sounds a little dirty so just pretend that it’s not if it is.) *S*U*N*D*A*Y* Waking up early for a half marathon seems like a bad idea after such a fun crab feed, but this is how life works sometimes. Sarah, Dina and I had trained so hard for Shamrock’n but NONE of us were super excited to do the actual race. Our training had gone so well, but I think we all realized how tough this race would be. First of all, IT WAS SO DAMN HOT. Most of our training was done in the wee hours of the morning so you can imagine how the heat might affect us. I’m not sure if I have ever been so grateful to cross a finish line. (You know, besides every single race I’ve ever done. Besides THOSE times.) I was proud of us for finishing…but I was most proud of our training.

you can almost see the relief on our faces that we’re done

REALLY proud of all of us. (Met through the local chapter of Moms Run This Town)

I’m trying to keep the negativity to a minimum, but I’ve also realized it’s okay that this wasn’t my favorite race. Not by a long shot. Mentally and physically it was just rough. ROUGH. Let’s just say that there were a few miles that were fueled ONLY by the thought of this view after it was all over: (That and icing my knees.)

I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t a little discouraged by the outcome of this race. Our training had gone so well, I really thought the race was going to be different. I walked into the office to hang my medal with the others. I was deliriously tired by this point so I know my emotions may have been more on the surface because of that, but I grabbed all the medals off the little shelf where I haphazardly hang them and laid them out on the kitchen table. (Someday I’ll actually buy a race medal rack. Someday.) I’ve done six half marathons (one medal is not pictured because I was too lazy to go upstairs and get my Nike necklace), one full marathon , three Ragnar relays and two CIM relays. (Plus a handful of 5k’s, etc.)

Yesterday I became a little more proud of this collection. Maybe even a lot more proud. Not one of those races was easy for me by any stretch of the imagination. Running will never be easy for me. But the fact of the matter is that I did it anyway. I know that I always say that running teaches me to do hard things but I don’t know that I let myself be really proud of that very often. I don’t think I’ve ever displayed all my medals all at once just let myself be proud that I EARNED each one of those. I earned them. It doesn’t make me feel tons better about a shitty race, but it does make me feel really proud of all those races as a whole. Although, this level of tired is off the charts and there are FIVE whole days until the weekend. Which, thankfully, isn’t quite as busy as this one. I might get to actually sleep a wee bit more. Plus, I get to look forward to going on a run because I WANT to and at a time that is as early in the morning as I want it to be for whatever distance sounds like a good idea. I have enough medals. For now.

March 3, 2015

I’m Ridiculous. And Badass.

Turns out that if I don’t have a goal to post every weekday, I don’t really post much at all. So. New month. New goals. New weekdays.

And it’s already past midnight on the first day and I haven’t posted yet.

I’ve got my work cut out for me.

***

I’ve been training for a half marathon. I briefly mentioned it before, but I don’t think I’ve said anything since. I think that’s mostly because I keep up with my running stuffs on Cap City Moms.

But here’s the thing: right now I’m awake WAY too late and I know that I will still get up in the morning because my running pals will be waiting for me. Those dang running pals of mine that keep me accountable and, well, help me to train better than I have in a REALLY long time. I’m stupid proud of us.

We ran 12 miles last weekend. And nothing about that run was easy. I mean, it never is. But that 12 mile run was mentally difficult. And I wanted to give up A LOT.

But I didn’t. I didn’t give up and we finished and I’m high-fiving all of us still.

Less than two weeks until our half. We got this.

September 5, 2013 January 2, 2015

all it takes is faith and trust…oh, and something I forgot: dust

I haven’t been running much lately. Or at all, really. But it makes me feel better if I can say it the other way. I mean, I do realize life has been insane. We’re always on the go. I don’t even get enough sleep usually. So finding time to run hasn’t made the agenda for a while.

We don’t need to talk about how my waistline notices the lack of running. No need to state the obvious! But it’s the mental and, dare I say, spiritual side of running that I miss most of all.

Also: Races.

I miss the races.

I’ve seen several people talking about this past weekend’s Disneyland Half Marathon. And I’m surprised by how much it made me wish I was, well…regularly running, but also that I was running through Disneyland like so many people I know. You guys…it really is so much fun. Like, more fun than I ever expected.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always loved all things Disney. I just never though that Disney races would be so rad.

When Sarah ~~asked~~ told me that I would be running the Tinkerbell Half with her for her first half marathon, I was excited. (She feels bad because she didn’t give me much choice. I said: BRING IT.)

FOR THE RECORD: While I had been thinking of chopping off all of my hair for several months, I may or may not have taken the plunge just before our trip because DUH. Pixie haircut for the Tinkerbell Half.

Adorable.

Disney races start early. Don’t let anyone tell you different, because they’re lying. They gotta get all those runners through the park and still be able to open on time. But the best part of starting a race so early, in January, in Socal and at Disneyland?

FIREWORKS AT THE STARTING LINE.

Because of course.

Also, SoCal January is different than most other places in January, so the weather is nice. A little chilly at 4-something in the morning, but not bad at all.

The beginning of the half marathon is through Downtown Disney and you make your way back to run through California Adventure and Disneyland. There are photo ops with several Disney characters all along the route while inside the park. Some stops had hefty lines, so you have to care more about getting the picture with than about how long it will take you to finish the race. Since this race is all about Tink, we wanted to stop to take pictures with Wendy & Peter and then again with the Lost Boys. Obviously. We decided against stopping for pictures with the princesses and other awesome characters because WOW the lines. The longest line we saw? Pictures with Storm Troopers. Plastic soldier men are the BUSINESS. Apparently.

Running through the park is a blast, though. Everything is lit up and just as awesome as you might think. And, because it’s Disneyland, there are people everywhere to help. Like, point you to the nearest bathroom. Or show your where the nearest garbage can is for your empty GU pouches…or they might throw it away for you. (That maybe happened.) (Disney isn’t ridiculously clean by accident.) You also run through some of the “back lots” where you see where they keep the floats and the stables where they keep the horses. It’s no Main Street “magic” but it is really interesting. Now, yes…running around Anaheim is a tiny bit boring, but many races have spots like that. The start and finish lines really make up for it.

I’ll be honest, I was a little lost in my excitement for Sarah at the end of her first half, so I feel like I missed some of what the Finish line had to offer. I still remember my first half and how I felt at the end of it. And I think I got lost in all that. But who doesn’t love an awesome Tinkerbell finishers medal? And a goody bag filled with post-race snacks? But mostly, who doesn’t love that end-of-race glow? (Just kidding, it’s all sweat and grossness. I’m not one of those people who finish a race looking all fresh and looking great. Nope. Although, this is the ONE race that I put on some serious make-up for.)

Here’s the thing…I just saw that next year’s Tinkerbell Half is about 85% full and it’s REALLY hard to not to sign us up again. It’s one of those things that is ON MY LIST to do with my girls before a certain one of them leaves for college. (Hysterical weeping.) And there are many of us have talked about doing this, too. So this is what I’m thinking: Tinkerbell Half Marathon 2015. Registration will open NEXT summer (July, I believe) and I think we should all do it. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

Put it on your calendars.

You don’t even have to start training for it until the end of next year.

Best. Idea. Ever.

Happening.

(Um…thank you for the pictures, Sarah!)