No Half Marathon Yet

I have officially said no the marathon in Vegas due to finances. We are going to Denver over Thanksgiving to meet up with family. My family is coming in from Kansas City. We cannot afford two nights of hotel rooms in Denver and then for me to go to Vegas the very next weekend. But I am going to keep running and keep doing long runs over the winter so I can keep the shape I am in. I do not want to start over come spring. I think from here on out I am going to do one long run of 12-14 miles per month and the other 3 weekends do short runs, maybe 7 – 10 miles.

On Sunday I did a great trail run in Hartman Rocks. I have blogged about Hartman’s in the past and it is nice because it is less than 3 miles from our house. Hartmans is pretty big, not huge but big. I have only run and mountain biked a very small portion of it. Yesterday I explored a new area that I have never been. I did about 5 miles as a trail run at Hartmans and the rest on the road.

My original goal was 14 miles but I was pretty tired at mile 9 so I just headed home and that made it an even 12 miles. I thought I was running really slow, and walking a lot more than normal. I thought for sure my time would be longer than the last time I did 12 miles but it was not. I was right on, which is really weird because I was much more tired this time than the last time I did 12 miles. This time there were more hills but I kept at them and I had a great time. I even ran though a little bit of snow and I got snowed on at one point to! Winter is coming!!

H1N1

Are you getting the vaccine for this? Heidi asked me in the comment section if I was going to and I really don’t think I am. Yes, we do have little kids but we also eat very well, get regular exercise and in general are very healthy. I normally do not get the flu shot, Joe never does, Mikayla has had it a couple of times and Lily has only received it once. Also, the girls and I have never had the flu and Joe had it a couple of times as a kid (but he was living in New Jersey – awful air and water quality.) I think it we stay on top of things, lots of healthy food, lots of exercise and play time, and lots of vitamins we will be fine. I might re-think this is I hear of H1N1 cases at the preschool.

As I write this I am sure my mom is going to say something. Especially since my brother in law Josh has it.

New Year's Resolution

Back in January I made a few New Year's Resolutions and blogged about it here. The sad thing about looking at my list is that I have only done one thing on it. There were many races I wanted to do but mostly due to injuries I have not done them. I have not run any of the races I wanted to but on the plus side I did do a 10 mile race and I am down to my pre-baby weight of 133.

Last Thursday was my 31st birthday and I also set a lot of the above resolutions to make 30 a great year (I was not looking forward to turning 30 and it was a very sad day). Now I am 31 and still have not accomplished what I wanted to. I still really want to do a marathon but it is also looking like I won't be able to do the one in Vegas, not due to injury but due to finances. My family is coming out to Denver for Thanksgiving and we cannot afford to spend two nights in Denver in a hotel and then for me to go to Vegas the very next weekend. I really need to see my family because it has been awhile since I have seen my sister and she just had a new baby.

I am thinking that I will slow down on the running, but keep running a nice long run on Sunday and come Spring I WILL do a marathon. Also I know I have really slacked off in my blogging but I am gearing up for NaBloPoMo (what does that stand for anyway?) I am going to blog everyday during the month of November. My blog is heavily going to focus on getting everyone else in shape. I am going to have a Couch to 5K plan, 10K plan and a 1/2 marathon plan. I am going to have diet and exercise tips and more. Cheer me on and leave me lots of comments because I have NEVER blogged for 30 days straight!

Pumpkin Patch - 1 year ago

Here are some pictures I found on our computer from our visit to the Pumpkin Patch one year ago. The girls have changed so much!

I'm glad I have finally lost those baby pounds!

Lily is no longer a baby - she is a walking, talking little monster=)

My little baby has gotten so big in only one year!!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Today instead of running we headed out to Montrose, Colorado (a little more than an hour from Gunnison) to Devires Buffalo Ranch. There we went through a huge corn maze. They said the trails inside were over 3 miles long. We only did a small part of it. Then we headed over to the pumpkin patch to get our pumpkins for Halloween.

Lily being silly on the way home.

Mom - This one is for you. This is Lily with her baby but I could not get her to do the shh.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. We had a great day!!

Real Age

My 31st birthday is coming up here next week and let's just say I wish I could turn back the time clock. I found another grey hair - it happened this time last year as well.

Well I was on www.realage.com and I took the Real Age Test. I was very excited to see that I am only 22.1. I must be doing something right!

12 Miles - I'm Getting There

I did a 12 mile run today and it went great. I left from the house and headed for a trail run that is about 3 miles from my house. The nice part about this trail run is the first 1/2 mile is uphill and then it evens out and is really flat. I did 6 miles on the trail and then headed home.

I was reading my Runner's World magazine that it is a good idea to pick up the pace the last two miles of your trail run to what you want to race pace to be. My ideal race pace is anything under 11 minutes per mile. My average pace the first 10 miles were 11:20 miles. I picked it up and kept it under 11 minutes the last two miles and it was hard but not THAT hard. I could have done another mile. That is another great thing is that after 12 miles I could have gone another mile if I needed to. I felt great and strong this week.

Two months to Vegas, will I make it?