Back Ground

Let me give you a little back ground on my athletic accomplishments. (or lack there of) So that you may understand why it is a big deal to me to go and compete in sports. I use the term compete loosely as it did take me twice as long to finish the 1/2 marathon as the winner of the over all full marathon!

You see I was not the avid athlete growing up. Yes I played sports. I played on the softball team, basket ball (at a young age) and soccer. Basketball I quickly stopped playing before junior high I was awful at it (never really liked it -still don't) Soccer, well I loved playing soccer, I played up into high school. I thought I was pretty good at it. Until my Senior year **sniff sniff bring out the tissues** when I didn't make the varsity team. Yes this was a big slap in the face, don't you automatically make Varsity just because you are a senior? Apparently not. Now I will tell you this. I believe the 4 years I was in high school our Soccer team went to state each year. We had a lot of great players... was I really not good enough to make it? Well the coach thought so. So my senior year I quit playing soccer and most sports all together... I mentioned I played softball too **sniff sniff again** you can guess what happened during the spring practices... yes it was pretty humiliating for me. Anyway.....

Skip forward 15 or so years... am I dating myself here?

I wanted to bring a new challenge into my life and do something that I didn't think was possible for me to do. After all I had witnessed a miracle take place with my husband being able to walk so why not do something extraordinary in my life? That is when I trained for the triathlon, and then the 1/2 marathon. So if you were ever wondering why is it such a big deal to her to finish something.... well there you have it all the gritty, ugly embarrassing details of my life in high school. Did I mention I didn't care for high school? lol I didn't *oh poor me!* College years? you ask? well that was a different story! Thank God. I love the University of Washington it was great!

So now you know why me taking on an athletic endeavors is such a big deal to me.

Seattle Marathon and 1/2 Marathon!!!

I can't get pictures to post - but believe me - I will as soon as I can!!

I did it! 1/2 marathon!

Wow I am so excited that I completed my goal!

I woke up at 4:00 am on Sunday to it snowing! All that I could think was this is Seattle it doesn't snow here - not today! Went and picked up Liz, took some fun pre - 1/2marathon photos in her living room I was so excited and nervous I could hardly stand it. Ate a peanut butter sandwich and we then headed to Seattle.

We arrived and parked at 6:30am all excited to get out and stretch and take in the fun. We got out and went to the stadium only to return to the car a few minutes later for warmth! It was freezing out there! I thought my ears were going to fall off. Sat in the car warming up and talking myself into this (I can do this!) Finally a little before the race got back out and checked our bags, and went to the starting line to watch the walkers for the full marathon take off. A couple of hundred people left out of the finish line. Pretty cool to see. There were over 10,000 people I believe in the race.

Then we lined up. I thought we were towards the back of the line, we soon found out we were in the beginning of the middle pack.... First mile was great I got warmed up and thought - yes I can so do this I feel great I am doing great. I was a little faster then my normal time (but still really slow considering that people were passing me like I was standing still) but I didn't care - I was actually doing this. Liz and I had planned to run together, but she runs faster than me and in the excitement of the race - I told her to go ahead and I would see her at the finish line! So she was off! About 1.5 miles into it, I saw my mom and dad on the sidelines, that gave me a great boost until about mile 4! At mile 4 my friend Angela ran up beside me so I ran with her for a while, not sure how long. I then needed a bit of a break so I walked for a few minutes but I kept Angela in my sights until somewhere around mile 8. At that point my hip started to hurt. But I was determined to keep going. "Pain is temporary" I kept telling myself I can do this. When I needed a rest I walked for 1/4 mile to 1/2 mile - depending on where I was on the course - if I was on a hill I typically would walk up the hill then run again (it was a very hilly course - I quickly found out that I was not prepared as well as I thought for such monster long hills!) but I kept going. My goal was not to run the whole thing, but my goal was to finish and have ran about 3/4 of it. I don't think I ran quite 3/4 of it but I think I was close! I know I ran over half so I am very happy with that! Miles 8 -9- 10 were all a struggle for me mentally. Fatigue and hunger set in and I was going pretty slow so I started to get cold not good when it is cold outside - it actually snowed for a few minutes! At this point I decided that at each water stop I would drink the gatarade because it had exactly what I needed to keep going (hey what ever works, right!) and the trick worked and with each water stop I drank Gaterade and felt immediately refueled! Mile 11 or so I got quite the fun surprise - the male winner of the marathon passed me! That's right I hadn't finished the 1/2 marathon and this guy came flying by with a police escort. Wow you might think I would be angry, but now it was awe inspiring to me! My body was saying a "screw you" with 3 miles to go and this guy was on mile 23! wow I wanted to yell "way to go" but, well I needed the energy! As I came over I-5 and saw the space needle I began to pick up pace a tad - then at about 3/4 mile way to the finish they had a Gatorade stop again! woo hoo. I stopped and drank the gaterade then stretched a tad and off I went I was running to the finish! There is a small hill as you come up Mercer street into the stadium, I ran all the way up and rounded the corner and could see the stadium entrance and I hit a bit of a wall. I didn't realize it but I stopped right in front of Liz she was on the sideline (she was done about a half hour before me) I stopped then I heard her say " You can do it Em just 100 yds till the grass of the stadium", well I began to ran immediately, it gave me the motivation to continue! I ran across the finish line! Liz had ran down the sideline and when I saw her after I crossed she gave me a big hug and well I got all emotional and cried! I had done it! We had done it! As soon as I stopped running it was like my body just said " I am done" and walking seemed difficult. But we managed to walk and get our bags then go the recovery area, where we saw lots of people and got some food and more importantly warmth!

I ran into Angela, Jodi and Shaun in the recovery area - we got some good photos together.

I do not know what Shaun's time was but I think Jodi was around 2:13 ! Talk about fast! Liz was 3:03 minutes - Angela I think was around 3:15 and they both ran all the way (go girls) You guys are all an inspiration to me - setting a goal and then meeting it! I am proud of us all!
I am so happy I accomplished my goal. My time was 3:33 which averages a 16:16 mile. Not a speed demon but hey it beats sitting on the couch! The point is that I got out there and did it. I pushed myself and did what I never imagined I could have done , well 6 months ago!

what is next? I am not sure but I know that when you put your mind to something you can accomplish anything. I have many things going through my head - pretty excited to start training for something..... we'll see.
I used to think the real challenge was to be really thin, but I now think the real challenge is to be active and fit and be in the best shape I can possibly be in for me and my family!

That is it for now! woo hoo!!

Thanksgiving

We had lots of fun this year at Thanksgiving. We spent this Thanksgiving over in Sequim with Derrick's sister and family.


This is LaVyonne Derrick's sister... hanging out and just chit-chatting. We don't get to do that all that often so that was great!

Her e is Josie looking like a little pirate! She enjoyed playing with a train set they had.

John learned how to ride his bike a little better, while we were there. We don't have any pavement by us so it is hard for him to ride... but they live on a quite street so all was well with him riding. Dad was out there for a long time walking and running along side of him. Dad saved John from some serious road burn a couple of times.

John and his cousin Brian rode the ATV, Detrix and and John got to do that together too. I just don't have a picture of Detrix and John on it.

The family also enjoys playing board games. What is weird is that Grandma Mary oves to play board games and is always playing someone, but in this picture she is missing - she went to take a nap with Josie - so it is kind of funny I don't have her in the photo because she is the avid board game player.

Then things got wild!
Derrick took John and Detrix to the Olympic game farm, where the bears are just a few feet away! You also get to feed buffalo right from your car! I will post some more of the photos of Game farm - they are really good!

Just about 1 week left!

Yes well you can say I am freaking out now! Just a little over a week left before the 1/2 marathon. I was feeling pretty good until I just looked over the course map... it looks so long! I am very excitted but a lot freaked out too. I have done a total of 10 miles, not the actual 13.1. It took me quite a while to do the 10 miles, so no I am not thinking I will break any records. However I think the butterflies I feel are pretty cool. I haven't been this nervous and excitted,scared in a while - all in a good way! lol the funny kicker here is that my friend Kalei is the one that originally wanted to do the 1/2 marathon, and I don't think she is acutally signed up! Then well ofcourse there are other crazy friends that keep me motivated. Angela, Liz and Jodi thanks ladies for "making" me do this! Yes Liz I will be picking you up on the way to the race - just so you don't get lost!! Smiles to you all - pray for no rain.

Veterans Day

I have always wanted to take the kids each year to a Veterans Day parade so today we got to do that. They have pretty big parade in a town near us so we went out to honor those that have served in our armed forces. I have always been a supporter of our Armed Forces, but even more so after the 9/11 attacks. It is something that gets me emotional just thinking about the men and women that have fought for our freedom. I only know a few people that were in the military, and my hat goes off to them for sacrficing for our country. I think what makes me in awe of the men and women that have fought for this great country is that most did so on their own free will (Vietnam excluded, some were drafted) Even those that were drafted, and did go and serve well what a great tribute we owe them. I may not think we should be over in Iraq, or other areas but I support the men and women non the less that are there. Political agenda's aside our country is a free country because of the brave men and women who have fought to keep it that way.

We saw soldiers from WWII,Vietnam, Desert Storm and Operation Freedom. The group of people that brought a tear to my eye as they passed were the POW's . Prisoner of War. They had a hand full of men on a float, I can only imagine what they might have gone through as a prisoner. Perhaps I don't want to know what they went through, but the sacrificed an awful lot.

Derrick and I told John and Josie how we honor those that served in the military by standing as they walk by, by taking off our hats and clapping for them. This shows the men and woman that we respect what they have done.(We sat down when others went by mostly marching bands.) I can only pray that John and Josie grow up to understand that our Freedom has come with a high price. That men and woman have died, standing up for those that have been wronged. No matter the war or clnflict we might be in, I honor those that have served. I am happy to have taken part in a time honored tradition.


I also saw a gentleman standing on the side of the parade route who I wanted to hug. He was elderly man all dressed up in his military attire, he had a jacket on and on the back was a big patch stating that he was a Pearl Harbor survivor. Wow - What an honor for me to see someone that survived Pear Harbor, I wanted to go hug him. I just said Thank you instead.

Rivers and Floods

Well as anyone knows that has seen the news is that the PNW has been hit by a major storm in the beginning of the week. On Mon I came home to a river running down our driveway. We have a main water run off that comes off of the highway down through our property. Bless his heart the person that owned the property before us didn't quite fix the problem the way it should have been done. So when I came home I found that there was so much water running through the pipes that the pipes couldn't hold it all. I went out to redirect some of the water, while I was out redirecting the water I heard a rumble come down the pipe.... then a boom... well we have a cement guard on top of the pipe to catch any splashes of water, that came crashing down about 3 ft from where it was! ( Derrick can dead lift this, but it is difficult for him, I can't lift it by myself at all) At this point I thought, this is not good! I went in and called the city (after all it is there water technically) they had a local church flooding but they would get to me as soon as possible they said. Oh great. I called Liz to tell her of our newest fun story, she said she would grab a shovel and come over to help. The city actually didn't take too long to come out. Ofcourse they informed me that it is really not there issue but would try to help anyway. They said the person that did the pipe was told not to do it this way, and there would be a problem. Ofcourse that really helps me now doesn't it.... Turns out when I heard the rumble, it was a boulder coming loose off the hill, and it went and blocked the pipe. So after getting soaking wet trying to move the boulder the poor city guy, I felt bad for him we were both soaking wet but he filled part of his boot! Let's just say I am not sure where the storm water comes from, but it doesn't smell pleasant! Anyway as soon as we got the boulder out of the way, the water stopped pooring over the side. It had already created 6" ruts in the driveway - all in about a 1/2 hour. Pretty amazing the power of water. The city guy said that was all they could do, and left. Then Liz showed up after that and helped me lift the cement gaurd back up and replace the boulders around it. All is well now and it has held over the past few days. Got to love the North West weather!

I wish I would have taken pics... maybe I will take some of the lake out back! The field next to us fills up like a lake - pretty impressive!