A week in the life....

 A full time working mother of two (sometimes 3 - sorry Sam). I have a small amount of time to get shit done:

Sunday: 8 mile run, Easter Egg hunt in neighborhood, Sam takes boys bowling. Then this happened:

Mason dropped a 15 pound bowling ball on his toe. He said he will never bowl again. :( Good thing I got so much done already. Spent the rest of the day snuggling my poor guy.


Monday: Full day of work and meetings with Mason at my side. Come home to give 2 hours of private therapy. Run 2.5 miles and do 30 minutes of yoga. Sam biked while I played with kids. Sam cooked this for dinner:

It was delicious. I'm pretty lucky that he is such a good cook.

Tuesday:  Work a full day. Pick up Sammy's Kindergarten packet. Come home and bike while the boys play outside. Sam cooked this for dinner:

Wednesday: Work a full day. Do a quick jog. Pick up the boys and find that Mason's toe is leaking. Neighbor cleaned it for me. Called the Dr's office to make an appointment at 4:15. They had a 4:30 opening! I picked up Mason and flew to the car. We were x-rayed, seen by the Dr. and out the door by 4:50. It was great! No break, no infection. Just keep an eye on it. Went to in-laws for dinner.

Thursday: Busy day at work. Spring Break starts tomorrow afternoon - crazy buzz at school when that happens. I'm thinking tons about our race on Sunday. Cherry Blossom 10 miler. I have the boys sleeping at Grandma's for the race and packet pickup will be Saturday morning.

Friday: I cannot predict the future (Sam thinks he can) but I do know what my day will look like tomorrow. Why? I'm a clipboard. That's what we do. I'll work. Give 2 hours of therapy. Play with the boys. Head out to a jewelry party.

Something great that happened today? My picture is featured on one of my favorite blogs!

Happy almost Spring Break! I'll be back with a Cherry Blossom report Monday.

Double thumbs up

Double "thumbs" up

I hate change, but SOMETIMES change is.....

The answer. I hate change a lot. I'm a clipboard. I'm a schedule person. I'm a make a list and cross it out person. I will put things on the list I already did just so I can cross them off. I love it. I love to get shit done.

My husband is a beach ball. He's go with the flow. He rolls with the punches and just lets it all happen. Somehow we don't kill each other.

We have really come together on nutrition and training. Turns out the perfect combination for us is a little bit of my structure and a little bit of his flow.

My structure: My Fitness Pal
Sam's Flow: Weigh in after a few good days of eating - not EVERY morning and screaming at the scale

We both need to mark progress in what we are able to do and how our clothes feel. I do have a new trick. Wanna see it?

Sam was able to catch that moment. The FIRST time I've ever been able to do that yoga pose. I was so excited I almost cried. That's something, right? Haven't had the strength, balance, or nerve to do it before.

Also, today, my pants were a little loose. Team Hardman is about to become unstoppable!

Rock n Roll DC 1/2 Marathon.....1st time I ever......

Had to stop to use a porta potty? Nope. There are not many porta pottys that I haven't used.

Got chub rub? Nope. Get it so much my kids ask me after races if I got it.

Thought I might not finish? Nope. There have been a few races that I had the momentary thought of "this may not happen". (thankfully I've finished all I've started)

This 1/2 marathon was the first race (and I"ve done close to 40) that I've actually just had fun. Sounds silly, right? Typically I set a goal and if I don't meet it exactly I get pissy. I get down on myself, I get pouty, quiet, and decide "that sucked" or "epic fail". I've cried over race performances more times than I care to admit.

This race was about Sam. It was his first 1/2 marathon - and since it's my favorite race distance I really wanted him to like it. It was on St. Patrick's Day and we wore green, but once we got to the race and saw all the clever costumes and race gear we felt a little under dressed.

green socks were everywhere!

The race started like any other one - a huge line at the porta potty. We got to our race coral and then waited. It took about 30 minutes to get to the start line....there were SO many people. We knew we were staying together so we did not have a plan for meeting up if we got separated. BIG mistake.

At mile 2 I had to make a pit stop - no surprise there. There were some technical difficulties and miscommunications and Sam and I were separated. Never to see each other again until 15 minutes after I finished. It was crazy!

I hoped that Sam was in front of me and  I decided to just enjoy the view. This was my 6th half marathon. I knew what to expect and I also knew that I never really remembered anything about the race other than if I met my goal or not. I decided my goal was to have fun. I stopped and took pictures. I walked, I ran, I got lots of water, I enjoyed the music....

Instead of checking my Garmin every two steps I looked around and took it all in. I knew my time would be terrible - but I didn't care. Now, I've said that a million times. "I didn't care about the time..." - But I did. I would get home and cry to Sam about it. I am pretty competitive, which is why I like to race, but I need to learn to have fun too. I high-fived every kid I saw, I sang along with some of the music. I even stopped and got the beer that I've seen every year and have always been too set on a goal to grab.

It tasted so good. The carbonation was exactly what I needed. And I got to see Justin Bieber :)

I even made sure I had green Gu

I was moving along pretty slow. My quads hurt. At one point my walk might have been faster than my jog. Oops :)  I kept thinking about Sam and how I hoped he was having fun and that he loved it. I saw mile 12 and knew I was going to cross that line.

I finished and spent about 15 minutes looking for Sam. He had finished just ahead of me and had a great time! He met up with a girl and ran most of it with her. He said it was slow but he kept going. He really liked it and was very proud of himself! I am SO proud of him.

In two weeks we have the Cherry Blossom 10 miler. Goal? Show up with a dynamite outfit!

St. Lucia - honeymoon take 2!

My sister planned a destination wedding to St. Lucia that we just got back from. It was AMAZING!

Day 1: Started early. Early like 3:30am early. We all (mom, brother, his wife, sam, me) met at our house to go to the airport together. There was a lot of excitement, but not too much talking - sleepy people. We flew to Miami and had a layover where we got breakfast and walked around. The Miami airport is HUGE. Back on a plane to fly 3 1/2 hours to St. Lucia. We watched the movie The Big Year (Owen Wilson, Jack Black) - funny, but only watched it because it was on.

Then we landed.

Local beer. Pretty delish

Leaving the airport

Typical house in the village

Rum punches everywhere

Our balcony at the Windjammer Landing

Hills were crazy!

More Rum Punch!

Day 2: We went on a Sugar to Rum Tour. We went to a sugar plantation and learned all about the history of it and how they made the sugar. It was beautiful. Then we learned about a bunch of different rums. The tour leaders said "Ok. Have at it!". So we did.

Coco beans and Cashew nut

The row of Rum we tried. Yum!

We also went into the city. We got food, gifts, and did everything local.

My city friends

Market

 

Day 3: All day tour. We went on a boat around the island, went to a coco plantation, botanical gardens, saw the volcano, and got in the mineral baths. Long day, totally awesome.

polishing the coco nut

Local food. Fried bananas, jerk chicken, salad, fried fish

mineral baths from the volcano

Day 4: The wedding day. We went to Joan's resort (Sandals) and did the all-inclusive thing. Lots of fun.

Getting ready

Day 5: Para sailing, snorkeling, swimming, eating, drinking.....a lazy day :)

Day 6: Go home day :( We didn't have to leave until 11, which was great. We got a last day tour through some villages and ended at the airport. Flight back was easy peasy and we landed in Va at 12:30am. Long day. Long trip. Totally worth it.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

My long run for this weekend was a 9 miler. I've done them before so there was no fear of the unknown and I've been on top of my training plan - mostly.

Friday night I decided I would run Saturday and Sam said he would ride on the trainer next to me. We had a few shoes DVRd - so I figured NO BIG DEAL. Boy was I wrong.

I woke up Saturday feeling frustrated about my weight. I've done really well, but I was just feeling defeated and down. Mix in with that the knowledge that I have to run 9 miles. I knew I'd run it on the treadmill and Sam would be there so it wouldn't be so bad. I procrastinated as long as I could and then hopped on the treadmill. I was quiet, feeling very sad, and teared up right away. At 3 miles I hit "stop" and burst into tears. Sam was not really sure what was going on, but he gave me a huge hug. He also gave me "10 more seconds to cry hard and then you have to stop". I pushed out all the tears and just stood there.

Sam made me hit "start" again and told me that I'd feel so good when I hit 9 miles and I'd be mad at myself if I didn't just do it. I stood there. I whined, thought of any way to get out of the run, and then told him I had no energy. He agreed "you wasted alot of energy crying and pouting" - ouch. He was right though. He left and came back in with a flat sprite and two Gu's. "Now get going".

I finished the run - all 9 miles. I was soaked with sweat and tears. I was really glad that I finished and crossed it off my training plan. I would never have been able to do it without Sam. He's pretty great that way. After that we ate lunch, went to the mall (SUPER crowded) and then hung out with some great friends. So nice that I have today to relax since I used up all my energy yesterday.

Next weekend is my last long run - 10 miles. BUT I get to run it in St. Lucia!!! Sam and I plan on running around the island. The weekend after that is the half marathon. I'm really excited to be running it with Sam. It will be his first and I can't wait for him to see how it feels to do 13.1 and earn a medal!