6 Miles

Did my first non-stop 6 miler today. I did a 6 mile run about a month ago, but stopped after 4 miles because it was getting dark, drove home, and finished on the treadmill. I averaged 13:00/mile. I'm at my highest mileage/week yet, at 12 miles. I felt pretty good, considering I ran for 1 hour and 18 minutes.

Back on the Horse

After taking last week off after racing, I'm back to running again. I did 3 miles on the demoralizing treadmill (it says 13:00/mile and I cranked it up a few times vs. the walking some of the 5K faster pace) and it wasn't too bad. I stopped about halfway through for water, but my legs felt pretty good.

Monday I Learned...

That baked potato guts aren't as hard to clean up as I thought they would be on Sunday, when I decided to procrastinate the task.

Sunday I Learned...

That baked potatoes will explode in your oven.

The Race

The cool morning Perry had said would be here didn't materialize, thanks to Ike. Still, I got up at 5, extremely thankful that the migraine I had been plagued with the past few days decided to let up. I was a little nervous when we got there, mainly because I didn't know the race course and there's a loooooong hill close to the park. The race started about 7:30. Thankfully, the course didn't go close to the scary hill. It did start out on a hill, followed by a downhill which I knew would be there for me at the end. Unfortunately, the course took us through Old Town Suwanee, known now to me as Hills from Hades. Holy cow! About halfway up the first hill, I quit running. I would've walked the hill, but I found that it was a little easier to go forward when I was jogging. We got to the top of that hill and the road turned a corner, up a longer, though less steep, hill. I kept looking for water, knowing that it should be around the 1 mile spot. Looking at my watch, and even accounting for the walking I did, I knew I should be somewhere close to the mark, but there was nothing. No water, no sign. We went through a new subdivision, and at the end of the subdivision was the water. I was a little panicked here, because I was now thinking I was off on my time/mileage estimation. There would be no way for me to finish this in less than an hour if this was Mile 1! I pushed on a bit and rounded a corner. From there, I could see the downhill I went down at the start of the race, so I knew I was a lot closer to the end than I thought. I developed a stitch in my side at this point, so I was walking a little slower here. Perry says I crested the hill at 35:00, which is where I wanted to finish the race. Thanks to a downhill into the park, I finished the race at 36:03. Not quite the time I wanted, but after those hills and the walking I did, not bad. I did come in 2nd in the women't 55-59 age group, and would've taken the 60 and up, lol. The overall women's winner came in at 20:46, and my age group was won at 22:59.
I'm not as sold on racing as I thought I would be, and it might've had something to do with the hills. I'll see if I can find a flatter course and see how I do.

Decade

10 years ago I became a mom. Man, that sentence makes me feel old! I'll have to go upstairs and hunt down some baby pictures of Caleb to scan in. Happy birthday Caleb!

Fantasy Vs. Real Life

On the way back from the school bus this morning I asked Liesie if she was a princess. She said, "No, I'm a person!". Apparently in her little mind, princesses aren't real people, just cartoons.

Cake Blog

Whew! I finally finished posting all of my cakes. Now to go through and tag them all!

New Header

Marchet made a header for my cake blog. Now to finish Midnight Sun so I can give some attention to the blog!

Now I Have to Get Busy Uploading Cake Pictures

A while back, my friend Marchet (the one that did those awesome pictures of my kids) did a photo shoot for some business cards for my cake decorating business. She has some pictures up here. I'm so excited I can barely sit still!

Overheard

Dora (yes, the Explorer) asked what everyone wanted to be when they grew up.

Anneliese: A sparkling princess!

Making Me Laugh Today

I found these today- I will never look at the song "I'm So Glad When Daddy Gets Home" from the kids' perspective again.

I found this a few days ago- and I'm still laughing.

Overheard

To Anneliese, as we were walking back from the bus stop this morning:

Me: I'm going to suck your nose off.

L: Nooooo.

Me: Please?

L: Noooo.

We then go through a round of pretty please with sugar on tops and when that doesn't work, I pull out her patented "because I waaaant to!"s. I finally ask why not.

L: Cause I got glue on my nose.

Neighbourhood Course Take 2

Perry and I went out and did a little run through the neighbourhood, which turns out to be 3.1 miles (how convenient!). I wasn't too happy with the 37:39 time which worked out to 12:09/mile- I want a 35:00 5K. Of course, at the beginning of the summer, I just wanted to finish before an hour, lol, so any improvement is an improvement. I was kind of bummed, since my last Greenway time was a 34:00 3 miler (11:24/mile). Of course, the Greenway is flat and my neighbourhood definately isn't (my fastest mile was on the flat Wetlands part of the course). I asked to stop for water once. We stopped 2 more times (to look at some flowers and field a phone call from the kids) and I grabbed water then. I didn't walk at all, even on the hills. I did this course (and a little extra for a total of 3.4 miles) at the beginning of June. I thought I was going to die and even took a 6 minute sit down break while Perry ran around a loop without me. I ended up with a 51:57 time (15:15/mile). Definately improving, so I'm happy.