a life beyond running shoes.

as i ran with my mother-in-law's training group this morning, i got lots of tales from the strange universe that is polk county..... 1. police force honored for rescuing a man from an alligator....he lost an arm but was spared his life. 2. local football team was going for state record last night.... 53 consecutive wins. 3. marathon plans..... this is their fourth fall marathon. 4. the geese around the lake that scare the snot out of me. 5. the naked man that we saw about 3/4 of a mile into our run.... that gave us enough conversation for the first three miles. 6. the bunny we saw that we thought was fake..... that took up at least half a mile of conversation as they discussed all of the wild life spotted on 5:30am runs: opossums, raccons, ducks, geese, etc. 7. the 10th anniversary of parker street ministry (a local inner-city ministry). 8. the fact that i was able to keep up with this amazing group of ladies for their 9 mile run (i did 8.5 miles - my longest run yet).

when running in florida, in 100% humidity, at 5:30 in the morning, in the dark, in heat that is OPPRESSIVE, on a 4 mile hill workout...... don't try and keep up with your sister-in-law who ran track in college and is training for the new york marathon and plans on keeping pace with your husband's cousin's wife who is training to run a 3:40 marathon in order to qualify for boston. that is what i call a bad idea. and just down right impossible. but i did the workout!!! can i do 5:30 again tomorrow? not sure..... but i did get to see a movie today. gone baby gone . intense. really intense. and visit with some of our favorite friends. encouraging. simply encouraging.

about my fist interval training run this morning.....but i won't. it was hard and no fun....especially with a jog stroller. so, i will share about my first home baked apple pie.....done twice. this first one looks so much prettier than the second one ..... too bad it wasn't edible. i read the recipe wrong.... what might you say would indicate that...... the smoke alarm? that perhaps might indicate recipe gone bad! so we tried round two..... yum! fresh picked apples from our fall retreat..... homemade crust..... even tastier with caramel swirled ice cream. it was such a shame that neither of my children really liked it. more for me!

browsing around through the nikeplus website & my itunes, i found some cool mixes especially created for workouts.... some even include voice overs from coaches. okay, so i downloaded one and have yet to try this "increase your endurance" workout. the nano & nikeplus have the setting called "powersong" that can be accessed at anytime during a run....for instance, at the end of a run or up a hill or at a moment when one would need an extra push. my personal powersong reminds me that i have an affinity for all things juvenile: fall out boy's "thnks fr th mmrs." it always helps me finish my runs with that extra UMPF! but, i spent about an hour working on my running playlist. downloading a few new songs, rearranging the order, deleting some that fail to inspire, etc. then, i hit the pavement...... i think i smiled for at least the first half hour of my run. i was flat out enjoying myself. delighted with good, grooving music. good beats that kept...

he will be 10 months on saturday.... that is correct. he is only 9 1/2 months old. we talked about how he didn't really have permission to walk yet..... his obedience bodes well for the teenage years.

this is what we do for fun.... we make up songs... (he is saying "bless you.") here are our costumes. we wore them to the playground. why not get more than just one day of trick or treating out of them. thank you aunt laurie & uncle dre for such cute outfits!!

it was still dark at 6:30 this morning when i laced up my shoes. i hadn't run in a week and a half due to coming home from california with a head cold. i was not looking forward to it. i had already lost the challenge and my motivation had waned. should i do the short loop twice or meet my friend the hill? i decided to just face the hill. i was dreading it. everyone was passing me. i felt sluggish, yet i felt i had started too fast and was going to have nothing left in my legs for the way home. at a nice, steady pace it is a 5 minute hill. thanks to some good music, i clocked 4:30 on that hill. i thought i was struggling with each step i pounded.... yet the hill was telling me otherwise. my body was moving with memory and ignoring my head that was trying to get in the way. i found a rhythm that was steady yet arguably difficult as i could not get my own voice to be quiet long enough to enjoy the downhill portion of my run..... three blocks to go. i wanted to quit so badly. the tra...

could this really be the beginning of a new world order? yup..... later (after this clip) he took 4 full steps then sat down.

A is my serious child....he only breaks a smile when he has food or is being tickled. my siblings & spouses ...... of course i think my kids are the cutest around...... he was on a mission for bread thus the smile!

my dad got married in napa valley, ca this past weekend. black tie.... very fancy. vineyards.... yummy wine. siblings.... lots of laughing. more pictures to come.