Runner's High

And now I know why people run; it's best feeling in the world. I've never been the super-athletic type, but in my quest to loose weight, I've found that running accelerates the process and so I'm fair game!

In early April, I printed off the registration form for the Cresson Area Heritage Days 5K run, filled it out, and started training.

My first run was about 1.5-2 miles in length and I thought I was going to die - my lungs burned, my stomach ached, my head pounded, my eyes bulged. I gave myself a 1 day break and did it all over again (and was pretty much in the same shape as the first run). Since those first couple of runs (and recoveries), I've discovered that running is an amazing form of exercise and that it's brought out the athlete in me.

On Sunday, I ran in my first 5K race!

It was my experiment/test to see how I'd do. I learned a lot, mostly what not to do - like don't base my body temperature comfort level on others' ideas (I was way too cold the entire time) and if I just push a little harder, it can make a big difference (I was so close to coming in under 30:00).

My goal was two fold: finish in under 32:00 and don't be the last one across the line. I accomplished both goals. My time was 30:03 (not too shabby) and the best surprise of all was that I won a 3rd place medal for female 31-35 age group!

This whole running thing has been an eye-opener for me: If I can do this, anyone can! Also, I'm healthier now than, well, ever!

I've officially caught the running bug and I'm already planning and plotting my next race with new expectations, new goals, and maybe even new/more running partners.

Me before the race- just got registered and numbered (my lucky number happens to be 32, but 31 turned out to be my buddy that day).

Last leg of the race. I typically run in the afternoon, so a morning race was a real wake-up call for me - I was dehydrated and didn't feel very good for about the last 1/2 mile. I could see the finish line from here and boy was I glad!

CROSSING THE FINISH LINE!

My tee shirt and medal!

The entire reason for my existence - my guys (gotta get them into running:)!

For Grammy Linda

Grammy Linda asked for more photos, so here are a bunch in random order.

Taking Jude for a little hike around the lake (I realize I look like a boy on here).

This was just a few weeks ago.

Meeting Curious George @ Barnes and Noble

St. Patty's Day fun @ Target

Jackson's rendition of Einstein

Breakfast @ Tom & Joe's - best place in the world!

A moustached sippy cup

Boys prior to a hair cut

My guys in front of the Green Harvest Company (in Bedford)

A moustached boy!

I'm Downloading

The other evening I sat in front of the computer for what seemed like centuries (although it ended up being about 2&1/2-3 hours) downloading the 876 photos off of our 2 cameras, sorting, and organizing them into folders. Photos dated back to Thanksgiving weekend (what?!?!?). Since Thanksgiving, I've just been downloading a few here and there to put up on the blog, but this was the big download event. It was fun looking through all of them and reminiscing about all the fun we've had over the past several months. Just thought I'd share some random photos.

Jude with a pretzel on every finger (January)

Gettin' ready to head out into the winter cold (February)

I'd rather just forget about this day (February)

Mr. Exploration (February)

Oh yes! This was the "I can take my clothes off all by myself!" stage -we went out for Grammy Linda's birthday, so yes, this was in public! (February)

Hangin' at the cafe in Target (March)

Someday he'll fit into these shoes:( (March)

David Gray concert in Pittsburgh - we got to meet him (he's in the middle - we went with our friends Tracey and Jim Donovan)!!! (March)

The zoo! (April)

We watched as a diver cleaned the glass in the shark tank @ the zoo (April)

Dinner with our good friends before they moved (Herb, Bethany, Jackson, Theresa, Jude, and Shaun) (May)

Jude's attempt at being a make-up artist for a role in The Jungle Book. We took the kids to see the play and Jude wanted so badly to be part of it, so he took matters into his own hands.

So you can see we've been busy the past couple of months. I made a promise to myself to not let that many photos collect on the cameras again!

Reading Clinic Closing Ceremony

Jackson finished up his semester at the SFU Reading Clinic on Saturday! I'm so into this because he is so into it! He loved every minute of this experience. He got up every Saturday (willingly and voluntarily) to go and read for an hour &1/2. Saturday's closing ceremony culminated with the group of readers performing/reading the story they wrote about the Easter Bunny. Congrats, Jack - you're a great reader!

Jackson with Fran (Dr. Boyd)!

This was the piece of cake that we brought home from the celebration. Sometime through the day, I walked past the counter and found a big chunk taken out of the middle of it with an 'IOU' note in it - I wonder how that happened?

Perfect Timing

"Hey Jude, You ready to go to the store?"

(guess not - this one required a full bath and an entire new outfit! Boys! I love it)

Nature!

We enjoyed a beautiful day outside yesterday!

The Cap'n of the Ship!

Jackson and Herb in the canoe. Man, is Jackson growing like a weed, or what? We're in talks of getting a kayak for him (and me:).


Me and my little man (had to give him the 'you-must-stay-seated-the-entire-time' talk before we got on the boat).

Although this is one of those photos I'll probably embarass him with in 15 years, it melts my heart to see my little guy picking and smelling dandelions.

It's days like yesterday that remind me how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful part of the world.

Posting

I realize I haven't been posting much lately.

April is kinda the busiest month for me @ work and much of that business flows over into home life too.

Just a couple of quick updates:

1. Got Jackson signed up for soccer again this year. This will be his 4th year playing.

I also signed up to coach - Lord have mercy on us all. I've coached before, but now

it's up to me to know the game and teach it to a team of 6 and 7 year olds.

2. Jackson will be finishing up his University Reading Clinic next Saturday. He will

be one of the featured Readers at the SFU Reading Conference on Friday and then

reading again at the closing ceremony on Saturday! Yay for him.

3. I have been such a work in progress. Since about January, I've been working on losing

my excess weight and in the process started running. I will run my first race ever on May 16 -

a 5K in Cresson. It's very motivating to accomplish a big goal like this, I just hope I make it!

My goal is to finish under 33:00.

I will do a 1-mile fun run next Saturday @ SFU, so I'll

be able to compare my running to others (and realize that I should probably use the term 'jogging' to describe what my level of activity is).

4. Jeremy is in the process of creating a little oasis in our backyard so that we can enjoy the summer. We are planning on cooking out most nights (as soon as the weather agrees to cooperate), and the backyard is the perfect place to have a little picnic area. Thanks, H!

5. Judeman is growing like a weed. He's so chatty and forgets nothing. He's all about scooping in the dirt with his trucks and just being outside all the time. He says, "Mama, I wanna coop in da dirt!"

6. We're all excited about summer coming. We'll kick off summer with a weekend trip to Deep Creek Lake, MD with Dana and Nate. We also just got our tickets to see Jack Johnson in concert in July. The concert will kick off our vacation - concert - Ocean City, Md for a few days - maybe Baltimore/DC on the way home. Just 3 months away - can't wait.

That's all for now. Photos will follow soon (or not). April showers bring May flowers is so true in so many ways.