Monday, November 30, 2015

Turkey Day 5k

Thanksgiving morning started with a 5k race for us. A few months ago when my mom asked if we wanted to run the race I said, "Of course!" It had become a tradition to run a 5k on Thanksgiving ever since we started spending the holiday at home. It wasn't until Ty asked me how I thought it would go running a half marathon on Sunday and then a 5k on Thursday that I realized the proximity of the races we had signed up for. I was pretty sore Monday and opted to take the day off running. We spent part of that day driving to Ty's parents' house for our Thanksgiving celebrations there. Tuesday's run was pretty good although I still felt pretty sore, running just under 9 minute pace. Wednesday I felt strong on my run and averaged 8:30 pace but I still didn't feel fully recovered. Thursday morning I walked half of the fun run with Carter, my mom, my dad, and Elise in the stroller. Then I jogged a mile warm up. My legs actually felt worse than they had the previous day which may have been in part due to playing soccer Wednesday morning before heading home from Ty's parents' house. I knew for sure I could run 8 minute pace and my ultimate goal for the race was to be under 25 minutes. I felt if I ran decently well I could break 23 minutes and if things went really well I could maybe crack 22 minutes. I figured I had run 7:15 pace during the half marathon so it wasn't too much of a stretch to think I could maintain that pace for the 5k on fatigued legs. My mom made us all matching turkey hats the first year we ran the race so although it was over 60 degrees we still wore them to the race. I opted to take mine off before running but others left theirs on. Read about last year's race here and our first year here.
Carter ready for the fun run.
Walking the fun run.
Our sweet little turkey, photo from my mom.
Dad, Thomas, and I all stood together at the start. Jeremy was a little bit further up than we were and Ty was back quite a ways. We took off and my legs felt better than I had expected. I could see that I wasn't too far back from the leaders so I figured I was most likely running a little faster than the 7:30 first mile I had anticipated. There was a water stop a little bit before the first mile and I went ahead and took a cup because I was feeling quite thirsty. We had burgers for dinner the night before and I had eaten way too many onion rings and fries. The salt and grease was definitely working against me! I went through the first mile in 6:58 and counted 5 females ahead of me. I attributed the faster first mile to the wind being at our backs and running down a slight hill that was really long. I'd say it was at least a quarter mile long and all I could think as we ran down it was that we were going to have to run up it on the way back since the course was out and back.
At the race start, photo taken by my mom.
When we hit the turn around I had worked my way up to 4th female and was closing in on the woman in 3rd. I went through the 2nd mile in 6:59 and was pleased with my consistency. I knew we were going to tackle that long hill during the last mile and the wind was a challenge on its own. That coupled with having run a half marathon on Sunday left my legs worn out and heavy. I caught up to the 3rd female toward the end of the hill and tried to pick the pace back up during the last half mile. I hit mile 3 in 7:06 which I felt was pretty good considering the hill and wind. As I neared the finish line I saw the clock ticking down to 22 minutes and knew I had too much ground to cover to break 22 minutes but pushed hard anyway. I ended up running 22:00 flat! That put my average pace at 7 minutes per mile which I was pleased with given the conditions.
Me heading toward the finish line, photo taken by my mom.
I cheered dad, Thomas, and Ty on and then took Carter and Elise in the stroller for a cool down mile because Carter was getting a little fussy. When he woke up that morning he asked me if it was morning. When I told him it was he said, "I'm still sleepy." I told him he could go back to sleep but he said he wanted to get up. They have hot chocolate at the finish each year and Carter was excited to get some but it was over 60 degrees so they didn't make any. Poor Carter had been looking forward to it all morning so that didn't help with his disposition. Oma said she'd take him to McDonald's for hot chocolate and pancakes which appeased him. We waited around for awards and Carter was all about his daddy. He yelled, "I want daddy," when someone else tried to hold him and snuggled into Ty looking like he could fall asleep. Jeremy and dad won their age groups. I was 3rd overall female as well as 3rd in my age group so we left with 4 medals. I gave mine to Elise and she had a blast playing with them. She would drop them on the ground occasionally and I'd bend over so she could pick them up which she thought was hilarious!
Ty finishing with me cheering him on, photo taken by my mom.
I thought this was a cool picture my mom took of me running my cool down.
Waiting for awards.

Jeremy finished 18th out of 462 overall in 21:25, winning his age group. My official finishing time was 22:00 minutes, good for 23rd overall, 3rd out of 241 females and 3rd in my age group. Dad came in next in 23:35, 40th overall and first in his age group. Thomas finished in 25:00, placing 63rd overall and 11th in his age group. Ty finished in 28:13, 109th overall and 16th in his age group.  On average we were all about a minute to a minute and a half slower than what we would normally run for a 5k. We ended the morning with some McDonald's breakfast which was enjoyable for all of us. Carter said, "I got some syrup on my pants," to which I looked over and saw syrup dripping off his lap which we all got a laugh out of. It was another successful Turkey Day 5k. Such a great way to spend our morning! I'm so thankful for the ability to run and for my mom signing us up for races that we otherwise wouldn't be able to run because we couldn't afford to register!

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Thanksgiving Day

This year was an exciting Thanksgiving as it was Elise's first time experiencing the holiday. The girl loves to eat so we joked this may be her favorite holiday! Lucky for her we got to celebrate it twice, first with Ty's family and then with mine. Read about Thanksgiving with Ty's family here. We started Thanksgiving day with a Turkey Day 5k, more on the race to come later. We all wore our turkey hats my mom made us a couple years ago. Carter and my mom were registered for the fun run while the rest of us ran the 5k. We enjoyed the race and the challenge of running fast so soon after the half marathon. Then my parents treated us to McDonald's breakfast afterward.
Carter, Elise, and mom ready for the Turkey Day Fun Run.
Elise, me, dad, and Carter walking the Turkey Day Fun Run.

When we returned home from the race I nursed Elise and she went down for a nap right away. I had washed some Halloween costumes my mom and I bought on sale after the holiday so I pulled out an Iron Man costume for Carter to play with and he had a blast. When naptime rolled around Carter didn't want to go down. He had fallen asleep on our way to McDonald's so we knew he was tired but he didn't want to take a nap with all the excitement and possibly because he was overtired. That morning he said he was still sleepy when he woke up. He ended up falling asleep while I laid with him, but for some reason I had shut the door and he woke up when I opened it to leave. So he ended up with a 10 minute nap to McDonald's, a 15 minute nap at home, and then some quiet rest time with me in bed. The nice thing about him not taking a full nap was that we were able to eat a little bit earlier. Since we'd had breakfast around 11 we skipped lunch, so it was nice to eat dinner a little after 3! Elise played with her feather sensory bin while I got ready and then I got her started eating before everyone else. She had quite the spread eating green beans, turkey, sweet potato, and her first taste of cranberries. She was loving it but was hungry enough she decided part-way through she wanted to be fed rather than feed herself so she could get food faster.
Our adorable, little Iron Man!
Being silly during rest time.
Elise playing with her sensory bin.
Carter wanted to cheers during our meal.
Little miss rocking out the feast!
As we have the last few years we headed  out to a shopping center that turns on their Christmas lights on Thanksgiving evening. They had a children's choir and some adult vocalists singing Christmas songs before the lighting ceremony and brought Santa out to count down to the lights coming on. It was raining but not too hard and the temperature remained in the 60's so we wore our rain boots, rain coats, and took umbrellas. Elise went in the single stroller with blankets and with the sun shade down we didn't even need the weather shield on. Ty and Thomas opted to spend the evening at Thomas' house watching football so it was me, mom, dad, Jeremy, Carter, and Elise. Carter and I enjoyed walking through puddles on our way back to the car. I told him I was thankful for puddles to splash in with him. He told me he was thankful for chalk. By the time we got back my leggings I was wearing under my dress were wet all the way across my thighs. Back at home the kids went into matching jammies for bed. It was such a wonderful evening and an even better Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for!
Walking to the lighting ceremony.
Carter playing in puddles.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Topeka Thanksgiving

We ran the Route 66 Half Marathon on Sunday morning and then left for Topeka on Monday morning at Elise's morning naptime. I figured my legs would be sore and would tighten up in the car which they did. We stopped for lunch at a nice playground Carter enjoys playing at and when I got out I could barely walk. I was surprised with how quickly they stretched out though. After walking around for a while with Carter playing I was walking mostly normally. It was so cute to see Ty sprawled out on the ground while feeding Elise lunch as I played with Carter. It was nice being out of the car but we were all anxious to arrive in Topeka. Ty's brother, Paul, and sister-in-law, Amanda, were there visiting from Florida. It would be the first time we'd seen them since June. Plus Ty's mom and dad had both taken off work and his Uncle Kelly and Mary were visiting from Ohio.
 
 
 

When we arrived at Ty's parents' house, Leina already had the food for dinner ready and Paul was making some homemade rolls. We were able to get out for a hike on some trails close to their house. Carter really enjoyed the walk and Elise looked absolutely adorable in the carrier, as usual. I'm going to miss it when she grows out of it! That evening we had chili with one set of grandparents and then Aunt Gena and Uncle Karl came over for homemade ice cream after dinner. It was so nice to see everyone. Carter enjoyed all the attention and Elise was passed from person to person for snuggles. She did decently well with all the newish faces, most everyone she hadn't seen in about 5 months. The moment she saw her Auntie Amanda she lit up. It was so cute to see her give her auntie kisses. Amanda got a kiss on the cheek, on the nose, and then on the eyebrow.
 

Helping Gpa with his work.


Enjoying time with Great Grandma.
Elise ready for her bath.
 

The next morning Leina unveiled a surprise for Carter. She had found a drum set for him at a garage sale! I can't remember if she said she paid a quarter or 50 cents for it, but whatever it was, it was a steal! Then Uncle Kelly, Mary, and Ty's other set of grandparents came over for a traditional Thanksgiving meal at lunchtime. It was so cute to see Elise at the table with everyone else. It was her first time having sliced turkey. The only way she'd had turkey before was ground turkey. She ate really well. She started eating before everyone else and was still eating after everyone else finished. It was impressive how much she ate and how well she did feeding herself. We had cake for dessert and Ty's grandpa got after it with a huge piece! Both kids took a nap and then Mary brought out some wooden turkey centerpieces she had gotten for Carter to color which he loved!  Carter did some tree climbing in the yard with his Gpa while Amanda and I took a walk with Elise. That evening consisted of leftovers and sitting around, relaxing, enjoying each other's company.
 
Carter helping Gma and Uncle Paul carve the turkey by pulling apart the legs.
 
Elise and Gigi playing.

Carter, Elise, Gigi, Mary, and Muffin playing with a ball.
Elise enjoying snuggles with Papa.
Elise ready to eat!
 
 
 
Mary and Elise sharing a moment.
Papa's giant piece of cake!
Mary helping Carter color the turkeys.
 
 
Elise enjoying our walk.
Carter eating some homemade ice cream with Gma helping him not make a mess.
Wednesday morning I went for a run and, much to my delight, found lots of pine cones to save for crafts and a sensory bin. Then we took family photos taken by Leina and Rocky's neighbor. After that we had a blast outside! We played soccer while Carter again tackled the trees with his Gpa. Then Amanda's nieces and nephews come over to play with Carter. It was a blast to meet her niece we hear lots of stories about! The kids rode bikes in the garage and played with balls. Carter had so much fun we ended up leaving later than planned and he still didn't want to go. It such an amazing trip!