November/December

Hellooooooo! It's been awhile since my last post. I wanted to give an update on what's been going on. November ended up being a busy month and didn't sign up for any of the races or turkey trots around here. I ended up running my own on Thanksgiving morning =) We had my parents in town and I LOVE when they're here. They have been married 55 years! I just adore my parents and have been an great example of how no matter happens you stick together thick and thin. I miss them and hope to see them again soon!

December started off with another run with Ainsley's Angels! We ran the Merry Fitness 5k. It was a cold start but a beautiful run. This race included all the 'Girls on the Run' and 'Stride' participants. Huge race for our town with over 1200 runners with the huge majority of them being kids! It was fabulous seeing all these kids being active and the coaches motivating them. All of the Captains of Ainsley's Angels had a great run! So much fun seeing them run among all the other kids there, to be involved in an activity with kids their own age. Julianna enjoyed the run. There were lots of turns and bumps, she loves when we pop a wheelie! Overall I'm super happy with our finish time of just under 32 minutes!

A few days later I ran with the running group, Stroller Warriors. They were doing a PFT. I started out great with the 3 mile run with Gabriella. Sad news is that one of the stroller wheels needed air so I felt it in my shoulders the entire run trying to keep the stroller from veering to the right. I passed on doing the rest of the PFT to rest. Learning I need to bring the air pump with me... Also around this time is when I hit my 500 miles for 2012! This was pretty huge for me as I remember being so worried I'd never hit 250 miles for our running club's incentive program. These ladies are super inspiring! Here is an adorable pic of Gabriella during the run-

Second weekend in December we ran our last race of the season with Ainsley's Angels. The Santa Shuffle 5k. This race was a lot of fun as I had help pushing Julianna. Thanks, Bridget!! This race is super family friendly and loved seeing everyone costumes. Some even dressed their dogs up! We had a lot of Captains running with their families. I love that! We had a fabulous run, tough but fabulous. We rocked a new PR finishing under 30minutes **High fives all around** I have to say my favorite part was cheering on the other runners to the finish line. We took one Captain back to his brother so he could push his brother thru the finish line. Priceless moment! I'm so looking forward to 2013 races!!

Yesterday I finished one last goal. I wanted to run one last half marathon this year. I love Stroller Warriors. These ladies dedicate hours with no pay to come up with race routes and registrations sites to run a free race. Each month they dedicate to a charity. This month was Toys for Tots. Love them! To add to the fun they also did an Ugly Christmas Ornament tree. So you got to pick your ornament off the tree as you finished the run. So the slower you are the uglier the Christmas ornament-lol! I didn't train much for this race. I just made sure to keep my mileage up each week. I didn't finish with a time I was happy with but the overall support I had made this race perfect. I had my fellow Stroller Warriors out there on the course cheering us on. My husband came out and helped me thru the last mile. Seeing him and the kids was so great because I wasn't feeling so great at that point. Darn IT band issues. The last stretch before the finish line my son, Isaiah came and ran with me to the finish line. He felt so proud to keep telling me "Breathe in thru the nose and out thru the mouth." Finished with a time of 2:35:38. Not my best so I aim to get a better time next year. I didn't get an ugly ornament tho. I got an adorable cupcake ornament. It reminds me of my JuJu Bean. She adores cupcakes! It now proudly displays on our new medal display.

I decided to make vision board for 2013. I think the one I made last year really helped me and I accomplished everything but getting a 6 pack! haha I learned I really love food too much for them to ever show up. At least for now. Martinez helped me look thru magazines and cut out words of encouragement. I actually stopped at the woman's photo and said I'd love to have a figure like this. Strong but not bulky, so I put her on my board. THEN my husband dared me to put it where I would see it every day-the kitchen! So that's where it is for now. I feel a bit exposed when we have company over. So far I've gotten positive feedback..... I wish I could've written specific races that I'd like to run. There is a pretttttty good chance we'll be moving in 2013 (again, I know!) So to keep it positive I just made a goal to keep my mileage up and run races when I can. I also made a goal to be on facebook less. Limit to checking it only once a day versus several times. There is just something that clicked when Julianna came over to me and shut the laptop. Like she was saying, "It's time to get off!" hahaha It was funny but such a powerful message. I wonder how many times my other kiddos wanted to do the same thing. I also got Isaiah and Gabriella involved in the goal making in 2013. I found this cute print out on pinterest (another time sucker.) It's adorable and asked what their favorite food, book, activity. What they learned from 2012 and what they looked forward to 2013. Isaiah wasn't into it as much but he wrote his biggest goal for 2013 is to be the best brother. Awwwwwww Gabriella was a hoot. I love listening to the thoughts of a 4 year old. One of her goals next year is to ride her bike. This was fun and I hope to remember to do this each year with them.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Merry Christmas and New Year!