Spring Updates

It's been awhile since I've posted so I thought I should update!

Luke got his first haircut back in February. He was not a fan!! 

I went to Wrightsville Beach for Melanie's bachelorette. It was a fun girls weekend, and nice break away. 

I got a dslr camera! I have wanted one for forever. I remember being pregnant with Chloe and wanting one, but knowing we would be going to one income and feeling like I couldn't justify spending that much on a camera. 

It's been so much fun to learn how to shoot in manual mode. There is this creative part of me that I feel like I haven't tapped into in such a long time. It's been so refreshing to learn something new. 

I helped to host a bridal shower for Melanie. 

I ran the Monument Avenue 10k earlier this month. Back in January I decided I needed a goal to get back into running. I thought a 10k would be a good distance, since not too long. But y'all, it was so much harder than I thought it would be! Finding time to run with two littles is no joke! But, I managed to get back up to 6 miles again. 

Of course my phone died right after the race so this was the only pic I got!

We did a neighborhood egg hunt and a school egg hunt.

This past weekend me and Clarke left the kids with my mom and went to Charlottesville. We celebrated our 8th anniversary! 

We started with lunch at a cute taco place, Brazos Tacos. Then we went to Bold Rock. 

We sat and enjoyed our cider in the sunshine. We got so lucky with a beautiful day. There was a huge hill and I thought "I don't have to worry about one of my children falling down that hill!!!" It was so nice to just sit!! 

We have been enjoying spring and the warmer weather. Yay for pretty flowers!

Well, that was a long post, I guess that's what happens when you don't blog as much as you wish you could!!

March Photo Dump

So many sweet pictures of Chloe from the past few days....

Clarke's parents were here on St. Patrick's day, and it's also his dad's birthday, so we went to lunch at Village Tavern to celebrate. 

We ended the day with some bubbles.

This is the best picture I could get of her and new "pack pack." A friend at church has a similar one and she absolutely loves it, so I got her one of her own. I've stopped carrying my diaper bag and now she carries her diapers, wipes, etc in her bag, such a big girl!!

We've been having lunch on the patio, and it's been so nice. 

Yesterday I ran for the first time since Florida on my favorite greenway. I registered for 10k training which starts in April, so I gotta get back to it! 

2014 Recap

Hard to believe it's already 2015. We've been in Richmond the past week, celebrating Christmas, my birthday and the new year. So I have a lot to catch up on the blog, but thought I would start with recapping 2014. No big life changes this year (first in awhile) and it was exactly what we needed. Lots of great memories and fun trips!

Love my little family, and thankful for sweet memories. Here's to a great 2015!

Mistletoe Half Marathon

Confession: I've been living in Winston for about a year and a half and I had never run in a local race. 

I've trained here, ran through many different routes through downtown, Salem Lake, Buena Vista, the Muddy Creek Greenway and all around my neighborhood. But never an official race, and I felt like I just needed to. With training for the half I couldn't get around to running a summer or fall race so I decided to do Mistletoe. It's a fun, smaller local half that everyone is always talking about. I thought since I already did the training for Richmond why not? 

 I was excited. Until I saw the forecast, 80% chance of rain. The high was 58 so I thought at least it won't be cold. But, the rain held off. Around mile 4 it started drizzling, and it did off and on the entire race. Since it wasn't super cold it felt fine. I was so glad because although the course is hilly it goes through some of my favorite parts of Winston and I got to enjoy it. We had fun along the way because we ran this race with the premise of not caring about our times. We treated it like a training run. We always joke on longer training runs that we deserve a medal, so we finally got one.

After the race we tried a new restaurant, and it was so good. Chloe's just like her parents, she loved the chips and salsa. 

And just for fun I put this collage together. This was my third half of the year, it's been a good year of racing! 

Richmond Half 2014

This past Saturday I ran in my favorite race, The Richmond Half Marathon. I love this race for so many reasons, and my third time (including the full from 2011) was just as great as before. So here you have it: Richmond 2014 race recap!

That morning it was cold. It was 28 degrees when we started and about 38 when we finished. I had my throw away hat, gloves, hoodie so I was set. I didn't want a repeat of last year where I almost missed the start and couldn't find parking so I had Clarke drop me off by 6. It was dark out but the start was busy and I was excited. Most of my teammates where staying at the Marriott so a bunch of us hung out in our head coach's room until 6:45. We headed to the lobby for a team photo, then it was off to the start and y'all I couldn't contain myself. Someone asked if it was my first half because I was so excited. I said "no, I just love this race, lol." 

The first 2 miles I was definitely warming up. Once we hit Boulevard I threw off my hat and hoodie and was finally feeling like I got my stride down. I ran the first 10k with Debra, my pace group's coach, and it worked out well because we paced each other and I really like starting the race with someone. Once we got to Bryan Park and hit the 10k timer I knew I was on track for my goal time. My family was in the park cheering me on and I loved seeing them. Just that 2 seconds of them cheering for you makes such a difference and it gave me the boost I needed to get through the last hill of the race. 

Once you leave the park it's through the Pope Arch and into the neighborhood of Bellevue. So many people cheering! Mile 11 two of my closest friends were cheering me on and I kept looking for them. I kept telling myself "just keep this pace, and you'll do it, just keep this pace." I was running about a 10 minute mile then, although when I looked back at my Garmin it said mile 11 was a 9 minute mile. At mile 12 I checked my time, 2hrs 5 minutes. If I could keep running a 10 minute mile then I could do a 2:15 half. 

When I started training back in August I hoped to break 2:20. It seemed almost too far fetched though, but as training went on and I got stronger and gained more confidence I knew I could do it. My pace from Tuesday night speed work and the Yasso 800s made me think maybe I could even do a 2:15 half. 

The last half mile of this race I gave it my all. I was heaving like never before and the down hill finish I kept thinking "just don't fall." I crossed the finish line and looked at my Garmin:

I did it! I've never been one to really care about my time, but it felt so good to do it. This was my first race where I really pushed myself, where I really dug deep those last few miles and pushed through. 

I met up with other teammates after and we snapped some photos. Then I needed pizza. I've decided pizza is my favorite post race food, so I headed to get my free slice. 

 Chloe was not into taking pictures at first. Even though I was exhausted I couldn't wait to give her a hug. Seriously my family is the best for taking such good care of her while I run. 

Met up with Rachel and Emily afterwards. I said on Instagram how I'm thankful for these girls, they got me addicted to running years ago. Ran with me when I could barely run one mile, told me I could be a distance runner and kept me going. Love this picture of us. 

Tonight we had our team celebration to end training. Our head coach talked about being proud of our training, and I really am. I'm proud of those early Saturday runs, and those 2 loops around Salem Lake in the cold rain and running all the way up Brookstown. I'm just as proud for making it through training as I am of my PR. I've said it before but training with Fleet Feet on the hills here has made me such a stronger runner. I'm thankful for the friends I've made and the running community here in Winston. 

So there's my race recap for Richmond. Another great race in my hometown!