Wow! What a busy couple weeks it has been at the Steele house!!! We have been going non-stop since EJ’s birthday!! It’s been crazy, but it’s also what makes life interesting! I wouldn’t change our crazy life for the world!
So here’s what’s been going on in our little world!
Last year I ran the Lake Monona 2oK out of curiosity. I had never ran it before and so many other runners in the area were running it and raving about what a great race it was, so being the crazy runner that I am, I signed up! This year I signed up again because it truly was an enjoyable race and because I have this competitive streak where I always want to beat my time at races I’ve already run. And I am proud to say, I did just that!! Last year I finished with a time of 2:12 and this year 2:08!! That’s a 4 minute PR!!! Yeah Baby!!! I think the weather and my strategic training played a big part in this PR. Cooler temps and extra hill training definitely helped!
We drove up early for packet pick-up so there was a lot of waiting before the race started. It was a 9 am start and pick-up was at 7:30. The kids were restless but weren’t too bad. My hubby took a short nap in the car while my MIL and I watched the kids. I was able to get my stuff, go to the bathroom, and get myself mentally prepared for the race. It had stormed the night before and continued to rain into the morning. Luckily, it stopped before we even left the house for the race. However, I was still skeptical of the weather and chose to wear my old New Balance shoes instead of any of my new pairs in case it rained again. They weren’t calling for anymore rain, but you never know! This was not my smartest decision. Even though I re-laced my right shoe to match my new shoes, my feet still hurt by the end of the race. This was simply because these shoes are old and the cushioning is just not there anymore. Plus it never did rain again, so I could have worn a newer pair of shoes. Oh well, you live and learn. This truly was the only down fall of the race.
My pacing was awesome and I hydrated and fueled properly. I chose to bring my Hammer Nutrition gels this time as I had received free samples when I made my first Hammer Nutrition purchase. I usually chose the GU brand of gels, but they have a tendency to send me to the bathroom after a race, especially if I use more than one. I tried the Raspberry gel and it was really good. I was surprised because I usually don’t like the fruity gels. This one had just enough sweetness, but not too much. Not bitter or anything and was nice and smooth going down. And I didn’t have any bathroom issues afterwards. I am thinking I am making the change to Hammer for all my training products very soon. I have a few more GUs to use up and then it will be full on Hammer Nutrition only! (I actually placed an order for Hammer Gels and their Perpetuem extreme endurance fuel on Thursday! I couldn’t wait until I used up all my GU!!)
After the race, the kids played on the playground for a little longer, I changed my clothes, and then we headed to Pizza Ranch for lunch per our normal after mommy’s race routine. It was delicious as usual. We then headed home and to Home Depot to get veggie plants for our garden. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening getting the garden ready and planted. Boy am I glad that is done! Now I just can’t wait to reap the benefits of all our hard work.
In other news, last week Thursday was Muffins for Mom for my son’s 4K class. I was able to take the afternoon off from work and spend it with him! It was so much fun!! I remember going to school for Maddie’s Muffins for Mom only a few years ago. We did many of the same activities like making sun bonnets, making necklaces, painting fingernails and toenails, and of course, eating muffins. EJ and I did not do the nail painting but we did all the other activities, including making a handprint flower picture! Isn’t it cute? I’m going to laminate it so it stays, hopefully, forever.
EJ and I played games and puzzles and we even saw the baby ducks one more time before they went back to the farm. It was a really great day and the start to a really great Mother’s Day weekend.
Then on Friday it was my daughter’s Spring Sing at school. Again, I was lucky enough to be able to leave work early to see her performance. It was all about family and Yes, I cried at least 3 times during it! I can’t believe how big my little girl is getting. Her program was so cute! She even had a speaking part and was one of the huggers! She was able to go into the audience and hug someone. She chose her Daddy because he is usually unable to come to many of her events. I was already holding back tears before this happened. I couldn’t hold it any longer when she hugged him! They sang songs about Grandparents and their pets also. She did such an amazing job! She’s pretty cute too if I do say so myself!
Finally for Mother’s Day, I woke up early and got my run in. It was hard and I was super sore after the Lake Monona 20K the day before. The path around the lake is up and down hills almost the entire way so my legs were screaming at me this morning. I wanted to do 10 miles just because I am really liking doing double, double-digit runs on the weekends, but I knew that wasn’t a good idea. It probably wasn’t a good idea to go out at all, but I knew I was going to indulge a bit today so I needed to do something. I ended up running 8 miles; one mile for every year I’ve been a mom. I included being pregnant with Maddie because once I knew she was coming into our lives, I began feeling like a mom. I took this run nice and easy and tried to stay away from too many hills. I ended up running up my favorite hill where I do my hill repeats, but only once. I guess I am a glutton for punishment.
After my run, we ended up going to Lake Geneva for the afternoon. We played mini-golf where I got to golf for FREE!!! It was a lot of fun! Jay and I are pretty competitive, but today I just wanted to have fun. I guess this worked for me as I won! Scores were me 64, Jay 65, and the kids tied at 66. I think we fudged that one a little but we had fun and that is all that matters.
We bummed around Lake Geneva after that, had ice cream for lunch from Kilwin’s which is super delicious, and then headed back home for dinner. We ended up having hot dogs on the grill and some yummy salads we picked up at the store on the way. It was a really great Mother’s Day.
Other than all this business, training for my half marathon in a few weeks has been going really well. Now that my shoe issue has been taken care of, my runs have been on point and I am feeling pretty confident about my back-to-back 10K and 13.1. I am excited to do this challenge again! I am hoping for PRs, but I killed it last year so it’s going to be a true challenge to do it again this year!
Of course, I will continue to keep you posted! Have a great weekend everyone!
RUN ON!!!
Laura
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