2016 Running Recap

I started running on a regular basis in 2014.  I completed my first half marathon that year and even though I didn't love distance running, I fell in love with running.  I ran my second half marathon in the fall of 2015 and I still didn't love distance running! Ha!

I decided to run the Resolution Run on January 1st, 2016.  I ran that race with two great friends.  One of them is an avid runner who's completed countless half marathons and marathons.  She suggested I join the track club, commit to running their 4 race series, and commit to running 1200 miles in 2016.  I thought she was nuts, but I was intrigued.  I am a person who likes and needs goals and accountability.  I knew committing to these goals (even if I didn't complete them all) would at least encourage me to stay active in 2016.

Prior to 2016, I had only run 4 or 5 races.  Those races were spread out over a 5 year span.  I really didn't have a big desire to run races.  Now I understand that committing to races is a great way to stay active.  During 2016, I ran 9 races: 3 half marathons (1 crazy hard one), 1 crazy hard 15k, 1 crazy hard 8 miler, 3 10ks, and 1 5k. That day we ran the Resolution Run and casually discussed all of these crazy goals, I had no idea I would actually accomplish them!  I'm humbled and grateful that I was healthy and able to complete all of these miles, and races and see lots of success in 2016.  The Lord was so extremely gracious to me.  Glory to God!

When you run 1200 miles (or more) in one year, you learn a whole lot about yourself as a runner.  Committing to run all of those miles, made me a better runner.  Yes, I got a little faster this year, but more importantly, I learned so much about my ability as a runner.  I also gained confidence in my abilities.  Long runs became less scary and I developed a love of distance running.  I could go into a lot of technical details here, but I won't.  And a lot of it, I don't even know that I can explain.  The more I ran, the more I loved it.  I learned to not let bad runs mess with my mind and discourage me.  I learned to run in unpleasant conditions and be comfortable being uncomfortable.  All of it, the good runs and the bad runs, was a blessing.  I am grateful.

With this new found love of distance running and with 4 half marathons under my belt, I decided to go for the marathon.  I really wanted to run a marathon in 2016.  I found one in December that was nearby and I planned to run it.  Training was set to start when it was still hot and humid here in Alabama even though it was fall and should've been cooling off.  I also had to work around Nate's soccer schedule (Darren was also coaching his team) and two other races that I had already committed to running.  So I decided to wait for another time and it was like a weight was lifted.  I was so thankful to not have the pressure of marathon training in the middle of a busy soccer season.

Mercedes Half Marathon, February 2016

I felt like this was my first legit half marathon.  I felt strong and energetic the entire race.  I also had a plan for the race and the race actually went exactly how I planned/prepared.  What a blessing! My new half PR was 2:13:13

This sweet guy braved getting up before 5AM and below freezing temps to cheer me on.  Another sweet blessing!

Rock-N-Roll Nashville Half Marathon, April 2016

So many fun friends to enjoy this race with! This race was a tough one! It was so extremely hilly and I crashed hard around mile 10.  It did not go as planned. ;) I was able to finish the race, but definitely not the way I wanted.  Still a great weekend in Nashville with great friends.

This was Darren's first 5K!  He told me he was going to start running after Mercedes and he did!  So very proud of him.  He had a great first 5k. :)

The fall ended up being a season of many successes for me.  I got PRs in the 5k, and half marathon.  My favorite was a local 5k, Footprints.  Darren and I both ran.  He was second place male and I was second place female.  He was second overall and I was 5th overall.  It was a small race, but it was still fun to be that close to being first.  I'm never close to being first. ;)

The last race in the 4 race series was in early November.  My friend, Steve, ran this series too.  He's been running for years and has complete several marathons and Iron Man triathlons!  This race is named after the Vulcan statue in Birmingham.  Here we are with Vulcan. :) This was another great race for me. 

My last race of 2016 was the Panama City Beach Half Marathon. I had a 8+ minute PR.  Darren ran the 5K and got a PR and first in his age group!  We also got to see several other local runners accomplish goals and one even qualified to run the Boston Marathon for the second time. Icing on the cake,  Darren and I got to spend the entire weekend away in Panama City kid free!  

Since I decided against a marathon in 2016, I decided to train for the Mercedes Marathon that's February 2017.  It's close by in Birmingham and lots of other friends would be training/running too.  My training was going surprisingly well.  My first long run in new territory would be 15 miles.  I ran it pretty easily on December 17th.  The following Saturday, Christmas Eve, I would run 16.  I started the 16 mile run feeling great, shockingly good.  I would reach my 1200 mile goal during this run and have a new distance PR.  Everything was going great till mile 4, right about the time I hit the 1200 mile mark.  I started having very intense heel and arch pain that worsened through out the rest of the run.  I ran 12 more miles in pretty intense pain.  When I finished running, I couldn't even walk without limping.  This was so disappointing to me because I felt great otherwise.  I had lots of energy and felt strong.  I knew it was bad when I was still limping the following day.  I ended up getting an MRI to make sure I didn't have a stress fracture.  The MRI showed plantar fasciitis.  Some days were so bad, the only relief I could get was wearing a boot.  I finished the last week of 2016 in a boot, definitely not how I hoped to finish the year.

This was not the way I wanted 2016 to end.  I wanted to continue marathon training feeling strong.  I definitely didn't want to be dealing with an injury that would stop me from running for several weeks.  But, I had way too much to be thankful for to let this get me down.  What will 2017 hold?  I have a feeling it will look a lot different than 2016 and that's ok.  To be continued...

Pool Day 1

The pool company started working on the pool on Thursday, January 5th.

Sleet and freezing rain was in the forecast for Friday (and the weekend) so the pool company wouldn't return until the following Tuesday.

Cora and Nate enjoyed watching the progress. :)

Preparing for the Pool

Darren and I started discussing putting in a pool last spring.  We decided to think on it a few months and work on saving some money.  Pool companies also offer great discounts during the winter months, which really appealed to Darren.  After Thanksgiving, we started discussing details with the pool company and making decisions about shape, size, and location.  We have lots of trees around our house and after going back and forth about where to put the pool, we decided to spend the extra money and have trees cut to make room for the pool right behind the house. 

We had three trees cut.  This is the only one I was sad to see go.  Nate played under this tree since he was a baby.  It wasn't in the way of the pool, but it was dying.  Occasionally we would find pretty large limbs on the ground.  We felt like it was getting dangerous.  We didn't want a limb to fall on Nate or Cora or the whole tree fall down.

The guys came to cut the trees the week before Christmas.  It was so interesting to watch!  It took two days to cut the three trees and clean up everything.

Step one is complete!  :)

Ice Ice Baby

I'm fairly certain I've used that title before at some point. Ha! That winter storm warning turned out to a dusting of sleet for us.  Zero snow.  I don't know who was more disappointed, me or Nate! Oh well, it did make for some pretty pictures.

I had an extreme fascination with the way icicles were forming on this metal gate.  The pictures don't do it justice. 

We've recently had a few trees cut to make room for a pool (that will be another post, I'm sure).  This tree was not in the way of the pool, but it was dying and close to where the kids play so we had it cut also. It was a beautiful, old oak tree. It took the Lord many years to grow this tree.  Nate has played under this tree his entire life.  It made me sad to see it go.

This red snow suit has been in our family for around 20 years. My mom found it at a yard sale when Ashlyn (now 22) was a baby.  We have pictures of her wearing it in the snow and pictures of Nate wearing it.  Even though this wasn't a true snow event, it was definitely cold enough for a snow suit.  And who knows if we'll have another day like this this year. 

Sweet Nate wrote this for Cora. :)

Again, the photo doesn't do it justice.  If you enlarge the photo you can see the individual sleet pellets.  Beautiful.

This was the most excitement Nate had, jumping on the frozen trampoline.

Nate loved sliding around on this ice.

Still holding out for a decent snow this winter...

Hello 2017

Well it's been just about a year since I posted here and I was behind then. We are in a very busy season of life and I don't know how practical blogging is for me right now. As I type this, we are under a winter weather warning...even though nothing is happening. ;) I referenced my blog to find pictures of the last time it snowed.  Seeing all of those great memories made me realize why I starting blogging in the first place - to remember.  I even had three years worth of blog posts printed. Yesterday, I gave them to Nate to read and he spent several hours reading all three books and then wanted to finish reading the entire blog.  He loved reading about his younger years - things he doesn't remember.  Things I didn't remember.  So, here I go again.  I'm going to give it a shot and try to take a few minutes a week to update what's going on with us.  I'm not going to try to do any back posts because that's too overwhelming to think about.  I'm just going to start here on January, 6th 2017. 

No blog post would be complete without a great photo.  Here's my sweet kiddos on Christmas Eve.

Pulling Up

This was the first time (9/9/15) we found Cora standing in her crib. Nate and I had to cheer for her and of course I had to get a picture.  You can't tell from the picture, but she's crying.  I know she was wondering when I was going to get her out of there and give her some lunch!

Lego Road Show

The Lego Road show came to Birmingham last August.  We had a great time seeing Lego replicas of historic government buildings.  Seeing it with good friends made it even more fun!