Crikeys it is cold!

Having an inch of frozen water on my goats troughs means it is a bit cold here in California. Granted, we don't have snow, a point Delaney, my 4 year old, harps on daily - but for us Californians anything below freezing is cold.

I did a 5 mile run this morning around the reservoir near my house - completely blanketed in fog. It was a bit eerie not knowing what would greet me around the corner, but a bit sublime too. I found myself surprised a few times by fellow humans enjoying the reservoir - hopefully I didn't embarrass myself singing too loud with my ipod tunes.

My family and I are currently traveling to Oregon to visit my family. We are spending the night in Mt. Shasta (so Delaney is getting her snow and we will have snow in Oregon). New Years Eve - aargh! I hate resolutions. Of course I want to loose weight, but here I have been running for close to a year and I think I have actually gained weight! This is the bad thing about getting older - I used to be able to dream about not eating and loose weight. Now, forgetaboutit!

Inspection Passed!

Yeah! Now we get to install insulation tomorrow!

I did 5x400 m sprints today - my first attempt at speed work. I did it on my treadmill this evening since I had to work today..... and since Chuck leaves for work at 6 a.m. there is no way I can leave to go to the local track in the morning......can't leave the kidlets home alone. The nice thing about the treadmill is my pace is very controlled, however Charlotte kept trying to drop her baby doll on the treadmill so I ran in fear of tripping over the doll, banging my head on the control panel, and getting face burns from the track while I lie passed out. Luckily, that didn't happen.

A Superbad Christmas

Christmas was good! My husband did an awesome job with the girls presents, they were very happy and played with their new stuff all day long. I got a nice two hour nap after we unwrapped presents and ate breakfast (I was exhausted due to the late night assembly of the four foot high doll house). Chuck and I spent the afternoon working on the remodel - mostly cleaning up to prepare for today's inspection (dun, dun, dun) - the anticipation is killing me. I can't wait to get insulation in there - the house is freezing with that gaping section of uninsulationess - and our propane bill is huge.

I did get in a Christmas day run, which felt great! I took a week off to give my shin splints time to heal and it really paid off. I was able to run at my normal pace most of the three miles, and I felt so good my brain thought "what would it feel like to run an 8mph pace?" So, the last quarter mile I did it! Which is really fast for my short little legs, and I thought I was going to trip over myself, but I did it! And no pain in my shins, knee or elsewhere - I feel so strong! The hardest part of this treadmill run was that the TV wasn't working and my ipod wasn't charged.....arrgh! Luckily it was only 3.5 miles, and I had a lot to think about.

So I have officially started my training schedule for a half marathon on March 16 - the Shamrock'n Half in Sacramento. My first day of training was actually Christmas Eve, which consisted of stretching and strength. It didn't really feel like training though since it was such a light workout, no running, and the glass of wine I was drinking while I did it......

This will be my second half marathon, and I should be much faster than my first barring any injuries. Sacramento is much flatter than Lake Tahoe, and I should be able to breath better since I am at an elevation I am used to. Maybe I will be proud enough of my time to post it as a PR.

We topped off Christmas evening watching Superbad, which is a pretty good movie - although pretty nasty. I have a hard time believing that teenage boys are actually that nasty, but my husband assures me they are. Thank goodness I have girls, I can handle hormonal moodiness over degenerateness any day. Getting past that though, the movie is quite entertaining. I love McLovin!

Holiday humbug

I have been a little "out of sorts" lately - not really looking forward to Christmas, or anything right now. Thank goodness my husband likes to shop and he has taken care of most of the gifts for our girls, otherwise they would have a pretty sparse Christmas.

We are deep in the trenches of remodeling our master bedroom - we have actually "bumped" out the bedroom with an addition and now have a little under 400 feet of extra space that will be our master bath and a new walk-in closet. This has been sucking up most of our time, thus my excuse for not posting in over a month. I'm good at thinking of these excuses - it isn't just cuz I suck at it. The remodel has taken on a life of its own, and it keeps growing with new ideas, etc. Unfortunately, I think it has maxed out our budget at this point and we may have some loose ends that we have to hold off on until some more money comes in. It will be nice to have the extra space and the luxury bath and closet - but I am tired of sleeping on a blow-up bed in my living room in the mean time.

I did participate in the California International Marathon (CIM) at the beginning of December as a member of a relay team. That was a blast. The bad thing was I did a hip-hop class with some ladies from my work a few weeks prior, and ended up with some nasty shin splints that really slowed me down, and six weeks later are still giving me grief. Needless to say I have not been able to run as much as I should be to train for a Marathon in March. That has pushed me to the decision to just do a half marathon in March, and save my first full Marathon until fall or next year's CIM. Otherwise I will likely never heal, and I will not be happy with my performance.

Last night I watched the soup and saw this very funny clip, watch until the end :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kpZd__NoHU

After seeing David Beckham in his panties, I just don't understand why Posh Spice doesn't smile more! She should be a very happy woman.

Sarah

My childhood memories are dominated with Sarah. When I was 9 I remember coming home with this 3 day old baby singing "Sarah Emily, Sarah Emily, Sarah Emily - cute, cute, cute.....for about a 3 hour drive. We adopted Sarah and she was very loved. She pretty much dominated my life from there on out, I dressed her up, took her on sleep overs at my best friends, took her on my dates when I was in high school. She was a huge part of my growing up.

Sarah died four years ago this November at the age of 27, in a car accident. She was hit head on by a PG&E truck when she inadvertently veared into the oncoming lane (possibly reaching for her cell phone). God I miss her. Sarah and I were opposites in so many ways - she was funny, beautiful, the life of the party. Well, I'm pretty cute too but I am serious, quiet...not so outgoing. She was my sister, in many ways my daughter, and my friend. Death sucks. Sarah left behing two children and numerous friends and family that miss her profoundly. The loss of her has really rocked my world. Please drive safe.

Let's Chase Goats

I arrived home from work at aroun 6:15, Chuck was making the girls dinner so I changed my clothes and went outside to feed all the animals. My two bucks were fighting so bad that one of the bucks had bloody horns. The problem is they are horny(it is breeding season)....one so much that he is in a frenzy about it. I hadn't put them in with the girls yet because our fencing was all messed up from some work we had done. My dear husband finished the pen I needed yesterday, so I spent the evening sorting goats (which is no easy task). One goes in where you want it, two come out. The dogs think they are helping but they just get in the way. After about an hour of back and forths, chasing and enticing with treats I finally got the two bucks each in their own feild with their selected harem of girls, and the goat kids are in their own pen with my babysitter goat Ozzy. Hopefully now that the boys can get lucky they will settle down. Chuck even offered to set up some Barry White mood music for them.

Needless to say I didn't get my run in tonight, but I did get plenty of exercise chasing goats. The bright side is I should be able to put in a morning run, maybe I will go up around the reservoir.

And Chuck, I did do a sink full of dishes tonight and I folded and put away three baskets of laundry.....I counted how many dresses Delaney and Charlotte have - 22! I may have missed a few, and that doesn't count their skirts. This is mainly because Delaney went through a phase this summer where she refused to wear pants or shorts - because "real girls wear dresses." That is Delaney logic for you. At least they can share the dresses since they are close to the same size. It is probably good that they have so many dresses since Charlotte changes her clothes three to four times a day. They still love to play in mud, climb trees and our dirt hill with the goats in their dresses though, just love my girls.

Tuesday's run

I guess I am stuck this week to running at night on my treadmill. I ran 3 miles last night watching the tail end of NCIS, and the beginning of The Unit. I really don't like that show, but I didn't want to stop running to change the channel. I just don't enjoy shows about war, blowing up things, etc. - or maybe it is the name "The Unit" so phallic, I just can't get past that. But overall it was a good short run, I had a good pace and no pain in my knee or shins.

Part of my problem this week is I am trying to work two jobs. I started my new job on yesterday but I haven't had the guts to give notice at my old job. They are both part-time, but I really need those days off to keep my house running smooth. Things will be a little hectic the next couple weeks.

I will be doing five miles tonight on the treadmill - hopefully there is something good on TV, or I might be stuck watching Barbie again if my girls join me.

Goal: March Marathon

I'm really not very good at writing these blogs.....although I love to read other people's blogs, I just don't have the discipline to sit down and write my thoughts or days activities. Or maybe it is just that I lack the time. Right now I have a sink full of dishes and a pile of laundry I should be attending to, but I really don't feel like it.

But I have been inspired by others to start tracking my running achievements, and post my goals for all to see so I can't back out too easy - and maybe I will stay more focused on my training. I just completed my first half marathon last weekend in Lake Tahoe, CA and it was tough for me. Mostly the elevation, I am pretty close to sea level and Lake Tahoe is 6,300 to 6,800 feet elevation (and I did climb that hill in my run too). Needless to say my lungs were struggling for air up there, but it was also a breathtaking view the whole run. The race was also super organized and the staff great - I would highly recommend this run or any of the other runs that they hold in their week of running and sporting events. Their website is www.laketahoemarathon.com. I believe next year the events will be held the week of September 24 - 28.

It has taken me a good week to get my shins back to normal after dealing with the steep hills, and now I will be doing a 10K next weekend here in my home town of Loomis, CA. This is the first year they are having the "Mandarun" which will snake through several of the mandarin orchards that are fairly prevalent here. It should be fun, and it benefits our local schools. I'm excited to see how I will do with my time after all the training I did for the half.

My big goal now is to train for a marathon next March in Napa. I turn 40 in January, so I guess this is my midlife crisis - I figure getting in shape is not a bad crisis to have - and trust me, my butt and thighs needed it. I picked this course because it is suppose to be relatively flat and I figure I will be pushing myself enough just doing a marathon, I don't need a big hill to climb too.

I do have a lot on my plate though, so squeezing in my runs will be tough. Three daughters (14, 4 and 3), three dogs, 15 goats, 6 chickens and of course my husband (he will probably read something into the fact that he is last on the list, but he isn't last in my heart).

Today was a rest day for me, I ran 3.5 miles yesterday on my treadmill watching Barbie's Island Princess with my two little ones. Yes, I have to be creative to get my runs in.