It's been a while......

I am still here.
It's been months since my last post.
A whole summer has passed and almost all of this fall also.


Life got hard for a minute.
We went through difficult months as a family.
Running was not at the top of the list and time for it was well...hard to find.
I did what I could but it was never enough.
I lost my balance trying to keep the one of my 2 boys intact.
I succeeded in doing that and that is my job as their mom.


I now have a job. 
Its part time but it is every day and it is during the time I used to have to run. 


I have done a few races since my last post, most of them were with the kids.

I have lost a lot of fitness since June.  It is difficult to face starting over.
Starting over is hard.
Starting over when you are 45 years old is REALLY hard.

Right now every run hurts, every steps is painful.
I don't enjoy any of my runs because I know where I was and what I could do and now well I suck.  Big time.
But.
I refuse to give it all up.

The proof is a signed up for a half marathon that is in June.

DNS.....

DNS

Not a runner favorite 3 letters put together.

It's happening this weekend for me.

No RnR San Diego.  I had to pull out.

I am not injured.  I am not trained but that is not the reason for the DNS.

Reason : husband crazy job schedule.

He is once again in a crappy overworked situation working an average of 16 hrs per day and getting paid for half of these:(

The last few months have been difficult.

I have been doing everything alone...house, kids, puppy...working...

Time for me and for running has been limited.  It is not a priority and I have to sacrifice for now.

I am grateful he does have a job yes...of course...but we have zero quality of family life.

We are both exhausted and stressed out.  So time to look for a better situation, much easier to look for another job while having one.

I feel lost without running.  No balance and pretty frustrated.  That DNS is hard to take.

I won't be in the best of mood come Sunday I know that for sure.

So now I am not training for anything.  It's weird.  I don't like it.  I run when I can even if it's just 3 miles. I take all the miles I can get in.

I will go in summer racing mode: 5 and 10k only.  The 5k with the kids and the 10k for me.

Hopefully things will get better at home over the summer and we will have some "normal" back in our lives soon.

School has been out for a week now.

I could not be more proud of my two sons.

They both had excellent school year again.

My older son had a really hard and demanding year..way too much work and a very strict teacher..it was hard...and he got straight As all 3 trimesters, one of only 3 kids in his class who achieved that out of 34 kids.  I am amazed and relieved that he still loves school :). Both my kids were very sad on the last day of school....they both love school and that makes me so happy and hopeful for their future.

End of school means no working for me until at least August 4th.  I am not sure what will happen with work...I am hoping that I will continue to work at the school, I really like it a lot.  I was sad to see the 6th graders leave...some of them are really great interesting cool kids.

Because of Bill's work situation we cannot go back to visit my family this year....2 years in a row of not going back..that is not easy... We have decided to stay in California and take a short vacation next week.  The days were approved for Bill so we are going to San Francisco and Yosemite for 5 days.  Road trip!  I am looking forward to just be together and making new happy memories.  I have been to SF only once and it was 14 years ago and I have never been to Yosemite so it will be great. 

The boys are vey excited, Will learned all about the gold rush so he is looking forward to this trip!

I read blogs still....I am there even if I don't comment much....still following your adventures and your steps ....

Thanks for sticking around and for reading...

What are your summer plans?

Cheers!

OC Half Marathon Race Recap

I ran the OC half marathon Sunday morning.

It was my third time running this race.

This year was the 10th anniversary of the race.

I was so not prepared for a half marathon...the training has been mediocre at best.

I went to the Expo Saturday with the whole family.

Nothing special to report about the Expo...same old same old....

I think that this year shirt is really ugly.  The colors are aweful and for a blonde well it is the worst ..

Cantaloupe and very light green

We made a stop at the NUUN booth to say hello.  Lots of people were trying the new NUUN ENERGY. Have you tried it ?

The kids and my husband were supposed to come and support me like they always do but with a 6:15 am start and the guarantee that this would be a slow time I thought it'd be selfish of me to let them come.

I got maybe 4 hrs of sleep....we are dealing with a barking dog right now....not fun....very frustrating...I can tolerate the puppy biting and jumping..but barking no.

So anyway I got up at 3:45 am and went to Newport alone.  This is a point to point course so we needed to take a shuttle to get to the start.  I got there just in time.  Got to the starting line and waited 30 min for porta potty...the race started I was still in line.....I ended up not going....it was so nasty..I could not get in.

I jumped in my coral and we were off.

I felt ok for the first 6 miles.  Because I was not trained for this and I did not want to spend the summer at PT like I did last summer I decided to do run/walk right from the start 2:1.  I skipped the walking part on the downhill sections and I did not run any of the uphill parts.

Beautiful parts do the course

At mile 7 I felt sharp pain in my knee and I knew that walking was the smartest choice so I did that for most of the rest of the race.  It sucks but I kept telling myself that it's better that than go back to being injured.  I also kept telling myself "there's no barking here, enjoy this moment" :)

I knew I would see one of my hood to coast teammate at mile 11.5 and I focused on that "just get to Sarah".  Eventually I saw this:

I tried to think of the last time I ran 10 miles.....way too long ago obviously.

The course is mean to the runners....yes MEAN....

At mile 11 comes the longest hill of the course.....yikes.....

I knew it was coming I just did not remember how long it was...at the top I starred to run because well I do have some pride and I was. to going to walk pass Sarah...no no.

Mile 11.5 no Sarah.....I thought I had missed her and she left her cheering spot.

I kept running and soon I saw her....was nice to see someone I knew. :) 

I find it hard mentally to not have my family there...knowing I will see them at certain mile markers helps.

So I finished.  I did better than last year but still very crappy.

It's ok.

I got this nice bling 

I am happy that I did it.  I almost talked myself into a DNS.  I would have regreted not going I know it.

So it's still necessary to train for a half marathon because well it is not easy.

I need to figure out a way to move up on the priority list in my family because right now this is the order 

Kids

Husband

Dog

Cleaning, cooking

Caroline

My next race is the RnR San Diego half marathon June 1st.

I need to train a lot better.

I have about 2 more weeks of working and then it's summer vacation.

We cannot take a long trip this year so we will go on a road trip: San Francisco and Yosemite! 

Kids 4 kids run race recap

Last weekend I ran another 5k with my kids.

We ran the Kids 4 kids run that benefits cancer researchi.

This race is in Los Angeles, at LA Live where Staples Center is. ( GO KINGS!)

Start of the race is pretty late at 8:30 am..for a 5k that is ok only if it's not too hot.

Race offered free parking and that is pretty good for an event at LA LIVE.

They also offer race day packet pick up.

Website for the race could use some improvement...information about road closure would have been helpful.  We were not late so that was good.  Here's something that was not good: being pre-registered, being on time and getting 4 adults XL shirts! That is way too big for me ..imagine for my kids! I was not happy with that at all.  Normally I don't complain for shirt size but this was ridiculous.  The person handing out bibs and shirts said "sorry that's all we have!"  I get that it's not her fault so I did to get mad at her of course but I did tell her that I thought this was not OK and asked to speak to someone because well we paid and we filled out the forms with the sizes and the boys should not end up with adult XL.  I found someone and explained my problem, she was holding a kids shirt in her hands and gave that one to me...and some super nice lady heard what I said and had gone on the hunt for a kid shirt returned with another one !  This was the 9th year that they have this race, you'd think they would have the shirt situation under control after that many years.

Anyway the race was fun.  Several families were running, it was great to see so many kids on the course.  The course is out snd back...going slightly downhill on the way out and up to finish. We were chasing the kids' PR and they crushed their previous time by almost 2 minutes! 

I am very proud of them.

They improved a lot and with no training....I know they can do even better.  

Will near the finish line...he finished ahead of Jonathan this time.

Jonathan was about 12 sec behind

At the finish line they had several activities set up for the kids but we needed to buy tickets for these and I never carry any cash on me during a race so we did not stay.  Another info that could be added to the race website.:)

Next up is supposed to be the OC half marathon this weekend.

I am not ready.

Completely out of shape.

Long run was skipped again last weekend.  Saturday I coached the track team at the track meet all day and I was very tired at the end of that day so I did not run 10 miles like I should have and Sunday was race day and homework.

So my longest run leading up to the OC half is 8 miles.

That is not enough.

That is making me very worried.

I don't know what to do.

Switch to the 5K? Run and mostly walk the half? Get a DNS... I really don't want to do that....

I have just a couple days to decide.....

Track team!

Santa Anita derby 5K race

Last weekend I ran the Santa Anita Derby 5K with my kids.

It is my new favorite 5K!

I loved this course!  Beautiful views and we got to run on the actual race track, in the sand.  Very cool!

Race was super organized, free parking and right on time.

We had great weather this time.

The kids are still on a 2:1 ratio so I did that with them.  They got a PR! Not huge but still their best time!

Here they are before the race sipping some Watermelon NUUN.

At the start we went through the real derby race gate

This is an easy and really fun course.  We saw the house from "fantasy island" if you are old like me you"ll remember that show:)

Here running on the race track

Getting to the end

This is my new favorite race picture

We had a blast.

I think the kids can do better than this.

Run faster the running parts.

This was the 20th year that the race was held. The medal is really nice, medal/bottle opener/key chain

Kids if front of Seabiscuit statue

They had a really impressive quantity and quality of snacks for the runners after the race, all this for each of us plus fruit and water oh and 2 beers!

So we will be back for this one for sure.

Training this past week has been awful

I got up early just once. Major fail on this plan.

Allergies kicked my behind..we had some really hot days and that made things worst.  My husband's work schedule is once again out of control so I am on my own for everyhting and by Thursday I ran out of gas. :( Ran a 6 miler and a short 3 miles over the weekend, both on the treadmill because I was alone with the kids.  So my training for the OC half marathon is not going well at all.  Here's to hoping for better numbers this week!

Need days of 28 hrs

4 extra hours per day

That is not too much to ask right

I need them

I have zero time to run 

I am so frustrated these days it's not even funny

Yes yes I am complaining like a 1st grade girl ( in my experience the ones who complains and whine the most)

I am single parent mode again.  

I am still working every day.

The amount of work in 4th class keeps pilling

One night this week homework was to write a 5 paragraph text, answers 6-7 development questions on a chapter from Charlotte's web book, write a summary  of Charlotte's web chapter, geography, study vocabulary test, finish math, reading log and oh yes we still have the mission project to complete in the middle of this.

Plus well there is this little one in the middle

She needs to be walked 2-3 times a day

She is cute and we love her but right now she is taking my running time away

I could run after 9 PM... Maybe....but I am afraid Ruby would bark and wake the kids up

Nobody is home to keep her quiet at that time.

So I have ran a big 6 miles so far this week.

I could get up at 5

I should get up at 5

I stay up late to prevent Ruby needing to go outside in the middle of the night 

Right now I take her put at 11 pm and she goes until 6:45 am

I could get up at 5.....

I should get up at 5

Next week same thing again

I will need to get up at 5

Ok.

That is the goal.

Tomorrow race day

5k with the kids.

Have a good weekend everybody 

Thanks for reading

Updates on stuff

I have not been the best blogger once again.

I am chasing time.

So updates on life in my corner of the globe...

Let's start with a big one.

We now have one puppy.

If you are my Facebook friend you know about all of this already.

We made the difficult decision to find a good home for Duke and keep Ruby with us.

We talked to two different dog trainers who came to our home to see the dogs.  We needed help because they were fighting a lot, not playing rough, fighting.  It got pretty bad.  They also starrtd to develop littermate syndrome.  They were not interacting with any of us and they were fighting a lot. Nasty fights.  We were told that we would have to raise them separately.  Walk them separately, feed them seperatly, have them sleep in different rooms, going to the park with just one at the time..everything separate.   I wish we would have known all this before adopting two puppies.  I felt so guilty and sad.  We decided to do the best thig for both dogs and for our family.  Duke is now with a good family and Ruby is very happy.  The change was instant.  

This happened a few weeks ago and I now know we did the right thing.

I have worked a lot lately.  I worked every day the week before spring break and I will work every day next week also.  I love this job and being with the kids every day.  I wish it was a permanent position instead of being a sub.   Getting to know so many kids at the school makes me appreciate mine a lot more. :) There are not perfect that's for sure but I think they are on the right track.  I feel sad for some kids at the school who clearly need help and also just attention...someone to listen to them.

Working every days means less free time and less time for running.  I try to get up an hour before the kids and run on the treadmill before starting the day.  I  have not done as much as I would like.  I have had health problems...still need to figure some stuff out for that and I am hoping its nothing serious.  I don't think it is.

March Madness.... Oh boy......well my bracket is bleeding....

Duke lost in the first round... Depressing....watched that yesterday while running 6 miles on the treadmill... :(

We have discovered the rainbow loom.

We is me and my kids.

We have made all kinds of stuff this week during spring break.

It's really fun!

This might be my favorite: Our school is deer canyon and the colors are blue and yellow and we are the eagles so we made these

We went to see the Kings play on St Patricks day.  They lost but it was a great game.

Everyone got a special green LA Kings hat.

J Quick: the kids' favorite! He is pretty awesome!

Coaster 5k - Knotts Berry Farm

Oh I have been a bad blogger.

We had a tough couple of weeks over here..

I feel like my family went through a storm and now the calm is back.

Last weekend I ran the Coaster 5K race at Knotts Berry Farm with my boys.

I thought this would be fun for the kids.  We had never been there before.

The only little problem was that last week we got 2 huge rain storms where I live and well race morning came and the rain was not over.

We decided to go to the race because when we got up it was not raining.   All the way driving there also no rain.  We got there with zero minute to spare.  I have never late to a race before and in my book we were late.  We had to run to get the bibs and while I was standing in line to get bibs and time chips....it started to rain pretty hard.  Darn it.

We had left out rain coats in the car and had no time to go back.

My kids were awesome, they did not complain once.

I gave them the choice to back out and they both said no way.

We were late at the start and ended up starting in a different coral further behind.

No big deal...except that we had to pass a bunch of walkers...

It poured the whole race.  Of course.

The course is all in the park and that is fun.

It would have been a lot more fun if we were not soaking wet.

I would like to do this one again.

They offer a 5k and a 10k.

T-shirt and medal for everyone AND a piece of the best pie I have ever tasted.  I am not supposed to eat pie but I had to have a bite!

The boys did great considering the conditions.  They would have PR without this crazy weather and without having to pass all the walkers in the beginning.  They ended up short a few seconds.  Next time we will get it:)

Check out my son's perfect form compare to my heel striking...:)

Next race with the kids is April 27 in Los Angeles at Staple Center : Kids 4 Kids.  Race to raise money for kids who have cancer.

Warning:

Parental bragging section

Yesterday was award day at the school!

2nd trimester awards!

I am so proud of both my sons.

William (4th grade) received Math Champ award, Master reader award (highest reading award) and the Principal's Honor Roll.  That one is huge: straight As and also good behavior.  In Will's crazy hard class that is so so hard to get.  

Only 4 kids got this out of 34 in his class.  I think more kids in his class would have received this award if they were in one of the two other 4th grade classes.  All I can say is I am proud of Will for getting this 2 trimester in a row and hmmm ONE MORE TO GO.  We can do this...... Right?!

Here he is with his BFF...she is a doll, they have been in the same class for 4 yrs now. (They are the exact same age:))

And my Jonathan did great also!

Math Champ and master reader like his brother!!

(No honor or principal honor roll in 2nd grade)