My First 5K

Today I ran my first running race-the Boston Scientific Heart Of Summer 5K. It was so much more than I expected. The race was so well-organized and the atmosphere was filled with excitement and anticipation. The adrenaline and endorphins flowed and it was intoxicating. Was I nervous? No, not really. It was just a 3.1 mile run with my training group. Little did I know how wonderful it would be. I kept up a great pace throughout the whole race and ran faster than I expected. Once the finish line was in sight, the few people I was running with (experienced racers) started to speed up and sprint. Though I was tired, their momentum was contagious. I started sprinting to the finish line and about 10 seconds before crossing had a wave of emotions crossover me. People warned me about this for your first ever race/run. I thought about all of those in my family who suffered from heart problems and those who I love who have left this earth because of a heart attack, heart failure or other cardiovascular cause. I almost burst into tears as I crossed the line, glanced at the clock to get a view of my time (33:53) and slowed to a stop to be greeted by my fellow trainers and coaches with high fives and praises of "great job!"; "way to go!". It was so bittersweet, but my immediate thought was: "This was awesome! When is the next 5K that I can run?".

The proceeds from the races go towards heart disease prevention and treatment programs around the Twin Cities. A huge portion goes to a program at my employers organization called the Women's Heart Advantage to offer free cardiovascular screenings (blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar) to women and offer counseling on the results.

When will be my next 5K? Not sure, but I will definitely find another before the end of the warm weather season!

Julia and me just before the race started

My running encouragement and who I run for

This is what Julia was doing while mommy was running the race...playing on the beach/playground with grandma and grandpa

Finished!

Less Blogging; More...

These two individuals are the loves of my life:

I love this gal more than I ever thought. She will only be this little for so long.

Which is why I have decided to lessen my blogging time. I read a quote the other day (on a Caribou coffee cup) that said something like: "enjoy each and every minute with your children because they will only be that age at that moment once". It got me thinking.

Being a full-time working mommy is tough-I would be lying if I said it was easy peasy. My free-time is 99% dedicated to our little gal. For the other 1% I try to squeeze in all the other stuff: laundry, dishes, cleaning, yardwork, etc... that is the way it should be. Sometimes the other 1% is for mommy-time or mommy and daddy time alone.

So, I won't be blogging much anymore. Sure, I may throw up a post or two every month or so after a big event, but I think e-mail and Facebook are enough for me. Sometimes I find myself focusing too much on technology and communicating through technology that I ignore the really important stuff in life, especially when my time is limited between work and home.

So, we will put this blog to rest for a while (or a brief nap):

Nighty-Night!

First Carnival!

Julia experienced her first carnival yesterday. There was/is an annual 4th of July carnival in town that started yesterday, so I decided to give her first taste of carnival games, rides and food.

She was quite mesmerized by all the rides; the ones that flew high in the air and the ones that went around and around. Here are some pictures with narration; you will be surprised to learn what ride she really wanted to go on and loved the most that we went on it twice!

The good old fashion carousel. When she first saw it she said "horsey", but I think she was a little freaked out by the horses going up and down. She said she wanted to go on the ride, so we went. She tolerated sitting on a horse for about a minute with me next to her and then she wanted to get off. The rest of the ride was spent with her clinging tight to me while I held on to the nearest pole.

See the "Fun Slide" in the background....this is the ride Julia went on twice! This is a very steep slide that you go down sitting on a burlap sack. I was shocked that she wanted to give it a try, but she LOVES slides. The climb to the top was steep and I thought for sure she would freak once we sat down, prepared to launch and she saw how far down and long it actually was. Nope, she was excited as ever (I think I was more freaked than she was). Anyway, she giggled and laughed the whole way down and at the bottom she said "more, more". So we went on it again, this time we got a little airborne and of course she loved it. Such an adrenaline junky! Definitely not like her mommy.

Julia got her first taste of funnel cake!

I love funnel cake and Julia does now too. She called the pieces "bread sticks", but soon after was calling it "funnel cake" once I taught her what it really was. It was windy outside and she giggled when the powdered sugar blew off and landed on mommy's face, shirt and arms like a mini-snow storm.