i ran my butt off and then some...

i know, i know... i've been gone, gone, gone!  that big race we've been training for...well, it's finally OVER and i feel like i can get my life back a bit!  the mister and i did it!  15.5 miles and we lived to tell about it!  i have the greatest friends, cheeky green and unusual girl studios came on downtown to cheer us on... and drink beer in the party tent after the race.  cheeky green had her camera in hand and captured some pictures:

3947, that's me!  can you tell what i'm thinking?  if you guessed "where the heck is the potty?", you would be correct.  i tend to give TMI, so let's just say.... 15.5 miles can kinda shake the ___ outta ya!  but let's focus on my cute pink outfit!!

here's the mister and i after the race, let's just say he was smellin' a little RIPE, i'm sure i smelled lovely (cause i'm a girl)!

cheeky green, me, the mister, and unusual girl studios!  did i mention the MEDAL?? you know how i love my medals :)

during the race i kept thinking "i will NEVER, EVER do this again, this is the most horrible thing i've done to myself in years" after the race i started planning for next year!  you know why?  runners are insane, it's the only logical answer!  as a matter of fact, i'm already signed up for a half marathon in the fall, but after a 25k that will be a piece of cake,  it's ONLY 13.1 miles!

Oh wait, before i go i'd like to leave you with just 1 more lovely photo

the blister on my big toe!  

1 of 4 blisters (2 were UNDER my toenails...).  because i knew you needed more proof i was nuts! and for the record, that's wool fuzz, not hair on my toe!

i'm taking this week off of running, although  i am running with my darling saturday for her girls on the run 5k, but that should be an easy breezy run.  if you've never heard of girls on the run and have a 3rd-5th grader, look them up, it's an incredible group for girls!!

i'm tired of wearing this training bra...

you know..., because i've been training for this crazy 25k race (yeah, that's 15.5 miles)... i'm tired of training, i'm tired of running because i have to and i'm tired of waiting for this to start.  i'm ready to get this show on the ROAD!! i'm already dreading those pre-race nerves, the multiple bathroom breaks and the queasy tummy!  whenever i see that commercial for those new slimmer adult diapers, i wonder if i should grab one, i mean 15.5 miles of running and drinking water... can i really sweat it all out?  Lisa Rinna wears one on the red carpet (you've seen the commercial, right?), why shouldn't i wear one on the road?  I'm feeling a kindred spirit with the crazy astronaut woman, the one that put on a "depends" to drive cross country to put someone in a trunk without the hassle of screwing up her travel time with a potty break!  i won't be putting anyone in a trunk, but the hassle of screwing up MY time with a potty break, that i can relate to!

tomorrow morning is my last long run before the race; an easy 9.... i can't wait!

see my race route HERE!

it doesn't look so bad on paper does it?

let's take a peek of last years race....

after the race...AND the beer tent! 

 my foot after the wet, rainy 10k...lovely, i know! 6.1 miles in a nice drizzle plus going ankle deep in more than one puddle.  where's my toe tag?

for the record, it NO LONGER looks this way!!

have a great weekend, i'll be icing my knee and doing some pre-race freaking out!

how a GREEN lamp changed my life...

(Whewww, i wrote this post last week, but i could NOT get online, i felt like my right arm had been cut off!  so, without further ado, here is my old post where i make a short story long:)

how a green lamp changed my life, or at least my master bedroom!  let me just start by saying, i have paid my dues, so the fact that re-doing my master bedroom is high on my list of "stressers" is okay!  though i prefer to NOT go into the "ugly years", trust me, they were ugggggggleeeeeeeeeeeeeee! so now, i have a very wonderful life which means i have shallow things to stress about, which is great, but temporary, because in only 4 1/2 years, i'll have a teen age daughter and then we'll start the REAL stress...  

ok, back to my life changing lamp!  my bestest buddy, mental twin chris http://viewsbychris.blogspot.com/ just happens to be a real life interior designer.  poor her, she has me for a pal.  i paint, buy bedding and then see something that changes my whole plan.  i have a new idea faster than we can EVER finish a room, yes...yes, ADD decorating!  1st the master bedroom was light blue with black and white bedding then one day i was like "what the heck? this looks like something out of a jc penney catalog (no offense jcp!)" so i found those bird curtains, 'cause i'm all about sticking a bird on it!

well, these threw off my wall color, then my bedding and then me!

i had chris on the hunt for bedding and paint that would make these work but told her i was willing to sacrifice the curtains (and the wasted $$) if "we" found something else.  i prayed the mister wouldn't notice if they suddenly disappeared! i couldn't sleep at night, i spent hours scouring the internet for bedding, i read my benjamin moore paint color deck like it was the Bible... see?  shallow stress at it's best!

then 1 day i heard a voice from above, it was TARGET calling, so i hopped in my tank

and drove to the motherland.  there it was, the lamp that changed my world

so now.... i just have to change my wall color and my bedding, but the curtains can stay.  geesh, i guess i didn't save myself that much work (or $) after all, but... the curtains can stay!  didn't that just make your day?

tomorrow, i'll have some new items to show you, some new things for my vintage etsy shop

www.etsy.com/shop/givegrandmasugar

to say this shop looks a little sad, is an understatement... i'm sorry!!

have a great day, the sun is up and i'm headed out to put 8 miles on my new running shoes...don't be jealous!

can i brag?

of course i can, it's my blog!  

i turned 43 on friday and on saturday the mister and i ran in the 3rd annual Winter Blast 5k.  

 no, that is not an optical illusion, i really am that much shorter than the mister!

ok, here comes the bragging....

I GOT FIRST PLACE IN MY AGE GROUP!!!

yep, i even beat the lady on my left, the one that is 2foot taller than me!

i ran a 24:31!

when the gun went off i thought "oh man, i'm running FAST" and as i came around the corner towards the first mile marker i could see that it said 6 something.  holy cow!!!  by the time i got to the 1 mile mark myself, i was running a 7:20 (beating my fastest mile by 4 sec!).  i knew that when i got to mile 2 i wanted to have a 14:40 but it was 15 something so i said to myself "there is no way you're going to keep slowing down. you're running fast and nothing is hurting so get your butt moving you little twit"  i'm a real motivational speaker on the course let me tell you!

if you run and haven't ever done a race, i'd really encourage you to!  the runner's high is real and the feeling of accomplishment isn't bad either, plus the free snacks and medals-it's a win~win!

the bad part of my story, i had gum surgery tuesday and can't run for the next 10 days...

i'm off to snuggle with my medal on the couch!