This is 26

and it's not as bad as I expected :)

Yep today's my birthday. I had joked all last week that I was getting ready to turn 25 again. John brought me home a birthday cake and a sweet card and suddenly it didn't seem quite so bad!

I also had a fabulous pre-birthday weekend. Saturday I cropped with Amber, Amber, and Stacey. I had so much fun and cannot wait until the next one. Here is a photo Amber Ulmer's mom took of all the gals at our table, C/O Amber's blog:



Then on Sunday Dad took John and I to dinner for our birthdays and anniversary. John took this pic of me and my (not so) little brothers.



Where has the time gone?? I cannot believe that this time next year I'll be seeing Matthew (the older one) off to college.

All this talk of me getting older and my brothers growing up really has me thinking back to the reason we scrap. We scrap to remember days like this. My friend Tiffany gave me a birthday card with something to the effect of "in 10 years you'll never believe you were this young" written inside. Thanks to scrapping I hope that I will be able to remember, and just by flipping a few pages in my scrapbook I'll be able to recall exaclty how it felt to be 26. Exactly how it felt to be alive at this very moment.

We did it!!!

We did it!!! The three of us didn't manage to finish together again this year. I was the weak link in our trio, but I was just happy to be there and finish considering all the trouble I'd had with my health the two weeks before - and for anyone who read last week's blog entry, I do have PCOS but I'm dealing with it.

Dad finished in an amazing 5:19:47, while John and I brought up the rear at 5:47:25. I was very pleased with that considering it's an improvement of almost 45 minutes over our time last year (John had a cramp last year). John could have actually finished far ahead of me this year but he was very sweet and stayed with me through my pain. I have to say, I think that from here on out I will be a 1/2 marathon girl. I just don't think my feet can do another 26.2! I have more blisters than I can count. Ouch!

So today I'm tired, sore, sun-burned, and blistered but I feel very proud that we were able to do it again!

Ok who left the freezer door open?!?

Man this week has been a cold one! Today we had scheduled our longest run of the season - 18miles. John was out of town, but dad stayed here so we ran together today. It hasn't been this cold on a run in months. Even in 2 layers of everything and gloves I was still a bit chilled after I got in a rhythm. Dad and I did about 10 today so we are going to try and do 20 next week to make up for it. Hopefully it will be a nice 65 degrees by then!



And in other exciting news, we are getting a new puppy!!! I use the term puppy lightly b/c while she is only 6 months old, she is almost as big as Einstein already. She's a Golden Retriever/ Great Pyrenees mix who was found wandering an abandoned farm. If you'd like to read her story it's up on the MTGRR website - look under "Nina." And here's a photo her foster mom sent me last week. Who couldn't love that face????

Second Long Run of the Season - CHECK!

John and I completed our second long run of the season today. Yes, I said John and I - Dad flaked again. Excuse this week - he didn't want to miss the Super Bowl Pre-Game show. In his defense, he did run 5 yesterday so I'm not going to be too hard on him. But next week, no more miss nice girl.

I'm not sure how many miles we did but I would guesstimate between 7 and 8. We ran for 90 minutes and took a more difficult route this week. At one point we scaled a hill that I know was more than a 45 degree incline. It was tough, but it felt good. I hope by integrating more hills in our runs this year that we will be better able to handle the hills in the marathon. Overall, the sun was warmer today and I really enjoyed filling my lungs with fresh air - file this one under good run!

First Long Run of the Season - CHECK!

Yesterday John and I completed our first long run of the season. Long of course is a relative term. It was only 5 miles, which in a few weeks won't be very long at all but it's the farthest I've gone in months. It was bitter cold, I think I heard the high was 28. It wasn't too bad after was had warmed up, but the wind remained sharply chilly throughout the run. And it's funny how training on a treadmill during the week can cause you to forget how daunting hills can be!

It was just John and I since Dad is still recovering from his nose job. The subject of Dad's nose job is indeed a touchy one. He claims it was to help him breath more clearly and hence run faster, but I have my suspicion it has something to do with a milestone birthday coming up later this year. Here's a question for you to ponder on your next run - Should I be offended that my Father has opted for a nose job when clearly I have his "old" nose?