Folks Fest

Another perfect festival weekend...good friends, good weather, WONDERFUL music as always, good camping neighbors, great festival kid, delicious mimosas to celebrate six delightful years of marriage...

and lots of snuggling....

Festival Season Has Begun

Our very favorite festival of all these days is hands down the Pagosa Folk 'N Bluegrass Festival in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.  Scenes of our festivating....

Celebrations

We had such a busy holiday season, and although I'm feeling glad that it's over, we had such fun.

Since we were home throughout this season, we splurged on a real tree this year. Sadie wasn't so excited about the visit to the boy scout's tree lot in the middle of a blizzard, but she loved the reward of hot chocolate at our local diner afterward. We had such a great day listening to Christmas music and decorating. We had a holiday appetizer extravaganza with my family, including my Aunt Shirley, at my parents' house on December 11.

On December 16 and 17, we celebrated Christmas with my family at my parents' house, and included all my favorite Ingersoll family traditions: crepe Suzettes for breakfast, bagels and lox for lunch, a big beautiful Christmas dinner, and a long, drawn-out gift exchange. Hot tub time for me and Sadie, lots of crazy dogs, and a walk around the circle. Just lovely.

The following week, we started lighting the candles each night for Chanukah, which Sadie loved being a part of. And on the winter solstice, we had our own celebration for the three of us. Our tradition has started to include chinese takeout, a movie, and simple gift exchange. It was simple and meaningful, and just what we wanted. Handmade, local soaps and goodies for me....a new cast-iron skillet, and a big stack of books! A record player and pile of handpicked records for my sweetie. Princess shoes and a train set for Sadie (love the juxtaposition in this photo....)On Christmas Eve Eve, last minute plans to have our neighbors and dear friends over for dinner fell through, but dinner was cooked and the table was set, so my parents joined us for an impromptu dinner party. Any excuse to use my pretty china makes me happy.....Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent with the Petersons. It was SO nice to have an entire weekend with them. I love the beautiful candlelight Christmas Eve service we attend, and of course I enjoyed all the delicious food cooked by my mother-in-law. What a treat to have our friends and their precious new baby, Grayson, join us for Christmas dinner.
Yes, I am glad that it's all over...I'm ready to get back to my healthy lifestyle after all the extravagance of the season. I'm ready to focus on work again now that I'll be working full weeks. And I'm ready to get back into the rhythm of daily life in our family. But it was a perfectly wonderful holiday season and I feel so grateful for all the family and friends our lives are filled with, and so thankful that we get to celebrate with them this time of year...we are truly lucky.

Random Friday

• It's been a bit of a rough week. Bad news at work about a huge contract we were counting on getting on Monday. Spent my birthday (after getting up at 4 a.m.) working a 12+ hour day (instead of taking the day off to spend with my mom and daughter like I'd planned). Got a speeding ticket on my birthday, driving 15 mph over the speed limit while driving my boss's car, while he was in the backseat. Just sort of a crappy week. That happens. It's o.k.
• I got an iPhone for my birthday! Yaaaayyy!! I've wanted one forever. I've been very patient. I LOVE it.
• I clearly love the Instagram application. It's lots of fun to play with all the filters and such.
  
• It's Friday! Thank goodness! And what a fun weekend we have planned. Brian and I are celebrating our anniversary a few weeks late with a nice dinner out in Castle Rock tonight at the Augustine Grill. We've been feeling the need to take some "just us" time. When we get a babysitter for Sadie, it's always for a house concert, or some other event that never involves just the two of us. But we've been feeling the need to reconnect a bit, so tonight will be lovely.
• I made a new banner for our living room. Good words to live by and remember. I see it first thing when I come downstairs and it helps me to remember to go through my day with more love (and understanding and patience). It's one of our favorite songs. Check it out. "If there's ever an answer, it's more love". Amen! On the day that Brian proposed to me, I was working at the radio station that morning and he called to request this song. I played it for him. Aw.....
• Our first house concert of the season, with Ryan Spearman, is tomorrow night and we're so excited! I'm looking forward to being back in the swing of house concerts and can't wait to have our house full of friends and family and beautiful music.
  
• It seems to be fall! Labor day weekend, the VERY hot August temperatures we were having dropped, and have stayed down. Ah, I love fall! I'm dreaming about crockpots, baking bread, knitting, pumpkin patches, and sweaters.....
• My dog is a pain in the ass sometimes. But she's really cute though, even in her old age.
• I spent some time in the garden last weekend "cleaning house". I trimmed my tomato plants way back so they can put all their remaining energy into ripening their many green tomatoes. I thinned the moldy squash leaves. I pulled all but two of the Brussels sprout plants (won't plant them again..I don't think our grow season is long enough). I harvested the rest of our beets and remaining lettuce and chard. And I planted spinach and radishes! I figure that if we have a long/late summer and fall, it'll be great to have a few more fast-growing and cool weather loving plants come in.
• Babies on the brain....I have so many people in my life who are expecting babies and I'm going wild with imaging all the tiny knitted items I'd like to gift to these expectant mamas....
• Mom and I made pickles a few weekends ago. I'll probably post more about it..but it was mayhem. And the batch that I did by myself didn't seal (I think it's a two person job). Needless to say, an entire shelf in my fridge is full of the non-sealed jars. BUT! I opened one last night and tasted them for the first time...and they're really pickles! yeah!
• Sadie has taken to wearing pig ears and a tutu at all times (and even sleeping in them). It's the best thing in the whole world. I hope it lasts. Seriously the cutest thing ever.....
• Actually, now that I'm watching the More Love video while I type...I'm going to leave you with the full lyrics. Damn that's good.

I'm so close to you baby, but I'm so far away
There's a silence between us and there's so much to say
You're my strength, you're my weakness
You're my faith, you're my doubt
We gotta meet in the middle
To work this thing out

More love...I can hear our hearts cryin'
More love...I know that's all we need
More love...to flow in between us
To take us and hold us, and lift us above
If there's ever an answer, it's more love

We're afraid to be idle, so we fill up the days
We run on a treadmill, keep slaving away
Until there's no time for talkin'
About troubles in mind
And the doors are all closed
Between your heart and mine

More love...I can hear our hearts cryin'
More love...I know that's all we need
More love...to flow in between us
To take us and hold us, and lift us above
If there's ever an answer, it's more love

Just look out around you , people fightin their wars
They think they'll be happy, when they settle their scores
Let's lay down the weapons
That hold us apart
Be still for just a minute
Try to open our hearts

More love...I can hear our hearts cryin'
More love...I know that's all we need
More love...to flow in between us
To take us and hold us, and lift us above
If there's ever an answer, it's more love

Every Accomplishment Starts With the Decision to Try

I did it! I ran an entire half-marathon! And I feel SO SO good about it. What a journey this has been.

I got a good night of sleep on Sunday night, and woke up at 4:45 a.m. on race day feeling excited and nervous. I ate two pieces of toast with peanut butter and jelly, and a banana. I drank a little bit of water, but was SO hydrated from the few days leading up to the race that I didn't feel the need to drink too much.

I got dressed, stretched a bit, said goodbye to a sleepy Brian, and headed out into a VERY COLD, quiet, dark Colorado Springs morning.

I walked briskly from my parking spot to the race start, and hung out by the bag check until the very last second because I was scared to take my long-sleeved shirt off in the cold. I could see my breath as I stretched. I kept thinking I had to pee, but it was really just nerves.

About 5-10 minutes before race time, I peeled off my last warm layer and headed to the start line. I worked my way about 2/3 of the way back in line so I wasn't feeling pressure to start too fast. I made small talk with a couple people standing around me and stretched a bit more. Before I knew it, they were counting down the last 15 seconds and then the starting gun went off! I immediately teared up...I couldn't believe that this day and this moment were finally here after all these long months of emotional and physical commitment!

As I had planned (and especially since it was so cold), I started out very slowly. The course was crowded at first and I just focused on staying loose, and slowly working my way up to a comfortable pace. I looked around and enjoyed the view of a colorful sea of runners. After a couple miles, the crowd spread out and I was really able to get into my rhythm. I started thinking forward to Mile 4, where I knew my family and friends would be waiting to cheer me on.

At around 3.5 miles, my knee started hurting, pretty badly. I immediately started worrying. I felt like there was no way it would get any better if I kept running; it was bound to only get worse! And I still had 9 miles to go! I also decided in that moment that I would keep going until my knees gave out on me...no matter how badly it hurt. I wondered if it would be helpful to take the Advil I had stashed in my shorts at some point.

Before I knew it, I could see my mom in the distance, right off the trail, watching for me. I waved my arms so she'd know it was me. And I started getting really emotional when I saw my family there cheering for me...which in turn led me to start hyperventilating. This picture was taken while I was trying to keep myself from completely sobbing. Sobbing and running don't work so well with each other...

I was worried the most about the middle 5 miles of the run. I figured the first 4 miles would be easy, and even if the last 4 miles were really tough, they'd be the last 4 miles, and I'd have Brian with me to help me through it. But I felt like those middle 5 miles would make or break the race for me, and I was continuing to worry about my knee.

I ended up introducing myself to another runner who I'd been running near since the start of the race. And we ended up chatting away for the next 3-4 miles. Very strange. I am SO anti-talking-while-running, and always have been. Normally I refuse to talk while exercising, I can't do it, and I think others who do it must be crazy (or in really great shape). But for some odd reason, this woman and I talked and talked and talked through those miles....and they just flew by. I wasn't focused on my knee, and it ended up changing from a sharp, shooting pain to a dull pain. I definitely got a bit of an energy boost from hitting the 6.5-mile turnaround point. I loved seeing the half-marathon front runners coming past us in the other direction (man, they were going fast!!!). And I started looking forward to getting back to Mile 9, seeing my cheering section again, and having Brian join me for the last leg of the race. This picture was taken at Mile 9. I'm still looking relatively happy!

When Brian first joined me, I was thinking to myself that I didn't need him..I was feeling fine..I was all over this race. And then at about Mile 11, I started feeling like, "oh my god, this just got really hard", and I told him so. Brian was SO great about encouraging me, telling me what a great job I was doing, and how proud of me he was. His presence and encouraging words were SO crucial to keeping my mind on that finish line. At the appointed place, Brian jumped off the course and I finished the last 0.10 mile by myself. As I wrapped my way around the park towards the finish chutes, I picked up my pace to the very fastest my legs could carry me. I wouldn't call it a sprint, but it was fast, and it felt good to finish strong. As I crossed the finish line, they announced my name and and where I'm from.


Again, my emotions started overwhelming me the minute I crossed the finish line....and I sounded like I was having an asthma attack or something. I turned down the offer of medical attention (no thank you, I'm just a sobbing mess...), and let a volunteer place a finish medal around my neck. I grabbed a water and joined my family who had found their way to the finish line. I finished the race in 2 hours, 22 minutes, and 33 seconds. I was 33rd out of 46 in my age group, I finished 143rd out of 236 female finishers, and 324th out of 456 finishers.

I won't get into the 2 bathroom stops I made during the last 4 miles of the race, but Brian thinks those took up at least 10 minutes (I think maybe a little less). But nonetheless, I averaged just over a 10-minute mile, which is what I was aiming for.

I felt fine after the race, and great after taking a shower. I ate some breakfast with my family and friends, and then I started going downhill pretty quickly. I was cold, my stomach was VERY upset, and I just overall felt horrible. I spent much of the rest of the day in bed or on the couch and went to bed very early.

On Tuesday, I woke up feeling fine energy wise, but my entire body was sore, even my upper body. My knee was quite painful and I limped my around work that day. But by Wednesday, I was back to feeling good. I've had a couple nights of lots of ice for my knee, plenty of rehydration, and long, deep nights of sleep and am feeling pretty much normal.

Now I'm taking some time to reflect on this experience and what it means to me. This was so much more than a running race to me. This is the final step in what has been an amazing 9 months for me.

Nine months ago, I was coming off a particularly gluttonous and unhealthy fall and holiday season. I had gained a lot of weight and had no energy. I was heading down a slippery slope of bad habits that I've gone down more times than I can count.

Then some girlfriends and I talked each other and our husbands into a couples weight loss-challenge. You can read about it here. Brian and I joined the rec center, and we both started running. I refocused my nutrition plan and started making better food choices on a more consistent basis. In the past year, Brian and I have lost over 110 pounds!, and we've lost over 80 since the beginning of the year. The visual proof of our changes is pretty startling and exciting!

A friend and I completed the Boulder Bolder in May 2011. I realized that the goal of that race was the thing that got me out of bed most mornings, and quickly decided that I needed to set another goal for myself if I wanted to stay on track with my healthy changes. With the encouragement of several friends, including Selena and Michelle, I decided I wanted to start training for my first half marathon...and I started documenting my progress and struggles here on this blog on Friday, June 15, 2011!

I've learned so much during this process....

• I must exercise in the morning, or it won't happen
• The early morning wake-up only hurts for the first few minutes.
• I feel so much better during the day after exercising in the morning, and I sleep better at night. For someone who has struggled with insomnia for much of my life, it is a beautiful thing to fall into bed every night, exhausted, and sleep soundly until the alarm goes off the next morning.
  
• Running is a great way to have some ME time...something I don't get quite as much of as I'd like.
• Training with others (virtually and otherwise) is so inspiring and makes it harder to give up.
• Music makes me move. Thank goodness for music.
  
• The human body is an amazing thing. Six months ago, 13 miles seemed nearly impossible.
• I will never be able to express to my friends and family how much their support and encouragement from afar, on Facebook, on the phone, through the mail and email, and on the morning of the race (they got up earlier than I did to be there for me!) means to me.
  
• Things get weird after 10 miles. Your body can't be trusted.
  
• Now I feel like I'm capable of just about anything.