Tulip Festival Half Marathon of Doom

So Saturday morning I woke up early and Thad and I went down, light hearted, to run the half marathon that we have been training for since February.

It was raining.
It was cold.
It was hilly.
It was 13.1* miles!!

Basically it was the worst, I wore a light hoodie which by the end, weighed legitimately 7 lbs.
My sweet mom came and cheered me on at several spots along the route and ran with me the last mile. I finally finished in just over 3 hours.
I think I am currently better suited for 10K's that take place in good weather.
I am understandably sore today but I can still move pretty well.

This is Ben's picture at the finish line. I couldn't run with my glasses on - that is another complaint.


*according to Thad's mapApp, it was slightly longer than that.

Butterfly accessories

The other day Anna decided to make a butterfly

Then she decided to accessorize her butterfly, she made it a crown and a dress.

Never Say Never

Over the past year I have found myself repeatedly doing things that I have never even considered before.
Example: I thought I would never like Parks and Rec. I am watching it at this very moment and have seen all the episodes repeatedly.

I have tried giving up sugar - I made it about 3 weeks. Something I would never have considered even 6 months earlier.

I have taken up running, in fact, I signed up for a half-marathon before I even tried running more than 3 miles. Now I have run a ton and I kind of love it. I go for runs whenever I can get away and I'm doing pretty well. The race is in 2 weeks. And yes, I can remember all my vehement protestations against long distance running up to this point. I don't know what is going on.

So, I guess i need to keep a more open mind to what is possible.