Rockin' Out in Footsie Pajamas

A little semi-wordless Wednesday.  This video makes me happy.  Reminds me what life is really all about...finding joy in the moment!  I love my footsie pajama days with my kids!  Savoring it for all it is worth.

Happy Wednesday!
Amanda

P.S.  The poem to Nome in my post from this morning...Nome is a nickname for Naomi for those of you that might have wondered why I can't spell gnome, why I'd name my daughter Nome, or why the heck I'd call my daughter a gnome even if I didn't know how to spell it!

My Sweet Nome

 March 16, 2007

My sweet Nome.

You came to us,

and

brought me a peace unlike anything else.

You, like your father,

are a calm to me. Your energy and love wash over me,

I learn from you daily.

Thank you for your wisdom, beauty, and strength.

My sweet Nome.

When you came to us,

My tears of feeling defeat and disappointment in my labor,

tears of frustration and loss over my birth process going the way I wanted.

 The way I planned.

These tears dried up and were replaced with 

a joy and love so deep that

words cannot possibly describe.

Even then,

Instantly,

You.

brought me peace, calm, love.

I watched you,

sleeping peacefully,

all night long.

Taking one picture after another,

sweet sleeping Nome

In my arms.

Today is about you,

Your day of Birth.

A gift you are to me, today and always.

My sweet sleeping Nome.

Thank you for teaching me, loving me, and shining your spirit on all of us! 

We love you.

I love you.

My sweet Nome. 

I'm four?  I don't feel four!  her breakfast request:  tofu, apples and snap peas (seriously.)

A few random thoughts before my kids awake:

*  Today is my baby girl's birthday!  We will do whatever she wants (within reason). 

*  Been crazy busy lately with my kitchen (it is done!! besides getting new curtains!), my husband's birthday yesterday, my daughter's party on Thursday that I have not planned yet, and just life.

* Lost my running journal somehow.  Wrote down my splits from my run yesterday (8.5 miles in the pouring pouring rain!) I feel lost without my journals.  Where could it be?  It disappeared in a matter of hours.  grrr.

*  Somehow have to fit in repeat 1ks today in addition to doing all I can to make sure I'm fully present in my sweet girl's day (she is still sleeping btw).  It is going to be hard to run too late (no energy) and I don't want to miss out on her birthday dinner.  Maybe a sitter this afternoon if she is available. 

* OH my, just found out that my 5 year old knew exactly where my running journal was...under her sister's bed.  This tells me that SHE was the one that hid it.  Just to see me squirm!!!  Only problem is that she was fast asleep when I was tearing the house apart looking for my journal at almost midnight.  Oh that little weasel!

*  On that note....I'm off this thing.  Sorry I can't keep up much these days.  I know I have not responded to so many of you and please don't take it personally.  I am just really trying to balance my life and spend less time on here and more time being present in my life with my kids.  Don't give up on me though...I'll be back....I find that with most things in life, there are ebbs and flows....cycles...

*  Peace to all of you this week! 

Here are a few pictures of my kitchen...I still need to do some touch ups, make some new window coverings,etc. but for now, we are done! 

Amanda

5k Tune Up Race Recap

Shamrock Run

Distance: 

3.16 (according to my Garmin so a longer 5k)

Purpose: 

 Tune-up race

Training for: Marathon

I also thought this would be a good time to participate in Jeff's virtual 5k.  

Goal:  To get a good workout, have fun, and push myself without all those old feelings of fear and nerves to slow me down and causing me to doubt myself. And to not let my "off" week get in the way of racing a good race.

Weather:  Cold, Damp, Rainy, Wet, Wet, Wet!  My shoes and socks were sopping wet the entire race.  Along with my clothes.  

Travel/food: 

By Max Train!  Soooo many people ran this race.  The train was full of other runners.  We stopped at Starbucks and got an egg sandwich, banana and coffee (vanilla latte with half the vanilla for me).  I also had some of the energy/protein drink from Jill right before the race.  I was like a giddy little kid!  So excited.  I slept great and wasn't nervous AT. ALL!  This was great!  :)  

Course: Here is a picture of the course elevation.  It was pretty hilly.  Especially mile 2.  There was a good amount of downhills too but .75 to 2ish felt like quite the incline...not sure how it would relate to the incline on a treadmill.  Definitely not the easiest 5k I've run but not the most challenging either.  

Splits:  

Mile 1:  6:25.86

Mile 2:  7:04.38 (this is where we should have pushed it waaaay harder up those hills)

Mile 3:  6:20.97

last .16: :55.76

Overall time (unofficial.  on my Garmin.) :  20:46/  6:35 average  14th out of 6,000 plus.  

Official time:  20:48; 3rd in my age group

Reflections:  

This was just the race I needed to shed the rest of my old college/high school baggage.  I don't have any regrets.  I used this as a good workout and I pushed myself enough to where I was able to end the race knowing that I can do better next time.  I had FUN and it felt great to feel strong.  

Goals for next 5k:  To leave it all out on the race.  I ran this race comfortable but working it and didn't push myself to pain. I would want to push myself to that pain level more next time.  At the end of the race I felt like I could still run 10 miles at base pace and be fine.  For a 5k race where I know I gave it all I had, I would not have this much energy left and I would have felt some pain and not stayed comfortable for the entire race.  However, the fact that I was comfortably pushing myself at this pace tells me that I'm where I want to be as far as marathon training right now!  Which is what this race was all about.  

One of the best parts!  A beer and music with my best friend (and no kids)!  

Thank you so much for your love and support in my last post!  Your comments were just what I needed to read!  Seriously, when I woke up this morning to a full inbox, your comments were just what I needed to start off on the right foot.  As Ana Maria suggested, I didn't think too much!  

Amanda