Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Shark Cakes and Awesome Runs

Sometimes you can't think straight and bullet points are the only way to go :D

  • Mai made it through the night Friday at the sleepover (Hooray!)...but she came home "needing" a flat screen tv in her room, her own laptop, a demand for a hot tub, swearing, and a suggestion that I could lose 20 pounds.

  • Jack loved being an only child for those 24 hours. When I asked him to come up with a down-side to not having his sister around, he had to think for quite some time and then said "you know how you're always screaming at us to pick wet towels up off the floor?...well...without her here, I would have no one to blame that on."  NICE! Hope this love sticks around ;P
I think this era of sweetness is over and a new one has begun.

  • I took Jack to a birthday party Sunday night. They had a shark cake...kind of like this one
Homemade Shark Cake
...but with bloody mermaid dolls in the sharks mouths. Very cool. It was a very girly birthday party, too...mostly girls in party dresses, which made the cake even more amusing. Thankfully no one freaked out. No one would eat the bloody parts though.

  • Remember I've been practicing my bike tire changing so I could win the contest at practice? I'm pretty much stuck at 4 minutes - but I just found out that the pot is usually at about $1000 (donated to our TNT page) to be split among the people who beat coach at the tire change. I had no idea it was that high. I'm in super tire changing mode now. I think I'll practice twice a day for that kind of cash! Have you all been practicing your tire changing??????

  • I ran my longest run in two years yesterday. 11 miles! It was the fastest I've run that distance in YEARS, though. Some runs are just meant to be. I felt great. I picked a route I used to use for marathon training. As I was running, the sun was shining just right down on my face and I passed a landmark and a memory of this run from '06 flashed through my mind. That was probably the best run I had EVER had. I was keeping an 8:30m/m - 8:45m/m pace (in '06) and everything felt fantastic! It was a great memory and totally fueled me over the remaining miles I had yesterday. I did the first 7 miles at about a 9:30 pace and finished with a 9:51m/m average. I'm GOOD with that! I did have issues from the start with my left glute and left ankle, so I'm taking extra good care of them right now with ice packs, stretching, and ibuprofen.
  • I can't believe I'm running again. I want to cry....happy tears, of course!

22 comments:

Abby @ Have Dental Floss, Will Travel said...

Congrats on the 11 miles!!

And remind me, when I have kids, not to allow them to go to sleepovers at houses that have flatscreen tv's in every room :)

Nikki Kendall said...

YAY!!!!!!!!

CautiouslyAudacious said...

Great run! Wow sleepovers aren't as innocent as they use to be huh?!

Anonymous said...

Such cute kiddies!

Congrats on the run, keep up the good work =)

Quinton J said...

LOL...Mai...that might just be her last sleepover.

Nice work on that run and running again...tear.

Stephanie said...

Woo hoo to the running! I would be TERRIBLE at changing tires! Go you!

Anonymous said...

haha! you can't beat brotherly love huh? :-) Great run! Welcome back! I really really want a bike! I've been saying that for some time, but I really don't know where to start and I am terribly lazy to do the searching a new bike requires...

A Prelude To... said...

@Nikki - your donation right before my run totally kept my head in the game on exactly WHY I was running 11 miles by myself on a Monday :D

@Q - No more sleepovers anytime soon! FOR SURE!

@Melie - Although I got a great bike for a great price going the USED route, it was a really hard process.
I would suggest going to a couple different bike shops and riding a couple different types of bikes and if you feel the customer service is good at one shop more than another, that is where I would start to really nail down what you want. Then...have them fit it to you and you'll be out riding and loving it in no time!

I have a double crank but on big hills often wish I had a triple. That's one of the big questions you'll want to answer for yourself...so I would try out both kinds and try them on hills to see what the difference is. If you're not in an area with a lot of hills, triple is probably unnecessary.

Kate Geisen said...

What the heck...you smoked that run, ankle and all!

I've now changed a tire twice. I'm not so good at it. I'm thinking I'll just stick with on the job training for now, but I might be inspired by a $1000 pot!

Your son's comment cracked me up. Sounds like my kids. My two older boys usually go to their dad's every other weekend, but lately it's been pretty dependent on their schedules (they're 16 and 18). This past weekend, only the 16 y.o. was home. He actually asked if they could just alternate the weekends they go to their dad's so they didn't have to spend so much time together!

Brotherly love. Sigh...

Aimee said...

Your kids are sooo cute!!

Yay for running 11 miles! Woohoo! I'm so happy for you!!

Anonymous said...

YAY oh YAY for running!!!!!!!!!!!! Love the cake!

Jess @ Blonde Ponytail said...

Congrats on your 11 miler Julie!! Yo should be super proud!!!

Your kiddos Mai and jack are freaking adorable--how funny about the wet towels!

Have a fantastic day!!!!

Jen said...

Yay for you and running! I LOVE that shark cake! And that they wouldn't eat the bloody parts! And little boy's comment about his sister being gone! SO funny!
And if I got a flat tire, I'd call my husband. And it would be faster than me trying to change it. :)

Penny said...

Great 11 miles. Your good. I dont change tires.

ajh said...

Yeah for the happy tears for running. I totally get that.

Raina said...

Sounds like an AMAZING run. I love how those come from nowhere and can be nothing but a heavenly gift!

Keep practicing! I want you to win the $$!

Elizabeth said...

i know nothing about tires. :) so glad you had a fabulous run-i love those days. and your kids crack me up. I would also like a big screen tv and a hottub. :)

Jo Lynn said...

The first bullet had me laughing out loud. Literally!
I know what you mean about being so happy to be running. I always feel the same way. ;)

Tricia said...

great job on the long run!

Michael said...

I love the pics of your kiddos. Too cute :) Your daughter is a crack up - well your son too. Great job on the run!

Cory Reese said...

Great job on the run - that is awesome!

Big Daddy Diesel said...

Yayyy for running

Thats faster then me on tire changing, though I never had a $1000 incentive for getting quicker