Baystate Marathon

The Baystate Marathon was full of ups and downs.  It was a practically perfect day weather wise except for a pretty significant headwind along 6-7 miles of the course.  My mom and I separated at the starting line with our respective pace groups and wished each other good luck.  I was pretty excited to get started and had a hard time holding back my pace for the first three miles.  I finally settled in with the pace group and hoped my legs would start to loosen up soon as they usually do around mile 6.  Unfortunately, mile after mile I felt stiff, but I was holding my pace without expending too much energy so I hoped my legs would last through the end.  Right before hitting 13. 1 (halfway) I saw Carter, Chris, and my dad and that gave me a much needed boost!  From there, everything was going okay as I began the second loop of the course.  I could feel my legs wearing down, but mentally I was strong as I kept telling myself to take it one step at a time.

My pacer unfortunately had stomach issues around mile 16 and disappeared only to return at mile 20 when I started to fade.  I predicted he would return just as we hit the downhill and that he would take off so I knew I had to be ready to kick it into gear.  Just as he came into view, I saw him speed up ahead to push the downhill and as I attempted to catch him, I realized I didn't have that much left in the tank.  I was able to hold my steady pace for another two miles (with the pacer in view) but at mile 23 my stomach and legs began to cramp and I realized I would have to slow down to even be able to finish.

Mile 23 was really long.  Mentally this was the hardest milestone of the race because it's where I started to focus more on the pain than my goal.  I just knew I had to keep moving my feet though so I did, albeit slowly.  Then as I finished up mile 23, things started loosing up a bit and I could go faster, though not fast enough to stay on pace.  I checked my watch--11:20 at mile 24.  I knew I had to finish by 11:35 to get my Boston Qualifier and I had 2.2 miles to go.  I realized it would not happen this time and it was hard to accept that I had missed the cut by so little.

By the time I saw my family near the finish line, I just wanted to burst into tears.  I was mentally and physically drained and totally convinced that I would never run a marathon again.  Fortunately a hug from my favorite bear helped me enjoy the accomplishment of a new PR and being very close to my BQ.  I only wish mom and I had stayed together since she only finished 6 minutes behind me (and got her BQ!)

Now to qualify in Phoenix in February!

My fan club:

Baystate Marathon, Lowell, MA

Pumpkin Hunting

Wilson Farm, Lexington, MA

17 Months

This shot is so perfectly Quinn- wide-eyed, curious and adorable.  It's also fitting as she's wearing a Superman cape and swim floats.  Dress up is her favorite thing these days and she prefers costumes with Ninja Turtles or Batman the most (although goggles are a close second).  She's saying lots of new words everyday and is often times found singing softly to herself.   We love her sense of adventure and her spunky personality.  She is one of a kind and we're glad she's ours!

SoCal Trip Day 4

Our last full day of vacation included a long 14 mile coast run, trip to see the San Diego Temple, a stop for Sprinkles Cupcakes, swimming with grandma and grandpa and the wedding!  Everything was lovely and we couldn't have been happier to celebrate with such a fantastic pair.

La Jolla Coast, La Jolla, CA

SoCal Trip Day 3

The wedding festivities were soon upon us and Chris and I had the opportunity to celebrate with all five of his best friends from high school.  I was surprised to realize how close they've remained since graduation despite landing in all different parts of the country, so it was definitely fun to see Chris back with his old friends.  The wedding celebrated Mike, who was the last of the group to get married, and this event was the first time the crew had all been back together in ten years.  It was lots of fun getting to know everyone and catching up all at once.

Rehearsal Dinner, San Diego, CA

SoCal Trip Day 2

We loved spending our next day of vacation in La Jolla at one of my all time favorite beaches- La Jolla Shores. The water was warm and the waves were fun for jumping.  In fact, I have very little photographic evidence of Carter being there because he was under water or trying to go deeper into the waves the whole time. Thank goodness for Grandpa who kept reeling him back in.  As with most beach days, the only sad noises I heard from Carter came when I told him we had to go.  The boy could swim for days!

La Jolla Shores, La Jolla, CA

SoCal Trip Day 1

We had a great excuse to head to Southern California for a wedding so we decided to make a trip of it!  We took full advantage of the West Coast waves, Disneyland, and spending time with family. Quinn didn't love the travel (which is the understatement of the year) but we survived our coast to coast trip and made lots of memories in the process.

First stop... Cars Land!

On to the rides.  But first, dancing in line to pass the time waiting for Mater's tractors!

Now the rides.

Flick's Flyers was definitely a favorite, but nothing was as popular as Monster's Inc.  Fortunately the kiddy area of the park was almost empty leaving us with the rides mostly to ourselves.  After three consecutive walk-ons to Monster's Inc, we finally pulled Carter away to something new.  Both kids loved the rides though we were at an awkward stage with both--Carter was just too short to ride the real rides and Quinn could't quite ride all the little ones.  Fortunately there were a few that fit the bill that we did ride over and over and over.

Next we saw characters!

I'm pretty sure Carter's heart exploded after seeing many of these friends, while Quinn couldn't have been more terrified of the costumed characters.  Mickey was the hardest character to track down at the right place and the right time so we ended up meeting Chip n Dale, Woody & Jessie, Mater, Doc McStuffins, and Pluto instead.  Although we didn't have any Mickey luck, Carter scored as the last one in line to get to see Jessie and the first one to see Woody!

The kids were great troopers despite a full day of travel the day before and the hot temps at the park. Disney definitely did not disappoint and may even have made a fan out of Chris this time around.

Disney California Adventure, Anaheim, CA