/> SLO in Arkansas: May 2012

Monday, May 21, 2012

Welcome Back Lake Season!!

 It's that time of year again finally.....and we started off with a bang:)  We were invited last minute to spend Saturday at the lake with some friends, so of course we jumped at the chance for a fun and relaxing day in the sun and water.
 We ate burgers and hotdogs and plenty of chips and dip.
 Then we headed out on the boat for a fun ride around the lake.
Followed by the best tube ride ever!!  Look at how huge this thing is!!!  Tyson was smiling the whole time and yelling "faster!!" while poor Jace had a look of terror on his face and was scared to death. 
We made that poor baby ride the whole time and hope he is less scared the next time we are out tubing.  Tyson is ready to tear it up again soon though and I am so excited that he loves it:) 
The boys had the best time swimming and playing on the little beach all day long.  Tyson put his head right under water and started swimming, and Jace still thinks he can swim without his life jacket on.  I love my water babies:) 
 Silas got some fishing in, but didn't catch anything as the boys splashing around scared all the fish away.
 Jace played in the sand and had a blast pushing his dump trucks around.
We had a fabulous day together as a family and hanging out with friends.  The four little boys got along well and wore themselves out.  Silas and I were so happy for a relaxing day where we weren't the ones in charge of the boat for a change.....it was nice!! 
 Our fabulous friend's Adam and Liz:)
 The mama's hanging out watching our boys play.  We grilled chicken for dinner and then headed out on the boat after supper for a sunset cruise around the lake.  We packed up and headed home about 8:30pm and both boys were fast asleep in the car.  It was a perfect day and we are so excited that lake season is about to kick into high gear!
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Sunday, May 20, 2012

How NOT to Run a 5k

 I ran the most bizarre 5k this weekend.  It was my first of the year and I had run it last year and was familiar with the course.  I have not been doing any speed training so my expectations for time were fairly low.  We arrived plenty early, got my race bib and even had time for a short warm up jog as I had planned.  I wandered to the starting line with everyone else, chatted with some fellow friend runners, and made my way to the front where I was in good position.  That is when I looked down and realized I did NOT have my silly timing chip on my shoe!!!
 Pure panic set in as the race was about to start.  I sprinted to Silas, yelled for the car keys and raced up the street to the car to check my race packet for my chip.  It wasn't there!!  I ran back to the registration tables and they pointed down the road to where I was supposed to have picked it up when I signed in (I know this is TOTALLY my fault).  I yelled at the older gentleman at the table which number I needed and of course it was at another table.  He found my chip but we had to go to another table to get a zip tie for it to go on my shoe.  Of course the race started while I was in the middle of all of this hoopla, and my time was ticking away.  I got the silly thing attached to my shoe, started my watch and took off after everyone else.  It took me almost 2 miles to weave around the slower runners and get to where I needed to be.  I was beating myself up mentally the whole time for being so stupid, but figured I would run as hard as I could and at least finish strong.
 I pushed hard that final quarter mile and finished right at the same time as my 5k PR from last year.  My garmin had my time as over a minute faster for a minute PR, but of course that was unofficial as they were going by the race clock.  UGGGHHH!!  The crazy thing is that I ended up winning 1st place in my age group anyway!  Go figure.  I was disappointed though because I finished 6th overall female and I was aiming to finish top 5 (and definitely would have had I started on time!)  Lesson learned....get your timing chip silly head!! 
 At first I really was being hard on myself for making such a silly mistake, but then I realized several things I could take away from this situation. 1) I am not perfect and everyone makes a mistake at some point, 2) I persevered and started the race, even though I knew I was behind and would not be able to run the race I wanted to run, 3) Running is fun and it doesn't have to be about winning every time or setting a PR (even though my competitive nature struggles with this!!) and finally 4) I can be proud of myself and my accomplishment even if it wasn't the result I had hoped for.
 My boys cheered their little hearts out for mama and all the other runners and had such a good time at the race.  They are always so excited when I get a trophy or medal:)  I guess I will go ahead and register for the next 5k in our running series so I can redeem myself in a few weeks!!  Oh yeah, I went back and found the man I had yelled at in my panic to get my timing chip and apologized to him for being a bit frantic. I thanked him for his help and he just smiled and said it was ok.  Racing sure can make you crazy sometimes.
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Sunday, May 13, 2012

Art Show 2012

 My goodness this school year has gone by fast!  It really seems like yesterday we were taking pictures on the first day of school with their new backpacks:)
 The Mother's Day Out/Pre-K they attend hosts an annual art show at the end of the year to showcase their wonderful creations from throughout the year.  I love the art show!!
 The boys were super excited to show off their works, run like crazy and play with friends, and enjoy the cookies and punch.
 
 Tyson and his buddy Luke.  These two guys are so sweet and have been good friends this school year.  It just makes me smile to see my little guys making friends:)
 Jace and Cade.  These two love each other and enjoy being in school together on Tue and Thur and seeing each other in Sunday school every week as well.
 
 I just love how proud Tyson is in these pictures!  It dawned on me that he has been attending this "school" since he was 12 months old and he will be 5 this summer.  Time sure has flown these past few years.  He has had a wonderful pre-k year and learned so much.  We loved his teachers Mrs. Paula and Mrs. Ashley so much.  We are definitely blessed to have such a great place for our children to learn, play, and grow.  There will be lots of partying this week to celebrate the year and their last day is Thursday.  Bring on the summertime!!!
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Thursday, May 03, 2012

April Rewind

April was a pretty awesome month in my book, race wise at least.  It started off on the first with my half Ironman in Texas and 3 weeks later I crushed my half marathon time running a race at the last minute:)  Pretty good stuff if I do say so myself.  So here is the breakdown...


Run:  74 miles
Swim:  9550 m or 5.97 miles
Bike:  6 hours 34 minutes

Rest days: 12
That is the number that kills me.  I tried to rest and treat my body well after the HIM, but goodness those rest days do a number on my mental health!!!  Yikes!  I have just been off my groove this entire month and am still trying to find some kind of "normal" training again.  No races on the horizon except maybe a local 5k in the next week or so.  Maybe May will be better!!

posted by Lauren at 7:19 PM 0 Comments