Color Vibe

CoLoR vIbE 2014!!

I did it. I ran my first race.  And it was a PARTY!  The Colorvibe was so much fun.

I ran with these awesome girls.  These girls are some of my closest friends (we missed those that did not run) We do a lot together; monthly lunch dates, weekly play dates in the summer, book group, girls night out and now running. They are a huge support to one another. I feel very blessed to be a part of this group.

Nat and I stuck together for the race.  We like the same pace and we ended up pushing each other.  The actual run was not that bad.  I'm used to hills so running on flat was pretty swell.  (minus the running on grass weeds and trail ruts)  My goal was under 30 minutes and we ran it in 28 minutes! (somewhere between 28-29.  It was an unofficial race)  Grandma and Grandpa Benson, Dustin and my kids were there to cheer us on.  I loved having my family smiling at us after the first mile and then again at the end.

Then the party started and we got blasted with colors.  Between the music blaring and color and dancing and friends, it was a blast.  Ella joined in on the fun.

What I am most happy about is that I ran the full 3.1 miles without stopping.  No walking.  No taking a break.  No "I cant"  It is the first time I have been able to do that.  There was once when the thought came "just stop for a minute" and I was able to push it out.  That is my biggest accomplishment.  That is the biggest hurdle I have worked to overcome.  My mind sometimes controls my actions and more than anything I have wanted to be stronger than the voice that creeps in.

May in a nutshell

By the time May gets here I am already burned out.  But May is when things get serious.  The homestretch. The end of school, carpooling, homework, dance, sack lunches is so close we can taste it.  But we have to make it through May first.  I am not sure how families with 5 or 6 kids do it.  With just our 2 (and one is tiny still) there are weeks I feel overwhelmed!

May has included school testing, weekly student council meetings and activities, competitions, dress rehearsals, practices, performances, dance try outs, speech, young women camp preparations, scouts, year end at work, activity days, anniversary, mothers day, first 5k race and preparation.  We are ready for this to end and boating season to start :)

So for a few random picture updates:

I have taken so many videos and pictures of dance this year I just snapped a few quick shots of Ella's dance review.  She performed her 3 comp dances, a company tap (with all competitive ages) and a finale.  This was the first time dressed up for tap so I had to get a picture AFTER the review.

We had a lot of support from family!  There is twice this year that I started crying while watching Ella perform her lyrical.  At the review I looked over at my mom and she was crying as she watched her perform. It is heart warming watching our little baby girl look so beautiful and graceful and happy.

The Minis!  Ella tried out for 2014-2015 company and made it.  She will get to dance with these fun girls again!

The morning of Ella's review, she and I stayed home to get ready while the boys went on a hike to the Windcaves with the Bensons.  I hear they did awesome and Parker had a blast!

We had a field fire in our neighborhood so for our evening walk we went to check it out.  Mr fireman was awesome and let the kids check out the firetruck.

Love*Hate

My internal dialogue about running:

Right before a run "This is going to be epic.  Running is awesome.  I'm not going to slow down or walk at all.  I'm just going to push through because running is awesome."

During a run "THIS IS AWFUL!!  Why why why am I out here doing this"  In fact, after my last run with my husband my direct quote to him was "That was awful.  I am never doing it again"

3 hours after a run "Eh.  That wasn't SO bad.  I'm up to doing it again soon."

So to sum up, I have a LOVE-HATE relationship with running.  That is the best way for me to describe it.

I have never been a runner.  I had never ran more than 1 mile at 1 time in my whole life.  I have always hated running.  Even when my Dr instructed me to start running, I tried, and it never stuck.  In January my girl friends and I signed up for a 5k (ColorVibe no less)  I thought, "what's the big deal?  It wont' be that hard."
So I jumped on the treadmill to see what I could do.  You know what I could do?  Not a whole lot of anything.  One mile later I was about dead.  And that mile took 16 minutes!!  Ouch. I realized at that point that I had a TON of work to do.  I was completely out of shape!!

I started running on the treadmill and slowly added distance and slowly added speed.  I started going outside to run with friends.  Then I adopted Dustin as my personal trainer and that is when things picked up a notch. He was a runner in his younger days and he knows technique and strategy.  And he definitely knows how to push me.  Sometimes so much that I almost tell him to zip it :)  Dustin introduced me to my first 5k route in our neighborhood.  And its a toughie!  The last mile is straight uphill and its not a little hill.  Our route is a total of 3.30 miles and we gain almost 300 feet in the last 3/4 mile.  The first two times we ran this I felt seconds away from throwing up. Don't worry, I held it in because that is just not pretty. The last run we did my body did better, but my mind not so much.  I wanted to start crying 1/2 mile away from home.

We have done this route a few times now.  The first run = 40+ minutes.  The second run = 35 minutes and our last run this weekend = 32.48 minutes!  
The most exciting part of this was that our first two miles were 9 minute miles.  I NEVER thought I would be able to run a nine minute mile.  Not when my first mile was 16 minutes :)  Training on this specific route with this daunting hill will make a normal run so much easier.

My next goal is to do 3.1 miles with no hills so I can really see what my 5K time really time is; I want under 30 minutes.

Long story short, running is still really hard for me.  However, I know it is teaching me some great things.

Going out with Dustin is teaching me mind over matter.  I used to give up so.very.easily, but he is teaching me to push through just a little longer.  Focus on a point, and make it PAST that point.  I am learning that my mind can be stronger than what my body is telling me-that I CAN push through to the next point. He has even had to literally grab my hand and pull me when I want to stop.
He is my biggest motivator in every aspect of my life and this has helped me to remember how much he has my back and that he is the biggest person in my life that can get me to be stronger and better.

It is also necessary for me to run.  I have known for years that my family genes of a "bad heart" is very strong in me. Running is my ticket to a healthier heart and a healthier life (and a life away from heart medication). One picture I can keep in my head is that of my family.  That is motivation enough to keep going even when I want to crash and lie on the ground.  Running started out as a "necessary evil" but it's SLOWLY turning into a "necessary good."

And because I try, but I am far from awesome, I loved this!  It's a start, right?!