Don't know if I'm elated or gassy, but I'm somewhere in that zone...

The length of my run can be measured by the position of the sun.
This was a 3 hour long 18 miler in November.

I turn 35 in 4 days.  Over a year ago I set a little goal for myself - to celebrate this milestone birthday, I want to run a marathon.  Not just any marathon, the happiest place on earth Disney Marathon.  Oh, and I want to do it 4 hours or less.  Because I'm crazy, and I don't want hubs to have all the bragging rights, since he will likely accomplish that goal.  In November I managed a half just shy of 1:55, so it's not completely impossible, the stars would just have to align for me to be feeling good physically, mentally, and emotionally the day of the race, which is a week from Sunday.

The journey to this race has been anything but easy.  I started out a year ago with a stress fracture and tendentious.  After some rest and healing, strength conditioning and cross training, I got myself a treadmill and a  good pair of running shoes and got to work.  The shoes have since been replaced twice over due to my sensitivity for wearing.  I began training for the Broad Street run, a race I've done twice before, in order to get a decent qualifying corral start for the marathon.  I began rewatching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix while the treadmill whirred, and as soon as the weather broke and it was light before 6am, I ditched my basement and took off into the hilly streets near my house.

I finished Broad two minutes shy of the my seven year old, pre-baby PR and 90 seconds behind my husband.  These 90 seconds have us seeded in two different corrals for the marathon, mine slated to finish between 4 hours and 4:10, so I'll have some catching up to do if I want to make goal.  At this point, I was running with Superfeet insoles in my shoes as well as a lift in my right because I have a leg length difference.  Not quite the bionic woman yet.

I took it pretty easy in the summer just maintaining mileage and building strength, then ramped training back up in August.  Every couple of weeks I seemed to be plagued by some ailment.  First came a bunion, so my foot doctor applied a dancer's pad to my left orthodic.  That caused my tendentious to flair up so I ditched that and added a support sleeve to my big toe instead.  Then came the shin splints.  I took a week off and worked on calf and hamstring strength and added compression sleeves for my legs.  Shortly after that came runners' knee, for which a bought a support band that didn't seem to work, so instead it was on to therapy and Naproxen.  I managed to wean both of them by mid-November for the half, and continued on my long training runs without incident. You know, besides taking up hours upon hours of my life running around all of creation.

December brought the 20 mile runs and freezing temperatures, leaving me soaking in a tub for post-run relief.  I got my last period 4 weeks to the hour before the marathon, so I know that will be factor #1 that I'm up against on race day.  #2 came last week, just as my taper began.  And boy was it #2, along with vomiting, the stomach bug that daycare had been passing around finally landed on me, run down and stressed out.  I managed to be ok by Christmas; however, I still had a dull stomachache.  After a week off of running because of the bug I attempted my 14 miler on Saturday and almost vomited after 5.  Same with 4 miles on the treadmill yesterday, so off to the doctor I went.  Gastritis.  Wait any longer and it's an ulcer.  So my taper is no accompanied by two different medications along with a bland carbo-load and no alcohol (which could be a good thing).  The long-term weather report is currently showing rain for race day, and I'm just hoping God throws me a bone.

Despite all of this, I am anxious and giddy to get down to Orlando and finish this race with a smile on my face.  My playlist is ready to play specific songs as I run through the parks.  I'm still in the midst of deciding whether I should Disney-fy a run outfit to go with the spirit or just go with my typical gear for efficiency.  All I know is that I better decide soon, because those start-line fireworks are ready to go off, and I'm ready to scratch this off my bucket list and never do it again :)

I might have missed logging some treadmill runs, but for 2014 my runmeter says I've spent 91 hours, 59 minutes, and 36 seconds running 578.8 miles.  Yes, I definitely could use a nap.

Before the half

After the half.  Did I mention I peed myself?  Really, not
even just a little bit.  But in the last quarter mile my body just lost all control.
and now the whole 4 people who read this blog know it too.

Five!!

Petah Pan,
Help us please,
We need you,
Wherever you ahhhhhhhhre
- As sung by the Lobster Roll

Dear Mr. Gobbles,

I got the chills as my fingers tapped the title of this post.  Five.  I cannot believe you are five years old, where did my baby go?  You heard me being wistful this morning as I sang that song above that your sister sings day in and day out in the British accent, with you piping in saying Pizza Pan!  I could use a little Peter Pan right now because my eyes are welling up at the thought of you growing up.  Yesterday when I asked you if you'd live with me forever, you told me that you're going to move out when you're 18 even though you have to cook for yourself.  Oh buddy.  

Okay, enough of me being sappy over you growing up and onto all of the things you do that make me beam with pride.  First, and most important, you are incredibly kind.  You are always considering other people and I don't think you've ever received anything without making sure there was something to keep your sister happy too.  Sometimes you get frustrated because other kids don't see things the way it's supposed to work out in your head, and it upsets you greatly.  You are very much like me in that sense- always envisioning a situation and getting upset if you lose control and things seem unfair.  You'll learn to deal with that in time, it's hard, I get it.  But despite this, you're always thinking about how to include everyone.  You even asked Santa for some more pull-back cars, because even though you have two, when your cousin comes over there aren't enough for her, so you want to make sure there is next time.  You're the only 5 year old I know who would use up a Santa gift on someone else.

Gobbles, I know you hear this all the time, but I have to reiterate, you are so.darn.intelligent.  (btw, stop saying 'darn').  I have no doubt in my mind that there will come a day where you become smarter than your Daddy and I, you just have to keep up that enthusiasm for learning that you have now.  Your favorite subject is science because you love the experiments, and half the time your teacher would report on your daily that you're one of the few kids to accurately predict the outcome.  You display a natural ease with numbers and math and are able to perform the four functions through simple division without much brow furrowing.  As far as reading goes, you can pick out a lot of shorter words but are still trying to sneak through with your memorization instead of sounding them out, usually because you're in a rush to get through the story or because it's tiring to read at bedtime.  Daddy and I have a hard time spelling in front of you now because even when you seem like you're not paying attention you are listening and you'll repeat what we spelled, usually later at an inopportune time.

You are going on your third year of wanting to be an engineer, just like Mommy.  In your classroom, a distinguishable picture of a backhoe (excuse me, an excavator as you corrected me) with the caption "When I grow up, I want to be an Engineer" -Gobbles hangs in your classroom among kids wanting to be firefighters, spiderman, and batman.  As much as you love the super heroes (and growing very rapidly, Star Wars), your old soul still shines through, and you are always thinking and planning.

On the way home from school the other day we were listening to "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"  and I asked you and your sister if you'd want that.  You replied "That's ridiculous, our house is not big enough for a hippopotamus!  We'd have to borrow Mr. Rich's pool just to store the thing!"  I love that just in the time span of your reply, you were already working out in your head the logistics necessary should we get one.  Similarly, we were joking the other night at dinner asking if you guys wanted a third dog or a third kid in the family.  We already knew your answer, since you always say instead of a brother or sister you'd want "a nothing! because I don't like babies!"  This time though, you elaborated - "I want a giant dog, like Clifford the big red dog.  So we can use him to climb to the top of the house and get that J off and throw it in the toilet!" (referring to the J on the side of our chimney installed by the original owners indicating their last initial)  It doesn't seem to bother us but it must bug the heck out of you, Gobbles.

This year, your big birthday party will be shared with your sister since we've got a lot going on, so we had a solo family party for you on the day before your birthday.  Your two favorite gifts from there are the Hess Truck / Rocket and a Star Wars angry birds jenga game.  You have not put these toys down in the last week and it's quite refreshing to see that you're into these because lately, it's been Kindle, phones, and Apps.  I'm glad you still have some little boy in you and you're not all tech all the time (although we do love a good round of Frozen Free Fall together).  And despite us having all kinds of Christmas fun with Santa stuff this weekend, you shared with your class that your favorite part of this past weekend was setting up your ninja turtles zipline with Daddy.  I would have to agree, buddy, that from the sound of your voices and laughter coming out of the basement while you played ninja turtles together, that was my favorite part of the weekend too.

Well Gobbles, five will be a big year for you, Kindergarten in a new school will be here before you know it, and Mommy, Daddy, and your sister will be here with you to celebrate every step of the way.

I love you so much!

Love,
Mommy

See- it's an excavator because the hook is in the front, Mommy!

I wish that Mommy would stop crying about me growing up!

I love the yellow wrapping paper Mom, good choice!

A 3D death star?  I can handle that!

Ninja turtles everywhere!

Here Lobster - lemme help you with that!

Mommy - you are so cheating!  This is from my bff's party!  Yes I'll have the
same guests at a similar place, but it hasn't happened yet!

Ok, I'll smile ONE time!

Pizza party!

yup, i wanted an apple pie for my cake!

Love you buds!

Well I'll just lick this lightsaber here!

Whoo ho - I got a cupcake too!

 

here lobster - you can use the baby rocket!

I just want to borrow OLAF!

Last minute decorations - who needs them when you have 3 parties instead?!

Halloween and Everything Before

We have been quite busy this year with a million things, that Halloween crept up quietly and was gone in a flash.  Luckily, I was prepared in that both kids wanted costumes that were readily accessible so I didn't have to handmake anything.

The big pre-Halloween festivity this year was the Princess Poozer's 3rd Birthday Party. It was held at the same place her first one was, a seasonally-appropriate, adorable local pumpkin patch.  It was extra convenient for us this year too since we never managed to make it to Linvilla.

The day was cold but the kids didn't care, the weather seemed to align with the Frozen theme of the party.  First, the kids had their faces painted- Anna from Frozen for the Lobster Roll (to coordinate with her cousin Elsa of course), and Gobbles selected the seemingly random Iron Man.  His makeup turned out a little creepy, and I couldn't help but gasp when I first saw him!  After eating, singing happy birthday, and playing with the pinata (where the lobster and her cousin insisted on putting every piece of confetti into their bags), we went on to explore what the farm had to offer.

First the kids bounced in a moon bounce and slid down a giant inflatable slide, then it was time for the hayride.  The hayride took us to the pumpkin patch where each child could pick out a little pumpkin.  The Lobster Roll immediately selected the first one she saw.  And the second.  And so on, impulsively picking up and discarding pumpkins any of which she'd be happy with.  Gobbles, on the other hand, was very selective about his prize.  He examined each one thoroughly for symmetry and a lack of bruising.  He tended towards the larger ones when we reminded him it needed to be something he could carry himself.  It was then when I noticed a pumpkin, still on the vine (or whatever they grow on), still half green and very healthy.  I pointed it out to him and his face lit up over the unique-looking but perfect gourd.  He did not stop talking about it the rest of the day, how he was the only one to get a green pumpkin.  Later, when we carved the pumpkins on mischief night, he deemed it magic because it had ripened into a bright orange perfect for a jack-o-lantern.

After the hayride, the kids rode the cow train, the ponies, and finally played on the haystacks.   Hubs took them over to the apple shooter where Gobbles in all his serious accuracy came so very close to landing the target they were aiming for.  Again the Lobster was fine with the fun of firing the apples and as long as they whooshed through the air and smacked onto something afar, she was happy.  Finally, party came to an end, just the beginning of our Halloween celebrations.

A week after the party, the Halloween spirit was in full swing when we got "Boo-ed" for the year.  The kids excitedly rifled through the bag of stuff and plotted their plan to boo other neighbors.  Considering they each have about one kid their age in the neighborhood, the selection wasn't surprising.  So my next trip to Target included a few extra things to put in boo bags.  I printed out the obligatory poem at work and when we got home that night it was off to boo.  Gobbles was an old pro having done this last year with hubs, but the Lobster was still a little timid.  I turned off my headlights and watched Gobbles run up to the house, knock on the door, leave the bag, and run away.  He scrambled back into the car and I shut the door behind him as he giggled quietly.  When we got to the Lobster's house choice, she chickened out completely and requested that Gobbles do that house as well.  I'm not sure how hard he knocked on this one because I saw no reaction at the door, so they might have had it sitting on their step all night, but oh well.  The kids had fun and that's all that matters!

Up until the night before Halloween, the pumpkins the kids had gotten at the birthday party remained untouched.  At the last minute I decided it would be fun for the kids to carve them, something I've actually never done before.  Since the pumpkins were on the smaller side, we didn't have a template or any fancy design that would fit, so I just kind of winged it.  Each kid scooped out all of the pumpkin guts and described to me exactly how they wanted it carved.  Gobbles chose circle eyes, a triangle nose, and a smiling mouth with four teeth on both the top and bottom.  The Lobster requested heart shaped eyes, a circle mouth with teeth, and a circle nose.  Then Gobbles went back and asked for eyebrows and ears.  Then the Lobster added stickers on hers.  Then it was dinner time, so we admired the lit Jack-O-Lanterns for a millisecond, ate dinner, told them goodnight, and went to bed.  It was then I realized you're not supposed to put the lid back on when they're lit.  Whoops.. A bit of burnt pumpkin smell on our sunporch but not terrible.  They'd be outside the next day anyway.

On Hallween we woke up with a purpose- so many stops to make on a strict time schedule.  First, we went to my sister's to see baby Z all dressed up for her first Halloween.  Of course, in the costume department my sister outdid herself and had an awesome-looking Princess Lea along with a somewhat behaved Darth Puppy.  The kids showed off their costumes and filled their Trick-or-Treat pails for the first of many times that day.  On the way home, we stopped at my work so my little Jake and the Neverland and the Pirate Princess Fairy (because why be just one of those things) could show off their costumes and, of course, collect more candy.  We then went home to nap before heading off to school's Halloween Parade.

This year the school separated the Harvest Party from the Halloween Parade, and with the party being on the weekend, many parents opted to just go to the parade.  The Lobster Roll stood out among her class full of Annas (second siblings), proudly holding her teacher's hand and marching around the school yard with a purpose.  Gobbles, who had been talking about the parade for a week, was suddenly overcome with a bellyache the minute it was time for his class to parade.  The ailment lasted through pictures but magically disappeared the minute the kids started running and playing.  Poor guy must have had a touch of stage fright.

Finally, the big night arrived, Halloween Trick or Treat.  This year there was no pregame pizza party since there were big plans for afterwards, so as soon as we finished dinner at our house, we set the bowl out with a note, loaded the wagon with beer (and kids) and headed up the street.  We hit a few houses in our cul-de-sac when we could hear the shouts of other kids on the other side of the woods, so we cut through to the other side of the neighborhood to make our way around from there.  About halfway through trick-or-treating we met up with the little group and continued on with them.  Gobbles made sure not to miss anything and kept up with all the kids his age and a little older, while the Lobster started to fall behind and was perfectly content to sit in the wagon, which was fine with us considering both of their pails were too heavy for them to carry on their own.

The group looped back around the 'hood and we eventually made it back to our house, where the candy bowl hadn't even been emptied yet. We recharged the bowl, brought our guys inside for a potty break, and got our chairs so we could head over to the party that was starting in one of the cul-de-sacs.  The bonfire was set and the leary trick-or-treaters were drizzling in when we sat down for a beer with our neighbors.  The kids huddled together on a blanket on a lawn watching Ghostbusters and eating their candy (so proud of Gobbles who has not indicated any fear since).  The temperature began to drop and after a few hours I decided to call it quits and head home with the kids, hubs sticking around to enjoy a few more drinks.

I don't think I'll ever forget getting the kids ready for bed that Halloween night, I wish I could be in that kind of mood with them all the time.  They were chocolate wasted and I had a little buzz, and we were all deliriously tired from the long day.  Instead of rushing and screaming "get your pajamas on, it's bedtime" like usual, I just sat and cracked up with them as they clumsily brushed their teeth, fell into each other running around the room, and more general silliness.  As I was changing them I posed "maybe we should skip stories tonight, we should be getting to bed because... (in my mind i was thinking 'we're so drunk', because we had that same kind of atmosphere as my friends and i do at a girls weekend after going out), but Gobbles reeled me back in and finished for me "...we're so tired",  And they were- no arguments about going to bed, and my own Mr. Gobbles slept until 11am the next morning.  The Lobster didn't sleep in, but did insist on wearing her pirate princess costume all next day, and since it was that or pajamas, it didn't bother me in the least.

Elsa, Anna, and a half-assed Olaf!

Let's get this party started!

BFFs!

Queen Elsa!

Princess Anna!

...and IronMan? 

Happy Birthday Princess!

Two peas in the pod.

Pull string pinatas are genius!

These two very carefully gathered up every little "treasure" they could find!

Party time!

After awhile I got used to his scary face!

This one!  No that one!  I want them ALL!

Wow Nana, how about this one?

Look Mom! It's green - you're favorite color!  

Check us out all pumpkin- patch-y!

One advantage of being smaller than your cousin- you can sit on her lap!

hey there, everyone!!!

mom, can we get a pony?

I agree with Gobbles!  I want a pony - I look like a cowgirl!

Careful, don't fall!

See - I'm queen of the hay!

Sure, Gobbles, just shoot away...

I'm king of the world!

Ready too BOO!  Oh mom, don't mind the dreads... It was picture
day at school and the teachers put them in my hair... ?!?

scoop scoop scoop the pumpkin

workin hard to get these seeds!

hmmm.. now which sticker should I use?

Our eyebrows match!

so proud of our jack-o-lanterns!

Happy Halloween! 

yummy pumpkin seeds!

Oh just look at us!

Z says "eff you please get this wig off of me!"

Candy in the office! whoo hoo!

YAY I'm the pirate princess!  Oww... my belly hurts.

Wah.  My girlfriend D is upset that I'm upset!

Hey boys, let me in please!

My bff!!

old friends!  How'd she sneak into the school?

My loves

Even spoons is getting dressed up!

Trick or treat, everyone!

Halloween hangover with the little mermaid...

And puppy kisses will cure mine!