Back in October, my family and I ran our first mud run together. We ran the Terrain Racing 5K here in Las Vegas and it was epic. Both kiddos have done the Kid Spartan races, kids Dirty Dash races, and have participated in a runDisney kid 1 mile race and fun 5Ks like the Bubble Run. So they are definitely not strangers to running, obstacles, and getting dirty! But, this was the first 5K mud run and it was the first time we’d all participated together, as a team.
They were so excited to be a part of the race and run alongside us and other adults. This was a pretty tough race and they did so well. They climbed walls and cargo nets that I thought were pretty high and scary. They trudged through muddy water, flipped tires, carried sand bags, and went up and down some pretty steep hills. They did it all with so much determination and courage. They never gave up. They tried all the obstacles and hardly needed any assistance from us. Jason and I were so proud of them. I think the best part was having so many other runners come up alongside them and cheer them on, especially Elysse, who was so tiny compared to everyone else out there! I could see how good and empowered it made them feel.
I’ll admit, I was a little nervous that there might be whining or bickering out there but we all kept it cool and got along great! The kiddos didn’t fight and actually encouraged each other to keep going. We seriously had the best time! I can’t wait to run another race together as a family. I would most definitely recommend running a race or participating in an event as a family. I just wish we would have done it sooner.
It’s great to get the kids involved in staying active and setting some healthy fitness goals. Come back Thursday for tips on how to get the kiddos excited about exercising and running races!
Hey remember me? Yea, it’s been a hot minute since I blogged. OOPSY! These past 2 months away from the blog has shown me that I really do love blogging. Coming here and sharing our family travels, the ups and downs of life, and having a place to log my running and staying accountable to my fitness goals is really important to me. So why did I take a blogging break? Because I got lazy. That’s the plain and simple truth about it. And it cost me. Not being accountable with my fitness goals these last few months has definitely left it’s pounds, um, I mean mark. No, really, the pounds came on too! Plus, I missed having a place to share and update on what’s been going on in this messy life of mine.
But, this isn’t a blog post about regrets and feeling sorry for myself. With a new year, comes a clean slate and I’ve had some time to meditate on what it is I want to focus on with this blog and I plan on sharing lots of great things in the coming weeks and months. I hope you stick around around for the ride.
Before we get started on making It’s a Messy Life better than ever in 2017, I want to look back at all the fun and adventures we had in 2016.
The biggest thing for us in 2016 is that we purchased our home! After living in Las Vegas for 7 years, we finally decided to plant some roots. Although purchasing our home seemed to take up most of our time and resources this year, it was a great decision and we’re excited to be homeowners! I look forward to sharing more from our home, as we decorate and make it our own.
2016 also marked our 20th wedding anniversary in August! My family threw us a sweet 1920’s theme anniversary party at my sister’s house and it was such a fun time. And, Jason and I decided to put off the bathroom remodel in the house and take ourselves on an epic adventure to Peru! We took off without the kids for 8 days and crossed off a few things from our bucket list, including visiting Machu Pichu! I can’t wait to share more from our trip soon and share tips and tricks to traveling outside of the country.
Aside from these 2 major events, I also ran the LA Marathon in February. This was my first full marathon. 26.2! I was so grateful to have my family there cheering me on! You can read the recap HERE and check out the fun we had afterwards too exploring LA with the kiddos on THIS blog post.
In other running related news, I finished the year with a pretty low milage of 327.30 yearly miles. Although it was not a year full of a ton of races, the races I did run were great. I especially loved running the Terrain Mud Run 5K as a family! I just realized I didn’t blog about that, so be on the look out for that race recap, along with some pretty funny pics of my kiddos in mud 😉 For more race recaps of 2016, go HERE!
As a family, we had a pretty fun year too! We went on our 2nd annual summer camping trip to Lake Navajo in Utah. We traveled to LA twice and Ventura Beach. We saw the super bloom at Death Valley, enjoyed seeing it snow up in Mount Charleston in December, we spent lots of spring and fall afternoons hiking Red Rock Canyon, and visiting the water parks this summer.
Although it was a stressful and busy year (yeah, I know, which year isn’t, right?) I still think 2016 was noteworthy and we can always find some good in every season of our life. I hope you also took the time to reflect on this past year and were able to find the good in it too!
You guys I PRed!!! Woohooo!! I am so excited to give you all the details from the Ventura Marathon & Half Marathon event earlier this month. I got to participate in this awesome race thanks to RacePlace. As an ambassador for RacePlace, I was offered this race entry at no cost, but this review and recap are my own thoughts and opinions.
The marathon and half marathon took place on Sunday, September 11 but they had fun events on Saturday too. There were also various bike race distances, an adventure race, 5K, kids races, and K9 Shuffle! Packet pickup and expo were held outside right next to the pier and there was a live band and some food trucks too. It was definitely a beach party atmosphere!
We left Vegas Friday morning. Totally let the kids skip school for this trip! Every year we take a 3 day weekend getaway to the beach right before school starts and this year we just didn’t make it. So, this became a fun little race-cation! More on that part of our trip in another post 😉
We kept to our plan and got to the beach right around 11am or so after our huge brunch at Cajun Kitchen Cafe right on Main St. in downtown Ventura. First stop was packet pickup. Like I mentioned, the expo was held outside right next to the pier. It was super easy and quick to get my bib and swag bag. I loved the goodies we got! Just look at all the stuff I got! I really like that hat and the bag is great too. Roomy and useful. I gotta say I was getting tired of the drawstring bags mot races are giving. Plus, race photos were free!
The expo itself wasn’t super big but that was fine with me. I don’t particularly enjoy those big expos where it’s inside and stuffy and there’s a ton of people all around you! Anyhow, once we were done looking around and getting the kids some ice cream we spent a relaxing day on the beach. Dinner was my usual carb-loading pizza with some protein and lots of veggies 😉
Race morning was smooth and easy. Jason was just dropping me off, so parking was not an issue for us, although it seems there was plenty of parking options. The folks that were directing traffic were friendly and showed us where he could park to drop me off. I had forgotten my Garmin in the room, so we had turn around and grab that for sure! I got to the race, which started right in front o f the pier, with just enough time to get my headphones on and line up near the 2:30 pacer before we took off. Everything seemed organized and relaxed.
I went into this race with zero expectations and just happy there were no hills and it was a flat course. My training had not been as regular as it should have been. I did get my long runs in each week, but only running 2-4 miles once or twice during the week. So you can imagine my surprise when I ended up passing the 2:30 pacer and felt great around mile 5. I was so sad when around mile 6 I had to stop and pee in the port a potty. I considered not stopping, but of course, that just made me have to go more! LOL I sped up a little bit to try to catch up to the pacer again but I reached the turn around point (it was an out and back race) and still didn’t see them. I slowed down a bit and maintained a steady pace until about mile 10. At this point in a half marathon I always feel anxious and ready for it to be over. I found a really nice groove and kicked it up a notch. Once I spotted the 2:30 pacers I took off. I was a woman on on a mission! I came up to them and they told me I was doing a good job. I replied back with a thanks and told them I had been trying to catch up with them the whole race! It was great to hear them cheer me on as I kept going and passed them. I knew I was going faster than usual, but I was still feeling great. I didn’t want to look down at my garmin and see my pace out of fear of slowing down once I saw it! Crazy, I know. I just ran for myself and only when I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch did I see I had a new record! I finished in 2:24:26 beating my previous record of 2:25:27. I don’t know how it happened, but I’m so happy it did! Maybe I can finish my next half in 2:20 😉
Thanks agin to Raceplace for the race entry and to the race directors and volunteers who made this my best half marathon to date! And of course, thanks to my ever supportive family for coming along and cheering me on! They’re the best! XO
On May 21, 2016 I ran the Trails of Fury 10K. My daughter also ran the kids 2K race that day. Trails of Fury is a trail race organized by Desert Dash and they always pull off a great race. I’d volunteered a few times on other Desert Dash races, so I had race credits for this race, bonus!
We had to wake up even earlier than usual for a race, since we had to take a bus to get to the race location. The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) didn’t want a lot of cars out on the trail parking lot, as to not to disturb the environment. The weather was unseasonably cold for end of May and pretty windy. They provided plenty of snacks and hot cocoa and coffee to help keep us warm, as well as space heaters. We had to wait for the half marathon and 5K runners to go before the 10K got started. Thank goodness there were seats for Elysse and hot cocoa and space heaters to help keep her warm and whining was down to a minimum 😉
I hadn’t really trained much for this race. After the L.A. Marathon, my running has really been sporadic. I decided to sign up for this race to help me get my running mojo back. During the entire run I felt sluggish and slow. I took way too many walking breaks and the gradual uphill really got me! The downhill, as usual, was fun and I was grateful that the downhill was at the middle and then again at the end. I started the race wearing my jacket but after the first mile I got hot and took it off. Since the 10K consisted of 2 loops, I passed the start line and saw my husband and daughter. I handed them my jacket and just kept on going. After the 1st loop, I really was trying to give it my all, but sadly, my all was not much to give. My lack of running and especially my lack of trail running, was evident. I was glad to be done after the race, but I actually did enjoy the run. It made me remember how much I did enjoy trail running and I really hope to get back to it.
Now, about 30-45 minutes after my race it was time for the 2K kids race. Elysse was ready to run and was super excited to get started. Desert Dash just recently introduced the kids races to their lineup, so there were only a total of 3 kids for this race. I sure hope they keep it for future races and that more kids show up for them. Running is such a great sport and it can really help teach kids the importance of training, endurance, and rewards for hard work. Elysse started the race strong and she finished strong. She led the whole time and came in first place. That really made her feel so proud of herself and in turn, we were also so proud of her. She gave it her all and it paid off! I can’t wait for her to run another race again and that she can find a true love for running!
Posing for the camera with a few of our Endure Boot Camp pals
Earlier this month, Jason and I completed the Las Vegas Spartan Super, which was actually in Mesquite, AZ about 1.5 hr outside of Vegas. This was my 6th Spartan Race and Jason’s comeback race. After breaking his ankle in the January 2015 Spartan Sprint in Temecula, he was off racing for the year. His plan was to run the Spartan Super last year to complete his first trifecta and he was super bummed about not being able to run it. So it made perfect sense for him to call this his “redemption” race. Not only was this his comeback Spartan Race, it was his first race since the accident.
We had a start time of 12:30pm, so we didn’t have to leave too early in the morning. My sister, nephew, and my nephew’s friend came to cheer us on and take photos along the way! Huge thanks for the pics!! Since we were both running, we decided to leave the kiddos at home with my parents this time. I’m glad we did since they would have been bored and whiny, especially the little one. It was pretty warm that afternoon and we didn’t see my family until we were almost done.
The first half of the course was pretty flat but super sandy (Get it, super sandy..) The second half was not as sandy but had us going up and down the side of this huge hill, that may as well have been a mountain about 3-4 times. Up and down we went. We had all the tried and true obstacles Spartan Race is known for. I knew that with all my marathon training, I’d not been focusing on upper body strength, so I fully expected to need lots of help over walls and monkey bars. Thanks to the hubs I made it over all the walls! I was so proud of him for getting over those walls without assistance, beast mode status! I will admit though, that I was a little nervous the entire time and probably asked 50 times if his ankle was ok or how his ankle was holding up.
It’s always so much more fun going downhill than up!
I always like to pretend I’m walking through a field of chocolate frosting during this part of the race. It’s just the right consistency, but sadly, not quite the same smell!!
After 8 miles and lots of obstacles later, we finally made it to the finish line. Our time was not fast, but we finished together with a few scrapes and bruises, but no broken bones! Success.
That kid up there is my 15 year old nephew who is gonna rock the Spartan Race when he runs his first race with, hopefully this year 😉
So have you ever ran a Spartan Race? Love it, hate it? What races do you have planned for this spring season? Can’t wait to read all about it.
It took me a few days to figure out what I was going to say about this marathon. I’ve had such mixed emotions about my performance, but either way, I set out to complete the L.A. Marathon and I did it! I ran 26.2 miles through some of the most famous streets in the world. That in itself was surreal and amazing and emotional to me. I grew up on the east coast and I never thought I’d live near the west coast. Los Angeles, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, these were all such cool and glamorous places I always said I’d love to visit some day. Moving to Las Vegas 7 years ago, made visiting those places a reality. But, never in a million years did I ever think/wish/dream/ that I would run through those places. So yeah, it was definitely an amazing experience.
Packet pickup was being held at the Convention Center, which was right at the U.S. Olympic Marathon trials finish line. We arrived Saturday morning just in time to watch the last lap!! It was so cool to see these elite athletes and to catch a glimpse of Meb and Desi Linden!! Being short myself, these are 2 of my favorite runners because they aren’t the typically tall, long-legged runners we associate with running 😉 So excited they made the team and will be heading to Rio this summer!
Since my sister and nephew came to support me (huge, massive thank you to them!!!), that meant we could leave the kiddos sleeping with them while Jason drove me to Dodger Stadium at 5am. The race started at 7am, but I don’t think I crossed the start line until 7:20 or so. The energy at the start line was typical. You could feel everyones anxiety, nervousness, and excitement all rolled up together. I know I was definitely feeling it. Once I crossed the start line, I had my first issue after 3 minutes. My playlist ended up on shuffle somehow and Jason had just updated my phone, so I couldn’t figure out how to get it off shuffle. We’d worked for hours to get my playlist just right and we had specific songs that were set to come on at various landmarks, so I was upset this was happening. I pulled off to the side and called Jason in a panic, eventually after about 3-4 minutes I figured it out and started to relax. I was going way faster than I intended too, but with my lost time due to technical difficulties and the wave of runners practically pushing me forward, it was hard to slow down. I did eventually get back to my groove but I was happy to be running about 5 minutes ahead of my goal. I saw Jason again between mile 5-6 and that was a nice surprise. He ran alongside me for a minute or so and then went back to meet up with the rest of the family 🙂
Seeing my family at mile 11 was perfect! I was feeling so good then and we were right in the middle of Hollywood Blvd. It was a great boost for the next 5-6 miles. After that point, I was feeling the heat and getting a bit nauseous. I was losing my mojo fast and not even listening to Weezer’s Beverly Hills song whilst running through Beverly Hills was working for me. I was trying to work through it and get back on track but then I started cramping. My right calf and toes cramped up and I had to pull over and stretch for a bit. After that, it was just a matter of moving forward and not stopping. I knew I was nowhere near finishing at my goal time. From there, it was a very slow 6 miles with lots of walking and stopping to stretch. I was feeling defeated and the tears were starting to flow freely. Around mile 23 I started to dig deep. No more feeling sorry for myself, I had to finish. I picked up the pace as best I could and cried some more. Then I told myself I would not slow down or walk the last 2 miles. Thank goodness they were downhill miles! Finally, I turned the corner and was on Ocean Drive. I could see the finish line. It took me FOREVE to get to the finish line, but I didn’t stop “running” or maybe a better term would be trotting or shuffling! I have never felt more relieved in my life than when I crossed that finish line. More tears. I still had about 2 blocks to walk to find my peeps, but when I did see them well, you know, more tears and there may have even been some sobs. The first thing I said was, “Don’t ever let me do that again”.
Yup, ugly crying was in full effect.
I gotta say the people of LA rock!!! Seriously, I cannot get over how many spectators were out there cheering us on. The streets were always lined up with people, not just volunteers, but folks from the communities we ran through. They cheered, they handed out snacks from orange slices to ice pops to pretzels. I especially enjoyed seeing the “vasaline” poster boards. Yup, there were globs of vasaline all over poster boards so runners could just grab and dab where needed. It was pretty warm, so some people were handing out wet paper towels, others were spraying runners with water, and even better yet there were some water hydrants open to run through! The people of LA hold a special place in my heart. The support was beyond anything I’ve ever seen or had at any race! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
And to Students Run L.A., I send you all a virtual hug and high five! This organization is amazing. I didn’t know anything about them prior to seeing them on Sunday. They all wore matching neon yellow tank tops and were everywhere. You couldn’t miss them. Seeing these 12,000 or so kids from 7th-12th grade out there running and giving it their all was so inspiring. At mile 18, a kid about 14 years old patted me on the back while my calf was cramping and said, you got this! Well, you guessed it, more tears. I googled Students Run L.A. when I got home and here’s part of their mission statement, “to challenge at-risk secondary students to experience the benefits of goal-setting, character development, adult mentoring and improved health by providing them with a truly life-changing experience: The training for and completion of the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon.” Each year, more than 95% of the students who start the marathon, finish the full 26.2 mile course. In June 2015, 99% of the 740 seniors who completed the LA Marathon with SRLA graduated from high school, and 95% of them planned to go to college. This organization and it’s volunteers are doing some worthwhile work. Congrats and kudos to them!
Once I calmed down and stopped crying, I sat down for a bit. Then we continued our walk to the Santa Monica Pier and grabbed some food at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. After my burger and beer, we walked down the pier so the kids could ride a ride before heading back to our condo in Hollywood. We were all too tired to go out to eat dinner like we had originally planned, so we ordered some chinese food, popped open our celebratory bottle of Perrier Jouet and called it a day!
It’s way too soon for me to say if I’ll ever run another marathon. I may be ok with one and done. But, I gotta say, if there was one marathon for me, it was this one. The L.A. Marathon delivered on it’s promise of a fun, mostly flat and downhill course. The support on the course was unmatched and the people were the best! If you want to run a marathon, run the L.A. Marathon.
For the past 12 weeks, I’ve been training for my first marathon, the L.A. Marathon and it’s finally (almost) time to go out there and see what I’m made of. I’ve been a bit of a mess this week. I’m really excited and anxious to get out there and get it done. But, at the same time I’m nervous and of course, I’m questioning my training. I skipped a few runs and didn’t make it to the long run of 21 miles that I wanted reach. At this point, though, all I can do is trust that I can finish strong because not finishing is not an option.
Aside from getting myself mentally prepared to tackle 26.2 miles, there’s actually a lot of “stuff” needed for race day. Here’s a quick list of what it’s going to take for me to get out there on Sunday.
And now it’s time for me to get a little bit mushy. I am seriously awed by all the amazing people in my life. From encouraging messages to waking up at 4am to run with me, I am so grateful to everyone who’s been with me through these crazy training weeks. My hubby and kiddos who never doubt that I can do this. My sister who is coming to L.A. to cheer me on, I may or may not have guilted her into it 😉 I just couldn’t do this on my own, that’s for sure. Thank you so much! I’ll be thinking of ya’ll big time while running through the streets of LA on Sunday! XO
I announced last month that I was all signed up for the LA Marathon on February 14, so I thought I’d share a bit of how my training has been going. With just 36 days to go, things are getting serious.
10 Things I’ve Learned from Marathon Training (so far!):
I can wake up at 4am and run endless amounts of miles in the cold and dark morning.
Even if it’s sunny in the winter, I should wear sunblock. I will tan.
Life will revolve around running.
I can chafe in places I didn’t realize were possible.
It’s best to run long miles with a group or a friend.
I need more running clothes.
A good pair of running shoes is hard to find.
I’m always hungry.
Songs I used to like can become annoying after hearing them so many times on my runs.
It’s ok to be proud of my accomplishments during this journey.
So far, my longest run has been 17 miles, just this past Sunday. I was most definitely walking with a bit of a wobble afterwards, but I ended up not being as sore as I thought I would be. Although the idea of 26.2 miles is still pretty daunting, I feel that I will be able to do it. On runs where I am alone, I try to envision what it will be like to run the streets of L.A. and take in the sights. I try to imagine the sound of the crowds cheering us along the way. I look beyond that and picture myself crossing the finish line and seeing my family at the end waiting for me. I can almost see their faces and I just hope they’ll be proud of me then. That one day, they’ll know I’ve done all of this for them. It’s these thoughts, these emotions, these visualizations, that keep me going. There’s no quitting now.
With just a couple of days left in the year, I thought it would be fun to revisit 2015 today. The year started off rough and we had lots to deal with as it went on with Jason’s injury and following surgeries. There were days that we just could not see the light. But, we aren’t the type to let our lives be dictated by our circumstance. Sure, things were not ideal, but we knew they could be much worse. So, we made the best with what we had. We kept positive and moving forward with our lives.
Even with the ups and downs, we had such a full year. We got to travel to some fun places with our family and Jason and I even got away without the kiddos to San Francisco+Sonoma County. We took the kids camping in Utah for the first time. We spent a super fun weekend with our family in Huntington Beach, CA! The kids and I hiked to the Colorado River. We got to go boating in Lake Mead. I ran my first trail half marathon in Red Rock Canyon and my 3rd Tough Mudder. I won a free registration from Pace Per Mile to Walt Disney World’s Wine & Dine Half Marathon, so we all went to Florida for 8 days! The kiddos ran the Disney Kid 1 mile race. We visited all 4 Disney parks and visited with friends that are like family. I also ran the Disneyland Half Marathon to complete the Coast to Coast Challenge. I ran 3 Spartan races (2 with the hubs) and got my 2nd Trifecta. The kids ran the Spartan Kid race too. Lastly, I won another free registration to the Run Laughlin Half Marathon in December, which turned out to be a great race.
I’m looking forward to starting 2016 with new goals and plans. I’m looking forward to fun adventures with my family and taking on new challenges. But, for now, I’m happy to look back and reflect on all the good things that have taken place and not to dwell on what could have been or feel bad for the huge curve ball life threw our way. Today I choose to be grateful for all the wonderful things and places I’ve been. I’m grateful for my family’s constant support. I’m happy to be where I am in life. It may not be exactly where I want to be, but it is a lot closer than I was before. And for that, I am grateful.
What’s your favorite memory of 2015? Are you looking forward to 2016? What goals do you have for the new year?
I remember my first half marathon 2 years ago when I said, “I’ll never run a full marathon!” My cousin, who is a marathon runner, laughed at me and just said to me, “Never say never.” Well, here I am today announcing I have signed up for the L.A. Marathon on February 14, 2016. Who am I? I may have lost my mind!
The truth is, I have been itching to run a marathon and I’ve even said my goal was to run one before I turned 40. Now, it looks like I’ll be running it before my 39th birthday. I seriously started talking and looking into running a marathon for 2016 a few months ago. Jason (the hubs) told me to think about it right after I ran my latest half marathon, the Laughlin/Bullhead Half Marathon, earlier this month. Right after I finished that half marathon and I was enjoying the post-race festivities drinking my free beer, we talked about how I felt and what it would mean to run, basically the entire race again. Maybe it was the beer or the adrenalin from having just ran but I said that with a little more training, I think I could do it. Say what? Did I just convince myself and my husband that I could do this?!?
Now it was time to find a race. I was pretty sure I wanted an easy course. As if running 26.2 miles anywhere would be easy, right? I enjoy downhill, so the Mountains2Beach Marathon in May looked like a winner. However, after doing a bit more research, I found out that it’s an official Boston Marathon Qualifier. This meant that most of the runners were seriously fast runners. It also didn’t seem to have the fun party atmosphere I think I need to get me through 26.2 miles. On to the next race! I was interested in the St. George Marathon because it was close to home and it’s also a downhill race. However, the idea of it being a lottery and that I may not get chosen, didn’t appeal to me. Not for my first marathon. Then began the google searches for “best marathons for beginners” and “the most fun marathons”. This is how I came upon the L.A. Marathon. It seemed to have what I was looking for in terms of fun and crowd support. Although, there are some hills throughout the course, the last few miles are downhill and end at the beach. Plus, I’ll be running through all the famous landmarks including, Hollywood Blvd and Rodeo Drive! How cool is that?
I wasn’t too sure I had enough time to train, since it was just about 2 months away. But, I had just ran a half marathon so I felt like I was half way there. I took a look at Hal Higdon’s novice marathon training plan and wouldn’t you know it, if I started training that week, I’d be right on point. It was meant to be ❤ I signed up last week and have officially began my marathon training.
So, who’s done the L.A. Marathon before? Love it or hate it? Best thing about the race? Worst part of the course? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Any experienced marathon runners out there with any tips or suggestions on training? Anything!! Yea, I’m nervous and excited all at the same time! Here’s to starting 2016 with a bang! XO
Just looking at this gives me butterflies in my stomach!!
It's a Messy Life 