See Jane (& Michelle) Run 13.1

I am not sure whether it is my computer or blogger or what -- but these sideways pictures are driving me crazy!!!  No matter how many times I upload them, they won't show up the right way...  guess you will have to tilt your head :)

Noah was promised a big boy bed (full size) when he finally got rid of all of his pull-ups and used the potty all the time.  He was a late bloomer in this regard -- and it was driving me crazy!!!  Well... as you can see below, we finally turned the corner and he is 99% accident free for three weeks (one small accident at school). 

Evelyn and Noah enjoying his new bed:

Such a proud little guy:

In running news... I had an exciting weekend  :)  A runner acquaintence of mine posted on facebook last Wednesday that she was injured and wouldn't be able to run the See Jane Run half-marathon that was taking place Sunday in Seattle.  She was looking for someone to take her entry, since she couldn't use it.  Nobody took it -- so Friday I sent her a message and said that I would love to use it.  I had 9-10 miles that I wanted to do, and no running partner again, and to be honest... I wasn't feeling extremely positive about being able to put in the mileage on my own.  I figured that surrounding myself with a few thousand strong female runners would be just the motivation that I needed! My mental game has needed some work lately -- that is almost as important as putting in the physical training/mileage!!

So... I woke up bright and early Sunday morning and headed to the starting line.  The weather had changed a bit -- and it was a chilly morning.  There was also a light misty rain -- and quite a bit of wind coming in off the lake.  Needless to say, I was trying to find any excuse to back out of the race.  I was thinking about just running the 6 miles around the lake and skipping the race...  I was thinking about just going back home and going to bed... 

But -- I ended up being able to give myself a pep talk that sunk in... and I headed to the starting line.  I had on shorts and a tank -- and was pretty cold at the start -- but warmed up before I even hit the one mile marker.  The first almost 10 miles were good -- I was maintaining a 10 min mile pace -- and I was happy with that.  I wasn't pushing my limits, because after all, this was supposed to be a training run  :)  The last three miles were tough -- my feet were hurting and feeling a little numb -- and my legs felt like lead -- so I took turns running and walking to the finish line.  And -- as usual -- the feeling of crossing the finish line is worth every ounce of pain experienced during the race  :)

Here I am after the race:

I was seriously on a high for the rest of the day --- my body was exhausted -- but my heart & soul was beaming :) 

I have another 12 miles on the schedule for this Saturday --  I am feeling much more confident about this weekend's miles, that is for sure  :)