had lots of fun celebrating my girl's 9th birthday with some of her close friends this weekend.
this week, we'll do more celebrating with family. looking forward to making the rainbow cake. (pictures to come).
                           

this was one of the party favors: super easy to do - just staple some pretty paper over a baggie full of goodies.

birthday idea

loved this idea for a birthday gift.
read more about it here.

found it here.

3 miles today for the first time since the marathon. felt great!
i'm ready for another one, which never happens this soon! ☺

i finished my 5th marathon yesterday!

i'll start at the beginning...

saturday was the expo and packet pick up. i got to meet hal higdon and hear him speak.

i've always used his training plans, so it was awesome to get the chance to meet him. i wanted to meet dean, but he wasn't coming until later that afternoon. i did lots of walking at the expo and around the city that day. it's hard to avoid that when there is so much to see in a new place.

that night, my friend amy and i went out for pasta, watched the movie bridesmaids, and went to bed pretty early.

i woke up on sunday about 5 a.m. felt pretty good, even though i didn't sleep very well.
the forecast looked perfect - a high of 74 for the day, with little wind.

it was a little chilly at the start, so i brought a shirt i could toss when i warmed up. i ended up getting rid of it at mile 2. i decided to run with the 5:00 pacer. i've never run with a pace group, but i thought i'd give it a try. i knew i could speed up or slow down from the group at anytime. i felt really good until mile 20, so i stayed with the group until then. at that point, i decided to back off a little, so i could zone out and listen to my ipod. miles 21-26 were HARD - tons of hills! the finish was great! it was down hill, and you could see the finish line about 1/2 mile away.

the glorious finish line!

such a great feeling to cross that line!! it wasn't a PR, but i ended up being just a few minutes behind the pacer. i was happy with my time for such a hilly course, and i now have a new favorite marathon!

the crowd support was amazing! i almost felt like i was in chicago again. in some neighborhoods, it looked like people were having a big breakfast together, and cheering for the runners. the yards were full of tables and chairs and lots of food.

my friend amy came to cheer me on again. what a great friend she is!!

i got to see her at mile 3, 19, 24, and the finish. there's nothing quite like seeing a friend or a family member when you're running that far! it was so great!

thanks for all the emails, texts, and phone calls from so many of you as well! they meant so much to me.

pinterest is the perfect diversion from all things about running this week.
i found this today, and thought it was worth sharing for those of you that have kids.
i think this would be a great idea for a daily chore list as well!

marathon?

so, the marathon is less than a week away and i'm sitting here in pain again.
i had tmj a couple weeks ago, and then it went away. it decided to show up again this week. it's not just a little jaw pain that can be handled with some advil. it feels like a horrible toothache. the pain radiates to my ear, keeping me up most of the night.
all of that to say, i'm praying that i am able to run this week.
i know there will be other marathons. i know that many others have far greater problems than this.
this is really very trivial, and running marathons could be seen as selfish. in some ways it is.
this is something i enjoy, but this is not my treasure.

sidenote: (i like what john piper shared here recently about why he runs).

8

finished week 17 with an 8 miler today. the weather could not have been nicer. it was just perfect!
once i got my shoe laces figured out (i'm still getting use to the new shoes), i felt great. i'm so thankful that my last long run was a good one.

now on to the final taper. 3, 2, 2, marathon.