Dallas Metro 1/2 Marathon

13.1

  

2:35:46

Last weekend I ran the Dallas Metro PCS ½ Marathon and actually finished with some energy at the end.

I ran for my mom who had two major surgeries this year and is still going strong.  She continues to be an inspiration for me each and every day.

I ran for my dad who was a marathon runner back in the day.  He always taught me to go out slower than you come in. I remember him telling my brother and I that at the Holy Name of Jesus fun run one year and I was like “WHATEVER!”  For the first time ever, my last three miles were my fastest.

My goal was to finish in 2.5 hours.  My official time was 2:42 but we had a 7-minute bathroom break so technically it was 2:35.  I will take it.  Below are some little tidbits you can learn from long distance running.

Set a goal- No matter what you are aiming for, it is always in your best interest to set a goal.  Goals make things measurable and make you accountable.  When I started running in July, the idea of 4 miles almost killed me.  No matter what time I ran, the hot Texas sun exhausted me before I could finish a mile.  Because a mile seemed daunting, I started with time measurements.  Run for 10 minutes, run for 12 minutes, ect.  After I built up stamina, it was easier to run for 1 mile, run 2 ect.

Preparation is key- Yes, I know there are natural born athletes, scholars, leaders, ect., but must people work and prepare to get to where they are in life.  I have only run one other ½ and that was back in 2006.  It was the rock and roll ½ in Virginia Beach and I remember at mile nine I was completely done. It was hard.  This go around my runs were easier.  I followed a training guide and even though I did not want to always do what was recommended, I did it and I was stronger for it.  Cross training is so important with long distance running.  You are still getting a cardio work out but also strengthening and stretching other muscles.

Buddy Up- I am so thankful that I got motivated enough to recruit my Houston running partner Monique. She made me accountable and would always listen to my complaints, specifically the weather.  It was too hot until late November and then I immediately started complaining it was too cold. 

Learn how to measure your success- Different things motivate different people.  Managers recognize this with employees, parents recognize this with children, and the list goes on.  Once you start to really know yourself and what motivates you, things get easier.  A majority of long distance runners measure success by time.  For some, it is simply weight management. For me, for this race, my success was measured with the internal feeling of knowing that I am physically fit.  I have built up endurance and stamina and that is a great feeling.  Keeping up with Logan and Catherine is a job that requires a physically fit mom.

Simplicity-  Keep things simple.  I struggle with this on a daily basis.  About a month into training my iPod broke and it had to be replaced. I went straight to Apple to get a new one because why would I ever consider buying anything but an Apple product at this point?  I bought the smallest iPod they offered (literally the size of a quarter) and it holds 1,000s of songs.  So what is the first thing I do? Load thousands of songs.  The problem was that each run I would get frustrated with 90% of the songs and would skip through most of them.  Finally, I wiped my iPod clean, and only added songs one at a time.  My playlist rocks and it only has 42 songs on it.  Less is more. Simplicity is key.

A few other takeaways from the weekend are that I will never run a marathon.  That is for the super intense and very dedicated. My running partners were Monique and Catherine. Monique is a natural childbirth instructor and Catherine is an OBGYN.  Let’s just say that conversations were very baby and birth oriented.  I think Brian, or any guy for that manner, would have felt uncomfortable with some of our birthing stories.

Bizarre retail display in downtown Dallas

St. Rose breakfast with Santa

December 2014

We just attended our third annual breakfast with Santa at St. Rose Early Childhood Center.  We ate breakfast in the the classrooms where the kids attend "school", made some special crafts, rode the St. Rose version of the Polar Express, and took our picture with Santa.  I am sad that this is the last year Catherine will be in the ECC as it has been a wonderful little school for our kids.  The years are really starting to go by quickly.  One perk to them getting older is that this year was the first time BOTH kids were excited and elated to sit on this guys lap! 

The crafts this year were fun.  We painted baby Jesus and did sticker nativity scenes.  Logan made a baby jesus with a paper plate and also made a manger for him to sleep in.  They had necklaces you could string with bells to give to Santa's raindeers.  We only made one necklace and the kids had a slight hiccup with sharing it so it did not last long in the house.

Catherine made this ornament at school and I love it.  She understands that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of baby Jesus but she gets confused some times and asks why we are not celebrating the birth of her new cousin, baby Laura.  Her innocence and perspective warms my heart in so many ways. 

I am getting a bit to big to ride the train but was secretly excited that Catherine wanted a partner.   

December 2013

December 2012

Thanksgiving

L&C facial expressions crack me up

Thanksgiving week was a lot of fun this year. We started off with Grandparent’s day at St. Rose.  Since ours were not able to come up, I substituted as Logan’s grandparent.  As we were walking into mass, Logan asked me if I remembered my cane and I looked at him and we both laughed.  After mass each class had a presentation and of course PK was the cutest.  They dressed up as turkeys and sung a precious song.

For Thanksgiving Day we traveled up to College Station to visit Aunt Wanda.  My parents were with us and it was a full house.  The food was delicious and the kids were all about trying to eat dessert in place of eating a meal.  They enjoyed riding their bikes, playing at the playground, and running at full speed from one side of the house to the other.

Annual ginger bread house

Brian and I got a chance to attend the LSU / A&M football game that evening at Kyle field.   A&Ms campus is beautiful and the alumni and students could not have been any nicer.  It was a wonderful holiday and still remains my favorite.

Kyle Field

Halloween

Logan and Catherine were all about Halloween this year.  From the day they noticed the extra candy at Kroger, they were counting down to Halloween day.  Logan dressed up as a super hero (same as last year) and Catherine was a pirate.  I feel like karma is coming back to me from my childhood with my big brother Donald.  I am told we could disagree about anything but never really thought twice about it.  Well fast forward a few decades and my own kids were disagreeing about, once again, what Catherine would be when she got older. For the month of October, Catherine was fixated on growing up and becoming a spider. Logan kept telling her that she could not be a spider because it was not a person.  Catherine was very adamant about this calling but thankfully has recently changed her future dreams and wants to be a doctor.

These are some pictures through the years:

2014

2013

2012

2011

We skipped Halloween this year.

2010

Boat Wrap Up

3 out of 4 are smiling

Our other two ports of call were St. Thomas and Castaway Cay (Disney's island in the Bahamas).  In St. Thomas we went to Magens Bay and it was beautiful.  The water was calm and crystal clear and the beach had natural shade trees that provided a break from the sun.  

As one might expect, Disney's private island was an ideal set up for parents and kids.  They had an adult only beach area (never made it there), multiple kids beaches, watersides, splash pads, various water excursions, and even a 5K race. My dad and I ran/walked it and it was awesome.  The kids got our Mikey medals and were super excited.

Pirate night

Overall impressions of the Disney Fantasy cruise

I had high expectations for this beautiful new ship, and was not disappointed.  The Disney themes were well carried out for the most part; some might have been "over the top" but cruise ship decor often seems to be that way. 


Personal list of favorites:

Pool deck:  was very nice and functional. There were two water slides but neither dominated the open spaces. Unfortunately the kids weren't tall enough to ride the Aqua Duck, but the rest of us did!  Really fun. 

There were two family pools, one a very shallow wading one shaped like... Mickey!  Go figure. The kids loved it. There was a great splash pad with Nemo theme, and " infinity" hot tubs jutting off the side of the ship, with a plexiglass floor panel with the ocean below. Unique. 
There was an adults- only small pool and hot tubs but of course we didn't use them. Also, reportedly another pool and splash pad on the next deck up but I didn't get to them. 

Entertainment:  the two big shows I saw were great -  Alladin, with wonderful sets, costumes, effects. No live orchestra, but that really wasn't missed. And a variety show of two guys doing song, dance, percussion and comedy. I was too pooped the other nights to make the shows. 

A day at sea

Food/ dining:  I loved that we had assigned seating. We really got to know our waiters, and vice versa.  Of course they were great with kids, as expected. What wasn't expected was how good the food was!  Imaginative menus, mostly good execution, and generally top quality.  I was really impressed that the buffet had big piles of shrimp and stone crab claws for lunch each day. The rotation dining was fun too. While two dining rooms were more predictable, the Animators Palette was a real treat. The room featured an art/ drawing theme, with video screens circling the room.  One night the entertainment featured the turtle from Finding Nemo interacting with diners nearby. And to me the highlight was the final dinner. Adults and kids were given placemats with an outline of a person to fill in and color. These were collected and, during dessert, came to life as each character was animated and danced across the screen closest to one's table. Kinda hard to describe but extremely creative use of technology.  

Staterooms:   Two features stood out. The bathrooms were "split" with one cubicle having a tub/shower and sink, and the other having a sink/ toilet. More privacy, more storage space ( we each had our own sink) and tubs in every room for families with small kids.   And, inside cabins had a unique feature- the "magic porthole".  A big round  hi-def tv screen (fed by dec- mointed cameras) featured the view that you would see if you had a real window.    Very clever!

Portholes

London Bridge

Planes Fire and Rescue in 3D

St Maarten

After two nice relaxing days at sea, we docked bright and early in Phillipsburg, on the Dutch side of St Maarten.  We had thought about arranging a private tour for just the six of us, but decided against it, as we really didn't want to pay for the whole day and just use three or so hours in the morning. So we joined a bustling taxi queue and were packed into a semi- air- conditioned van with other travelers headed to Maho (otherwise known as airplane) beach.

We first learned about this airport from the travel channel’s show on the 10 scariest airports in the world and wanted to see for ourselves.  And the kids wanted to swim at the beach, so we figured to kill two birds with one stone.

When we arrived at Maho, there were not to many options for standing so we were lucky to get a seat at the beachfront bar.  It had overpriced beverages and terrible restrooms, but an excellent view.  Brian bravely led the kids down the rocks to a little enclosed area of sand and sea. So they got to "swim" (more like wade) after all.

After watching a few small planes come in to land, it was time for the main attraction- the arrival of KLM's 747.  The excitement in the large crowd grew as the plane was spotted from afar, made a big circle, and came in to land, which seemed only a few feet above our heads!  Truly a thrill and something you'd never experience in the states.  

Totally Awesome

There were more planes to come, of course, but the day was getting even hotter, the kids hungry, and everyone a little cranky.  Service at the bar/restaurant was slow or nonexistent, so we decided to grab a cab back to the ship.   Looking back, I think a private tour would have been the way to go. Maybe visit a swimmable beach on the French side, have lunch, then do the airport and head back.  But, it certainly was a great experience and worth the effort to get there.