Kids Rock Las Vegas

December 5, 2009

After Disneyland, Leigha was excited to sign up for another race. Her next opportunity was the Las Vegas Rock n Roll Kids' Marathon. Leigha's race would be 1 mile. That was A LOT for Leigha to run. The funny thing is that she never wants to run at school, only for the races.

Unfortunately, it was very windy and cold that morning. Leigha was a trooper and was excited for her race.



I asked someone how many times around the track the kids had to run, and I was told it was a little less than 4 laps. I explained to Leigha that she would have to run around 3 full laps and then head towards the finish line.



As she was circling the track, I counted her laps for her. She definitely struggled with the distance and the weather, but she was a trooper and kept going. There were kids who were a lot faster than her, and then there were kids who were slower than she was. Unfortunately, the race officials were not taking into consideration the different speeds of the kids. After a few of the kids completed their 3rd lap, they started sending them over to the end shoots. I told one of the volunteers that some of the kids were still a lap behind the other kids, but he didn't seem to care. As Leigha came around the backside, I told her to go around the track one more time since. I wanted her to complete the mile that she had intended on running. I am not sure if that was a mistake on my part or not. I was the last parent to send their kid around again. This frustrated Leigha and I could tell immediately. All of the kids who had been behind her, were now finished. She was now in last place and I think that just made her want to stop and walk. That's when Ronald McDonald decided to run out on the track and join her for her last part of her run!



It was a perfect ending to a frustrating race for her. I explained what had happened, but she was still not too pleased that I made her run that extra lap. I think she was more upset that she was the last person to cross the finish line, but I told her that I was proud of her for completing what she started and the entire race!



As cold as she was, she LOVED the race!



I was VERY proud of her!

After her race, we headed over to the Expo to meet up with some of my friends. Leigha and I had some fun looking at all of the different booths, collecting samples, and getting our picture taken at the finish line. (The time on the clock fascinated me later, it was within seconds of my actual time there.)



Later that evening, all of my friends from out of town, got together for dinner at PF Changs. Leigha was thrilled to be included. We were all excited for the upcoming race.

The Silverman

November 8, 2009

Two of my friends were doing the Silverman race here in Vegas. This is a brutal course, one of the toughest I heard. Jen is an absolute powerhouse. She has been doing different triathlons, half marathons, and full marathons. Ron, my friend Julie's husband and my PT, was doing his first half triathlon (he has done sprints in the past). Leigha and I met up with our friends on the later part of the bike trail to cheer them on. Unfortunately, we missed Jen. She must have passed by that point right before we got there.

I absolutely LOVED the signs my friends made. They were hysterical, especially Julie's.





Ron looked great when he came by! His brother had the music blaring and we cheered him on as he passed us. The rest of the group went on to watch his run. Leigha and I headed home to get the boys ready. We were going to meet them at the finish line.



The kids had a blast running around with the other kids there. They all helped cheer for Ron as he came towards the finish line.



He accomplished something HUGE that day! The swimming part scares the heck out of me, but maybe that will be me some day.



Way to go, Ron!

My New Car

On October 26, 2009, I picked up my new car. Well, actually it's a bike, but it sure felt like I was buying a car! A have a bunch of friends who ride and it made me wish I had a bike. I haven't really ridden a bike since college.



When it comes to shopping for things like this, I hate to go cheaper and then regret that decision and have to buy a nicer one on top of the cheap one. So why not just jump in and get a nice bike? (Other than the fact that it cost a small fortune.)

I WILL love riding my new bike. Even if I don't want to, I WILL! That was my mindset when I bought it. Luckily, I love it!

The NEVER Ending Halloween Season

Halloween Season

It used to be that Halloween was a one day event, maybe two if it fell on a weekend. These days it seems to never end. Our Halloween SEASON started on October 23. Our first event was Trunk-or-Treating.



The kids were able to walk around the decorated vehicles and get a ton of candy. I would have LOVED this as a kid, getting so much candy and hardly going anywhere (I love it as an adult, too, since I get to go through their candy).



I am not creative enough, nor do I have the time, to decorate like some of the parents do. Some of them really go all out for Halloween. I would love to see what their houses look like!







Leigha ran into her best friend Hannah. I really like Hannah and am very thankful that they became friends last year. Unfortunately, they don't get to hang out as often since we don't live near the school. That is one thing that stinks about having her at my school instead of the one we are zoned for.



The best part about this event was that Noe was able to join us! Typically he is working during our "season". This year it just happened to fall on his day off.



Our 2nd event was on October 24, 2009. Our friends, Don and Laura, had a Halloween party at their house. We haven't seen much of them in the last year, so it was nice to go over and hang out with everyone.



Laura and Don did a great job with the decorations. There was no one part of the whole downstairs and backyard that wasn't decorated. I can't imagine all of the hard work that went into cutting all of the bats out!





Our friends, the Williams, came dressed up as Yo Gabba Gabba! That used to be one of the boys' favorite shows (creepy).



I think my kids were in heaven on their swingset. I wish we could talk Noe into one of these, but it would seriously take up most of our backyard I think.







It was a great evening!

Next on the calendar was our school Halloween parade/party. Wouldn't you think they could have timed it the same day as the Trunk or Treat? Of course not! At least everyone is getting a lot of use out of their costumes this year. The second grade team, in my great room, went as Sesame Street characters.



In my class, we decorated pumpkin cookies. I had so many left over that I brought them home for the kids to make. Yes, it pained me to watch them make a mess, but they loved it!



Matthew


Leigha


Noah


It was finally Halloween! When I broke the news to Robert, I don't think he was too happy. It has to end eventually. Not EVERY holiday goes on for two full weeks!

Let the FUN (and Pain) Begin!

September 6, 2009

After the race, we all came back to the hotel and had brunch. It was then time to hit the hot tub! Leigha was playing with Alexee in the pool, so I wasn't being rushed to get ready. After a quick shower, we were off to Disneyland with the Johnsons. You would think that the park would be packed, considering it was a holiday weekend. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of people there. I guess when you have 18,000 people there for a race, there is not a lot of room for other people. Plus, the runners who do not have kids probably avoided the park afterwards (I know I wanted to).



It's been a long time since I have been on rides with Leigha (her sisters took her in Japan). When we got in the cars, I felt a little nauseous thinking about her turning 16. Stay on the streets, she will be on the sidewalks!



We went on a bunch of roller coasters, rides, and walked through the area of the future. WAY too much walking for me, although it was fun to pick out all the runners. They were the ones grabbing on to the railings for dear life, as they climbed and descended the stairs.

We eventually headed over to California Adventure. I never realized they were literally attached to each other.





We stayed until after dark and then headed back to the hotel. It was a great (and tiring) day, and the perfect way to end a fabulous weekend!

You Look GREAT for Having TRIPLETS!

Over the past five years, my weight has gone up and down. I lost all of my pregnancy weight plus 15 extra pounds by the time the boys were 6 months old. To top it off, I was eating McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese sandwiches all the time. I was always on the go. For the first few months the drive-thru was my friend. I went back to work after my 6 weeks of maternity leave. I raced between school and the hospital and home. Who had time to make food?

Once the boys were home, I was caring for three babies, a four year old, and working full time. There was no time for rest. When the boys were about 14 months old, I switched them from breast milk to regular milk. Unfortunately, my eating habits were the same. My body could handle the calories I was consuming when I was pumping 100+ ounces of milk a day. When I stopped, the pounds started creeping back up.

Last Christmas I hit my all time high weight. I wasn't happy with myself, but I wasn't doing anything about it either. One of my friends had started running the year before and had dropped a bunch of weight. She was running half marathons and it intrigued me. I decided to jump on the treadmill and start working out.

In January of 2009 I entered a 5k race with a group of my friends from school. I had been running 2-3 miles on the treadmill a few times and thought that this would be an easy race. Boy was I wrong! Running on a treadmill is way different than running on the streets. At the end of the race I was dizzy and ready to pass out. I remember looking up at my friends and telling them that I didn't think there was any way I could ever run a half marathon with them. It just seemed so inconceivable. I had never been so out of shape and I was just not happy with myself.



I can't even count how many times I have heard people tell me, "You look great for having triplets!" It's frustrating. To me I felt like people were saying I was allowed to be heavier because I had three kids at the same time, certainly not that I looked great. I was 22 lbs heavier from what I was AFTER having the boys.

A friend of mine had recently started a fitness kick so that she could be stronger for her daughter (read about Rachel Coleman and Lucy Coleman). Things started clicking in my mind. I started working out and watching what I ate. After a little over three months, I had lost 20 lbs. I won't say it was easy at first. I literally slept in my workout clothes so that I wouldn't talk myself out of working out in the morning when the alarm clock went off.

In may I committed myself to the Disneyland Half Marathon, over Labor Day weekend. That was the motivation I needed to keep running. If I didn't run, I would pay for it when it was time for the race. For the month I spent at my parents' house, I was able to get out three days a week and run. It was great! By the time I got home, Noe returned from Japan so that I could continue to run outdoors. I was ready to run my first half marathon!

On September 5, after Leigha's race, my friends and I headed over to the Expo to get every ones' packets. It was an exciting time for me!



It was a lot of fun being with a group of friends.



We had a great dinner at Olive Garden and then headed back to the hotel for the night. I felt like a little kid, getting all of my clothes and running gear ready for the morning.



The race was at 6 a.m. and we were planning on leaving around 5 a.m. to line up in our corrals. I loved the fact that we could walk to the start line from our hotel, it made it a lot less stressful. We were all excited and ready to go!



Since this was my first marathon, I was in the last corral. I felt a bit overwhelmed with how many people were there.



I was frustrated in the beginning of the race with the sardine effect of runners. I was back with a lot of people who were walking, socializing 5 people wide, etc. I was used to running on my own, not trying to dart between people. When Shalis pointed out different parts of Disneyland that we ran through, I was clueless. The only parts I recognized were the curbs and the sidewalks. That's were my eyes were until we exited the park. I would be running full speed and then have to basically stop because there was no where to go. Luckily, we were only in the park for a mile or two before exiting to the streets.

During my training I had learned how to drink from my water bottle without stopping. I was happy that I didn't have to carry my water bottle during the race, but I wasn't thinking too clearly when I thought that I could drink from a pixie cup while running. That didn't work out too well, I think I was wearing more than I had drank. Wouldn't you know that one of the best photographs they took of me was right after that water station. You might think that was a picture taken towards the end of the race and I was sweating, but no, that was just my first experience running through a water station.



I was extremely happy to see the finish line! I finished my first half marathon with a time of 2:06:18. (The time on the clock was from the start of the first corral.)



I will admit it, this time I am just plain sweaty!



Many thanks to my friends who kept me motivated throughout the year. I couldn't have done it without them, especially Ron. Ron is Julie's husband and my PT that has helped me numerous times with my injuries. Ron and Julie were the ones that got me motivated to start doing the races and much more.

Front row: Julie, Cathy, Shalis, and Joni
Back row: Ron, Wendy, Matt, and Chris



I am proud of myself for making the effort to get in shape this year. However, this is just the beginning. I am hooked!