September

Normally I write a little post about how I'm depressed that the weather starts getting cold in September, but this year I'm kind of excited.  Fall/winter means progress on our house, and dressing up two little boys who are remembering the fun of Halloween, and then there's Thanksgiving, and Christmas! Anytime we go outside when it's chilly, Patrick brings up the fact that snow is coming so we can get out his sled.  And I have to admit that I'm actually looking forward to it. Talk to me again in February, but as of right now, I'm enjoying the fact that it's fall. ;)  

I have a lot of pictures on my phone from this past month so prepare for a picture overload.

Since Patrick goes to preschool part of the week, Aiden gets to go run errands with me by himself.

In my opinion, he was the cutest little shopper at the Dollar Store.  Just waiting in line to buy his stickers.

I openly admit that I get stir crazy and have to get out of the house.  That's probably the number one reason why winter is hard on me...it's too cold to just get out with the boys!  Even though it's been turning cold, we've taken full advantage of the fact that there's a school playground 2 minutes away from our house.  I loooove the fact that our boys are going to the same school I went to.  I even found out that some of my old teachers are still teaching at the school.  FYI: Hibbard Elementary has the coolest playground.

One morning, Patrick woke up just as I was about to go on a long run and he insisted on going with me.  My first response was to tell him to play with toys until I got back but he really wanted to go and I really want him to 1-enjoy having some one-on-one time 2-love being active.  And we both loved every second of that run.  Probably one of my most enjoyable runs...ever.

Not my best picture ever but it was so fun having Patrick as my running buddy.  Not to mention, I was so proud of him!  3 years old and he ran just under a mile in a little over 10 minutes.  This boy has soooo much energy.  I may not have gotten in my miles for the morning, but sometimes that just doesn't even matter.

Speaking of running...I ran my first half marathon!

I've been running for awhile now and it's only been recently that I've extended my runs.  Really, my thyroid was the key so once that was fixed, running really became more mental than anything.  I was making little victories on distance and realized that I had no reason that I couldn't run a further distance.  Frankly, I was tired of seeing other people go farther distances and me wondering why I couldn't.  The morning that I took this picture was when I decided to run until I couldn't go any farther.  My ipod died at mile 9 so that's when I stopped. ;)

However, I'd had a break through mentally and decided to just go the distance of the half marathon because I knew it was possible.

I should really stop taking unflattering pictures in the middle of working out, with no makeup on.

So, I took a little run out to the river that I used to bike to during triathlon training.  I'll admit, I was a little tired after that one and to prevent injuries, I've had to cut back on mileage in the last couple weeks.  But I finished in 2:04 so I was pretty happy about that.  

Running has become my therapy.  On days that I run, I definitely have more patience as well as a boost in my self-esteem.  Gotta love those natural endorphins. :)  Anyway, I guess I'm crazy because marathon training has started and I'm pretty darn excited.  I'm thinking I should do one in February...in California.  I need something to look forward to when I'm tired of the never-ending winter. ;)