{thank you mother nature}

I have a couple of other posts that I have up my sleeve, but they include adding pictures and I am not on my computer right now (working with the tablet) and that requires turning on the computer and these days that takes a good ten minutes, plus it also involves getting off the couch and right now I'm pretty comfortable, hehe!

The posts up my sleeves included one about a new squirrel friend, Ayden's first soccer game of the season, and our first trip down to the lake for the spring/summer season. Those will come... in due time!

I've had the last four days off and it has been mighty nice... not going to lie! My boss was at a convention in Las Vegas at the end of last week and since I'm technically still a student for the next few weeks, I am unable to see patients without a licensed audiologist on the premise... no audiologist, no work for the student.

I've kept pretty busy these last four days, not going to lie! The little man only had a half day of school on Thursday, so it worked out kind of nice. I picked him and Alexis up after school and they spent the afternoon playing together. During the morning I worked on quite a few wedding things, cleaning, doing laundry... kept myself busy. I didn't sit down and turn the TV on until after the kids got home from school. The weather was pretty awesome these last four days and I was totally bumming that I couldn't get outside and do some running. I'm being the good athlete and still resting it. Don't want to make something worse than it already is.

Friday. Another busy day. More cleaning, organizing, wedding stuff. Kept myself busy and the TV turned off. I've also been guzzling water like crazy these last couple of days. At least three to four large cups of water a day because I knew that if I kept myself hydrated I was less likely to snack on stuff while I was at home. That is my downfall. I love food too much and since I haven't been working out like crazy this last month, I need to start watching my food better. I think I was halfway decent with that these last couple of days. Although, the peanut butter M&Ms that I gave in to today were SO good! Does it help that I went swimming for a good 40 minutes?! Haha!

Anyways, Thursday and Friday were highly productive.

Saturday and Sunday, semi productive. Ayden had a soccer game yesterday morning and he did great. Pictures and recap to come in a following post. Afterwards, him and I went out to my grandparent's house and chilled out there for a little while. He ended up spending the majority of the day there playing with a cousin and Alexis. I ended up coming home after a few hours and then going on an impromptu 3.33 mile walk with Victoria. We finished in just over an hour... not walking too fast. After the walk, Jay had let me know that he rented a thatcher for the lawn. Because I was bored, the weather was great, and I didn't want to sit inside on my bum, I helped him outside with the lawn. I must have been really bored, haha! I never help with the landscaping!

I even operated the thatcher for the front half of the lawn. After that, I raked the entire front half of the lawn to get the dead grass up. I needed some sort of workout and the legs weren't going to allow anything too high impact for lower body, so instead, I did upper body with the rake. Took me probably a good 45 minutes. After raking, I vegged for the rest of the night. Enjoyed the nice night weather and hit the bed earlier than normal for a Saturday night.

Today was alright. Not as productive cleaning or house wise, but Jay, his dad, and brother helped put the pier in the lake by his grandparent's house while his mom and I 'supervised' and Ayden caught minnows. I really wanted to go to High Cliff State Park afterwards, but Jay and Ayden wanted to go fishing, so my idea was out. I came home and sat outside for a bit. I couldn't be inside. Just couldn't. I wanted to start a new book, but didn't have one on hand to start, so I didn't. That was okay though, because shortly after I sat down, a friend from down the road text me and let me know that she was going to go swimming. Um... great idea! I was home alone and desperately looking for something to do! Oh how I wanted to go rollerblading or running, but once again... didn't. So swimming it was! It was GREAT! I was swimming laps with a goofy grin on my face, fist pumping wildly in my head... all because I was moving and grooving and kicking my legs and my knee DIDN'T HURT! Oh how it felt good! Will need to keep the swimming up, at least for the next couple of weeks! Also, I've been missing me some hot yoga something fierce lately! Need to get back into the groove of going to that too!

And now here I sit, with a full stomach of good food ready for another week! Jay made honey barbeque ribs on the grill tonight and dang they were yummy! I topped one off with some french fries and a pile of fresh strawberries! Oh yummy! It's a good thing I went swimming today, needed some sort of calorie deficit for the ribs, haha!

I am SO not ready to go back to work tomorrow. This weather has been great and I am in full on good weather mode right now. Wanting, needing, have to be outside!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{tattoos}

I might have posted something about my tattoos when I first started blogging, but I thought it was time for an update and/or new post in case anyone reading this now wasn’t a reader back then (anyone? anyone? haha!) and doesn’t feel like going back through any of my old posts. I mean, come next week I will have been blogging for… 5 YEARS! O.M.G.!!! Where HAS the time gone?!

Anyways, yesterday I added to my tattoo collection, so I thought I would do a post about all of my tattoos…

I got my first tattoo shortly after Ayden was born. It is a little baby angel sitting on an cloud with Ayden’s name above it. It is on my back, but not quite low enough to be what I consider the typical ‘tramp stamp’. Ugh, I hate that connotation. This picture doesn’t really do it justice because I was taking it from a reflection in a mirror and believe you me, it’s hard to take a picture of your back, haha! I often forget I even have this tattoo because I don’t ever see it. I loved it when I got it and I still love it.!I got my second tattoo on my right wrist probably a year or so after the first one. They (whoever they actually are) aren’t kidding when they say that tattoos are addicting! This one means persistence (or at least I hope it does, lol!). I had someone who spoke Chinese as her native language double check it for me. And even if it’s slightly wrong, 99.9% of the people that I run into and see it wouldn’t know whether that is what it actually said anyways. I got a little bit of flack for getting a wrist tattoo from some people, especially since I was so young. Some people thought it might hinder me being able to get a job in the future. I deal with people EVERY day for my profession and I have yet to run into someone who says something bad about it. Honestly, once again, 99.9% of people don’t say anything about it. And honestly, if I were to not get a job based on a tattoo on my wrist, then I probably didn’t really want to work at that place anyways. I love this tattoo simply for the meaning. I have had to be damn persistent to get through everything that I have. Having a kid at 18, going through college, graduating with my bachelor’s degree, going back for my doctorate, and now graduating with that! Hell yeah!I honestly don’t know how long after number 2 it was before I got number 3… probably another year or so. “Believe” has always been my mantra, hence the meaning of that. All through life I have been big on ‘don’t just hope for something to happen, believe that it will’. The footprints are Ayden’s from his birth certificate (shrunk down)… that is why one of the feet only has four toes. I wanted it to be just like his certificate (even though the child does have all five toes on both feet).There was quite some time between number 3 and number 4. I think, thus far, number 4 is my favorite. It doesn’t hold any specific special meaning to me, other than I really love lilies. Like obsessively love them! I could take pictures and stare at them for hours! They are so pretty, especially the star gazers! This tattoo hurt like a mother, but I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out! And just yesterday I got tattoo numbers 5 and 6! Number 5 is in commemoration of my half marathon. I think it is just too cute! There is enough room under the 13.1 to put a 26.2 if I were to ever decide to run a full marathon. To some people running a half marathon may not seem like a big deal, but it definitely was for me, so I wanted something permanent to remember it by!And here is number 6! I think it speaks for itself. Simple and sweet… just what I was looking for!My need for tattoos has been satiated for awhile. I doubt that I am done getting them, but that is just me. They aren’t for everyone and I full respect that, but they are for me!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{oshkosh half marathon: part 3}

Post Race

If I thought I knew what pain was after my 17k, I was wrong!

I could tell immediately after the race that I was going to be in some kind of pain for the rest of the day. I think it was probably less than I had imagined because I drugged up even before the race started. By the time I got back to my house afterwards, I was very tight. So much for really stretching it out after the race, haha! The one thing I really need to work on.

Instead of being smart and taking an ice bath or shower or even icing my knees, I hopped into a regular shower and then as a family we headed off for some bowling afterwards. I bowled one game with Jay and the little man and then watched them bowl two more. I was sore for the game that I bowled, but I dealt.

For the rest of the day I laid on the couch and watched some good old boob tube. I was surprised that I did zonk out at all and take a good nap considering I was up even before the crack of dawn!

What I was prepared for was the amount of pain that I would be in the following day! O.M.G.!!! I should have iced on Sunday! My knees, particularly my right one, hurt like a bitch with any movement yesterday. Stairs were my nemesis!

I got smart, well Jay made me get smart, last night and I iced my knee for a couple of hours yesterday. I was gone all day and on my feet, so I know that that didn't help any.

I have to say that Day 2 post race, my left knee is pretty much back at normal... my right knee though is still pretty tender even to the touch. More icing tonight.

I really messed up not getting new shoes before the 17k. Ugh! I know that given the amount of pain that I am in right now that I should not run for a good three to four weeks. I will give my knee two weeks off from running, concentrate on some upper body work and then maybe see how the knees are feeling after that. Start out slow with a mile or two.

Was the medal worth the pain... HELL YEAH! Pain is temporary... pride is FOREVER! I am SO proud of myself! I earned it baby, I earned it!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{oshkosh half marathon: part 2}

Race Day

My day for the Oshkosh Half Marathon started at 4:40am. I can’t even begin to tell you when the last time was that my eyes had see that number on the clock and I was getting out of bed. I didn’t even know there was morning time before 5am, haha!

But I rolled out of bed, just not feeling the run. I mean, it was WAY early! I had set everything out the night before so I knew I wouldn’t forget anything. I still forgot two things… sunglasses and chapstick. Luckily it wasn’t sunny out, so didn’t miss the sunglasses, but did miss the chapstick!Victoria picked me up by 5:15am and we were on our way! I don’t think either of us was too excited to begin with because it was just so darn early. We chatted it up per usual on our way to the run. We ended up getting a good parking spot and didn’t arrive too early before the start of the race. We got our bibs and then chilled for a bit inside the building before heading out to the start line. We were going to use the bathrooms before the race started, but the woman’s line was super long and neither of us really had to go. Just precautionary, haha!

We took our before run picture and then headed out the doors!Yeah, we rock some awesome shoes too!And today Victoria even rocked some even awesomer (yes I made that a word) leggings that I must try and get some of!The 5k path and the half marathon path split from each other pretty early on in the race so Victoria and I didn’t even get to run together at all. Prior to the race I had set myself up behind the 2:20 pace guy (finish the race in 2 hours 20 minutes). I had a goal of finishing under 2:30, but also knew that with my current knee issues, it might take me longer.

I started out nice and slow and steady and kept the 2:20 pace guy in my sights for about the first five miles. I was feeling pretty good. I saw Jay’s grandparents and mom around the three mile mark and that made me smile! Also around that time I had started to get that familiar knee pain that I’ve been talking about. I was a little worried about it then because I knew I had another 10 miles to go, but I kept my pace slow and steady and just continued to put one foot in front of the other. The miles continued to pass and I continued to tell myself that I could do this… for me… and for Boston. I would finish!

Around the seven mile mark I saw my honey, little man, my mom, and Jay’s grandparents and mom again. I handed off my gloves to Jay because I was getting pretty warm by then. I was continuing to push through the knee pain and just kept going! I figured that at least by that point I was over halfway through!

I hit mile 9 and started to doubt myself. I knew at that point I only had four miles to go, but I was starting to feel the fatigue in my legs. My breathing was still pretty good, no huffing and puffing, but the legs were getting tired. It didn’t help that I must have missed the mile 10 marker because I was thinking that mile 9 was the longest ever!

I saw my family again shortly before mile 11 and that gave me just the push that I needed to continue. It also helped that shortly after seeing them, I saw the mile 11 marker and knew that I only had two miles left. I started to think that I really could finish!

I also have to add that somewhere between mile five and six I passed the 2:20 pacesetter and knew I could probably push myself to finish in under 2:20. I hadn’t really set a goal out for myself when starting, other than to finish. I had a time I would have liked to beat, but wasn’t going to push myself. After passing the pacesetter… it was then that I set a goal for myself to get under 2:20.After mile 11, I saw my family two more times before crossing the finish line and seeing them so much at the end of the race really kept me going! As I was approaching the finish line I took my earbuds out so I could hear all of the cheering from everyone! It was really kind of awesome and exciting!

It was so exciting to cross the finish line and seeing that it was under 2:20! The official results have not been posting online yet for the chip timing, but here is what my watch said after I crossed the finish line! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! I am in utter awe at myself, especially since my training this last month has been pretty lack luster. I KILLED my original goal for my first half marathon!And of course we needed our after race picture! Victoria rocked her 5k! We told ourselves at the beginning of the race that we were not going to let our heads get to us during the run and that we were going to finish happy and I think we both had great runs! Just what we needed!I am DAMN proud of that medal! Damn proud!

Jay keeps saying that I should think about doing a full marathon. I don’t know about that yet. Right now I have no ambition to do one, but that may change!

Half marathon finisher! Can’t believe I just ran 13.1 miles without stopping!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{oshkosh half marathon: part 1}

Pre-Race

Here I sit on Friday night all curled up in my heating blanket wondering how my very first half marathon is going to play out on Sunday morning. I don't think I've had a coherent thought about it all week.

I've sat here wondering what to say about the awful bombings that occurred at the Boston Marathon earlier this week and words just fail me. Something like this would have shaken me either way, but I feel even more speechless because it affected the runner in me even more. Running has become a release for me since I started and I feel very connected to the running community. I read a lot of blogs of people who were in Boston earlier this week and my heart stopped when I heard about the bombings. My heart stopped for people that I didn't even know in real life, but felt like I've known forever. Horrible. That's all I can say.

So, with the events leading up to my half make it all that more important to me. Not only am I running it for myself now... I am also running it for everyone in Boston. We, as a running community, will not let this stop us.

I've 'saved' my knees all week, with the exception of a short run on Monday (which led to some sore knees, hence the no working out this week) and I am ready to kick butt on Sunday. I've felt pretty lazy all week and I think that has played into my semi downer attitude. I've wanted to be active, but I was afraid of hurting anything for Sunday. After Sunday it is back to full on getting my groove thing on at the gym and hopefully outside in some warmer weather!

I am going to give it more than my all. I am going to push forward when my head is telling me to stop. Running is SO mental. I am going to continue to put one foot in front of the other and finish the race and earn that medal! Funny how a little medal is propelling me forward, haha!

I'm continuing to cross my fingers for halfway decent weather, but I am not going to let bad weather deter my mood either.

Victoria and I have found a Dream in Color 5k going on in two weeks that we have decided to do with our little men. We know that with them we will be walking more than running, so we have decided to give this weekend's race our all. No mental games. None. Zip. Zilch. I missed the Color Run 5k in January, so this will be my make up. What's even better is that my sister and her boyfriend are going to do it with us. I can't wait! And we better have fab weather for that walk or I just might puke! Haha!

I'm pre-racing it up all day tomorrow by doing a whole lot of nothing, except staying hydrated, doing some stretching, and spending the day with my little man!

Make sure you check back for Part 2 (Race Day) and Part 3 (Post Race)!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{okay, i'm really fully crazy}

If you read my last post, you'll know that for a while, I was only half crazy. It didn't take long for me to go completely insane! No, I have not decided to run a full marathon (at least not yet), but I have decided to do the Tough Mudder. I have decided to do the Tough Mudder... two weeks before my wedding.

Yes, that makes me fully crazy!And no, I don't want your opinions (or anyone's opinions) about how I actually am crazy stupid for doing it two weeks before my wedding. If you think I shouldn't be doing it that close, then please kindly keep your mouth shut because I don't want to hear it. NOT AT ALL! And if you know me in real life, you know I'm going to do things my way on my timing.

If you do not know what the Tough Mudder is, I suggest you visit their website www.toughmudder.com to really see how crazy I am. Here is just a little description of what it entails:

Tough Mudder events are hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie. With the most innovative courses, 700,000 inspiring participants worldwide to date, and more than $5 million raised for the Wounded Warrior Project, Tough Mudder is the premier adventure challenge series in the world. But Tough Mudder is more than an event, it’s a way of thinking. By running a Tough Mudder challenge, you’ll unlock a true sense of accomplishment, have a great time, and discover a camaraderie with your fellow participants that’s experienced all too rarely these days.Now do you think I'm crazy. Crazy in a good way, right?! Remember, no negative thoughts or verbalization about me doing this. I started my year of races in October 2012, what a better way to round out that year (minus January, since I was sick), than with this awesomeness of a race, although it's not really a race and I'm doing it with two friends, hopefully more, and we are just going to have a crazy good time! I honestly canNOT wait for this event! It is going to be amazingly hard and challenging, but finishing something like that is going to be such a great accomplishment in and of itself and doing it with friends will make it all the better!

Part of me was hesitant to write this post as I wasn't planning on telling many people about doing this race. No one would think anything of me doing a 5k two weeks before my wedding, but I know I'd get some unfriendly comments about how I shouldn't risk hurting myself that close to the wedding. Um, hello, I can get hurt at any point during any day. And really, if I end up walking down the aisle with a cast on an arm or a leg, it will just add to the day, haha! (Knock on some wood for me, will ya? Because as much as I joke about it, I really don't want it to happen.) And in all seriousness, I've talked to some people who've done it and their response and reaction to the race overall has just made me want to do it even more. They came out unscathed and had a great time as well!Tough Mudder… come September… YOU ARE MINE!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{only half crazy}

I've blogged a LOT about my half marathon training these last six months. I am MORE than excited for it, but at the same time I am terrified of failure. I was on a great training path just be Christmas and then I got sick, the weather turned into what a Wisconsin winter really looks like, and I just haven't been able to get back into it hardcore like I was.

A few weeks ago I ran my longest run to date... 10.5 miles. At the end of that race I knew I could probably finish the half with little to no problems. And then came the next day and my whole body just hurt. What the hell did I do to myself?!

Since then, I have been having some minor knee issues. Some of which I'm sure are due to recovering from the race, some of which I'm thinking are due to what the runner's people call... runner's knee, and some of which were due to old shoes. These knees problems are the majority of what has me so worried about this upcoming race.

Last week I ran 5.5 miles in my old shoes and my knees killed... literally killed! If that were the day I had my half, I would have been in tears for the second half of the race or better yet, probably have dropped out. It was that bad. Since then I've gotten new shoes, took a few days off, and this week have been slowly working back into it. But people, I'm still scared. I'm scared too push myself too hard in the new shoes right off the bat, hurting my knees more, and then not even being able to run next weekend.

Earlier this week, I had a great three mile run. I probably PR'd it (personal record). It felt great, although I still had some minor knee pain. I rested Tuesday, and then hit the treadmill (because mother nature seems to be going through PMS right now) last night and kept the pace down and ran for about 2.5 miles. I stopped at the second I felt the slightest bit of knee pain coming on. I ran at 5.5 mph for 2.5 miles at zero incline, then walked at 4.0 mph for the last half mile at a 9 incline, which is insane people! I am seriously hoping for some warmer weather on Saturday so I can get outside and try to pop out a good 6 or 7 mile run and see how the legs, specifically the knees are doing.

Whether or not I hit my goal next weekend (aiming for two hours and thirty minutes), I will know that I've given it my all and that I've earned it! I will cross that finish line with a smile on my face and probably look like a dork in the photos that are taken, but I will have set out to accomplish something I NEVER thought I could do!

I started this running journey six months ago not being able to run for sixty seconds straight.

I cannot believe how far I've come!

13.1 miles, bring it. I showed the 17k who's the boss, I'm going to show you as well!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{tuesday and wednesday blahness}

Tuesday

I woke up this morning feeling kind of blah. The weather is currently playing a major role in my blahness, as it is foggy and rainy and dreary outside right now. All ickiness! I didn't really want to crawl out of bed this morning and go to work. It was one of those cover your head and go back to sleep kind of mornings, but I got up, got myself and the little man ready for the day, and we headed out into the craptastic weather.

Part of me is still in denial that winter is over. (Is it really over?!) I mean, it lasted for so darn long and seems like it just wants to continue lingering, but seriously, we are in need of some serious spring days! Last week was great! Even though it may not have been super warm all week, the sun was shining and when the sun shines everyone's mood seems to be a little bit brighter! Well, at least mine is! Now only if the office that I worked in had windows so I could admire that sunshine throughout the day, haha! Someday, maybe!

I have a maternity photo shoot this weekend for a daughter of one of my co-workers and I am so excited! I haven't had an outdoor photo shoot in months! My camera has missed me royally! What makes it even more fun is that I know the daughter personally so it will be fun working with someone I already know.

Speaking of photos... did I mention that Jay and I got our 'official' engagement pictures taken a few weekends ago?! I am waiting to get them in the mail before I post some of my favorite! Working with our photographer is always so much fun! It makes it so much easier that both Jay and I know her and she knows us and our personalities. Plus, overall she is just a hoot to hang out with! I love helping her second shoot weddings!

Wednesday

The rest of yesterday was a royal mess. Okay, so it wasn't really THAT bad, but my mood sure didn't improve any and neither did the weather! I had a headache by the time I got home. I didn't feel like working out. I didn't workout. We had McDonald's for supper. We hardly ever have McDonald's anymore. I went semi healthy and tried out one of their new McWraps. Although the calorie count for the wrap that I got wasn't too bad, the sodium was horrible! And then to top it off, I ate a small fry with it. Which also wasn't too bad calorie wise, but oh the salt! Despite my meal being semi okay (for McDonalds), I didn't stop there and consumed probably more calories in chocolate bunnies than my entire supper! Ugh, NO self control this week AT ALL!

I literally crawled into bed last night around 7:30pm because I was just crabby and tired and didn't want to be around anyone. Fell asleep around 8:30pm and slept great, although I had horrible dreams about my half marathon coming up. Dang, just couldn't escape the bad day yesterday!

The weather hasn't improved much for today either. Did I mention winter was over, I guess I must have been wrong. I seriously need to move to a warmer state! I'm trying to make my mood better today. I have plans to go workout/for a run at the gym after work today. I know that I need it. Come this afternoon I may not be excited to go, but I know that I will not regret it once I do go. Keep myself busy and I will keep the food out of my mouth. That is my problem at the end of the day when I get home. Lately, because we keep our house so darn cold, I get home after work, find my spot on the couch with the heating blanket, eat like it's going out of style, and relax. I think that needs to stop! I need to keep myself busier and then I won't think so much about food. I think it also needs to warm up outside so the inside of my house warms up too because I have turned into the thermostat nazi and won't turn it any higher until next winter. Gah!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{strawberry-licious}

For whatever reason, I have been craving strawberries like MAD lately! I have always like the strawberry flavor in things, but never really liked the actual fruit itself, like couldn't really stand it. I am not a berry person, like at all! To say my tastes have been changing these last couple of months is an understatement. I enjoy a good salad, particularly those from Applebees and will willingly order one. Mushrooms on a pizza, heck yeah! Chicken bacon ranch pizza... yum! And lately, strawberries, can't keep them on the shelf at home! I've literally probably eaten three containers of strawberries MYSELF in just the last week! O.M.G.! Who is this woman?! I've been scarfing them down like they are going out of style, well that and the rest of the Easter candy we have at our house, haha! Love me some chocolate too. You know what would be even better? Chocolate covered strawberries! Will the number of strawberries I've eaten outweigh the number of M&Ms I've been shoving in my face? A girl can only wish, right?!

Strawberries aside, things have been crazy busy lately. I've been meaning to blog and have wanted to blog, but I just haven't made the time to sit down and just do it. Work has been crazy busy with little down time. What down time I have been having, I've been wedding planning like a mad woman. You know, when I'm not eating strawberries. Well, actually, I've been eating strawberries and wedding planning at the same time! I've been buying things left and right for the wedding and cannot wait for the packages to start to arrive! I can totally see how internet shopping can get addictive because I've been having SO much fun shopping for things. Lot of decorations, bridal party gifts, flowers, shoes, etc... it's great!

Easter was great around here. Lots of good family time! The weekend went way too fast, but I have to say that I did enjoy a few extra days off of work with Ayden at home. We didn't do too much relaxing. Instead it was busy busy busy!

This past weekend was more busy. Ayden had his bowling rewards ceremony, we had Easter with my mom, and a fun day with Victoria and Parker yesterday. Ayden and I, and our besties, went to go see Jurassic Park in 3D! Jurassic Park in 3D! Awesome! It was like a whole new movie and Ayden and Parker both LOVED it! Before we hit up the movie we did a little bit of shopping. I got me some new running kicks!

Last week I went for a run and decided to make it a longer run... 5.5 miles. By three miles my knees were killing me, but I pushed myself through and kept going. By the last half mile I was almost in tears because both of my knees hurt so bad. I knew that there was NO way I was running a half marathon in a few weeks if my legs felt like that after only 5 miles. It would be physically impossible. So, after getting the advice from a few people, it was determined, no more running until I got new kicks. I really had wanted to hold off until after my half to get new shoes because I wanted to treat myself for such a huge accomplishment. Not going to happen. I hit up an awesome shoe store in Appleton (Fleet Feet), which happens to be right near my favorite restaurant (Hu Hot) and got fit for some new shoes. It was crazy busy and I had little man, Parker, and Victoria with me, so I probably didn't take as much time as I would have had it been just myself with the lady, but she was still extremely helpful. It was determined that I needed something with a little more support, and that's what I got. I decided to stick with the Asics because I didn't want to switch everything way up this close to my half. The color of the shoes definitely aren't quite as bright as my first pair, but they still rock! (Even though I know the color technically shouldn't matter.)

Anyways, I went for my first run with the new shoes tonight. I have to say that I am already in love. I kept it short to 3 miles and I rocked the run! Fastest run to date, 3 miles with an average pace of 9:23/mile. I had started out thinking it was going to be a slow easy run, but for whatever reason my legs took over and I just busted it out. My feet felt great! My knees held up. I wasn't expecting to be pain free, but I have to say that only my right knee hurt and it didn't hurt too bad and it wasn't until right up at the end. I'm hoping if I take it easy up until race day it won't be too bad. Keeping my fingers crossed! It will get done!

CIAO! LOVE ME!