National Running Day...take that:)

I wanted to start this post off with a picture that I finally was able to get from Kalamazoo 1/2 marathon...

I kind of love it A LOT! hehehe. regardless...I'VE FINALLY BEEN CLEARED TO RUN!!!!! YEA!!!!! Seriously, I never thought that being unable to run for 8 weeks would be not only physically challenging but mentally challenging as well. I thought I was seriously going to go crazy!! So, now that I can finally lace up my running shoes again, I was given one set of orders...GO SLOW. Wow. That's pretty stinking hard. My therapist said no more than a 1/2 mile every other day for the first week. Seriously? It takes more time to get dressed than to actually run around the block once. But for now, I will take every bit of running I can get.

Which brings us to today...NATIONAL RUNNING DAY!!! Tonight we decided to make our run a FAMILY event...yep, that means that not only myself and my husband, but AJ, Miss Moe and Baby Jack all laced up their running shoes and we went for a run. (Okay, so I may have had to bribe them with ice cream, but at least they were moving, right??) It's 1/2 mile to the ice cream place and a half mile home...and we all finished our mile in about 15 minutes. I really wanted a picture of all of us running together, but these will have to do for now.

I had fun running with my family. Miss Moe and I ran for awhile talking about running...she ran a race last weekend and won a medal...she was pretty excited and I was pretty proud. I'm hoping to run a 5K again with her soon:) She keeps me on my toes and says the most random hilarious things always.




I hope everyone enjoyed National running Day and got out there... now for me...off to sleep.. GYRO!

Erika and the monkeys

Borgess Run for the health of it 1/2 marathon Race Report

Wow. I can't believe that I haven't posted since December. While it seems so long, I have a list of excuses a mile long, but I'll give you the short version! After the crazy holiday season/wedding season, I started training for the kalamazoo marathon. After 3 long runs, I developed severe pain in my left foot. Sadly the dr told me I had a stress fracture. I went to the orthopod and he wasn't convinced, but I got put in a walking boot:( Big Boo...even bigger because I was on my way to Vegas that weekend for a girls weekend! Oh so fun...my so sweet husband dazzled up my walking boot since I had to shelve not only my running shoes but my oh so cute glitter heels:( Here are some of my most fave pics from Vegas:)

Upon arriving home, I had an MRI and they still weren't sure about the fracture, but I had peroneal tynosynovitis. SIGH! I just wanted to ditch my boot so badly in time for Kalamazoo and my honeymoon to Mexico! Good grief. Instead, I rocked my boot to Nashville/Mexico/Atlanta where I spent 9 glorious days with my husband and some old and new friends!! Here are some of my most favorite shots from that trip:

When I got home from Mexico, I started physical therapy. The marathon that I had been training for was obviously shelved, but I decided to walk the half marathon. I really wanted my stinking medal. So I got it:) Race Report: We met up with Colleen, Sami and Nicole for pre-race dinner at Mongo. My most fave! Colleen was preparing for her first ever marathon (this is who I was supposed to be running with) and I was so so excited for her!! we headed over to the EPIC gang carb load, said hi, caught up with old friends and called it a night. We arrived to race start and did the usual. This course is my most favorite and has a special place because it was my first ever race. We snapped some pics and headed to the start line. Honestly, I didn't know how long it would take me to walk that far. AND I got some really strange looks as I limped over to the start line, but honestly I didn't really care. I would have given nearly anything to run this race. The weather was PERFECT and the energy was AMAZING!!! AND WE ARE OFF... I started out walking a brisk pace. I'm thinking...man...it took me 8 minutes just to walk a half mile. This is going to take forever. Just after mile 1 I saw Jen from Redhead running. As I went to high school with her I stopped and chatted for a minute and she snapped a picture which I'm so thankful for!!

After the first mile, it became a game. Can I catch the people in front of me? There was one girl ahead and her shirt was just out of focus but I really wanted to know what it said...so I kept walking with an occasional giddy up to try and catch her. When I did I was surprised to said "my water broke, but my spirit hasn't"...yep, she was 39 weeks prego and running the half. Sweet! Someone as crazy as me! we chatted for awhile, and then I lost her:( It was a total different experience because I really got to take the course in...chat with people, make friends...pretty awesome. Here are a few race pics that aren't my fave but they will do:)

This would be during my giddy up towards the end. I was ready to be done. My husband ran his second half and came back to walk me in the last mile. I love that in my finishing pics he is right in the background <3 this. Awesome! My finishing time 2:58:20 Not too shabby for a brisk walk! We waited around texting Colleen trying to encourage her as she became a marathoner. I couldn't help by cry like a baby when she finally crossed the finish line. Such a proud mama and so so happy for her! After snapping some pics, we headed home to grab the monkey!

I still love that race and can't wait until next year to run it again. I can't wait until I can actually get rid of this boot and start running again...the countdown is on...3 weeks to go! Hope everyone is great! Now get out there and GYRO!! and run an extra mile for me:) Thanks!

YEP, I went there...

Since I couldn't run k-zoo...I went for a walk. 2:58 and some change. Race report to come!

Heaven and Hell: Vegas adventures

Better late than never!
Here's the recap of our Heaven and Hell wedding and race adventures from Las Vegas!

We flew into Vegas late Friday night. After being up for 25 hours plus, I was eager to crash, but my friend who flew in from chicago called and was excited to see us so we waited up for her. When she arrived, she had in tow MY MOM and Connie, another great friend! I was so so shocked. I couldn't believe my mom was there as she had been telling me all along that she wasn't able to come! Saturday morning we woke up early, picked up our marriage license, hit up the race expo, ventured around, ate a yummy mexican lunch and I headed back to the room to meet Trish who was coming to do my hair and makeup. She showed up and can I just tell you that this chick was AWESOME! She did such an amazing job! Then I headed off to the chapel to become Mrs. Kilcher. After our meet and greet (did I mention my husband looked so handsome?) we headed out for pictures on the strip. I'm posting below some of my favorite shots. :)

It was so so fun!!! The next day we woke up and bummed around waiting for our race. I had made us these super cute outfits as we were planning on running together:) Sadly, I didn't get a single picture of us during the race, but I think we were pretty cute!

When we got to the start line, it started to set in that this race was not set up well. Granted, I just ran Chicago a few months ago, but even the start line felt squishy. I also was not prepared for how cold out it was...my short sleeve shirt and capris were not cutting it in the 40 degree weather. Once the race started, I remember I kept saying, "it will be better when it thins out a little." Much like Chicago, it never thinned out. I found myself running into people, jumping curbs, triping on stuff in the street. The part where you run down "the strip" was kind of fun, but the scary, very dark back part (mile 6-10) were kind of scary and not so much fun. My favorite part was seeing my family at mile 11! This was the first time my mom has ever been to a race, so I thought that was pretty special. My other favorite part was when Tim and I crossed the finish line hand-n-hand. Love this. Our time was 2:30...not my best, not my worst, but one of my favorites for who I was with <3!
We bummed around Monday, saw a show, ate lots of yummy food, did some shopping and gambling and headed home Tuesday. It was such a great time aside from the kind of crappy race. I wouldn't run it again unless the streets were wider and the finish line was set up better. Did you run Vegas? What did you think?
Looking forward to being back to blogging when I start my new training plan 1-1-12!

Talkless Tuesday

Hi everyone! Wow, 2 posts in one week:) Kicking a$$ and taking names! Ha! I just wanted to post some of my favorite pictures from our family vacation to chicago over labor day, and Jack, Maddie and I goofing around at Ayden's football practice this fall. Oh how we already miss summer around here!
















These are things I'm grateful for this year:)
Happy turkey day!

Exciting news:)

well...I have no excuse for not posting in so stinking long except my life has taken crazy twists and turns and unfortunately my Internet/blogging has taken a back seat to my monkeys, weddings, showers, work, and on and on and on. Since I've last posted, I ran Chicago which was success far from what I would consider a success, but I'm going to say that the crowd support was great and at least I finished. Enough said. My next race up on my calender is coming up in 3 weeks when I head for VEGAS and I'm so excited! It's going to be an amazing weekend! It's going to be amazing for a few super special reasons. This will be my first half marathon with my NEW HUSBAND:) Wanna see what I got?

Yep that's right. And we are trying the knot just 24 hours before he runs his first ever half marathon:) I'm so proud of him and it's going to be so fun!! Aside from that, my monkeys are are doing well and growing like weeds. I can't even believe that my youngest monkey jack is about to turn 3!!! Where in the heck does time go? He's so funny these days, and I'm still set that 3's are much harder than 2's:)

Are you running Vegas? Where are you staying? We are staying and getting hitched in the Excalibur...eeekkkk! I love Vegas!