Indy Mini or a tail of a pseudo runner

Last Saturday I completed my 4th mini-marathon (Indy Mini). It's taken me a week to write about this because this is how long it takes to get over the pain that it generated.
But no, it was great. Yes, the pain was definitely there, both physical and emotional and my ankle is still paying for it, but I loved every minute of it. I think it was the first time when I didn't say "never again" upon crossing the finish line.
I trained for it. Some. I found a training plan that encouraged not to run longer than 30 minutes per day during the week and do long runs on weekends. I liked it, mostly the 30 minutes per day part. Long runs on weekends weren't that doable or desirable or anticipated. I attempted it 3 times, one of which was a total disaster and the other 2 successful. So I would say I was 2/3 ready for the race.
We drove to Indy Friday night and stayed at my sister-in-law's house. On Saturday morning our rockstar family friend Betty came to stay with that kids and Greg and I drove downtown. I started the race strong and was ready to rock. By mile 5, however, the heat was blasting and I was sweaty and already sufficiently tired. At mile 6 I may have asked myself "Why did I do this again?" a couple of hundred times. As we were leaving the Indy 500 track (it's about 2.5 miles and it's smack in the middle of the race... it's a fun little detail and I would have enjoyed it immensely if it wasn't for the heat radiating from the black pavement... geez!), I realized that if I didn't see a porta potty in the next 2 seconds I would pee my pants. Luckily I made it, but sadly lost a couple of minutes to that. Darn nature calls!
By mile 8 or 9 everything everywhere started hurting, burning and cramping and that's when I realized that I was in trouble. Up to that point I was jogging consistently, but now I had to walk a bit. For the next 4.1 miles it was an inner battle. I kept going from almost crying of pain but still jogging to succumbing to my baby-self and walking for a few seconds or stretching a bit. I was so preoccupied by that battle that I didn't hear or see Greg making a scene trying to get my attention somewhere along the road. But I finished, guys. I wanted to make it under 2:09 (which was my time last time 4 years ago), but ended up adding 4 minutes. I was disappointed at first, but I'm over it now and maybe next year I can beat myself:)  Yes, I think I'm going to do this again. Don't tell my ankle.

(* I ran into a friend before the race. *photo taken from here)

San Diego {according to my iPhone}

We've been back home a few days now, but I swear those 4 days in San Diego were enough to set us on the Pacific time. It's true when they say that one gets used to good stuff fast. Kiddies don't care though and it's 7 am wake up every day. Ek!

But below are a few more pictures from the trip. Since my big-girl camera weighs about 17 pounds, I sort of got over hauling it around San Diego and for the rest of the time my phone became my eye.

Our first day there was jam-packed with activity, but we made the rest of the time pretty laid back. On the second day we toured USS Midway, which is a huge aircraft carrier that was decommissioned from the Navy a few years ago. It was the biggest ship in the world until 1955 and it went through Vietnam war.  We spent about 3 hours on it with our audio guides. Later I also visited the rest of the Maritime Museum, while Greg was in meetings. I toured the Star of India, which is the oldest ship still sailing, Berkely (a really cool ferryboat),  and two submarines, a Russian one and an American one. The Russian one (B-39) was a beast! It's really long and has these round holes in place of doorways that make her even more claustrophobic. I almost had a panic attack, especially when I read that even the crew had trouble with being deep underwater in a long narrow iron tube. You know how they were supposed to deal with it? To shut up and get over it. After I read that, I zoomed towards the open thingie on top and climbed out. Spookie! 

We also spent a lot of time eating in the Gaslamp quarter, running along the harbor, drinking coffee and reading at coffee shops and just wondering around. 

We didn't have nearly enough time to see everything (like the much recommended La Jolla and The Coronado Island), but who knows, maybe one day we will be back? Maybe even with the kids when they are old enough to appreciate, say, one of the best zoos in the world:) 

It seriously was like a mini-honeymoon. It was so awesome to not have to split attention with the kids  and for once just enjoy each other's company without being pulled into a million directions. I would recommend trips like that to any married couple with kids. 

Sincerely, your marriage councilor:)

More photos below

San Diego, day I

When a few months ago hubby announced that we were going to San Diego, i was all 'oooo, it borders Tijuana, Mexico, that's cool'. I swear, this proximity to the scariest place (in my mind) was the only thing I knew to be interesting about San Diego.

Boy, was I wrong!

Just our hotel alone has more going on around it than out little village at home has in a year. For starters, it's one of the biggest waterfront hotels on the west coast. There is a tower on top of it which offers views of Mexico. There is the Kansas City Barbecue right across the street, where Top Gun was filmed, there's the little courtyard that used to be a police station in the 30s-40s and still has some original sells for public viewing. From our room we can see USS Midway and that famous WWII statue of a sailor kissing a nurse. 

On our first day, after a delicious breakfast at Brickyard Coffee&Tea. 

Then we did a city tour that included a ride along the harbor. Turns out military is the number 1 industry in San Diego, with the city housing 40% of all US Navy.

We made a quick trip to Balboa Park, which is home to a lot of museums and is a certified botanical garden. Lot's of history in this place. During the war it was overtaken by military. There is this beautiful reflecting pool there, that not only served for physical therapy during the war, but was also used to teach some marines how to swim (yep:)). There are also lots of Spanish style Baroque building that originally weren't meant to be permanent, but were reconstructed to last, because the locals were so enamored with them they wouldn't let them be demolished:)

We then headed to Old Town for lunch at an adorable Mexican restaurant called Casa Guadalajara. So good, oh my goodness. After lunch, instead of returning to our hotel with the buses, we decided to stay and walk around Old Town a little bit longer. A few blisters and some blood on my feet, we took a trolley back to the hotel happy to have gleaned a little history of San Diego.

We ended the day with a waterfront dinner at The Fish Market.

All of a sudden, proximity to the drug cartels of Tijuana is forgotten and I'm so in love with this city, I know I will want to be back. 

a weekend for the win(n)

Last weekend was sort of extraordinary. The weather alone was just the finest, but we also had so much activity that it feels like we can now go another year filled with leisurely weekends, where the only productive thing is to get dressed to go to church:) I'm not complaining, I love those types of weekends too.
For starters, I woke up Saturday morning, swallowed a banana and set of for my long run. 8 miles. In the books. Impressive for me, but not really considering that I have 2 weeks left till my mini-marathon and I'm only at 8 miles. But I think I can, I think I can:)
Right around lunch time, we loaded the kiddos in our bike trailer and went on our first of many bike rides as a family of 4. Annika and Leo entertained each other well. There was this one moment when I looked inside the buggy and saw Annika holding Leo's hand and they were looking at each other and grinning. My heart just about soared off my bike. We had lunch in our little village, rode by the lake, saw lots of people we knew, and visited with friends. Leo successfully passed out on the way home.
After the kids were put down for naps, I made a run to the store, made a salad and a cheesecake for dinner with friends (who, me???) and started painting our front door. It's mint now. In love.
Then we had an awesome dinner on our friends' porch and after that I painted some more, while Greg planted new trees around our house.
I guess I should say it was an extraordinary Saturday, because on Sunday we didn't even get to church. It was a rainy day and all of us had a cozy day inside, complete with chicken noodle soup, whole-wheat biscuits and even a board game.
(photos from last Friday, because I forgot I had a camera during the weekend:))

Easter 2014, Winn style

It’s been a few days since Easter, but I won't be me if I were posting this on time :)

Easter for us was low-key, but fun nonetheless. Little lady’s cousin Mae was in town Friday before Easter and the 2 girls had a wonderful time egg-hunting in Oma and Opa’s backyard. Saturday morning our park had an Easter egg hunt and we all took Annika to gather some more chocolate. She didn’t get too many, because other parents got in her way. (I’m serious. So many parents were gathering eggs themselves instead of letting their kids do the job. It was a little unsettling to see.) However, Annika had a lot of fun and managed to intimidate the heck out of the Easter bunny.

After the egg hunt we came home and painted eggs. Annika loved it so much, that every single day, at least once, she asks to paint eggs. How do you explain to a two-year-old that we only celebrate Jesus’ resurrection in this very particular way only once a year? (And while we are at it, how would you explain that to me?)

On Sunday we went to Oma and Opa’s church and then had a quiet family lunch all together. And you can call me cheesy, but Annika and I were matchy-matchy. I LOVE matching our outfits, but I try not to do that too much for fear of being weird :)

 

On a serious note, what a blessed occasion! I’m so beyond thankful for Jesus and his sacrifice for us. And I hope to remember it every day and teach my children the same thing. 

Blessings and love,

Lena