Anna the Model!

Anna had her picture taken at school and we were shocked when we received them back. They look nothing like the school photos I took growing up when the photographer took one snapshot and half the time my eyes were closed! Now in 2010 the photographer offers a disc with multiple photos to choose from -- why, how times have changed! I wasn't with Anna when she had her photo taken but she sure looks like she was having a great time!

Ben wasn't at the school for photos but here he is looking cute as ever. What a handsome young man!

On Saturday I ran the American River Half Marathon in Sacramento. It didn't turn out quite as glorious as my 30 seconds of fame at the Fairfield 5k but I finished! I trained well for the race, slept well and it was a beautiful day except for being a tad warm for a 13 mile run. Jason dropped me off at the race and met me in the middle so he wasn't able to take many photos. I've done the best with some other photos so you can feel the experience:

This is how I felt waiting at the start line:

About 30 seconds into the race an alarm went off in my head when I could feel everything I ate and drank for breakfast bouncing around in my tummy like the Energizer Bunny:

What I was saying in my head:



Me at the 10 mile marker:

At the finish line:

What was thrilling was that Mary (Anna and Ben's sitter and friend of ours) was a total Rock Star and she sprinted through the finish line looking like this and this was her first half marathon!

Okay, so I really don't look that bad in this photo of Mary and I right after the race but if you notice my medal is backwards. I think the volunteers have a secret code for people who look like they are about to be sick so they marked me to warn others to stand back!

The other fantastic thing about this race was that the weather was warmer than all of my training runs and my feet swelled up so much that they were rubbing raw in my shoes that felt like shrinky dink. Anna nursed my feet with a lot of Scooby Doo band-aids!

All kidding aside, I love running and it has been great for me. I love having a goal to reach for and I've come along way. I remember when I ran a 5k after having Ben -- it felt like the longest run on earth! After I got beat up at my half marathon on Saturday I was crazy enough to register for my second 26.2 marathon in beautiful:

I will be running with Jason's dad Lee of course. I am hoping I can keep up with him and feel victorious on October 3rd. I'll just make sure not to drink 32 oz of Gatorade before the race!

Love from us all!