Food Tag!

Colleen over at Irondiva tagged me to do a mostly food related questionnaire! In case you didn't feel like you knew me enough already, here is some more random crap to help you out! Thanks Colleen, you guys should really check her out, she's a total stud!

1.If you could eat anything without any health repercussions or guilt, what would your meal be? Nothing extravagant here, I would eat PIZZA. I could probably eat pizza everyday. The bread, the cheesy goodness, and that garlic aftertaste, sexy!


2. If you could meet anyone living or dead who would it be and why? I had a really hard time deciding on this one. Like Colleen said, I would love to meet a lot of my blogger friends. Can you say huge carb load party sleepover! But otherwise I have been very fortunate to get to meet most of my relatives so I'll go with someone ridiculous. And the winner is Jessica Simpson. I have to know if she is that dumb in real life.
3. Why did you start blogging and what did you expect when you started? Coach and I decided to start this blog on our way home from Chelanman in July of this year. I had just started getting into running and was excited to try a triathlon and he wanted to push his dreams of one day doing an Ironman. Since my running had started to take over our family blog, and I was always talking about Tall Mom, we decided to start our own blog to document our journey and hold us accountable. Plus, as a track coach, Jesse had lot's he wanted to share and discuss with others and I wanted a way to connect with others like me.
4. What is the one book you could read over and over again? I wish I was a bigger reader, I use to be when I was younger, but now I just feel like I can't get enough solid time to read in. I probably could if I wanted to, but priorities (IE Biggest Loser and Community), whatcha gonna do? The one book I can read over and over again though, and laugh if you want, is Cabin in the Big Woods. When I read it as a girl I always wished to live in that time period and make homemade pig bladder balls. Plus it always seems so Christmasy!
5. If you could travel anywhere, where would it be? I haven't had the opportunity to travel many places so my list is pretty long, but if I had to pick one, it would probably be Hawaii! It seems this is the one place everyone else in my husband's family has been at least once and I would love to be able to discuss it with them. Plus to be able to see those breathtaking scenes in real life would be awesome!
6. If you could have a TV show on the Food Network, what would it be? Cooking for people who are too dumb to use a knife, cause that's me! Or a baking show, because I actually like to bake. That doesn't help with the waistline.
7. What was the best meal you ever had? Anything from Tomato Street in Spokane! Just the garlic bread alone is reason enough to go. Plus it is always with family, so it is a big deal and we draw on the table together like kids. I love it!
8. Who has been the greatest influence on your love for food and learning to cook? I have always been picky, and I grew up in a house where we ate the same foods over and over. It was good, but very routine. I still don't have a passion for cooking, and only truly do it once or twice a week, but I'm gonna say Rachel Ray showed me I could make food fast. Watching her show inspired me to step out of my comfort zone and start buying cook books and trying new things!

So now I am supposed to pick 5 people to do this as well. And my choices are...

Stacie from Impossible is Nothing

Diana from Diana Tries a Tri

Megan from The Daily Sweat

P from Adventures of an Average Athlete

Amanda from 5 Miles to Empty

Plus don't forget to enter our giveaway for 2 CamBands! Just Clickety Click HERE and get entered, then spread the word!

CamBands Giveaway!

Headbands are everywhere right now, let's just a certain celebrity would say "That's Hot!" I am in love with the trend and am so excited to be doing a giveaway for the awesome CamBands! It all started when a busy mother of two needed a way to tame her daughter Camryn's unruly hair. Nothing else would stay put, so she decided to solve her own problem and poof CamBands (Cam like Camryn her daughter) were born. Soon friends and family were begging for some and now her hobby has become a shop on etsy!

I was lucky enough to get to sample one of these bands and I chose one of the thick styles and went for something bold! A hot pink with polka dots. As soon as it arrived I noticed the quality looked great and then it was testing time. Since I didn't have a run that day, I decided to just wear it around because it was so darned cute.

It never moved once. I didn't even get those annoying headaches I've gotten from some of the other bands when I try to wear them all day. Plus, I got lots of compliments on how cute it looked. Then I put it to the running test.

Again, it took my outfit to the next level and I felt adorable. But more important than that (maybe) was it did it's job. There was no annoying hair hitting my face and it stayed perfectly in place. This is really important for me, because I have bangs I need an option to keep those suckers tamed on runs and even on lazy days when I don't have time to style! But maybe my favorite thing about CamBands, and what really separates them from the pack is the price. Just $6! That is incredible. For a girl on a budget like me, this is totally doable, where the more expensive ones just aren't! Think of the possibilities. Customized ones for special races, one for every outfit, hello stocking stuffers! At that price it is so easy to just stock up!

And, what's that, I have even more good news for you! Two CamBands to give away to 2 lucky followers! That's right. She was gracious enough to offer up 2 more of her great creations for two of you, and here is what you are playing for...

cute huh? One thick multi colored to match anything, and a thin black one to also match anything. (I was trying to play it safe!)

Now how to win. As usual please leave 1 comment per entry PLEASE. This contest will run through Friday Nov. 5th until 9pm PST! I will announce the winner on Sat!

Mandatory- (You Must Do)

~Be or Become a Follower!
~Visit CamBands on Etsy HERE and tell me what you love or what you'd like to see!

Optional-

~Add us to your blogroll
~Make a purchase from CamBands (worth 5 entries)
~Tweet, fb, or blog about the giveaway (1 comment for each)

Ok get to entering and spreading the word! Thanks Again CamBands for sponsoring this awesome giveaway!

{If you would like your product or company featured on our blog, please feel free to contact us at tressaabe11 [at] hotmail [dot] com}

Let the Rain Fall Down...

Oh wait, is that a Hilary Duff song? Now I'm embarrassed, it just sounded like such a catchy title! Wow, those record execs really know what they're doing. Well moving past my former Disney days, I had every intention of running last night with Erica, but as the weather looked like this...

we opted to switch the nights around and try to fit in a run tonight. I am all for running in the rain, but when there is a monsoon outside, and people are kayaking up the street, it just seems silly. The thought of running with an umbrella crossed my mind but that just seemed unprofessional (so now I'm a professional?) and without the cute boots I would look nothing like the Morton Salt girl. Therefore I found myself inside, spinning away to the ridiculousness that is the Apprentice.

{Ok, side note. Does anyone else watch the Apprentice? We are so ready for David to go home and cannot believe he has made it this far. Plus isn't Clint and his outright bluntness the best? I can't wait till he tells Mahsa to shut up next week! Ok, side note over.}

Since my knees are still achy I did some Big Daddy workouts (why did that sound dirty?) I tried to go faster on my low gears and then work on one leg at a time. The one leg at a time was really hard, so I know I need lots more work on that. The only problem is I have trouble reaching my other leg to rest on the back of the trainer, so I kind of spazz out with what to do with it. I think we really need to hook up our computer so we can at least get a MPH readout, I think that will help keep me more motivated, that or tying a donut to a string like I am a dog or something. I tried to keep going until my knees got to the point where I felt like I had to stretch them out. My next appt. with the doc for Lyme disease testing is Nov 9, so hopefully I can get the right test this time and then a month after that I should know whether or not all my joint problems are Lyme related! I sure hope they are, otherwise I am stumped :( 

In completely unrelated news we got the Versatile Blogger Award from Megan over at the Daily Sweat! The rules

1. You must thank the person who gave you the award and link back to their blog.

2. You must share 7 things about yourself.
3. Finally, you must pass this award along to other bloggers.

Since Coach is asleep on the couch, I will try to come up with 7 things about us a couple this time, since we have already posted about ourselves individually!

1. We first met when we were 14, got close to going out, but didn't officially get together until we were 19.

2. I am actually older than Coach, by 5 months.

3. Our courtship only lasted a total of 8 months. We started dating at the end of August and were married by that March.

4. He is better at math, but I am better at English. He actually got kind of upset when we got the same score on an online IQ test!

5. Since being married we have moved 7 times.

6. My humor is sarcastic and his is cheesy. Together, we are quite a pair. It is hard to tell if we are ever being serious!

7. We have been married 5 wonderful years, though it doesn't feel that long, or maybe it does. Sometimes it is still hard to believe I get to be married to be him!

So thanks to Megan for picking us! I love being Versatile! And now to the next victims. I am trying to pick two ladies who are new to the running/blog world in hopes we can all get to know them better...

1. Jess at Blonde Ponytail. She is new to blogging but she rocked the Portland Marathon and I loved getting to meet her.

2. Kim at (Just) Trying is For Little Girls. She has been lurking around the blogoshpere for a while but she finally decided to start her own, and this would be a great way to get to know her better!

Fun Day Monday!

Sorry we have been so MIA, I know you have missed us dearly! But I was in full party planning mode and on Sunday I was in full recovery mode! So instead of the usual motivation Monday, I thought I would do a Fun Day Monday so you can see what we were up to this weekend, and sorry there was no exercising unless you count eating junk food and then popping balloons as a good workout!

Saturday was the culmination of one of my favorite hobbies, party planning. All week was spent baking and putting the final touches on the house. I think I have gotten fairly good at that part. My hostessing skills, however, could still use some work. But despite that, the party was fun. Young and old seemed to have fun and I am almost done cleaning up! This event is best told in pics...

Jason (the student), Stacie (the hot teacher), and their girls

Sister Erica (b-ball player) and Brady (the Flash)

A Superhero Family! The Flash (Brady) Batman (Jesse), Captain America (Peyton), and Batgirl (Me)

Ok, you have to watch friends to get this one! (My brother in law Spencer)

Stacie, Me, and Heidi (Pirate Wench)

Cutest picture of Brady ever (what a goof!)

I think Batman is trying to dance or he has to go potty! And, yes, he did talk like Abed talking like Batman!

Melia (as I don't know) with baby frog Ellie

Supergirl and Tinkerbell (nieces)

Then on Sunday, Jesse left a very tired me and a very messy house to take in a Seahawks game with a few of his brothers and a cousin. Even though their seats weren't the best, the view was still great and they had a good time. And bonus, the Seahawks actually won! He even took some pictures to share with you!

Jesse and the field

Jesse and Nathan and the field

Just the field

Nathan, Casey, and Jacob!

Hope you all had a great weekend! Any one do anything fun? Erica and I are supposed to be going out for a run tonight, gotta see if my knee can handle racing this weekend!

I Heart Biking! Help My Heart!

I know you were all wondering "Hey, where's Track Coach?" It does appear that I have gone off the deep end, and you wouldn't be completely wrong to assume that. My training has gone right down the crapper. I did something to my knee the Monday before last and haven't been able to run since then. I've tried to make up some training time by biking, but I have been mostly unsuccessful. I'm hoping I'll be back up and running next week, but for now, biking is about all I have.

So, just in case biking is all I have for a while, I figured I should probably get the best out of my Trainer training. Tonight I was just going out for a long ride and was able to get a little over an hour on the trainer. I wanted to pay attention to my heart rate because I always read a lot about heart rates, and it makes me feel guilty that I have no idea what my heart is doing because I just kinda go as hard as I feel I can. I don't know what kind of heart rate I'm supposed to be targeting during my long rides, short rides, or whatever I do.

I started my ride and after about 15 minutes, after a nice good warm up and once I started to get nice and sweaty, I checked my heart rate and it was right at 180 BPM. I figured that was a good a heart rate as any, so that was my target for the rest of the ride. I was able to keep that up the rest of the ride and was able to end on a good couple minutes at about 200 BPM.

This is where you come in... I don't know if that is what I'm supposed to be doing or if I should be trying to go harder, backing off a bit, or what. I think I have a slightly higher base heart rate than normal, with my resting heart rate being right around 65-70. Am I off on my BPM targets? What do you do with your workouts? Am I on the wrong track completely, thinking that it matters what my heart rate is doing?

I also am in need of some ideas for breaking up the rides. I've got the one legged thing and Big Daddy Diesel gave me a good idea for a type of interval, but I still need more ideas. What do you do for your training? HELP!!!

3 Lucky Girls Are About to Get A Lot Fiercer! (The Winners are Announced!)

It was hard to only pick 3 winners, no really it was. Jesse and I were having some debates (no not arguments) on the best way to do the counting, but despite my way being slower, it is very accurate! So after copying, pasting, and numbering each comment, checking for multiple answers in a comment, I ended up with 122 entries into this giveaway! Bored yet? Ok onto the winners.

Winner # 1- Comment # 15

  Colleen said... I'm a follower!

Winner # 2- Comment # 110

Amber said... Rasta Socks!!

Winner # 3- Comment # 104

http://racingwithbabes.blogspot.com/ said...I am a follower!

Congrats Ladies! You are gonna love 'em! And if you didn't win, don't even blink an eye about going over there and getting yourself a few pairs. At 6.99 a pop, your legs (and all that view them) will totally thank you!

Now Winners, I need you to email me your addresses to

 tressaabe11 [@] hotmail [dot] com and I will also need your picks. Here are your options. Winner 1 will get first choice and so on. Basically you can pick blue or pink!

 
If the winners don't contact me within two days, I will select a new winner to graciously take their place! Don't feel too blue. We have lot's more goodies coming your way!

Thank you so much to Chrissy and your awesome Knee Socks! I can't wait to get more, they will work perfect for my Christmas Duathlon!

The Poor Man's Brick

AKA The Injured Man's Brick

AKA The Injured Woman's Attempt at a Brick!

Well I have been determined to go out and run despite my retarded knees. Even if it was just for one night, I needed to hit the pavement and let the fresh air attack my lungs. Craving running is a completely new feeling to me, but here it was. I had a rack full of running clothes just pleading to be dripping in my sweat and I was not obliging them. I felt guilty. Not only did I need to have that faint soreness back in my legs, but I had all these fun new running products to try out and they were dying a slow death just sitting there! So with no protests from Coach and tummy full of pork I suited up. No matter how this run played out, I was going to look cute!

Despite Coach's plea to stay close to home in case the pain got to bad, I needed to fly free. That meant heading for downtown. No matter what I would never be more than 2 miles from home. I hadn't ran in so long (like a month really) that I didn't feel like taking it slow, so I may have done the foolish thing by just letting my legs go. It felt great to stretch them. This was more of a run for the soul then for training, so I figured it would be ok if I ran and walked, I just needed to be out there. I could tell I was out of shape, the side cramps came quickly but those I could push through. When the knee pain got to bad, I walked. My one big fail was trying to sprint down a hill to save my joints instead of running, I ended up killing my hip. I should have walked down it, by I was trying to make up time! Time from what I don't know, I am always somewhat competitive I guess. To save the joints I tried to stay on the asphalt, but by the end I was hobbling home. So a bit of a run fail, but I was glad to have gotten out there and tried.

Since I still felt like I had a lot left in my legs, I hopped on the trainer during our viewing of House, after a quick outfit adjustment of course.

Pretending to have the aero option!

Nothing to exciting here. Can't put the gear too high or it hurts me knee, can't pedal too hard or it hurts my knee and Jesse says I can't ride the bike if it hurts my knee at all. So I pedal at a steady pace and then rev it up for 30-60 sec every once in a while to really get the sweat going. Not the most productive brick ever, but it was something. I will have full details on some of the gear I am wearing later, it needs more testing first!

Don't forget today is the last day to enter our sock giveaway extravaganza HERE! The winner will be announced Tomorrow!

Motivation Monday- Peyton Update

About a month or so ago, I did a Motivation Monday post on Why I Run? If you are new and want to find out, you can read it HERE. The jist- it has a lot to do with my oldest son Peyton (3) who was recently diagnosed with Autism. Recently we have been struggling some and having some really hard days, one in particular. I don't feel like rehashing it all, but lucky for you I did rant post about it on my other blog, so if you really want to, you can read about it HERE. Look at all this external reading you could do, just pretend it is SSR at school.

Anyways, I just wanted to share how things are going for us now. We are learning more and more through his therapies. He definitely seeks out sensory input which causes him to be loud, violent (not just toward others but himself), and super adventurous. To compensate we are supposed to do lots of rough play. This means he definitely does not like being pent up in the house all day. In order to help with both this and his social skills (which are severely lacking) we are putting him into our school district's special ed preschool. We feel like this will be good for him in so many ways. Just getting to a playground everyday will be great, but he will get to work on interacting with other kids and following rules, plus work on his fine motor skills. In addition to this I also want to get him into gymnastics once a week and possibly get a membership to our local children's museum. Of course, this is all quickly adding up, luckily the preschool is free and they are helping us get help with the therapy costs, but Peyton is getting expensive. I really feel for those who have conditions so much worse than this and have to pay thousands a month instead of just hundreds. So now we are on the lookout for new jobs, but don't want to go to far if possible (perfect to be picky in this economy!)

But that is the technical crap, now onto the wonderful side of things. Peyton is communicating better than ever! Sure most of it is still echolalia, but some of it is rehearsed Peyton! With the scrub brush we have been using, we can even get him to calm down enough to cuddle with us occasionally! And he loves our outings. Just this weekend we went to a Pumpkin patch/ corn maze that had a ton of activities for kids, and we spent almost the whole time doing the kids hay maze. He loved the freedom to just run around, and he actually figured out how to get out of there by himself! I will leave you with a few pictures from our weekend!

Grandma needed a photo

Family Photo

The Hay Mazers! All my sisters, and all the grandbabies minus the newest.

Our other son, Brady, and Me (he's just happy to be there!)

Oh, and in true running related news, I have to get out there and run tonight! I have tons of new stuff from giveaways and upcoming reviews to try out and I need to hit the open road to do it! Plus, I am just going crazy not running. Never, ever thought I would be saying that! So, dang the knees and Hello streets of Chehalis! How bad can one run be on them anyways?

Don't forget to enter our giveaway for Chrissy's Knee High Socks Here! 3 people will be sporting 3 new pairs!

"Oprah calls it 'Multi-tasking'."

Bonus if you can name what movie that came from! Well luckily, Jesse and I have been able to do some very productive multi-tasking lately with our new trainer...

No not this guy!



This one!



We welcomed the CycleOps Mag Indoor Bike Trainer into our family. With the crappy weather we experience here in the NW, it was a must if we wanted to stay in shape. At first we had our eye on his better, older brother (the Fluid) but he wanted too much to put out so we settled on the louder, possibly more annoying, but much cheaper, younger brother! Actually so far, he has been great to us. Remember when I mentioned that multi-tasking, well, it happens to be catching up on our DVR'd shows and riding at the same time! Hey, priorities people! But the important thing is we are both able to hear the TV and it is a great distraction for the rider. Of course, we have to turn the volume up, but same thing with our treadmill, so that isn't a big deal. Coach has ridden it more than me, so I will let him give you a bit more in depth review of the sucker (don't forget to mention the buckets of sweat sweetie, just so they know what they may want to purchase to go with it!)

Coach- So like Adorable Wife said, the new trainer has been a welcome addition to our little family. So far this week, I have been able to log about 2 1/2 hours on it, with another half hour on the schedule tomorrow. It was a bit different than I thought it was going to be. I'm not sure what I thought it was going to be like, perhaps a bit more noise and a lot less sweat. Side bar: I am a sweaty beast! That towel that is under the bike... soaked completely through it... and then some, those bike thongs would do nothing for me.

Anyway, now that you are all thoroughly grossed out by my beastliness, I will tell you a little more about the trainer. I got it last Saturday while Adorable Wife was off gallivanting with Stacie. I was at home with the boys, attempting to get them ready for their overnight stay with the grandparents, when suddenly there was a knock at the door. This was not your friendly "we're just friends stopping by to say hello," or even the "would you like to read our pamphlet?" type of knocks, this was the "beat down your door with three swings of my sledgehammer" knock that could only mean delivery. I rushed to the door to find the Fed Ex man hopping back in his truck. I ran out to his truck and kissed him full on the mouth gave the delivery man a thumbs up and grabbed our package. I proceeded to set up the trainer, which was astonishingly simple, and jumped on to make sure it worked. It did and I sent Adorable Wife a picture message to let her know that our new baby had arrived (if only the real ones were that easy). Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any spin time as I rushed to finish packing before I had to leave. It turned out I did a packing fail; leaving several important items of mine at home (eg. underwear).

It has been a good first week with the trainer and I can already tell that we are going to be the best of friends. Just being able to shift with the gears on the bike seems to be sufficient and we also got a riser block holder thing, which I would very much recommend to level out your bike and help stabilize it. The only negative would be that there is quite a bit more vibration on the trainer than the road. My hands started to get numb from the vibrations. This could probably be cured with some sweet riding gloves. Perhaps we should name the little guy. Is that weird? I still haven't given my bike a name yet... I don't feel like he's earned it yet. Maybe after a good winter he'll have earned a name.  

Don't forget to enter our giveaway from Chrissy's Knee High Socks so you can do all of your training and living in sassy style! Go HERE to enter!

Yay for 100 Followers- Chrissy's Knee Socks Giveaway Extravaganza!

103 Followers to be exact! Yea, Coach and I are still doing the Adam Sandler coming down the stairs in Billy Madison happy dance on that one!

Just imagine a little Tumble 4 Ya playing!

So we wanted to do a big giveaway to say schanks for the love, the comments, and making fun of us! What better way to show our gratitude for suiting up with us, then to help you suit up better?  None. Lucky for you the wonderful Chrissy over at Chrissy's Knee High Socks has totally hooked me up to shower you all with knee high love.

Her site is great and has everything you can think of, but even still she does custom orders and you can add your own logo! How cool would that be for a race where a group of friends is doing it and they wanted some extra flair with their team name on it! Plus, her socks are only $6.99 and if you get 6 or more they ship for free! Here is a little more straight from her site...

Why wear knee socks? Knee high socks can be worn on many occasions or just because! They come in a variety of colors and patterns to match whatever you are wearing.

Let’s face it, if you are going to wear socks, why not wear ones that are stylish, fashionable or sexy! There’s nothing like a little flair for your feet, which is why people love wearing colorful and trendy knee high socks including popular Maxim and FHM model April Florio.

So fellas, as you can see, this is really a giveaway for you too! I won't spell it out for you but you get what I am saying!

Now onto the running aspect. I was lucky enough to try out three pairs and besides it being too much fun to come up with outfits to wear, they worked great as running socks. Even with my small calves, they never slipped down and I had no problem with blisters or bunching. Here are a few of the times I wore them and how it went...

 This was my first experience at the Jog 4 JS race. I ran about 4 miles, never got hot and like I said no blisters or falling down, plus how cute! Then I wore the ones below with my sister for her run at night, still felt super cute and they actually did a great job of keeping my legs warm! I can't wait to wear these ones with cute boots and a skirt too!

Lastly I wore a pair while biking. Unfortunately, I did it inside on the trainer so I was really hot but they would be great for outdoor rides, can't wait!

Try to ignore everything in the picture but the socks!

 Gotta say I loved how cute I felt and all the compliments I got on them! So on to the good part for you, what are playing for and how do you win! Well, here is what is up for grabs...

Check out all those awesome socks! 3, yes 3 people will win 3 pairs of socks! Holy cow, I know, I told you it was an EXTRAVAGANZA! In essence each person will win a line of socks. As usual, please leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry and this giveaway will end 10-20-10 with the winner announced the next morning (I know I can never wait!)

Mandatory- (Must do both to qualify)

~Become a follower of ours or tell us you are!

~Visit Chrissy's Site Here and tell me your favorite pair!

Optional- (Can do for extra entries)

~Become a fan of Chrissy's Knee High Socks on FB HERE and tell her you found her on Track Coach and Adorable Wife

~Follow Chrissy on Twitter HERE

~Make a purchase from Chrissy, she has tons of great Halloween ideas! (Worth 5 entries)

~Add us to your blogroll
~Tweet, Fb, or link this giveaway on your blog, make sure to mention 3 winners!

~Do a blog post about this giveaway!

Ok get to entering and spreading the word!

Portland Rewind

This wasn't even my first time being a spectator at the Portland Marathon (we went down to watch Stacie two years ago) but being a super awesome runner now myself, along with Coach of course, and being apart of this incredible bloggy world, totally changed the experience- for the better of course!

My trip started early with a 6 am wake up on Saturday for Stacie and Jason to come pick me up. They were nice enough to let me tag along with them for the day till Jesse could meet up with me that night. Despite being tired, we chatted the whole way down and even enjoyed ourselves some caramel spiced ciders from Starbucks since we were both feeling under the weather (ok mini pity party done)...

After we got slightly lost and viewed more of downtown Portland then was in the original plan, our navigators decided to just go to the hotel and see if an early check-in was in the cards and wahoo it was! From there it was lots of stairs in the rain to Expo. I may have looked slightly foolish trying to go down the stairs, but who cares, I was going to my first Expo! Unfortunately, it was too rainy to get any funny pics along the way :(  We got there and Stacie got all checked in and we began shopping till we were dropping. Even though I had never been to an Expo before, I had seen them before so I knew this was on the smallish slightly disorganized side. I was able to find these cute ornaments for our tree from a local company with a couple of really nice ladies. They even took their picture with us!

And I broke down and bought some CEP socks. Even the guy selling them was shocked at my small calf size. I have small calves! I know! So at this point I don't know if they are doing a lot for me. I will have to wear them more to see. But they are hot pink, so can't go wrong there! By then Stacie was feeling strong enough to go sign up for the pump-n-run. A division for only the strongest and boldest of athletes.

She passed with, well um, slightly assisted colors! No she did awesome! But she worked up an appetite and it was time for food stop number 1! Wild Buffalo Wing (or something like that) for some not so healthy appetizers. It is funny how being around super fit athletes makes you crave the crap! But despite the less than stellar service we had fun watching the camera man at the Michigan/Michigan St. game zoom in on the same girl repeatedly!

Then we were back to the Expo to meet up with some bloggy buddies, holla! Despite the fact that they made us wait outside the doors like idiots for like an hour (or 15min) we didn't hide from them and soon we saw Julie and Ashley! It was fun getting to meet their real life beings and talk to them for a bit. Of course we finished with a bloggy pic!

Stacie, me, Julie, and Ashley

After some none Expo shopping it was time for un-healthy meal number 2 at the Macaroni Grill where Stacie had planned our Bloggy Meet Up Carb Load Extravaganza! I always love getting to see everyone and this time I got to meet some new people!

I apologize but I have no Idea what Track Coach is doing!

Jill and Amanda

Valerie, Harmony, Blond Pony, Mel, Jill, Amanda, Me (hello reflective headband) & Stacie (thanks to Track Coach and Jason for taking the pics!)

Harmony, Blond Pony, Mel, Jill, Amanda, Me & Stacie

When walking back to the cars we couldn't help but pose in front of a Portland banner!

Then when everyone else headed back to their comfy beds to sleep or plan their spectating routes, we headed towards Battle Ground so Jesse could get out some pent up aggression and play some indoor soccer with his brother and sister-in-law. I really truly am very sad I don't have any pictures of this! Lets just say, he showed a lot of hustle out there. He even kicked the ball a few times. I think it is probably how Mom's feel when watching their kids play. They want them to do good, not embarrass themselves, and have the other kids be nice to them! Once they were all a sweaty mess, we headed out for unhealthy meal number 3 at Billygans, one of those restaurants where you throw the peanut shells on the floor. This time I did mostly stick to cider and one or two potato skins! We finally got to bed around 1 and set the alarm for 6, fun!

Well I failed the 6 o'clock wake up call, but we were out the door by 7. We managed to catch Stacie around mile 5 but she was so zoned out that she didn't even notice us. Wow runner FAIL! Poor Jason was starving by then so we opted for a much healthier breakfast at Subway (ok double bacon, but with egg WHITES) and then went to see if we could spot the elites coming in for the finish. After we about gave up and left, they finally came, two guys booking it behind a police escort. Awesome! Then we left to try and find our car. This ended up being quite the adventure and took us far too long. Yea, I felt stupid, small town girl can't find car in the big city! We finally did, celebrated with a picture and headed towards mile 15 to see Stacie again.

I felt bad that I wasn't getting to see anybody else, but my main purpose was to route Stacie on! Even worse was my throat and voice was so bad, I was having a hard time cheering on random folks. When we met up with Jason at mile 15 we had a few minutes to wait for Stacie so we people watched for a bit. There was the guy with walking sticks, the people rushing in and out of the potties, and stellar beard. Everyone was willing to smile and wave when you shouted and honked at them, it was great. I can't even imagine how miserable they must be, but they were pushing through for a goal they wanted. Truly inspiring! Then came Stacie. The poor girl looked like she was in major pain and told us it wouldn't be pretty. We watched her pass and headed for the finish. I had lots of bloggy buddies who were supposed to be finishing around the 4 hour mark that I wanted to catch.

Stacie's support crew minus camera man Jason. Notice Jesse with the umbrella, men can't pack for themselves! No coat or sweatshirt!

Luckily I was able to see most of them. I missed Ashley, but turns out for good reason, she BQ'd! I did see Julie hobbling in, she looked amazing still. Then it was Harmony and Blonde Pony looking strong for their first Marathon! And soon it was Amanda! I knew I wanted to try and say goodbye to Amanda so I headed to the reunion area and met up with Mel and Jill, but despite our searching and waiting, no Amanda. I was sad, Love you Amanda and I'll miss you my new friend!

Getting ready to cheer!

I swear this is almost over! We cheered for the finishers, praised their finishing kick, and watched as more and more of them seemed to be injured. It was getting to the point where we were worried about Stacie, so Jesse and I headed out in search of here. We found her and asked if she wanted help in, but she said she wanted to finish strong for the pictures and she started running despite her obvious pain. So Jesse and I started running down the sideline beside her, telling her she was amazing (which she was) and that her family was just around the corner! Soon she rounded the corner and saw Jason and pushed for the finish line. What a girl! She is such an amazing friend and such an inspiration! We were able to meet up with her, tell her congrats, but then we had to head home to get our boys. It was a weekend almost as long as this post, but much more fun. I loved meeting all my new friends and hope to see you again soon! Great job everybody!

What a running superstar!

And as you now know it has inspired us to run a big race, just never Portland! So yes, I will be running my first half-marathon in June and Jesse will be running his first full! The Seattle R'n'R! You should join in!