Capital City Marathon

Today was a great day for me. I completed one of my life goals that I had on "my list to do before I die" and that was to run a marathon. I ran the Capital City Marathon in Olympia, Wa. I have been training and preparing for this for a long time. My first goal was to just finish the marathon, to cross the finish line on two feet, BUT I also really wanted to not only finish, but qualify for the Boston Marathon. In order to qualify I had to run a 3.40.


Well, my official results, drum roll please....

3.26:29

7:53 pace

1st overall in my age division

5 overall for women

39th overall

(keep in mind this is a pretty small marathon and my placement is because of this. It's not a very popular marathon because it has crazy, difficult hills!)

So, I did finish the marathon, on two feet, and I did qualify for Boston!!
It felt so good to run this marathon and I just felt strong and great the entire time. My training paid off and I came as prepared as I could and I felt that I delivered.
ALTHOUGH, this could not have happened without the support of my Husband and the help on a great running parter/coach.
If you care to read on about all the details see the pictures below and descriptions.

This is at the finish line! I was in a full sprint to cross the finish line. I wanted to finish strong!

The night before the marathon. I laid everything out because I have to get up at 4:00 am the morning of the race. See my super cool shorts with all the pockets? That way I could take my GU's with me and it was so convenient. I love these shorts, raceready.com

My ADORABLE daughter with her sign she made me. She painted the sign all by herself a couple nights before the race and it was all a surprise for me, I had no idea they made posters

Al the kids waiting in their chairs for me to come to the finish line. I had no idea, but a couple of my neighbors and best friends showed up to support me as a surprise. They are amazing friends and I am so lucky to have such great people surround me and supporting me. They mean so much to me and words can't express how appreciate I am for their love and support. My friend Esther actually ran the last little bit with me to the finish line cheering me on the entire time. What a great friend, right?

My other ADORABLE daughter with her sign for me. She painted those super cute hearts for me all by herself and she was able to keep it all a secret for like 2 days.

Waiting for my Mommy

!

Oh, here I come..

Run, Liz, Run!

Sorry for the next few photos where I am a cry fest. I was so overcome with emotion and not really thinking very clearly, but all I knew was that Austin was there immediately after I crossed the finish line just hugging me and telling me how proud he was and he told me that I had qualified for Boston etc, etc... it was all so much to take in!

Look at Austin's face and how genuinely happy he is for me. He has been the most amazing husband throughout my training by supporting me, keeping me positive, arranging his crazy schedule to watch the girls so I could do my long runs, and especially being there for me through taper week, when I was an emotional roller-coaster. He never got frustrated with me or told me I was overreacting (which I totally was), he would just give me a hug and listen to me and tell me positive things. He is the most amazing person, father and husband and I love him so, so much! Thanks Bud!






This is Shannon, my training partner and running coach. He wrote my training schedule, ran every long run with me and listened to me ramble on for hours while we ran. He really made me push myself and get me to the level I needed to be at and gave me the confidence that I needed. He is an amazing athlete and I am so grateful for his help in my preparation for the race.

This is my award I got for placing 1st in my division.

What a happy marathon running family!


Thank you to everyone else who has supported me, loved me, and listened to me while I was training. I spent countless hours on the phone with my Sister, Mother, mother-in-law, & sister-in-law expressing to them my thoughts, fears and emotions. And thank you to Opie, Auntie K, and baby Blaze who drove from Cali to watch and support me as well.


I am so blessed with amazing family and friends who love me and I really love them. Thank you for helping me accomplish a dream!

See you all in Boston!!!

What we have been up to....

First.. we cashed in our Christmas present (gift card) from my parents, thank you!! and went to Great Wolf Lodge for one night. The girls had a blast and we were all sleep deprived because we were having too much fun at the water park, arcade, ice cream parlor etc...

Then,

last weekend we went to friends farm for a birthday party and got to play with their goats, bunnies, ride horses and target practice with guns.

You might ask what is next for my life????

A full marathon in Olympia this Sunday.. Aghhhh what have I gotten myself into???

Woodland Park Zoo

I have so many pictures on here because we love the zoo and had so much fun, I just could not pick a few pictures, so I am sharing a lot.

Tyler, Kai and I went to the Zoo on Friday in Seattle. I was not sure what the weather was going to be like, but it ended up being beautiful and the zoo was not packed with people, so it was just a great day! All the animals were out, nothing was hiding in a cave or behind bushes etc.. so it was very cool to see all the animals. WE spent all day there, just the three of us, and just had a really great time. I have explained the pictures below...

The gorillas were very cool and there were like 5 or 6 of them all up next to the glass eating and this little gorilla came down from the tress and cuddled up to his Mamma, the girls loved that.

They had these gorilla statues that the girls loved to climb and play on.. look at Kai, she is a little monkey herself!

This snake was just having lunch as we got to him. He caught this live fish out of the water in his tank. It was fascinating that he could eat it as it's bigger than his own head....
But, slowly he started to swallow it....
Until that poor little fish was no more.... it was fun for the girls to witness this.

We got sticks with food on them to feed these birds and they loved that the birds were right on their stick and so close.

Oh the Lions...

These are my favorite at the zoo. The giraffes are so beautiful and we just stayed and watched them for quit a while.
And this is the type of picture you get when you ask someone else to take your picture.... ugh so frustrating that people can't work a camera!

The hippo opened his big, huge mouth for us. Tyler and Kai loved that.

There was an African Village that you could see how the people live and go in a typical house, school etc.. they loved this little hut and asked if Daddy could make them one at home.

These were Kai's favorite, the flamingos.

This was our last stop at teh zoo and Kai was feeling pretty tired by now...

So tired, that she would not even look at the camera.. oh well.

We loved the zoo and just had a great time!

Happy Easter!

We didn't have any big easter egg hunt this year because the weather was not great and both girls have a terrible cough, so I did not want them in the rain. Although, we did have an Easter Brunch with our friends where we had waffles with berries and whipped cream, delicious bacon, home-made cinnamon rolls, orange juice... the works! It was fun to have everyone over and celebrate this special holiday. Unfortunately, I was the cook and didn't do a good job of taking pictures, so they are limited. We had a very enjoyable afternoon, the food was delicious and the company was great.

These pic's of the garden's are Tyler's special preschool project. She planted wild flowers and grass, then all those small plants are bean sprouts and more wild flowers. I thought they decorated the house for Easter so nicely and she did such a great job, we are so proud of her!

After brunch, I went on a nice, long run while my friend rode the bike and did 14 miles... my longest run yet, and it went really good. I am very sore today and my body hurts, but it's a great feeling of accomplishment that I am sticking to my training schedule and getting these long runs in.

I hope everyone had just as great of an Easter as we did and we have to much to be grateful for.