Five Things Friday

I have so so so many things to blog about.  This is going to be my draft.  And a little taste of what should theoretically come.   Plus I need to get back on that Thankful Post Thing. You know.  When I find the time to sit down and blog. In-between all the 4 zillion errands I need to run (I have needed an oil change since SEPTEMBER) and chasing a 15 month old around the house and laundry and catching up on crap TV (which, by the way. Grey’s Anatomy last night? Yes? To everyone who bowed out seasons ago - you’re missing out.  And Quantico. Goodness I am hooked.  And my guilty pleasure - Scream Queens.  Yup. Don’t recommend it.  It is bad. Real bad.)  …. I have found it hard to spend time blogging.  My bad.

O.N.E
I ran a half marathon at the very beginning of October.  It was not pretty.  My training was (per the usual) less than stellar or structured or disciplined. Long story short I did not run more than 6 miles to prep for 13.1 … my bad.  But, I survived. And I have a medal to prove it. Post to come. Theoretically. And, we have a family 5k tomorrow.  It will be the 2nd time we run this one as a family.  Fingers crossed it is not too cold.  Post to come on that one too.

T.W.O
Actually this is going to be a busy weekend and you just may get one big blog post.  We are going to a Pumpkin Patch on Sunday afternoon.  I am sure McKenna is going to be unamused and wonder what we are doing there.  But.  She will suck it up and love the hayride and love pictures with pumpkins.  After all, she is a budding white girl and we all know white girls love all things fall and one of those things is pumpkin patches.

T.H.R.E.E
A few weeks back we went to Florida to visit with my parents and it was great to get away.  It was McKenna’s first plane ride and I had a tiny bit of anxiety.  Full disclosure: I started googling “one year olds on planes” and things like that back in March.  And I read a lot.  And all you really need to know is - keep that kid distracted and you will be A OK.  But, we had a great time.  McKenna warmed up to the pool (after 3 days) and she enjoyed eating out and hanging out with her grandparents.  She did not sleep well, so I did not  sleep well, but it was just great to get away!  Again. Theoretically. Post to come + pictures.

F.O.U.R
Kyle has been asking me what I want for Christmas and I cannot give him any answers. I have no idea what I want for Christmas.  So. I need ideas.  Give me ideas people. I mean, there are things that I want. For example. Red Glossy Hunter Rain Boots. But then I ask, when will I actually wear them?  A new Tory Burch York Bag.  But that is out of our budget range.  Le Sigh.

F.I.V.E
Speaking of “Le Sigh” - I joined the world of Fantasy Football this year and I cannot handle it.  As always I expect too much from players (that I know nothing about) and get mad at them each week.  I think Kyle thinks I am 25% funny and then 75% annoying as I complain about my players who “should think about a new career path because the NFL isn’t working for them anymore” …. or when I tell him I am dropping players or benching players.  I just don’t lose well & if a player is projected to get 10 points he should get 10 freaking points.  What needs to happen each week is this.  I need to set my roster.  Then delete the app off my phone.  And then check the outcome Tuesday morning. 

Welp.  I hope everyone has a really good weekend.  And I have A LOT of writing to do this weekend and upcoming week.  McKenna has some exciting things going on in her life too.  Well, exciting for her.  I am having a hard time dealing with the fact that my kid is basically going to high school.  OH.  And if any of you mom’s want to do a book swap thing - message me and I will give you all the details! 

<< Insert Title Here >>

I HAVE NO ENERGY TO THINK OF A WITTY FUN TITLE. NOR AM I CREATIVE. PLUS I AM EXHAUSTED AND ITCHING FOR THE WEEKEND.

McKenna’s 1st Family 5k:
We “ran” the Big Pumpkin 5k in Roswell.  I think this was my 3rd  time running this race and I have always liked it.  Good mix of hills and flat road. The kids who were part of a running “team” were ADORABLE and while I want M to stay little forever, it made me so excited for her Elementary School days.  Moving on: we rocked the race if I do say so myself. We finished in 40:59 … which isn’t my best 5k time … but it is really good for the fact that I really have not been running anything hilly with McKenna in the stroller or really running at all. Little Miss slept the whole time and Kyle (who finished in 28:52 & beat his last 5K time) cam back to meet us.  I still think that we would have finished faster had the finish line not been littered with speed bumps!!!

Health Update:
monday was my eye appointment. and honestly, I was terrified for bad news. my eyes have always been wonky, feeling heavy and randomly blurry. I was terrified I would get bad news since I honestly have no idea how long I had melanoma on back.  However, after to say “my doctor found melanoma” out loud to a medical professional {which makes it feel so much more real} and crying a bit I got a comprehensive eye exam and my eyes were given a clean bill of health.

tuesday was the appointment with the skin cancer specialist. terrified doesn’t even begin to cover how scared I was. full disclosure: over the weekend I had my 1st emotional breakdown since I was told that I had melanoma. I was scared for Kyle and McKenna and if they would be ok if anything happened to me and I didn’t want to miss anything – I had an ugly cry to kyle. And I cried at the doctor Tuesday. Truthfully, I was scared that my laziness in going to the dermatologist was legit going to kill me. WELL. We got some good news. Yes, I have (had?) melanoma, but it looks like it was caught early. So it was stage 1A and .33 millimeters deep. Which means the probability of it spreading to my organs etc is like 5%.  And they cut that bad boy out and I will have like a 6” scar on my back and now we wait to see to make sure the margins are clear and it hadn’t spread to any other parts of the skin.  I have one more mole that is going to be removed in December, and I will find out hopefully sooner than later that they 100% cleared all the melanoma out this week.

I do still have my physical on Monday to ensure that nothing has spread and to just get an overall assessment of my health.  Fingers crossed that all goes well.

I would be lying if I wasn’t bummed about my working out instructions or better yet, my instructions to not work out for what seems like an eternity. AN ETERNITY I TELL YOU. Because of where my excision took place this week I cannot work out (other than walking and running and bis and tris) for 2 months. That means no Blast900 and no Flywheel and no Pure Barre till December.  Well… let me add salt to the wound. I have the 2nd mole being removed in December and it is in the same general area on my back, which means I cannot work out for 2 months after that. Giving me a total of 4 months of non of my amazing studio workouts.  I.AM.NOT.HAPPY.

I was just starting to fall back in love with Pure Barre and got the 3 months unlimited Baby Bounce Back & luckily the owner in Dunwoody is amazing & she is allowing me to hold off on starting the 3 months till February. Flywheel opened their 3rd location practically in my backyard and I was booked for 2 rides this weekend – had to cancel – and I cannot start my #dawnpatrol 5:30 AM rides with them until 2015.  People. I was counting.down.the.days. till they opened and now I have to wait.  And… Blast well you know the drill.  And they are being superb also because my package expires before when I can use all the classes.  Well, they are going to credit me my classes once I am back in action.  I know in the grand scheme of things I shouldn’t be so worried and worked up over my studios being out of my life for 4 months, but I need those extra hard workouts sometimes and I still have like 20 pounds to lose post McKenna.

In Other News:

Stay tuned for Halloween costume pictures and how the Santa visit goes this weekend!!

Wear Sunscreen, Yo.

LIFE.
IT IS JUST THAT. LIFE.

So. Where to begin. Kyle’s sister and boyfriend came into town last weekend. It was fun. Low key and fun. I was glad that McKenna got to meet her Auntie Katie and “Uncle” Joel. And people. SHE WAS SO GOOD. This little baby of ours. Pure Joy.

McKenna is thriving in daycare. She is reaching for toys. and is like a few weeks away from sitting up on her own. and she is just so big now. I adore her and cannot wait to snuggle with her all weekend!

We have our 1st family 5k tomorrow and I am excited to bundle M up and get back to running and racing. I LOVE this 5k and I hope McKenna wins her age group. =D

And McKenna goes to see Santa on November 1. Which I am so excited about. 1st Santa at Phipps experience. We are so excited to start our traditions.  And. Santa at Phipps is one of those traditions.

AND.
IF I CAN BUG YOU?
CAN I REQUEST SOME PRAYERS?
PLEASE?

Last Friday I went to the dermatologist at the urging of Kyle and I am grateful he asked me to go. He thought some moles were odd. Nope. They were fine. But there were others that were odd. 3 biopsies later, I found out 1 was abnormal, but they think they removed it all {which I hope they did because hi, yeah, it still hurts 1 week later} and 2 came back not good. Melanoma not good. 1 worse than the other.

When you Google melanoma it pretty much tells you that is it dangerous and you will die. And you don’t even have to open a web site to see that – it is just there. BOOM. Thanks Goog for the high five of confidence. ‘Preciate It.  Then you tell people you have melanoma and they act like it ain’t no thing – that it can be removed and  you will be fine.  And then Kyle asks, “B, do you have Cancer” and I have NO IDEA how to answer that question because I don’t know. I guess? Maybe? Yes, but it isn’t a big deal? And then I feel like Cancer & “not a big deal” don’t belong in the same sentence. I don’t know what I have or anything about it. I didn’t think to ask questions. Honestly, I didn’t even know what she was saying until I googled the word “melanoma”. I don’t even know what questions to ask on Tuesday.

I just got a phone call telling me to go get an eye exam to make sure there is nothing wrong with my eyes {begin panic – is that why my vision has been blurry and wonky?!} since it can spread to the eyes. And to get a physical to make sure nothing has spread any where else. And  that the skin cancer surgeon will call me to get me in ASAP for surgery/removal.  And that I have to go to the dermatologist every 3 months for 1 year and then every 6 months for 5 years.  I mean – how can  you not worry when those are your marching orders?!  And then I now panic about any knife to skin since I had freaking MRSA after my C-Section. Y’all. I can’t.

So, Monday I have my eye appointment.  then Tuesday I have my mole removal surgery and then my physical is the following Monday. And I am being immature and petty and worrying about the wrong things, Like I should be worrying about the outcomes and if it spread, but my shallow, vain concerns surrounds me potentially not being able to work out post surgery. My documents say, “no working out for 2 months” because of where the mole is … and that just makes me RAWR.  I am loving my Pure Barre routine and my spin studio just opened in Alpharetta. I am finally getting OK with how I look post pregnancy and I can’t {correction, don’t want to} take 2 months off.

But. Deep Breath. Any prayers you want to lift up or good thoughts you want to give me or whatever you do, I won’t turn them away. And. I will keep you posted on how everything goes.

Until then. Have a rocking weekenddddddd! =D

Oh and Roll Tide, Beat Tennessee!

big pumpkin 5k :: race photos

ohhh pictures are up and ready!  ….one is good the other I look like death.  And yes, yes I am wearing gloves.  It was COLD!

Big Pumpkin 5k :: Race Review

I ran this race 2 years ago in the cold and rain.  Honestly, it was pretty miserable but it taught me a life running lesson: if rain is predicted pack a change of clothes.  But this year I got a tiny bit luckier.  Clear skies make for a great race but holy moly was it cold.  But still great weather once you got moving.

Morning: as usual, I had all my race gear laid out so all I had to do was quickly change, brush my teeth, throw my hair in a pony tail, take out the dogs and feed them and go. (okay, actually, that sounds like a lot.)  BUT  I had shorts and a tee planned so I got to dig for capris and then walked into my closet a few times wondering if I should grab a running jacket and decided no (which may have been a bad idea or may not have, I am still unsure)  ...I was somehow not running late as I got on the road.  Which was good, because I live WAY farther away now than I did a few years back.

Pre-Race: I remembered from 2 years back to get their early because parking can be a pain, which was not the case this year.  I grabbed a parking spot quickly and then headed to get my race number, which a few years back was a cluster but this year was flawless (despite the woman in front of me that wanted turn by turn directions of the course)  Once I got my race number I headed back to my car to stay warm and then 10 minutes before the race started I got out to settle in and people watch.  And oh there were some characters and way too many Auburn fans.

The Race:  Since I am slow and out of shape I of course lined up near the back semi in the middle, which obviously was not needed.  I remembered that the race had some "great" hills (as the website describes them) so I wanted to start off slow and not burn any and all energy that I had. The start was kinda a cluster since we had to run through his arch that was not big enough for crowds to run through  but once my iPod was on I settled into a slower pace that I felt comfortable with.  I started picking people off, one after the other. We approached our first hill and I thought um that is not bad at all and trucked up it with ease.  Still, picking people off.  As we approached the 1st mile water stop I was still going (say what?!) and took water from a guy my age in a LSU jacket and told him "thank you and Roll Tide" (I just had to!)  What was the best about this race was that it was smaller - still some people who have no idea about racing and race etiquette - but it was good.  The hills were not bad and most were followed by a down hill.  What I am kicking myself for is around mile 2.5 I realized that I wasn't going to PR (thinking my PR was like 31 minutes) so I let myself walk a little more to take my gloves off and have some easy breathing.  SO WRONG.  I totally going have PRed had I not taken that breather.  But oh well.  You win some you lose some. 

Most importantly - I finished strong.  I wasn't winded - I didn't overextend myself at any point during the race.
Overall it was a good race - really well organized - super easy course - the finisher shirt is great - still an ultimate favorite. 
But newbie runners please remember these tips:
1. If you're gonna walk, line up at the back not the front.  Weaving around you isn't a lot of fun.
2. If you're gonna run with your dog, make sure they're leash trained and maybe have run with you in the past.  Nothing is worse than having a dog all over the place).  My dogs  = horrible, they will never run a race with me.
3. If you're looking for your run buddy - don't stop in the middle of the course and look around - pull off to the side to continue your hunt.

Finishing time: 34:13
Pace: 11:02
I was 564 of 970

Can't wait to see race pictures.

just a reminder -- i am always interested in hearing about your races and what you loved and hated - so if you want a guest spotlight on my blog -- email me  (barbara.a.vines@gmail.com) a mini race report about any race you have done and i will share it with my readers.  hey and you may get more blog followers.

Rainy 5k - Big Pumpkin!

I have never ran in the rain until today. I have been a huge wimp, worried my Garmin is actually not waterproof and that my iPod will electrocute my brain. That has all changed today... my Garmin is dry and still functions and my brain did not get shocked at all! =) Score!

BTW - Happy Halloween!!=)

This morning I ran the 2nd annual Big Pumpkin Run 5k in Roswell, GA. The course was pretty nice (for a local 5k race) but the whole situation was super unorganized. As I was driving there this morning I was telling myself to not psych myself out - the hills cannot be that bad ... after all I just ran in San Fransisco! And I think my pep talk in the car was useful but the hills weren't as bad when on foot... they looked worse by car. (Elavation map above.) But frustration set in when there was barely enough parking. I ended up parking illegally, praying to the Gods above my car would still be there when I finished. Then I went to get my race number and they ended up having no safety pins ... they had run out. I was told to tuck my race number in my shorts. Yeah... paper against skin didn't seem like a good idea. I finally asked someone who had 4 safety pins if they could spare one, just one. Lesson learned: be self sufficient. Bring your on safety pins. *my team in training coaches would be so disappointed in me. they always say to bring your own!!*

The race was rainy and cold. When I let my dog out this morning it was hot and humid so I ditched my running jacket on the couch and headed out in shorts and a tee. As soon as I got my race number the skies opened up and the temps dropped. Needless to say, I was freezing cold. Another Lesson Learned: in the fall... dress in layers no matter what.... you can always take off, but you cannot put on if you don't have it. Well... the rain kinda halted, it was misting at the beginning, but by the time we got to mile 1 and then mile 2 and then the finish it was basically pouring. The rain and wind made you work all the much harder ... but each workout you have to challenge yourself right? All you could do was laugh at the situation... call yourself crazy... and enjoy the run. I got frustrated by 7 high schoolers who would sprint sprint sprint and then slam on the breaks and stop in their tracks. I ran into them countless times, they "ran" 7 wide, and I just could not get away from them thanks to their sprinting bursts. Other than that, the run was not that bad.

The ride home was cold in my wet clothes. I had puddles in my shoes. 3rd lesson learned: if rain is forecasted (which it was) bring a change of clothes and shoes. Getting sick is not worth a 3.2 mile run! =)

Finish time: 35 min & 54 seconds.
Lots of lessons learned. Great learning experience. Fingers crossed Disney is dry!! I cannot wait to see if they captured any pictures of me. Doubtful because my number was turned around most of the race, but I cannot wait to see myself as a sopping mess!

Happy Halloween to all and happy running!! =)