Happy Happy Holidays

Here we are right in between Christmas and New Years (and Lindsey's 30th birthday) and I hope everyone had a special Christmas.  We spent ours in Las Cruces with my brother, Mike and his family.  We knew that Emma would have fun opening her presents and playing with her cousins so we packed up and were there for several days.  Some highlights for me included seeing Mike's brother-in-law Abraham who I haven't seen in several years, Mike's fire pit, Margie's cooking, the gift exchange, and a shirt I got from my brother that used to be my dad's.  

Emma had  so much fun the entire time, it was like non-stop playing with Monique and Levi and their cousin, Mia.  On Christmas eve we did the traditional (now it is anyway because I never did growing up) leaving reindeer food out on the front yard for Santa's reindeer and the reading of T'was the Night Before Christmas.  The funniest thing I heard from the kids was Mia saying how "freaky" it was that Santa was going to be "...like right there...while we're sleeping like right there!"  

On Christmas morning we sat around and opened gifts and there was no proof that any recession existed at all.  Emma did get quite a bit of goods but I think she mostly played with her skates and scooter.  I'm looking forward to tonight when we get some batteries in her walkie talkies and her and I can talk back and forth from her room to mine.    

All in all we had a great time so thanks Mike.  Family is what makes any holiday gathering special.  And as I say that I want to tell you that there is still one gift that is yet to be opened.  This gift will be opened when it's ready sometime around July 31 of 2009.  Lindsey and I are expecting an addition to our family and she is currently 10 weeks along.  Things are going great and I look forward to all the Christmas's to come. 

Tucson 1/2 Marathon

So over this pastweekend I competed in the Tucson 1/2 marathon and it went well and we had a really good time. We left for Las Cruces on Friday so we could go out to eat and spend the night with my brother Mike and his family. We have not visited LC very much since moving so it was nice to visit with Mike and eat at Andele's in Mesilla. Emma loves her cousin Monique so much and I don't think they were asleep any ealier than midnight.

Saturday we picked up Lindsey's mom, Sue, and were off to Tucson. Sue being able to go with us made the trip that much more special and fun. I love spending time with her and it is always something I look forward to.

The race was on Sunday morning and lindsey graciously woke up and drove me to the start line so I was able to avoid the bus shuttles. The start was a little crowded as we had to navigate through a one lane raod and ond over the chip timing strips. The race thinned out by the first mile and I was off and running along the foothills with beautiful desert and mountain views. I started off running what I thought was a pace I could keep for the entire race. My mile splits were: 6:53, 7:03, 6:49, 6:52, 6:54, 6:41, 7:13, 6:49, 7:14, 7:21, ?, ?, ? for a total of 1:33 or an average of 7:09 per mile. The reason I did not get my last 3 mile splits is because as I found out, my watch only remembers 10 laps. I did feel like I slowed the last 3 miles and it makes sense that I did because my longest training runs had been 10 miles. Sometimes I try fooling myself as to what is adequate for myself for training. In order to race 13 miles hard you really have to be able to run 13 miles hard in Practice and overdistance long runs to 15 miles+.

I'm already thinking about running another half marathon in January in Tempe, AZ, and thinking about how I could run it faster. I know what it will take and I know I am capable of running the distance faster but putting it to reality is a little more difficult for me? And that is the dilema that I have been facing. I am still young and am capable of racing some personal records but I have not been able to be disciplined enough to put in the work required. I have really become soft and although I want the results I guess I don't want them bad enough.

It's a struggle. Stay tuned.

Memories...

Let them fill my mind, 

warm my heart, 

and lead me through.

Thanksgiving 2007 was the last time that my dad and I saw each other face to face.  I was very happy to have my whole family at our new house in Socorro.  We shared that holiday with both of my sisters and their families, and also Steven's mom, grandma, and oldest brother Paul.  It was a very cold Thanksgiving, but filled with lots of fun.  We had plenty of activities and projects for the kids to do to keep them entertained and a special project that included the whole family.  We made water rockets and had a competition to see whose would launch the highest.  I remember my dad just keeping in the background, which is usual, watching what everyone was doing...just taking it all in.  I sure do miss him.  He really should be here now.  We are getting ready to go to my mom's in Alamogordo to be together as a family again on Thanksgiving.  It will be hard because one chair will be unoccupied.  Life goes so fast, you never know what it will bring.  Treasure the time you have, make the best of it, and be ever thankful.  Happy Thanksgiving.   

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

The bad news: tomorrow is Monday

The good news: it's only a 2-day week

I just got home from our cross country awards potluck and it went so good.  Almost all of the kids showed up and all brought family along.  There was plenty of food to eat and I think everybody enjoyed the few awards I gave out and especially the movie.  My senior girl's little sister was balling as she is not looking forward to her sister leaving to college.  It really was a good time and although I am losing one very big part of my team to graduation, I will have all but 1 back next year plus everyone else who is going to join as the word is out on how fun and rewarding being part of this team is.  

Besides the potluck, it was a beautiful weekend here in Socorro.  There was little cloud cover and no wind and the sun was shining both days.  Because we have such low humidity, anytime the sun shines it feel nice and warm.  I took advantage of the nice weather and on both days I was able to get in ten mile runs.  I had been doing one 10 mile run on the weekend for the last several, but this was the first that I did one on Saturday and again on Sunday.  I am getting ready for the Tucson half marathon in a couple of weeks so being able to do that and actually feel better and run faster on the second run was a confidence booster.  

This weekend we are traveling to Alamogordo and I hope to increase the distance and get in a couple more quality runs.  

So ends another weekend.  Time is flying and Thanksgiving is around the corner.  I am reluctantly coaching middle school basketball right now and our first game is this Thursday and we have 2 more next week before the break.  Busy busy busy.

I have definitely overextended myself this year and I know it is my last year to coach basketball.  I simply do not enjoy it as much as I did cross country and although track is not my favorite I know it is an opportunity to get kids interested in cross country.  I have created a monster here.

All well and good but nothing beats just coming home, going for a run with Linds before picking Emma up.  

Speaking of running I had a great one today.  Fall is becoming my favorite time of year to run in Socorro and I ran a 10 mile loop today that parallels the bosque and the Rio Grande and it was nice to see the gold leaves and smell that familiar smell of winter.  

Sorry for the absence and I hope I made up for it with 4 posts this weekend.  I hope you all have a great and productive week as you get ready for Thanksgiving and the short work week that comes with it :)

Steven

Lindsey's New Bike 

This is Lindsey's new ride for the upcoming triathlon season. Although she has done several triathlons she has never had her own bike. She used to borrow my training bike but I can understand it's not the most comfortable for some (most) people. So we researched and looked at a million different pictures and here is what we came up with. The frame is a pearl white and these pictures do not do the paint justice. Our goal was to go black with almost every part and then throw just enough pink to make it a "girl" bike. We found pink cables and pink pedals and Lindsey added some decals to make it even more special. I think it is a really cool bike and I know it will stand out in any transition area and she will get plenty of compliements at races. Hopefully it will still look good after all the sweat and training she'll add to it as she gets ready for some local triathlons. Proud of you Linds :)