Week 17, Day 1 - I got lost on my run! (& today's plans/new bathing suit!)

Yowza, THAT was interesting! Nothing like getting LOST when you're near the end of the run and don't want to stop, yet aren't sure exactly which street to turn on!

Bret told me last night that he had to leave by 6, so I decided to just not run, and maybe to do my workout today instead of tomorrow; so kind of just swapping days. But at 5:30 I woke up and he was still sleeping! So I asked him if he still had to leave at 6, and he said no, he was going to leave by 7. Yay! Perfect!

So I got up and ready as quickly as I could and headed out for the longest run ever, 5.2 miles. I left him a note saying I'd be back no later than 7:05 hopefully...it was 6:00 when I left. No problem - my last 5 mile run took me 1 hour & 4 minutes so it should be perfect.

Except for my route today had a few more streets weaving in & out - and one dead end in particular, wasn't on my mapping program! So as it got closer and closer to 7:00 and I was no even close to home, yikes, I really put on the speed as much as I could without overdoing it, and switched up my route, taking the most shortcuts I could think of. I ran ALL the way home, not even stopping to walk, and burst into the house at 7:08, not bad! And guess what? HA HA on me, Bret hadn't even started his shower yet, LOL!

So I went back outside and cooled down, stretched, and got on to re-map my run, relying on my memory as to where I had been. Turns out - I ran 5.6 miles today!! And my time was 12:28 per mile which is a record for me since running while pregnant (when I ran my first 5k race while not pregnant, my time was just under 10 minutes per mile). So over all, today was a success...and no wonder my legs were starting to feel like logs - I was kicking it!! Feels good...now I don't want to run a measly 5.2 miles tomorrow, the original run I had mapped out for today, LOL - I'm going to shoot for 5.6 again, why not? Just maybe not as fast, lol.

Today on the agenda we have POSSIBLY garage sale-ing with the kids, I'm not sure...it's really hard for me to resist when it's a beautiful day and I'm feeling adventurous. It is so fun to do, and takes very little money since there are many of them in our neighborhood (less gas) and I usually let them pick out one thing each for 50 cents or less at each one. They love it! And I do too. =)

But the downside is, our car is really crowded now with these bodies-getting-bigger. We have a Ford Expedition and the ones in the back have to climb OVER the seat to get out - so the ones in the middle, if they don't move fast enough, will get clobbered and then of course there's crying and hitting and people getting mad. Then there's the two little ones who have to be buckled and unbuckled each time, even if we are just going down the road to the next one - I am always very careful about that. Some of the older kids will usually help me with that, but it's just one more thing that takes time.

Then, the embarrassment factor, lol! Here we pull up and alllllll these kids start piling out, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7...plus Mom. Geez. Sometimes I can just imagine the garage sale owners wincing and hoping they don't start destroying stuff!

There's also the question: Harmony in the stroller or not? If yes, I have to drag it out and open it up, buckle her, etc every time = big pain, lots of time. If not, she's kind of like a little free bird, flitting here and there...she's almost 2 and pretty smart, so she usually loves to go right to the toys and claim a baby doll or a book, but other times....she'll go in the street looking for me or one of the other kids, or head to the breakables. So I guess what I'm saying is, it's not quite as fun for ME if all the kids go. It's near impossible to really look for good finds when I'm trying to keep my eye on all of them. But it does make for good memories for them and we do find lots of treasures!

The other idea I had - there's a little farm right at the end of our street about 1 mile away that has u-pick and their prices are fabulous! $1 for a pint of (almost) organic strawberries, open today for the first time this season at 11am. The kids have been begging to go...I mean, how fun is that? They get to eat all the berries they want for free and then we can take some home too.

Then at 12:00 we'll head over to the Boys & Girls Club for a free lunch for the kids - it's nice, usually includes chocolate/white milk, meat & cheese sandwich, an apple, baby carrots, and some fish crackers, and sometimes a cookie. That lasts for half an hour - we're meeting a friend & her boys there. They also have a nice playground so we'll play there for a bit.

At 12:45, off to pick up Rachel at Grandma's and bring her to Macleay to shuck some corn for the youth conference with some girls her age. Then back home for naps and ahhhhh some much-anticipated and looked forward to, couple of hours in the sun while the littles sleep and one or two of the olders join me with their cozy blankets and paper/pens/books/whatever. Right now as I type this I am cooling down from my run and ate some icy cold watermelon from the fridge so I am f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g!! Warm sun sounds FAB right now.

So guess what? Because I ate 100% raw yesterday (yes, I am VERY proud of myself!!! I almost caved TWICE on those tortilla chips & mango salsa! Better not buy that stuff again) I felt really great most of the day. In fact, so great that I was able to go to the mall AFTER DINNER (shock - usually by dinner time if I have eaten ANY cooked food I feel like crap and am good for nothing the rest of the night) and shop for a new bathing suit!

I don't know if I am feeling better about myself OR if my body is changing a teensy weensy bit from almost 4 weeks solid of working out (maybe a little of both?) but I found THREE bathing suits that I liked on me! One was just kind of eh....so I put it back, it looked nice and was a pretty pool blue color with swirls of silver, but had those thick stripes all the way to the ties at the neck and I really don't like that look of a tan line so promenant.

Second one was SO cute, I loved it, but...the top fit me either PERFECTLY, as in my bust has absolutely NO more room to grow. =( Wah! The next size up looked like...a moose. Just way too chunky and big. I knew if I got that one I would love it for, about a month. Then come late July & August I'd have to go buy another one and by then all the cute ones would be gone. It was kelly green & white polka dot, love those colors.

The one I chose, though, really is special. I love it - it's kind of, Victorian! Different from most of the ones there. The strap does not tie behind the neck, it is just a tiny little strap that hooks on either side in the front and goes all the way around the neck without tying and you can take it off for strapless sunbathing. Which I ALWAYS do at home while I'm just laying on the trampoline cuz the less tan lines the better, in my opinion. So that's nice.

I also like that it has a little ruffle for a more feminine look, and I love the tie that goes down instead of up on the top. Cute! Except that I had to get a size 12 bottoms, holy moly oly! That's just kind of sticker shock for a girl who wore size 2 just 5 months ago...but honestly I think it's a little screwy cuz I definitely don't fit into size 12 anything else. =) The top that fits me is size 8.

You can see a picture of it here but of course this is a beautiful model and while my body IS beautiful too (so there!) it doesn't look *quite* the same as hers. My attributes are not quite as, well, perky as hers are. =) But then, what ev, she's probably like 19 and has never had babies. I am proud to say I have had many and love my body for it, thank you very much! Here's another picture of it WITH the strap. Cute, eh?

Have a great day, all!