26.2

4 Days ago I put myself to the test. It was my second attempt at a feat I've always wanted to accomplish, but never knew if I'd actually commit to preparing for.

I ran the 2013 Eugene Marathon and somehow completed it with the WORST TRAINING and PREPARATION possible.

Last year, I gave it a go. I didn't do a single long run, I skipped out on a lot (and I mean A LOT) of training runs and I didn't take it seriously. When the day came, I made it to mile 20 before my right knee completely gave out and I had to quit. It was a terrible feeling, but nothing a little Red Robin couldn't fix.

This year I decided to try again and luckily one of our friends decided he was going to run it as well. He stuck to his training plan like a champion, which helped keep me on track much more than I would have on my own. Because of my crazy schedule I only completed one long run and I failed to keep up with the training schedule I had found online. I pretty much was setting myself up for failed attempt #2.

The day of the race, I got up at 5 am, got dressed and forgot my good-intentioned stop at the store to get a bagel before the race (probably due to nerves). Instead, I pulled up next to the shuttles at Valley River Center, downed a 5 Hour Energy and called it good.

Sitting on the shuttle, I began to feel my nerves ripple through my empty stomach. I was lucky enough to sit next to two old men who decided to get chatty with me about one of my favorite authors and I welcomed the distraction. After arriving and exiting the shuttle, I found my friend Joe, who was near the starting line. While we waited in a maze of lines to use the bathroom, I did everything I could to try and not think about what I was about to do. The bathroom situation used up most of our wait time, so when we finally got in our corral for the start, we only had a few minutes to get situated before the race began.



Our chips were embedded into our race bibs, so they didn't clock your time until you crossed the start line. I decided to walk up to the start line behind a sea of slow moving joggers, as though saving 30 seconds of jogging would allow me to conserve enough energy to run for 5 hours.

Once I crossed that start line, I set myself into my slow and steady pace; a pace that I didn't stray from or stop** for 4 hours and 56 minutes. (**Twice I saw friends cheering along the course and I ran over to them to give hugs/kisses WHILE jogging in place - gotta be honest here!)

I had prepared a playlist on my phone that held everything from Macklemore, to the entire Pitch Perfect soundtrack, to Mumford, to High School Musical. I even had the entire Catching Fire book on there in case I wanted a change during the race.

I was completely overcome with adrenaline for the first 10 miles. There were people everywhere along the route we ran. Playing music, waving funny and motivational signs, cheering for their friends and family. It was so entertaining that I almost missed the 7 mile mark where I wanted to send Shane my first picture update. It looked something like this:



After that, I focused my efforts on the next big milestone in the race: the halfway point. The half marathon runners split with us a few miles before that and I trotted on my way into the woods. It definitely put a sad spin on the race when I realized that almost everyone I was running next to was on their way to the finish line while I wasn't even halfway done. But, I grabbed a half banana from a race volunteer, splashed as much Gatorade into my mouth as I could while running and kept on my way.

Once I hit 13.1, I sent Shane another picture. I still felt really good - no aches or pains and mentally I was still completely in it. I found myself in Springfield, running past Value Village and then winding around past Autzen to Alton Baker Park. We were entering an area I was more familiar with in terms of running, so the change in scenery was a welcome one.

I decided to send Shane one final picture once I hit 20 miles. That was where I had stopped last year and I wanted to show I was still going strong. Just before mile 20, as I was passing Valley River Center, I noticed a few of our friends on the right side of the path. My excitement grew as I realized one of them was holding Colin and as my gaze drifted down the line, I saw Shane and Evan cheering me on with big smiles. This gave me a HUGE burst of energy that helped me forget the slow aches and pains that were starting to register. I ran up to give my boys hugs and kisses and then kept on, feeling my eyes start to sting with tears because I was so happy to see my family.

Realizing you still have a 10K to run once you've completed 20 miles is a little bit of a downer. Seeing my fam energized my mind and body for a few miles, but once I got to mile 22 I started to become more and more aware how much further I had to go. The phrase, "so close, yet so far away" kept repeating itself in my head and even my music wasn't helping to distract me. Every mile seemed to take forever and as I lost track of where I was, I figured the mile-markers could NOT be right. There was no way I was only 2 miles from Hayward Field and they were going to make me run forever.

Once I hit 25 miles, we took a turn and I finally realized how close I was. I knew during the final stretch my body would kick into overdrive to finish as it typically does, but getting to that point without stopping to walk was my concern. I'd run the entire race - a goal I had never set, but now it seemed like the only one that mattered. Turning another corner, I trotted onto the U of O campus and down Agate Street toward the finish. The crowds were thin (what do you mean no one wants to watch someone who ran 11 minute miles finish?!), but the ones who were there were flashing smiles and clapping wildly. I picked up my pace and ran through the gates to Hayward. The sight of the finish line gave me the boost I'd hoped would come and I started to run faster, crossing the finish line as I heard a woman announcer say, "Sarah Foster!!"

I will never forget that moment. My eyes immediately flooded with tears and I jerked/stumbled/sniffled as a young girl put a medal around my neck. "You don't even look like you ran a marathon!", a woman said as she put my space blanket around me, no doubt trying to console the emotional wreck in front of her. I have NO CLUE how I did it. Without the dedicated training runs, without the supplements...looking back on it now I feel so lucky to not have gotten hurt and to have recovered so fast.

All in all, I'm so glad I did it. The mental game for the last few miles was the hardest part, but if I can do it on one bottle of *5 Hour Energy and half of a banana, anything is possible.

*I'm expecting my endorsement deal any day now.

What Do You Use Facebook For?

Earlier this week, I was perusing Facebook, sucking the life from my poke-happy fingers, when I happened to notice how many Facebook "Friends" I had.

773

I always knew my number was fairly high, but I was too lazy to comb through and endure a mass delete-a-thon. I joined Facebook back in 2004 when it was strictly for poor college kids who realized its worth because it was free. Since then, I don't think I've done a single clean-up on my Friends list.

Shane has always maintained the stance that having so many people on Facebook as your "Friend" isn't necessarily a good thing. 773 people were exposed to my endless photo-stream of my children. 773 were exposed to every single BLR link I shared (and there have been a LOT of them). 773 were getting a much more vivid and thorough look into my life than I felt comfortable with.

So I did a little cleaning.

620 people's worth of cleaning.

That's right. I deleted 620 people from my Facebook, leaving me with a grand total of 153...and I feel great about it!

Scrolling through that large list made me think, what do I even use Facebook for and who do I want seeing what I do with it? I enjoy my carefree posting style about my family and spamming the newsfeed with as many Instagram'd pictures as I can. But do I want 773 people having access to that?

The answer was a resounding NO.

An unforeseen benefit of removing so many people is that I find I'm spending much less time on Facebook. Heck, it's only been a few days so I can't say whether or not that will be permanent, but let's pretend it is. Without the 773 status updates, photos, shares, links, and game notifications (just STOP asking me to play Candy Crush already), I get to read about things from people who are currently active in my life.

So if I "unfriended" you on Facebook, it's nothing personal! It just means that Facebook was the only thing connecting us, and in a world where technology brings us all together, I'd like to try to also keep part of the human connection intact.

What do you use Facebook for?

You Gotta Have Faith....Right?

I've been jotting my thoughts down in this post for a few months. Every time I thought of a question or a point I'd like to address I'd sign in, type it and sign back out. Then a good friend of mine recently took her daughter to get baptized into Catholicism and it reminded me about this post and all of the thoughts that have been jumbled inside my brain as long as I can remember.

I was also baptized Catholic when I was a wee one and I was raised Roman Catholic my entire pre-independent life. To say I was uninterested in Mass is an understatement. I did EVERYTHING I could to try to get out of it. I became an expert at slipping into a coma on Sunday mornings through my mother's nagging calls to "get out of bed or we're going to be late!"

I never felt a spiritual connection to the traditional atmosphere of the Catholic Church. As a child/pre-teen in the days prior to mobile technology, I felt forced to sit still and suffer through long homilies and bible verses. When we took time to reflect, I was going over dance team choreography in my head. Nothing felt relatable and every year, I was hearing the same things over and over again. Every so often, something (a word, a verse, a prayer) would change for (what I understood to be) no reason. It seemed like religion was all one big game of telephone. These words had been spoken, written, translated and edited so many times, who could even know for sure what the message was at the beginning of the game.

As an impressionable youth, I had so many doubts and questions. Religion seemed to be about putting all your faith into the belief that it all exists and that without proof (we'll say scientific proof), everything you've learned is the truth.

I don't completely discredit religion. I think that it's a necessity for many people who may not have anywhere else to turn. I know for a fact there have been times in my life when I needed it. It's a comforting thought to put your worries and cares in the hands of something or someone who loves you unconditionally, but that's also where I have a hard time transitioning back into the church. I don't feel like the majority of religious organizations that I've experienced live the message they preach. It feels a lot like a political message, which I interpret as, "Do as I say, not as I do."

That also leads into another issue I have - confession. As RIDICULOUS as this may sound, I was irritated by this while was watching the finale of Big Brother last week. One of the players happened to be Catholic and had played a ruthless and cutthroat game. His final plea to the jury members who were casting their votes for the winner included something about going to confession to cleanse himself of all the wrong he had done in the house. So that's it? You can just knowingly lie, cheat, steal, whatever you want as long as you plan on going to Confession for it? I know very well this is reality show, but I felt like this was the same scenario for many Catholics I've known in my life.

I will not invest time, energy and certainly not money into any establishment that does not endorse equal rights. I REFUSE to believe any church that draws a line between two people who love each other because of their sex, color or background is proclaiming the word of God - a God who forgives us for our sins, but only if they are clearly outlined as being forgive-able. To me, this kind of teaching only promotes hatred and discrimination.

Literal vs. Figurative - Another piece of the puzzle that I've never known how to understand. Which parts of the bible are supposed to be interpreted literally? Which parts figuratively? What makes it okay for some books to be discarded? Others to have been added? Growing up Catholic, I knew many people who thought the Eucharist was symbolic, whereas Catholics like my mom were telling me that scripture told us that it was transformed into JC's body and blood (say what?!). Christian friends were also quoting the bible, telling me to proclaim JC as my savior and that I'd be saved, but in Catholic land, I'd been doing burpees in Mass and confessing to reading my sister's diary for years to get to those golden gates.

I never want to offend anyone - believer or non-believer. I've just struggled with questions, with doubts, with bad examples, with decisions and with the Catholic guilt. But growing up has made me face a very real question:

Is fear of the unknown, going to hell and suffering for eternity the reason I felt the need to go to church?

That shouldn't be the reason you find yourself there and for me, that has been the case for many years. I don't know enough about the bible (setting aside my questions of validity) to get into a debate and that's not my intent with this post. I just wanted to express my thoughts and feelings on the struggle I've had with spirituality my whole life. At the age of 29, I feel like I've come into my own and I no longer feel the need to go to church just because other people say I do. I don't know that I believe, but I'll never tell anyone they're wrong because they do believe.

Toddlerpocolypse

Wait...what just happened?

What's the date?

How long has it been?

I have zero excuses for how long I've been away from the blog world....other than I'm a mom of two toddlers, a wife, a full-time job-holder, a dance team coach, a studio dance instructor and that I need sleep in between all of those things.

Life got in the way of my blogging and until I had something worthwhile to say, I didn't really mind it.

This last year has been full of challenges, milestones, new experiences and the beginning of what I'll call, "The End of Down Times".

After Evan was born, I thought, "Man, this kid is easy!" and he was. I assumed that because he had been spent his first few months smiling and coo'ing at us that it would always be that easy. Why did other parents complain? Two kids was a piece of cake. Two pieces of cake, in fact.

Evan grew older and it still was easier than I thought. Colin wasn't jealous and loved to help out (unless Thomas the Train was on...then how DARE you interrupt). Maybe I went into a coma, maybe I got a case of "mommy-brain" or maybe it literally all changed in the blink of an eye, but I can't remember the moment it had gone from being easy to the Toddlerpocolypse.

That phrase sounds creepy, but it's alarmingly accurate. Seemingly overnight, your children turn from adorable smiling babies into wobbling creatures who can barely speak and more often make sounds that mimic demons. They chase after you with their heads that are too big for their body, arms outstretched and remnants of jelly, juice or yogurt dribbling down their chins.

My children started acting like "people", but something was off. Then I realized, it was (here's that word again) the Toddlerpocolypse. A new era had arrived. Gone were the days of children innocently playing on the rug because they had no way to move anywhere else. These children were mobile. They were vocal (sort of). And they were hungry.

Hungry for food, attention, action....you name it. There is no end to the appetite of these small boys. I've done my best to adjust. I carry my weapons at all times: diapers, wipes, apple juice and granola bars. For now I seem to be safe, but I know that in time they'll grow bigger, stronger and yes, even more hungry.

So if you haven't seen me in a while, just know that I am thinking of you and hoping you're well. If you're feeling brave and come to see us, here's some advice: come prepared with an arsenal of hugs, kisses, jokes and 5 Hour Energy Shots. Trust me, you'll need it.

Foster Four

Hello friends.

It's been quite some time...

I haven't written in a while because as most of you know, I had a baby three months ago and to be honest, I wasn't sure if anyone actually read my blog since all I was doing was whining about every aspect of being pregnant.

I think I stopped writing because I have two children and also because I forgot I even had a blog. It wasn't until I began casually perusing some baking blogs this weekend that I realized how much I missed it. So here I am, not claiming to be better about posting, but making an effort on this random Monday because I just can't bring myself to actually work.

Now, to catch you up...

I don't remember what my last entry was about, but I bet it went something like this: "Blah, blah, blah, I must have done something awful to deserve this, blah, blah, blah, curse my husband for doing this to me, blah, blah, blah, my scale just broke."

I can make fun of myself now for complaining, but I definitely still have those same feelings. I didn't enjoy being pregnant this go-around and I do not hope to do it again. All that aside, what I got out of the pregnancy was so enormously rewarding that in the end, I can now say it was all worth it.

I'll skip the traumatic horror story of how Evan was born and just tell you that after having a difficult time dealing with being pregnant for 40 weeks, the arrival of my sweet baby cheeks was the painful cherry on top of my I-hate-pregnancy sundae.

Now, let's get on to the happy stuff!

My beautiful little Evan has been the easiest and sweetest baby I could have ever hoped for. If you happen to be lucky enough to squeeze his chubby bunny cheeks, you'll be rewarded with a heart-melting grin and adorable squeal or coo. His tiny fingers and frog belly fill me up with so much love that my already sensitive hormones kick start the waterworks even faster than usual.

Colin runs in to see us every morning with a huge smile and shouts, "It's baby Evan!!". I think he is under the impression that the name is literally, "Baby Evan".

Colin is getting so big that it's almost scary. His personality matches his red hair perfectly because that little dude is one fiery mister! Life with two kids is not easy, but it's also not as hard as I thought it would be. I definitely attribute that to my better half. It's moments when I walk into the living room and see this that prove I chose the right person to raise a family with...



The first few times I ventured out of what used to be our fairly normal looking home, I'd come back to realize it had turned into one big closet where some maniac (certainly not me!) was storing an obscene amount of baby-related items. To try and keep it organized seemed pointless. Every piece of furniture transformed into a changing table when I needed it to and every nook and cranny was stuffed with wipes, diapers and usually a Thomas the Train that had wandered off its path. I once found one in the fridge, trying it's hardest to chug past the carton of orange juice.

The neat freak in me is pulling her hair out and begging for me to lock the door so no one can ever see it, but the realist in me is brushing baby powder off her shoulders and saying "fo'getabowdit!"

My biggest challenge has definitely been to lose the baby weight. There have been so many excuses to make treats lately that every time I sit down to eat, more often than not, there's a cupcake sitting where my vegetables should be. I've done alright at getting rid of most of the weight, but if I want to wear any type of bathing suit this summer, I'm going to need to get a padlock for my pantry.

Now that you're pretty much caught up on what I've been up to, here are some recent pictures from the past few weeks.

We often go to a local farm called Lone Pine. They have a big playground for kids as well as goats you can feed! Colin wasn't too happy when I tried to get a picture of him feeding the goats (see pouty face in stroller) but all was forgiven after a few turns down the slide.





Shane and I took the kids to the zoo about a month ago and Colin was in awe over the huge tanks. You can barely see him here (little kid in the middle with his arms pressed up against the glass).



Shane likes to get donuts for breakfast (ok, we ALL like it) and Colin is a huge fan of maple bars.





I let Colin watch an episode of Special Agent Oso where he teaches a little kid how to blow his nose. Colin went to the tissue box, grabbed one and walked over to the TV. He then told Oso that he already knows how to do it.



Here are a few pictures of my little men enjoying one of the 5 minute intervals of Oregon sun.





Hope you enjoyed my quick catch-up on the Foster Four!

Crazy for Cupcakes

It should come to no surprise to friends and family that I love to bake. Breads, pies, cookies, cakes...I love all of it! The dessert I make most often has got to be cupcakes. I find any excuse to whip up a batch and sometimes I find myself baking multiple nights a week. Last night is a perfect example of my random baking habit. I teach a dance class at 6 pm every Thursday and for some reason, after I got home from work last night I decided that it was necessary for me to bake some cupcakes to take to my class for Valentine's Day. One hour later I was out the door with some confetti cupcakes complete with candy hearts on top. Could I be addicted? Possibly.

Shane always asks why I take the time to make elaborate cupcakes, but it's almost therapeutic. Don't get me wrong, I get frustrated sometimes when one turns out perfect and then I get to the next one and it comes out completely deformed (happens ALL the time), but I think Shane might complain more if I stopped making them all together. :) Plus, if anyone should understand why working on your craft is fun, even when you're upset, it should be him. I've seen him "have fun" playing Call of Duty and drop more F bombs than Debra Morgan. (Dexter reference...I couldn't help myself!)

So I decided to put together a post of some of the cupcakes I've created in the past for various events and/or random nights when I was just plain hungry. I wish I took pictures of all them, but this assortment is good enough!


A friend's baby shower...baby cupcakes!


I made these cupcakes for Colin's 1st Birthday Party - Pablo from The Backyardians


A friend's bridal shower - butterfly cupcakes


4th of July - firework cupcakes


Christmas Party - holly cupcakes


Our friend's wedding rehearsal - I made 3 different types of cupcakes for them








How Shane and I chose to tell his family we were pregnant again


One of the first set of novelty cupcakes I ever did...unfortunately I dropped 2 in my car...so we put those in the back. :)


Superbowl 2011 - football cupcakes


No reason at all - chocolate cupcakes with Irish whipped cream frosting...YUM!

Pregnancy Perks & Problems

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and there were a number of things that occurred simply because I am pregnant. This got me thinking about all of the things that are made more difficult or funny by pregnancy and all the things that come with it. So, I decided to create a small list of experiences I've had during my pregnancies that I've found frustrating, funny, ironic and just plain weird. Feel free to comment below to add yours as well!

1. Getting into my car yesterday, I slid into the driver seat as I normally do. My belly, however, had a mind of it's own and hit the steering wheel right on the horn. Hands-free honking? I didn't sign up for that.

2. Do you ever get tired of the urine samples at your doctor's appointments? How about when you get to the point where it becomes a guessing game called "Blindly Catch Enough Ounces for Your Urine Sample". I didn't realize that I needed to bring a handheld mirror so I can avoid peeing everywhere BUT the cup. Can someone please just invent a urine sample only toilet so we can all put the days of awkwardly holding a cup down there behind us?

3. It's a good thing I can barely see my feet, because not only am I unable to bend my body in a way that enables me to put on socks, but I can kiss goodbye the days of putting on nail polish, foot scrubs or any other luxury that makes my feet feel good. Pregnancy should come with an on-call pedicurist. Just saying.

4. I work in an office where it's expected for the employees to dress somewhere in between business professional and business casual. Up until a few months ago, this was no issue at all. My pants still buttoned, all my shirts were long enough to cover my belly and my feet weren't puffy and therefore still comfortably fit into all my shoes. Nowadays, I walk into the office wearing something out of my limited maternity rotation of clothes. I don't care if that means jeans on a Monday, if it makes me comfortable, that's what I'm wearing! I'm not going to go out and buy a new set of clothes that I'll be swimming in later on just so I can uphold the dress code.

5. Eating for Two. I'd like to know who created this false phrase that brainwashed me into thinking I could eat whatever I wanted and as much as I wanted while I was pregnant. I remember reading the first time around that you really only needed an extra 200 calories a day and I immediately thought back to the days I'd spent eating everything in sight "so the baby would be healthy"...aka because I had an excuse to get fat. I still eat more than is recommended, but this is really nothing different than non-pregnant life. We'll see how much I regret those extra cupcakes when I give birth to a 13 pound baby.

6. I'm not sure what it is about pregnancy, but it gives people cause to have the strangest reactions. The people I like least are the ones who think they have a right to touch your belly, even if they don't know you. I've only had this happen a few times, but one time was so uncomfortable that I don't think I'll ever forget it. Shane and I were in Fred Meyer late in my first pregnancy when a woman stopped us in one of the aisles. She asked the typical questions and then proceeded to move closer to me while asking if she could pray for the baby. I remember thinking, "Sure lady, knock yourself out", but what I didn't realize is that she meant right then and there. She put her hands on my stomach, closed her eyes and began going off in prayer as I stared at Shane with huge eyes and tried to think of a way to wrap it up. Don't me wrong, I'm all for prayer. I'm not for strangers touching me and creating a clog in a grocery aisle when all other people want to do is get past us to pick up their cereal.

7. A few nights ago, Shane and I were watching TV before bedtime. Our show ended and I gave a big grunt as I tried to stand up....then nothing. I was stuck. Actually, physically stuck in a squat position. Butt off the couch, far from standing up straight and I couldn't move! I wobbled a bit before I finally found the balance, strength and flexibility to straighten my body out. This wasn't the first time my belly has completely thrown off my balance. For the first time in my adult life, about a week ago, I actually rolled off our bed. I was asleep up until the point my butt hit the ground, but I remember looking up at Shane and saying, "I just fell off the bed!!" He, of course, was still half-asleep so I think he mumbled something about me being ok and then went back to sleep (how the thud didn't shake the house, I'll never know!).

8. I love the pregnancy waddle. There's something so hilarious about watching a woman walk like a bowl-legged toddler for a few months. I especially love when we're on one of our nightly walks and I can feel my ponytail violently swishing from side to side because it's gotten that out of control. It's one of my few pregnancy joys!

These are just a few of things that irritate, confuse and entertain me about pregnancy. Hopefully some of you can relate and I'm not the only one!

Here's to the last 6 weeks!