Thirteen Point One

My Friday night consisted of playing a soccer game in Gig Harbor- Justice League (that's us) vs Rampage.  We played a great game- losing of course- but had a lot of fun.  At the end of the game the referee offered us the opportunity to play a second game.  Of course we wanted to play again!  Never mind that it was already 9pm, give us the chance to play and we are in!  Enough people from each team had to leave so that there were not any subs left for the second game.  So we all played 48 straight minutes, during which time I got hit in the upper arm and my left thigh with a ball hard enough to leave bruises.  Oh, and I also took one straight to the stomach so hard I think the people on the other side of the glass could hear the SMACK!  It almost knocked the wind out of me, but I am tough and took it like a champ- the game must go on!  Whether you can breathe or not LOL!  I took several shots on goal, especially when Tiana was playing goalie.  She looked rather fierce (and cute) in the goal box but my aim was off.  Darn! 

When we got home from our soccer games it was close to 10:15pm and I had made crazy plans with Cynthia in the morning.  We decided to go ahead and run the Tacoma Narrows Half Marathon taking place at 7:30am Saturday morning!  I was scheduled to run 11 miles anyways, and she was scheduled to do 12 (she is running the Portland marathon in October) so we figured why not???  It was along the route we frequently run anyways!  For more information about this race check out the website here-
http://www.tacomanarrowshalf.com/
I will definitely run this again next year.  The course was really nice and it was fun to run past everything that was so familiar.  It starts off at the Gig Harbor airport, goes over the Narrows bridge, through Cheney Stadium then heads downtown Tacoma, ending right near the Tacoma Art Museum. 

The weather was actually perfect for running a half marathon.  It was a little bit cold in the beginning but the constant mist felt good once we started running and I was really comfortable the entire run in shorts and a tshirt.  Aside from the lovely stream of sweat/rain water dripping into my eyes and the fact that my feet were soaked anyways!  Cynthia and I decided to stay around a 10 minute mile since this was just for training purposes and we ran together the whole way which was really fun.  The miles just seemed to fly by and before we knew it we were at mile 10! 

I was a little nervous about what would happen to me at mile 10- I have only ran ten miles twice since the half marathon in June, and nothing farther.  Cynthia on the other hand has been training for a full marathon and has been doing 15, 16 and I think even 17 mile runs every weekend.  I was just hoping to not slow her down!  But when we hit that 10 mile mark I felt great- I made the comment that we only had a 5K left to run, and that seemed like a cake walk!  We just kept on going, past mile 11, past mile 12...then we hit mile 13 and Cynthia says to me- lets pass that guy right there!  So we broke into a sprint and off we went around him and raced each other over the finish line!  Who knew running 13.1 miles could be so fun? 

Oh, and remember the "hill from Hell" that I can never manage to run all the way up?  We absolutely ran the entire way up that hill during the race!!!  Woohoo!

Total distance:  13.1 (my ipod said 13.94- it is off about .06/mile)  Total time:  2:10:15

Now, I am not going to lie and pretend that I felt wonderful and perfect for the rest of the day on Saturday.  My body was actually quite pissed off at me!  I had played 1.5 hours of soccer and then 9 hours later ran a half marathon!  I'm CRAZY!  So I rested the best I could after the half marathon before finishing off my weekend at the Storm game in Seattle with Jaime.

Kerry had to work so I was able to go to the game in her spot (they have season tickets).  It was Lauren Jackson bobble head night so we had to get in line an hour before the doors opened and stand in the pouring down rain to ensure we were able to get one.  We got soaking wet and my hair turned into a big, curly mess for the second time that day!  But it was nice to have some quality one on one time with my best friend even if I was completely exhausted and probably not the best company!  The game was awesome, the Storm killed the Shock.  The only problem with that is they didn't play Sue Bird much in the second half.  I love watching her play, she rocks!

School starts in about 3 weeks.  Not that I'm counting.  Ok, maybe I am.  Just for fun, here is a list of phrases I use on a regular basis lately:

1.  Stop fighting
2.  Stop looking at your brother
3.  Stop touching your sister
4.  No yelling
5.  Go outside and play- and take your dog with you!
6.  Go to your room
7.  Put your shoes on
8.  Put your shoes on or you can just go barefoot
9.  Sit down and finish eating
10.  Because I said so

The kids get along great for the most part.   But they can push each other's buttons better than anyone else can.  I have zero tolerance for fighting/yelling/tattle tailing type activities, and unless there is blood involved I would prefer for them to work out their problems on their own.  So they can either figure it out and play nice or they can go to their rooms (see #6 above).  This week will be a nice break since my daughter is participating in an elite soccer camp every morning for 3 hours so they will get a break from each other.  And I will get a little break too, except that I have to wake up to get her there by 9am!!!

***Happy belated birthday to my friend Tiana (8/8)***Here are some of my favorite things about her***

1.  She remains to be a happy and positive person regardless of what life throws at her
2.  She has run every single race with me (except for the half marathon this last weekend)
3.  She is currently riding her bike over 3 large mountains- Snoqualmie, Blewett and Stevens passes over the course of 3 days. For fun and for charity. She is awesome like that.
4.  She gives a really mean "good game"- I always look forward to mine!
5.  She is a soccer super star on the Justice League
6.  She has the craziest dogs in the world and chases after them endlessly.  Well, the problem child anyways!
7.  Most of all she is an amazing person and I feel lucky to have her as one of my friends!