Bitter Sweet

Um...have any of you bloggers out there had to pay a MONTHLY FEE because you ran out of space for pictures?!  What's the solution??????!  Is this normal?

Advice please!  Comments!  Solutions!  Don't want to pay!

I haven't posted because I haven't been able to upload any more pictures!  I just gave up and started paying a monthly fee, but there has to be another way...

Anyway, two weeks ago, I ran the Richmond Marathon!  This was marathon #6 for me, and I'm not. done. yet.  The title to my post is a great indication as to why i'm not. done. yet.  This marathon was bitter sweet.

I give you my stats as a simple explanation:

Gun Time:  3:00:13

Gender Place:  10th

Overall Place:  121st

Pace:  6:53/mile

Not to dwell on the *bitter* 13 seconds of missing one of my life goals, the remainder of this post will be mostly dedicated to the sweet half of my experience.  

This recap will be long...but I want to write it all out.  Feel free to skip the details, but I might be offended if you do.

Think of this post as a short story.  Don is quite good at reading stories to people.  See below.

The day was clear! the weather was perfect! I felt prepared.  Unlike the Boston Marathon last year, I actually felt like I should before a race.  I felt nervous, I wasn't hungry, I had butterflies, and I was ready to go!  (I had a coach back in elementary school that used to tell me, "Carolyn, a little butterflies are good!"  I'm not sure if she was just trying to be nice?!  But nowadays, if my stomach isn't in knots, then I start getting concerned...)

All the troops, assembled and ready to cheer.  Goooo Carolyn!

At the start of the race, I felt really great.  I was coming through my mile splits at 6:45's.  I met a nice guy who was running about the same time as me.  He encouraged me throughout the entire race!

My friend in the blue.

I hit 6:45's on every mile, and I kept feeling better and better.  I told my new friend that if there was ever a day I was going to break 3 hours, this was my day.  I wanted to just go for it.  I didn't want any regrets.  

Here are the pictures where I feel great:

Unfortunately, as I neared mile 20, my body just started to shut down.  I came through 20 miles in 2:15.  That meant I had a cushy 45 minutes to finish 6.2 miles!  Don't judge me when I tell you this, but normally, I can run that in my sleep.  I'm so sad to report that the last 5 miles of the race were more than tough.  My body was simply unable to maintain my pace, and I dropped well into the 7 minute range.

And here...I start to get really tired...

I hung on for life, but I just couldn't do it!  As I came down the big hill to the finish line, I could see the 3:00:00 seconds ticking away.  

I sort of knew that I had lost it in the last 5 miles.  I wasn't sure how close it would be, but I could kind of tell that I wasn't going to make it.

Oh so bitter sweet!

Despite the 13 seconds, I couldn't not celebrate because I had just run the best marathon of my life!  I PR'd by over 7 minutes, and I felt great for most of the race.  I definitely gave it my all, and I'm proud to say that I went for it.

Ha, as Coach Shane would have said, I "just didn't have enough gas in the tank."  Oh well.

As for the weekend, I was lucky to spend time with lots of family and friends.  Don came down to watch, and that made me so happy.  He sort of missed my whole running career at BYU, so this meant a lot to me.  My DC family (Philip, Aubrey, Penny, and Nell) came down to watch as well, and we stayed with them the night after the race.  It's always so fun to spend time with them, they have the cutest little family!  Saturday night, we had plans to go to dinner with Debbie, Bethie, and their families, but I ended up being wildly ill the night of the race.  3 hour marathons = unhappy body.  So sorry D & B!  I missed you!

I am grateful to everybody else who supported me.  I stayed with one of my besties, Marissa the night before the race.  She is always a wonderful support.  She screamed funny things out the window when I ran by.  Multiple times.  :)  I also saw Rachel and David, who came with handmade chalk signs to show their full support!  I loved the chalk signs!

And finally, my runner buddies.  I ran the race with 2 fellow runners.  I was pleased to know that my old teammate from BYU, Laura Taylor, ran a great race!  She PR'd as well!  Also, my runner buddy from my Boston team, Stefani, ran a great race too.  She also PR'd by a long shot.  Stef and I had trained together the entire season, so it was really fun to run with her.  Great job Laura and Stef!!!   

Yay for a wonderful weekend!

Sunday pick-me-up

Ephesians 3:13-21

Who knew Ephesians was such a gem?

I love Sundays!

{apple picking & pumpkins}

This Saturday was apple picking day!  I had been wanting to go apple picking for weeks, and we finally had the Saturday off to go!  SO excited!

We went to Carlson Orchards, which is about an hour west of Boston.  It was an excellent choice.  They had a huge variety of apples, freshly baked apple cider donuts, freshly baked apple crumble, cider to taste, etc. etc.  

This is our first picture, just outside the entrance to all of the apple goods.

Ready to pick!

Obviously, we tasted as we went along.  We tasted Cortland, Macoun, Empire, Cameo, Braeburn, Mutsu/Crispin, Red Delicious, and Fuji apples.  Our favorite were the Mutsu/Crispin combo.  Those apples were a-mazing.

Mutsu/Crispins.

They are crisp.  For sure.

We couldn't leave without buying our very own Halloween pumpkin.  We both decided on this little guy.

{Oh, and I also couldn't leave without buying a bowl of freshly baked apple crisp.  Of course.  Let's be honest, that was probably the highlight of the afternoon...}

I love apple picking!

Cadbury Screme Eggs.

I just discovered that my beloved Cadbury Creme Eggs tried to pull a fast one on me!  The little stinkers.  They've been hanging out incognito at our local grocery store.

THANK YOU CADBURY!!!!!

You just made my day.  And my week.  And pretty much my entire year.  

Cape Cod.

Last weekend, we took a mini trip to the peaceful land of Cape Cod.  We left Friday night and came back Saturday night, so it truly was a short trip.  We stayed in Centerville, an adorable little town on the south side of the cape.

When we got to our hotel, I admit to being taken aback by its charm.  Just take a look at these quaint windows.  What a happy surprise to stay in such a cute hotel.

On Saturday morning, Don and I went on a run together.  We didn't know the area at all, so we just picked a road and started running.  Our route took us through the streets and out to the neighboring town of Hyannis.  It was a decently nice run, but nothing too scenic.  When we got back, I told Don I was just going to continue running for another couple of miles.  Well...wanting to explore...I took a different route than we had taken in the beginning.  About 3 minutes down the road, I ran right. into. the. beach.  As it turns out, our hotel was literally 1/2 mile from the shore.

Why we didn't choose that road in the beginning is beyond me.  We could have had an awesome beach run!  Oh well.  We changed and headed out there right after I got back.


Our beach.  It was practically deserted when we got there.  It was very peaceful.

Don offered to test the water.  There was NO way I was getting in.  He didn't get in either.

New England beaches = freezing.

We went on a beautiful walk along the beach.  The sand was so soft, and perfect for walking.

Toes in the sand.

After the beach, we went exploring Main Street in Hyannis.  We stopped at an amazing art gallery where we purchased our first real piece of art!  It was SO cheap!  We couldn't turn it down.  I don't have a picture of it though because we still haven't taken it out of our car.  Oops.

We did snap this humorous photo, however.  While we were browsing, Don called me over and said, "to be...discontinued?"  Haha.  :)

Our other stops included the leather store, the fudge shop, the thrift store, and the Army Navy Store.  We found this beauty up on the walls of the Army Navy Store:

Welcome. to. our. life.

Ice cream at 11:00 AM.  Always.

After exploring Hyannis, we drove along the coast and stopped at various beaches along the way.  The Cape Cod beaches really are beautiful.  The sand reminds me of Florida!

We ended the evening in a little town called Chatham.  It also has a Main Street, which of course, we explored.  We ate dinner at The Red Nun, which was lovely.  I ordered clam chowder and fish tacos.  So New England of me!

Walking down Chatham Main Street.

This is the Chatham Lighthouse.  It was so pretty!  The adjacent beach was also quite a sight.

I love how much we have been able to explore the east coast.  We are so lucky.

Labor Day Weekend.

Our Labor Day in a nutshell:

On Saturday morning, we decided to go on a little kayaking adventure!  Kayaking seems like an enjoyable Labor Day-y thing to do, right?

Trying to find the right size life vest.

Bundled up and ready to float.

On the water.

A little home video for the future kiddos...embarrassing.  But, I'll share.

View from the kayak!

After kayaking, we went home and grabbed a quick bite to eat at our favorite falafel place.  It's just around the corner from our apartment, and they make the best falafel wraps!  I had to go to work at 2, so we ate on the go.  We wanted time to make it to the bike shop so Don could introduce me to his favorite city cruiser.

I make funny faces when I eat. :(

The beautiful Linus bicycle.  I loved this bike!  Look at the space in the back for a perfect little commuter basket.  Oh, and it comes complete with silver bell.  *ding ding*

(Can't you picture me, happily cruising down the streets of Boston?!)   SO great.

Too bad it is loads of expensive.  A girl can dream!

Happy Labor Day!