The Route 66 Marathon

 Nicole and I have each birthed four children.  We honestly had nothing to prove.  Every couple of years we have a baby and this year instead of having a baby, we trained for and ran a marathon.  I was really grateful that I'd already experienced labor and delivery, because pushing through the end of that marathon came pretty close to the same mental toughness it takes to finish.  From about mile 18-25.5 I almost closed my eyes (I could still see the road), calmed my face, tried to relax my shoulders (everything was tight and hurting at that point) and pushed through.  When we came up that last hill (there were a lot of hills) and saw our families cheering for us at the finish line, it took everything in me to hold back the ugly cry.  My official finish time was 5:14:21.  In two more years, when the next "baby" is due, it'll be even faster.

My best cheerleader/supporter through it all took me to Wolf Gang Puck for the celebratory dinner.  It was fabulous.

To make all of this possible, my parents kept the kids for the weekend and gave David and I a huge birthday gift ...drum roll please ... 2 nights at the Mayo in the heart of downtown and only a couple of blocks from the starting line.  Then my sweet sister and brother-in-law drove us from the finish line to QT for ice and back to the hotel where I packed my legs in ice, showered in this huge shower with three different shower heads, then collapsed for a while in a king size bed with a crazy-high-count on some sheets.  Serious bliss.  After our dinner that night I hit the sack early and slept for 12 hours straight.  We hit Brookside by Day for breakfast and got a head start on our Christmas shopping.  Felt great to stay loose through the day.  I taught my class Monday night (a little on the crazy side there), and it's back to the real world.

I am a marathoner.  

Taper, taper, taper

In a great effort to get warm after this frigid morning run, I took a hot shower and made some coffee.  Anyone who runs when it's 23 degrees outside is crazy.  Frost everywhere, or "farkles" as Adelle says (sparkles - she also calls "smarties" "farties."  We have her say that one all the time.  Or, "I'm so fart."  Haha!). My breath hangs in the air like a trail of smog.  My joints refuse to cooperate and warm up.  It's only 4 miles.  It's only 4 miles.  It's only 4 miles.

Race day is now only 6 days away.  I have trained my life away the past few months.  I'm so glad I took on the challenge and have almost reached my goal, but I'm also really glad it's almost over.  It's been hard for me to think too far beyond November 18th, but we're almost there.  It's like the anticipation of a due date - those last 6 weeks are brutal, and I'm about to go into labor.  Oh boy.

Clean, shmean, shower, shmower

I would just like you to know that I look like this all the time.  Showering is such a hassle.  I'm going to invest in some cute hats and call it good.

So this bandit runner didn't get arrested.  Katie and I had a great run on the streets of Tulsa.  

I finally got my driver's license issues resolved.  I had to go see a driver examiner.  The other three times I visited different tag agencies I had actually showered, fixed my hair and put make up on, prepared for my photo shoot that I have to live with for the next four years.  But, you know, I figured it's probably better that I look like I always look on my ID.  So I went to see the Driver Examiner in my ponytail, no makeup, and no nap.  And I wasn't even stolen.  Some crazy computer glitch.  So he took my picture and that was that.  Glad that's over for the next four years.  Isn't it so cool that my driver's license renewal always happens with the presidential election?  My almost eight-year-old thinks so.  :)  Pierce said, if there's someone else out there with your name they probably don't have a Hudson, Pierce, Alayna and Adelle.  Just show us to them.  :)  We saw a bunch of red balloons flying away and he said, "What happened?  Did somebody shoot a clown?"  He's always joking around.  This morning he hopped around with a piece of turkey bacon hanging out of his mouth, cock-a-doodle-dooing.  So Adelle, not fully understanding this joke, put a piece in her mouth and started mooing.  It's always so much fun here.  ;)

This is Nicole, my marathon training buddy.  We just ran 22 miles Saturday.  I think we were delirious. 

Shan Wheelie can appreciate these mad braiding skilz.

This is what I look like when I shower, in case you forgot.  The boys are doing 5K training for the Thanks Giving Day Hog Jog at our Y.  We had to get some chocolate milk and a protein bar for recovery after their first training run.  ;)  

Adelle was doing her best Ninja pose with the boys in this shot.

Princesses and Ninjas - so cute.

(and in the time it has taken me to load these pictures and type this nonsense, I have yelled at my kids three time to leave me alone and let me finish this, which is why I don't update this thing very often.  Confession of a too busy mom).