Think I needed that

I just took a short run after dropping the truck off for an oil change. It was glorious. The weather is just perfect today and it felt good to be out again.

We are dealing pretty well with all the chaos going on. Tim has sent out some resumes and has a phone interview set up for next week. Seems every day we're getting new leads on different jobs in his field. So that's totally great. I've finally gotten to the point where I can talk about what's happening without breaking down in tears. Yay for that! Hopefully something really good will come up soon!

We both agree the silver lining is we know exactly where we stand now. When everything started breaking down at the creamery in late February, we didn't know what it meant for the employees. It felt like we were in limbo for weeks. It still sucks that this is happening, but at least we can move forward now, unlike so many of the other employees there who still don't know for sure if they'll have a job or not when it's all said and done.

Oh, and we do have something fun to look forward to. Tim's sister and her husband are coming to visit next week! We haven't seen them in a while, and this will be their last visit home before moving to New Zealand next month. How cool is that? I hope we're able to visit them in NZ eventually. Heck, if Tim lands a job better than the one he has now, maybe we can eventually afford to! ;-)

Today's stats:
Run:
Distance: 2.55 miles

Yesterday's stats:
Elliptical:
Time: 30 minutes

last Tuesday's stats:
Run:
Distance: 2 miles

Like being kicked in the crotch

That's how I am feeling right now.

No, I didn't actually get assaulted in the private area.

Rather, we got a figurative jolt in the nuts via the layoff notice Tim received yesterday.

Come June 1, Tim will no longer have a job at the creamery.

After almost five years of loyal service, this is how it ends.

I have no job. We have bills. And kids who have needs.

I am scared. And worried. And getting angry at the asshat who got the creamery into the current mess it's in. Really angry. Like I want to kick them in the crotch with steel-toed boots.

At least Tim wasn't the only one who got a pink slip yesterday. But that doesn't ease the sting or the realness of what's happening.

But now we have work to do. Tim's already looking for a new job he can jump into when his current job ends. There are so few jobs in this area to begin with, so his job search is in other cities in Northern California. We might have to move again. It will be a pain, but I will gladly move wherever he can find a job.

I hope he's able to land something before Kara starts kindergarten in August, especially if it means moving out of the area. I don't want to pull her from school after she's started, if we can help it.

Meanwhile, I will continue the CNA program I started on Monday and look for a job of my own.

Oh, and if we have to file for unemployment, I will have to get a job to make ends meet. Unemployment will provide less than half the amount of money Tim was making at his job. It would barely cover our mortgage. But it would be better than nothing.

So the future is unclear. I don't know how much I'll be blogging in the immediate future. It seems less important than life right now.

OK finally a (short) race report and TONS of pics!

Sorry it took me so long to get back here to post about the HM. I am still in the process of taking an online nutrition class, and we had part of a project due today, so that took up a lot of my spare time. But I got it done and can now get back to blogging. Heck, I've only managed a pair of elliptical workouts during the past 10 days now and absolutely no running, although I hope to fix that this weekend. *sigh*

Anyway, the Shamrock'n Half Marathon in Sacramento, CA was totally freakin' awesome! Of course, I had to take the obligatory shot of my running duds the night before. The lovely new pink tech shirt had to be covered the entire race by an old long-sleeved tech shirt, because it was just too chilly to not have real sleeves! The orange thing on my bib (notice my name? I was TOTALLY geeking out over that!) is the disposable timing chip, which I have yet to dispose of and probably won't, LOL:




My dad drove me to Raley Field, home of the Rivercats baseball team (not sure what they are -- AAA, AA? Who knows?). The sign was all lit up at 7 a.m.:



I had never been to Raley Field before. The inside was bigger than I imagined (this was before the masses arrived):



Before long, the stadium was filled up with runners, walkers and their supporters. I was glad my dad stayed with me because I seriously hate being a lone wolf at these things. :-(

Anyway, the start was divided into three waves. The fastest runners took off at 8 a.m., followed by those who expected to run at a 9- to 11-minute/mile pace. The last group was made up of the slow people (those who predicted they'd be slower than 11 minutes per mile -- totally me, but whatever). I didn't really understand that, because they gave you 3 1/2 hours from the start of the final wave before they started reopening roads and whatnot. So basically the fasties (my new term for fast runners) got an extra 20 minutes to finish that the slower runners could have used, but I digress.

Here are the fasties taking off at 8 a.m.:



The rest of us waited in our corrals until it was time to approach the starting line. Finally, before 8:20, we were herded down to where the magic was to begin:



After a few minutes of nervous fidgeting, the countdown started and we were off!! Of course, in a race this big, being "off" means you're just walking at the beginning. My dad took this pic of me, being silly:



Soon enough I was running and enjoying the scenery. Some of the landmarks included:

The historic Tower Bridge, which we ran over twice (yes, I ran the race with my camera in my pocket, and sometimes in my hand):





The state capitol:



Old Town Sacramento:



The Sacramento River:



So I was feeling really freakin' awesome until mile 8. That's when the lack of training started kicking in. This is me at mile 7, right before the fire in my shoes began:



So yeah, around mile 8 was when I noticed my feet, especially my right foot, felt like there was a damn flame under them. And the flame got more and more intense the longer I ran. It was pretty stinkin' awful. I now know that I really need to stick to my long runs on the weekends while training for a HM. It's not that I didn't want to, but I had been battling illnesses and injury and the long runs just weren't happening. So my feet paid a price during the HM.

But I trudged on, basically running from fuel station to fuel station near the end. Eventually, an awesome thing happened: I could see the finish line, located on Raley Field, which was totally cool:



Here's the pic my dad took as I crossed the finish line. See the big screen in the outfield? They showed everyone who finished on it! And they called out every finisher's name on the PA! Good times!



And check out this totally rockin' medal that I got. It's definitely the best one I own (and it's really heavy)!



So that's about it. :-)

I think I've talked my dad into running this one with me next year. It has a HM relay, where the distance is split into two halves and one person runs each half. I think that would be fun, don't you?

OMG, I really suck

So my sister-in-law reminded me that I haven't yet posted a HM race report or pics, and now it's been a week since the race. Unfortunately, I can't do it at this very second, but I will *try* to do it tonight. I have a bunch of other stuff to do first (homework for my nutrition class, freakin' taxes, housework, etc.) and the blog is kinda the last priority.

Stay tuned......

Second HM in the books!

Thanks everyone for the good luck vibes!! I finished the Shamrock'n Half Marathon in Sacramento this morning, and I set a new PR!! That was despite not having the best luck with training and not having "true" long runs on the weekends. My legs are feeling it now, but that's OK. The medal I got rocks! :-)

I am ready to lie down and take a nap, but I will leave you with the official stats. Pics and a report will come soon!

Shamrock'n Half Marathon official stats:

Time: 2:39:27 (old PR was 2:45:24 set last May)
Overall finish: 2968 out of 3603
Division finish: 304 out of 380

So here I am....

...at 4:30 a.m., too nervous and excited to sleep. I have to leave at 5:30 to get to the half marathon course by 6:30. The organizers said to be there extra early because of the heavy traffic (which caused hundreds of runners to miss the start of the race last year).

I've actually been awake since 3:30 a.m. My sinuses were getting stuffy and then my nose started running. Hate when that happens. So I took a shower, took a pic of my running gear and will be having breakfast soon. My dad will be taking me to the race, and will be sticking around to watch me take off and finish.

I don't really know what else to say right now. I'll likely be functioning on adrenaline for a while. I'm sure I'll probably crash hard when I get home. I think today will be a nap day! :-)

I'll post a race report and pics later. Bye, all!

....and this is why we can't have "nice" things

Because whatever things we do have, it seems there is always a "little person" who comes along and breaks it.

Today was no different. The kids and I were outside. They were playing; I was mowing the lawn. Kara had put some rocks on the grass a long time ago, so I asked her to pick them up and place them in the nearby flower bed so I could mow that area. I turned my back, and heard a crash. Turned back around, and Kara has her hands in her mouth (her signal for "I've done something really bad"). I look at the house, and there's now a softball-size hole in her bedroom window. So instead of listening to me and gently placing the rock in the flower bed, she chucked the rock at the house and broke her own window. Pure genius.

The only saving grace is that the rock only broke the outside plate of glass. We now know our old windows are, indeed, double-paned.

*sigh*

Anyway, we're leaving for Auburn tomorrow. Race is on Sunday!!! Can't wait!! I'm taking my camera along on the run. Should be fun! :-)

Forgot to mention I did run on Wednesday. Just a short track run. Better than nothing!

Wednesday's stats:
Run:
Distance: 2 miles