The "Almost Perfect" Weekend

Hello, everybody! I hope everyone had a great weekend, especially all you mothers out there. I’m sorry it has been a few days since I posted. Last week was pretty busy for me and this week doesn’t look much better. I think this is just how life is going to be for now on so I need to get used to it.

Anyway, let me give you the update of my “almost perfect” weekend. I know you are all holding your breath about my 5K on Saturday. Well, let me tell you. It was a lot of fun! It was the Race for the Cure and there were literally thousands of people there. That means gridlock at the start and gridlock at the finish (unless you are one of the first ones done).

I was really nervous and then decided that I needed to stop being so nervous. I set my first goal as running to the first water station, which was to be at the halfway mark. I have ran 1 ½ miles on the treadmill pretty regularly. I didn’t make it this time. I’m not sure how far I ran, but it was at least one mile and may have been 1 ¼ miles. Anyway, once I made it to the water station I decided to walk one block, run one block. The blocks in our city are pretty big so I thought this would be good. I did walk a couple of blocks towards the end to give me good energy to finish strong.

When I got close to where I knew the finish line would be I started running pretty good and it felt great to know I was going to be finished :). I was running, only to be stopped by the crowd of others that were finishing, too. There was gridlock at the end and I had to walk across the finish line. We were like cattle, I tell you.

Another bummer, there was no timer at the finish line! I had read online that there would be clocks set up at the beginning and at the end if you wanted to keep your own time because they weren’t keeping official times. The Race for the Cure isn’t really about the actual race. I guess I should have known when there wasn’t any kind of clock at the start line that there wouldn’t be one at the end.

As we were approaching the finish line I noticed the woman next to me looking at a stop watch. I asked her what the time was and it was 39+ minutes. But she said that when we had to start walking it was about 38 minutes. As you all know, my goal was to finish in 38 minutes. Seeing how the thousands of people made it gridlock at the start (It took a bit before I could actually start running) and at the end, I think I will call it goal accomplished!

After the race I realized my cell phone has a stop watch on it. I’ll keep that in mind for next year!

It is still a goal of mine to run an entire 5K this year so I still have work to do. I actually like the fact that running goals give me something to work towards AND help me in my weight loss.

Besides the fact there was no time the only bummer about the race was that I missed my daughter's first ever goal in soccer! :( Hopefully it will be the first of many more this season.

Here are a couple of pics of the race:


Here is a picture with my incredibly supportive mom. She and my oldest daughter did the one mile walk. I was so happy to spend the day before Mother's Day with the woman who is my mother and the beautiful girl who made me a mother.

Here I am after the race, looking pretty dorky in my sunglasses but really happy to have finished in a decent time.

Saturday night, my husband and I went to dinner at PF Changs. So yummy! I’ve never been there and I don’t intend on going there too often, but man was it good. I didn’t worry about calorie counting because I figure between my 5K and other walking downtown that day I would have done about 5 miles by the end of the evening.

After dinner, we headed over to the arena for the Jazz/Lakers game and watched one of the most exciting games I have ever watched. For sure, it was the best game I have ever seen live. Now, to the not-so-perfect part of my weekend. The Jazz lost 111-110! A heartbreaker that is for sure. Those darn Lakers are just too good and long!

Sunday morning I woke up, still bummed about the game. I said to my husband, “They still lost by one point, bummer!” Of course, after having breakfast in bed and receiving the great gifts and cards my kids made me life was good again. I love my kids! I love being a mother and wouldn’t trade it for anything. I thank God each and every day that I can be a mother to these three wonderful children. Of course, it isn’t always fun or easy but it is always worth it. I was treated well on Mother’s day.

We had our mom’s over for dinner last night. I love my mother and mother-in-law. They are true blessing in my life. My husband barbecued steaks. They were delicious and huge! I made sure to cut mine into an appropriate sized serving. I roasted red potatoes, yummy too! We have leftovers. I’m glad I don’t have to worry about what is for dinner tonight.

So that is my almost-perfect weekend report. What did you all do?

This morning I was back to waking up at 5:00 a.m. and back to my exercise class. It was a killer today! I did think to myself several times, “Remind me, why I pay to do this?!” It felt good to be back, though. I love that I got my workout done so early. I have even already cleaned my bathrooms and it is not even 8:00 a.m.! There are definite benefits to rising early.
The kids are once again on a three week break. We have some fun things planned, which may mean less time for blogging over the next few weeks. But tomorrow I plan to post some more progress pics. Be sure to check back! Have a great Monday everybody