Family Day

My parents are in town to see the grandbaby (and their kids of course).  So today after running 11 miles we met up for some cupcakes at The Cocoa Bean cupcake specialty shop.  I bet just by eating one cupcake, I ate all the calories that I burned running those eleven miles.  YIKES! Then we headed to the splash park that they have here at one of the parks.  Alex went on his first carasol ride.  When my sister Bea showed him it at first he was fascinated, but once he got on it he was hanging on to it for dear life.  But my little nephew is no sissy, he didn't shed one tear.  Just held on to his momma.

He's smiling cause Nana is making a funny face.

Here he is holding on to Momma.

Alex found a cute little girl to play with at the splash park.

Thomas and I enjoying the Baby Alex splash park show.

My dad

My lover boy and I.

Me and my baby Alex.

Nana and baby Alex.

After the splash park we headed over to the little farmers market.  The most popular booth there was the Elote booth.  I'm totally making some this weekend. Corn on the cob with mayo, parmesan cheese, and chile/lime powder.  Sounds gross, but so delish!

Elote man.

Elote woman.

And baby Alex found another friend.

11-miler

Today's run was 11 miles, usually I do my long runs on Saturday but I decided to switch it up since my parents are in town this weekend.  The alarm went off at 8am and as usual I almost turned it off and rolled back over and fell asleep.  But then I remembered the heat and got my booty out of bed. Thomas drove me 11 miles away and dropped me off surrounded by potato fields.
The first mile was on a dirt road.  This big truck hauling potatoes zoomed past me flinging a big ol rock at me and hitting me on the arm.  Okay Mr. Truck Drive! Do you not understand that when you drive past someone on a dirt road going 60mph that dirt and rocks are going to fly everywhere?  Maybe we need to sign him up for some basic science class. Rude! I just think it's common sense when you go past a runner you slow down a bit.  Other than that little incident it was a great run. 
We had dropped off a water bottle at mile 5.5 for me to pick up and I had water and Clif Shot Bloks at 6.1 miles.  The first 6 miles felt great, last 5 felt okay.  Perfect temperature, although at the end of the run I was soaked.  I found out a stunk pretty bad cause as I'm stretching in the living room Thomas comes in to say hi and then pretty much goes into the other room right away and asked me to spray some air freshener.  Haha. 
Here were my stats:
11 miles/ 1:44:58/9:32 avg pace

Happy B-day Bea!

The past two weeks on Tuesday, when the training schedule has said 3-4 miles or Rest, I have decided to do some cross training and have swam.  As per recommendation of Endurance Isn't Only Physical, I have kickboarded for 30-40 min.  and then I will tread water for about six minutes and then swim a few laps free style.  Swimming is hard! It's like running but with more resistance and having your face under water most of the time.  Right now I can go 4 lengths of the pool without stopping and that is a struggle.  So I'm going to try and increase the lengths of the pool that I can do without stopping each week.  Someday I hope to do a sprint triathalon so this will help me for the future. 
Today we celebrate my little sister Bea's birthday.  I made tex-mex nachos and crock pot garlic and parsely corn on the cob. Since it was Bea's 21st of course we had to have some margaritas (virgin). Yum! And then we had homemade triple chocolate cake.  It was seriously the best cake I have EVER had.  Great job Ivan!

Crock Pot corn on the cob, easy and delish.

The Pascual family

Alex liked helping his mommy open presents.

We got Bea framed pics of them from our wedding.  Alex was only a week old!

Bea got a little camera shy when she was about to blow out the candles.

She was determined to blow out all the candles in one breath.

I also got to go and redeem my gift certificate for a pedicure.  They put some mango stuff in the water and it smelled so wonderful! One hour of foot massaging bliss.  I love pedicures.  You just feel more feminine and cute when your feet look and feel cute. The girl who did my pedicure was so cute and so fun to talk to and it turns out her dad was one of my proffesors and she's getting married in a week.  I love getting to know new people.

Blue Angels

My 10 miler today was great.  Thomas dropped me off at my start location, which was a park, around 10am.  Then he drove 5 miles down the route I was going and left me a water bottle.  Such a sweetheart! And then later he waited for me back at the park to pick me up.  This course was hilly.  I had to walk twice for about 30 seconds in the first five miles but then made it my goal to run the whole time on the last five miles and I did it.  My long run goal time has been about a 9:53/mile pace, today I made it in 9:47/mile.  I had three Clif Shot Blocs a half hour before the run and then three at mile six.  I love those things.  They don't make me gag as much as energy gels and they taste like fruit snacks.
This afternoon we went to Idaho Falls with Bea, Ivan, and Alex to see the air show they had going on with the Blue Angels.  We didn't want to have to pay $20 per person so we just went to a park which was right next to the airport.  A bunch of other people had our idea too.  We found some shade and spread out our camping chairs and blankets and enjoyed the show. 

The Blue Angels have six planes and they are loud and huge.  Halfway through the show a plane came from behind us and was like 200 yards above our heads, which was super close.  I screamed big time cause it scared me so bad.  Baby Alex didn't even cry from all the noise! Seeing all these stunts reminded me of war movies, including the move Fly Boys (which is one war movie I actually enjoyed).  It's really amazing the tricks that they do, flying upside down, diving straight at the ground, and spinning and turning all over the place. 

Right above our heads!

Alex pointing at the planes.

After the air show we headed to the mall to pick up my ring from Kay Jewelers which had gotten it's 6 month check up.  I had gotten a gift card to Macy's from my parents for my birthday. The Macy's there was horrible! I love Macy's but everything there was like 10 year old clearance items, seriously!
We came home and made healthy sloppy joe's (ground turkey instead of hamburger) and Thomas made a wonderful salad.  There is this program here called Bountiful Baskets and you sign up each week for a basket with tons of fruits and veggies and it's only $15.  I guess it's a bunch of people who get together to reduce the price of produce.  This week we got bananas, plums, peaches, grapes, watermelon, corn on the cob, tomatoes, lettuce, cauliflower (yuck), and cucumber.  All for $15! Such a steal.  So our salad had a bunch of fresh veggies. 

Una Fiesta!

I had a wonderful 24th birthday yesterday! We started the day off by renting a tandem bike from the school's Outdoor Recreation Center.  It was only $9! And at the ORC I discovered they sell Clif Shot Blocs which I love so I bought a few of those for my long runs. 
We started off our bike ride by riding around a couple of the parks.  We stopped and got a $5 Little Ceasar's Hot and Ready pizza and some frozen yogurt from Twizzle Berry.  Then we stopped at a park and had lunch. 

Porter Park

FroYo and pizza at Smith Park

The park was the same park that was the start of my very first half marathon in 2007. So after lunch we decided to go and bike the half marathon course. I don't remember how many up and down rolling hills there were in that race. I was glad that there were two of us pedaling up those hills together. Like I said, we started at a park, biked through a little neighborhood and then we worked those hills biking along a bunch of potatoe fields and we ended up biking through another neighborhood and back to the school to return the bike.

Thomas and the fields that go on forever.

I love biking! It's so relaxing, but at the same time great exercise. We loved going on long bike rides in Sunriver, OR and this was another great bike ride.
After the bike ride we went home and made some homemade salsa for my birthday dinner.  My brother in law Ivan made delicious carne asada.  He really knows how to make it perfect.  Thomas and I now know what kind of meet to buy but beyond that we are clueless.  The lady at the bakery informed us we didn't need to buy the actuall steak we could just buy roasts and then she sliced the super thin for us.  So that way it was cheaper but still just as tasty.  With the carne asada we had corn tortillas, rice, beans, chips, and salsa.  So delicious.  Seriously my favorite meal in the world.  That would for sure be my last supper. 
Then for dessert of course we had birthday cake and ice cream.  And my wish finally came true! I got a Dora the Explorer birthday cake thanks to my sweet hubby.

I surprised myself and got them all out in one breath.

This year the box of candles we bought had just enough, twenty four.  Next year we'll have to buy two boxes! I guess that's a sign of getting old, having to buy two boxes of candles for your birthday cake.
We had the dinner at Briana and Ivan's.  One of my college roommates Tiffany is in town for awhile from New York so I got to see her and her cute little kids.  Emma her baby is just a little doll.  So sweet and quiet.  And Austin was so fun to watch interacting with Alex.  They are both learning to share. 

Little Austin used the cooler as his special seat. What a buff little guy, opening up that lid.

Ivan and Thomas be grillin.

Bea and baby Emma relaxin.

Tiffany and Rachel basking in the sun and chatting it up.

Enjoying the grub.  (Don't you love it when people take pictures of you when you are eating?)

 It was perfect weather outside for relaxing and eating and spending time with friends.  Once it started getting a little chilly we headed inside to open presents.  My hubby spoils me, and I love it.  I love what he gets me though cause it's so thoughtful.  He'll remember me saying that I like something from like months ago. For example I was smelling some perfume at Maurices and I really liked it and so he got me it.  Or he'll hear me saying while I'm getting ready that I've lost one of every pair of earings that I have.  So he'll get me new earings. He also got me a new pair of black heels and a new arm band for my i-pod that has little pockets, and a gift certificate for a pedicure.  That guy is so good!

Alex was very interested in the presents.  I can't wait for him to turn one so he can have his turn at opening them.

Alex things his Tio is so funny.

Caught in the act.  This little guys is attracted to all things electronic.

 And the best part of my birthday was Thomas got a call for a job interview! He has been so persistent in his job search.  Handed out tons of resumes, followed up with phone calls and visits to the HR offices.  And finally it payed off! He has his interview on Monday.  It's not for an x-ray tech but for the next best thing.  It is for a transport tech for the x-ray department.  So that way he can get his foot in the door.  It is really tough finding jobs around here.  You really have to know somebody it seems in order to get an interview. 
I had a wonderful party and a great day. 

Running Relief

I finally felt good running today.  Ran on the treadmill while Thomas got buff lifting weights.  I love being able to see him through the mirror while I'm running, he's so darn cute! I really like working on speed, it's the endurance that gets me.  When I work on changing my speeds up in a workout it tricks my mind into not knowing how much I'm running.  For example, today I ran 4.5 miles and the time flew by because I kept switching the speeds up:
1 mile @ 8:15
Rest .5 mile @ 10:54
1 mile @ 8:15
Rest .5 mile @ 10:54
Repeat the following 6 times:
200 meters @ 7:54
Rest 200 meters @ 10:54
Total Distance: 4.5 miles
Total time: 41:41
Incline: 1.0
I was super sweaty afterwards but felt great! No dizziness today. 
In none running related news, I'm getting excited for my birthday on Thursday.  I'm turning the big 2-4!  I honestly still feel like I'm still 21. I think I remember last year saying I still felt 19.  So I'm feeling older, but still not feeling my age.  We are going to have a little dinner over at my sister's house. My brother in law Ivan is going to barbeque some carne asada.  Thomas and I are making the homemade salsa and of course there will be beans and tortillas.  YUM! And I put Thomas in charge of the cake and he ordered it today.  I requested a Dora the Explorere cake. I'm excited to see if my request is granted.
Today we went to a taco wagon that is just a block or so away and had a carne asada enchilad and rice and beans.  So delicious! I love mexican food! I think God probably had a hard time deciding what race to make me but in the end he knew that if I were mexican I'd be muy gordita cause the food is so delish so he made me white. 

Sometimes Running Sucks

This weekends long run was horrible! I haven't had a run like that in a long time and it made me nervous, like I'm not improving.  I know I shouldn't be so hard on myself.  First of all, Saturday night we went with Briana and Ivan to a campout.  Such yummy food! It was barbequed pork, fresh salsa, corn tortillas, and beans.  Pretty much as soon as we got there though my vision got all blurry in one eye.  I thought it was just because of all the campfire smoke.  We stayed for about an hour and then left cause my head started hurting pretty bad.  As soon as we got home I layed on the futon and tried to fall asleep.  But before I fell asleep my right hand went tingly and numb.  And then the top right side of my face went numb and tingly.  Once that happened I was pretty sure I had a migraine.  I haven't had a migraine in like 10 years.  So I decided not to do my long run on Saturday and did it instead on Sunday morning. 
I got to about 2 1/2 miles of the 6 miles I was planning to do and then had to walk.  I've been getting really dizzy and lightheaded a lot lately.  I'm not sure why.  Could be the elevation, could be low blood pressure, stress, I don't know.  But I'd run for a bit and then have to stop cause I'd feel light headed.  So my run was more like a run/walk and took me a long time.  But it's done. 
6 miles @ 12:40/mile pace  YIKES! That's about three minutes slower than I normally would run my long runs.  I just hope it was just a hard week and gets better.

Yellowstone

The last time I went to Yellowstone was when I was about ten years old. We went camping with all four of us girls and my parents and my Uncle who was visiting from Seattle.  My sister Ashley got sick and was puking all night and the next day as we were driving through Yellowstone.  I'm not sure why we didn't just zoom right on home but my loving parents decided to still stop at some of the geysers and attractions.  I also remember my Mom and Uncle taking off hiking while my Dad was left with the four girls including one puking girl.  So needless to say it wasn't the best experience.
Today's experience however, was excellent.  We left this morning with our friends Rob and Rachel.  The trip over there was lots of fun and chatter filled.  I really didn't realize how close Yellowstone was to us, only about two hours!

When we first entered Yellowstone they gave us these to hang from the windshield.  It has a drawing of a small child being burned by hot water. It's a warning to stay away from the hot pots. 

And here is the other side, warning people that you might get gored by buffalo.

But those didn't stop people from pulling over and getting out of their cars to take pictures of this big guy.

Rachel stuck her head out the window for me so I could take a picture, such a daredevil that girl.

One of our first stops was the thermal pools. 

Rob explained to us the reason the water looks blue is because of the bacteria and proteins in the water.

Lunch time in front of the "General Store".

Relaxin after a yummy lunch.

This is the actual name of a creek! Maybe it meant something different back then.

The grand finale of the day, Old Faithful!

We ended the day at Yellowstone with some ice cream. I got the Mountain Berry.  YUM!

Rachel enjoyed the Mountain Berry flavor as well.

Rob was diggin the peppermint.

And Thomas loved his peanut butter track sundae.

Such a fun day trip.