One for the books

Yesterday was one for the books.

It started with a 10k race with my husband. The town we live in has a celebration called Festival Days which includes pageants, booths, entertainment, a parade, and four races: a half marathon, 10k, 5k, and a 7.3 mile trail run. The races are well run for as small an event as Festival Days is. I was impressed. The half marathon course is notoriously hard though, no downhill, out-of-a-canyon race here. The 10k is lovely, but challenging (read: lots of uphill). That said, my husband rocked it! Let me remind you he only started running less than a year ago. And he only runs 3 miles a day. He kept his strong pace the entire 6.2 miles--hills and all--and brought home a solid second place finish in his division. Who does that?

To my end, I must say that I kept up with him, though it pushed my comfort zone. I too took second place in my division (age groupers over here!) and a fourth-place female overall. Not a bad way to start the day.

We returned home to this:

This lovely girl was aching to open her birthday presents. We wasted no time and tore into the wrapping paper.

Then on to the parade where some friendly lady jumped off a parade float and handed her the biggest heart-shaped balloon I've ever seen. Best. Birthday. Ever.

Fireworks followed after dark. Hubby and I sat out on the back porch and stared at the moon for a while just enjoying the warm summer night. It can't get much better than that.

What's your best birthday memory?

Do like downhill races?

What's your favorite thing about summer?

I have man hands!

Do you remember that episode of Seinfeld where he dates the lady with "man hands"?

That would be me today. 

I got stung by a wasp yesterday morning. Oh, sure it itched and burned and swelled up then. But at 3:30 this morning it jolted me out of bed. Swollen, itching, burning, throbbing. That venom is no joke!

Wasps--nasty little jerks!

I signed my husband and myself up for a 10k tomorrow morning. It will be my husband's first official 10k. He ran an accidental 10k in December when my sis-in-law and I ran the Baker's Dozen Half Marathon. Best. Race. Ever. You run a 3.25 mile loop. At the completion of every loop you eat a treat (cookies, donuts, that kind of stuff) and continue. They even hand out hot chocolate at the aid stations. (Which sounded gross to me, but my sis-in-law assured was awesome.) My husband ran the first loop to complete the 5k but felt so good he just kept going. We stopped him before he finished the half because until that day he'd never fun further than 3 miles.

That is me, my sis-in-law Janelle, and Buddy the Elf (a.k.a. race director Fast Cory).

Anyways. Since yesterday was a long run (long for me, anyway), and I was up all night with burning man hands, and I am running a 10k tomorrow, today must be a rest day, right? 

Rest day = yoga/Pilates day.  

Last week before our 15k my sister and I decided to display our most impressive yoga poses. It may have gotten a little competitive.

I may have been a little sore afterward. 

Because I am a Sport Yoga instructor, I get asked all the time if I can do "all those crazy poses." To which I respond, it's yoga not contortion--there is a difference. Translation: No, I cannot do "all those crazy poses" and I am not especially flexible. But I can lead you through some great strength-building, conditioning, injury-preventing asanas. Namaste. (That's a little joke I have with a friend of mine.)

What's your favorite yoga style?

Are you allergic to bees or wasps?

What race/s are you running this weekend?

Do you end your yoga practice with "namaste"?