28.03

was my time in the 5K today. A minute and a half improvement over 2 weeks ago. 3 minutes off my fastest, so I still have a ways to go.

After the race we went back to Surfside beach. This time we rented a surf board and body boards. I must admit that my favorite thing to do is jump in the waves. So much fun!!

Good Luck

to all my friends and family who are running the Provo Half Marathon this Saturday. Run Fast!

I'll be doing a 5k in The Woodlands. It's about 10 miles shy of what you guys are doing, but hopefully I'll see some improvement.

We decided to try a different beach

yesterday and ended up at Surfside. We had so much fun. Bigger waves, cooler water, and it was just as close as Galveston. We rented boogie boards and had a blast riding them.

At first the waves scared Amy because she got taken out by one, but as she got used to it, she really enjoyed playing in them. A couple of people were actually out there on surf boards. Maybe we'll try that next time. Marshall had to hold Scott a few times, because the waves would go right over his head. His favorite thing to do is play in the sand building sand castles and he even let us bury him in the sand.

My kids had a tea party

with their friends the other day, complete with tea and scones. Most everyone had chocolate milk or lemonade, but Samantha really wanted tea. Amy made the most amazing Sour Cream Coffee Cake. Click here for the recipe.
It was seriously so good. All the other kids ate it first. Samantha and her friend Becca made Cheddar Dill Scones. Click here for that recipe.

Both are Barefoot Contessa. I made some egg sandwiches, which are Amy's favorite and even cut the crusts off and cut them into triangles. Scott had peanut butter and jelly, but was more interested in the cake. He had 2 big slices. I let them use my real tea service from Tante Magda to make it more special. It took a while to clean up all the mess, but the kids had a great time.

Today we competed

in our first road race in 4 years. See, here we're still happy. It hasn't started yet.

I wish that i could say that i felt great and did very well. I can't. It hurt. Just plain hurt. Marshall thought i was psyching myself out, but it hurt. Should i say that one more time? It HURT! My time sucked. Yes, SUCKED!! 29.30 and i threw up after. I've only ever thrown up after 2 races my whole life and they were both St. George marathons. This was only a 5K. And i was sweating so much that it was getting into my eyes and burning.

But it's not all bad. I really enjoyed doing the race.

It was in The Woodlands and they have them twice a month. We're going again in 2 weeks to see if i can improve. The Woodlands is really pretty. And next time i will prepare better. Definitely take a towel and gatorade. One thing i noticed i really need to do is lose weight. I'm about 10 pounds heavier than when i ran St. George 4 years ago. It's embarrassing to admit, but i think it will help motivate me to eat better. I had a great finish. There was a teenage girl right in front of us and right at the finish i picked up to a sprint to beat her into the line. She wasn't very happy about it and raced me in, but i got her.
I think that may be why i threw up. And i didn't throw up right away. it took about 20 minutes. I hope the next one is better. It can't possibly be worse, right?

Today

i ran my first sub-30 3 mile run. I know, it's kind of embarrassing to admit that I'm running that slow, but it's been 4 years and it's taking a lot longer to get in shape than i expected. Next weekend we're planning to do our first 5k. i want to go under 29 minutes. eventually it will be a lot faster. Trust me.

Swimming doesn't take me as long to get back into. I guess my body naturally responds to it. After a few weeks i was doing laps and Marshall tried to keep up. He was shocked by how fast i could really swim. The pool has been closed this week so we haven't gone. I only swim because i'm already at the pool and need something to do. I really enjoy running more these days.

Pre 4th of July beach trip