life's a bear: July 2011

31 July 2011

Half-Marathon Training: Week Two

Five miles in the bag. It wasn't easy in 90 degree weather, but it's done. Now both my left knee and right foot are sore. I've nursed injuries in both of these areas before. I'm taking today off, to give them a rest. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Based on the five-miler, I've decided that I'll definitely be running the Denver Half-Marathon. It's more expensive, but it gives me enough time to train without getting injured, I hope. Next weekend I'm running the prestigious Brule Day 5K with Nate. We'll be in town for Brule Day festivities and I figure I may as well continue the tradition. I've run the 5K three out of the four years that we've lived in Denver. Last year I was far too pregnant to run.

24 July 2011

Half-Marathon Training: Week One

I just finished my first week of marathon training - culminating with a four-mile run today. After months of only running three miles at a time, I felt surprisingly good. My goal is to run the Denver Half-Marathon on Oct. 9. However, registration for that race is a steep $100. (Seriously???) So, I may try to push the training into two months and run a slightly smaller half-marathon on Sept. 11. We'll see how that works out!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Bear!

My shy toddler has turned into a thoughtful, inquisitive, talkative little boy - seemingly overnight. He turns FOUR tomorrow! We enjoyed a nice, low-key birthday party at a local park on Saturday. Five of Benny's friends attended: Toby, Thatcher, and Theo (the boys from the block) and Eli and Kaeden (friends from school). Nana and Papa, Papa Knucks and Kat, and Uncle Josh also made an appearance. Benny loved it, so it was a success. Kat made the cake: a ladybug cake. Benny has been requesting a ladybug cake since his birthday last year. My mom has been collecting ladybug gear since that request, so we had plenty of bug-themed decorations to go around.

We bought water squirters (or, guns, as most people call them) and water balloons. The water toys and the playground provided just the right amount of entertainment for the boys to hold off getting too excited about cake and presents.

Benny truly is a unique kid. He loves to push our buttons, so he's been a handful lately. But he also loves to help out and please us, so he often assists with the laundry and picking things up. I love his personality and his sense of humor. It's amazing that we can have actual conversations with him now - about everything from how hail is formed to how ferris wheels look like big fans (a subject for another post). He asks about nearly everything now. And with every passing day, he understands more about everything. I never thought I could love him more than I loved him on the day he was born. But I love him about a thousand times more than that!