A Little Bit of Eveything...

The past few weeks have felt overwhelmingly busy. I know that most anyone reading this blog can relate, but I just have to say it. Seriously, how many birthday parties can we really fit in during a weekend?!? This weekend we had the spring carnival at school, 3 birthday parties, 1 baby shower, 2 volleyball games, and I ran the Zooma Half marathon as well. Not to mention the fact that I was supposed to be working on a project for work. I know that I should learn to say no when I am feeling overwhelmed, but then again, maybe I am happier when I am busy. Because I am bored when I am not busy. Just have to figure out that perfect balance somehow!! :-)

In addition to the general busyness (is that a word... busy-ness?) of life, it seems like our family has had to deal with more than our share of sadness over the past few years.... Most everyone knows that Clint's dad passed away about 10 months ago, followed with the death of his grandmother. Also, my mom has been battling ALS for the last few years which is just awful. Well, the hits just keep on coming... Sunday morning, my grandpa passed away in his sleep. He had lung cancer... I know he lived a long life and he was ready to be at peace, but it is still hard to accept that someone I have known all my life is no longer here. Although I didn't spend a lot of time with him as an adult, I will miss him very much. Along with this sad news, we found out this week that my cousin's husband, Tye, will most likely not survive his battle with cancer and the doctor estimates his remaining time of survival at around 6 months. He is only 26 (or 27?) years old, but is handling the news with so much courage. Please keep Tye and Sarah in your prayers.

So my next bit of "news" seems so trivial and completely unimportant compared to the previous paragraph... This weekend, I ran the Zooma Half Marathon at the Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop. It was such a fun event and a beautiful (but HILLY!) run. It is definitely a race that I will run again.... best post-race festivities ever! With that being said, I had a pretty terrible race. My time was decent for me, but the last few miles were so painful. I am pretty sure I went out too fast and/or was not prepared for the hills. Here is my mile-by-mile according to my Garmin - 8:44, 8:33, 8:35, 8:24, 8:35, 8:17, 8:58 (bonking!!!!), 9:55, 9:07, 9:22, 9:08, 9:03, 9:11, 8:35 (for the last .1). Definitely went out too fast. Official time was 1:57:51. It was still an awesome event, and I had a great time hanging out with my friends Becky, Robin, and Bethany before and after the race. It was also nice to see so many other familiar faces at the race. I love that I have such strong, healthy and fit friends... who are not too healthy and fit because it wouldn't be any fun if we could not eat, drink, and be merry! Thank you to my wonderful running (and non-running) friends who help me get through the above chaos and challenges every day! :-)