Long Distance Running Sabbatical

OMG...let me tell you all about the race from hell!  Actually, the entire race wasn't from hell just the last 3.5-4 miles or so...  :)

Friday night I loaded up on good food and carbs and went to bed early in preparation for the big race.  I had hopes of PRing in this race and maintaining a pretty strict pace for myself in order to reach my goal.  I have prepped for this race big time---like for 12 l-o-n-g weeks.  I was sick of training and really excited for race day. 

When I woke up on Saturday morning at 5:50am I was feeling pretty good.  I wasn't able to stretch and warm up as much as I wanted because we hit some major traffic into the race and had to pretty much pee and sprint to the start line.  I did a few stretches and was thankful for the run to the start line to get my blood flowing.  I'm not much of a warm up person anyway, so this usually doesn't effect me too much.  If I throw my leg up on the mailbox to "stretch" it out a bit before a run, I call it good.  :) 

The race started and my friend Kerri and I were keeping a fast pace...like too fast.  Everything I read said to start 10ish seconds slower than your ideal pace...well we were like 40-50 seconds faster than my ideal pace.  I was feeling good; great in fact so I just went with it, but in the back of my mind I was worried I was going to die out at the end...

At the 6.2 (10k) mile mark we were running a 8:06 minute mile pace and finished the 10k in 52 minutes!  We were flying and I still felt pretty good.  Then we hit a large hill at mile 7-8ish that slowed me down a little bit, but not too much.  Around mile 9 is started to sprinkle...not a big deal at all.  But I could tell my pace was slowing at bit to the high 8:50's.  At mile 9.5-10 it was a full on rain.  I was soaked--like drenched from head to toe with puddles in my shoes.  And to top it all off my shoes would not stay tied.  I had to stop 3 times to tie my shoes...I think I could have at least been a minute faster if I didn't have to do this.  I was so annoyed.  I was cold (weird, I know), wet and miserable for the last 3 miles of the race.  At about mile 12 it started hailing on us for about half a mile so that was fun.  The hail was literally hitting me in the head--it hurt!  Finally, all rain and hail stopped for the last half mile or so and I could tiredly finish the race. (with one shoe untied because I refused stop stop a fourth time to tie my shoe when I was so close to finishing!)  My pace dramatically slowed down to 9:30 minute mile for the last 2-3 miles, but luckily my quick start to the race helped me redeem myself and I finished in 1:57 minutes; which is right at a 9 minute pace--my goal was accomplished and now I am taking a sabbatical from distance running...at least until this Saturday when I run at 10k! :) 

The best thing about the Garmin half (besides the company) was Starbucks after!

This week's workout have been pretty low key.  On Sunday I did 25 minutes of the Elliptical and and Fitness Blender stretching workout from YouTube.  On Monday, I did a 5 minute elliptical warm-up and then a Nike Training Camp "Strong" workout.  I did about 35 minutes of it and I'm pretty sore today.  It incorporated all sorts of full body exercises.  Tonight, I plan to run outside with my friends Kerri and Katie--I love group runs--the time passes so quickly!  We shall see what the rest of the week brings in terms of workouts. 

After the race on Saturday I did about 550 loads of laundry and laid around the house...I was tired.  On Sunday, we went to dinner with my family to celebrate my little sister getting her first big girl teaching job!  She graduates from college in May and is so excited to start her career as a teacher!  It was so fun to celebrate with her!

So proud of my little sister on getting her first big girl job! 

Love this guy!

So besides the race, our weekend was low key and fabulous! (and I guess the race turned out alright too!)

Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Talk soon,
Britni

It's Friday!!

It's Friday, whoop whoop...not that I'm excited or anything! :)  This week feels like it has dragged on forever!  We've had testing at our school, which means block day all week--a block-a-thon!  It's exhausting, let me tell ya! 

I'm looking forward to a low key weekend, where I plan to clean (a little) and catch up on laundry (a lot).  And by catch up I mean actually move it from the washer to the dryer and then actually fold it and put it away...I struggle a bit with that last part.  :) 

Before I sign off for the weekend, let me leave you with a Happy Friday picture of the girls.  This morning both girls were in such a great mood (shocking since Ella was up later than me last night) and Ella climed into Mia's crib to play.

Love it when these two are excited to see eachother in the morning!  It melts my heart!

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

 

Talk soon,

Britni

Easter with the Jarvis'

I'm back (and much sooner than I anticipated) with our Easter weekend recap!  What a crazy weekend it was, but we had so much fun!  Our holiday's always turn into weekend "events" because we have so much family to see.  This holiday was no exception, but suprisingly, I felt more relaxed than I usually do around a holiday.

On Saturday morning I was able to squeeze in 10 miles with my friend Kerri before I had to be home to shower and get ready for church.  It was a solid last run before my half this weekend and we were able to maintain around a 9 minute pace for much of the run.  Running a 9 minute mile is my goal for this weekend's half.  We shall see.  I'll be sure to update on my race results on Saturday afternoon!

After my run, I was able to shower and get ready for our church Easter egg hunt.  After the hunt our church had an Easter church service that was family friendly.  It was crazy with all the little one's in church!

How is it that Nani's Easter basket for the girls is bigger than the one they recieved from "The Easter Bunny"??

Ella is obsessed with these princess; courtesy of her grandma for Easter.

Decorating Easter cookies at our church Easter celebration!  These bad boys saved us during church!

On Sunday, we went to my mom's for lunch and then to Sean's side of the family for an egg hunt in the afternoon.  It was great to be with family the kids loved hunting their eggs.  We ate an over abundance of Easter candy--I still am and I can't stop!

Waiting paitienly to see their Easter baskets!

He came!

 

Love that face!

Just a quick recap of my workouts this week...I am in a taper week since the half is this weekend, so my workouts have been small.  I ran (on the dreadmill both days) on Tuesday and Wednesday.  My workout on Wednesday was pretty good.  I did a 20 minute HIIT workout alternating at a 9-9.5 for a minute and then 6.5 for a minute.  I finished it up with a Fintess Blender tank top arms workout and abs.  Today, I am going to try to get in a quick 2 miles with my friend Kerri and then call it good until Saturday! :)  Looking forward to trying new workouts next week!  I've already begun pinning things I want to try! 

Talk soon,
Britni

Ella's First Soccer Practice Game

Ella had her first ever soccer game last Wednesday.  Since I haven't blogged in foreve' you wouldn't know this...Not that I'm complaining, but this time of year (ehh, hem) baseball season and the end of the school year is crazy!  I feel like I'm a single parent most days which makes me exhausted.  By the time I work all day and come home, attempt to squeeze in a run so I don't totally suck at this half marathon, run my kids to whatever activity I've signed them up for at the time, bath them and put them to bed, I can barely keep my eyes open, let alone write a blog post.  Oh yea, and I feed them too--I see I left that out!  So I've decided not to lose sleep over it and just blog when I can...with that being said I have some major catching up to do.  So here goes...

Ella's first soccer game.  They practice for the first part of the time and then scrimmage for the second part.  She picked out her cleats, shin guards and socks at the store---all pink, of course.  She liked it pretty well, but we've learned she needs to get more aggressive, so we're working on that.

She did score her first goal and couldn't wait to come over and tell us all about it!

She also did a whole lot of this...we are working on being more aggressive! :)

Last Saturday Sean had baseball practice and then he stained a deck for most of the afternoon so I took the girls to our friend Jensen's 3rd birthday party at Monkey Bizness.  That place is such a blast for my kids.  Ella loves playing there and is pretty much old enough/big enough to conquer all of the obstacles courses and climbing things they offer.  Mia, on the other hand, is brave enough, but not strong enough to conquer all of this yet, so she needs some assistance, and when daddy is at baseball that assistance comes from mommy!  Needless to say, I was working up a sweat helping Mia on all of the activities.

These crazy kids at the birthday party!  Mia just want to be apart of the action!

Love it when these two play together!

 After the party we headed to Subway (Ella's favorite place--no joke) for an on the go lunch as we drove to Ottawa to see my sister play in her last home softball game.  It just happens that it was the pink game and my mom threw out the first pitch with a couple of other ladies who have battled (and won!) the fight against breast cancer.  It was gorgeous out, so that was fun! 



Since I started this blog post a week ago and am just now getting around to finishing it, I can't remember what else I was going to write about, so I'll leave it here for now. 

I am getting closer to my half marathon and will be so glad when I'm not a slave to my running workouts anymore.  I've been noticing that people have been posting on fitness blogs/websites that their running times are getting faster and they are doing less actual running, more HIIT and strength.  So I think after this half I'm going to give that a try and see how it goes.  It can't hurt to switch it up a bit.  Looking for a new challenge...not sure what it's going to be yet, but I'm on the hunt!

And I leave you with a picture of today's quick workout--not my fastest, but not too shabby either.

Praise Jesus that tomorrow is HUMP day!  I can do it!

Weekend Recap

It seems like every weekend in April is gonna be busy for us!  I love that the weather is getting nice and that our weekends are busy with fun things to do, but when Monday rolls around again, I start to feel ill prepared for a long week of school and activities.  Here's our weekend in a nutshell.

On Friday after school I met my mom at the car dealership.  She got a new car!  She hasn't had a new car for 18 years and she is so excited to not be driving a minivan!  So far she is loving her new wheels and I couldn't be happier for her!

On Friday evening my mom watched the girls and Sean and I met some friends for dinner at the best place on the planet--Jack Stack BBQ. I totally forgot to snap a pic...

Saturday was pretty low key.  I took Ella to get new soccer gear because her first game is Wednesday and then we ran to the grocery store. Sean had baseball and then helped his parents clean out his great uncle's basement so he was gone for the morning and afternoon.  While the kiddo's napped I was able to get a workout in, I took Thursday and Friday off last week, so it was nice to sweat it out on Saturday.  I did 9 x 400's and then a Fitness Blender arm work and a 7 minute ab workout.  It was nice to workout alone in the basement while the kids napped.  Almost therapeutic....

The cutest little "Flower Pots".  Wafer cookies, crushed up oreos and jelly beans, a little icing to hold it all together and viola- a craft that even my two year old can do! :)

The best I could do getting them pose with their "flower pots".  This was a fun and delicious end to our grocery store shopping. 



Once Sean got home we got ready and headed to my BFF Brook's house for dinner and Easter egg dying.  Our other friend was in town from Tulsa, so it was so fun to catch up with Lauren and her sweet family.  The kids had a blast playing and dying eggs!  Brook always hosts such fun get together's. 

Best friends snuggle time!  Watching TV in Aunt Brook's bed!

We've been friends for a l-o-n-g time! 

The future Mr. and Mrs. Bradley Boyer...Mia Boyer--Has a nice ring to it! :)

The best we could get...the photobombs are outrageous!

Smurf hand Mia...she couldn't get that egg out of the blue dye with that stupid wire stick thing, so she just stuck her hand in and grabbed it.  She's puzzeled as to why her hand is blue....

Sunday morning arrived early for me as I was scheduled to run 11 miles in the Brew to Brew race.  It's a relay race that begins at the Blvd. Brewery downtown and ends at the Free State Brewery in Lawrence.  My friend Ryan and I took the 2nd and 3rd legs and ran together as part of our training for the upcoming half marathon we are running in a couple of weeks.  The atmosphere at this race is totally chill and there are so many people and things to look at that I didn't really get bored while I was running! Plus, the weather was perfect and there was no wind--a win in my book! 

 

Here we are after our 11 mile run!  So glad that's over with! :)

After my legs of the race, Sean and the girls picked me up because I had to hustle home and get ready for our church small group.  By the time we finally made it home from church it was after 2:30--the girls were cranky and needed and a nap and so did I!  Family nap times are the best!  After nap time, I did a bit of laundry and tried to clean straighten the house a bit for the week.  We ordered pizza and wings for dinner because no one felt like cooking in our house!  After dinner we bathed the girls and watched the ACM's.  I stayed up way too late (once again) and am feeling pretty tired to start this Monday!

Hope you had a good weekend too!

Branson/Osage Beach Vacation

As you can tell from all of these vacation posts, we've been traveling a lot lately.  It has been so much fun taking the girls everywhere, but it is also nice to be home.  There will be one more vacation post (after this one) and then we are home for the remainder of the summer.  If it seems like all of my posts have been about vacations lately, it's because they have...that's all we've done!!  We do have some fun stuff coming up like Ella's 4th birthday and a trip to a local winery, but up to this point vacations have consumed our time!

Every year Sean's mom's side of the family has a family reunion.  Typically we head to a local park shelter and grill and eat.  It's always a blast and just about the time everyone starts to re-meet each other it's time to leave!  So this year they decided to make a weekend lake trip out of it and it was the best time!  Prior to heading to the lake for the weekend we took the girls to Branson for a couple of days.   Ella loves Branson and we switched it up this year and skipped Silver Dollar City in favor of White Water!!  She has a new found love of water parks now.  I didn't take any pictures at White Water or at the lake because I left my camera safe in my bag---It's a new IPhone and I'm a little protective of it still! :)  But there are still plenty of pictures from this vacation!

No Branson trip is complete without a ride on the go karts!

I barely fit in this kids ride, but it was so much fun!

One of the coolest things we did was go to Fantastic Caverns and take an underground tour of the caves!  Although, both kids got bored pretty quickly, it was definitely something that Sean and I enjoyed!  

A little outlet shopping at the Crocs store.  Trust me, I did more damage than this, I just thought these little crocs were so darn cute!  

Pooped after a very fun vacation!

We did eat dinner one night in Branson at this amazing sea food restaurant.  I totally forgot to snap pictures (probably because Mia was being a monster and I was pulling out all the stops to distract her) but my salmon was delicious. We will definitely go back because the food and service was awesome and that's a rarity in Branson!  I really need to get better at snapping pictures of my food!  Just not a professional blogger yet, I guess....:)  

I'm back, back again, guess who's back...

....you know the rest of the song, so I'll spare you the rest.  If you can imagine me singing it in my beautiful voice it's an even bigger treat! :) So, after a few months off from blogging I think I'm ready to re-enter the world.  I've decided to put less stress on myself this time to get posts completed by a certain time, and use this an outlet--WHEN I WANT TO!  You ask why I decided to start blogging again?  The other night as I was lying in bed scanning through my bloglovin' feed of blogs, I decided to check out my good ole' blog, and you know what, I spent an hour reading through my old posts and LOVED it!  So I figure if I loved documenting our life then my kids would love to read about it when they are older...so there you have it.  I'm officially back--for how long?  No one knows really, but at least for now.


While on hiatus life hasn't stopped around our house.  Mia turned 2 and Ella will be 5 this summer.  We've had a blast celebrating all holidays and truly enjoy spending our time with family and friends.  I am currently training for my third half marathon (can't believe I missed blogging about the other two!), and as part of our New Year's Resolution we joined a small group at our church which has been a total blessing.  So yea, in a nutshell we've stayed pretty busy.  So excited to be back in action!

Talk soon,

Britni