Gotta Go, Gotta Go, Gotta Go right now.

Running while pregnant has become a bit of a challenge.  And it's for one big reason only,  my bladder and bowels.  Unless the residents and store owners of Boston want their plants watered and/or fertilized, my runs have been restricted to the treadmill.  Who knew such a small thing could cause so much trouble!

Despite these troubles, on the day I hit 10 weeks, I wanted to see if I still had it in me to run further than the typical 5+ miles I'd been doing.  Sure enough, I pounded out 10 miles and it felt great.  I haven't done that since, but I'm hoping to get another long one in before my stomach and butt blow up :).  Every day I'm tired and I think I'll just skip my run for the day, I keep reminding myself that there may come a point during the pregnancy where I just can't run anymore.  This motivates me on MOST days.

By the way, if you didn't already know this, I am pregnant!  David and I are expecting our little one February 9th, 2013.  I am 13 weeks along.  Whoo hoo!

Just a few more Ragnar pics...

Amazingly out of about 365 teams overall, we (Electric Mayhem) came in 13th. And out of just the mixed open regular teams we came in 1st. Yeah for our awesome team! During this relay, I have to admit I was really proud of myself. For each of my 3 runs, I had my fastest recorded pace for an outside run. My pace was between 7:41-7:45 min/mile for each leg. This gives me motivation to work harder and push the limit. I felt great, except for maybe leg 3 when my legs felt heavy. David paid me a great compliment and said I looked strong out there. It was also exciting to see a runner in the distance,to catch them and then pass them.

David geared up for his night run. 

Amy and Kristin

Is this not gorgeous!  

Jeff K. and I.  Jeff may or may not have run one of his legs in only underwear and then in an attempt to moon us as we drove by, mooned the poor lady that was running about 10 feet behind him.

Jeff A. on the beach at the end of my third leg which happened to end with a 100 ft climb up the sand which peaked on the beach overlooking the ocean.  It was a beautiful place to end, but kind of a cruel way to end a run when your legs are already spent.  I guess I should be glad it was only 100 ft.  Ken had to run an entire mile on the sand for the last part of a leg.  And, we are not talking packed, hard sand.  It was loose, can't get good traction kind of sand.

David gutting through his last run with an injured calf. 

The team.  

Amy and Kristin.  These two were our veteran Ragnar runners.

Catch up in pictures....

Mom and Dad Bailly visit Boston in March:

Duck Tour

They even let me drive along with all the little kids.

 Bunker Hill Monument.  Third trip up.  

I figured out the only way to come out pain free the next day is to take it slow.

 Even David's parents did it!  

 Beth sure is happy to be heading back down.

 Tour of "Old Ironsides", the USS Constitution

Trip to Newport, RI with a friend to see the Mansions:

 "The Breakers".  This was a summer home.  Really, it was.

Pretty magnificent and the ocean is literally right behind their backyard. It's beautiful.

Boston Marathon 2012:

We live a block off the course and got front row seats with some friends, Nicole and Justin, that were visiting from Virginia.  It definitely motivated me to run another marathon. 

Boston Red Sox game with Justin:

11 runners + 23 hours + 176.4 miles = Cape Cod Ragnar Relay May 11th and May 12th:

David and I at the start of Van 2's legs.  We are still fresh and clean.  This changes in about 2 1/2 hours.

 Jeff, our friend from California, flew in to race with us.  He was incredible and it was fun to watch him  at 1am pick off runner after runner.  He ran right about 6 min miles for 9 miles and this was his second leg. 

 Jeff and Amy (team captain, Dr. Teeth).

 Pretty happy to have all my legs completed and a chance to see the ocean.

David during his last leg of the race and the last leg of the entire relay.

 Happy to be done!  But would do it again in a heartbeat.

**More relay photos to come.

Nothing quite compares to a good run.

Last week I hurt my hamstring during a run. That stinks. We have a small gym at our complex with a few cardio machines, but the recumbent bike, the elliptical and even a walk outside on a beautiful day just don't compare to the sweat and burn of a good, hard run. I hardly break a sweat doing anything else and I must admit, I feel great satisfaction when I am sweaty and stinky. I'm on day 4 of no running, so I'm hoping by day 7 I'll be back at it.
I guess I'll have to quit the "getting old" jabs I take at David when he injures himself running.

Helvetia Half Marathon

David and Sam. Our cheering section enjoying some good old Jack in the Box.

Blair and I before the race.

Last Saturday I ran the Helvetia Half Marathon in Hillsboro, OR. A friend of mine told me about it so we signed up to run. Neither one of us had any idea what the course would be like. It ended up being the hardest half I have run and it was even harder than my marathon. I'm not sure if I was just not in great shape or if I did not adequately prepare for this particular course. It was very hilly almost the entire race. There is one part where you get a break for about 1/2 a mile to 1 mile or so but as you are going down hill, you are watching everyone ahead of you run right back up that same hill on the other side of the road, so you can only partially enjoy that break knowing that in just a bit you'll be heading back up. David came as my loyal fan and he said he knew I was dying when I crossed the finish line because generally when I cross the finish line I am smiling and waving. This time I did not even look at him. I went straight for the guy standing in front of me handing out cups of Jamba Juice. I thought I was going to pass out. All in all though, it was a good race and I loved the training so I'm glad I got to do it. I am pretty sure I'll do it again next year, but I'm going to train a little different this time.

It may appear that I am going fast because of the blurry picture, but don't be deceived, I felt like I had tree trunks for legs and all I wanted was to cross that finish line so I could quit running.

Maximal Gonadal Capacity...and Tie Dye

This weekend we went to

Historic Haywood Field

IN

Eugene, OR
to watch this:

David's sprint coach in high school used to call him "maximal gonadal capacity". I think this nickname applied to a lot of the athletes we saw. They are so talented. Even the guy in last place who is getting his butt kicked is amazing. Last year we went to the Olympic Trials in Eugene and some of the same athletes, (Galan Rupp, for any of you track fans), were racing at the meet this weekend, so I felt like I was at least familiar with some of the names. And then I did have David coaching me on who was who. One of the great things about track meets in Eugene is that track is huge here and the fans know the athletes. I on the other hand just cheered for the few runners I did know and then spent the rest of the time cheering for any athlete from BYU.
Here are just a few pictures of the races:




It was a great weekend and it motivated David to get back into running like he used to and motivated me to attempt to make myself run faster. I think I go the same speed whether I am running 3 miles or 15.

While in Eugene we did a few other things. We stopped by the Saturday market and saw way too much tie dye. If you live anywhere else in the country, you probably thought tie dye was laid to rest years ago, but in Oregon it is a thriving market.

Tie Dye Toilet Paper

David asked the guy selling this fine item if the coloring would come off on your butt. That's definitely something to consider before purchasing.

Tie Dye Underwear and everything else you could imagine that could be tie dyed.

I'm not sure if you can even distinguish the underwear since all the articles blend together, but if you look really closely, some one so lovingly tie dyed this underwear.

On Friday and Saturday we also visited Alton Baker Park which has great running trails, so we walked and ran through this park and enjoyed it's beauty.

Willamette River

It was a great weekend. And, I'm sure we will see more of Eugene over the next few years while living in Portland.

Running and THE SLING SHOT...

This weekend David was off the entire weekend plus Monday. Now, this is a rarity, so we had to soak it up. I am in training for a half marathon so on Saturdays I generally do my long runs. David decided to come with me to this awesome running trail in NW Portland. I was introduced to this trail last fall by a friend and it is the BEST trail. It is a twenty-two mile out and back trial that is marked every quarter mile. You climb the first 6 miles or so, but while climbing you can think about how in just an hour or two you get to go downhill those last 6 miles. It's great motivation. Sometimes I do 3 miles and feel like crap, and then other days like Saturday, I do 16 miles and feel great. I wish every run felt that good.
We then went downtown to the water front to enjoy some of the Memorial Day festivities. There was a carnival and the Saturday Market was open. So, we just wandered around while David critiqued "portlanders".



Just one of the many interesting things to see in Portland.

Portland Riverfront

David debating if he wants to get his palm read...









Sunday at church there was a man there that I had not seen before. Now, our ward is pretty small, so new people stick out like a sore thumb. I told David to make sure to talk to this guy. David talked with him during Elders Quorum and found out this guy owns a carnival ride and was just in town for the Memorial Day Carnival on the riverfront. Lucky for us, he invited us to come down there and told us he would hook us up.

Monday morning we went for another great run on a trail that David learned about that he thought I would love. It was another great run and then we just hung out stretching and reading by the trail head for awhile. We then headed downtown to the carnival to find this ride. We found the ride and realized the Sling Shot ride cost $50 for two people. A little bit more than I was expecting to spend at a small carnival, but, lucky for us, Barney from church remembered us, and since he owns the ride, he let us ride for free. Not once, but twice. When we got on there we had no idea what to expect. The ride shoots you up into the air about 240 feet and then flips you over as you come down the first time, then you just kind of fling up and down a couple more times. The first part of the ride I just screamed and screamed. I must have said, "Oh, my gosh" at least 30 times. Then I could not stop laughing. David couldn't tell if I was crying or laughing. It was hilarious. I would highly recommend this ride to anyone. It was the best location for this ride since each time we came back down we were facing the river and it was beautiful. David thought it was better than skydiving. I don't know if I completely agree with him, but it was definitely fun. We forgot our camera so we didn't get any photos, but you can check out the ride on this site below:

THE SLING SHOT


After the sling shot ride we were positioned right next to the canons and they were prepping for the Canon Salute and the jets to fly overhead so we hung out a bit longer to watch this. When the canons were going off, all I could think of was how grateful I am for those who fight for our freedom. I enjoy peace and quiet so the noise from the canons was really unsettling. It made me think of those who serve our country and who endure so much that we might have our freedoms and live in a land that has peace. I wanted to go up and hug each one of those soldiers after it was all done. I really do not know how they do it.