Busy Spring

Life is busy!

All of my class requirements are DONE for grad school...the last box to check is walking across the stage for the last time on Friday, and hearing VP Biden congratulate me at Commencement on Saturday. I have loved grad school, and I will love being done and never going back.

We went down to the beach last weekend with some friends. While it was still too chilly to get in the water, it was sunny and warm enough to sit out. We stayed at a condo right on the beach, and the weekend went too fast.

 We also celebrated Josh's 30th birthday this weekend! We kept it pretty low key this year. He went for a bike ride on Saturday, then we got lunch and went for a walk/picnic at the reservoir. That night, we got dinner at the mall, visited some friends, got ice cream, and fell asleep watching the NBA Finals. We are such crazy party animals.

On Sunday, I made french toast with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast, salmon and asparagus for dinner, and we had cheesecake at a friend's house.

The picture below was taken 2 weeks ago at 21 weeks pregnant. The bump keeps getting bigger! Right now, I am right at the point where my normal shirts are starting to not quite fit anymore, and the only comfortable pants have elastic waists. It's probably time to get a few more maternity pieces :)

We are pretty excited for baby, but also not wanting to rush the next 4 months. There is still a lot to do, and we are enjoying our last few months having Josh and Sarah time. The best part of being pregnant so far is feeling baby move! It's always a nice reminder that she is there and doing ok. 

Preggers

Now that the secret is out, I feel like I can talk about being pregnant! I'm not good at keeping secrets, so each week, a few more people found out until we finally leaked it through the interwebs this week, and now it is time that I will share some of the facts about the pregnancy so far.

This is a big year for us, as Josh is turning 30, I'm 25, we'll be married 5 years this year, and I'll be graduating from college for good (hallelujah!) In our heads, this was always the time we would start thinking about starting our family. So, assuming it would take a little while to get pregnant after going off birth control, I stopped in October. Fast forward to early January, and we found out that I was pregnant. It didn't take quite as long as I was expecting, which is great, but it also caught me off guard a little. I don't think I really believed I was pregnant and growing a creature until I hit 12 weeks.

I have always wanted to have a natural birth, and there is a great birth center nearby--a great birth center that our insurance doesn't cover, of course. So we decided to go with a practice that has 3 doctors and 2 midwives, with my primary person being one of the midwives. I really hate everything about doctor's offices, and this really isn't an exception, but I really like the midwife, so I'm hoping that's what really counts.

We have had two ultrasounds so far, the second of which we could see the heartbeat. That was the moment that it became real--for the first ultrasound, it just looked like a blob, but in the second one, with a heartbeat, it made it feel like it was an actual living thing in there. Then at the last visit we heard the heartbeat, and that was just a relief, just to know that the babe was still there.

I didn't have too much trouble in the 1st trimester--some nausea that was taken care of by eating frequent small and simple snacks, extreme fatigue that was taken care of by taking naps when I got home from work, and sore boobs. But those only lasted a few weeks and by about 9-10 weeks I was feeling pretty normal. At this point, the only "symptom" I'm experiencing is a no longer flat belly-which is very strange!

For the 1st time in my life, I am running, but still feel like I have no control over what my body looks like. Which cognitively, I understand, as I'm pregnant and I know my body will change, but realistically it's a very different and strange experience. The thing that helps me the most though is to keep running consistently. I've still been running 3-4 times a week, and that has really helped my mental status and helped me still feel like myself.

So while we knew this year would be a big year for us, we had no idea how big! We are very excited, and also very nervous. It's not really in Josh's or my nature to get really nervous in the typical sense though-- very nervous for me is more of "I just want to know how everything will work" while knowing it all will and not worrying too much about it at the same time. I just assume we'll figure it out when it gets here!

Runner's World 10k and Festival

Josh and I ran in the Runner's World 10k yesterday and went to the accompanying "festival afterwards." It was so amazing! I had my doubts since we don't normally do 10k's and it was 1.5 hours away, but it was so worth the time and the money. It was held at the Steel Stacks in Bethlehem, PA. We got there just in time to park, pick up our packets, check our gear, and get to the finish line.

The course was pretty hilly, but there were so many people running it that it went fast and was fun. Josh finished in 44:38 with a 7:11 pace (he's such a speedster!) and I finished in 54:10 with an 8:43 pace, which I was very pleased with considering I've only been running 1-2 times a week, no more than 4 miles at a time, for the past month. The weather was beautiful, the leaves were changing up there, and it was fun to run through a new city.

See the flame archway in the back? Pretty cool!

As soon as I crossed the finish line, Josh said, "Sarah, Jenae is right up there!"One of the reasons I had been so excited about this race was that I knew my favorite running blogger (Hungry Runner Girl) would be at the event and I was hoping to meet her. I got over my feelings of awkwardness and went up and met her! She was super nice and we took a picture together that she put on her blog! And she invited us to stay with her if we ever go back to Utah! Basically best friends now :)

After the race, we picked up our T-shirts and wandered around the expo for about an hour. The rest of the day, they offered different seminars about running.

The first one we went to was on nutrition and was by John Graham (Director of Sports & Human Performance, St. Luke's University Health Network) and Pamela Nisevich Bede (Sports Nutritionist and Runner's World Columnist-also a 16 time marathoner and Ironman!!)

Take away points:

• what you eat is important: it's not just the night before the race that counts, but the few days leading up to the race, as well. This goes for training runs also!
• If Gu's make you cramp up, you probably need to chase them with more water to help them break down in your stomach. One suggestion was pretzels.
• Don't eat too much fiber the day before/morning of a race.

The next seminar I went to was for Women's Running, and how running as a woman is different than running as a man. This was by Summer Sanders (two-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming, TV personality, and mother of two), Dr. Laura Dunne (Sports Medicine Physician and mother of three), and Jennifer Van Allen (Runner's World Special Projects Editor and author, and Ultramarathoner!). I liked this one a lot more than the first one. 

Take away points:

• Don't let someone else's definition of success become your definition of success. What is great for you might be mediocre for someone else, and vice versa. 
• Don't judge your current performance to past performances, because you are at a different stage of life than ever before. Stay focused on the future and what you can keep doing to improve. 
• Focus on why you run; i.e., I want to run for a long time, so I need to focus more on taking care of my body for the long-term (strength training and core exercises more)
• They recommended doing single leg dead lifts, planks, and bridges to strengthen your glutes and core
• Jennifer Van Allen started a running streak 142 days ago, where she has run at least 1 mile every day since she started. This has meant that sometimes she will only run 1 mile at a 15/16 minute pace in order to recover from longer runs. I like this because the focus is on getting out and running rather than how fast you are going. 
• Running helps with your mental health.

While I was in the women's class, Josh went to one on running longer and faster. This was by Budd Coates (Rodale Senior Director of Health and Fitness and four-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier) and Jonathan Beverly (Editor-in-Chief, Running Times). 

Main message: 

• Go slow! Do slow long runs and do speedwork, and gradually these will come together, but don't try and go your race pace on every run.

One of the things I liked most about the event was being around people who love being active and running, as well as being around so many people who are AMAZING--like Olympians and Ironmans Ultramarathoners. If they can be so awesome, I can be just a little bit awesome. 

Overall, it was a great event and a really fun day! 

New 1/2 Marathon PR!

Yesterday was a great day. I ran in the Mad Anthony Half Marathon and set a new PR!

Had you asked me 48 hours ago if I thought this was going to happen, I would have set no, due to several unexpected circumstances leading up to the race.

1. I wasn't planning on running this race. I was originally planning on running a race last Saturday, but due to my procrastination, registration filled up before I registered. Because of this, I had to extend my training plan a week.
2. I only ran once the week before the race, due to circumstances beyond my control.
3. I pretty much ate crap all week (i.e. pizza several times throughout the week and Mexican food the night before).

Despite all of this (or maybe because of it...pizza might just be my best fuel food!), I had my best race ever! The weather was absolutely perfect, the course was beautiful and not too hilly or too flat, and my legs were very rested. My time was 1:56:50.  I didn't bonk at all and the miles flew by!

Happy as a clam the whole time!

Perfect weather!

The things that made this race so much better than the last one were the weather and my training schedule. When it was so hot at the race in June, I felt like I needed to drink so much water, which just made me cramp because I am not used to drinking that much during a run. For the race in June, I ran 12 miles the week before the race, leaving my legs pretty tired. This time, I just ran 8 miles last week on my long run and rested the 4 days before the race this week, leaving me feeling ready to run.



The biggest thing I learned though, was how important it is to get up and try again! During the race in June, I thought I would never run again, I was so miserable. There were even times while continuing my training for this one that I wanted to quit because I was getting bored and it just wasn't fun anymore. But I kept going because I didn't want my training to be for nothing and I knew that it was important to have a good race to help get rid of the memory of the bad one. And it paid off! It was so fun and I'm so glad I stayed with it. Now it's time for a break...:)

Looking back at all of the races I have done (I just added a box on the side to help me keep track of them) has helped me realize that I am getting faster! While it may only be a few minutes at a time, there has been improvement. It's also cool to realize that I have done races in 6 different states (excluding 5k's and 10k's). It will be fun to see how many states I will hit by the time I am done with my racing career!

New Orleans!

Josh and I have never been to New Orleans before, and neither had my friend Lauren. So, we decided what better way to spend a summer weekend than meeting up in this crazy city and exploring it together! Plane ticket was booked, hotel was booked, swamp tour was reserved, we were ready to go.

We show up at the airport to pick Lauren up and I get out to hug her, when she says, "I ran into an old friend we both know from college at the airport," then she yells across the street, "hey, do you want a ride?" At this point, I think it's a little strange that she would offer this person a ride without checking with me first, but I figure it's fine. Then I look across the street, and it's my beloved LUCY! Those rascals planned her surprise visit without me even having an inkling of an idea about it!

Still in shock! I was pretty much speechless. 

It was so fabulous to be with the girls again. We had lots of fun at BYU together, and now that we are spread out across the country, it was so good to reconnect! This definitely needs to be a regular event.

It was a very busy weekend!

Day One:

• Beignets

• Oak Alley Plantation

• Coop's Place for lunch: fried crawfish, gumbo, jambalaya, shrimp creole, duck quesadilla

• Jackson Square and Bourbon Street

Day Two:

• Swamp Tour, complete with gators, bugs, and wild hogs

• Fried Alligator and Catfish Po' Boy for lunch

• Trolley and Garden District  

• Softshell crab and oysters for dinner

Day Three:

• City Park

•  Paddle Boating 

• Saying good-bye  :(

Overall, I loved New Orleans! It's very unique and there's a lot to do. I'm sure this won't be the last time we make a trip down there...

Choctaw Indian Fair

We are always on the lookout for fun/unusual/novel things to do while in the south. Partly because it is fun to do fun/unusual/novel things, partly because it tends to happen naturally that most of the events that take place here are unusual and novel for us, and {generally} fun.

While googling one day, I stumbled upon the Choctaw Indian Fair. Choctaw is about 2 hours away from us, so at first I was a bit skeptical, but knowing that if we didn't go, we would just be watching The West Wing and sitting on the couch {again}, we decided who cares about driving 4 hours to go to an INDIAN FAIR? C'mon, let's be real, that's a no-brainer.

We made our way over to Choctaw and were pleasantly surprised with a fabulous evening. First, we got to see THE world champion of hoop dancing and his cute little son practicing on the side.

The biggest reason we went though, was because country star Josh Turner was performing. This was great for many reasons: Josh has always been a big Josh Turner fan (maybe it's the name), it was super cheap, and the venue was super small with a crowd that was 80% over the age of 60, which made it easy to get close to the stage.  Josh Turner's voice was smooth, deep, and beautiful, and his wifey played the keyboard and sang backup with him! Super adorable. There also aren't many concerts that stumble through Mississippi, so to find someone we had actually heard of and really liked was all but a miracle. 

 Mandolin shout-out for Lucy

We made new friends who came with us! Yay! 

(apologies for the quality of the photo taken by random teenage girl)

We didn't get to go to any of the other Indian Fair events, because we had to get back to our dear doggie, but it was super fun and I'll definitely go back!

Miss Mississippi

One of the perks of living in Vicksburg is that the Miss Mississippi pageant takes place right down the street from where we are living! Some of you may ask, "But Sarah, I didn't know you were so into pageants?" Well friends, I'm not. But I don't mind a good ol' fashioned parade, and that is exactly what the Miss Mississippi pageant provided me with last night.

While there was no candy throwing and no elaborate floats in this parade, it was complete with convertibles, police cars and fire trucks (with accompanying sirens), dancers, and young women beautifully adorned in feathers, sequins, and satin. What's not to love?

All set up and ready for it to start! 

(it's a little hot here)

Yes, they are pointing and smiling at Franklin. 

I forgot to mention the zombies!

THE Miss Mississippi, also pointing and smiling at Franklin. He's basically famous. 

In all seriousness though, it was fun, and, as Mississippi has proven to be very good for, something I have never done before, but probably something that I will do again (this is an annual event, after all). Who knows? Some day, we may even scrap together the $50/ticket and actually go to the pageant itself.

I've always been a bit perplexed by pageantry, seeing as I often go day-to-day with no makeup (during summers at least) and without brushing my hair (a year-round occurrence). I'm not much for dressing up all that often, either. However, skeptic though I was, I read some of the bio's of the contestants in the pageant and was thoroughly impressed. One of the girls holds District, Regional, and State titles in high school track, got 11th in the 400m at Nationals, and was even on the front of a Wheaties box! If you're not impressed by that, you should go run a 400m sprint and then talk to me. So alas, my initial skepticism was met with proof that there is more than feathers, sequins, and satin involved in pageants, for which I was quite relieved.