A tribute to my favorite 4 year old

Wow! I just love my little boy, Dallin, so much. Yesterday, Emily was really sick, and I was not feeling so great myself, so we just laid on the couch. Dallin was a great little helper and did not complain once. When I asked him to get the thermometer, he said, "Yes, my loving mama!" It gave me a needed laugh. ( I think my scholarship boy can give your scholarship boy a run for his money, Suzie!) Then, I sent Jeff and Dallin to our weekly Family Home Evening with friends. Here was one of Dallin's outloud conversations with himself while he and his buddy were working on a puzzle.
"170 pieces- woah! I can't even count that high. Oh wait, yes I can. It comes after 169." Jeff was cracking up when he told me this story.

I have always enjoyed watching him learn. When he was really little, my favorite game was to teach him random things and see what he could pick up on. When he was 2, we were at Lake Powell with all of Jeff's family sleeping on a houseboat. No one could get to sleep because Dallin kept saying, "Grand-ma-Di---- three syllables." "Ha-ley---2 syllables" while clapping his hands. He has a great memory so Jeff loved teaching him new words in books without telling me. So, we would be reading a book when he would all of a sudden say, "dragonfly" or some other big word that I had no idea he knew. He has always loved letters and numbers, and I hope he continues to have that love.

He is also just a sweet boy. Sometimes this means he gets clobbered, and I hope to teach him to stand up for himself, but I love that I don't usually have to worry about him hitting, kicking or biting anyone. He is just a nice kid. I love that I feel comfortable leaving him with people and know that he won't cause too many problems.

Of course, we have our struggles. He can throw a huge fit when he is not ready to leave someone's house. Getting him to eat has always been rough. But overall, I have just enjoyed being his mom and learning from him. I hope he knows how much I love him.

Tell me what you love about your kids.

Family and Traditions

Here is a beautiful turkey that was made in my oven...

too bad I didn't get to eat it! Jeff's parents came to town this weekend and suggested that we just relax and eat at Marie Calendar's. I wasn't sure what to think, and kind of thought I was a slacker for agreeing, but it was so nice to just enjoy Thanksgiving Day, knowing that someone else was preparing our meal. My good friend and neighbor, Amy, borrowed our oven, and slipped in and out to check on her turkey. That is when I felt really guilty. But honestly, we had a great time and created new traditions. We played games, watched a movie and the best part was when we went to our local museum, OMSI.





What a fabulous time just watching the kids play. There is a really cool sand box and so many things to explore you can't possibly see it all in one day. It was so fun for Grandma and Grandpa to see Dallin and Emily in their home environment. Emily is really talking a lot and kept them laughing. Dallin just wanted to play Uno the whole time and spent hours printing up "Cars" pictures to color. I wish we were able to see them more, but we are grateful they came to spend Thanksgiving with us. (And for my own defense, I did cook a few meals while they were here.)

They left early this morning. It was a beautiful day in Oregon and we decided to take advantage of it. (If you have been reading Suzie's posts you know it has not quit raining for a while.) We trekked up the road a little ways and picked out a Christmas tree. When we moved to Oregon, we bought our first house. One of my quirky requirements was to have a window for a Christmas tree. Then I was delighted when I saw how easy it is to cut down your own tree! (In fact, I am still a little dismayed that Suzie is using her "fake" tree, but I won't mention it.) Our first Christmas here, I was eight months pregnant, but that didn't stop me from having my tree in the window. I am glad Jeff enjoys this as much as I do and the kids had a great time as well. We also put up some of the Christmas lights. I am excited for the traditions yet to come this year.

What are your favorite traditions? I am always looking to add to ours.

Stop on by and say hello

Okay, this is my post to recommit myself to posting! I love reading others' blogs and getting to know them through their words and their pictures. I never think I have enough "cool" things to say to post very often. I have decided that I am going to let go of my pride and remember I want to post often so that I can remember the cute things my kids are doing. I also want to be able to think about my blessings on the days when I don't feel things are going so well.

So, I am asking for all of your help in this. If you are a lurker, make a quick profile and just say hi! (This includes my family!!) I look forward to getting to know more people. (And okay, I will admit it, I look forward to more comments and validation.)

Here are some things I am thankful for:

1. A wonderful and supportive husband who is awesome with his kids. (Our first date was 9 years ago yesterday!)

2. 2 sweet kids who crack me up every day.

3. A pregnancy that I wasn't expecting (pardon the pun) but that is such a blessing.

4. Parents who taught me to accept and treat all people the same. They are both amazing and nonjudgmental. I hope that I picked this up from them.

5. Sisters who have stuck by me no matter what.
6. A little brother who came 9 years after the youngest girl and is such an important member of our family.
7. Knowing that I am a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father.
8. Kids who forgive my shortcomings quickly and often.
9. Friends who are there for me when I don't think I can do it on my own.
10. Marrying into a wonderful family who accepted me as I am. I feel so lucky that I don't have the in-law horror stories. I just wish we lived closer to family.

Okay, that is all for now. I am not going to promise I will write every day, but hopefully at least every other day. Thanks for all I have learned and keep learning from everyone.

Thank Heavens for Grandma Nise!

Okay, I just want to tell my mom how grateful I am that she spent this last week with us. I have truly been spoiled and the kids have loved every minute. I will post more pics, but I just wanted to get this up quickly so she would see it when she gets home! It has been wonderful!! I got to sleep in, have my meals cooked for me, house cleaned, and kids played with. All the while, I got rest and time to paint the new play room that I love!! It was just the jump start I needed in this pregnancy...

what's that you say? You didn't know I was pregnant? Well, a couple of people have emailed me on the sly as they have deduced this announcement in posts I have made on other blogs. I am happy to announce we have a third child coming to our family in mid-May! I can finally say I feel a little more ready. :-) This was a huge shock because we went through fertility treatments for our other two munchkins, and felt that two kids were great for us. Jeff loved to say when we were asked if we wanted more kids, "If the Lord wants us to have more kids, it will be in the normal way." Never did either of us actually believe this would happen. So, here's to you, Jeff! The timing was a little crazy because Jeff just had ankle surgery and was on crutches for a month, and I had just decided to overhaul my house to create a pantry and playroom, replacing the office with an armoire. (A whole new post on its own, coming soon...)

So, we had an awesome week with grandma! I did give her a break a little :-), but she loved cuddling with Emily in the mornings and we went to visit her sister, my Aunt Brenda this weekend. The drive there was not great, but overall a wonderful time. All I can say is thank you, thank you thank you. There is just times when all a girl needs is her mom. I love you, Mom! She was an answer to many prayers. (And Jeff, thanks for the lovely clean carpets. You rock!!)

Happy Halloween!

I know you are all tired of looking at my "cans" so I thought I would put up my cute kids instead. We had such a fun Halloween. Our good friends came over with their darling little boy to spend Halloween with us. Dallin was on a trick-or-treating mission as he "flashed" from house to house without waiting for his mom or little sister! Emily was darling as she refused to let go of the cute Halloween pumpkins that they use for the candy. (Thanks Grandma Nise!!) She said "Happy Halloween" after every house and loved putting more than one candy in her bag. We are all sugared out, but enjoyed every minute. How was everyone else's Halloween?

PS
I can't wait for my mom to get here tomorrow. I hope she is ready for all the painting projects I want to do, hee hee!!

"Look at My Cans!"

Thanks, Suzie, for the kick in the can to post. Ha Ha! Anyway, this statement refers to my awesome friend Suzie's blog. It is about time I update!



So, really, look at my cans! Aren't they gorgeous? One of my other really good friends gave up her little boy's precious naptime to help me, her organizationally-challenged friend, create a pantry. (I also can't forget to give kudos to Suzie who came over last month to help me rearrange my front room to look more inviting. Are you catching the pattern here? I need lots of help!) I LOVE, LOVE LOVE my new pantry. There is still much work to be done and I should show you the state of the office upstairs, where all those wonderful toys were transferred to, but I won't. I will show you the finished room later. It will be wonderful, trust me.

One thing my husband learned is if he really wants me to get something done, have Suzie tell me it's a good idea. He had mentioned moving the toys upstairs a few months ago. It wasn't until last week, when Suzie and I were enjoying a wondeful, quiet conversation downstairs in her beautifully decorated and clean living room, with the kids all playing upstairs, that I was finally motivated to do something about it. Another example of the power of Suzie is this Endurance 50 hoopla. I was seriously considering driving up to Seattle and running the marathon. This wouldn't have been too crazy a few months ago, as I would have at least been physically able to handle it. The truth is, my running has slacked lately, I have put on a few pounds, and I just plain feel like crap. I still wanted to run. :-) My hubby thought I was nuts, but I was still determined. Once Sarah said I was nuts, I realized how insane of an idea it truly was. Thanks Suzie!(She did consider running it for a split second though!)


Other update, my darling Emily turned 2 today. She is so much fun and I am grateful to be her mom. Her favorite things to do are wrap blankets around anything, and hold my good friend Amy's, Baby Harry. She is a fesity little girl, with a strong will. She also has a big heart and will blurt out, "I love momma" for seemingly no reason at all. She loves to color on anything, including, of course, the walls. She opened a new shopping cart from Grandmi Di this morning and was so excited!



Well, that is it for now. I will try to update more often. :-)

Tears of Motherhood

I know I am not a great blogger, and the main reason is because I am self-conscious of my writing ability, or should I say, my lack thereof. Anyway, today was one of the hardest days I have had, and I thought I needed to document it, regardless of my skills. Here goes:
We are leaving for Lake Powell tomorrow, and I spent the first part of my day running errands. Around 4:30, I finally had a chance to start packing. I went outside to take the trash out and get some clothes out of my trunk. Dallin immediately went outside and grabbed Emily's trike. (She was sleeping, so I guess he thought it was fair game.) He just rides up and down the sidewalk. I saw him speeding back toward me and it was then that I noticed my neighbor's truck had its trailer hitch sticking out into the sidewalk. I tried to warn Dallin, but it was too late. His leg hooked the hitch and he started screaming. I ran toward him. I didn't think it would be too bad, but I pulled up his shorts and gasped.
There was a one inch long gash about a half inch wide and about a centimeter deep. I was so terrified I froze. I held him in my arms and walked back and forth for a minute. My neighbor was there and she helped calm me down. She went inside the house with me and we laid him on the couch. He was still crying and didn't want us to touch it. It wasn't bleeding too badly. My neighbor told me to look for gauze and athletic tape. I was able to find both and our other good friend showed up at that moment and helped me bandage Dallin up. I thought Dallin would need stitches so I called the Dr. first who told us to come in. He said they could do stitches there if we needed them. I called Jeff to let him know what was going on. My good friend and neighbor, who is a paramedic, came and looked at Dallin and told us he definitely needed to go in and she thought they would reccommend stitches. She told me to call her if they were going to do stitches because I would need support. She took Emily for me so that I could take Dallin on my own. Dallin was very brave in the Dr. office. They told me immediately he would need stitches. Jeff asked if he could make it in time and I didn't think he could, so I called Amy. She came in to give support. When she told me I would have to hold Dallin down, I started bawling. No mother should ever have to do that to their child. He screamed through the numbing medicine, and at one point Amy asked him if he could really feel it, and he stopped for a minute and realized the pain was gone. :-) The relief in his eyes was priceless. From then on, he was all smiles. He actually thought it was kind of cool that he couldn't feel anything. He then preceded to fall asleep while they were stitching him up. I wish I had a picture of that. I have never felt such pure love and heartache at the same time. I never want to watch my child go through that much pain. Yet, I know it will happen again. Probably not in the same way, but it will happen nonetheless. We are here to learn and grow and make choices. Some will bring us happiness, and some will bring us sorrow. I think I understand a little more how my parents felt when I made decisions that weren't the best. I hope they know how much I love them and appreciate their unconditional love. I hope Dallin knows how much I love him no matter what. I will hold his hand and cry with him whenever necessary.

Enjoying Life's Journey

Well, as I get ready to endure the craziness of airport security, I wanted to write some thoughts and goals down. I read a book called Enjoying Life's Journey- Choosing Happiness along the Way. It just reminded me that I have control over my happiness. I am determined to have a positive attitude and enjoy each moment, especially with my children. Unfortunately 2 of my good friends each had a parent die this week, so it has caused me to rethink life a little bit. Life is definitely too short to stress over little things. I want to do all I can to make others happy, including myself. At Girls Camp I encouraged the girls to never be the reason that someone else is looked down upon. I want to issue the same challenge to myself and anyone who reads this. Let's lift each other up! We are all truly on the same side. I have so many things to be grateful for, especially wonderful family and friends. I love all of you!!

Vacation, vacation

This is for you, Suzie P, my loyal reader and friend. :-) Anyone else who visits this site, please feel free to comment! I just thought I would do a quick update. This has been a whirlwind 3 weeks. The first week I spent at Girls Camp and had an awesome time with my teenager friends! Thanks to my good friends willing to watch my munchkins, and my sweet hubby who took good care of them while I was gone. I know they loved being with their dad. The second week we spent 4 relaxing days at the lake with our good friends. We had so much fun playing in the water and just enjoying time as a family. I don't think I have had that much downtime in my entire life. :-) I got a lot of water skiing and wakeboarding in and Jeff was able to get up on an air chair. I will put up pics when I get back from California. Which leads me to where I am now. I am lucky enough to spend both of my parents' birthdays with them. It has been fantastic! We first went to Knotts Berry Farm with Grandma Nise and my big sis Crystal and Tony and the girls joined us. It was so fun, although Dallin was a little disappointed that he couldn't go on many of the roller coasters. I am trying to use this to my advantage to get him to eat more food. Am I evil or what?! That night, we went to a very cool Pirates dinner show which mesmerized my little Emily! Shelly came down from Utah to join us, which was a nice surprise. On Saturday, we went to an outdoor musical production of Sleeping Beauty. Even though it was past her bedtime, Emily was singing and dancing- so cute! The rest of the time here has just been spent relaxing at my Aunt Marlynn's with her and her wonderful kids and playing at the park near my parents. It was been great watching Dallin and Emily become better friends as they rely on one another. It has also been great for my to just enjoy being with them. So, there you have it, my vacation so far. I miss all of my friends back in Oregon!

Okay, I can't get the pics on this, so if you want to see pics go to www.myspace.com/marathonmommy20Now you know my dirty little secret- I have a MySpace account! Add me to your friend list. :-)

Happy (Belated) 4th

I am still not very good at this whole blogging the day it happens thing. :-) After the race in the morning, the rest of our day was awesome. We played at the park for a while and then went home and relaxed while Emily took a nice nap to get ready for the long night ahead. We played over at the neighbor's house for a while.


Then we went to an AWESOME party put on by our good friends. They have a huge deck and backyard and many of our friends were there. They fried a turkey and we just enjoyed good food and good conversation. Emily was very clingy to us, I think she knew what was to come.



Our friends put on a great fireworks show. This is the part where grown men become little boys again and I love it! They truly find their inner pyromaniac and I enjoy watching the results.


The invitation to the party said, "100 bottles of beer, 500 fireworks, 0 fatalities." We didn't participate in the beer :-), but the fireworks were fun. Dallin really likes the sparklers.


All in all, it was a great ending to a fun weekend. Jeff had the whole weekend off and we did some boating and playing but mostly just enjoying time as a family. I feel so lucky to have them!

A Day out with Thomas

I love being a mom, but there are definitely days where I just truly enjoy every moment. Today was one of those days, and I have Thomas the Tank Engine to thank for it! Dallin has been in love with Thomas and his friends since he was around 20 months old. He could name and recognize the number of at least 10 of them by the time he was 2 years old. We thought it would just be a phase, but here we are 2 1/2 years later! I am a little embarrassed to say that he owns about 50 trains {Please don't do the math on how much that would cost...) but he LOVES making different tracks every day for the trains to drive on. He even says he wants to be a train driver when he grows up. So, anyway, Thomas comes to visit Hood River, OR every year around 4th of July. It is about an hour and a half away, but this is the third time we have made the trek. Here is the group of kids:


Dallin and his friends have played together since they were babies. They all get along so well, it has been a blessing for me with Dallin not having cousins nearby. Luckily, the moms all get along great also. It allows us to have adult conversation while our kids have a good time together.


Emily had a great time as well. I thought she would just be along for the ride, but she has become a true Thomas fan as well. She was all smiles all day, and it helped that she took a little nap on the way there. In fact, she woke up and started rocking out to the Thomas music that was playing in the car! I made her her own little Thomas shirt that turned out really cute.


Here is our little family. It truly couldn't have been a more perfect day. There was no rush, we just enjoyed our time.

A couple more Thomas pics

I love seeing my little boy so happy! He could have stayed there for days.

Body for Life

Okay, I need to have accountability in order to stick with something. Right now, I have been really frustrated with my eating habits. The healthiest I have ever eaten and the best I have ever felt was when I had gestational diabetes and had to eat a diabetic diet. It is pretty much identical to the Body for Life plan. So, I have officially started today. I weighed in this morning (not telling how much) and I did my Upper Body Weights. It felt great! My knee is a little sore right now so I am cutting back on my running, so it is a good time to add in weight lifting. I have my little notebook to keep track of how I am doing. So, wish me luck! Anyone want to join me? I don't really have a weight loss goal, maybe 10 lbs. I just want to kick my butt into gear!

There IS hope for me!

Today, thanks to the wonderful generosity of Suzie Petunia, I was able to have a few hours to myself, in my own house. Oh, the joy! The rule was that I was not allowed to watch TV and I had to report what I was able to accomplish. (My self-imposed rules of course!) We are going to try out this little swap so we can each clean our house in peace, and I was happy to go first. It was definitely a success. I spent the first hour hanging up pictures, bulletin boards, etc that I just hadn't made a priority and I love it! Emily's room is so cute now! I will post pictures soon. It is amazing what the little changes did for my attitude toward my house. After I finished those little things, I busted my behind cleaning. I cleaned all 3 bathrooms, and the kids rooms and the master bedroom and then vacuumed the whole upstairs. Whew! The best part is that when I went to pick up the kids, they were happy and fed! What a great start to my day. It felt so good that when I came home after picking up the children, I was still in clean mode, and mopped the kitchen and the bathroom and still finished all the laundry. After all, it is Monday Laundry Day. So, now the goal is to keep it maintained. Also, I would love to decorate my living room. I will need help to do that also. :-) I am so lucky to have good friends who help me with the things that don't come easily for me. I hope they know that I am always here to help also. It is so great when we can work together. Suzie, it's your turn, Friday! You can do whatever you want. I just expect a full report. :-)

What I hope I can learn from running...

Well, today was the day! After running off and on since I was in high school, today I ran 5 miles and felt amazing. I wasn't meeting anyone(I had already missed the 6am meeting time due to a fun party at Suzie's), so it was just me, my mp3 player and the road. This was truly the first time in 12 years(wow!) I can say a run was easy for me. I run now because it is just what I do. I have been very consistent with my running (maybe too consistent if you ask other people :-)), with the end goal that someday it would feel "natural." It has been a long "road" but I am proud of where I am. I still have many goals (Boston anyone?), but I feel today was a huge milestone. There have been many times I wanted to give up running because I wasn't very good, and I am so grateful I persevered and proved that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. Now, I just want to apply this to the rest of my life. Being a homemaker is definitely not "natural" to me. My disorganized, chaotic brain just does not know where things are "supposed" to go. I get overwhelmed very easily by the tasks involved in "running" a household. Sometimes I want to give up because of the fear that I will never be successful. As I look into the eyes of my darling children and my sweet husband, I realize there can be no giving up. With the help of good friends, prayer, a sense of humor, a loving family, and my own determination, I will figure it out just like I have finally figured out how to run. And someday, I hope to feel the same way about my skills as a homemaker as I feel today about my running. Any ideas and tips always appreciated. :-)

A breath of fresh air...

Well, I just got the approval from my insurance for my new inhaler. Yep, that's right, folks. There is a possibility I might have asthma. More specifically, exercise-induced asthma. It seems crazy, but it would explain my throat closing up and not being able to breathe. :-) I will be so happy if this is a correct diagnosis because it means that I am fixable. (At least for my running problems- my mental problems- that's a whole other story!) Tomorrow will be a good test. Suzie and I will be running in a local 5k with some of our other good friends. Wish us luck!

Happy Mommy's Day

What a great day to reflect on the most important people in my life: my family. I woke up to my sweet Dallin reminding me it was Mother's Day and that I could finally open the gift he made me in preschool. He has been so excited for the last couple of days for me to open this. It was a little coupon book and he said, "And I have to do everything in it, Mom." It was awesome. I truly love that little boy and feel so lucky to be his mom. He is just such a nice, smart funny little boy and I am in awe of him every day. It has been such a joy to watch him learn. He also sang with the Primary kids for the first time today and I completely teared up. I hope I am doing a good job with him. I hope he knows how much I love him. I am also so grateful for my darling Emily. She keeps me busy, but there is never a dull moment with her. She loves to get our attention and make us laugh. She thinks she is such a big girl and is so proud of herself when she figures things out. I am so glad I am their mommy. I talked to my mom tonight and I hope she, too, knows how much I love her. She is truly the most generous woman I have ever known and I have learned so much from her. I wish we lived closer to her because Dallin talks about Grandma Nise all the time. I am also lucky enough to have another great woman to call mom. My mother in law is an amazing woman. She has always treated me like her own daughter and I am very grateful for that. I hope that I will always remember the most important things in life aren't things.

I did it!

Short report- my marathon time was 4:38- a 33 minute improvement from last year and I am just enjoying my rest. I just wrote up my full report on Marathon Mommies. Thanks for all of your support. I will be focusing on crosstraining and weight lifting this week. :-)

Reason #502 why I love my husband

...he gives up every Saturday morning so I can run! As I get ready to run my second marathon in 11 months, I have to take a minute to thank the one person who has truly made it possible. I have been a "runner" off and on our whole marriage. In the beginning it was 2 mile runs just to get some excercise every once in a while. After Dallin, my oldest, was born I knew I needed a goal to motivate me, so I signed up for this crazy Oregon relay race called Hood to Coast. I trained pretty regularly, and he bought me a CD skip-proof walkman to show his support. Let's jump ahead about a year. We went through fertility treatments(another blog for another day) and I gained about 25 pounds before getting pregnant with Emily. After she was born, I decided I had a lot of weight to lose and needed a big goal again. I contemplated the marathon, but was not really sure if I would be able to run it. The most I had ever run at one time was 9 miles, and it was not pretty. :-) Well, for Christmas 2004, Jeff surprised me with an MP3 player and told me, "This is for your marathon." It was very sweet, and for the first time, I thought maybe I really could run a marathon. He has always made me feel I could do anything I set my mind to and he has always given me wings to fly. He supports me in all of my crazy goals and all he asks in return is that I am happy. This past year I think I only missed one Saturday long run, and he never once complained. I do try to run early so that it isn't too burdensome, but it is every week. I wondered if he was getting tired of my committment to running, until this Christmas he bought me The Watch! (Garmin Forerunner 301) This was something I had looked at for a long time, but could never justify because I just run for "fun." Well, he surprised me with it and I LOVE it. It tells me my heart rate, how fast I am going, how far I have gone, and I can plug it to the computer so I can graph every run I do. The science nerd in me loves this stuff! So, now he knows I definitely won't quit. He knows that running is "my" time and makes me a happier wife and mom. He was my shoulder to cry on when my first marathon didn't go how I wanted. He said the perfect thing, "Kelly, you didn't do all the training JUST to run a marathon, you did it for all the things that came with the training." He understands me and why I run. (Kind of!) Also, when I was dying to have a run where I averaged under an 8 minute mile, he ran a 5k with me and stayed by my side the entire run. Now, he is helping me stay focused the week after the Boston Marathon when the crazy part of me starts thinking I am ready to try to qualify. So, even when I sound bummed that he doesn't want to hear about Boston again, I know he is doing exactly what I need, reminding me of why I run. He wants me to have a great marathon. I love him for that. So, thanks Jeff, for always being there for me.

Halfway to Boston...

I am on Cloud 9 right now because I had an AMAZING run yesterday. It started out with a 4 mile warmup, 3 of which were with two of my good friends and running buddies. It was a nice comfortable pace. Then I met up with Suzie and Ted, my fellow friends and Ogden Marathon buddies. I had told them that I wanted to do this 12 1/2 mile run at around 8:45 pace, which is the pace I think I could run Ogden on a perfect day. Well, we started the first mile at 8:38 and I felt great and thought that was pretty close. The next 2 miles were a little fast, 8:04 and 8:10, so Ted suggested we slow down. My heart rate was getting a little high so I agreed and we slowed down a little. I won't write every mile, but it was awesome!! I felt pretty good the whole time. It was definitely harder than normal, and I couldn't really carry on a conversation, just listen to Suzie and Ted. Well, were making such good time that I wanted to run the full 13.1 miles to have a half marathon PR (personal record.) So, I ran past the Y, when Ted and Suzie went to their cars and finished the last mile at 7:54. The total average was 8:23 minutes per mile! That is officially what I need to average to qualify for Boston. Woo Hoo! I didn't know I could run that fast for so long. I still have a ways to go, but it feels possible. And I felt awesome at the end. And the even better news is that Suzies shin splints feel better-yeah!! So, two more weeks and I finally get to crush my marathon PR with the help of good friends.