Oh what FUN!

Running with friends is always fun, but running with a group of FRIENDS, FANTASTIC! Who knew? I had no idea what a great time it would be. Our Friday morning running club continues and is growing. We had 8 great gals this last Friday who ran and it was a great run, even though it was a tough, hilly course! What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Yah, that's right! How many times have you said that on the tough part of a run? Too many times to count? Remember my, "I love where I live" post...that's the course we ran. It was another beautiful day for this run and again got to appreciate the amazing views with some fun gals. The hills are killer for the last 2 or so miles...straight up, oh WHAT FUN!?!?! A hard is always BETTER with people running it with you. Added an extra mile at the end for a 6.25 mile run! Good time had by all...well I hope by all!

Was so happy to have my dear friend, Jamie run with us.  It's been forever since we have run together!  Missing our runs together!

On Sunday I had some FREE time,  WHAT....FREE time!  I always get anxious with my free time and can never decide what to do since it so rarely happens!  I did a variety of things and one of them included a walk...run...walk...oh we will just run with Gracie, our dog.  It was so much fun!  I haven't taken Gracie out for a long time and was a little worried how she would do so we stayed close to home and did some laps.  She did great and it was so enjoyable!  We did 2 miles and then I did a little more after dropping her off at home.  I did a 3 mile run with her today and she did great.  It's great having her with me while I run and I know she loves being outside.  I love that she smiles...can you see how happy she is in the picture?  Cracks me up! 

I trained for most of marathon SOLO and now...the solo thing does not sound fun to me at all.  What has happened.  I used to prefer to do all my running solo and was scared to run with people...now it's all about the people runs!  I love it and it makes my runs so much more enjoyable with friends, a group of friends or my Gracie girl!  What fun!

Please feel free to join our Friday morning runs if you want!  We would love to have you!  But beware...we don't live in a FLAT running community so consider it a great Hill training run.  I love what Kim from (Just) Trying is for Girls said after running with us last year..."If you have a name for a hill, it's probably not a good hill"  And that is sooooo true! 

Wordless Wednesday! Toothfairy Edition...

Nothing say's BIG BOY like loosing your first TOOTH!  Wowzer...my little buddy is growing up!

I love where I live!

Can you see this picture?  If you can...isn't it beautiful?  I live here and durinng my run I realized how lucky I am to live here.  Now keep in mind that it was a BEAUTIFUL day here in the Pacific Northwest and you better believe everyone was LIVING it up!  It was a great day for a run and I'm so glad I took advantage of the day instead of going to the gym.  I had no idea how far I would go or what direction...but it all worked out better than expected.  I wanted to enjoy the sites so I headed where I could do that!  On my way I saw my hairdresser who is also my friend...FUN and an EAGLE...flew by, closer than I had ever experienced!

Let's get this PARTY started!



And we are starting out...here we go!



The run went down first...perfect, then up then back down.  It was a perfect route because it allowed me to warm-up in the beginning, have some challenging hills that lasted about 2 miles and then the last bit was down-hill which is always WONDERFUL!

Much needed solo run.  Got to listen to my music, stop and take some pictures, enjoy the sites and it also made me so thankful for where I live.  It's so pretty.  This was by far the most scenic route I have ever run in my neighborhood and I think I will do it a lot more.  You never know where your run will take you, but I'm always grateful when it takes me some where NEW!

And we're DONE!  See how sunny it was...oh look...my shadow...I haven't seen it in a WHILE!

Winner, WINNER!!!

So excited to announce our 2 winners for the BANANA BLOSSOM PRESS GIVEAWAY

Winner #1 is....and will win a T-shirt from Banana Blossom Press

Moonsword's Chamber

Winner #2 is...and will win some of Banana Blossom Press Cards! 

Shelby at Run Towards Him

Congrats!  Please email me at jillellingson @ hotmail dot com so I can get you your things!

Thank you all for entering my giveaway.  Please continue to check out Banana Blossom Press website HERE!  They have such fun products.

What's UP? Three Things Thursday!

Holla! Holla! 

Reporting to you live from my laptop!  Finally!  So happy that I don't have to go into our tiny, cold office if I want to blog!  Great news for me!

1.  Have been a little under the weather for a few days which is unusual for me.  Not totally surprised since I had a 1 boy throw up the other morning and the other with constant dirty diapers (sorry TMI)...it was bound to happen. I was bummed that it happened while my mom was visiting, but glad I had someone to help while I wasn't a 100%.  Love, love having my mom here! She helps with the kids and does thing that I hate doing, like folding laundry and dishes! 

2.  Today is the FINAL day to enter for my Banana Blossom Press Giveaway.  So please enter and see if the Luck of the Irish is with you!  Happy St. Patricks day!  Enjoy!  Go out and WIN something.

3.  Did you love my pictures from yesterday?  We have a new running group, well unofficial running group!  A group of gals who are going to run on Fridays.  It's fun having a group of gals take over the streets of our neighborhood and run.  We all have different running backgrounds but come together and love seeing each other succeed.  Looking forward to Friday morning runs with the gals.  Feel free to join us if you want!  Your sure to have some FUN!

Wordless Wednesday!

Banana Blossom Press GIVEAWAY!

I'm so excited that Maria, owner and founder of Banana Blossom Press is hosting our GIVEAWAY!  I fell in love with her company at the You Go Girl expo back in September.  I didn't realize it but my dear friend, Megan had sent me one of her cards right before my marathon!  I loved the card because it was simple and simply stated 26.2...it was perfect for me and I loved it.  Had know idea that it was from a company around here!  I couldn't help buying some of her products at the expo and fell in love with her t-shirts.  Their shirts are soft, creatively STATED and you can wash it many times and it still looks GREAT.  People always comment on my "I Love Running, I Hate Running" shirt! 


Here is a little info about Maria and her reason for starting this FUN company,

"Running changed my life. Eight years ago, I was a pack-a-day smoker who hated the mere thought of exercising. I celebrated my first run in the parking lot of a local park by smoking a cigarette! Today, I am a runner, a mountaineer and the owner of a fantastic business.
I started Banana Blossom Press to honor those in the fitness and wellness community who support me in my athletic endeavors. They are my family, friends, trainers, running partners, climbing buddies, massage and physical therapists, my local running store for always fitting me with the perfect pair of shoes, race volunteers, and strangers who cheer for me on the course.
I am not a fast runner, I am not a great climber. I am your average everyday athlete who struggles with the snooze button every morning and I almost always win."

A little more about the company...

Greeting Cards and Tees Inspired by Everyday Athletes.
"Unique and uncomplicated, cards that help connect with wellness in mind and capture the inner thoughts of everyday athletes. Banana Blossom Press has designed a new line of greeting cards for anyone who loves/hates exercise. Perfect for the people in your yoga class, boot camp group or spinning class, for your spouse who runs and you don't, for your child who had a great year in their cross country team at school, for your friend who is training for a triathlon and for your mother who is going to walk a half-marathon after seeing you run a marathon.
We have cards that celebrate reaching an exercise goal. These cards encourage those who may be struggling or have reached a plateau. Some cards connect you with others who are training for a specific event. The cards will show appreciation to someone who inspires you with their accomplishments."

********************************************

So now that you too have fallen in LOVE with this GREAT company...what do you need to do?  Well if you would LOVE to win (and I know you do) an AWESOME t-shirt to show off to your friends and family and a pack of B.B.P cards...then enter....

There will be 2 winners...

One lucky person will receive T-Shirt of your choice (You know you can't wait to show it off around town).

And another...

Winner will receive a pack of cards of your choice (feel free to send me one I love getting cards)!

So go ahead...do it NOW...why wait...
1. Become a follower of this blog and leave me a comment to let me know.

2. Visit Banana Blossom Press HERE and leave me a comment to know what shirt or card you would choose.

3. "Like" Banana Blossom Press on Facebook HERE and leave me a comment to let me know.

4. Make a purchase at Banana Blossom Press and leave me a comment to let me know what you bought. (5 entries)

5. Repost this giveaway and leave me a comment to let me know.


Now do you get my clue?  Fruit and Flower?  Yah...I'm creative!  I almost forgot to put when the contest ends?...Woops!  How about...let's give it a week.  So I will draw a winner on Thursday March 17th. 

Fun Run with my FRIEND!

Diana and I are the Center...our 2nd home! 

It's been a while since Diana I got to run together.  We were happy to be able to change that last week and made it work to get together for a SLOW run!  I kept telling her...slow, we have to go SLOW since I haven't been running as much and (news to most of you) have been dealing with some knee and shin pain, no good.  I did get some X-Ray's two weeks ago and everything looks fine but I need to watch how much high impact stuff I'm doing.  I loved seeing a picture of my bones, I do look PRETTY AMAZING if you ask me...well my bones that is! 



Who knew bathroom pictures could be so GOOD?





A little closer now...CHEESE!

 Ok, ok...back to our run!  I was happy to wake up to no rain and some breaks in the clouds, couldn't ask for more.  Diana came PREPARED, she had all her running gear on so I felt safe having her with me since she had every available running need on her!  We ran the same route that Erin I had run a few weeks ago and I love it.  It was fun to catch up, laugh and just have a GREAT run together.  So much fun running with friends...always great to spend time together doing something so good for ourselves.  At the end we were laughing about how we didn't use any of Diana's running things...but how can you ever know...Next time Diana, next time!

And look who we ran into as we were running back to the gym!  Our friend and running buddy, Rosanna!  Friends are fun!

Oh and in some BIG news...We are going to have a GIVEAWAY this week!  I love the company that is hosting this week and I know you will too!  Think fruit and flower...any ideas? 

Portland in Pictures...AGAIN

Entering Oregon!

Max and I had a great trip to Portland for a few days, a few weeks ago.  Our drive couldn't have gone better with the sun shining!  We were anxious to get to my moms to spend a few days with her and the rest of my family.  I always love being able to spend time with Max on his own...such a sweet boy who is getting older every day! 

Just driving into BEAUTIFUL Portland!

Love this picture!

Well, I like this one too!

Max took this of my Mom and I enjoying so yummy coffee after hitting up Lulu Lemon and Lucy...

My brother graciously gave up his room so Max and I could stay!  This is his view...lucky guy!  Beautiful view of downtown Portland!



Max, Pat, my brother Andrew



Another great morning with a beautiful view!

And now for the RUN!!!!!

Was hoping I wouldn't feel "Moody" on my run!

My moms building way over...there!

Turn around...

Fun views!

Not the most slimming shot...no...not really why I'm even keeping this on here...

No better way to do a self portrait!

And what to do after....Well of course...

Relax

This was Max when I got back from my run...love the picture.

Pat, Mom and Max working on a puzzle while I relax on the couch with my Starbucks Vanilla Rooibos Tea!

Time to leave this great city!

I need RUNNING!



I saw this for the first time on my way to my longest run of my marathon training...I love it!  I focused on it for the last 8 miles of that 25 miles...

 So I had a moment...maybe it was longer than a moment!  I had a GREAT RUN!  I'm catching up on posts since it's been a while so I have to catch you up!  I ran with my friend Erin again a few weeks ago.  I had really wanted to have a run by myself since I hadn't run much, but I didn't want to tell her no and I'm so glad I didn't.  I had wanted to go around 5-7 miles and so I was happy when she said she wanted to go a little further than our usual 5k...perfect!  We decided to do 5 miles and I picked a great route, that I had never run before...but knew it would be great.  The day was clear but COLD which is great running weather!  We had a great time catching up.  At about mile 2.5 we plugged into the ipods which was a great thing for me since I hadn't ran with my music for a while.  This was a GREAT Run...I was feeling awesome and was thrilled to be running with Erin on her first ever 5 miler.  I told her when we passed 3.1 miles and she was so excited because she had never ran further than that!  I could tell she was getting tired and I kept encouraging her and cheering her on...I WAS extremely proud of her!  We ran the BIG hill and had to do a couple loops to make it to 5 miles.  We finished and we were both thrilled about what we had just done.  What was really exciting is that the last few times when we have run we are usually over 11 minute miles and for this, her furthest run we ran it with a pace of 10:37... How impressive!  So EXCITING!

On a personal note...that was an AMAZING run for me.  It felt great the entire time and really could have kept going...I realized I was MADE to RUN, I NEED to RUN...I can't ever give it up even though there are times that I don't want to do it, but then I have runs like that and I can't believe what it does for me.  I actually got kind of emotional about it...it was really weird but I started crying because of how good I felt!  Sometimes runs can do that when you least expect it.  I so needed this run!  Amazing how you can never know how a run will go...but it could be the BEST run yet!  You never know!

Nice Hill!



What runner doesn't have a bathroom shot?

 I told you a post a go that "I would RUN" and I did!  In fact I had a great run and finally did something I have wanted to do for a while...I ran HILL REPEATS on NICE HILL!  Should I repeat myself...or did you hear read that right? I RAN HILL REPEATS ON NICE HILL.  Ok, so maybe some of you wouldn't make as big of a deal about this hill, but it has gone to my head and I needed to deal with it...so the only way to deal with it...is to conquer it, right?  Right! 




She didn't get the memo on the TIRED face!

 So my friend and I met up and did it together.  We decided how many times we would do it before we hit the hill so we didn't change our mines after running up it once...that was a good thing to do since after the first time up I was ready to call it a day but we still had more to do.  My friend had already ran 5 miles so she was spent.  We did it a few more times and I was so happy to be done, but thrilled that I finally DID IT...I ran NICE HILL for HILL repeats...for no reason at all except to get it out of my head.  Is it out of my head now?  Well I don't know...but more so than before...so that's saying something!

A little crazy...

Follow this MOTHER...did you?

I was so excited when Sarah invited me to be "Follow this Mother" this week!  I have always loved reading the weekly "Follow this Mother" and was totally honored to do it.  THANKS Sarah for asking...I'm sure it's because I totally cheered you on in the rain in Portland...right, well maybe you didn't even know me then...but hey either way Run Like a Mother is a great book and the authors are two amazing mothers that inspire runners all over the place!

Check out their book if you haven't all ready...it's AWESOME and they are writing another book that is in the works now!  Can't wait to read it. 

So if you haven't already...check out my FAMOUS post on Run Like A Mother HERE!!!  And to those of you who have already checked it out and left sweet comments, THANK You...you are so sweet and such great gals.  You made my day with you sweet words!