Auntie Lala - Emily Caitlynn Addition

Most people who know me know that my family may be super small, but we are very close.  My sister Kimberly and I are only 14 months apart in age.  And even though we hated each other when we were growing up, we have developed an amazing sisterly bond over the past decade.  (It's amzing what moving 6 hours away will do!)  These days, we don't even have to speak to each other most of the time, it's just a look.  In fact, Ben and my sister's husband (Dan) really get sick of us when we do "the look" together.  Here is a photo of us in Key West's Mallory Square:

Even though we are super close, we are total opposites.  In probably every way imaginable.  My sister is super smart, a nurse, has been with her high school sweetheart since 10th grade, and the BEST baker in the the family.  When Kim and Dan told me they were expecting a baby in 2008, I was SUPER excited.  (A little nervous, but still SUPER excited!)  My little nephew, Alex, was born on April 1, 2009 and he is really such a character.  He calls me Lala because the "R" sound is the hardest for children to speak.  Here he is at Adventure Island:

Alex is a total boy. He loves dirt, trucks, sand, water, and anything else manly.  Lately he has been obsessed with Ben and Ben's big red truck.  Whenever he sees me, he always says, Ben! Ben truck! Ben, Ben, Ben, truck, truck, truck...  So when I found out in January that my sister was expecting a little girl I was over the moon!  Finally I have someone to dress, giggle with, paint nails and who won't care about Ben's truck (sorry, honey!)

My parents typically have the family over for Sunday dinner (typical Italian tradition).  This week, they were out of town, so I asked Kim, Dan, and Alex to come over to our place and swim and we would cook dinner.  My sister had been having contractions, but wasn't scheduled to give birth until September 7th.  So, we really weren't freaking out about her contractions...UNTIL they started to get worse.

It was about 5:00 pm at this point and I asked my sister what she would tell me to do if the roles were reversed.  She said she would make me go to the hospital.  So I made her.  And, it's a good thing that I did - because at 6:59 pm, Emily Caitlynn Montgomery arrived!  Weighing in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces and 18 3/4 inches long she is just perfect!

This is when I first met Miss Emily (side note - I got in trouble for holding her without clothes on because my sister set me up - geeze...)

This is day two at the hospital after a bath:

 Here we are again on day #2.  She's not as excited as me yet, but she will be! One day!



I could just stare at this sweet little baby all day long!  I am truly so lucky and blessed to have the family, friends and lifestyle that I do. 

FIFTEEN Miles?!?

This Sunday as I was driving to meet Tracey, Rhonda, and Melanie to run there was a little bit of rain on the drive to New Port Richey, but I really didn't think too much of it.  We started off from Longleaf and it was not raining at all - there was a little bit of water on Starkey Boulevard, but nothing crazy.

As we were running there were talks of werewolves, Manhunt, Seinfeld, and vacations - anything goes!  When you have two and a half hours to run there are no boundaries!  Sometimes I feel like running is literally my house of worship.  There is nothing better than just pounding the pavement, working out any problems or concerns, and laughing with my friends.

As we continued into Starkey Park we ran into A LOT of rain.  Downpour is probably a better word.  Most people who know me know that I don't normally like to run in the rain.  But, this time it wasn't so bad.  The rain brought the temperature down about 10 degrees.  It was a welcomed changed from the normally hot, hot, hot long runs of late.  The big downside is that your shoes feel like they weigh 3 pounds each.  But, we did it!  Here are the splits:

Split	Time	Moving Time	Distance	Avg Pace
1	0:10:42	0:10:41	1	10:42
2	0:10:38	0:10:35	1	10:38
3	0:10:38	0:10:33	1	10:38
4	0:10:49	0:10:43	1	10:49
5	0:10:56	0:10:55	1	10:56
6	0:10:41	0:10:37	1	10:41
7	0:10:10	0:10:04	1	10:10
8	0:10:25	0:10:25	1	10:25
9	0:10:23	0:10:21	1	10:23
10	0:10:31	0:10:21	1	10:31
11	0:10:31	0:10:25	1	10:31
12	0:10:29	0:10:27	1	10:29
13	0:10:33	0:10:26	1	10:33
14	0:10:35	0:10:28	1	10:35
15	0:10:28	0:10:29	1	10:28
Summary	2:38:40	2:37:32	15	10:34

And it was officially Rhonda's longest run ever!  So we had to take pictures - DUH!

Melanie, Rhonda, and myself completed 15 miles!  Tracey (bless her heart) did 18!  Only 86 days until Spacecoast!  Make sure you sign up before August 31st because the prices goes up on September 1st. 

13 Miles = Halfway!

This week it seemed pretty difficult to get ready mentally to run long this weekend.  When the alarm went off, I was NOT feeling it.  At all.  But, deep down, I knew that if I didn't get up butt out of bed and get going, there was no way I would be getting a long run in.

The one amazing thing I personally love about running long(er) is that our small little group of three gets additions and deletions throughout the 2 hour(ish) time frame.  Rhonda, Melanie, Jolene, and myself started from Longleaf and went in to the Aristida neighborhood where we hit up the Gatorade/water buffet again :). 


After heading back out to Starkey Boulevard, Jolene turned back to Longleaf and we "picked up" Tracey and headed towards Starkey Park.  Once we actually got in to Starkey Park, Tracey had to head back to Longleaf and we "picked up" JM.  The four of us were able to pretty much finish off the remaining miles, thank goodness!


Honestly, running 13 miles sounds really insane when you say it out loud (and to other people - especially non-runners).  But, once these long runs are completed, it's such a great feeling.  Here are all the "stats": 

SplitSplit	Hour:Minute:SecondTime	MilesDistance	Minutes per MileAvg Pace
1	0:10:20	1	10:20
2	0:09:54	1	9:54
3	0:09:38	1	9:38
4	0:09:54	1	9:54
5	0:09:57	1	9:57
6	0:10:11	1	10:11
7	0:10:01	1	10:01
8	0:10:06	1	10:06
9	0:09:48	1	9:48
10	0:09:37	1	9:37
11	0:09:46	1	9:46
12	0:09:47	1	9:47
13	0:09:37	1	9:38
Summary	2:08:43	13	9:54

The great thing about consistently running on Saturday mornings is seeing a lot of my running buddies that I haven't seen very much since moving to Tampa.  And I LOVE how every one is genuinely interested in how every one's run is, what the next race is, or even what your weekend plans are.  Also, have to say thank you to Coach Winterling (aka Coach Grandpa Steve) for the lift back to Longleaf.  Actually looking forward to running long again next weekend.

"Long" is a relative term

Last week I wasn't able to squeeze in a long run, so I skipped the 11 miler and went straight to the 12 miler scheduled for this week.  For about the past year, I've been running in the Brooks Adrenaline (pictured below)

These bad boys are awesome.  Brooks has "DNA" in most of their shoes, which acts as a cushioning (located in the back of the heel).  The blue ones pictured above are exactly what I've been using, but they are also available in red and now purple! 

This past week, I went for a run in the rain with my honey and my kicks were pretty smelly and broken down from all the puddle jumping.  Not to mention, I have been in need of a new pair of shoes for a few weeks now, and I was planning to get the new purple Adrenaline but THEN I saw these Brooks Ravennas pictured below:

Not sure that the picture really does it justice, but the lime green laces really sold me.  Also, the actual shoe is grey instead of white so hopefully it won't appear to be so dirty.  And, when you hold them up to the Adrenaline's - they look VERY similar to each other.

Was a little nervous about doing a 12 mile run in brand new shoes, but my old ones were definietly not going to take me 12.  As I was getting ready, I was thinking that I was about to embark on a run for hours.  Straight.  Man, that felt like a really dumb idea.  But, I met up with Rhonda, Melanie, and Jolene in Longleaf at the normaly 5:30 hour to set out.  We actually had great time talking, hitting up the buffet at Diane and Craig's, and meeting up with the Striderrs at Starkey. 

We reached the 7 mile mark just as the sun was coming up.  It was a really nice feeling to be more than half way done with the run by the time the sun came up.  Rhonda and I headed back in to Longleaf and were still feeling pretty good as we hit the double-digiit mark.  (As seen in our splits below!)

Split	Hour:Minute:Second Time	Miles Distance	Minutes per Mile Avg Pace
1	0:10:06	1	10:06
2	0:09:50	1	9:50
3	0:09:43	1	9:43
4	0:10:02	1	10:02
5	0:10:02	1	10:02
6	0:10:06	1	10:06
7	0:10:02	1	10:02
8	0:10:48	1	10:48
9	0:10:33	1	10:33
10	0:09:52	1	9:52
11	0:09:48	1	9:48
12	0:09:36	1	9:36
Summary	2:00:35	12	10:02

Overall, I was very happy with the end result of this run.  The simple fact that I was able to run the whole way was enough to complete my runner's high.