SON OF A MUFFIN

Mama Pea has a swear jar. She also has a four year old and a seven year old. We don't have a swear jar and yet, I find myself cleverly trying to figure out ways to not let expletives fly. The Peanut is a sponge lately. The other day in the car she hollered from the back seat, "Turn this up. I like this song!" Um, she is FOUR .... and it was a TRAIN song or something along those lines. She was actually singing the words to the song!

On Friday Pigeon came over today to join me and TiggerT on a 12 mile run. When I bumped into something I yelled "Son of a Muffin" and Pigeon calmly says, "Son of a muffin? Really? Most people say son of a gun but you say muffin?"

That pretty much set the tone for our run today and we had not even left my drive way. About a mile from my house TiggerT caught us and we started our trek to Rattlesnake Ridge. Pigeon has never really run this section of El Dorado Hills before. She joined me shortly after Squeaker was born for a hellish run with my old group the Buffalo Chips but this would be different. The Ridge starts you out with an uphill climb on a fire road. Pigeon looked at us and said "We're going up that!" However she then proceeded to turn on her rocket jet pack and just power up the hill without looking back. Thank goodness because had she looked back she would have seen TiggerT and myself sucking wind, talking and trying to keep up.

There were no snake sittings on the Ridge unlike the last few runs. That is fine with me and it was also a much cooler day. The wind was strong but luckily while running on the Ridge, we never seemed to be running against it.

It was neat having my two main running partners running together at the same time. Often times when I am running with Pigeon, I am sharing stories about my runs with TiggerT and vice versa. Yesterday we were all together.

At one point we rounded a corner and Pigeon goes "Well hello there turkeys" and we saw four if not five skinny little turkey necks standing in the middle of our trail. The awesome running partners they are, both Pigeon and TiggerT said "We'll chase 'em" and ahead they went ... while I tried quietly to slow my pace and be WAAAAYYY far behind. The turkeys had crossed the trail before I even neared them and that was fine by me. Thanks Pigeon and TiggerT!

Eventually we ended up back where we started and meandered down back towards the main road. It was here that TiggerT decided to leave us and run home. She said her goodbyes and turned left and I told Pigeon we had to go left, I mean right .... it seems I was directionally challenged yesterday. Every time I meant to say left I said right causing Pigeon, who has no idea where she is going and is solely dependent on me, doing this zig zag move before heading in the right correct direction. It was pretty funny.

The rest of our run were surface streets and pavement. We ran back around to Promontory Park and eventually to the base of Beatty where we do our Fire Hydrant Hell workouts on Mondays. I don't think either one of us really wanted to climb Beatty yesterday. Not after the constant rolling hills we'd run and the climbs we faced at the start of our run. Instead, Pigeon and I decided to climb the fire road trail back to my house. This is the same trail that leads us to Beatty on Mondays. It has its share of climbs and slippery uneven terrain but nothing too terrible. The total mileage was 12 miles.

Once we were back at my house we soaked our legs in my pool which wasn't that cold actually but still nice and refreshing. Pigeon then left to head on home and I had to get ready for a interview/tour of a new daycare that the girls may be going to ... some day.

I know it has been a while since I last posted ... life is getting busy and my work situation may change in the near future but hopefully not before my marathon next month. I actually believe that I have a 20 miler coming up next week since I ran 18 last week and 12 this week ... I know that 20 or 22 is just waiting for me. I am dreading it actually. My plan of attack is to run the Lake Natoma loop twice to simulate the marathon which is really two loops of the half marathon course I ran in 2010. I might use my car as an "aid-station" planting some extra water and fuel. I wish I could run my 20 miler without a water bottle since that is my plan but the lake route doesn't have frequent or easily accessible water fountains.

My ankle is also dreading it. The pain is getting worse with each long run or each run that takes me on some trails. Luckily, my doctor decided that I can have a cortisone shot the Monday before my marathon so I am praying that really helps ease some of the discomfort for those 26.2 miles. My dreams of PR'ing and running fast for me are really on the fence. At this point, I am happy with a "finished healthy" type of mind set but I know my internal competitive side will probably override my cautious side.

The past few weekends we've had some fun with the girls. A week or so ago officially started our neighborhood Concert in the Park festivities .... and the Peanut was in heaven with all the bounce houses.

Our picnic at the park

Working in the back yard

Sisterly love in the car

On Sunday we visited our old stomping grounds, Cooper Vineyards. They were having an old timers jam festival and it was a hit with both the girls and Vans and myself.

The Peanut dancing with the Little Citizen

Squeaker was "rockin" out herself.

The rest of this holiday weekend will be spent with friends, at home or just running errands. I do have plans on Monday to run with Pigeon and do our hill repeats. I am hoping my legs are recovered by then as they were tired during yesterday's run but seem okay today.

Oh and as a side note, I know I use nicknames a lot for my friends. It is kind of a fun thing I like to do. TiggerT's nickname was pre-established because she has a blog. Bloggers basically can keep their own nicknames if they have one. HOWEVER, if I was to CHANGE TiggerT's nickname ... it would be Nutella ... fo' sho. Maybe some day I'll reveal why if she doesn't kill me for doing so. So I leave you with this, but it is really directed at TiggerT/Nutella. :)

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