Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Wrap up of 2017 and Goals for 2018

The month of December always goes by too fast. I spent my days leading up to Christmas running, I ran a 15k for a friend who was trying to keep a streak alive after she got injured, and doing things at the kids school.We celebrated Charlie's 6th birthday party and followed by the kids first snow day. My sister-in-law graduated from RN school and had a nice weekend in Columbus celebrating her! We had THREE Christmas celebrations and then I spent a few days with my parents while Matt came home for work. I learned a lot of new things about the Wright Brothers (my dad gave me one of my first books to read for the year about them) and other inventors of Dayton at Carillon Historical Park. Also we went to Boonshoft where the kids had tons of fun playing pretend for hours and I decided I wanted to adopt an otter! It got really cold here in NE Ohio around New Years but it didn't stop me from running outside a few times, I know I'm nuts! I ended up running 129 miles in December and ended up with 1770 miles for the year. This was after 1.66 marathons, 1 half marathon, 1 20k trail race, 1 official 15k, 1 10k, 2 5 milers,  and 1 4.7 miler!

Disregard December 2016 mileage (102) for the right total of 1770 miles!

This year I still haven't decided running goals yet. I will be "training" with my buddy Amanda who is going to run the Canton marathon again this year. I have no desire to run another marathon (yet...?) but I really liked the training so I am going to run most of the long runs with her...not sure I will run a 20 miler with her but I will definitely get to 13-15 miles. I know I am running the Shawshank Hustle again with Shelley so I need to find some hills, which means I will most likely sign up for my most favorite race ever Shamrock (I also have a race streak there, the number is 10 I think!) Other than that I have no real plan for running. 

But for other goals I have a few:
  1. Drink 64 ounces of water daily (so far I've 3 for 3)
  2. Read 25 books (I read 19 last year and there were a few months I didn't pick up a book). I also have the first 3 books on my night stand.
  3. On NYE I made stuffed taco peppers (I have never made stuffed peppers before) and even if I had a few problems, I need to read the whole recipe before being cooking, the peppers were soooo good! I would like to try to make one new recipe a week.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

September - November

Oh dear! It's been so long since I have posted anything on this blog. It's not because I am NOT running it's because I am so busy. I thought after both of my kids went off to school I'd have more time to write and do things, but I've been busy being the PTA mom (the one that I thought I'd NEVER be) doing various things at the school. And I have a "job", I put them in quotation marks because it's only 2 days a week for an hour at lunch time. I literally spend an hour opening packages and getting seconds (sometimes thirds) for the kids. I have found a few favorite kids that I love seeing at lunch, there's one 1st grader that gives me a hug and high fives every time I pass her. She totally has my heart, even if she may get in trouble daily! I have also gotten into reading a lot, Jodi Picoult and Liane Moriarty have become my favorite authors. It's been so nice that I have also be going on hikes before I pick up the kids from school.

Anyways, this is a running blog, so I will highlight some of the races that I have run in the last few months.

September 16, Hocking Hills Indian Run 20K

I decided to go down to Southeast Ohio with a bunch of my favorite running friends. We rented a nice cabin for the weekend and never took an advantage of the hot tub! The Indian Run took place in Hocking Hills State Park, more specifically it ran around the upper and some of the lower loop around Old Man's Cave. There were many different distances 60K, 40k, 20k, 10k, and 5k. What made it interesting is that there were all different start times and you just went to the start line when you were ready to run, tell someone who wrote the time you started, and then you just took off. Several of my friends were also running the 20k and I was going to run with them but I felt good at the beginning so I just went with it. This race was described to me as a trail race but the first 4 to 5 miles were on the roads, but they were anything but flat! Another runner ran past and I asked him if this was actually a road race? He laughed at me and told me not to worry that we'd be in the woods soon enough. I remember having to walk up this huge hill right after turning into the woods and was so happy to see an aide station at the top of the hill. I ate a fig newton (something that you'd never see in a road race) and kept on a decent pace as the wooded sections were mostly run-able. I wished I had some better shoes though as I slipped through a muddy section but managed to stay on my feet the whole time. There was a section of the trail that had a lot of roots that I ended up walking more than I would have liked but finished strong with a time of 2:16 (12.4 miles)

 A group picture before the run

This was a unique medal from the race. The students at a local school made them

September 23, Akron Marathon Relay Leg #2, 6.2 miles

I love being a part of this race. I have participated in this race 10 times (I missed one year after giving birth to Ella) in various ways: 1 full marathon, 5 half marathon, 4 relay teams. This year one of Ella's friends mother asked me if I would like to join their team. They were running it for fun so there was no expectations. I wanted to run the second leg since it was running through Firestone Park and the kids and Matt could easily see me along the course. The day turned out to be a warm day but I didn't have a problem since my leg started around 8 am. I'm so glad that I decided to run the relay this year because of the heat, since I thought about running the half (which also would have been a bad idea after running the week before). I didn't know my relay runners at all and was surprised that I managed to see the first leg runner at the start of the race which made the transition better when he handed off me. My leg started in the downtown area and ran up Brown St to N. Firestone Blvd. That was probably the "hardest" section as you ran up a slight incline the whole time but since I knew that Firestone Blvd would be a nice downhill and seeing my friend, Amanda, and my little family was a nice half way surprise (well not really a surprise but you know). Running back through Main St. I got a little tired but before things went too south, I reached the 3rd exchange point. My part of the relay was done in 53:45 (5 seconds slower than my PR, lol!) and our team ended up 4:47, it got really hot as the morning went on!



November 12, Made in America Half Marathon

After running the Akron half marathon a few years ago I decided to "retire" from the distance and work on shorter distances. Last year I PRed at the 5k, 10k, and 15k and since this spring I ran a marathon I felt that I maybe I could run a half again. I put no expectations on this race since I wasn't training much. When I say I wasn't training much is that I had a solid base from training for the full marathon and over the summer I had continued to run 6-10 miles most Saturdays. There were also a couple of Saturdays that I ran the 13.1 distance just for fun. So I signed up for this race on October 3rd and on the Saturdays in October ran 10, 12, 12, and a 10 miles. The first 12 miler I ran was terrible. I ran on the towpath out 6 miles and when I turned around I don't know what happened but I felt sick and thought I was never gonna make it back to the car. In fact, I was hoping to see someone out at the trailheads to hitch a ride back to my car. So the next week, I brought some vanilla GU and took it at the turnaround which may have helped. All of my Saturday runs went okay but I wasn't sure what to expect from race day, I usually go out too fast and then crash and burn. So on Sunday race day, while I was driving down to the race I told myself I'd be happy with anything under 2:15 even though I knew I had what it takes to make it under 2:10 (which would be a post baby PR) but I honestly was trying not to get myself too excited about the race. This was a small race that started on the roads (nice rolling hills) and at mile 4 we jumped on the towpath. I glanced down at my watch after the first mile completely surprised that I ran it in 9 minutes! I mentally started asking myself is this too fast? Should I slow down? I could PR! I was very surprised that I was feeling really great so I decided to just go with it and kept on trucking. I got to 5 miles in a little over 45 minutes and asked myself the same questions and got the same answer. I got to 6.5 miles in just under an hour and I was shocked! I realized there was a chance I could run this race under 2 hours (a goal I have had since my second half marathon which I ran in 2:05 in 2008) but again I tried not to think too much about this. I ate a GU around 7 miles (I didn't really need it but it was just in case) and went on my merry way (seriously I was having so much fun!) Then at mile 10, I started to feel a little tired and began to slow down a little, I had to walk through a water station but was able to keep a good pace. The last 3 miles were 9:35, 9:58 (oops, but hey it was under 10 minutes!), and 9:16. I saw the finish line and sprinted. I crossed the finish line with a new PR (NOT JUST A POST BABY PR) on 2:02:32 (3 minutes faster, WHAT!!!!??!??!)

My favorite picture from one of my Saturday long runs on Sand Run



November 23, Miamisburg 5 Mile Turkey Trot

Again no expectations, other than trying to run it under 45 minutes since I signed up to run in that corral. The first mile is the hardest, due to the crowds and the nice hill for about half a mile, first mile just over 9 minutes. The second mile is all downhill so it's easy to make up time, 2 mile was 8:02. Then the course flattens out and the crowds thin out so you can just settle in a good pace. I hit the 3rd mile in 8:28 and felt strong. I didn't even realize I was running faster until I got to mile 4 in 8:16 (!) but again I was feeling great so I went with it and ended up running the last mile in 8 minutes. I finished 37 out of 300+ runners in my age group with a time of 41:39. This might be at PR but I can't remember, all I know is that the last time I ran this exact course a few years ago I ran it 5 minutes faster, so it was definitely a course PR!

So I learned a few things from these races. 1. I am way stronger than I think! 2. Music, loud so I can't hear my breathing (I have never been able to NOT sound like I am dying which might make me think I am struggling when in reality I am not) has really helped me during races 3. My running buddy, Amanda, has pushed me a lot over the last year. She is someone who can't stop and walk during our runs, that I have learned that I don't need to stop and walk anymore 4. Even though the actual marathon race didn't go as planned that all my training really helped me this year. 5. Even though it's nice to have goals, it's also really nice not to have expectations in a race, so that way if it doesn't go the way you hoped you won't be disappointed.

Total mileage for the year as of November 2017: 1627

Saturday, September 2, 2017

August

We went back to Geneva on the Lake for a full week with Matt's family at the beginning of August. I was able to run 5 out of the 6 days we were there, one day it thunderstormed all day, but I got at least 10,000 steps everyday! It was fun to explore the little town on foot, even if there were a few spots that kind of freaked me out. There were a few dead end streets that the farther and farther down the road I went, the scary music got louder in my head. I had my phone with me so I wasn't that concerned and I had to find my mileage (4-5 miles each day). Somehow we ate donuts for breakfast 3 days that week too, oops!

Other than that, I just plugged away at running. I need to listen better to my body though. There is no reason for me to be running 6-7 miles everyday which I have been doing recently. Some of my body parts are telling me that I have been overusing them and it's time to scale back. I enjoy running in the fall way too much for me to be sidelined with an injury. I did run 201 miles for the month though. That includes 2 50+ mile weeks and I am not even training for anything.  Well I am trying to stay in shape to run a 12 mile trail run with my buddies on Sept 16 but really I should running maybe 10-12 miles on the weekends and 3-4 miles during the week (and try to have a rest day in there). During the week I ran 7 miles usually on Monday and then 5 or 6 miles the rest of the week.

My new favorite workout on the treadmill is this:

10-15 minute warm up
4 minutes hard/3 minutes easy
4 minutes hard/3 minutes easy
2 minutes hard/2 minutes easy
2 minutes hard/2 minutes easy
2 minutes hard/2 minutes easy
1 minute hard/1 minute easy
1 minute hard/1 minute easy
1 minute hard/1 minute easy
1 minute hard/1 minute easy
5-10 minute cool down

I wasn't able to join my friends on Monday hill training (vacation, Ella's birthday, family pictures) except for one night. I had totally forgotten about it and had run 7 miles that morning but I was missing those folks so I joined them and ran a total of 5 miles and lots of hill repeats! My weekend running had me running 13 miles two weeks in a row, no other reason other than everyone else was! I did run the blue line, I wanted to see the second leg (since it's going to through Firestone Park again) and I knew a lot of runners so I ran 12.5 that time.

Resting has never been easy and maybe the solution is to go for a hike or something instead of running as a "rest" day. I know that hiking is cross training and doesn't count as a rest day but I have also learned that my body just doesn't like it (ask my kids or husband!) I am planning on getting back to yoga and kettlebell (even though it's Monday nights same night as hill training but soon it will be too dark for that) now that the kids are back in school.

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

July

Well, July came and went. I really  don't have much to say at all. I didn't run in any races but I managed to continue to run most days. We spent a weekend in Hocking Hills with my family in this nice house with lots of property to run around in. Plus this massive hill (seriously it was at least half a mile long) that I attempted to run up everyday but never made it up to the top!

I continued showing up on Monday nights for hill training with the Green YMCA running club. Surprisingly each week seem easier and easier; it didn't help that on Mondays the weather was almost always nice and cool! I've made a few friends from the group and we like to tease each other as we are "competing against each" to see who can finish the 10 rounds the quickest.

I was able to keep up one long run a week between 8-10 miles on the weekends. Once with the Green YMCA running group but mostly on my own. Which has always been good (and bad). I love knowing that I am motivated enough to keep running despite wanting to quit sometimes but I wish I had someone to keep me from walking. Don't get me wrong there is NOTHING wrong with walking but I know that I am better than that and walk far too much by myself. Oh, I just remembered one of my runs was with Beth. She was going to run 5 but I convinced her to run 6 and was hoping that she might just keep going. The morning looked like it was gonna rain (and most likely thunderstorm) so we started out at 7 hoping to miss most of the rain. It started to rain at mile 4 and by 6 miles Beth was done. I thought about quitting but I was already soaked so really what was the point of stopping so I continued on hoping that the thunderstorms would hold off. And they did almost, the last quarter mile was the fastest I have run in awhile!

I also had another PR month and ran 180 miles (994 miles for the year, had I known I would have probably would have tried to run 6 more)! Plus a 20 mile bike ride to the Lizard with my husband.

Friday, June 30, 2017

June

So I totally stopped blogging BUT I definitely haven't stopped running. In fact after a few days off running the Cleveland marathon I started a running streak (Oops!) and ran everyday in June. I am not going to try to continue this streak as I really don't like running daily (even if I hate rest days) and plan on trying to ride my bike more. So in the month of June I ran 164.38 miles and 32 cycling miles.
Yearly running miles: 792.80!

I kind of joined the Green YMCA running club and meet them at the metro park by my house for hill training. We've been meeting on Mondays at 6 pm and run a big loop around the park including the huge a$$ sledding hill. You can either run up and down once or if you feel like it turn around run up and down again....I have yet made it completely up and down twice (so far 1.5 times) and back to the start for a 2 mile warm up. Then we go to the smaller hill and do some exercises at the bottom of the hill and run up and either do more exercises or run back down for one rounds. We end up doing about 10 rounds of various exercises including: squats, lunges, sit ups, push ups, planks, mountain climbers, high knees, butt kicks, running up the hill backwards, burpees, leg swings, etc. And then we take a lap around turtle pond for a mile cool down. We run between 4 and 5 miles each week. I seriously about died the first week due to the heat, but the last two weeks the weather has been much nicer and I feel good, spent but spent in a good way. I even got my buddy Shelley to join me this past week!

I also run two races this month. Shelley and I ran our 3rd annual Shawshank Hustle. It's a 4.6 mile race but there is a dumb hill in the middle of the race and a major incline to the finish of the race (I call this the death march). For some reason this race is always about a million degrees and full sun! There is no shade and I seriously question why we do it to ourselves each year! And Shelley has informed me that she already signed up for next year since we have to make it to year 5. And I feel like if we don't sign up one year it's going to be cloudy and 60 degrees just to piss me off more! HAHA! Plus in 2019 it's the 25th anniversary of "The Shawshank Redemption" and  there is talk that Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman might come! So I guess the tradition will continue for a few more years, next year we may just walk the whole dumb course though.


Before the race with the reformatory behind us


At least the medals are cool :)

Along with the normal race swag of a t-shirt and medal the runners get a "free" ticket to tour the prison. Each year I have hopes in taking the tour but each year Shelley and I are too hot and hungry to stay and go, but this year we decided why not. It really made the whole race worth it. It was everything that I hoped it would be and probably a little more. Here are a few (okay a lot of pictures of the prison)


I found Andy!


And Red!


Shelley and I with Andy 


Heywood! (William Sadler)


My buddy Brooks! (I didn't find Jake though)


Warden Henricksen?


The safe in the warden's office



Tight quarters! And I am not claustrophobic  


I think this was one of the solitary confinement cells. You had to stand there for 8 hours a day in the dark in 90 degrees...yikes!


6 rows of cells! And two prisoners in each...lots and lots of prisoners!


I didn't do it!


The tunnel that Andy escaped out of


A week later I ended up running the first race of the Akron marathon series, the Interstate 8k, for Shelley. She had gotten a free entry from work but was unable to run due to her daughters softball tournament. I was happy that the summer temperatures had broken and it was a nice 65 degree morning! I surprised myself by running all sub 9 minute miles and finished strong. On the results page there was a column that showed how many people you passed or how many people passed you in last last quarter mile. I passed 6 people and didn't get passed by anyone.


Megan, Wendy and I before the Interstate 8k




Thursday, May 25, 2017

Redemption Run: Cleveland Marathon Recap

I am sure I am going to be leaving some stuff out, but here it goes my recap

4 am came too quickly....after tossing and turning most of the night I was up. I guess I did sleep a little as I had a terrible dream that not only was I running a marathon but at every mile the only way you could continue was spell a word correctly, a spelling bee and a marathon? I am a terrible speller and so thankful that it was only a dream. I got up and dressed in my capri pants (nothing worse than getting chaffed in between legs!) and my "Dream Team" t-shirt from last year’s Akron marathon. I ate my pre-race breakfast of a bagel, peanut butter, and string cheese.

I drove to my friend, Shelley's, house and jumped in her car to drive up to Fairlawn to get Megan and LaShell. Megan drove us up to Cleveland and Shelley got us some rockstar parking (and NO traffic) right in between the start and the finish line at tower city. We were able to use real bathrooms, no real wait either time thank goodness, and stay warm while waiting for the race. I was also able to collect myself and reorganize things. After Canton I realized that even though you can attach/secure the GU's to the sides of the belt (so you don't have to reach around and fumble to get them), I had trouble with them hitting my arms while running and after grabbing one they all got loose and I had to carry them for the rest of the race. So I decided to have a second (!) belt just for the GUs that I could just reach right in front of me and grab them one at a time and not have to worry about anything, which ended up working out really well! I also had killed Matt's iPod, and was counting on music. My iPhone wouldn't let me download iTunes from my computer so Amanda thankfully let me borrow hers and I was able to download my playlist. I had to figure out how to waterproof it and attach it to me somehow. I really felt like a nerd with my running watch and iPod with a sandwich bag around it on my right arm wrist and my fitbit on my left!



We all got ready and unfortunately wasn't able to meet with Amanda who was running the half with her brother and got to our corrals by the Q. I nervously looked around trying to meet someone else who was running the full to maybe make a friend and run with. Everyone around me was either running the 10K or the half. Oh well, the National Anthem played and the race began with the song "Cleveland Rocks" and it took several (maybe 5 minutes) to actually cross the start line and start running. The first few miles were a blur, I wish I knew Cleveland better as I really had no idea where I was most of the time, other than running by the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame and the Browns stadium. There was one huge incline/hill/bridge that I think threw everyone for a loop but I really enjoyed getting to run through the downtown area.

This may seem weird, but the hardest thing about this race for me was when the 10Kers and the half marathoners turned and went separate ways. Don't get me wrong I loved having more space to run but I got really confused. The 10Kers left at around 4.5 miles and for some reason I thought I had already run 6 miles! I was soo disappointed to see that only 4.5 miles had passed. It took probably a half mile for me to realize it actually. Same thing happened at the 11th mile went the half marathoners left. I think that time it took 3 miles before I started to "remember" that I still had lots more miles to run. However, there was NEVER a time that I felt like there was no way that I was going to finish the race. From mile 12 – 23ish there was a long section of an out and back. I had looked at the map but didn’t know when we turned around and asked a few people and was “disappointed” to learn that it was like at mile 17.5ish. Again, it was just a mental thing for me but actually it was fun to see all the quicker runners on the way out and see people (“Hi Jen!”) on the way back. Another distraction came around mile 14 when it started to rain. The crowd support through this section (even in the rain) was GREAT, I remember seeing at someone house a table set up with beer and bacon, yes bacon which I almost ate but decided that wasn’t the best idea. Others were providing extra water tables and watermelon. It was also fun to see the same volunteers at actual water stations as apparently I looked better on the way back then on the way out…um thanks! It may have helped at one point a police officer who told me after the turn around it was “all downhill from here”…which it was in two ways, I only had 9 miles left and I hadn’t realized that I had been running up a slight incline the whole way out. Around mile 19 I met some “friends”, they were a young married couple running their first marathon together. We ended up running the next 6 miles together often taking turns pacing us and I did my best to encourage them as they told me their longest run had been 18 miles. I wish I had gotten their names but I was able see them at the end and took their picture.

Hydration wise I took GU even 5 miles and water and blue Powerade at every water stop. I would drink the Powerade and then take a few sips of water and dumped the rest on my head (even when it was raining) and towards the end I almost ended up dumping the Powerade on my head. I ended up taking on more GU at mile 24 which was a mistake. I had some stomach issues and I was forced to walk more than I wanted to at the end. But really it was okay, and I got super excited at mile 25 and knew I was going to make it under 5 hours, the 4:55 pacer person passed me but I realized that his group was ahead of schedule but I made sure that I didn't lose them and ended up passing the pacer right at the end. My friends, Megan and Shelley who ran the half, were cheering me on at the end and got some good pictures of me.






Overall, even though I am pretty sure that I am capable of running a faster marathon, I am super proud of myself! I started something and I kept at it until I crossed the finish line even if it took two attempts. And I learned something, well maybe not learned but it was reaffirmed, I do NOT do well in heat! And that’s okay! I just know that signing up for summer races I should stick to shorter distances and not really race them but do them more for fun and not to be disappointed. 


Tuesday, May 23, 2017

The Week before attempt #2

I've been slacking writing but I want to make sure that I have a log of all my training still, so you'll have to wait until the next post to read if I got my revenge on Canton (okay, I know most people who read this also have facebook so you know I totally did :D)

Week of May 13-20

Saturday I met up with Amanda at her house and ran around Ellet and the Goodyear half blue line. It was nice to have a change of scenery and actually I would consider running the Goodyear half but I won't it's in August and I know that I don't do well in the heat/humidity and that's okay! We ran 6 miles before we got off the blue line to make it an even 8 miles. We ran through a neighborhood that Amanda didn't know existed, there were some really cute houses back there. And we were "chased" by a dog for like a quarter mile and it might have to ran further if we didn't notice it. And then the last mile we ran up and down (I was mad at this point having to run up those hills after 7 miles) but I think we had our fastest mile and ended the 8 miles with an average pace under 10 minute miles. (Also this would have been another great day to run a marathon.

Sunday was Mother's Day and Matt and the kids got me a new fitbit, this time the Charge 2 which I am loving. I like having the heart rate monitor and having new challenges like trying to walk more stairs. Again another good marathon day, actually my father-in-law said maybe instead of signing up for a race we should just declare the best weather running day the day that Lyndsey runs a marathon! We enjoyed going to my nephew's dedication and cookout at my in-laws house. We came home and I decided I wanted to run a few miles to see how the fitbit works. It was interesting to see how "high" my heart rate went and how fast it went back to normal. I am apparently in "very good" shape (lol!).

Monday, I went to yoga and took the day off from running.

Tuesday I met up with Amanda on the towpath for 3.1 miles. I started the run not feeling good, allergies I think, and it seemed really hard. I also had forgotten my watch but with my fitbit you can track runs with gps so I used that. It's not as good as a running watch as I didn't know my overall pace but like I said I thought this run with really tough and I was struggling. Or so I thought. We ended up running the first mile in 9;26 and then we really picked it up 9:07 for the second and 8:50 for the last mile. Average pace was 9:08 so even if I thought I was struggling I was but it wasn't due to allergies, it was going a little too quick. Oh well,

Wednesday I was suppose to run 2, but ended up running 3.1 again. It was really warm that day and since I started to realize that Sunday was going to be like that I needed to try to get as many miles as I could to try to get used to the weather. Seriously it was like 80 by 11 am!!

Thursday, was going to be a rest day, and I didn't do anything. But I went to kettlebell (10 lb bell, no kickboxing) and ran a mile before to warm up and then I ended up running another mile to cool down and then I walked for a bit.

Friday, another rest day...but not! I was in a mood all day and by the time Matt got home from work he took one look at me and told me to go for a walk, he gets me. I meant to walk but I ended up running/walking for an hour at the Y on the treadmill. I made it 5 miles so even though I didn't have a rest day I didn't over due anything.

Saturday, I woke up and ran 2 shake out miles on the towpath. That afternoon I drove up to Cleveland to pick up my packet, shirt (which I love, and have worn everyday and will continue for most of the week I am sure) and walked around the expo. I bought myself some more GUs (I decided to stick to the vanilla and strawberry/banana ones since I was used to them and have never tried the stingers that they were going to be offering on the course) and a magnet that is in the shape of Ohio with the word "run". I came home and Matt had been outside all day mulching all the flower beds and didn't feel like thinking about dinner and told me we should go out. However, I couldn't think of even one place that I wanted to go to. So we ended up eating whatever was in the house, I had gone grocery shopping but we had leftovers from the week. I made the kids mac and cheese, I had some too, and a leftover piece of BBQ chicken. The kids were dirty from playing outside all day and from soccer so we gave them a bath and put them to bed soon after dinner. Matt and I watched a few shows on Netflix before I decided it was time to try to sleep. I set my alarm for 4 am (!!!!) and tried to sleep at 9:30...