Iki Express: Laura’s Life Lately

Hey Everyone! Happy Friday to you.

Sorry I’ve been MIA lately…I stare at a computer all day at work, then the last thing I want to do when I get home at night is stare at one some more. So I’ve been neglecting the blog lately and I apologize!

First thing’s first…I need to tell yall something.

I got home from a late evening at work the other night….

and walked into my bedroom….

only to find Tom in bed with another woman.

Yes, it’s true. He was in bed with a gorgeous redhead!!!

Look at her, giving me the stink eye. I told her to get out of my bed and she just stared at Tom lovingly as if to say, “You must choose between us, My Love.”

And much to my dismay, he picked her. She gave me the stink eye again for trying to move in on her man. So I just left and went to do some laundry and watch Law & Order in the den. By myself.

The other day Sara Whit and Brian brought Lilly over for kid’s day at the Tunica Fire Department!

Look at how gorgeous she is. GORGE I tell you!

Our fire department is made up 100% of volunteers, and I think I’ve mentioned before that Tom is a member. Each year they bring out the antique fire truck, give rides to the kids, and have hot dogs and hamburgers. It is a lovely little small-town event. :)

Lilly with her dad! I love this picture. When she was born, she totally looked like a Withers. As she has gotten a little older she is looking more and more like her dad. Here’s our fearless driver with another truck load of kiddos to tour the neighborhood!

Lilly’s all strapped in and ready to go fight those fires in the ‘fi-yah twuck.’

I think this might be a new favorite of mine! Such a sweet uncle/niece picture!

We ended the day with hot dogs and Capri Sun. Fire trucks…friends…hot dogs…what more could a kid want on a Sunday afternoon?!?!

A little update on St. Jude training…

Our longest run to date has been 9 miles. I was REALLY happy with this time, still hovering around the 11:00+ mile.

9 mile garmin

When I read other running blogs, sometimes I feel a little inferior and really slow. I feel like everyone runs half marathons and marathons in sub-10-minute miles and I’m just this super slow tortoise. But at the end of the day, an 11 minute mile is better than no mile at all.

And I just have to remember that I am competing against no one but myself, and other people’s times and speeds do not matter to me. Still. I feel a little slow, but not enough to get discouraged.

So I am happy with where I am in my training. Last year I wasn’t dedicated to training and while I PR’d in the race, I felt HORRIBLE the whole time.

I can tell this year will be different because I have been much more dedicated to my training.

This year I wrote out all my planned runs, and highlight them as they are completed. training plan 2 September’s Calendar above

Yes I am shopping on the internet at work, as evident by the picture above. Don’t act like I’m the only one.

Anyway, this was the plan for this week:

Sunday: rest
Monday: 5 mile run
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 1 hour Cross Training
Thursday: 8 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 10 miles

We completed everything except for the Cross Training, so we are gearing up for a long run of 10 miles tomorrow. I am nervous, but excited. I always feel a little nervous before a long run.

But it always feels like such an accomplishment when it’s completed.

So anyway, I have the whole time leading up to the half-marathon planned out week by week, so that we know where we need to be in terms of mileage. I also have a place on the plan where I write down my average pace for each run, so I can track my speed as well.

training plan 1

Just a few more weeks until the big day! Last year I was really dreading this day because I was severely undertrained and knew it. But this year I am excited to see what I can do because I’ve worked hard and am ready for a good race!

training plan 3