Eleven

Considering I started this blog as a way to keep track of my running I haven't been recording much of that. Last week was CRAZY and running was just not happenin' during midterms. So friday I decided to head out for four miles, and it. was. awesome!

My legs were fresh, I was breathing easy, and I was FLYING!

I figured since my 4 miler was so fantastic that of course my 11-miler on Sunday would be easy peasey. Especially because my 10 miler last week was incredible.

So with my spirit high and a positive attitude I set out.

I love the S. Platte River. It's gorgeous scenery and I love that people just chill out and fish :)

This is part of the trail that I will be running along for the 1/2 I kept picturing myself here in 3 weeks, I was feeling strong, I was going to CONQUER this in the next few weeks.

I was feeling FANTASTIC.

How could I not with the mountains in the background?

I felt my energy sink at around mile 5 so I decided to try something new!

Last week I tried Clif Gu shots.

I'm attempting to find something to give me a boost during my 1/2 and I want to test it before the actual race.

The Gu shots were good... but the gel wasn't the best texture

The Shot blocks were good too, but i didn't feel like I got the same burst of energy with them

So close to home... and yet still 5 miles from being done.

This is where things started to fall apart.

Mile 6 is typically my worst mile, but in all my previous long runs around mile 7-8 I pick it up and finish strong...

Today.

not.

happening.

I couldn't breathe if my life depended on it (which i found out, it very much does)

my lungs felt like they were being crushed, and my legs were really tight (darn you yoga!)

It was looking not so fantastic, and then the wind picked up... thanks for that one.

I just kept holding on until I saw this beautiful sight ahead of me :)

my fabulous hubby and our friends dog Remy.

We're helping take care of Remy this weekend so I figured she would want to join me for part of my run.

Thank goodness for Remy!

She was literally pulling me for the last 2 miles. 

And those last two miles were ROUGH

I'm praying this whole "off" run thang is over and done with.

I don't want it showing up again for the 1/2.

I will say I was quite proud that I didn't totally lose it during the run. In the past there would have been tears, frustration, and a sense of failure.

This time around I just walked when I needed too and kept reminding myself that it's ridiculous to expect every run to be great. It just doesn't happen, and I need to be ok with that!

Let's just hope the 12 miler this weekend goes a bit better :)

prayers and advice are more than welcome!

The School

So yesterday I talked about the creepiest place ever and how they wanted us to live at an abandoned school.

Here is said abandoned school. The creepiest part is that the school has only been shut down for like 3 years... and it has really gone downhill.

Well hello there headless statue... oh, wait two headless statues. A man and a boy,  creeptastick.

A mini- fire pit. Apparently someone is taking shelter in one of the abandoned classrooms. I thoroughly enjoy that there is still writing on the blackboard.

Come and learn here students!!!! Dig through some filthy trash!

Walkin' on , Walkin' on broken glaaaasssss.  If you know the song I'm singing you get 20 high fives.

If you don't you should probably be questioning your existance...and taste in music (or my taste in music)

I think this was actually the weirdest part. This room still had all of it's decorations up.

Pictures drawn by the students, things hanging from the ceiling.

Eeeeerie.

It was like nothing had been touched, in years. So odd.

Then I spotted this guy in the bushes... Did you know snakes can live in bushes?

And there you have it, and abandoned school building in the middle of nowhere, that they wanted us to live feet away from.

Can you say great set-up for a horror film??

What might have been

Around a year ago,  we came out to the islands to see possible locations for where they might be building our houses. We were pretty excited to finally see where we'd be living for a year and we were getting ready to move all of our stuff out.

So imagine our surprise when we wind up in the middle of nowhere at an abandoned elementary school that had been closed for a few years. The great part is they didn't want to show us the location beforehand... and then we saw why. NO ONE in their right mind would live here.

Quite honestly it was the scariest place in Korea I've ever been.  And it was quickly demanded that another location be chosen... you'll see why.


Jon and I decided to revisit this little site and see if anything has changed, and although we didn't think it possible, it has gotten even creepier.

Our convo while looking around:

Jon: I feel like I'm just waiting to see a dead body lying around somewhere.

Sara: I'm pretty sure someone is going to jump out of one of these places and kill us.

It truly is one of the most unsettling places I've ever walked around.

because who wouldn't want to live here??

Some lovely broken glass for Eoghan and Ethan to play in :)

Look at all that mold!!! They were going to "re-wall paper" ...ummmm that doesn't get rid of the mold.

That and Amanda was pregnant, Eoghan is 1, there would be a new baby, and Jon is allergic to mold. Somehow I think it might've been a death trap health concern.

And I'm still trying to figure out what all of those spiky things sticking out of the buildings are.

Ahhhh Home Sweet Home.

And look at that view!!! What a FABULOUS  yard for Eoghan to play in. It's like his own corn maze. Especially considering these weeds were over my head. 

Needless to say, you can see our absolute refusal  worries and doubts about this as a possible place to live.

And because we put up enough of a fuss, they listened.

And we thank God for that everyday we are in our cute little house :)

Like Mother, Like Daughter

I inherited many things from my mom. Blue eyes, blonde hair, fair complexion, my lack of a waist, my love for people, and my irrational fear of spiders.

That's right, I blame my mom.

From early on I ALWAYS remember terrified shrieks and frantic scurrying (yes my mother scurries) when a spider just happened to surprise my mother.  Then there was the panicked logic of trying to dispose of the spider.

It always ended with one of us using a shoe to kill it. The kicker was that my mother never allowed us to use one of her shoes. We had to use anyone's shoe but hers. It's like she knew they were vindictive little spawns of satan and would know whose shoe had killed their little friend, and then they would get their revenge. And for some reason my mother had no problem with them getting vengance on her children... I'm sure my adolescent mind has been forever scarred because of this, and only years and years of intensive therapy will show how deep those scars run.

However, the scenes I have described above are pretty indicitave of what happens every time Jon and I find a spider. I freeze. I can't function. Those little eight legged beasts scare the bejeezes out of me and I KNOW they are just waiting to seek justice on me for using my shoe so many times when I was little. But I have perfected my mothers ways and I only allow Jon to use his shoes to squish those little demons. He does it because he loves me, and because I completely freak out if he doesn't. It's a love thing.

As you can imagine I thoroughly despise  love the fact that Koreans seem to tolerate spiders... EVERYWHERE. There is at least one web in every window in my school, and at least 4 in the bathroom. Yes, that's right I get to be frozen in fear while I'm trying to squat over a toilet... it's a treat. I'm just so thankful that I'm not dead or have pee all over me by the time I get out of there, because quite frankly it's a possibility.

So what possessed me to get so close to this spider I'll never know... but the shots were totally worth it.

and I got closer yet...

and then I got this great shot of his/her rear end....

wrapping up it's dinner....ick.  What's more is that I was taking pictures like this for over 10 minute... how I wasn't frozen in fear is beyond me. I guess I just found it too fascinating to stop.

just waiting to devour his little snack

Ok I know this pic is blurry and I'm ok with that as long as you see those FANGS!!! seriously... humongous. This shows the level of peeing in my pants anxiety courage I had while taking some of these shots...

Even though I handled this little encounter well I don't think I'll be inviting these little demons into my house any time soon... unless I can find one of Jon's shoes....