Life as a School Mom...

It's been hard to blog lately... now that I'm a mom of two SCHOOL CHILDREN!   Hopefully in the near future, I will get into the routine of things, but it's still a bit overwhelming keeping everything on task as a wife. mother. maid. cook. runner. friend. and soon to be marathoner!  Only 18 more days until I earn that last title!

This past weekend over Labor Day, we made a final escape for a summer vacation to this unique Midwest town... Santa Claus, Indiana!

Seriously, there were Santa statues everywhere!  And my kids wanted pictures with every. single. one.

I was pretty much a bum all weekend, laying poolside in the 100+ heat, reading my first novel in years... "Once A Runner" by John Parker.  This book is highly acclaimed in running circles... my review will come later in a separate post.

Finally on Monday, Labor Day, I felt the urge to labor, er, run.  Crawling out of the camper while the family slept, I took off in my Asics at 6:00am.  The Lake Rudolph Campground was huge - almost 600 sites and full on this holiday weekend.  It was a pretty setting alongside Lake Rudolph, with winding roads through hilly woods.  After a couple loops, I exited the campground and ventured into the town.  This was the oddest town I'd ever seen... one strip of businesses, tourist shoppes, amusement park, but no houses.  Does anyone actually LIVE here?  I found a long road with a guarded entrance leading into Christmas Lake Village.

Yup, every single resident of this small Indiana town lived in the gated community!!  I snuck past the gates, guard house and a couple police cars at the entrance.  Boy, did I get penalized!  The 6 mile loop around Christmas Lake was non-stop hills, gorgeous views and very pretty, but hill after hill after hill.  I need two hands to count how many times I said, "You've got to be kidding me" every time I reached the top of one hill... just to see another.

Beautiful views overlooking Christmas Lake.

Non-stop hills...

Does it ever stop?

Needless to say, it wasn't the "long run" I anticipated.  Not that I mind doing hillwork, but they really take a toll on my knees... and my calves always take a beating on the steep downhills as I tend to lean back.  The most interesting part of the run was all the street signs... Dasher Way, Snowball Street, Tinsel Lane, Blitzen Blvd, Poinsetta Dr, Holly Lane, etc... No kidding.  It was very interesting and each street gave me a smile.
9.6 miles in 1:43 (10:43 pace)


After a long 6 hour drive home, we cleaned, unpacked and got ready for the daily grind to start again.  Boo.  This morning I was up early at 5:30am to see hubby off, make lunches, write checks, get the kids dressed, fed and off to school.  Once all that was complete, I had a good 2.5 hours all to myself before preschool pickup.  Okay, I think I can get used to this school thing.  Of course I used that precious me-time to do my favorite thing ever... RUN!  It was a gorgeous sunny morning in the high-50's.  I actually had to dig out the running capris.  It was the most enjoyable run I've had in a really long time.  7.76 miles is 1:19 (10:10 pace)