Hilton Head

Summer is barely here and the Burches are blessed to have already been on a vacation. We hit Hilton Head early last week and stayed for five days. It is amazing how many people I have talked to that vacation there. I can see why it is so popular. We had never been there before and had a great time. My parents have had a house at Sunset Beach since I was in high school. Since it is free, that is where we always go to the beach. I do really enjoy it there, but it was fun to explore a different beach.

We used Hilton points to stay at the Hilton Oceanfront resort in the Palmetto Dunes section of Hilton Head. The resort was part of what made it fun. They had organized activities each day for families/kids. One day Claire got her hair braided, and one day the kids made tie-dyed T-shirts. They also participated in pool and beach games a few times. It was VERY nice having a pool at the beach. We didn't spend nearly as much time at the beach as we normally do because of the pool but it was a fun change.

HH has tons of bike trails all over the island so one day we rented bikes and rode 11 miles (roundtrip) down to Sea Pines. Mike and I really enjoyed this, but for the kids it wasn't their favorite part. Claire ended up falling off her bike right after we got into Sea Pines which forced us to turn around and go home. The whole story is that her tire got caught in the groove of the sidewalk/road and she fell, and then Mike ran over her leg with the tire of his bike. I didn't know any of this was happening because Taylor and I were in front, so when I looked back and saw Claire's bike lying in the road, her on the ground, and a car stopped (they were making sure she was okay), I thought she had been hit by the car. It scared me to death. She was a trooper and got back on her bike so we could get home.

I got several runs in while we were there. It was nice having a shady, flat place to run. We had several great meals while we were there, too. A few of them were shared by some sweet friends that happened to be there, so that made it even more fun.

Here are a few pictures:

Claire is playing bingo poolside


Taylor and Claire in front of the statue of Neptune at Shelter Cove


Taylor and Claire playing in the trees at Harbor Town


I hope we can go back one day, but our next trip to the beach will be later in the summer to our sweet Sunset Beach.

The Saga Continues (among other things!)

Well - we found out today that now we are in. Apparently Mike knew the right strings to pull. Not only are we in, but we are now Toyota's "guests," and we don't even have to pay to be tortured for 26 miles. That seems fair, don't you think? I mean who is stupid enough to pay almost $200 for 4 1/2 hours of agony. Seriously we will be running the New York Marathon on November 1. That is in 145 days. The funny thing is that I had a HORRIBLE run this morning. I set out to run only 3 miles since I am following this training schedule. It was about 10 a.m. and already 78 degrees. It was MISERABLY hot. I could only half run half walk. I ended up alternating between walking and sprinting. Forest, I mean Mike, called it speed training and said that it was perfectly fine to do that. Either way - I felt like I sweated off 10 pounds. After I was done I was very thankful I wasn't going to be training for a marathon in the summer, and then what do you know - I got the e-mail. So - from here on out I am doing this for real and will need all the prayer I can get!

Moving on now - right before school got out we celebrated Taylor's fifth grade promotion at school. I can't believe he is moving into middle school. Here are pictures of him on his first and last days in lower school.




He is so ready to go to middle school. When I asked him what he is happiest to leave behind in lower school he said he is happy that he won't be bored anymore. I am not quite sure what that means - I think he is just done with not having a little freedom and flexibility in his schedule. You know - having to walk in a line to lunch and sit in a certain spot. Even though he doesn't go straight to having off-campus lunch - he enjoyed getting to make a few choices when it came time to picking electives for next year.

I just can't believe it is here already, but I am happy because he is excited. Here are a few pictures of him with some friends after the promotion ceremony.







Here is Taylor with his kindergarten teacher. Although she has been a teacher for a while, Taylor was in her first class at Charlotte Christian. We LOVE her!



I am loving summer. Since school got out almost 2 weeks ago - we have already been on a family vacation. That will be my post tomorrow - Hilton Head with the Burches! Stay tuned.....

Where to start?

It is has been way too long since my last post. I feel like I am at confession - "Bless me friends for I have sinned, it has been almost 3 weeks since my last blog post." Ha, ha! Anyway - I have too much to write in one post, so I'll spread them out over the next few days.

Let's start with running since that is where I left off. I had to take my shoes back because they were rubbing blisters on my feet. Let me, again, sing the praises of the Run For Your Life store on Park Rd. They took my shoes back (I had worn them twice) with no questions asked and let me work on finding another pair that works. I think I found one seeing as I have been running in them for about 2 weeks now. I have different blisters now, but Mike says it is because of my socks. I feel like Forrest Gump when I relate Mike's running advice. "Mike always says running shoes are not about a fashion show" or "Mike always says bad socks can cause you blisters." Anyway - he says I need to get some of those double layered socks since I have been increasing my mileage.

That brings me to my next point. God has really strengthened me to be able to run further and often faster. I have now run 6 miles a few times which for me is a miracle. I say run, but really it is run with a little walk. At the beach on Thursday I ran 6 miles in 69 minutes with 64:30 of them running and 4:30 of walking. Today I ran 5.2 miles in 58 minutes and I only walked 2 of those minutes. I can't believe I can do that. I still have a looonnnggg way to go to be in marathon shape, but I am making progress. Mike always says slow and steady wins the race.

Which brings me to my final point for this post - neither Mike nor I got into the New York Marathon. We found out Thursday after they held the lottery. He was bummed, but I was relieved. I was starting to feel very overwhelmed at the prospect of running 26.2 miles. Even though it is getting easier, it still isn't easy. The thought of training all summer in the heat and increasing my mileage kinda makes my stomach hurt! Plus, I feel like I have already succeeded. I am running, getting in better shape and becoming healthier. If I continue just 4-6 mile runs 4-5 times a week I feel like I will be doing exactly what I wanted to get out of it.

Now - the door isn't completely closed yet, because Mike is trying to get us in through a sponsor exemption. Apparently marathon sponsors get so many race entries they can use however they want. He happens to know someone at Toyota (a NYC Marathon sponsor) who thinks he might can help us. So, the saga continues. I definitely want to do this with Mike, and I know I will be happy to have done it once I have done it. It is just a little daunting, that's all. So- stay tuned for part 2 of the New York Marathon Chronicles!