Have you ever had an "Out of Body" Experience?

Sorry for the delay in getting the blog updated...I had to eat humble pie and realize that I am not Superman. I was aiming for a 3:30 marathon finish but the 96% humidity and temperature just two degrees shy of cancelling the event caused a disappointing 43 minute delay in my expected arrival time! Nonetheless - I did cross the finish line at 4:13 for my time. So here is how it went: A strong start full of energy and butterflies. I began pacing at a 3:20 finish time for the first half of the marathon. A combination of the heat, humidity and the adrenaline that comes from over 300,000 spectators and 8,000+ runners caused an unexpected WALL at mile 15. I definitely hit it! I remember counting my steps with over 11 miles to go - that was when I felt that "out of body" feeling. I promised myself that I would never do this again. For the last ten miles I had to combine walking, jogging and running just to keep progressing toward the finish line! I knew for sure that I needed to get rested so I looked good running mile 24 where my wife, son & mother-in-law would be cheering me on! Once I crossed the finish line they threw the "Finisher" medal over my neck, handed me a bottle of water and I laid on the grass for the next forty-five minutes.

While my time was not what I expected and somewhat disappointing to me - I was encouraged by fellow runners who told me that these were the worst Twin Cities Marathon conditions in history. Well - now I feel like I have some unfinished business on the table. There are better times to be had ahead. Even though I promised myself I would never do this again - I am way too competitive to let things end this way. Now Grandma's Marathon awaits me in June. See you in Canal Park at the finish. Come early. I will be there in 3:30 (or sooner!)!!!

23 Pounds of Strong Will

Jack is now unofficially 23 pounds (and not because we allow him to have suckers...this was a rare, but funny moment at the State Fair). I say unofficially because this is based on our bathroom scale...not the doctor's scale. However, I can assure you that he has been checked at least three times by both Jeremy and myself...just to be sure. It amazes me that in just 7 and a half months he could have grown soooo much...and from a diet consisting mainly of milk. Comparatively speaking, our friends have a son who is exactly one year and four days older than Jack. He is 24 pounds!

Jack is so interested in the foods that Jeremy and I eat we had to have a plan for dinner. First we have to feed Jack...then we can eat (and he can taste our food - like at Nana Jeannie's house when he tried spaghetti noodles for the first time last week). If we take out the big people food before he has his baby food he is completely disinterested and refuses to eat any more unless it is our big people food. The problem with this scenario is that Jack isn't quite ready for a solid diet of big people food and he is still hungry because he did not get enough of his food to fill his belly...so he gets very upset very quickly.

This quick anger has helped Jeremy and I to realize that Jack definitely knows what he wants and can comprehend a great deal more than we were aware of. He is in the beginning stages of needing to know that there are boundaries and we are equipping ourselves to begin putting our first "Team Dyer" parenting strategies to the test. :)