Easy Scrapbooking: Columbus Marathon

Charles' second marathon was the Columbus Marathon. I had completed the page a while ago, but after looking back over it I knew it needed a little something extra. I decided to recreate his racing bib for the "title." It was a really easy bib to recreate because it was not too detailed. I found the logo on Google and the rest was a snap to do in Publisher.

Memorial Day Weekend Travel

For our (I should say Charles') long weekend, we drove down to Ventura, CA. The main reason for the visit was for Charles to have a second shot at qualifying for the Boston Marathon at the Mountains to Beach Marathon. We used the opportunity to see what Ventura and Santa Barbara had to offer.

On our first day in Ventura we visited Pete's Breakfast House for brunch. It was delicious! I had the waffle sundae and it was the perfect combination of slightly crunchy but still soft waffle, ice cream, chocolate sauce, fruit and crunchy granola.

One thing we had not done while living in California is visit any of the many missions. Missions, according to Wikipedia, comprise a series of 21 religious outposts; established by Catholic priests of the Franciscan order between 1769 and 1833, to expand Christianity among the Native Americans northwards into what is today the U.S. state of California.

The Old Mission San Buenaventura is a small one, but has a beautiful courtyard garden and a lovely church. 

California International Marathon

I hope you saw marathon in the title and knew this post was not about me. I do not run (much). But I am married to a reluctant runner. I say reluctant because he is good at it, but doesn't necessarily love it. Although his constant signing up and then running in 10ks, half marathons, marathons and trail races would suggest otherwise.

One of Charles' goals has been to run a Boston Marathon qualifying time. To us non-runners, let me explain what this means:
To participate in the Boston Marathon you have to run a certain time.
The time you need to qualify depends on your age.
For Charles' age, he has to run a in a qualifying marathon in 3 hours and 5 minutes or faster*
     *and technically (for some reason that I am not very good at explaining), he would actually have to run it   a few minutes faster than that to be able to get a spot at the Boston Marathon

Charles is pretty fast, but he had not been able to run that fast.

Until...the 2015 California International Marathon! I have to admit that I got pretty emotional as he was crossing the finish line. Pretty emotional for me = teary eyes. I don't like to cry in public.

People kept walking in front of the camera, so I wasn't able to get a good picture of him ringing the BQ (Boston Qualifer) bell

 

I'm still alive!

I used to think that people who said they were too busy were lying. Now I understand. It's not like I have a lot going on. I do work a full-time job and I have a husband to hang out with in the evenings and weekends. I feel the biggest time waster is my commute to and from work. Without that drive, I feel like I could accomplish soooo many more things. But what can you do?

We have had some things going on recently. One was our amazing trip to Monterery. I loved it! The weather was beautiful and it was great to be back near a beach. I have to live near a beach again soon. It will probably be a while, though.

It's hard to tell, but there is a sea otter swimming with the surfers. This was taken in Santa Cruz where we stopped on our way to Monterey.

Hub cap cake at LouLou's in Monterey.

Sea Lions at the Coast Guard Pier

Outside of the Monterey Bay Aquarium

In Carmel

The excuse for the trip was for Charles to run in the Big Sur marathon

Back to Folsom

This past weekend we visited Folsom for a second time. Charles ran in the California International Marathon which began in Folsom and ended at the California State Capital in Sacramento. While in Folsom, we did some more exploring to include visiting the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary. A lot of the animals were hiding or sleeping when we went, but we were able to see a bunch of different animals. My favorite were the bears. A couple of them were sleeping and they looked so cute. I just wanted to cuddle up with them and enjoy a nap.

Charles was hoping to finish the marathon with a Boston Marathon qualifying time (3 hours and 5 minutes or faster). He missed it by a little bit, but did set a new personal record. I am very proud of him!

Look at all those gorgeous feathers! When I was looking at this peacock, I was thinking how could people not believe in God when viewing these beautiful things in nature. How could that just evolve?

E-A-G, L-E-S, Go Eagles, Go!

Race Bib Display

Now that Charles is an avid runner, he has amassed quite a few race bibs. I knew he needed a way to display them. I first visited Etsy because I was thinking about just buying one. I found several that I kind of liked, but I could not find the perfect one. I often get an idea in my head and cannot find exactly what I am imagining. Then I decided that I could just make one! It was pretty easy.

What you will need:
- piece of wood. Mine was purchased from Hobby Lobby and measures 12x24. I'm not sure how thick it is, but you'll probably want one thicker.
- chalk paint
- wooden letters
- paint for the wooden letters
- wood glue
- hooks
- hanging accessory

Paint your board with several layers of chalkboard paint.

Paint your wooden letters. I chose the word RUN. If you browse the bib displays on Etsy you can get some other word ideas. Instead of wood letters you could use vinyl or hand paint your word(s).

Glue the letters to your dried chalkboard.

Figure out the spacing for the bibs. Most of Charles' bibs matched. The ones that had wider or narrower holes were re-punched so I would not have to use multiple pairs of hooks.

Screw the hooks into the board. My board was a little thin so we could not screw them all the way in. It worked out fine, but if you are particular you will want to purchase a thicker piece of wood.

Attach the hanging accessory to the back. I picked the kind that looks like a saw. I have no idea the official terminology for those.

I used chalkboard paint so Charles can record his fastest times for each kind of race. We have not bought any chalk yet, so mine is simulated in the picture above.

He received the ribbon display as a gift. And the two shadow boxes display items from his first two marathons.

Race Day and other random stuff

This past weekend was spent in Columbus so Charles could run in the Columbus Marathon. He felt like he had to redeem himself from his first marathon. We enjoy Columbus except for Ohio State. Being brought up in a household with a Michigan alum makes you dislike anything Ohio State related. I did watch the end of the Michigan game on TV while in Columbus and got to see them win at the last minute. That was awesome!

Charles did very well at his marathon and has decided not to run anymore marathons. (Yea!) I got up bright and early to find a good spot to see him towards the finish line. At least I thought it was a good spot... I didn't even see him. I was hugely disappointed.

On anther topic...last week Charles looked out of our front window and saw a cute little orange kitten. He was worried that it was lost, so he brought it inside. I was curious how our cats would react to another cat in the house. Calvin did not like it at all! He sat under the couch and hissed at the orange cat anytime it came anywhere near him. Hobbes was a little friendlier, but very cautious near the cat. It was funny to watch them.

Luckily the kitten had a tag for a 24 hour watch service. They finally got in touch with the owner who only lives on the next street over. They were very grateful that we found their cat.

Lastly, I ordered shoes for the wedding (see previous post). They arrived today. I picked the pair I was leaning towards, but I just don't like them as much in person. The shape of the shoe reminds me of an old lady and the color is not as red as in the picture. Looks like I'll be returning those and searching for something different. I'll probably just go with flats since that is going to be way more comfortable.