I'm a Marathon Mama!!

Yesterday I ran Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN. I, Becca, the NON-runner, the girl who thought she could never run 10 miles, let alone 26.2! I DID IT! I finished it! It was one of the hardest most challenging things I have ever done in my life. The race was long, grueling and painfully difficult, but if you asked me if I'd do it again, the answer would definitely be YES!!! And I know you're probably thinking, "oh poor Becca, she lost her noodle out there on the race course." But I promise, I'm not insane. I'm empowered. The marathon made me work for something, made me face my insecurities and doubts and in the end, I found out I could beat them. When I had to dig deep and find the mental strength to finish, I learned that I was stronger than I thought. That I CAN do hard things, and that I am a finisher! Here are some details from this empowering marathon experience.

On Friday we left our kids with friends and drove up to Duluth. The packet pick up was at a big convention center where they had a fitness expo going on and a huge spaghetti dinner for all the runners. We sat at a table with 4 other people, 3 of whom were repeat Grandma's marathoners. It was great listening to all their war stories and getting some helpful tips


We booked a hotel right in front of mile 24, two miles away from the finish line. It would be a great place for Taber and my sister Naomi (whose husband was running too) to watch the race from and cheer us on. Once we got to our hotel I got everything set out for the morning. I tried on all my gear, pinned on my number, and listened to some of my power songs to pump me up. Kevin and Naomi joined us a little after midnight. We settled in for about 4 hours of sleep but I was so excited and nervous that I probably only got two. At 5 am Kevin and I got our gear on and headed to the shuttle buses to take us to the starting line.

The bus ride was LONG. the further we got away from our hotel the more nervous I started to feel. Finally we got to the starting line and excitement overcame nervousness. We had just enough time to hit the bathroom and do a few stretches before we had to line up in the chute. To kick things off they sang the national anthem and jets flew over the sky. They were blasting songs like Eye of the Tiger and Chariots of Fire to set the mood. I can't tell you how cool it felt to be there with all 6000 plus other people who were about to put their bodies and their will power to the ultimate test.
The gun went off and like a wave of molten lava the river of runners flowed toward the starting line. It took us 4 minutes to cross it.

When we got to mile marker 1 the first thing I noticed were the black flags waving. That was the weather sign for extremely high risk heat conditions. They wanted us to slow down and drink up. I knew it was hot before I saw the flags but that just confirmed that this was going to be a tough race for me. I've never trained in the heat since so I was definitely nervous!


For the first 3 miles I was sweating like a pig. But then I stopped sweating and that really worried me. I knew I needed to stay hydrated and cool so when I hit the water station at mile 5 I grabbed cup after cup from every volunteer down the line and poured it down my face, on my head, down my back and in my mouth. It was very refreshing! I did it again at mile 7 and Kevin thought it was so funny he took this little video. (Note: Kevin is hardcore runner who is training for the Chicago Marathon in Oct. He was using Grandma's as a fun run in his training. He ran it at a MUCH slower pace than his usual pace so he could run with me, which is why he has SO much energy in all of his videos!)

After mile 7 I was feeling hydrated and good. My best miles were probably 8-13. We were keeping a solid 9:30 pace, I had fuel in my tank, my legs felt good, and the scenery was gorgeous! We had amazing views of Lake Superior (which looked more like ocean superior it was so big!) And people on the course were still happy and chatty.


We got to mile 13 and the half marathon point in 2 hours 9 minutes. I stopped to walk through the water station and stretch out a little. My legs were starting to get tight and the heat was getting to me.

By mile 15 I had to stop and walk through the water station again. I stretched again and then we headed out.
At that point I was getting tired and started seeing lots of people walking or just dropping out of the race. I vowed I wouldn't walk unless we were at a water station, so I mentally focused on getting to the next one (mile 17) and pushed on. As we were trucking up a hill I heard a pace group leader telling his group to visualize the reason they were running and to focus on that as they climbed the hill. The first thing that popped into my head was Brinley's sweet little face. That got me up the hill and to the next water station. Between 17 and 19 I struggled, but once we got to 19 we entered the city and people were there to cheer us on. That helped more than I realized it would.

At mile 20 they started having water stations every mile, but I told Kevin that if we stopped I probably would'nt be able to start back up again. He agreed that we should push through so we did. By mile 21 my legs felt like lead, my feet were throbbing and my back was starting to ache. I stopped to walk and was glad I had sunglasses on so nobody would see me crying. Kevin said that this is where our will power had to kick in to get us through. He told me we didn't have to run, just shuffle. So I picked up my feet and started shuffling.


Mile 22 was the infamous lemon drop hill. Kevin told me not to stop, we're shuffling up that hill! So we shuffled and shuffled and got to the top and let out a huge yell! (which probably scared the other delirious runners around us.) Picture below is me going up the hill.

At mile 23 I could see our hotel in the distance. I thought back on that long bus ride earlier in the morning and was amazed at how far we had come. I knew Taber would be near the hotel and I held on to that knowledge to pull me forward. I saw him probably half a mile away. Tears filled my eyes and I knew I was going to do this. My rock, my strength, my greatest support in this journey was holding up a sign and cheering me on. Seeing him gave me the boost I needed to keep going. (Here's a short video Taber took as we passed him. You can see me hunched over in my shuffling position. That hunch is the reason my back is KILLING me today! You'll also notice the insane amount of energy Kevin has at mile 24, I swear he has superhuman running abilities)

Mile 25 and another hill, this one going down. Ouch ouch ouch!! My quads felt like someone took a meat pulverizer to them. We were so close to the finish but that last 1.2 miles felt like FOREVER! At one point I thought we were near the finish and I started to run faster, only to find that we still had 1/4 mile to go.
Finally we turned a corner and saw the finish line. Like a horse coming home to the barn I picked up the pace and actually sprinted in. I passed like 5 people, I don't know where the energy came from, I just knew I was DONE!! I Finished a marathon! I couldn't hold in the tears as they handed me my medal and a flower and congratulated me on finishing the race.

All in all around 6700 runners started the race and 5600 finished it. I was a finisher!! The hot weather caused a lot of people to drop out,(93 degrees was the blacktop temperature) but I think that slowing it down in the second half and having Kevin there to push me along really helped me get through. My finish time was 4:37:54. I was pretty happy about that!

When the race was over we met up with Naomi and Taber and took a dip in Lake Superior to give our legs a little "ice bath."

Taber also brought a cooler full of ice and saran wrapped my knees and lower back which were killing me. They had a tent full of professional massage therapist giving free massages to the runners. I totally took advantage of that too.
When we got home I took a real ice bath and tried to stretch out a little but despite all of that I still woke up this morning in so much pain I could barely walk. I'm still smiling though. Pain is temporary, knowing I did what I once thought impossible is something I will hold onto forever!

Special Bonus Features: Here are two clips of me finishing the race. The first was taken by Kevin, who was running behind me so the clip is pretty shaky. The second was taken by Taber who was watching at the finish line. You can see me pick up the pace and pass people as I "sprint" into the finish.

Also special thanks to Kevin Hanks, my brother in law for being my personal photographer (and motivational coach) on the run. Not only did he find the time to take many great shots for me during the race, but I also found these little gems he took while running too. : ) Thanks Kev!

Tired Teya

The other night I sent Teya to her room to watch some TV before she went to bed so I could get Brinley down. When I went in to check on her, this is what I found:

Tired Teya from Taber Rigg on Vimeo.

A Binky Story

Once upon a time a mommy had a baby. And sometimes the baby would cry and cry. but then one day Mommy found a magical cure to all her tears, a tiny harmless little thing called a binky. Insert binky, no more crying! Baby and Mommy were very happy and they both grew to love the magical binky.

Then baby started getting bigger. And baby wanted binky even when she wasn't crying. Mommy thought, well that's okay, she's still just a baby, whatever makes her happy.

Baby continued to grow and binky kept getting more and more mouth time. Mommy thought, well, she hasn't even started to talk, when she starts talking I'll take it away.

Baby, now toddler, started to talk but binky still didn't go away. Infact, now that baby could talk she let mommy know in no in no uncertain terms how much she loved binky and how sad she would be if mommy took it away.

As baby started becoming a little girl Mommy finally cracked down and banished binky to bedtime only. Somehow the little girl still managed to negotiate plenty of "one special times" to suck her binky outside of bed.

Then the little girl became a big sister. The transition was difficult and Mommy found herself giving in more and more to the binky.

The little girl turned 3 and what did she ask for for her birthday? Why a binky of course! Such a simple request, how could mommy say no?

Then one day Mommy looked at her little girl and thought, "What in the world is my 3 year old doing sucking a binky!"
Mommy realized she had put this off long enough. She always thought, "I'll take it away after the baby comes, after we move, after we go out of town, after this trip, etc...." But she knew there would always be something to rationalize holding on. It was time for the little girl (and mommy) to let it go.

So Mommy told the little girl about a new baby that was born that needed some toys and a binky and asked the little girl if she could give him hers. The little girl (with a BIG heart) saw the picture of the little baby and agreed to part with her most beloved possession. Together with Daddy they put together a care package with the binky, sealed it up, and "sent it off" to the baby. The little girl was very brave during the day but that night she cried and cried for her binky. She cried so long and so hard that she finally ended up crashing on the floor in mommy's room. Mommy slept on the floor next to her to help her through that difficult first night.

It has now been a week and a half since the little girl said goodbye to her binky. She has done amazingly well, and despite one or two minor meltdowns at night, hasn't cried over binky and has gone to sleep just fine without it. Mommy is so very proud of her little girl (and herself) For finally learning to let go.

THE END (p.s. Here is a little video of Teya saying goodbye to binky)

Shorter version of Teya saying goodbye to binky from Taber Rigg on Vimeo.

A great way to start the weekend

Summer in Minnesota is a big deal. I mean you figure it's cold 8-9 months of the year here so when it warms up for bit people aren't going to take that for granted. I guess that's why at General Mills they give their employees half days on Fridays during the summer so they can enjoy the warm weather while it's here. Half day Friday's started a couple weeks ago and we are loving the little head start on our weekends!

Yesterday we took advantage by getting together with another couple from church who also works for General Mills and going on a double date with them to the St. Paul Temple. It was great being able to get down their by 3:30 and being done early enough to go out to dinner and still be able to pick up our kids in time to get them to bed.

We really enjoyed the temple and eating such good food in such good company. As we drove home I told Taber, "that was a great way to start the weekend!"

Random side note: Two different people at the temple asked if Taber and Patrick were brothers. Teya has also mistaken Patrick from behind for her daddy. I think if we got Taber some sweet glasses like Patrick's they could totally pull the brother thing off!

On the Move

Brinley's mobility has increased 10 fold this last month. She has finally mastered crawling on all fours and she can really book it! She also learned to climb the stairs so baby gates are on full time duty and she loves to pull up on anything and everything she can find. She recently discovered Teya's old push toy and takes great pleasure in pulling up on it and pushing it around the living room. Here is a cute clip of her doing just that.

You'll notice that every time she runs into something she says, "Uh Oh!" It's really funny. And please don't mind Teya's sassy chatter in the background. Apparently she was trying to sleep while we were filming and our actions were disturbing her slumber ; )

Push Toy from Taber Rigg on Vimeo.

Chicago get away!

When my sister moved to Chicago 5 months ago I was so excited to have family within driving distance. It took us awhile but we finally got a road trip organized and headed out there over the Memorial Day weekend. Naomi and Kevin showed us a great time and really packed in the fun. Here are some pictures from the day we went on a tour of downtown Chicago.

We took the train from the suburbs where they live into the city. It popped us out right in front of the enormous Sears tower. It was quite the sight to see coming out of the train station.



I really wanted to check out the Navy Pier area so we hopped on a water Taxi and headed towards the pier.
Teya couldn't believe she got to ride on a train and then a boat! Brooklyn and Brinley loved it too and all three of them spent the majority of the ride hanging onto the side of the boat and staring out at the busy city.


When we got to the Navy Pier there so much to do it was hard to know where to start. Teya really wanted to ride the "steering wheel" (aka Ferris wheel) so we decided to start with that. When we got closer though she decided it was too scary we opted for a carousel ride instead.



While we were there we also grabbed some Chicago hot dogs (which was the one priority I had going to Chicago)And we stopped for some ice cream because calories don't count when you're on vacation, right?

With all the traveling and excitement our little girls got pretty tuckered out. Brooklyn took a nice nap on Kevin's shoulder and later on Brinley passed out in Taber's arms and slept there for quite awhile.

After the Pier we had about 2 hours to get back to the train station so we started walking since that's about how long it takes with a pokey 3 year old and two little girls. It was cool walking through the city and taking in all the big buildings. We stopped at Millenium Park to check out "The Bean". It was even cooler in person than in the pictures.


The girls did great on our long adventure in the city. Teya and Brooklyn fell asleep on the train ride home and never woke up again till the morning. Brinley on the other hand got such a great power nap in Taber's arms that she was in hyper mode until about 11 o'clock when we finally got her to sleep.

It's definitely awesome having family that lives near such a cool city. I'm sure we'll be back again to explore some more!

Hangin' with the Hanks

One of the coolest parts about going out to Chicago was for the girls to hang out with their cousin Brooklyn and their fun Auntie and Uncle. The night we got there we took them over to a little park and let them burn off their energy.



At one point uncle Kevin sat at the bottom of the slide and let Teya come down and crash into his back, causing him to catapult off the edge of the slide and land a few feet away. Teya thought this was the most hilarious thing ever and made him do it over and over again. What a good sport!

After the park the Hank's introduced us to the most sinfully delicious pizza I've ever eaten. They said I'd only be able to eat one piece because it was so rich and fattening. I normally eat at least 3 pieces of pizza so I had my doubts until I actually bit into the thing and was like "WHOA!" Yeah, definitely a one piece meal. (and sorry for yet another food shot, we really like food, what can I say?)

I also had to include these morning shots of the girls hanging out together in their jammies. 3 girls under the age of 3, pretty cute stuff!

A Swell Hotel

Since our kids are lightweight travelers when it comes to road trips, we actually split up our drive to Chicago and stopped at a hotel half way there. We found a real gem of a place in Madison WI that had kids suites ( a room with a separate wall and bunk beds for the kids) and an awesome pool with a shallow play area for little kids and a water slide that was just the perfect size for Teya. As soon as we got to the hotel Teya wanted her swimsuit on and we could barely contain her she was so excited to get swimming. She swam for almost two hours and then woke up the next morning and the first thing she asked for was to put on her swimsuit again.



This was Teya's first time going on a "big kid" waterslide. She did great, even the time when mommy was supposed to catch her and ended up frantically fishing her out of the water instead. (didn't realize she'd be coming down so fast!)

Daddy was much better at the catching thing.

Brinley had a lot of fun too. She crawled around in the super shallow part till her poor little knees were red. I finally had to take her back early to go to bed and she wasn't happy about leaving.

Unplanned lake adventure

Yesterday was just so beautiful I decided to take the girls outside in the late afternoon before Taber got home. I thought we'd just go to the little park a block away so I didn't pack much. When we got in the stroller though Teya said she wanted to go to the big park with the lake and sand (about a mile away) I felt up for some exercise so I agreed.

When we got there I directed Teya towards the playground and hoped she'd forget about the lake since we didn't bring bathing suits and the water is still pretty cold. I should've known better though. She asked if she could dip her feet in. The next thing I know her pants were on the beach. Not long after that her shirt was too.

Several other children followed suit and happiness ensued. I couldn't help but smile at the joy of childhood. Teya had no inhibitions, she saw the lake and had to jump in. She saw other kids and decided they would be her friends, that simple.



Brinley had fun at the lake too. This was her first experience with sand and water. She didn't hesitate to explore. As soon as I sat her down she was off to see what this lake was all about.



Found a treasure! The hardest part was keeping her from putting all her treasures in her mouth. I was probably only 50% successful.

We ended up being there for almost 2 hours and even then it was hard to pull Teya away.

Luckily Taber showed up to help me lure her away from the beach. He also brought a towel, dry clothes, and some much needed water and snacks. We ended up getting home a little late but it was worth it to see how much fun they had. I guess sometimes the best outings are the ones I don't plan!