Pink!

Somewhere deep down in me there is a girl who absolutely loves to run. Let me rephrase~ I absolutely need to run. It is part of me. My happy place, of sorts. I decided to take this winter off to give my body a rest, and eat way too many cupcakes~ yikes. With promises of sunshine ahead, i've really been gettin' itchy to get back out there and pound the pavement again. It is definitely time. Thought I would throw a shout out to the Pink half marathon in Park City.

I love to celebrate a good cause...

Wanna join in the fun? You have all summer to train girls~ and I hear they have excellent swag. Click here for more details.

Park City, running, shopping, eating, all girly's~ I'm in!!

~xo

My First Marathon

After years of running, I finally, finally! did it!! I don't know what I was so scared of? The time it takes to train? The distance? My body being strong enough to do it? Probably a little bit of everything. Whatever the reason, it took me 7 years to get to doing the full marathon. Let me tell ya, it was worth the wait!

I ran the Ogden Marathon which I thought was a perfect course for my first full. It was well organized, not to mention absolutely gorgeous!! Winter training is not my favorite, and every time I went out into that bitter cold I swore that next year I would not do this to myself again. We'll see. It's like having a baby, you forget all the hard parts, and just remember the good- that's what keeps you goin' back for more.

I ended up running with my sis-in-law Erika and a group of her running buddies who were all trained up and ready to qualify for Boston. I, on the other hand, was trained to "just get across that finish line," but couldn't help but daydream of possibly qualifying on my first race. As we started running I was feeling really good, and we were holding strong at around an 8mm, that glimmer of hope was starting to turn into more than just a glimmer. I was setting new goals, and unrealistic expectations. As I hit my half way point things were still looking good. I was on pace, and still feeling strong. My longest training run was 18 miles, and that was about the place I 'hit the wall!' Darn it!! Those newly established goals just went flying right out the window! I slowed down and started walking through the aid stations, trying to replenish my energy, but it was too late. At this point I just wanted to feel good at the finish line, and walk away injury free. I came across my friend Jill who was also trying to qualify, and she and I walked and talked, and cheered, and made it through our last 7 miles together. I finished in 4:01 with a smile on my face, and a desire to definitely do it again!! Mission accomplished. Maybe next time Boston... maybe next time.

Nic was down in St. George with half our ward competing in the St. George triathlon. He said it was a tough course, but felt good about it. I wish we could have been there to cheer each other on, but it turned out to be a great day for us both! My sweet parents helped me with the kids, and my Dad snapped these great pics of me finishing the race! My in-laws were also there to cheer us on. It feels so good to be loved and supported. I have the best family ever! Thanks guys!!

Finally holding my babies!! All I could think about those last few grueling miles was getting to the finish line to see my babies and family!! XO

Race for the Cure

{I really do have eyes. The sun was a little bright.}

{Nic and his brother Ty who ran with us as well, and kicked both our trash.}

Last Saturday was the annual 'Race for the Cure' down at the Gateway. What an awesome turnout it was. It is amazing the support that race has gained over the years. It was very touching to see people running for a good cause, most of which had been affected by breast cancer in one way or another. I was feeling very grateful that I was merely a supporter. What an inspiring morning.

On a another note: My dear darling hubby decided to run with me!! I have been trying to convince him that running is 'fun' for as long as I can remember. His response has always been, "I don't run long distance." Well folks- he NOW runs long distance. Sure it was only a 5K, and sure I might not see him out running again any time soon (although he has shown some interest in the Bear Lake 10K), but the point is that he did it! Oh, and in case you were wondering- yes, he beat me. At my own game. It was a little disappointing, but I was nipping at his heals as we crossed the finish line (around 23 min. for the record). I was really hoping he would run out of gas and I could get him, but it felt good to be able to at least hang with him. The boy is an animal- and pretty much kicks butt at whatever he does. Me on the other hand... I have to work a little harder. I am so proud of him!!! Next up, Bear Lake Half! Can't wait!!

Thank you Dad for the race, and thanks to Gramy & Papa for taking the kids so we could go!! We truely have the best parents EVER!!

Salt Lake Half Marathon 2009

This last picture says it all. I'm pretty sure I had a smile on my face through most of my miles. I went into this race feeling really unprepared and nervous. I have never had such a bad case of the pre-race jitters. The only gripe I had was the change in the route which added a pretty good hill right at mile 11-12. What the heck!! Whose ever idea that was I'd like to smack, but other than that it was perfect!! The weather couldn't have been better. Just a great race. For some reason we have a tendency of being late to this race- so we are always running to the start line. Always makes for good times though. Nothing funnier than me and my cute sis-in-law Erika (whose been my best friend since elementary-no joke) laughing hysterically as we frantically search for a bathroom, safety pins for our bibs, and dropping our stuff as the cannon's going off!! Man I love that girl!! Always a good time. I was pretty happy with my time. I was hoping to be under 1:50, but missed it by a couple minutes. My official time was 1:52:36 and I ran a 8:35 min/mile. Definitely a good starting point for the year, with room for improvement. For now, I have had a good week off and am ready to get back at it! I am just so happy to be feeling good!! So far my knees are hanging in there! Yay!!

Note to self: You do not do well with caffeine. Stick to your gu's next time ;)

Spring Training

The other day I woke up knowing I had 5 miles to run. I knew snow was in the forecast, but was hoping that for some reason it would be a beautiful morning. As I peeked out my shutters, there it was...that white stuff...all over my grass. Yikes!! (as Kade would say) I laid back in my nice warm bed for a minute, but the nagging reminder that my half marathon is not getting any further away got me back out of bed and dressed in my gear. I stretched, poured 2 bowls of honey nut Cheerios's for Kaden and Rylie, and headed out the door. The snow was coming down, but I had been out in worse. I started to run and for the first time in a long while nothing hurt. It felt so good. As I continued on I got lost in thought (and the tunes on my i-pod). The only thing annoying me was the snow blowing into my face. By about the 3rd mile or so I looked down and saw the front of my black sweatshirt was caked with snow. I could feel warm tears running down my cold cheeks. Every once in a while a huge white flake would land on my cheek or the tip of my nose, and then slowly melt away. I was thinking to myself, why do I love this so much? Am I crazy? I should be home in my nice cozy bed, but instead I am out here pounding the pavement in the cold. Fast forward to today. It was beautiful, a little breezy, but such a nice day. I then realized why I train through all of those cold, miserable days. To get to the warm, beautiful days. Days that I head out early in the morning, and watch the sun rise up over the mountains. I never thought it would be, but running is just a part of me that I love so much. I love the sense of accomplishment it gives me. Especially on days that it feels like I've not been able to accomplish much else. Anyways, I am beginning to sense those warmer days becoming more and more prevalent and it makes me so flippin' excited! Can't wait to ditch the ear-muffs, gloves, and sweatshirts... I'm on the lookout for the perfect running skirt. That Salt Lake half is going to be here before I know it. That flu set me back a bit- but I am starting to make some progress again! Yay!

p.s. If anyone is interested in putting in for the St. George Marathon (April 1st) let me know. We can get a whole gang of us together- it would be so much stinkin' (you wonder where my kids get that) fun!!! Think it over :)

Draper Temple and the Flu...

Holy Influenza!!!

That flu bug floating around is NO JOKE!! It owned me for like 5 days. 4 of which were seriously spent IN MY BED!! Not good for my training. I am SO glad to be back with the living and back to running, but I am weak. So annoying. Only 5 1/2 weeks left until the Salt Lake Half Marathon... I better kick it back into high gear.

On another note, we just got back from touring the new Draper Temple. It was beautiful as I had imagined. Not a corner went unnoticed. It was peaceful, serene, and most importantly, my children got to see the inside of it. They were so excited this morning when I told them we were going to see the new temple and they would be able to go inside. Kaden looked at me puzzled and said, "But Mom, I thought you couldn't go inside the temple unless you got married?" I explained to him that it hadn't yet been dedicated, and that's why we had this neat opportunity to see the inside before they did. On the bus ride back to our cars I asked them what their favorite part was. They both said, "The 'bathtize' part." Meaning the baptismal font. They also thoroughly enjoyed the refreshments at the end. We didn't venture to far from the beaten path while at the temple, so there were no great photo ops.

Back at the chapel sufficed. Of course our kids were not cooperating, but here ya go.

Afterwards we went and got some Chinese food. It was quite a treat. Thanks again Ben for the delicious dinner.

{Doesn't Rylie look so happy to be there? She really did not want her picture taken, but she got it anyways.}
What a great night. I am so thankful for temples, and how blessed we are to have so many readily available for our convenience. Anyone who still hasn't seen it, there are still a few more days. I highly recommend going down.

Where My Love of Running Began

The Salt Lake City Marathon 2004..... 5K. Yes. The 5k. It all started at a 5k that I had no intentions on loving, I was seriously just hoping to finish. I was giving Nic very specific instructions on picking me up along the way if I tuckered out and couldn't finish. I had never ran before, and up to that point the farthest I had ever run was about 2 miles. Some of the girls I work with talked me into doing it, and I thought what the heck. My adrenaline kicked in immediately once we finally got there. How could you not love the atmosphere? Good clean fun.

I'll never forget the feeling I had as I ran into the crowd nearing the finish line. There were tons of people, people I didn't even know, and they were cheering me (us-the runners) on. I crossed the finish line, and felt so accomplished. I watched in awe as the marathoner's began trickling into the finish line. I could not imagine what they might be feeling in comparison to the way I felt about my 3.1 miles. I loved it. I knew I had to do it again. And again. Since then I have ran many races. 5k's, 10k's, 10 miler's, even half-marathon's... but never the full. Oh, the full. Why is that 26 miles so intimidating? So now the question I keep asking myself is... is this my year? Can I really scrounge up enough time to properly train? Do I want to properly train? Will my knee's hold out? Am I capable of seriously running 26 miles? Will I be one of those people who are ceasing up at the finish line and they have to carry off on a stretcher?
{Cassie- tell me that's not Kip in the background. What the heck?!}

On the other hand... what is 26.2 miles?

I can do it!!!

Nic- be on call if I need a pick up at mile 15:)

Turkey Day Run

So I thought I would send out a little announcement about the annual Thanksgiving Day Run that takes place none other than.... Thanksgiving Day!! We still have 2 weeks to get training. It is a 5 mile walk/run, not to be mistaken with a 5K (had to learn that one the hard way a few years back... those last 2 miles were killer!!) Anyways, anyone who would like to start your Thanksgiving morning off right with a great workout--GET TRAINING!! I will post more details later (time, place, whatnot). Oh!! And the best part is it doesn't cost you a penny- only canned goods which go towards feeding those less fortunate than us. Huh? Sound good? THEN GET RUNNING!!