Sweet!

I asked my friend to make a shirt for me to wear during marathon training and at races, to memorialize my Uncle's that have passed. All three of my Uncles have inspired me in different ways and I wanted that strength with me as I pushed myself harder than I ever have before.

And here it is :)


I looooOOOooovveee it :)

Hobble Creek Half Marathon race report part 2

This race starts at 7:30, which is way too late for August in Utah, but I guess the race directors have to do what they can to get everyone up to the start. It took a good 20 minutes to get up the canyon and buses started loading at 5:15 am. Cathleen (my friend that trained with me, this was her first half marathon, she rocks!) and I ran for about 1/2 mile or so for a warm up, it was pretty chilly up there. We stretched out and then chatted for a little while. We tried to get in the middle of the pack for the start, but it was pretty packed.

The "gun" goes off, it was a police siren sound, kind of weird but whatever. And we don't move, it took about a minute and 20 seconds to cross the line, dang it. Then it was so crowded that we couldn't get into a good groove until about 1.5 miles in :S. I started cramping almost immediately, in my abs, but toughed it out until the 3 mile aid station where I walked and drank water. I decided to start munching on sports beans to see if that would help, it really didn't :(. I was well hydrated and thought I ate well the days prior, so I don't know what was up.

After the mile 3 aid station I decided it was time to just push it as much as I could since this was supposed to be the best downhill part of the course. I passed many many runners through here, which was pretty motivating. My one complaint is the campfire smoke, it kind of just hangs out there in the canyon, but didn't last too long which was good.

I took a Gu at mile 7 or so with the Heed sports drink, man that stuff was gross! I forced myself to drink it because it was getting hot and I was still cramping! Luckily it calmed down just a bit so I could ignore it fairly well. There were quite a few hills through mile 10 or so, which was a surprise to me, no one said anything except for the hill around mile 10.5-11, though it is Utah I should have known ;).

At the mile 11.5 water station, the person in front of me stopped completely, so I had to do the same, I was never able to recover fully and my pace suffered :(. I had been following blue shorts girl for about 2 miles, her pace was pretty even, which was really helpful but I lost her here and had to settle for passing other people instead.

Now, before you all think I'm a big jerk, I was tired and had to pick any motivation that I could. I know people have different ailments and or philosophies when it comes to long distance running, so I don't fault her for what happened, I just used it as motivation. Ok, disclaimer done. There was a woman that was running with a friend and she kept peeing her pants, I passed them at mile 8.5 or so, not wanting to get splashed, it was that bad. But they caught me after the 11.5 aid station, I kept them close, as she went again! And at mile 13 I passed them one last time, I didn't want to be behind her in the photos, I know! I'm so mean.

I really wish I would have had someone to run with, I think I could have done even better, oh and the cramping didn't help either, I forgot to say that I had to stop and walk for about 20 seconds while I tried to stretch the cramp out, that was at mile 11 or so.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with my performance and I'm sure I'll give the race another chance, see if I can run more even splits. I usually remember a little more about the course than I do this time, I guess the fender bender knocked out some of my memory, hehe. Though this report is long enough, so I guess that's good that I don't remember.

Here are my splits, I lost my signal on my Garmin through the canyon, so my mile splits are off a bit.

Mile 1 - 10:25 very crowded at the start
Mile 2 - 10:10 still trying to get my groove
Mile 3 - 10:38 water stop and stretch the abs
Mile 4 - 9:42 nice downhill
Mile 5 - 9:56
Mile 6 - 9:42 found someone to pace with, but he drops back at the aid station :(
Mile 7 - 10:10 aid station and out onto the main road
Mile 8 - 10:11 mean hill
Mile 9 - 10:06
Mile 10 - 10:33 aid station
Mile 11 - 10:48 aid station and walk to stretch again
Mile 12 - 10:43 it's hot!
Mile 13 - 9:08 Garmin reads 12.92 miles, so this is a 9:56 pace

Per Garmin 2:12:16 :). Official results still aren't up yet, so I don't know the seconds, just 2:13:xx

I guess my thoughts that I can't hold a 9:xx mile for more than a mile are wrong, hehe.

Hobble Creek Half Marathon race report

I’m cheating, I’ll come back with a nice and juicy race report later, but for now I’m exhausted and lazy :P.

A goal 2 hrs 10 min. (in my dreams)
B goal 2 hrs 13 min. (only if it's as downhill as they claim)
C goal 2 hrs 15 min (this one is the one I thought I could do if I pushed hard)
D goal 2 hrs 20 min, the goal I wanted back in 2006 and missed by 2 minutes.

Gun time 2 hrs 13 min
Garmin 2 hrs 12 min 26 seconds, woohoo!! 9+ minute personal record for me, yippee!!

then I got rear-ended on my way home :(. I’m ok and it looks like it’s just my bumper, so we’ll see. I’m going to veg out on the couch for awhile and recooperate. I promise to return with more details later, thanks so much for all of your support!

Nervous!

Tomorrow is my half marathon, my goal pace race. I have had goal times before, but none that felt just a little too fast. I'm at a point in my running "career" that is kind of a turning point of sorts. My legs go faster than I think they can and my mind isn't sure I should push myself that hard. I want to pick a goal pace that will be a stretch for me, to see if I can get out of my rut. It's not fast by any means, I'll still be towards the back of the pack, but it's fast for me and that's what counts :).

So wish me luck and hopefully tomorrow I'll have a fantastic report for you!

No, I am not revealing my goal time :P.

The First Day of school

The kids started school today, yes I cried :).

Here is LittleMan, he goes a little early to get some reading help, so he was all alone. He seemed excited and not at all nervous, phew.


He was so excited that we got there early and he had time to play on the playground. I got several pictures and this one was my favorite. "Mom, can I drop down?" yes, buddy, you can do whatever you want. He is my shadow, so it will be interesting to see how he handles being gone all day.


M and L were too cool for more than one picture, so this is all I got :(.

M said he stayed up too late last night so he was tired, he was very subdued while waiting for his teacher, hopefully he relaxes a bit and enjoys himself.

L was nervous, she is in 6th grade (holy crap, how did that happen?) and most of the girls that were there waiting for school to start already know each other, so L had to stand alone. I hope she wins them over quickly and has tons of friends by days end.

I didn't cry until I came home to an empty house, I know I'll get over it soon :P, but I miss them.

Happy Birthday M :)

I can't believe my second born child is now 8! Time has flown so much faster than I ever could have imagined. I know I'm old enough to have kids this age, but 33 still feels too young (yeah, I had a birthday this month too, go me lol).

So this post is to M, my sweet, energetic, adventurous, smart, stubborn boy. I am so happy to be your mom, you challenge me every day, wanting to know everything, wanting hugs, help building your new lego castle, new music on your mp3 play or to show me a new trick you figured out on your bike. I am much happier with you around.

M got a new shirt a few weeks ago and it says pretty much that his way is the only way. He asked what it meant and I told him that it meant he thought he was in charge. So he proudly told Stu that he was now the boss, L said "dad is older than you, you can't be the boss" M said "I've been around since the Roman Empire" Made me very proud, hehehe.

I love you!