St. George Marathon

The marathon journey has finally ended and I am breathing a huge sigh of relief.  I look back and marvel. Wow! I ran two marathons this year.

 

Why in the world would I do such a crazy thing?

 

Well, ummm, I really have no idea.  But I did it.

 

We left Raef and Zach in Reno so that they could play in their football game on Saturday. It was just Rinar and the little ones for the weekend in St. George, Utah.  Rinar's brothers were both gracious enough to take Eli, Harry and Julia the night before the marathon so that we could concentrate on running. After a wonderful dinner with Rinar's triathlon buddy Bart and his family, we headed up to a cabin in Pine Valley, which is very close to the starting line.  Fortunately, Jason J. was running the marathon as well, and it was his great Aunt's cabin.  He let us tag along with him to share accomodations. This was convenient because it afforded us an extra hour of sleep.  And I love sleep.

 

I had decided a month previously to run at least the first part of the race with my friend Johanna. She lives in Vegas and after discovering that we were both running about the same pace,  we thought it would be great to have a running buddy.

 

I wanted to do well in this race and I was a little concerned because my foot had started bothering me on Monday.  It was rotten luck, as I had done a prodigious amount of running all year and hadn't gotten hurt at all and then the week of the marathon, my foot starts acting up!  Sheesh!  It didn't matter. This was my last marathon. I really wanted to run this race and even if I had to crawl, I was going to finish it.

 

I am grateful that my prayers were answered and I didn't have too much trouble with it. 800 mg of Ibuprofen doesn't hurt either.

 

The weather was absolutely perfect in every way.  Johanna and I started out strong, about 9 minutes after the starting gun. It was crowded and it required a bit of weaving on our part, but we didn't mind. We talked a lot and were cruising along. Johanna is a great conversationalist and it made it easy to keep my mind occupied. After about 5 miles, I caught up to Autumn and Amy from my ward and then soon ran up to Rusty and Rachel. That was fun and gave me a little boost right before the dreaded Veyo hill. We didn't talk going up the hill. All energy was on slaying the hill.  Luckily, I actually practiced hills quite a bit and I was able to keep a steady pace throughout and didn't stop at all.

 

In fact, I was so afraid of my foot falling apart, I didn't want to stop at all. I figured it would just hurt more to have to start again.  Johanna let me run with her for about 9 miles and then she was nice and warm and left me in the dust.  I just pulled out the iPod and cranked up the tunes.  I put myself on cruise control and put one foot in front of the other.

 

I was really proud of myself because I kept a positive attitude for pretty much the whole race.  It is hard to keep a steady stream of positive thoughts  when the road is long and endless, but I did it somehow.

 

I even ran the farthest I have ever run without stopping: 22 miles.  Finally, my body stopped almost involuntarily.  My time was good and I was hoping to break four hours, but it soon became apparent that it was not going to happen.  So I probably walked about 3 times for a good stretch, maybe for about 5 minutes total.  Diagonal Street was where it was the hardest. I walked there the most, but somehow, I started running again with about 1.5 to go.

 

It was funny, but when I was on 300 West I saw some kids that were about Raef and Zach's age and then there were some very inspirational signs along the way. (Not to forget that Nordel and Lyf had both put a bunch of signs up the entire course for us, which was so incredibly thoughtful.) But anyways, I don't remember what the signs said on 300 West, but I almost started to cry.  I was overcome by my emotions, but I held it in.

 

When I finally made the turn onto 300 South the crowd was roaring and the finish line was in sight. I scanned the crowds and saw Nordel holding Eli up to say hi, and then Aislinn and her kids were at the finish line as well.

 

And guess who gave me my finisher's medal?

 

 

 

Do you recognize this guy?  If you are a football fan, you know it is none other than legendary coach Lavell Edwards from that team down south.  I thought that was pretty darn cool.

 

 

My official time was 4:06:18.  It is my best time by far, my third marathon and a great way to end it.

 

 

Rinar worked really hard to train for his first marathon. I am sure there will be many more for him.  He did so awesome and I am very proud of him.  He really had a desire to beat all of his friends' best times and he accomplished his goal: 3:39:42. And Johanna kicked some major booty with a great time of 3:49:20. She smashed her time from last year. The girl rocks!

 

After the dust had settled, the pain really set in. Whoa. I know I pushed myself as hard as I could with the time and abilities I have.  I feel very satisfied with my accomplishment and marvel that I could even do it at all.

 

That evening we went with Grandma Linda to the waterpark and the kids had so much fun playing and getting wet.  We then went on the wonderful new carousel the city has installed in the downtown complex. It is so cool.  St. George is just a neat town.

 

 

 

Now I am home, still recuperating. I hope tomorrow will allow a normal gait once again.  And  I think about this marathon journey. It is hard.  But it was definitely worth it.  A marathon should be on every single persons bucket list.  It is a hard thing to achieve and the process is absolutely brutal. Sometimes I doubted myself and I shed many tears along the way. There was no one out there to do it for me..  I had to dig down deep within myself and vanquish the doubt, overcome any fear, and just hold on like hell.  I know without a doubt that I am a lot stronger than I ever thought I was. I have proven that to myself...twice!  Who knows, somewhere down the road of life, I may need that strength when it really counts.  It is a gift of strength I have nurtured within myself. No matter what challenges, trials, hardships are awaiting me, I can look back on this year of my life and know that I can endure just about anything. I hope I don't forget.

 

And as my friend Tracy has so eloquently put it, "I can do hard things!"

 

And believe me, if I can do this, so can you.

The Last Few Days

I have had a lot of fun these past couple of days.  On Thursday night I met some girlfriends from church and we went out for a birthday celebration.  Me and 5 other ladies all have birthdays this month.    It was great being able to hang out and relax...and eat, of course.

 

Super cool ladies, Lanae, Anna, Yvonne, and Julie.

 

On Friday, my little ones wanted to play the violin.  Lessons will be coming in the near future.  Oh boy, I get to pay for lessons for FIVE children. 

 



 

 

After the violin was put away, we headed over to the park.  I am so sad, because our very best homeschool friends, the Lindsey's, are moving back to Texas at the end of this month.  Boo hoo.  But we still had fun doing bottle rockets.

 

 

 

 

When Julia's bottle landed, Eli had the audacity to pick it up for her.  She fell apart and cried, cried, cried.  Her life was OVER!  Eli gave her the bottle and offered a few words of comfort.

 

 

Eli and Harry especially loved this bottle rocket activity.  They kept filling their bottles up with water and shouting with glee when the thing went flying into the sky.  It was some good times.

 

I decided to go ahead and run my 18-miler last night, since Rinar had to run his and the boys had a football game in Fernley today.  Somehow we had to get it all in.  And boy, have I ever told you that running that far totally sucks?  Phooey.  I was in pain.  The pain really started to wash over me like an acid bath, after I was finished.  But at least I didn't have to run today, right?

 

And I am never running a marathon again!  Have I said that before?

 

Then today (Saturday) was my birthday.  Oh boy! The kids were mostly so good today.  When they woke up this morning they were fairly pleasant.  That was a nice change of pace.

 

We then headed over to Fernley, which is about 1 hour west of Reno, for the boys football game.  It was a rough one.  The Fernley team was really good. It was a close game in the first half, but not so much in the second. We lost 19-0.  Raef really had a rough time. He came out in the 3rd quarter because he was sick.  I am pretty sure it was dehydration.  He threw up several times on the way home and is still not feeling that great. Poor kid.  For next week's game, they will be drinking lots of water, starting Friday!

 

When we got home, Rinar took me out for some birthday fun.  But not before I got a few presents.  The best was this card signed by all my kids.  The long message is from Zach.  He loves me so much even if I think I am mean.  Harry did the lovely squiggles to the left and Julia did the delicate circles on the bottom left.  Eli signed his name as well and even drew a heart.  Raef drew lots of hearts.  Aaahhhh! So sweet.  I also got another guitar and a new electric toothbrush.

 

 

But the best part was the serenade from Julia.  She sang happy birthday to me a million times. It was so adorable.

 

Rinar took me to Johnny's Ristorante.  It was truly fantastic. I highly recommend it.  Then we went to the Reno Ace's game.  We were in the box seats right behind the dugout.  Rinar had a major hook-up.  And then in the second inning, my name appeared on the scoreboard, wishing me happy birthday.  That was super cute. Oh, my kooky husband.

 

 

 
It was a fun day and now I can just march right on to 40. It will be here before I know it, I guess. I have four years to wrap my head around that.

 

 

Thoughts on Running

For the past few months, I have once again been training for a marathon.  I have always wanted to do the St. George Marathon and on a whim, I put my name into the lottery.  I got a little nudge from Bart, who was visiting from Utah with his family for the weekend.  He was like, "Just put your name in."  So like an idiot, I did.

I ran 16 miles this morning. I got up at 4:40am to get it done, because Rinar is running the marathon as well and has to run the same long run as me.

 I never actually thought my name would get selected.

What I would like to know is...

Where was the other person sitting next to me when I foolishly put my name in to slap me across the head and say, "What the h--- are you thinking? Have you lost your freakin' mind?"

Where was that person?

A Marathon Tantrum

In April, I ran a marathon.  That's right. 26.2 never ending, oh crap, will this ever be done (?!?!!), miles.  Needless to say, it was a loooooong race.  But I persevered and finished the darn thing.  I had many ups and downs along the way. One minute, I was feeling the runners rush. I felt good and was cranking out the miles.  Then I was absolutely hating running.  I mean HATING it.  What was I thinking?  Had I completely lost my mind?  Then, after a few Ibuprofen and a banana, I was loving it again.  But with 2.8 miles to go, the love never returned. I seriously hated the stupid marathon.

What does this have to do with motherhood?  I mean, there are the obvious parallels.  I love being a mother, I hate being a mother. I love being a mother, I hate being a mother. Coincidentally, I do see a shocking correlation between the love of motherhood and bedtime. But I digress.

Two days before my marathon, I took my three little ones to the big box store.

Oh wait, in case you didn't know, I am the mother of five children.  Three pregnancies...five children.  That's right, I have two sets of twins.  Four boys and one girl.  It goes twins, single, twins. My youngest is a girl.

Anyways, lets get back to the big box store.

I had an hour to kill while my oldest boys were taking their violin lessons.  I had to get some essential items for a class I was teaching that day.  It was just a quick trip, but since I had some time to kill I thought we could go and browse and get a few things.

Big mistake!

After letting number 3, Eli, pick out a rather expensive coloring book (hey, it is "educational"), I went to the electronics section to check on an item I would need in the near future.  While I was checking my item, Eli was admiring the Skylanders figures. These figures are the bane of my existence.  Grrrrr!!!

Surprisingly enough, he wanted me to buy one.

NO!

The low whine slowly percolated into a medium grumble and then it was a full-blown scream fest.  EPIC tantrum.  EPIC.

And so it begins...

Abandon ship! Abandon ship!

He lost the coloring book and then quickly lost his sanity.

But I still had to get some items for my class. I quickly swung around to the needed items.  Eli's  ear-piercing scream was constant. Numbers 4 and 5, Harry and Julia, were feeling left out and would more than occasionally join in as back-up screamers.

I think people offered to help me. I am not sure because I really could not hear a darn thing.  The checkout lady started to ask how I wanted my stuff bagged up, I think, but when she saw the palms of my hands plastered to my eyeballs, she reconsidered her considerateness.

Just get me out of here, please!

Then it was on to the car. The screaming was relentless.  I buckled them all in, but as I was driving, Eli unbuckled his seat belt and was climbing over the middle seat.  This happened several times. Luckily, I had some duck tape handy. Yes, I duck taped that kid into his seat belt.

Let me take a minute to tell everyone that spanking does not work.

After only 45 minutes of pure, unadulterated, high-pitched screaming, he finally ran out of steam.

A very rare fight between Harry and Julia. This unusual sighting of sibling  scuffle was fortuitously captured about one year ago at a family reunion.  Shocking, very shocking.

It might have been one of the worst days of my life.  Since the hubster had to work late that night, Harry picked up where Eli left off and did about the same amount of screaming before I put him and all the rest of the riff raff to bed.

Two days later I was pounding the pavement. 26.2 miles.  What was harder?  Four and half hours of running or 1 and a half hours of crying?

I signed up for another marathon in the fall.

My Journey to the Salt Lake City Marathon

It is a new year and I have new plans for my life. Last year I wanted to lose weight and get in shape, of course. But it just didn't happen. I am sure it is because I had no concrete goals.  Not this year.  I have written them down and now I just need to implement it, one day at a time.  My first goal is to run the Salt Lake City Marathon.  The race is April 18th.  This is my first day of a sixteen week training program. I am going to document my journey and share it all with you when I have a medal around my neck.

January 2, 2012

Today was tough. Yikes. My first day and I was hurting. I only had to run 3 miles. I can usually run around a 9:00 minute pace on flat ground if I feel okay, but not today. It was like I had weight around my ankles.  It might also be because I weigh 20 pounds more than I should. My starting weight is 165.  Holy cow. It can really creep up on you.  But my mental status is pretty good. It hurt, but I don't feel discouraged. I can only get better from here, and I will.

 

I ran out and back on the old 395 starting at the Bower's Mansion parking lot. The weather was beautiful, a bit cold but absolutely perfect for running.


January 4, 2012


I have caught a nasty little cough. I went to the doctor last night and since it is a virus, there is really nothing they can do.  This really sucks when you have to run and cough at the same time. Nevertheless, I got it done on the treadmill this morning.  


4 miles begrudgingly done...41:30.


January 5, 2012


Whoa, today was super tough. It was only 3 miles, but I just couldn't hack it.  My cough has gotten worse, so I can barely breathe. I am sure that has a huge affect on my dismal performance.  I couldn't even complete 3 miles. I did 2.58, and that took my 30:00.  I went outside because it is like summer right now.  I also decided to explore some dirt roads, so it was very hilly and a bit treacherous at points.  I am just happy I didn't phone it in today and I did something.  I can build on that.


January 7, 2012


The long Saturday run of five miles. I got it done. Rinar went with me and we found a cut through to Callahan Road. It was a nice run, even though I still coughed quite a bit.  It was really slow, but the first mile is through sage brush and treacherous terrain.  But once we got to the road, I definitely got into a groove.  Even still, it took just over an hour to get it done.


January 9, 2012


This cough is going to be the death of me. I parked myself on the treadmill to do 3 miles.  Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough.  This does not work well with my weak bladder muscles, if you know what I mean.  It is so friggin' annoying.  I know I can run a lot faster, but between the coughing and wheezing, I am just glad I finished. Even so, for a Monday I ran 3 miles in 30:28.  I know it is slow, but I am looking forward to better days.


January 11, 2012


This is my Wednesday run and I am feeling a lot better. I still have a runny nose and a cough, but for some reason I didn't have any coughing fits on my run.  It really made a difference. I decided to run outside today because it is still unseasonably warm weather.  I am really loving this. After putting in one mile in the neighborhood, I ran out Joy Lake Road towards Mt. Rose Highway.  This has an extreme elevation change, so the hill was an absolute killer. At one point I was running at about a 15:00 minute pace.  It puts the hurt on, believe me.  But I was able to make up for it on the way back, and get to a low 8:00 minute pace coming down the hill.  I hope my time will pick up as I lose some weight and get into better shape.


Overall, I had a really good time of 43:00.  I need to remember this day when I have apprehension about running. Right now, I feel so good. My legs are floating and feel so wonderful. I heart running.


January 21, 2012


I haven't updated my status for a little bit, but that doesn't mean I haven't been running.  I am still batting 1000.  I can feel myself improving each time and the time is slowly getting faster. Just this week I broke 30 minutes on the treadmill.  I know it isn't that great, but it is still progress in the right direction.  


Today is Saturday and I went running with Roz, a gal from my ward. It was perfect because she runs at my speed and our fitness level is about the same. She wants to get faster too.  Roz is going to run the Six Tunnels Half Marathon with me in March.  This is her end race, but just a warm-up for me.  We drove to the valley floor and ran around the trails at Damonte Ranch park.  The weather was ideal for running, except the last mile when it got a bit windy.  It was a 7 mile run, and we completed it in about 1 hour 8 minutes and some change.  That makes the pace 9:40.  Roz ran just a tiny bit faster than I would have gone on my own, so that was a very good thing.  We will definitely be running together again.


January 25, 2012


I think I have had a breakthrough.  Today was great. I had a 5 miler to do and I decided to run around my neighborhood. Since I live on the side of a mountain, this is no small feat. It is exceptionally hilly and there is no way to avoid it.  I just decided to take it head on, and ran up Joy Lake Road and around there and then back.  For one part, it is very steep for over 1 mile.  But in the end, my time was really good.  I did it in 51:18.  So I averaged a little over 10:00 minute pace, with steep ascents.  Yes, I can feel myself getting stronger, both physically and mentally.


February 1, 2012


It has now officially been one month of running.  I haven't missed one yet.  I am very grateful that my running schedule only does 4 days because it makes it very manageable.  


Today I ran 5 miles on the treadmill.  My time was 47:45. I felt great.

I also went ahead and registered for the half marathon in Las Vegas. It is on March 17th, the Six Tunnels To Hoover Dam Half. It is supposed to actually go to the dam this year. I am excited.





The only thing is that I am supposed to run 17 miles on this weekend, so I will have to add 4 on to the end of the run or at the beginning.


February 11, 2012


In this last week I have acquired some new running gear. I got Zensah compression leg warmers, pink of course, and a running belt that hold two water bottles and  place for my phone and stuff.  I have used the compression socks every day this week and I love it!  My legs feel good.


Today I did eleven miles with Roz.  We ran out and back on the old 395. It is really beautiful over there and more importantly, it is flat.  But it was annoying that I got a pretty nasty cramp after about 8 miles.  Why?  I have not missed a run yet. I should be over the cramps. Grrr....  It is fun running with Roz and since I have misplaced my iPod shuffle, again, it was good to have someone to talk to while I trudged along.


Things continue to move on and I got it all done this week...4, 5, 4, 11.  Now the serious mileage begins.


February 24, 2012


Last week, Rinar was out of town and I had to do 12 miles. I wasn't sure how I was going to tackle that.  For some crazy reason I thought it would be a good idea to just run the whole thing on the treadmill on Friday night.  I put all the kids to bed and was able to get going at about 9:30pm.  I am not sure how I did it, but by some miracle I was done by 11:30.  I had to stop once to go to the bathroom and eat a banana.  And then I was just tired and walked for a bit.  But it got done, and it was nice to not have that hanging over my head on Saturday.


Today, Friday, I did my long run again. I have a church meeting in the morning and I didn't want to have to get up at 5 am or do it after the meeting.  That is just a recipe for failure.  So, I parceled out the kiddos and went with Roz to crank it out.  I was so flippin tired.  I felt like I was running on empty.  Rose was a darling to watch my little ones, but she had to leave by 11:45, so there was no room for error. She put a burr under both of our saddles.  


Since Roz only had to do 12 miles, I ran 2 miles on the treadmill before I picked her up. We finished just in time and I picked up the kids with 2 minutes to spare.  I am so happy I am done. But then I can't help but doubt my abilities to actually complete a marathon.  I only did a little more than halfway today and it just about killed me.


Once again, I am just going to think about my next run and that is it. Do I really have any other choice?  Plus, I can't back out now. Rinar booked my airline ticket.  I am going to have to run.  Oh well. It is what it is.


March 17, 2012


I went with Roz to Las Vegas to run in the Six Tunnels To Hoover Dam Half Marathon.



It is an up and back, up and back course. You start in the middle of the course and go one way for 3 miles, then come back.  Then you go the other way.  The other way is where all of the of tunnels and the gravel road are located.  I had to run 17 miles to keep with my marathon training schedule. Therefore, I got there early and put in  4 miles before the race started.


Then Roz and I went to the starting line about 30 seconds before the race started.  We went all the way to the back and I saw several of my Las Vegas friends, like Stacey (Rinar's old boss), and Elissa. That was pretty darn cool. The weather was less than ideal and it was kind of windy, which is a total bummer. But besides that, it was a lot of fun.


Until...


Mile 7.  Rats. About a 1/2 mile into the gravel portion of the race, I did a Pete Rose onto the course.  I don't even know what happened. One second I was thinking about how I was completely miserable and didn't know if I would make it, and then thud, crunch, smack...I was eating gravel.  

Bloody knees and a very dusty shirt and shorts.

 I laid there for a minute or so.  Then I flipped myself over like a pancake and laid on my back.  I told Roz to go ahead and run and that I would be fine. Then I got up and dusted myself off and got going again a few minutes later. It took about a mile or so, but then I felt okay enough.  In the end I ran 2:13:34.  

Me and Roz at the finish line.

I saw Johanna on the race course and said hello to her when it was all done.

Johanna is a machine.  Love that girl.

March 30, 2012

I got the weather report and saw that tomorrow (Saturday) is supposed to be windy and stormy.  Since it is on the schedule to run the big 2-0, I thought I might as well tackle it today before the winds arrive, as they were predicted to come in the p.m.

Whatever!

As soon as I got out of my car, it was almost gale-force winds.  Well, it might not have been quite that bad but it was bad enough, believe me.  

Let's just say that today is one of those days when running is the pits.  YUCK!  I felt totally crappy after 3 miles.  3 miles!  It was terrible.  It took me almost 4 hours to get my run done.  It was awful.

I hate the wind!  And I am not a sailor, so it is okay to have animosity...it is righteous animosity.

April 21, 2012

Race day has finally come and gone and I did it.  After many, many, many moments of wanting to push the abort button leading up to this race, I powered through it and did it.  I got my butt on that starting line and finished the Salt Lake City marathon.  Hallelujah!

Roz came with me. She did the half and I did the whole darn thing.  We flew in Friday afternoon, did a session at the Salt Lake LDS Temple, ate some dinner with my brother Jamie and his wife Leah, took in some sights and then got up really early today to get 'er done.  

We caught the very last train to the race and it was packed with racers.

We started the race about 10 minutes after the gun because we were just about last in line for the bathrooms.  But there was no way I was gonna start until I took care of my business. It is a good thing too because at the first port-a-potty station the line was really long.

As I ran I made sure to give all the little kids high-fives. That was fun.

Here I am at mile 11.  And yes, I updated my Facebook status when I stopped to walk.  I was feeling pretty darn good here at mile 11. 

And then it was like 15 miles, then 16, then 17, then 18, etc. etc., etc., ...the road just kept on going and going.  Ugh.

By the time I got to Liberty Park I had an epiphany.  Marathons totally SUCK!  At Liberty Park it is less than three miles from the finish line.  It might as well have been another 20. Seriously.  What was I thinking?  A marathon? It was like I had a death wish or something.

But I got a 5th wind (it might have been when the Ibuprofen kicked in, again)  and plodded on.  Then I took a right turn on to State Street. The mile markers said it was less then 2 miles, but it looked like the road went on forever AND there was a big hill.  For real?  A big hill on the 25th mile? That is just mean.

I decided I was not going to stopped. It hurt to walk or to run, so I might as well just run and get it over with.  I almost did, except for the last hundred meters up that darn hill.  I cried uncle there.  But I was able to come in strong to the finish line. 

And I never cried one time!

Yep, that is me.  Marathon finisher. My time was terribly slow, but since I didn't speed train at all I guess it doesn't really matter.

 4:35:21

And here is a funny little andecdote.  This couple is from New Hampshire. Here name is Diane. I can't remember his name.  They flew from Reno, with us, and we talked to them and found out they were running the marathon too.  Then when we came out of the temple, they were there visiting the temple grounds and we talked to them there.  Then when I finished the race, they were sitting in some chairs and yes, we talked to them there. Isn't that hilarious?  I took their picture and promised I would send them a copy and now whenever I go to New England, I have a place to stay!

After the race, we went to dinner with Melanie.  It was loads of fun. We ate pizza, did some shopping, ate some gelato, and just had a fun girls night together.

Melanie had to stand in front of this Restoration Hardware dresser I really liked. I needed to have  perspective on how big it was.

April 22, 2012

We came home today.  Before we left, we were able to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform at the Tabernacle on Temple Square for "Music and the Spoken Word". It was great.  And a neat little tidbit... President Monson was there also. Apparently, 25 of the choir members were retiring and he was there to wish them well. Cool, huh?

It was a nice end to a good weekend.  Shockingly enough, I am a bit sore though.