New marathon, new goals...

This has been the year of "ME." My kids haven't been involved in any sports since last fall. We only took them one one vacation this summer. I haven't been a room mom or even a helper for all of this last year. I've been leaving my kids for over-nighters with Ron (and sometimes without) almost every month. I've pretty much become a really selfish, neglectful parent for long enough. So, while I'm planning out my training schedule for running, I'm also setting a few goals to get me back on track with the important stuff too. And you know what they say about a goal only being a dream until you write it down... So here they are:

1. I'm going to get my running done before the kids wake up so I can be available for them the rest of the day. This also means I need to try and get to bed on time even though I'm married to a night owl.
2. I'm going to keep my house cleaned up every day!! (sobbing....)
3. I'm going to read to Josh every day. (I've made this goal 5 times before. I don't know why it's so hard for me. Could be because it's 10:30 pm when he brings me a book.)
4. I will make dinner every night. (I think I will try and make dinner every night?)
5. I will go to the temple every month.
6. I will read something every day. Magazines don't count. (Some of you working people laugh at that, but you stay-home-moms understand, right?)
7. I will make my calling at church a priority. Not too hard, once-a-monther.
8. I will not buy things I don't need. (If you're wondering why it's not "I will stick with a budget," it's because I know by now that just isn't ever going to happen.)
9. I will limit myself to one serving of chocolate a day.

So, by the end of this year when I've run a marathon in record time, I will be a great in-shape combination of June Cleaver, Martha Stewart, Suzie Ormond and Dr. Phill.

If anyone can think of a good #10 for me, I would accept any suggestions!

First run post-marthon...

And the official beginning of training for the St. George Marathon on October 4th. I use the term "training" very loosely because as I've explained before, I kind of have to go with what I can tolerate on any given day. I am trying to stick as closely as possible with the training schedule in"Advanced Marathoning" by Scott Douglas and Pete Pfitzinger for multiple marathons : 8 weeks between races. (I actually have about 9.)

We have once again misplaced the remote to the TV in our room. I have a nice little setup in my room with a TV that turns and swivels in any direction I want, like towards the treadmill when I'm running or the bathtub when I'm tubbing. But, as with the phones, "people" tend to walk around with the remotes and set them down in odd places where we have to just discover them days later. It's hard to run on a treadmill with nothing to look at. I told Noah I'd pay him five bucks if he could find it for me. I was so surprised he gave up after 5 minutes. That kid will normally do anything for money. My kids earn alot of money around my house. Not by doing regular chores, but different favors for me. "A dollar to the first one to find a binkie!" is a common one.

Men at Work was on the playlist today. I said once before that Men at Work reminds me of playing D&D on Intelevision when I was little. But you know what else it reminds me of? Matt Sager had the coolest Men at Work tshirt in high school. The Business as Usual album cover that was yellow. If anyone ever sees Matt Sager, tell him I still want his tshirt.

3:56

Not thrilled with the time, but at the time I crossed the finish line, I was just happy to have finished. Here's the condensed play by play of the weekend...

Arrive SLC Wednesday afternoon with three of my kids and await all of the Jensens to show up at my Dad's house, where we are all staying for a reunion, and I realize how stupid it is to try and sleep the night before the marathon with 20 other people in the house, so I book a hotel room close to where I will be catching the shuttle to the top of the canyon at 3:15 AM. I had eaten all the wrong foods that day because I was traveling and really trying to just survive the trip with the kids, not thinking too much about what I was putting in my mouth during the drive (a whole bunch of cherries.)

I got to the hotel when Ron arrived for crowd control at about 9:30 PM and started readying all my stuff for the morning. Uh oh, what am I going to eat!? A Marathon bar is in the bag of stuff that came with my number and timing chip. That's going to have to do, even though I've never eaten one before I run before. I decided to run with one of my bottles-with-nifty-hand-strap full of GUs. That was what I trained eating, so I thought that best than relying on Gatorade at the aid stations. Then I notice I forgot my Garmin, and one of the socks is not actually my sock, but one of my sons that I mistook for mine. It's rough, and doesn't stretch at all. I will have to wear that on the foot that is least likely to blister. Bad omen. I set the clock radio alarm, called for a wake up call, AND set my phone alarm. Can't be too carefull.

It is just not fun to wake up to that many noises at 2:30 in the morning! I get to the shuttle buses at 3:00 AM. I won't bore you with the stories of all the people I talked to. But it was a cool experience. I met a few very inspiring people that made me remember why I love to do these races. They got us to the top of the canyon 2 hours before the race was to begin. I started getting SO sleepy and shivering uncontrollably at the same time while I'm talking to this very friendly Brazilian guy named Carlos. He found out I know Portuguese, so he wanted to chat. I did alot of nodding because I'm very rusty.

5:30 AM race starts on a very steep downhill. My lower calves/achilles tendon is already screaming. That's not good.

Mile 8 I realize that there is no one calling out the time like in other races, and since I didn't wear my Garmin, I have no way of knowing how I'm doing. Oh well, maybe for the best. When is this downhill going to end!!??

Mile 12 I realize the cherries were a bad idea. My entire gut from the top of my stomach to my colon are on fire and my back is now hurting from my posture.

Mile 13 someone says, "Half way!" and I about start crying. I think I'm not even going to be able to finish, let alone get a decent time, so I decide to say a little prayer that went something like, "Hevenly Father, I don't know if this could be considered a righteous desire, but if it's at all possible to get my gut to stop burning so I can just finish this marathon that I drove all this way to run, I would be so grateful. If not, I totally understand because I kind of did this to myself, didn't I." I ran the next mile and the stomach was fine.

Mile 19 we come out of the canyon and into town where people are standing along the road. I was glad I decided to not wear the shuffle. It's so great to hear people cheer you on, even though sometimes when people would say, "You're almost there!" I would say, "YOU LIAR!!!" I think they knew I was a little out of my mind with discomfort and forgave me. I started watching for Ron and the kids at this point because he said he would try to be somewhere near mile 20 or 21. The blocks kept going by and no husband or babies. I started getting a little teary by mile 23 because I really wanted to see them, but I also knew that if I did, I would just tell him to take me home because I was in so much pain and I was going so slow I thought for sure my time would be pathetic. I really wanted to start just walking, but I knew if I did, I would be just one step closer to stopping altogether, so I just kept it to as fast a jog as I could. Still no one calling out the time. I had NO IDEA where I was time-wise.

Mile 24-ish, I notice that the mile markers have inspirational quotes on them. I hadn't read any of them until that one, and it said, "You are running with angels." That did it. I started crying. (If anyone hasn't read the book Running With Angels, get it and read it asap.) I hit another downhill at this point and some lady on the side of the road yelled, "It's all downhill from here!!" and I about punched her. The downhill was hurting so bad.

Mile 25 we are running one street east of the parade route. It was so noisy I thought the parade must already be going, which would mean I didn't get in in under 4 hours. The course puts the runners onto the parade route for one block then turns us back up to the park and the finish line for the last half-mile. When we turned onto the block with all the parade watchers, I realize that the parade isn't going yet and all the little kids are standing by the police tape holding out their hands to give us "five." I smacked every single one even if I had to reach for it. That was THE BEST part of the race. It totally made it all worth it. I didn't see my kids till the last .2. They were standing with their cute signs, and I was glad I hadn't seen them sooner and hadn't given up. When I crossed the finish line and they said 3:56. I was in total shock. I know that's not a great time, but I really thought I was running about as slow as possible. I was really happy to have made it in under 4, considering. I've heard it said that I can expect to chop 15 minutes off a time from the July 24th Marathon in the St. George Marathon. That would be great.



My travel companions

Mini Chi at Playland.


We spent Friday at Lagoon with all the Jensens. This is Ron and I about to be shot up into the air on a crazy ride called The Catapult. It was the funnest 30 seconds I have ever had almost dying of fear.
Noah about to get on the climbing wall at Dick's after the marathon. (He's wet from playing in the fountain.)

Kick some pioneer booty!

The first marathon I ever ran was the July 24th Pioneer Day marathon in 1996. My time was 3:52. Back then I was just jogging every day about 7 - 10 miles. This will be the first time for me doing this marathon again and the first time I've actually trained sort of smart for a marathon. So, It's kind of a special race for me. (For those of you that read this blog and aren't Utah natives, The Pioneer Day Marathon is on a State Holiday commemorating the pioneers settling in Salt Lake and I think it's the day the Utah got statehood? Anyone?) I tried to upload the map of the course, but it wouldn't let me for some reason. The course follows the route that the Pioneers took when entering the valley, down Emigration Canyon. I am from pioneer stock, so I run with a full heart for those people that sacrificed so much and experienced so much hardship so that I and my family could enjoy living in such a beautiful safe place as Utah.

July 24th is special to me for another reason. It's my mom's birthday! She passed away in 2005 of Ovarian Cancer. I would like to say I'm running in her honor, but she really thought that the whole marathon business was a stupid waste of time. I kind of take after my dad when it comes to masochistic athletic endeavors. At 72 my dad tore all the ligaments in his shoulder playing tennis. I suspect I might go down the same way. My mom was more of the book worm and symphony attendee. I try to do those types of things in her memory in hopes that she sees how grateful I am for her bringing so much culture into my life as early as I can remember. I work for the Art Around the Corner Committee, which collects sculptures for the outdoor exhibit around St. George City. I know nothing about sculpture, nor do I have any desire to own any... but I'm sure my mom is very proud that I hob-nob with so many talented people! She had us all well traveled as well. That was a great blessing as I was growing up to have experienced different cultures and have open eyes and mind to how the rest of the world lives. I really hope to give my kids that same gift. My daughter was born since she passed. We kind of named her after my mom. Her name was Sally, which originally was a nick name for Sarah. My daughter's name is Sarah. My mom told me if I ever named a daughter Sally she would haunt me. Happy Birthday, Mom. I love you.

Viva Las Vegas... Viva Coldplay!

This was taken with my phone during one of the two only songs that I could see anything. I'm too short to be on the floor. After a few songs my neck was hurting so bad from trying to see that I just gave up and sat down. It was a great show though. They played all their greatest hits along with their new stuff. I'm paying for the lack of sleep today for sure.

No sign of Gwenyth, Apple, or Moses.

Jolly Green Giant

7.5 miles with Chi and her "little" brother in front of the mid-life-crisis car. He kept me at 3:30 marathon pace for an hour!
My rock n' roll baby!
Sissy loves to play the pian-e-o with Chi.
Jam session with Ryan and Spencer. Spence is a fabulous musician. He played some original songs for us that were so beautiful. He has a great voice too. He's on a music scholarship to BYU and I expect to see him famous one day. (And isn't my oldest kid beautiful?! He'll be famous one day too with his own show on Food Network if his dreams come true.)

Headed to Vegas now for Coldplay tonight. I'm too old for this.

Could be I'm just..... tapering?

I haven't been able to run outdoors for a couple weeks now. I'm trying to make the treadmill workouts as tough as I can to make up for that, but I'm a little worried. Hubby's been out of town for - e - ver, but will be back tomorrow. Hopefully I can talk him into helping me tomorrow AM so I can get a good run in. Last one before the 24th.

On a positive note, Chi's here. We're going to the opening show of The Dark Knight on Thursday, midnight viewing. Then Coldplay on Saturday in Vegas. I'm kinda crazy to party so much before next week, I know. I think the Batman and Coldplay are worth it though. What's your vote?

They are calling Heath Ledger "Hannible Ledger" for his role in Batman, because he's supposedly as creepy as Hannibal the Cannibal in Silence of the Lambs, another one of my favorite creepy movies. I'm a sucker for creepy films. Such a tragedy that someone with his amazing talent and beauty is gone because of something so cliche as a prescription drug overdose. I loved him in A Knight's Tale.

My boys

I still hate you, Apple!!

Now that I got my broken computer back, my shuffle decides to konk. I just thought it was out of juice yesterday, but it won't charge and won't turn on, won't light up when I put it in it's dock, nothing. I've got a mini that won't hold a charge, and this is it's second battery, so I have to leave it plugged in while I run. Maybe it says something that I can't run without music. But, I CAN'T!! I found Kerli yesterday on itunes. Me likey. Great runnablility.

I did a VO2 workout today... or was it intervals? Or it could have been splits or strides.... Maybe a tempo run. I'm not sure, but it was HARD and I did it for an hour.

12 more days. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

21 miles on a treadmill...

Woke up at 5:30 am... Ron out of town.

I could leave for the long run (at least 20 miles) with Beautiful Jogging Partner, but could run into problems with the heat (it's supposed to get to 110 today.) With no one to call for backup, I probably should just stay on the treadmill.

Give Baby a bottle and put her in the bed next to the treadmill. Grab a few GUs, H2O, Shuffle.

Five Miles... News is even more depressing when you can't hear what they're saying and it's set to music. Fires raging in California, Iran shooting off missiles, and Natalie Moralis is wearing a horrible outfit today. What's up with that? She's usually so well styled. Someone help her. I don't know if I can go a whole 20 now. I'm too depressed.

Ten miles.... Can the Today Show really not find anything more interesting to talk about? Boys awake and fighting with each other. Put Baby Sis in the TV room with them. That will keep them all happy...

15 miles.... Shuffle runs out of juice. Really!? I swear these batteries are faulty. I haven't been running THAT long. Oh, I guess I have. Geez, I'm slow. Get out the iPod Mini. I can plug that into the wall. Baby crying, probably tired. Put her to bed. Get 5-yr-old dressed and out the door with friends. (Whew!) Hitting the wall. Eat more GU. GU always brings me back from the wall.

Can I go another 5? There's always energy for another 5! I'll take one more GU just to be sure. Get it done before Rachel Ray comes on. Her clothes are bad every day.

20 miles... Oh my gosh, I did it. Baby still sleeping. Let's turn up the speed and just do ONE more...

21 miles.... AHHHHHH.....

This is why I run.

Monday intervals - BLAH!!

I hate running fast. But I love how I feel afterwards!

Lady Liberty

This picture has nothing to do with running, which is breaking my rule about posting about running only on this blog. But I just had to because I love it so much!! Everyone meet Katie!
She's always such a good sport about letting me take crazy pictures of her. I have a few. "Here, Katie! Hold this roman candle and let me take a picture and post it on the WWW!" Everyone needs a friend like that. (There's only strangers and Lisa here though, and Lisa lets me do it too.)

I ran 8 miles outside on my beloved path on the 4th, with my beautiful running partner, but it was 85 degrees when I realized I had forgotten the binkie, and she was beginning to show signs of heat stroke, as was I, so we called for help and finished the last 12 miles of my 20 miler on the treadmill. Yikes. I never quite recovered from the 8 miles in the heat. I wasn't feeling bad until I got home and got on the treadmill. I was nauseous and cramping. That was the toughest 12 miles I've ever done training. I'm keeping the treadmill on no less than a 3% grade all the time. I fluctuate between 10 min. miles and 8.5 minute miles on those long runs. I AM doing more speed work next week. I just love me my long runs. Can I fit one more in before the 24th?

I hate running fast.

It hurts. But, it does feel great to know I am getting faster. I worked up to doing 8.5 mph intervals. I know, I'm slow. But I've never ever worked on speed, so for me that's great. I'm already surprising myself. I just might be able to surprise myself on the 24th!

The Marathon Sandwich

My favorite since high school, before I was running marathons. I'm still mourning the loss of my Brackman Brothers. Einstein's vegi sandwich does not come close to the one you could get at Brackman's.

Whole grain bagel
Ingelhoffer mustard
Tuna or smoked salmon
Smart Balance mayo or avocado slices
tomato
all the greens that you can stuff under the lid

Eat Daily!


And don't forget dessert! Me in the Godiva Store in Summerlin, NV. last weekend. I hand picked my dream box of dark chocolates (about 6) and washed them down with a Chocolate Decadence, a dreamy version of a chocolate smoothie. I warned you about the addiction. The only other thing that could have made it more perfect is to have been eating it with Sarah, Chi, Stacey, Keri, Carrie and Katie with their own little bag of favorites. Bryan and Abel, I would have included you except I'm not convinced men fully appreciate great chocolate!

8.6 mile rest run

I was going to just rest today, but Sarah had a different idea. I was holding her when I walked out on the front porch to get something and then turned back around and came inside. She threw a baby fit!! She just wanted to be OUT! So, I decided to take a jog.

More intervals tomorrow....