Utah Valley Marathon: Count Me In!

This newspaper ad has been hanging in my house for some time now as a constant reminder of my goal to run a marathon this summer in celebration of turning 30. Since I couldn't get into the Rock N Roll marathon, I have decided to do the Utah Valley Marathon. It is on June 13. Their slogan is "26.2 miles of the pain you love." I totally get that and can't wait. This marathon is pretty new, this being the second year. The course comes within a mile of my house making it super easy for the kiddos and hubby to cheer me on. Such a Bonus! I ran 18 miles last weekend and it was awesome. My 20 mile run is going to be this weekend. Wooohoooo. I'm actually really looking forward to it. So if any of you want to head on down to Provo/Orem on June 13th to cheer me on, I wouldn't object!

10 things that greeted me on my run today...

1. a brief burst of rain followed by soul-healing sunshine.
2. lush, green leaves and the intoxicating smell of cherry blossoms. It seems spring came to the northern midwest while I was sleeping.
3. a curious wild bunny rabbit. I sort of wanted to take him home.
4. a very old man wearing tight, leather pants texting on a blackberry. I think he thinks he is supa slick.
5. the ruins of Mill City
6. A homeless looking man I'm pretty sure was selling drugs.
7. True Companion by Marc Cohn. Don't make fun of me. I love him.

8. a very large man in a very small car who whistled at me
9. the rushing water on the Great Mississippi River
10. A life-saving cool breeze that provided spotted relief from the already humid air.

Sometimes I just have to take my runs one day at a time... one minute, one mile, one song on my ipod, one stop light, one block at a time. I give myself little finish lines when I'm having a rough run-- if I can just make it ______, then I can make it the whole way. Today was one of those days. Ever have those days?

Getting excited...

Remember the awesome, amazing, hysterical time I had doing this? Well, I'm doing it all over again next month. And I. Can't. Wait.

I didn't think I would be able to run Wasatch Back this year, but my aunt's team needed two more runners, so the hubs and I decided to join team Super G. We're running for Juvenile Diabetes, in honor of one of the team member's famiy members, Gracie. I can't wait to run this amazing relay race with my husband and my dear aunt! What could be better?

And I just found out they changed the legs of the race a wee bit, making one of my legs which was classified as HARD now EASY. That just makes it a little bit better :)

I miss my running girls

I can't help it. I try and try and try to really love running by myself the way I love running with them, but it's just not the same. And where I am, I've discovered all of these amazingly beautiful trails around lakes, and along rivers, and through the most beautiful classic neighborhoods I've ever seen, and I just can't enjoy it! Arg! Dear ladies, if you are bored and want to come visit, I would really love to see you... and go running with you. That's all.

I'm bringing sexy back.

ok, not yet. but I'm working on it.

I finally got my baby. The B.O.B. duallie stroller. I'M LOVING IT!!!!! I went for a run last night, this morning, and a walk at the park this afternoon. I'm so motivated. I'm so grateful. I went for an hour run along wasatch blvd. this morning and felt more alive than ever.

I'm leaving for St. George tomorrow. I didn't buy a bikini, but I did get a cute new one piece that makes me feel sexy. It's pink. My hubs makes me feel sexy. Running makes me feel sexy. Happy birthday to me tomorrow. 25 and feelin' sexy.

SO MAD!!!!

I really had my heart 100% set on running the Seattle Rock N Roll Marathon in June. I went to the website today and apparently it is SOLD OUT. I can't even begin to tell you how upset I am about this. It was suppose to be my turning 30 celebration. *sigh* I'll let you know my new plans when I figure them out.

1:58:10

Me with about a quarter mile to go.


I amaze myself!! I thought realistically, I could run the SLC Half in about 2 hours and 10 minutes. Well apparently all the running stars aligned for me the morning of the race and I was able to run it in 1 hour 58 minutes and 10 seconds. I started out way fast because I wanted to keep up with my sister in law, and then I was just able to keep on going. I just felt so great! I did hit a wall about mile 10, but managed to push through it for a couple of miles. They changed the course this year and put this little beauty of a hill at mile 12. Rude.


After this hill, I powered the last mile to break 2 hours. It felt so great!


Post Race Pics

Left to right. Sister in law- Jana, Me, Cousin- Shelby, Sister- Kylee. We all ran the half.


Me and the kiddos after the race. My boy is only interested in my medal. He thinks I got 1st place. I'm letting him think that too. :)

Now, I have 9 weeks to train for the Seattle Rock-n-Roll Marathon!!

It's Official. I'm a Cheater. And Something You Should Never Do at the Gym.

It's Official
I have officially registered for the half marathon tomorrow. I will be running it. Jen, should we meet to the right of the the porta-potties? I couldn't think of anywhere else to meet and I know I will be near the porta-potties before the race starts for sure. :) Also, every race I run, I dedicate each mile to a person in my life that means something special to me. Jen, you are my mile 4. :)

I'm a Cheater.
I cheated and bought my new pair of jeans before I actually ran the race. So what. Big deal. I went to the Buckle and picked out a pair of Big Stars. I LOVE THEM!

This is the front.

And this is the back.
And I can't believe I'm actually going to post this, but this is the only picture I have of me wearing them. I was doing a photo shoot last weekend and my cousin thought that it would be so funny to take this picture of me shooting pics.




Something You Shouldn't Do At the Gym

1. I don't care how old you are or how rockin' your body is, it is NEVER appropriate to go without a bra at the gym. ESPECIALLY if you are wearing a halter top and you pull the bottom up and tuck it through the top of your shirt, making it like a bikini.

This guy....

...Caught me a wee bit off guard at the gym this afternoon. He tried for about 8 minutes to put his shockingly white leg behind his head before he finally gave up. The only thing that would make this picture better for you would be if I had gotten the front view, so you could see the expression on his face and his coke bottle glasses. And me, being the cruel soul I am, did what any logical person would do: I pulled out my phone, pretended I was sending a text, and snapped this picture to share on my blog. Poor fella, I'm sorry to say it isn't his best look. But he did bring me some joy at the gym... which I wanted to share with the world wide web.

A Disco Ball, a room full of gay men, and a lot of pain...

I've been to a lot of aerobics classes in my day. Step, lift, pilates, yoga, kickboxing, you name it. But I have never, I repeat, NEVER been to a class like the one I went to last night.

I went to a new gym in a city I'm not familiar with and walked into a 50/50 class. You know, half cardio and half weights. I've been to these sorts of classes before and they're usually about the same. But I knew this class would be different when I walked in and saw a room full of perfectly groomed men wearing tight shorts and sweat headbands.

I asked one of them what kind of weights I needed to grab for the class and he said "well, usually most people use 5 pound weights." 5 freaking pounds? Seriously? I usually grab 12's and 15's for my class! I grabbed some 5's and some 8's and took my place. The class filled up and the teacher, who by the way about about 4 feet tall and 85 pounds, came in and turned on the loudest house music I've ever heard and flipped on, get ready for it, a disco ball with flashing lights.

She started what she called "the warmup" but it was more like frantic jumping and throwing our arms around and it just didn't stop! The whole class was moving at 90 miles an hour and there was thrusting... lots of thrusting!

And sure, 5 pounds weights are nothing, unless you're throwing them around at 50 reps per second for an hour and a half straight! My body was screaming in pain as we hitch-kicked and went up and down and up and down and back and forth and back and forth. I kept swearing under my breath every time that horrible little woman looked at me and said "Keep MOVING! I can SEE YOU!"

About half way through the class, I just stopped for a minute, looked around at all the men who were prettier than I am sweating like they were in a sauna and they thrusted to and fro under the flashing lights and just started laughing out loud. One of them glared at me and I started up again. And what's weird, that was ONE HELL OF A WORKOUT! Seriously, I don't think I've ever been to a harder class..... but at this point I'm not sure if I'll go back. It was a little too out there for me. Although, I did dig the disco ball.