Ogden Marathon 2009

Wait, I know what you're thinking because that was my first thought too. Ogden? Who would want to run through Ogden? Actually the course was beautiful! The entire event was incredible start to finish.
Once upon a time, eight months ago, Adam said, "I'm going to run the Ogden Marathon in May." I, apparently having a really good day, replied, "How cool. I want to run it too. May? What day?
"May 16th", came his answer. "Perfect", I said. "We should run it for our anniversary. Now that would be a cool thing to do together." Agreed!
And so it began. Seven and a half long months of running and running and running. After six weeks we were forced inside by snow and spend the next four months scheduling our days around sharing a treadmill. Me and that treadmill, we have a love/hate relationship. I hated being forced to run inside on 13 mile days but found it difficult to part when the weather warmed in March. Running paths and sidewalks scared me and . . . it was going to hurt again, wasn't it? Yes. And it did!
March marked an increase in mileage. Long run Saturdays went into double digits and didn't come back down. We found ourselves running further and further, exceeding our own expectations and loving the sense of accomplishment we were feeling. We were able to run together occasionally but mostly alone. Thankfully, grandma Vickie and fam agreed to watch the kids for runs 15 miles and longer. I loved being able to do those runs with Adam.
Skip to race day.
Alarm sounds at 3 am and we pop right out of bed. Eat, shower, dress, sunscreen, eat again, check and double check the checklist (SportShield, blister powder, Chapstick, ibuprofen, GU, sunglasses, running hat, bib, race chip, watch, drop bag, bandaids, ipods). Bags in the car and by 3:45 we're off. We made good time though anxious that parking would be a nightmare and we'd miss the buses. Parking was close and easy and we made the buses in plenty of time (4:50 am). By this time I can NOT eat anymore bagel or banana and drinking slows down so we're not having to stop and pee every mile. The bus ride takes almost an hour but the bus is warm and I finally relax. I actually fall asleep for a while. Now all we have to do is run. We can so do that!

We reach the "full start" at 5400 feet elevation in the dark. There are only 2000 runners (compared to St. George's 7000) and more port-o-lets than I've ever seen in one place. There are fires going and we look like "huddled masses" around them since it is so stinkin' cold. I'm talkin' see your breath cold. Brrrr! The sun starts to rise and we see our beautiful surroundings more clearly. As the sun hits us we warm almost instantly. They announce the clothing drop truck in leaving in five minutes so we're forced to shed our sweats but at least its time to line up. We find our pace group and at 7:02 am we are off. The first ten fly by but we are keeping to our pace pretty well. The next ten don't fly but they pass quickly. We run around PineView Reservior and through little mountain towns. We come to our only "hill" at mile 14 and kick its trash. At mile 17 we head down Ogden Canyon and its incredible. At mile 22 we exit the canyon and things flatten out. The going gets a little rougher at 22 and 24 but not as bad as I was expecting. I was able to avoid "the wall" entirely and was able to enjoy the sites and the people.

The kids spent the night at grandma and grandpa's house. They and the whole family brought the kids to cheer us on.

(Ella's sign says, "Ella says: Go mom and dad! GOOD JOB)

Ella has gotten very into our training and all the excitement. She was a little disappointed when I explained that kids shouldn't run marathons but when she gets older we'll run one together. She seemed okay with that answer. She wants to run a Kids K this summer. Pappaw will be so proud.

The family made signs for us. The kids were pretty excited.

I promised one running picture and here it is. Unfortunately there isn't a single running picture that we could both agree to post so this is all you get. I'm waving to the kids.

We came across the finish line together (though not holding hands, our last name in not Hallmark). I felt myself getting misty eyed but my brother-in-law, Sean, saved me. I heard him call our names for a picture (just the distraction I needed).

I wanted water and Adam wanted ice. We got our water, ice and our finisher medals.

I wondered at the time how long I'd keep the medal. I'm not the nostalgic, keeper-of-stuff type. In the days since I've decided that I'll keep it forever.

Running our first marathon was incredible. In retrospect, even the training was so cool is many ways. The weekly sense of accomplishment is addictive. The pride I felt when we finished was the same as the day we graduated from college.

Just as Adam and I shared graduation day, we shared this day too. I am so thankful to have done this with Adam. I don't think I would have endured the seven months of training without knowing Adam was doing it too.

I must admit that I've been lost these past two weeks. I realized how dependent I became on "the schedule." Schedules work for us. We want to run some shorter distance races this summer and do some speed work, just for a change.

I want to run the Top of Utah Marathon this fall. I think I could be hooked. Hooked on the security of the schedule, hooked on fighting my 30's, hooked on the accomplishment, hooked on the feeling you get from being at the start with thousands of others that just trained like you've trained and feeling respect for those complete strangers, hooked on my local running store, hooked on Sauconys and really comfortable running socks, hooked on a really good sweat that keeps all the little hairs from getting in your face and hooked on the way Ella bragged to her classmates at school so that when I came for my regular volunteer day they clapped and cheered and gave me hugs.
It felt good y'all. Real good! I have a marathoning friend, Courtney, who I can only hope to keep up with one day, who wrote me once that finishing her first marathon was the coolest thing she'd ever done besides her wedding day and the days her babies were born. I must admit I thought she was nuts. I still thought she was nuts race day afternoon. In the two weeks since, I've decided she's exactly right.

Tomorrow morning I will strap myself to a new schedule, tie on my RIDEs and begin again. I can't wait!


p.s. The good outweighed the day that day but there was still bad.

1) At mile three I felt a strange rubbing on the little toe of my right foot. I finally put a bandaid on it at mile 14 but it was already a pretty impressive blister. That spot NEVER blistered before. I'm baffled.

2)I discovered that my stomach disapproved of my marathoning. Its voiced its disagreement after mile 10 or so and clean through that evening. Again, baffled. I took EVERY precaution.

3) I hate GU. The stuff nearly makes me vomit. It takes a lot of GU to run 26.2 and feel decent. gag!

4) Water from heavy duty plastic bag looking things tastes NASTY! PowerAde made with water from heavy duty plastic bag looking things tastes nasty too.

5)Despite my running shoes being 1 1/2 sizes bigger than my regular shoe size several of my toenails KILLED for a couple of days. Thankfully I'll get to keep them though.

6) Running downhill LOTS can hurt too. Don't forget to train uphill and downhill.

Even if you don't think you can, you can. You are the only one stopping you. Eight months ago I couldn't run a block, literally, not a block. Find a schedule, do what you can, listen to your body and "go man GO" (name that movie).

Thank you to our friends and families for all your love and support. Thank you for the babysitting, encouragement and advice. Y'all are so cool!

Ogden Marathon 2009 . . . almost

I promise I have not forgotten about my promised marathon post. I am trying to collect a few pictures to put with the post. I really like to have pictures with my posts whenever possible and yes, I'm aware I'm a little spazzy. Painfully aware!
There is a picture or two trapped in my phone and I CAN NOT get them out. Any ideas of how to get a picture in "Saved Messages" to save to the little memory card in my phone? I'm nearly to the point of digging out . . . the manual (gasp). I'm that desperate.

I WILL figure this out and and soon. Promise.

10th anniversary con't

My pictures are a mess but I was able to dig out a few.

Amy, me and Chrissy - awesome chicas!

Brent, Adam and Lance
We still see these guys and their fams pretty regularly.



Me, Ella and Adam in the Bahamas on an adventure. We moved there for Adam to flight instruct, which didn't end up working out (aircraft safety concerns, I was preggo, lack of regular paycheck) I should do a Bahamas post one day. It was a fun adventure.

I've got ten years worth of pictures in several places around the house and in storage. I would love to get them organized but that will certainly have to wait for another day and possibly another decade.

10th Anniversary

Adam and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary last week. May 22, 1999 was a big day. May 22, 2009 was totally ordinary and perfect. Adam went to work, we lazed around the house, we took the kids swimming and I opted for pizza instead of cooking. See! Ordinary and perfect.

We "celebrated" our anniversary last weekend with a short little run (Ogden Marathon, post coming soon) and a lovely night at a b & b. I love, love, love b & b's.

10 Tidbits that made our Wedding One-of-a-Kind

1. Three days before getting married we left SLC and drove straight through to his grandparents house in Kansas City, MO. We thought it would be fun to catch a Royals game but were so tired we only made it though six innings.

2. His grandma (GG to our kids) woke me up the next morning with a knock, knock on the door and a "Wake up, sleeping beauty." in her sweetest voice. We love GG and Pop.

1. We got married in St. Louis, MO. Missouri has a three day waiting period for marriage licenses. We didn't have three days to wait. We hit the first courthouse in western Missouri(Jackson Co.) and prayed some judge would give us a marriage license. Thankfully the first one did. Interestingly enough, Pop went with us to get our marriage license.

2. We'd allowed the whole day for the three hour drive from KC to STL just in case judges were being stingy with marriage licenses that day. We'd planned to hit every county courthouse until someone said yes. Since the first one said yes, we had time to kill so we drove up to Liberty, MO to the visitor center there. Very cool!

3. The day we got married I remember driving to the temple with my mom and dad. My dad commented that I was the coolest (not nervous) bride he's ever seen. He also reassured me that if I wanted to back out, I was welcome to. (My parents really do like Adam, promise.)

4. The photographer we'd planned on, who wasn't coming since she had a daughter in the hospital, ended up coming but forgot film in the rush to get there FROM THE HOSPITAL (the woman's a saint). Everyone scavenged their cars and purses and came up with six rolls of film. We both got sunburned while Janette took six rolls of gorgeous pictures. After we finished, she handed us the film, congratulated us and, I assume, returned to the hospital.

5. We then changed clothes and drove the five hours to Memphis where our reception was waiting for us at mom and dad's. The house looked gorgeous.

6. My brother, Ben, was away serving a mission in Canada when we got married. A guy owed my dad a favor and made a life size cardboard cut out of Ben. It was hilarious to have "Ben" standing in the corner and more hilarious to see people momentarily mistake it for the real Ben.

7. We parked the car in the garage and locked all doors leading to the garage. Only my immediate family knew how to get into the garage. My dad sold us out and our friends (Lance, Brent, Chrissy and Amy) worked a number on our car. In the process, Lance ruined the tie he was wearing (that's he'd borrowed from Adam, funny huh?) Adam was ticked when we found the chocolate syrup and Oreo mess but Jeff (trying to impress my sister) washed it for us so Adam wouldn't ruin his tux. Thanks Jeff!

8. We spent the night in Memphis at the Adam's Mark Hotel (which everyone thought was wildly funny.)

9. Then Sunday morning we drove down to the Gulf (at some point Adam woke up to me doing about 90 and flipped out) where we stayed for four days. When the people at the hotel found out we were newlyweds they comped the room for us. So sweet of them. We had a fabulous time. I love the Gulf!

10. My dad was sweet enough to give us his "TOTAL" gas card to pay for the gas to and from Gulf Port. There were a million TOTAL stations in Memphis in the last nineties and absolutely none between Memphis and Gulf Port. We didn't charge a dime to his card but it was the thought that counted. Thanks dad.

Thank you everyone for all the driving you did. No one got away with less than ten hours of driving while Adam's family drove over 60 hours that trip.

Thank you, Janette, for leaving your 12 year old in the hospital to take our wedding pictures. I love them so much.

Thank you to our friends Brent, Lance, Amy and Chrissy for making such long drives to our wedding. They all have their own funny stories to tell from that trip.

Thank you mom and Vickie for making bride's maid dresses and to my mom again, for making my wedding dress and veil. I love, love, love my wedding dress. And was so glad to share my veil with my sister when she got married last year. Can you feel the love?

These last ten years have gone incredibly fast and unbelievably slow. We've moved 11 times, lived in two countries, three states (with a child born in each) and nine cities. We both graduated from college and Adam is on his second career, both of which he has loved. We've driven cross country more in ten years than lots of people do in a life time. We love adventures and are willing to do something different to accomplish a goal. I am here to push and pull Adam outside himself while Adam reminds me to relax and have fun. We kiss in public and do our best not to settle into a married/parental routine. I am thankful to have so much more than a roommate and a co-parent. I have a best friend, a lover, a confidant, a sounding board, a therapist, an editor and a motivator. Man, did I get a great deal, or what?

If you read all the way through this you are truly a good friend (or just plain bored). Now go kiss your husband/wife just because and don't forget your own anniversary.

p.s. Did I mention that I got caught in the automatic sliding doors when leaving the temple? Oh, it was . . . totally not embarrassing! Not at all!

Genius

Isn't it funny how kids pick up on things we, as parents, do and say? For example,

We were in the car today on our way home. We were waiting behind another car waiting to take a left. We been waiting about 30 seconds when Ella says, "Let's go genius." Despite my best efforts I laughed out loud.

Then to amaze and amuse me further, she starts singing along with Taylor Swift and knows every word to "Our Song" . Is that child sitting back there in her booster six or 16?


p.s. After school Ella informed that I didn't look old or young, just medium. "Like, ummmm, 39."

CREEPY

Is it just me or is it not totally creepy when you're at an indoor fast food playground with your kids and some guy comes into the playplace to eat but doesn't have children with him? And the restaurant outside the playplace is practically empty. Is it just me or is it not then time to go? It was creepy and we left.

CREEPY . . . I hate that!

Not Me Monday

A friend my mine does Not Me Monday and I love them. I thought I'd give it a try and see who begins avoiding me.

On this Monday night my youngest is most definitely not sleeping in a pair of his sister's leggings because a) he refuses to sleep without pants and b) every single pair of pj's and/or soft pants he owns is dirty. At least they're gray!

My girls are most certainly not asleep in their cute summer pj's sans underwear because I just didn't get to laundry today. And I did not refuse to let them wear swimwear as underwear for fear that they couldn't get it off in time to pee at, say, 3 in the morning.

And I am not refusing to buy my girls more underwear because they have plenty, as long as they don't change them 47 times a day.

And I did not just go check my laundry and realized that I washed that load without adding soap.

I'm just certain that none of y'all have laundry issues, right?

Sure Sign of Summer

SNOW SHACKS!

Snow shacks (my generic term for all sno-cones little hut/booth places) are one of my sure signs of summer.

A snow shack near us opened today and we were all over it. As soon as Ella got off the bus we headed straight there. Good thing too. When we got there, there was five people in front of us and when we left there were 15 people behind us.

Grace got rainbow.

Joseph wanted "red" so I got him Tiger's Blood (one of my favs).

Ella wanted rainbow.

Within five minutes of getting our cones, true to form, someone had to pee. We carefully headed home to finish them in the front yard.

Adam will surely be disappointed that we didn't wait for him to make our first of the summer sno-cone run. Don't worry, Adam, we do love you and promise to force ourselves to eat another sno-cone this weekend when you're with us.

Oh the sacrifices we make for the ones we love.



p.s. Weird spacing is annoying in the post but I'm not OCD enough to redo it. You'll live, right? I'm already over it.

Why Do Kids Do These Things?

The weather was so beautiful today I finally took the kids to the "sand park". Now as a general rule, I truly abhor playgrounds that are covered in sand but this one is the closest by far and we were short on time.
This year Joseph is big enough to play by himself on the toys. He loves to dig and dig and dig. Why do boys love to dig? And why do kids, at about two and a half, enter the "cheese" phase? You know, mama says, "Joe, look at mama." and Joseph squenches his face and says "cheese" usually without looking at the camera. I got lucky with this pic.

And then why do little girls love, love, love to dump sand on the slide?

Then why do big sisters love, love, love to order little sisters not to dump sand on the slide then stomp over to sweep it off when little sisters don't listen?
I haven't a clue why my kids love, love, love these things but I do know that they are stinkin' funny to watch.

(P.S. When Grace was dumping the sand on the slide she was pretending to "feed the poor". She fed the poor on the swings, on the slide and up on the platform. Grace is such a funny girl.)

Taking Requests

It has been requested that I get my tail in gear and start blogging a little more often. I have already warned the requesters that my life is wonderfully boring right now and I'm a touch ornery but willing to blog. I can not guarantee my posts won't be strange, boring, random and/or angry.

If you are okay with the before mentioned "strange, boring, random and/or angry" then welcome back.