Each Day Is a Gift

Went hiking with Wendy, Jennifer, Diane and Karen in the A.F. Canyon.  It was such a beautiful day.  After I got home I wanted to run outside but the farmer across from my house was burning weeds and the irrigation ditches.  SMOKE galore!  That would not be good for my lungs.  So I ran inside on the TM.   Felt good to have some quick leg turnovers.

7.5 AP: 8:49

Was gone all evening and night last night trying to shop for a dress to wear for my son's upcoming wedding.  Didn't eat dinner until 9:30 pm, legs and feet extremely tired.  Took my inhaler just before going to bed at midnight, BIG mistake!!!  It kept me up!!!!  Yick!

On the way to Draper City Park I could see the big US Flag at Geneva Rock blowing in a complete horizontal display which only means one thing:  STRONG gusty wind!!! 

Despite the strong wind, I had a FUN FUN FUN run with WONDERFUL Teena, Lowell, Karen, RAD, Toby, Kathie, TomSlick.  Other GREAT Chumps: Annie, Nic, Matt, Brooke, Marty, Kim, Kendi and Andrea came too. 

17.5 in 2:42:21  AP: 9:17.  I wanted to wait for Teena who needed to run 2.5 more to make 20; but had to get home for General Conference.  THANKS ALL for a GREAT time!

Busy busy busy day with company and bridal shower for my son's bride-to-be!

14 DAYS 'till BOSTON!!!!

19 DAYS 'till the WEDDING!!!

20 DAYS 'till the MISSION FAREWELL!!!!

AM:  Nice and easy de-stress run, first 5 with Karen.  AP: 10:00

PM:  Karen got addresses to all these bridal shops around University Mall (had no idea there are so many of them).  Then she drove me there.  We had so much fun trying on *MoB* and *MoG* dresses and gowns!!!  Why are they SO EXPENSIVE?!?!?!  Funny thing is I could fit in the flower girls dresses better than the MoB/G's gowns!  Karen got a good laugh!!! :)

5 EZ with Wendy.

Today is my baby's 19th birthday!  He will be leaving for Taiwan for his mission in a month!  I am feeling both happy and sad at the same time...kinda like MotherNature's bipolar personality lately! :)

8 mi with 3x1600m @ 5Kpace 800 RI.  TT: 1:07:50  AP: 8:28.  

Forecast for Boston looks like a wet rainy weekend, Teena's favorite marathon weather! :)

8.25 AP: 9:17

I will be flying to Boston one week from today...so NOT ready!!!

A WONDERFUL run with Maynard, Luz and RAD on the Lehi JRP under snowy sky.  RAD had gotten there earlier to get some miles done before our start time at 6:30am. How that girl get up so early and get some much done in a day is beyond me!

It was so cool to watch Chad Robinson ran stealthily ahead disappearing within 60 seconds; then floated smoothly by us 3 more times.  I seriously am in awe at how effortlessly and fluidly he runs!  

The miles just flew by in the company of such GREAT friends!  Thank you for driving such long distance to run with me!  I would have wimped out if it weren't for you!!!

13.5 in 2:02:53.  AP: 9:06.  Perfect last MLR before Boston!!!

After a quick shower I went to a viewing and funeral of a neighbor.  It was an honor to be asked to do the music.  I used to give him subcutaneous injections.  I treasure the memories of visiting him and his wife over the years.  You would have never known he had terminal cancer for the last 4.5 years.  He always had a quick wit and sense of humor, a twinkle in his eyes with a sweet smile.  He and his wife were married for 65 years...theirs is a real life love story!

Then I went to the baptism of my neighbor's 75 y.o. mother who is Korean.  Her sons were converts over 30 years ago.  She was very opposed to their joining the church and serving missions.  What a joyful occasion for me to witness the baptism of this dear mother/grandmother.  While at the baptism, hubby and I saw a Korean couple who were our friends in the days when we were students at BYU some 30+ years ago!  Sweet reunion! :)

In the evening we attended our son's concert, 4th one in the last two weeks.  At the end of the concert we saw many friends among them a friend whose toddler was drowned while I was the R.S. president in the ward years ago. 

I feel so very blessed that these great friends were so much a part of my life over the years!!!  The gospel is all about becoming Christlike and bringing people and families unto Christ.  I am so thankful for Christlike friends! :) :) :) :) :)

One Week to Boston and my grand-daughter's and her mommy's birthday - April 18!!!

A week from now I will be sitting on an air mattress in the Athlete Village at Hopkinton soaking in the pre-race atmosphere, waiting for the F16s to fly overhead before heading to my corral!  

Hope the weather will be as nice as today, sunny blue sky and a bit cool.  Had a nice chatty run with Wendy (she did 4), and Karen (did 5); then 2 by myself.  The right knee was a bit sore the first couple miles.  Forgot to take my inhaler yesterday and this morning; so was wheezing a bit during the run.   I think Karen is SO READY for her first marathon as she was feeling antsy and wish the race was today instead of Sat.  How I wish I could be there to cheer her in.  :)

Forgot to take the Symbicort again this morning; and the smokey air from Spring Open Burn made the asthma worse!!!  By the time I made it home, I was a wheezing mess!!!  

It was a broken up 7 miler.  Ran with Wendy to Karen's where she set up the refurbished Garmin 301 Lowell sent her.  It was taking too long to acquire the signal, so we left it on the lawn and ran up to Bull River and back for 3 miles.  The Garmin was still trying to acquire signal; so I rebooted it for her.  It took couple minutes to find the location (which had been hundreds of miles from the last location) and acquired the signal.  We then ran the 1 mile to my house to see if the Garmin works.  Somehow it showed that we ran 0.98 in 7:14...NO WAY!!!  So we reset it and ran 1.25 mile back to her house which showed our AP at 9:48.  Then I ran home.  It was a fun run getting Karen all psyched up for SLC and *peer-pressured* Wendy to sign up for SGM! :)

Going to get a hair cut this afternoon, run some errands, then clean house and set up beds and bedding for my out of states family members coming to the Wedding & mission Farewell next weekend!  We're going to beautify my neighbor's yard this evening.  The dad/husband has terminal brain cancer.  They are leaving this morning for Spring Break vacation.  Hope they will be happily surprised! :) :) :) :) :)

EZ taper run w/ some mp thrown in.  Aside from the arid smokey air, it was perfect day for running outside!  Ran into Karen walking/jogging with Sky and her two youngest daughters.  She is SO ready for Sat. marathon!!! :) :) :)

Really like how light and fast the Elixir feels.  But I can tell it definitely works my anterior tibialis more.  So I will stick with the old trusty Inspire for Boston; and train more on the Elixir this summer!

5 quick EZ taper run!  

Lots to do... 

Woke up with shortness of breath and congestion; a good reminder to take my Symbicort! :)  Last taper run!  Ran to Karen's and gave her little girls some cow-bells and instructions to CHEER LOUDLY for their mom tomorrow! :)  Did 2 EZ on Bull River with Karen!  I am so excited for her!  Lots to do besides packing!  Flying to Boston tonight!!! :)

GOOD LUCK to y'all running Salt Lake City tomorrow and Boston on Monday!!! :) :) :)

A LONG day!  MarcieN, hubby and I flew to Boston on a red-eye Friday night arriving around lunch time on Sat.  Our hotel room wasn't ready so we went to lunch at this brand new Italian eatery, Vapiano across the street before heading over to the Expo.  

It was windy and cold.  Saw Ryan Hall at the Expo.  Met Lowell and TJ.  Bought some Adidas Boston clothes...the bright wasabi green is kinda different but beginning to wear on me.  Also bought a fuel belt to hold race bib, gels, inhaler, etc.  Went back to the hotel, this year we got the 18th floor.  Tried out the new clothes and played with the fuel belt to see if I like wearing it on Monday.

Met the gang (Marcie, Rhett, Doone, Kathie, James, Terry Omura and his family) in the lobby at 6pm.  AmberG and her sil, Amanda, Kam and his family joined us.  We walked 2 blocks to the Empire Garden for dinner while Larry, Slick and Ronnie (Hillbilly) stayed behind to wait for Lito (Bobcat).  I made reservation for two tables.  We were later joined by RattleTrap and his family of 4 for a total 24 people. 

So fun to eat and visit with everybody.  There is much excitement anticipating a great race day weather with many possible PRs to be had!  It was nice meeting Kam and RattleTrap in person. 

For some reason I could not sleep.  I had so much on my mind and was strangely nervous. 

Another highlight of the day was when I got text messages and picture of Karen's Salt Lake City Marathon's result.  She ran it in 4:09:xx!!!  WOW!!!!  That is so AWESOME!!!  Karen and I have trained together this whole Fall and Winter.  She is so dedicated!  She is a GREAT runner!  I will not be surprised if she BQ at SGM this year! :) :) :) :)  I am SO HAPPY and EXCITED for her!!! 

This is from an email sent by Gary, my brother-in-law, I just want to share it with you, some of you have met him in person!  I am so proud of him! 

Well, its done!  I finished the London marathon in 3 hours (and 30 seconds).  This was a meaningful race for me because 1) I was running for a great cause and with your generous donations we raised over US$5,000 for Children With Leukaemia; and 2) I have now run all of the World Major Marathons (yes, there is such a thing - Chicago, NY, Boston, Berlin, London) in three hours or less.

A few details (runners have this quirky thing about writing race reports).  On Saturday, I did the usual carbo-loading that included an egg and sausage bagel sandwich, big cinnamon roll, ham bagel sandwich, pasta, hamburger, fried rice, more pasta, turkey sandwich, energy bar and four bottles of Lucazade.

Weather conditions were perfect at the start. A nice cool 8 degrees. Start time was 9:45am.  By the end of the race, however, it was a quite warm. I had brought my Garmin and heart monitor having prepared for this race knowing exactly what my split times and heart rate were going to be (or supposed to be).  It was fully charged two days before the race so I didn't bother rechecking it (a big time rookie mistake!).  When I turned it on at the start line it said 'battery low'.  So, I was a bit concerned at first that I couldn't rely on my trusty Garmin and had to run the entire race without the benefit of it or any timing device, which I had never done before, but not much one can do when you're standing at the start line.  The course wound through the city of London, passed a number of historic landmarks and ended at Buckingham Palace. There were a few inclines but for the most part it was a pretty flat course. The crowds were unbelievable. The entire course was packed with people many many deep and they were very very loud and energetic.  Lots of great music too.

Thoughts during the race: family, friends, work, memories, future, blessings, nothing, am I there yet, why is this mile so much longer than the others.

The finish line is always a very welcome site.  All in all a great race experience and very satisfying. I then had two hours to stretch, shower, find my traditional post-race juicy hamburger with a Dr. Pepper and pack up and head for the airport for the long flight home. Runners got to travel on the trains for free that day!

Once again, thanks to all of you who gave so generously to Children With Leukaemia and supported me in this effort. The staff at the charity were also extremely grateful for all of the donations.  The funds are being used for a very worthy cause.

With many thanks and best regards

Had SO much fun the entire Boston weekend: meeting new friends, re-united with old friends, ate so good, Chinese on Sat. with 24 friends and families, Italian on Sun. and Legal Seafood on Mon. with the gang!  Was so great to meet fellow bloggers in person:  Kam, his wife and parents, RattleTrap and his family.  Saw Ryan Hall at the Expo.  Rode the hotel elevator with Paul Petersen.  AmberG & Amanda had dinner with us...I was SO EXCITED for Amber...lots of giggles!!! :)  New activity for me this year was going to the Old South Church for the Blessings of the Athletes with Lowell & Terry on Sun. which was also Palm Sunday...very cool!!!  Had so much fun that almost forgot I had a marathon to run!  :)

It had been windy and rainy everyday except race morning.  The running gods were with us this year, temps in the 40s-50s, mostly sunny sky, WSW 16mph wind.  It's no wonder that Geoffrey Mutai set the world record and won the 115th Boston Marathon in 2:03:02.  Only wish I had the health and fitness to take advantage of the perfect race condition.  Due to illnesses, patellar tendonitis and busy family events, my training this Winter hadn't gone as well as I wanted:  not enough downhill running for fear of aggravating the knee, ran only two 20 milers and very very little speedwork.  I did put in the necessary mileage and some tempo runs and marathon paced miles.  Thus, my goal was to finish my 4th Boston without a trip to the med tent. 

We (Marcie, Kathie, Rhett, Lark, TomSlick, Ronnie, Jose, Lito) rode the bus to Hopkinton and got there at 7:45 with almost 3 hours to kill.  Kathie and I had a ton of fun lounging on our air mattresses, lots of giggles, p-o-p trips, tried to stay warm, hydrated and snacked on honey pretzel, chex mix, banana, PowerBar chew, gatorade.  We said goodbye and wished our fast friends great runs as they headed to their wave 1 and 2 start. 

Finally it was time for Lark, Kathie and I to head to our wave 3 start.  We lost Kathie at the bag drop off.  Lark and I crossed the start mat at 10:46am.  He managed to keep track of me while we weaved through throngs of slower runners.  I lost him at the first aid station.  I told him I would try to stay in the middle of the road should we get separated.  I figured he would soon find me.  (Mile 1-6 ~ 9:14, 8:48, 8:51, 8:35, 8:55, 8:58). 

My pace and thoughts started to drift quite a bit as my mind was filled with thoughts of my children, my SSF, upcoming wedding and mission farewells, and memories of past Bostons.  Somewhere after Wellesley, Lark came up to me and woke me up.  We crossed the half at 1:59:xx.  (Mile 7-13 ~ 8:48, 9:11, 8:54, 9:08, 9:09, 9:18, 9:13).

Lark asked how my knee was doing.  He said the ball of his feet were on fire.  That's when I realized my knee hasn't bothered me at all, in fact it was fine the entire race.  But there was a blister forming on the ball of my left foot and both my quads were screaming.  I told him I felt fine...everything is great...(ya, big lies)!  He soon had to stop to tend to his blisters and I continued the rest of the race alone with my thoughts and aware of how painful my quads were getting.  (Mile 14-20 ~ 9:07, 9:20, 9:18, 10:08, 10:10, 9:54, 10:21)  I started to wheeze going up the first hill past the highway overpass so had to take the inhaler. 

I passed father/son Richard & Rick Hoyt at mile 16.8 just before the Newton Fire Station where we would make a right turn to begin the Newton Hills.  It was so inspiring to see them giving me resolve to NOT walk the hills.  On the steeper 3rd hill, I was asked by 3 different runners:  "Is this Heartbreak Hill?"  to which I replied:  "No, not yet!" "Where is it?"  "It's right after mile 20.  No worries, it's not as steep as this one, you are doing great!"  The crowds, the music, the drums were AWESOME!!!  I was able to RUN (albeit in the 10s) the hills!  

From Newton on I did not look at my Garmin once because I was afraid to see how slow I was going.  The crowd at Boston College was as wild and loud as ever.  However my screaming quads was much louder.  I knew it would be disaster if I charged down the hill.  I just focused on shorter strides and ignored the painful quads.  I managed to high five all the kids (the only spectators at my level of height)! 

At around mile 22, Sharla Fillmore (Kam's mother) came up and asked: "Is that you Smooth?"  I was so happy to see a familiar face (even though I had only met her for the first time at Sat. night's dinner).  I congratulated her and told her how PROUD I was of her.  Here she is at 64, running her 2nd Boston Marathon and passing all these youngsters (me)!  It was as if I was running backward with all these runners flying by!  I finally looked at my Garmin and was horrified at how slow I was running.  I bonked BIG time!!! I could not get my legs to go any faster.  The Citgo sign was still half a mile away when my Garmin read 3:59:xx.  Oh Well, I am going to finish and I'm going to finish with a happy smile instead of cramps!  

Finally reached Boylston, I looked for James, Doone and my hubby outside the Convention Center among thousands of spectators.  I blew them kisses and headed to the finish with a satisfying smile on my face!  It's over!  No more running!  I walked wobbly with throngs of runners to get our recovery drink/food, blanket and medal!  I kissed my medal and started to tear up with emotions!  YES, I finished and avoided a trip to the med tent!  (Mile 21-finish ~ 11:09, 10:05, 10:36, 11:17, 11:24, 12:20, last .59 mile in 6:50)

CONGRATULATIONS to all my fellow bloggers who ran GREAT times today! :) :) :)

THANK YOU all for your many well wishes, love and support!  You're the best! :) :) :)

Checked out of the hotel and stowed our luggage.  Walked to Quincy Market for lunch.  Quads are SO SO SO SO SORE!!!  It was raining!  Hubby did not feel like walking the Freedom Trail.

Got to the airport early only to find the flights were delayed!

Lots of sitting and waiting around at Logan International and Atlanta airport. 

The flight from Atlanta to SLC was very choppy and bumpy as we flew over northern part of Texas through a huge storm.

Arrived at SLC international at 1:00am.  There was a security drill at the airport so the shuttles to the economy parking were diverted so we had to walk to the short-term parking garage to get on the shuttle.  Needless to say we got home at 2am Wed. morning, exhausted from a long day of travel.

Slept in till 6:30.  Body so tired.  Quads SO stiff.  Wish I had time to do some active recovery!  Quickly unpack before the day's busyness starts!

Busy getting the house ready for out-of-states families.  Lots of phone calls to confirm the wedding luncheon guests.  Errands and food shopping.  Quads are very tight but no time to stretch and roll.

Picked up my sister from the airport at 10:30am.  So good to see my sister who loves me more than life itself.  Took her to Market Street Grill for lunch.  Shopping at Target for wedding gifts, etc.  Picked up my daughter and grand baby at the airport at 8:30 pm.  Baby Jett is almost 4 months old and has grown so big since I last saw him at 2 weeks old.   

Got up early before everyone wakes up.  Went out for a short recovery run.  Had to stop every half mile for the first two miles to stretch the quads.  It felt so good to run.  I LOVE running in the Elixir. 

Saw Wendy, Karen and Karen's sister Jill (who's visiting from CA) at half mile from home.  They were just starting and I was about done.  We stopped to talk and give each other brief reports of how our respective marathons went.  

Picked up the tuxedos.  More shopping and last minutes prep. for the wedding and food for Sunday's luncheon after the farewell.  Picked up Eric, Marianne and Emi at the airport at 2:30pm.  Cut Steven's and Bryan's hair.  Thankgoodness I didn't have to go to Logan to pick up Steven.  His cousin, Emily, drove him.  He was good to entertain Baby Josiah in the backseat during the drive.

Took the whole family to Texas Road House for dinner.  We had "call ahead seating" but still had to wait for an hour and were seated at 2 separate booths (boys in one and girls in another).  So much for celebrating our 33rd Anniversary.  I got to wave at my sweetheart across the booths.  

Jen brought over the bridesmaid's dresses for Marianne and Larissa at 11:30pm. while Jeff and I were working on the guests seatings for the wedding luncheon.   Larissa, Marianne and I had so much fun giggling and trying on the bridesmaids' dresses.  They look darling. 

Eric went to pick up David from the airport at midnight.  David hadn't eaten yet.  He ate the leftover from our dinner at Texas Rd House.  I had to iron Jeff's shirts and pants and fixed the hem of his suit pants.  We finally went to bed at 1:30am.

Wedding day!!!  Special day!!!  My third child, Jeffrey, is married to Jennifer in the Draper Temple.  The weather co-operated!

The newly weds coming out of the Temple!

Jen and Jeff waiting for the families to gather for picture taking!

Bride's family (l-r): Jessie, Kelsey, Kent, Jeff, Jen, Diana, Kayla and Jaymie:

At the luncheon: Eric, Marianne, Emi, Larissa, Jett, David, Bryan & Steven:

 The newly weds and the bride's parents:  Diana and Kent:

Baby Jett and me:

Reception at the Lion House:

The groom's brothers: Eric (married), David (very available bachelor), Steven (going on mission in a few days) and Bryan (available bachelor):

No running today so I could spend every last possible minutes with my sister, my daughter and grandbaby. 

Took the newlyweds to the airport at 9:45am for their honeymoon to Kauai.  

Took Larissa and Jett to the airport at 11:15am.

Returned the tuxedos.

Took my sister, Sissy to the airport at 2:15pm. 

Began the *de-guesting* process of taking down beddings, towels, linens, etc. 

Had a quiet evening with my sweet hubby!  WE need to go on a honeymoon ourselves! :)

****

I notice the knee (same old right tibial tuberosity) was very tender to touch and sore when flexing and bending the knee.

Was going to go running when a long time friend came by with the wedding gift.  She ended up staying the whole morning.

Got on the TM and was interrupted by several phone calls.

The missionaries who found me and baptized me (the elder found me, the sister taught me...they ended up married after their mission) came over to the house with a wedding gift and a sister from HK.  We visited all evening long.

A sweet day recalling wonderful memories and renewing friendship!

AM:  12 recovery miles.

4 with Wendy around the Smith's Market Place and Center St. block.

Then 3.75 by myself to Bull River and ended up at Karen's house where she gave me 8oz gatorade.

4.25 with Karen down 3200N to trail by railroad and back up on 300W.

Quads were very tight.

PM:  foam roll, stretch the legs.  Abs.

AM:  Ran 6.5 with Wendy, Carolyn and Karen.

PM:  4.5 TM with 3.5% incline.  Foam roll and stretch the quads.  Core Stability Exercise while watching a cute Chinese movie, White Dragon.

Quads felt fine during the run.  It sure hurts when doing deep bend.

Right tibial tuberosity (knee) still hurts.  Strange that it did not hurt during the marathon or the days after.  With almost a week of rest you'd think the knee would be fine;  but the soreness shows up a week later and now is hurting.  I am thinking that the tendon might be getting stiff from inactivity...so I am going to keep running instead of taking 6 weeks off skipping Ogden.  So onto Ogden then UVM I go! :)

7 hilly miles with Karen (Sky).  Very windy and cold.  

Ran west to meet Karen then south on 300W (downhill), east on Frontage to 1200 E (rolling uphill).  Then north on 1200E to Cedar Hollow and west to Center back up on 300 W (uphill).  Quads are fine!