Each Day Is a Gift

5 EZ recovery in blustery 20 mph N wind!!!  There was absolutely no wind when I took my son to the bus stop at 7am and an hour later after my run!!!  What's up with that?!!!  

3 circuits of Pfitz's core strengthening exercises.

Crawl up and down stairs numerous times, practice walking w/ Emi for 30 min.  SO FUN!!!  She's learning to talk and got the word *DONE* mastered!  She says it every time the microwave beeps, when someone says Amen, whenever we're through with a certain activities, i.e. eating, playing, washing hands.  She says it smiling with arms/hands raised above her head....SO CUTE!!!

Now off to h-lunch!

AP: 9:32.  First 8 miles were around the bench.  Next 7 miles were up on Suncrest road and all over Alpine.  Last 1.5 kicked it in to get it over with.  Couldn't really get in the groove today.  I need a good taper if I were to survive UVM in 10 days.

Off to Girls Camp. 

Got home from girls camp around 11pm.  Went to bed late.  Couldn't sleep, legs were stiff and sore.  Got up at 5 for a 2 hr car trip to Logan.  Sitting through hours of orientation was miserable.

Can't believe my baby will be off to college in couple of months! 

All that sitting and car trip yesterday made everything stiff and sore.  Woke up feeling like death warmed over.  Forced myself to run and did some stretching.  

TT: 49:39.  AP: 9:27.  I seem to be stuck at 9:32 pace these days/weeks.  So at the last 0.25 mile I sprinted at sub-8 to bring down the AP...very silly of me!

20 min. resistance band exercises for arms and legs and added the X-walk Teena showed me for the ITBs.  Stretch and roll some...ouch!!!

***On a side note, my 5th child is coming home from his mission in Brazil in two weeks!!!!  I am SOOO EXCITED!!!***  Also, my first grandchild is getting baptized tomorrow!  A shout out to Jade!!! :) :) :)

Been having a hard time finding motivation to run lately.  Alas, THANKS to Jon and Kelly A today's run was one of the BEST I've had this season.  I went to their house at 7am.  They had already dropped off a car at the "finish" the night before.  We drove up to the mouth of AF Canyon and parked the car at a church parking lot.  The temp was perfect as we ran along the shady foothills and Cedar Hills Golf course.  It was so fun chatting with them that the miles just flew by. 

There were lotsa runners and cyclists out this morning.  We ran thru Adventure Park and made our way thru Highland to Kohler's for a quick pit stop then down to mile 7 where we had stashed water.  Kelly gave me one of her pickles...tasted sooo good!  Don't laugh, it really works for cramps, all football coaches swear by it!  We continued west to 1200 East and down to Lehi Main St. and ran around the little block behind MetalMart just to get our mileage even...glad I'm not the only OCD one.  It was so FUN running with this darling couple.  They are the BEST!  They even bought me a bottle of Smart Water at the gas station.  THANKS Jon and Kelly for letting me tag along on!  Kelly is a strong runner and beautiful athlete.

TT:  1:45:15  AP: 9:34. 

Worked in the yard, weeded for couple hours after I got home.  It's getting really warm!  Hopefully we'll have good weather at UVM next Sat. 

Stayed up late talking/visiting with my kids.  Didn't get out 'till 7:40am...just couldn't get going with tired body and legs.  Sunny blue sky, not a stitch of cloud, temp already in the 70s.  Tried  Kathie's plan of running pace miles on tired legs.  Plan was to run 3 miles at 10K pace (8:15).  Didn't make it...it was pretty pathetic.

6 miles TT: 53:05.  AP: 8:51.  Splits:  9:55, 8:42, 8:12, 8:15, 8:58, 9:00.

Planted 36 petunias, will plant the merrigold this evening when the sun isn't beating down.  Vacuum and laundry, now I need a nap. 

Emi has a icky runny nose, cold? teething?  Hope I don't get it (the cold). 

Have a GREAT week everyone!!!!

Much cooler this morning.  Plan was to run 7 with 3 at marathon pace.  Ended up being a sort of progressive run.  Forgot my sunglasses so going East was squinty.  ;}

TT: 1:03:08.  AP: 9:02.  Splits: 10:03, 9:17, 9:04, 9:34 (ran into Wendy C., stopped and chatted for awhile before parting ways), 9:00, 8:08, 8:03.  Forgot to wear compression sleeves, left shin is now bugging.

Plant flowers, off to take Olga to lunch.  Have a great day everyone!

6 EZ with Carolyn, Mary and Wendy.  Garmin battery dead, forgot to charge it since my computer died last week.  Remembered the sunglasses but didn't need it, sky was overcast.  Perfect cool temp this morning except for the flying cotton from the Poplar trees making my eyes itch.  Fun chatting with the ladies.  More yard work today.  More fun playing with Emi.  She smiles so readily for me...so cute with her 3rd & 4th teeth barely coming in! 

4 nice and easy with Carolyn and Wendy.  Weeding.  Dejunking.  Playing.

May go to packet pick up this afternoon.  

I LOVED UVM!!!

 I was baptized on June 12, 1971, 39 yrs ago; so it was fitting that I got happily and gratefully "soaked" at UVM today!

Pre-race:
My SSF was SUPER NICE to pick up my packet Thu night. Then she drove me and a friend's brother to "Cougar Town" dark and early. I had a good feeling that she's going to PR today with that perfect rain, some tailwind and a downhill course. I, on the other hand had no competitive juice.   After Ogden's embarrassing finish, (an almost DNF if not for Maynard's helping hands), my goals for UVM were:
* Happy: Finish upright
* Satisfied: Finish upright without charlie horse
* Ecstatic: BQ (need 4:15 for the gezzerette divison)

The start:
We got to the start with 30 min to do the pop and clothing drop off.  Called LuzyLew with no answer! :(  The staging was a cluster with the pops lined up in a square down the road from the start. Anyway, we made our way to clothing drop off and was soooo happy to see AmberG and MarcieJ, Maynard and KellieS and the Heidi's.    Teena, Maynard and I lined up together a few feet behind the 3:40 pace group. The cannon sounded at 5:45 (15 min delay) and off we went.  Teena disappeared like a flash. Maynard and I hung together.  It was a stunningly beautiful morning with misty low hanging clouds, light rain, vibrant green mountains, horses in charming farms and homes.  Some cute girl in bandanna (impersonating KellieS, I'm sure :o) ) gave me a love pat on the tush when she and her bandanna clan ran past.  I absolutely LOVE running with Maynard. He showed no sign of having run a tough 21 miles SP mountain trail just 6 days ago. What a stud! :D

The run:
At mile 5 aid station Alisa and Lex gave me water, powerade and took my headband for safe keeping. Alisa looks beautiful and skinny! Thanks for the cheer and well wishes! Mile 8 was a good uphill, I told Maynard to go on ahead as I didn't want to slow him down. I was so looking forward to mile 9 aid station where Andy was volunteering. When I got there, instead of yelling for water, I yelled "pickles, pickles, pickles!" The volunteers must have thought I was out of my silly mind! Sure enough Andy was there to give me a baggie full of pickles. What a guy! THANK YOU! Andy! I chomped down two. Soon Maynard ran by, I offered him some pickles which he declined! Then off he went and I wouldn't see him again till at the finish.

I glanced at my Garmin a handful of times paying little attention to pace, running nice and easy. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with other runners. I "cheered" the spectators one of whom named Sabrina. She would show up every 2 miles with such a bright smile and cheer that I had to give her a hug. I was surprised to see my hot hubby at mile 12.85 cheering on the north bound side of the road and again around 20.5.  I hollered "choo-choo" as I ran through the tunnel. I took a potty break at the half. When I emerged from the temple of doom, my Garmin said 2 hours and some change. PERFECT!!! The canyon walls were stunning, Bridal Veil Falls was gorgeous, the mountains were luscious green. I congratulated the kilt-wearing Scottish gentleman for running on a super GREEN Utah day! Somewhere around mile 14, Marcie Wood caught up to me and that's when I found out Lowell DNS :(. These downhill canyon miles were made extra sweet by the tailwind. I had ditched my gloves earlier but was glad that I kept my arm warmers. The tailwind turned into a bit of headwind or sidewind once we got out of the canyon. It was not bad at all, could've been a hot June day with sun beating down on us. The rain had stopped and was quite pleasant. Surely the running gods were smiling upon us today.

University Ave had always seemed a long stretch of road to me; but because of Cougar's detail description, I knew it was only 6 miles to the finish. When I ran past the Canyon View apartment where my missionary son lived during his freshman year, I got choked up with the thought that he will be home in 6 days!!! Then I thought about each of my children who graduated from BYU...my heart overcame with joy and gratitude. I can honestly say that with the 20 marathons I've run, this is the only one where I had no tough or difficult moment. I felt surprisingly fresh at mile 23 as at mile 2. However, in the back of my mind, I worried that charlie horse would rare its ugly head at mile 25 like it usually did, so I kept the pace nice and easy, side-fiving the spectators, thanking all the police officers, even patted the cheeks of a baby.

At around mile 24.5, I saw Kelli in her cute skirt running back on the course. She had come to run friends in like she did last year.  I was overjoyed to see her :) !  She really helped me through that scary overpass when both my shins started to cramp up. I took the downside of the overpass easy and safely made the couple of turns in the parking lot. THANKS Kelli for running me in!!! I "sprinted" to the finish with the roaring cheer of Forumites and Bloggers. My time was 4:05:07. It was awesome to see MrsFit at the finish.  Teena, my SSF, was first to greet me followed by TomSlick, Huans32 and RivertonPaul who went to pick up my drop bag and negotiated a very nice GrandSlam schwag for me! THANKS! While lining up to get my race shirts (which they ran out of, btw), Maynard appeared before our eyes! I swear he's like a guardian angel! What a sweet heart!

The post-race bash at Cougar's:
Hubby being the punctual guy drove me to Cougar's at exactly 12:30. THANKS to Cougar's hospitality and his daughters' great organizational skills, the food was delish! It was so fun to visit with everybody (Rhett, Alisa & Lex, DonGardinero & family, Maynard, BeMo & Co, Slick, MarcE and family, and of course all the Zimmerman clan). I got a surprise call from my SSF that I took 5th in my AG and she gave the plague to Slick to bring to me. The web result showed that the 4th place gal had the same chip time as mine, perhaps 1/100th of a second faster, not that it matters! It was so fun to see everyone at Cougar's home. THANK YOU Cougar for hosting the party! THANK YOU everyone for a PERFECT day! I am the luckiest girl to have such WONDERFUL friends who truly care. I love you all sooo much!!!

Possible contributing factors to NO charlie horse today:
1. Perfect weather: light rain, overcast sky, tailwind, cool temp of high 40s to mid 50s.
2. Eating 2 pickles at mile 9.
3. S-cap at mile 19.
4. Compression sleeves.
5. Fairly straight and nice gentle downhill of the last 10K.
6. Last but not least my SSF prayed that I would not have charlie horse.

YAY!!! No med-tent trip this time!!!!  :) :) :) :) :)

NO soreness!  Spent all day at the zoo with Emi, Marianne, Michael, Crystal and Katie. Lots of walking, perfect weather!  All the animals were out and active, including Zuri, the baby elephant, lots of funny monkeys.  I tried to capture the cheetah's graceful trots with my camera, but he was too fast for my trigger finger.

My beautiful Emi and her mommy.

Nice morning EZ recovery run with Carolyn and Wendy.  

Lots of house cleaning, window washing, laundry, etc. today!  3 days before Bryan comes home!  I'm so excited!  :)  :)  :)

Beautiful breezy morning!  EZ recovery with Carolyn and Mary.  AP: 9:35.

Getting beds downstairs ready for my daughter and grandchildren coming home from TX.  2 days 'till Elder Bryan comes home!  YAY!!!!

Cool morning, blue sky.  Ran with Mary and Wendy at EZ pace.  My missionary is coming home in 24 hours.  YAY!!!  :)  :)  :)  :)  :)

Ran 3rd West hill w/ Carolyn, Mary and Wendy! 

Off to airport to pick up Bryan!  

What a handsome bunch:  David, Steven, Jeffrey, Elder Bryan.  Missing is Eric, my oldest son.

I think Bryan has grown an inch on his mission!

This sign was made by my daughter when our oldest son came home from his mission, it needs to last for one more son!  :)

After 4 days of traveling by bus and airplane, he finally arrived safe and tired.

A happy homecoming with yellow ribbons and balloons!

A SPECIAL day with family and small miracles!!!

Bryan was so sick the day he arrived home on Fri.  He had chills, fever, vomitting and diarrhea all day Fri and Sat.  He had not slept since Mon.  The family were gone half of Sat to my daughter-in-law's twin sister's wedding.  Sat. night my husband and son gave him a blessing.

Sunday morning he drank some broth, took a Tamiflu and 2 ibuprophen; went to Sacrament Mtg. and gave a wonderful talk.

SO NICE to see my SSF, Ry and their adorable children!

Some of my family members coming from all over the States and as far as Hong Kong:

A few of the strong, beautiful and wonderful women in my family, intertwining the tapestry of my life.

My grandchildren and their little cousins.

My beautiful daughter-in-law and cute little Emi.

My grandsons LOVE to eat.

Emi waving bye bye!

Quick EZ run with Wendy, Stephanie and Carolyn.

Took grandkids to Legacy Center swimming.

Ate lotsa yummy Middle Eastern BBQs and fruits kabob, desserts at my niece's bridal shower.

EZ run, same route with Wendy!  Sunny blue sky!

Spent all day at the zoo with the little ones!  Sooo fun!

Luke, Jade, Lex, Charlie, Ethan, Tanner, Hiro, Land, Wei Wei, Mie.

Riding the carousel animals!

Zuri, the baby elephant was the real hit!

My two *monkey* grandsons!  :)

Tempo run.  6 mi TT: 51:20.  AP: 8:33.  Splits: 9:19, 8:45, 8:09, 8:30, 8:19, 8:16

Took the grandkids to go *hiking* in AF Canyon.  Then went to see Toy Story III.  Finish the day with Lehi's Western BBQ at the park.

6 mi w/ 2 miles hills in 54:14.  AP: 9:02

Had lunch at great-grandma's house.  Shopping.  Playing in the park.

Ran with Stacey, a friend of AmberG.  She's training for SGM.  Her next race is Hobble Creek!  I met her for the first time this morning when she came to my house at 6am.  So nice to have someone to run with.  She needed to run 15 whereas my schedule says to run 10.  Since I didn't run yesterday, I figured I may be able to do at least 13.

We ran up to Alpine for 12 then add 3 miles on the bench around my block.  Perfect run in perfect temp with just the right hills.  We chatted away and the miles just flew by.  On the return trip with the the small uphills, I challenged her to run it strong, kinda fartleked it :).  On the last 5 miles I encouraged her to run it at marathon pace.  I took off on the last mile at a 10K pace...that was mean of me...but she seemed okay with that...we'll see if she wants to run with me again!  She's a great runner, will do awesome at SGM.

15 miles in 2:21:54.  AP: 9:27.  Splits: 9:56, 10:12, 10:12, 9:22, 9:54, 10:00, 10:17, 9:15, 9:18, 9:39, 8:54, 8:39, 9:00, 9:02, 8:08.

Busy day with Lehi Roundup parade and niece's wedding.

This race used to require $20 pre-registration, no shirt, just water at the start/finish.   Prizes were $20 gift certificate for 4 male and female division winners (with the oldest division at 45 and over...they must think people older than 50 shouldn't be running)...go figure!  I've run it a couple times just to support UBA and represent hubby's bank.  

This year they lowered the fee to $5 and no pre-registration required.  So when I woke up at 5:30 and found $5 in my purse, I laced up my shoes and jogged to the start.  I was the last one to get there.  There were about 35-40 runners milling around, the usual fast youngsters in their 20s, a handful of 30-somethings, and about 12-15.  I sized up the competition and saw Brenda, a 40ish gal who beat me 3 years ago.  I also saw a tall slender gal wearing an Ogden Marathon shirt (later learned her name was Michelle.  Shauna, a 55 mother, ran SLC Marathon this year. 

I hate 5K.  I refused to pay to run in puke zone!  I wanna win if I were to do it.   So my strategy was to ride on the heels of my competitions, then go for the kill at the last 0.2.

A 20 yo girl lined up in the front with the fast guys.  Michelle, Brenda, Shauna and I lined up behind them.  The course is an out and back with the middle 2 miles on a bike path. I like this because we can see the front runners at the turn around.

The first 0.2 mile was on the private road between the parking lot of the resort/lodge and tennis courts then a sharp right turn onto a dirt/gravel trail for another 0.2 or so miles before jumping onto the bike path.  The first half is moderate uphill with some rollers like most parkway trails.

The 20 yo went out with the pack of fast guys.  Brenda chased after them followed by Michelle.  I stayed on their heels and enjoyed the "warm up".  First mile split was 8:54...the slowest 5k pace I've ever run!!!...granted it was slight uphill and at higher altitude, my breathing was surprisingly easy.  Brenda and Michelle ran almost side by side on the narrow bike path which suits me just fine.   

I counted about 7 fast guys and 1 girl ahead.  At the turn around, I saw Rob Brough.  Dang, we were running slow.  Mile 2 came in at 8:34....ridiculously slow...I started talking to the ladies and realized their breathing was labored...time to make the move.  At a light incline about mile 2.10, I passed Michelle then Brenda and set my sight on Rob.  I passed him with 0.6 mile to go and "chicked" two guys at the last stretch.  Mile 3 split was 7:15 with the 0.1 @ 6:55.  Felt great to be 2nd woman and 6th overall...never mind that it's a small race...slowest 5K I've ever run and won...heck, I'll take it!!! 

Went to bed late after a fabulous dinner, ice show and firework display at the Sun Valley Lodge.  At the reception before dinner, they announced all the winners of the skeet shoot, golf tournament and 5K race.  I got a $25 Sport Authority gift card for my division win.  Feet were killing from wearing and walking around in heels.   Got up early anyway to run my MLR before driving home.

Ran on the Wood River/Sun Valley Trail from the condo to Dollar Mountain alongside Elkhorn Rd past St. Luke's hospital (mile 6) where I took a pit stop.  First mile has a 208' elevation gain.  Then some rollers through the golf course for 2 miles and downhill along Twin Creeks.  Beautiful scenery of green valleys and mountains, elevation above 6000' of ski runs, golf course and river crossing.  I hand carried a bottle of water and took 1 gu at the turn around.  Temp was in the mid 50s, occasional sprinkle of shower, very pleasant run.  Legs were trashed on the last 2 miles of ascend and descend.  Good training run for Park City. 

13 mi in 2:07:15.  AP: 9:46