Each Day Is a Gift

What a wonderful day!!!! Luz came all the way to my house this morning to run with me!!!!! :) :) :) What a special special friend and awesome lady!!! :). I have missed Luz SO MUCH!!! SO SO SO happy to see her!!!! :)

We went over to John and Wendy's house just as Karen drove up. The five of us drove to Lone Peak HS where we got on the Murdock Canal Trail and ran east and south from Highland to Manila, PG, along the foothills!

It was a glorious morning, perfect temp, clear blue sky, beautiful scenery of the mountain/valley/lake, fun friends, great chats!!! Such a blessing to have Luz running alongside on this, my last medium long run! After the run, we went back to my house to stretch and eat the delicious Kneader's cinnamon bread that Luz has bought us, yum!!! I shall always treasure the memory of this day! :)

3 easy miles with Wendy (1st mile with hubby) around the block, no watch!

I am loving the time spent with my 9mo old granddaughter, Skylar! She is the smartest baby ever!!! :)

I am the luckiest girl alive!!! So so so so happy to have one last run with my favoritest girls, RAD (with Adam in a jogging stroller, Becca,, Karen and Luz!!! They were so kind to run nice and slow with me!!!! Beautiful day with beautiful friends! I can't ask for more! :) :) :) :) We did more talking and walking than running, I think! :)

Lots of dejunking and sorting stuff! Then we went shopping (lots of walking, looking for a missionary suit for me...no luck...but did find a very nice suit type jacket in ivory color that will go well with some of my skirts! :)

In the evening we went to Dr. Bigelow's recital where Bryan got to play a duet with her! Great concert! :)

Karen and Wendy invited me to join them for the first few miles of their 11-12 miler! Since I'm running UVM on Sat. I don't need the miles. We ran east to Smith's, then I bid them goodbye and turned west on MC trail and home! Lovely morning! :) :) :)

Wash the cooktop hood....boy, was it gummed up with garbs of brown sticky grease! My arms and hands are going to be sore! :)

Costco and Smith shopping = lots a walking!

Jen cooked us a nice dinner...we've been eating out on our deck every night since they've moved in! I love these kinds of evenings! :)

Jog 2 miles with hubby then swam!

Went to packet pick up then met Lowell for early dinner at Olive Garden!

Went to Rag Time, the musical at the West Valley Hale Center Theater with Jeff and Jen.

Got home around 11pm. It was near midnight by the time I went to bed.

Went to bed past midnight. Did not sleep a wink! Got out of bed at 2am., dressed, hubby gave me a blessing. Went outside at 3am and waited in the stillness of the night for Becca to drive me to the park-n-ride where we met up with RAD and Marcie Wood. (Last year I drove seven runner friends to the start of the marathon, then cheered all morning in my boot. It was both fun and painful). SO nice to have RAD drive us to the bus ride, no stress, just lots of fun laughs and giggles and catch up with how everyone's been doing!

We waited for Lowell who had gone to McDonald to pick up breakfast, then just as we're ready to board the bus, Susan Roundy showed up so the six of us got to sit together for the bus ride. It was one of the funnest bus ride with Lowell eating his sausage and eggs and everyone looked on with disbelief.

Got to the start with an hour to spare. RAD went to the pacer gathering while we lined up at the p-o-p. Then she joined us and we did the pop thing twice. Saw McKensie and other FRBs. Then it was time to drop off our bags and head to the start. I found Lowell at the designate piece of grass by the clothing truck and we walked to the start where we saw the fast guys toeing the line and cheered them on. We jumped in with the 4:45 pacer when we didn't see the 4:30 group. Lowell thought may be he would try to break the record of the 80 age group of 4:37.

Temp was probably in the low 50s, clear blue sky, calm, perfect morning for a nice long run. We ran with Maria from Columbia, Marissa from Argentina, Heather, Chad, and vibram5 fingers guy. A young fellow with bright green singlet and matching shoes asked me where the bathrooms are located. We were a bit annoyed that there was not a single pop at the aid stations as promised. We passed by one construction pop that was roped up. At the Ashton Barn, just before mile 7, a long line of runners have formed in front of three pops. Now that I think about it, those pops were not set up by or for the runners. They were there for the group of people camping on the grounds of the Ashton Barn. Anyhow, other than that inconvenience, I thoroughly enjoyed every single moment of the race.

This being my last marathon, #47, for the next three years, I wanted to savor every minute, soaked in the scenery and enjoyed the journey with wonderful company. Every passing mile represent each month (25 months) that my son has served in the Taiwan Taipei Mission...the last mile will be dedicated to the 200+ missionaries that my husband and I will get to know, love and nurture in Australia.

Lowell and I chatted with everyone we passed or leapfrogged. He has a tendency to go out a bit fast, so I reminded him that we needed to not go faster than 10mm and he was very good at waiting for me. Saw hubby and Bryan on the westbound side of the road by the dam (mile 9+). We ran across the road to them and took pictures. He asked us if we needed anything. I said: "yes, I need to pee badly.". They couldn't help me as there were no bathroom to be found. We ran back across the road and realized that the entire eastbound lanes were blocked off just for the runners! SO much better and safer than in years past!!! :)

I was so happy to see the lines of pops at the half...so was my bladder! We took our time and felt refreshed as we began the second half of the race. It actually got a bit cool in the shady part of the canyon, not complaining as the temp quickly soared. We stopped to take picture with the anglers along the river, at Bridal Veil Falls and other scenic locations! I am really going to miss my Utah mountains and rivers! Sure, there will be beautiful beaches in Sydney Australia.

My lack of training, especially on hills, started to show with the undulating downhill and my shins started to complain. I took two salt caps (I carried 4 but gave 2 away to this guy who was having Charlie horse at mile 7) at mile 17 aid station where a girl put a mardigra necklace on me. Within 15 min the shin cramp went away. However, Lowell started to slow as in many previous marathons we ran together.

As mile 19 approaches, I looked over to the left shoulder and saw Luz waiting for me! I waved and.yelled her name. We ran towards each other with exuberant joy!!! BOY!!! Was I excited to see her! It meant the world to me to have her run with me every single step for the next 7 miles! She kept me going with positive chats and inspiring stories. She was my eyes, ears, extra strength and umph, prepared me for every aid station, we savored every patch of shades (made possible this year as they moved the course to the east side of the road, BEST change they've ever made) and cooling water mister. My chins started to cramp again at mile 24+ and wish I had not given away the two salt caps. If it weren't for Luz's reassuring company right by my side, I would probably succumb to Charlie horse. I am so so so grateful to have Luz there to run with me. She is a wonderful friend to sacrifice her Sat to run me to the finish.

At mile 25 they were passing out otter pops. I wanted an orange one and missed it.,..have no fear...Luz ran back to get me one. She even took care of the trash for me! Her positive encouragement kept me moving! Soon the shin cramps disappear. Hubby and Bryan were there cheering as Luz and I sprinted to the finish, chicking a guy in the process. We held hands and crossed the finish like champions! :). My last marathon is now finished!

Luz stayed with me till I got all the recovery drinks I cared to take. We saw Becca and I got super excited and so so so happy when she told me she ran 3:16!!! Wow!!! She did beyond AWESOME!!!! She worked so hard and really deserved this huge PR!!!! :). Her excellent race just made my day even better!!! :) :) :)

I wish I could go over to soak my feet and chat with RAD and others at the spa but I had to boogie out of there. After a quick lunch and drop Luz off to her home, we rushed back home. Took a quick shower, then Bryan and I put up the welcome home sign and tied yellow ribbons on the house lamps and trees!

We (hubby, Bryan, Jeff, Jen, Skylar, Chris, Alex) made it to the airport before 4pm for my youngest son, Steven's return from his mission in the Taiwan Taipei Mission. Lowell came too and was the first one to greet Steven at the top of the escalator while we waited anxiously at the bottom of the escalator. After nearly 25 months, I finally embraced my baby with happy tears. He looks wonderful, a bit skinnier and taller! His shoes were so tattered and worn!!! :). We took him to Red Maple for a multi course seafood Chinese dinner. We then took him to the Stake Center at 7:45 to be released. Whole bunch of his buddies came over to see him. I was too tired and sleepy to visit with the boys. Went to bed at 11 with a permanent smile on my face! :)

My oldest two children (Larissa from Houston, Eric from Cleveland) got up dark and early and got a ride to AF HS with John and Wendy for the bus ride up to Tibble Fork, the star of AF Canyon Half.

Hubby drove us to the mouth of the AF canyon to cheer. It was a bit chilly with the canyon wind which translates to tailwind for the runners. Saw all the top runners, then came Eric and Becky just ahead of the 1:35 group paced by AndyB. Saw Kellie pacing the 1:50 group and soon comes Larissa! Just as I was about to jump in, Toby ran by! I was so happy to see Karen running with Larisaa! :). So I got to run with them!!!! :)

I saw many friends along the way and talked to them. With a mile to go, Larissa caught up and passed Kelli, I knew then that she had a good shot of beating her goal of 1:50. Her official time was 1:48:13 beating my course record by few seconds! I am so proud of her. Eric finished in 1:29:00, not bad for not having time to train and running with a tweaked ankle.

i had so much fun running the last 10K of the race with my daughter and visiting with friends at the finish (Kelli, Toby, Collette, John, Wendy, Kellie Shepherd, Becky, Andy, Maynard, Kathy and Kimmy, and others that I don't remember now as I post this more than a week later. As we were walking to the car, I saw Leslie Petersen so I jumped in and ran the last .2 mi with her to the finish! I was so glad I got to see her! :)

Hubby and I were supposed to run together as we've done the last few days, but he saw one of the sprinkler heads needed to be fixed so he decided to stay and do that. Eric was just about to go for his run so I joined him and asked that he runs slower with me! We ran up on the MC trail and headed west to 1200 west and turned around. Would have gone more but he had to be back to the house to check in for his flight home tomorrow. 5 miles in 42 min.

We had a very nice run together, mother and son, wonderful conversations and beautiful weather. It seems fitting that I should run my last run at home (for the next three years) with my son who got me started running and into marathoning 7 years ago. There were a few memorable runs with him, we both ran our first marathons in St. George 2005 and 2006. I remembered running a New Year's Eve run with him the first year he was off to med school. We ran together in Des Moines the morning of his med school graduation and that was our last run in Des Moines. He ran me in from the mouth of the Canyon to the finish at the Ogden Marathon three years ago when he was doing externship in Utah. It would be great to run with him in Australia! :)

Jeff and Steven drove hubby and I to the MTC at 8 this morning after dropping Eric off at the airport at 6. Hubby gave Eric and Steven a Father's blessing before saying all the goodbyes and hugs!

We were greeted warmly by the MTC presidency. President and I got to put our missionary mame tags on each other ceremoniously. :) :) :) Then a young sister MTC staff guided us to various rooms for adminstrative items such as photo taking (our photos would be posted in the hall of the MTC), travel service, financial service, missionary medical, etc.

After lunch we were trained in "member districts" then get to meet and mingle with other mission presidents and wives.

This will be my last post for awhile as I put aside personal interests for a short time. I have been greatly blessed. I am loving the new mission president seminar in the MTC!!!! I will record these special special experiences in my missionary journal.

Just want to express my love and appreciation for all the friends I've made on this blog and in the running community. you have touched my life and have been a tremendous influence for good! I will miss you. Please know that we will meet and run again! Until then God be with you and may you find joy and satisfaction in your endeavors! :) :) :)