Each Day Is a Gift

Ran 5.25 with Wendy & Carolyn in beautiful perfect Fall weather wearing my long sleeve Hoover Dam shirt & CWX tights at easy conversation pace.  AP: 10:17.   It was a perfect recovery run.

Steven is still sick and staying home from school.

Going for my Dexa scan and blood test today. 

Morning: 

Jog 2 to elementary school to vote.  Painfully slow run for 2.5.  Wish I had an elliptical so I wouldn't need to run.  Very tight upper quads.  Lotsa stretching.

Night:

Around the world core (25 reps).  More S-T-R-E---T-C-H-I-N-G.

Morning:  Ran with Wendy down 3rd West to Frontage to 900 N, back up on 1200E for a BIG hilly loop.  It felt so good to be running with my best friend on a beautiful Fall day.  

Afternoon:  Why do people call it babySITTING when there's NO sitting involved.  I tended, actually CHASED little Devin for 4.5 hrs.  That cute little bugger wore me out!  It was well worth the yummy gordidas Olga made us though.

Evening:  Went to Unit Commissioner Training.  These men in uniforms are so dedicated.  I am SOOOOO tired!  Will do some yoga before going to bed.  Hope I'm not catching what Steven and hubby has.  Hubby worked from home so he wouldn't spread the germs at work.

The weather is just too nice to NOT run.  Ran on the canal trail with Wendy.  I could feel shooting pain on my left ITB during the warm up mile on the road.  Running on the trail forces us to go slow and the dirt feels better on the joints. 

The ITB and pubic symphysis are pretty sore post run.  Will ice, roll and stretch good today.  Hubby is staying home to work again, confining the germs in the house.  He needs to get better b/c it's Stake Conference.  Hope he goes to the doc.  Hope I don't catch it!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!

What a fun party we had last night.  THANKS MICHELLE for hosting it.  I LOVE your home...I'm ready to move into your guest room...Go Cougs!  THANKS Kelli & Scott for the ride and great company!  You guys are the best!

I've never had soup so OUT OF THIS WORLD GOOD!!!  The appetizers were to die for and then the cakes were scrumptious.  I think I ate my hubby's share.  He had to stay home because of the stupid bronchitis.   I did make him see the doc. and is on antibiotics.  Hopefully he will be able to preside and speak tonight and tomorrow for Stake Conference...poor guy! 

The games were wicked fun.  Runners can't keep a poker face; but sure know how to point fingers.  Haha!!! Anyway, got home after 11pm and had to recap the whole night's party for hubby.  He was jealous.  I think I overdosed on desserts because I could not sleep; then hubby's hacking cough woke me up too early. 

I had such a hangover that I was going to bag the run today.  Then Carolyn called and wanted to run with me.  Ran 5.5 with her in the hood average pace 9:36.  After dropping her off, I got a drink and ate a yogurt then went for 5.5 more.  The legs felt pretty good so decided to tempo it a bit, average pace 8:49.  

What a gorgeous day!  How long will this weather last?

Walked with hubby this afternoon after an amazing Stake Conference.  He spoke without one single cough, quite a miracle.  He didn't sleep a wink last night from coughing and the side effect of Mucinex-D kept him up.  He spoke about member missionary work at the Priesthood leadership this morning.  He spoke for 30 min in the general session about increasing faith, following the prophets and more fully living the Gospel.  

After he got home, he interviewed a future bride, Lynde B., for her temple recommend, a perspective missionary, Matt S., for his missionary apps.  and then went to the newly sustained Patriarch's home to set him apart as the Stake Patriarch.  He received authorization from Elder Packer to do that which is pretty special as he probably won't get another chance to set apart a patriarch again.

Stake Conference was wonderful.  All the speakers were very well prepared and spoke with conviction and inspiration.  I am very grateful to be living among such good and faithful people.  I was happy to hear that Bing Du came.

Looking forward to a productive week.

*****

Just got home from being a guest to a neighboring Stake where Mary S. was the Stake Young Women President.  It was their Young Women in Excellence night.  Mary spoke on the subject of setting Personal Progress goals and compared it to her marathon training and of accomplishing her goal of running her first marathon at TOU this year.  It was so neat to hear of the joy and triumph as well as the trial and adversity.  It was cool to re-live our running memories!

Ran with Wendy and Carolyn all over the place, down 26th N hill and up 12th W hill, on the canal, by 2 elementary schools...  It was a nice care-free run, lots of fun chatting, laughing and giggling!  Weather was PERFECT, a bit cooler than last week.  Can't ask for anything better!!!!

Ran my favorite "tempo loop".  Overcast sky.  Wore shorts, l/s shirt.  This run felt good.  Splits:  10:05, 9:07, 8:43, 8:49, 8:51, 8:40, 8:40, 8:27.  AP: 8:58.

Got an email last night from Lora Tang, the girl I met at Hoover Dam.  She ran the Santa Clarita Marathon on Sun. (a week after Hoover Dam) in 3:47 and Boston Qualified.  That was her 10th of 12 marathons she is to run this year.  Amazing!  I'm so happy for her.  Her recovery activity was hiking 14 miles to Telescope Peak in Death Valley for 5+ hours the next day after Hoover.  Incredible!

A VERY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to TEENA TODAY!!!!

Ran with Wendy; only had enough time for a 5 miler.   Splits: 10:06, 9:57, 9:36, 9:33, 9:25, 7:42.  Presidency meetings then off to take Kesley to pre-school and tend Devin.

HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY!

May do core and yoga later.

It was windy and warm this morning.  Ran 7 on the same route as Tue.  Splits:  9:49, 9:01, 8:27, 8:44, 8:39, 8:33, 8:19.  AP: 8:48  TT: 1:01:26.  Nice maintenance run. 

Went to pick up Alex to take him to PCMC.  Now off to AF Hospital for uterine ultrasound.  Very very windy, the wind has changed directions and much colder.  I guess a storm is coming.

Steven received the MVP of the Year award tonight at the football banquet!!!!

My arthritic joints (mostly fingers, wrists and toes) tell me winter is knocking at the door.   Sunny and cold with a wicked wind from the north which took my breath away!  Ran with John and Wendy for 5 then 1.5 by myself.  Splits: 10:06, 9:30, 9:25, 9:42, 9:11, 9:02, 8:03.  AP: 9:23. 

My nose kept running even after the run which was embarrassing b/c I was orienting a new Primary counselor who is going through chemotherapy.  She didn't seem to be bothered by it; but I have become a germophobic mainly for the concern of those who are immunosuppressed such as Alex and this sister. 

I like this maintenance phase of my running.  I'll just run an hour every day, throw in a tempo day and a long run once a week 'till I get into training mode again.  

Hope the weather is good tomorrow for a long run! 

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!!!

Didn't beat the storm which wasn't that bad.  Light snow, wet road, slight breeze, not sure about the temp, probably in the low 30's.  Wore stablyx tights, l/s Boston08 shirt, Boston09 jacket, gloves, cap, headband to cover the ears when heading into the wind, sunglasses.  

Ran the bench loop twice stopping at the house after the first loop to use the bathroom and drank 16 oz gatorade.  Splits: 10:16, 9:44, 9:30, 9:40, 9:38, 9:31, 9:29; 9:43, 9:32, 9:19, 9:02, 9:03, 8:40, 8:38, 8:39, 8:38.  AP: 9:24.  

Thoughts during the run:  next season's running goals, Alex, my kids, grandkids and running friends.

Wendy and I took our sweet time to go out thinking it would be warmer...brrr.  Temp was in the 20's.  Couldn't feel my feet, toes and fingers for the first 2 miles; then came the pain of thawing as we ran up the hills.  Lotsa hills today and lotsa talking too.  I think I need to move to San Diego!

****

My eating has gotten out of control.  For hubby's birthday today, we went out to dinner at Texas Road House.  Had a deep fried baby blossom appetitizer, 5 dinner rolls w/ cinnamon honey butter, 8 oz. sirloin steak, sweet potato w/ the same sinful butter, chef salad, vanilla ice-cream w/ fudge topping.  SO GOOD but SO BAD!!!  I ate more than my hubby and our two sons...no shame nor self-control...aaaggghhh!!!

Was warmer this morning, just a maintenance run by myself under sunny blue sky to work off last night's OVER-indulgence!!! :)

*****

As a continuation of yesterday's discussion...I was really curious how many of Boston's entries are reserved for other methods besides qualifying times.  Found this on marathonguide.com: 

Featured Stories

Boston Marathon - Closed/Paris Marathon - Closed
Two major marathons have closed registration for their races five months before race day - continuing the trend of earlier and earlier registration closures by the most popular races. The Paris Marathon has closed its registration at 37,000 and the Boston Marathon has closed its general registration, but still has charity and other spots available as it reaches for its number of 25,000 registrants by race day.

Boston Marathon Registration by The Numbers
Boston Marathon registration closed on November 13, 2009 for the April 19, 2010 race (157 days early), compared to January 25, 2009 for the April 20, 2009 race (85 days early). We know many who were caught unaware by the earlier closing and many who were still hoping to qualify via races later in the year. According to the race website, the event will accept 25,000 registrants - the same as the stated number for 2008 (which yielded nearly 23,000 finishers). Beyond the open registration, the Boston Marathon has available charity registrations and reserves additional registrations - MarathonGuide.com estimates that somewhere over 6,000 registrations remain available through the alternate methods. MarathonGuide.com did a quick analysis of the numbers and here are some facts about the registrants on the day open registration closed:
By Country: USA (84%), Canada (12%), UK (1%), Mexico (1%)
Largest States: MA (8%), CA (8%), NY (6%), ON (6%), IL (6%)
Average Age: Overall - 42.2; Female - 39.4 (43%), Male 44.4 (57%)

Can't fathom over 6,000 registrations remain available thru other methods (charity being one of them).  That's more than the number of St. George Marathon's finishers!!!  CRAZY!!!

Quick short run w/ Wendy before my meetings.  Legs were lead!

Off to take care of Olga's kids.

Zero running today.  Was with Alex at PCMC all day.   Lotsa crazy juggling b/w hubby's bank events, church and family schedule today.  Miraculously made it to everything okay.  Finally home.

I am so proud of Alex for his great attitude.  He is so tough!  He's a fighter.  He is a RUNNER!!!

Went trail exploring with John and Wendy.  We ran down 3rd West going south to access the new trail that's alongside the rail road.  When we reached it we decided to turn left (east) to see where it might starts/ends.  When we ran a little further past the portion still being paved, we encountered a big black barking dog.  It jumped over a barb-wire fence and turned straight towards me.  Luckily John came to my defense.  He kicked up the gravel towards the dog which stopped within a foot of me.  John yelled at it and it backed off.  He then picked up a rock and the dog ran across the rail road barking its head off.  We turned and slowly jogged away.   Whew, I don't think I'll ever run down there alone again.

We ran west along this newly pathed trail.  Every .5 mile or so we would see four newly cemented railroad ties that look like somesort of small rest stop being built.  We also saw black chink link fense being put up.  We asked the workers about those "rest stop".  They didn't know what they're for.  Between 3rd W and 12th W, the trail bordered the backyard of some older homes.  There were a lot of dogs barking and chasing in those yards.   Luckily, most of these yards were fenced.   One big and tall Dane-Lab ran along its fence w/o barking.  I was glad that it wasn't aggressive because it could easily jumped over that chinklink and pounced on me.

Once we past 12th W.  the fence were solid rock along the Pheasant Pointe Development.  The rail road tracks were dug up.  I figured we might be the first few that are exploring this trail.  We reached SR 92 and "jay-walked" across it to the north.  The fence and trail continues on to the bridge by Cabela's where we could see the railroad being re-constructed.  We wonder if this trail eventually meet up with the Porter Rockwell Trail.  We ran up until it became dirt trail.  We decided not to go north with time constrain so we turned south to meet up on the Canal Trail north of Cabela's. 

We encountered a deer running across the field of the Traverse Ridge.  This portion of the run was cold and windy.  We jay-walked across the busy SR 92 and got back on the Canal Trail at 1600 W where I normally run on the "bench".   It felt good to run on newly paved trail and the dirt trail.  We ran the last 1+ miles on the road home.  My arthritic joints complain once back on the road and it was getting colder.

Busy day this afternoon.  Had to attend the Hispanic Chamber Commerce Gala tonight.   My 7 mon old grand-daughter and her mommy are flying in tomorrow morning.  I am SO EXCITED!!!

We picked up Marianne and Emi from the airport.  Thought we'd go to the new In-and-Out burger in Draper for lunch.  WRONG!!!  They had people directing traffic to get in-n-out of In-and-Out.  Cars lined up for miles...may be not miles...couldn't see that far.  Anyhow, we didn't get in; went to Ruby Tuesday instead.  

Emi is the CUTEST baby EVER!!!  She's 7 months old and "talks" by clicking her tongue, growling, cooing and smiling.  She is happy as long as her mommy is the one holding her.  It's SO FUN to watch her.  Seriously, I can't get my eyes off her.

Had the fam. over for dinner.  We had a pasta bar, with 4 kinds of pasta, 3 kinds of sauce, 3 kinds of meat (shrimp, chicken & ham), salad, rolls and pies.  Gary said:  "Too bad we weren't running a marathon in the morning.  This is perfect carb-load dinner." 

Now off to read everyone's race report!

Road was covered with snow and ice.  Emi still sleeping. Ran on TM.  It was slow going at first.   Once warmed up felt pretty good.  Gradual warm up one mile @ around 13 ( ha! thought I forgot how to run :D),  8:34, 8:34, 8:20, 8:20, 8:06, 7:54.  TT: 1:01:15.  AP: 8:44 

10K time was 55 exact, hope to improve that once training starts in Jan.  I have gained 5 lbs since SGM,  too much pigging out! 

Registering for Painter's then going shopping with Emi! 

Came across this scripture, Helaman 10: 9, this morning.  LOVE IT!  Gotta catch up with my reading or won't finish the B of M by the end of the year.  

Ran my usual maintenance hour run...nothing spectacular happened...navigated around some black ice...some annoying barking dogs...stinky mink farm...some workers putting Christmas lights on roof tops whistled as I ran past...wondered if they knew I was a grandma!  :)  Busy day with visiting teaching, going to the doc. , playing with Emi!  :)

~~~~***Happy Tuesday to y'all***~~~

Only had time for a quickie.  TT: 37:18  AP: 8:46.

Off to take Alex to PCMC.

Usual bench loop.  AP: 9:16

HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!!!

Only had time for a quickie (oops, I learned from a certain individuals that this may be a naughty word!)  QUICK run before packing and heading to the airport in 2 hours. TT: 1:35:14.  AP:  9:17.

Can't wait to see Jade, Lex and Luke!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!!!

Zero running today.  Went to the movies, McDonalds and shopping at Marhsall's and Target!  Am having so much fun with the grandchildren.  Wish me luck tomorrow at church! 

****

While shopping at Target, I found $110 cash laying on the floor.  I took it to Guest Service and told them one of their shoppers must have dropped the money.  I sure hope the person who lost the money gets'em back.  I will never know as I didn't give them any contact info.  What would you do to ensure the money goes back to the rightful owner?

What I learned today:  

1) It's best to have children while you're young and energetic!

2) It's okay to have a piece of fudge for breakfast especially when it's carefully and thoughtfully saved by your grand-daughter from a party last week.

3) Kissing a big pink stuff dog and a big brown fluffy toy dog, no matter how soft and cuddly, is NOT  the same as kissing your own momma and daddy at bed time.

4) Baby knows instantly his Nana loves him. :)

5) Baby Luke (18 mon) grunts the same way as his cousin, Baby Emi (7 mon) which reminds me of how my own babies used to grunt. 

6) It's okay to take a break from running to enjoy playing, feeding, changing diapers (4 stinky ones today), reading stories, cooking, laughing, pretending, cleaning,,,I'm soooo tired...time to go to bed.  Night night, don't let the bed bugs bite bite bite.  G'night everyone. 

It rained off and on today in Kingwood, TX.  Lex and I built a space ship with all the toys that have wheels.  When we ran out of cars, trains, trucks, etc. he used stuff animals, books, pillows, blankets, rocking chair, rocking horse...everything he can get his little hands on.  Who needs a rocket scientist!?!   

Jade got 100% on her reading test.  She did her math homework (2 sheets of comprehensive as well as 100 additions) in record speed.  She wrote her spelling words so neatly.  She reminds me so much of her mommy...they both love school.

Baby Luke is so cuddly!  I learn that when he says NO he means YES.  He can sign "drink", "more", "diaper" and copy-cat Lex.

For FHE, Jade played the Christmas songs and Primary song she's been practicing for her recital.  Then we sang "Rudolph the red-nose reindeer".  Then we read one story from the Friends and two chapters from Book of Mormon Reader.  We had Stephens hot cocoa for refreshment.  Life is GOOD!  I LOVE my grandchildren sooooo much!