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Utah Valley Marathon

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Location:

UT,

Member Since:

Oct 14, 2008

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

85 marathons, 5 times Utah Grand Slam finisher (division winner twice).

7 Bostons (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016).

Two 50Ks, one 50 miler (Pony Express).

A handful of AG wins in all distance races.

Marathon PR: 3:57:09 (Boston'08)

Half Marathon PR: 1:48:41 (Bryce Canyon '11)

10K PR: 47:50 (Spectrum 10K '09)

5K PR: 22:31 (Nestle 5K '08)
 

Short-Term Running Goals:

2017 Races:

June 10 - Utah Valley Marathon (5:13:43)

June 24 - Morgan Valley Marathon (5:49:01)

July 8 - Hobbler Half (2:19:37, 2nd AG)

July 24 - Temple to Temple 5K (27:43)

July 29 - Timp Half (2:08:01, 3rd AG)

Aug 26 - Mt. Nebo Marathon (5:16:16, 3rd AG)

Sep 16 - Huntsville Marathon (4:48:53)

Oct 7 - St. Geroge Marathon (4:57:11)

Nov 4 - Canyon City Marathon (5:30:07)

2018 Races:

Jan 13 - St. George Half (2:19:45, 3rd AG)

Mar 3 - The Woodlands Marathon (5:01:35)

Apr 6-7 - Ragnar So. California

June 1-2 - Ragnar Wasatch Back

June 9 - Utah Valley Marathon (5:19:22)

June 30 - Morgan Valley Half

Sep 1 - Pocatello Marathon (6:00:43)

Sep 15 - Huntsville Marathon (5:37:08)

Oct 6 - St. George Marathon (5:25:43)

Oct 20 - SoJo Marathon (5:29:23)

2019 Races:

June 1 - Utah Valley Marathon (5:44:24)

June 22 - Morgan Valley Marathon (6:15:13)

Aug 31 - Pocatello Marathon (5:38:47)

Sep 14 - Big Cottonwood Marathon (6:03:51)

Oct 5 - St. George Marathon (5:57:46)

Oct 12 - SoJo Marathon (5:55:45)

2020 Races:

Jan 18 - St. George Half (2:38:28)

Feb 15 - Sun Marathon (5:51:54)

May 5 - Conquer Covid-19 Virtual Marathon (5:49:07)

May 16 - Clear Creek Canyon Half Marathon (2:32:15)

May 25 - Utah Valley Virtual Marathon (5:33:110

June 9 - Independence Run Virtual Marathon (5:55:22)

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Run happy and healthy all the days of my life. Be an example and inspiration to my family.

 

Personal:

I'm 64, retired RN, happily married, nana to 14 beautiful grandchildren, mother to 6 children (1 daughter, 5 sons) who are kind, hardworking, caring, wonderful people! Wish they live closer!!!  :)  :)  :)

Picked up running in 2005 at age 50, to stay healthy so I can take care of my husband who had endocarditis resulting in AVR and MVR in 2004, end stage renal failure in 2014, kidney transplant on Dec 30, 2015.  Six months after the kidney transplant, we discovered that he has a rare auto-immune disease that was probably triggered in 2004 with then the undiagnosed infective endocarditis.  The doctors had to make up a name for this rare disease, Monoclono Gammopathy with Renal Significance (MGRS).  It is not curable.  After desperately trying different chemotherapies, the doctor finally found one immuno-therapy, Daratumamab, that works to treat the MGRS.  It is a miracle!!! 

Grateful for the gift of life, blessings, dear friends and loved ones!!! Thankful for the ability to move, walk, jog, and yes run!!!!

 

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Saucony Guide ISO Wide Lifetime Miles: 311.91
Saucony Guide ISO Lifetime Miles: 313.31
Sacony Guide ISO (2) Lifetime Miles: 225.26
Altra Torin (sz 7) Lifetime Miles: 44.49
Saucony Guide 10 (2020) Lifetime Miles: 60.91
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
41.825.250.000.0047.07
Inspire 6 (green) Miles: 35.82Inspire 5 (4) Miles: 4.75
Night Sleep Time: 33.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 33.00Weight: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

I can't believe last week this time we were driving east from Iowa to Ohio in a 1-truck-2-cars-caravan!  It was hard work but very enjoyable!!!   Missing Emi terribly!!!

*************

I really like Elder Ballard's Conference talk on "finding JOY through loving service".  I need to have this as my daily reminder:

"The Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple, no matter how much we try to make it complicated.  We should strive to keep our lives similarly simple, unencumbered by the extraneous influences, focused on those things that matter most."

"How can we free ourselves from this tangled web of challenges and uncertainties to find peace of mind and happiness?  I believe there is one simple but profound...principle...that will purify and sanctify us so we can live once again the in the presence of God.  Love of God and of others.  The love the Savior described is an active love.  It is not manifested through large and heroic deeds but rather through simple acts of kindness and service. "

"Great things are wrought through simple and small things.  Like the small flecks of gold that accumulate over time into a large treasure, our small and simple acts of kindness and service will accumulate into a life filled with love for Heavenly Father, devotion to the work of the Lord and a sense of peace and joy each time we reach out to one another."

I love Sister Hinckley's words:  "NEVER SUPPRESS A GENEROUS THOUGHT."

Night Sleep Time: 5.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 5.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.500.000.000.006.50

Ran 6.5 bright and early with Karen (Sky) and her sister Kathy down and up the rail trail then walked 0.5 mile with their mother and sister, Julie.  What a beautiful morning!!!  I'd go swimming if I knew how!  Poor Sky had been slowing down lately.

Foam roll, stretch, little bit of core.  Going to check on Angela.  

Have a great week everyone! :) :) :) :)

Night Sleep Time: 5.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 5.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(7)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.253.000.000.005.25

Beautiful blue sky, mid 50s, calm, perfect day for a run.  1 wu, 3 mp, 1 cd.  AP: 9:17. 

Was planning on an easy run; but the thought of *p-dawg beating me* got me fired up!!!  C'mon P-dawg!  I'm ready for ya!!!! :) :) :)

Foam roll like crazy.  Stretch.  Yoga.  Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!


Inspire 6 (green) Miles: 5.25
Night Sleep Time: 6.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.750.000.000.004.75

Ran with Karen (Sky), Kathy and Erin!  Perfect weather!  Allergies galore!  Sweat fest.  AP: 9:32.  

Roll.  Stretch.  Drink.  Repeat!

Inspire 5 (4) Miles: 4.75
Night Sleep Time: 5.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 5.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

2 circuits of CSE.

Temple and lunch date with friends of 30+ years.  My friends are FUNNY!!!! :)

Night Sleep Time: 6.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.002.250.000.004.25

AM:  Quick run to loosen things up.  SO many aches and pains!  eeeek!!!

Mid-morning:  Going to packet pickup, luncheon with fellow FRBs!!!  SO EXICTED!!! :) :) :) :) :)

PM & Evening:  Stake Youth Conference, doing the Amazing Race, dinner and fireside!!! Fun! :) :) :)

Night:  Try to get some shut-eyes before heading to Cougar Town for the early bus ride up to Wahlsburg, the start of UVM!  EEEK!!!  WaHOOO!!! :)

Inspire 6 (green) Miles: 4.25
Night Sleep Time: 6.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(8)
Race: Utah Valley Marathon (26.2 Miles) 04:09:03, Place in age division: 4
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
26.320.000.000.0026.32

UVM:  blessings and a blast!!!! 

Short version:  [the long version is for my journal and posterity ;)

WHAT A BLAST!!!:

  • FANTASTIC pre-race and post-race lunches with WONDERFUL friends! :) :) :)
  • SUPER FUN hanging out with RAD, Teena, JohnV, MattL, Luz & Cath before the race!!! :) :) :) 
  • Had a BLAST running with AWESOME friends:  RAD (3 mi) Lowell (15 mi) Cath (~ 4 mi) Suzette (20.5 mi) and Fonz (1 mi)!!! :) :) :)

THE BLESSINGS!!!  So grateful that I: 

  • Got a BQ (1st half in 2:04:23, 2nd half in 2:04:40, YAHOO for even splits!) with a bum knee and tired legs to boot!!! :)
  • Had no cramps nor collapsed at the finish. :) :)
  • Was loved and taken care of by awesome friends, especially RAD! :) :) :)
  • Had a cloud covering the last 10 miles. :)
  • Have a sweet hubby who faithfully comes and waits for me every marathon even on a busy busy day. ♥ :) :) :)

Long version:  [you can stop reading now :)]

Pre-race:

Had a wonderful Fri. luncheon visiting with many friends and families.  THANKS Paul for organizing it!!! :) At the Expo met the two Kenyans and Mark Marrott (handcycle division winner).  Kinda neat to talk to the champs at eye-level! :)  Went to the store for some banana and sunscreen before heading over to the Stake Youth Conference doing the Amazing Race.  Had a great dinner and fireside with the energetic youth.  Well past 9 by the time we got home...SO tired!!!  Got my running gear ready and took 1/2 AdvilPM at 11 in hopes of getting some sleep, no such luck! :(

Was wide awake entire time wondering how I was to run this thing in the morning w/ tired sore legs?!! Finally got out of bed at 2:30am tired and groggy!  KT taped the right knee (it came off when I removed my warm-up pants before the start, o well).  Put on compression sleeves.  Met RAD at 3:15am.  So grateful she drove me to the bus loading where we unexpectedly met up with Teena, JohnV and MattL.  Waved to Slick and Kodi as their bus pulled away.

So lethargic on the bus ride that I would've fallen asleep if not for the *entertainment* by a *certain royalty* and a very funny RAD.  Has it only been 3 weeks since our silly ride up Ogden Canyon?  Yup, still feeling the aches and pains of that marathon...what was I thinking?!!!  Forced down a banana, yogurt and gatorade. 

The Start:

Did the pop wait where we saw JulieC, Walter, Carina, Flatlander, Sasha and bunch of others.   Found Luz and Cath after walking past gazillion stinky smokey fire-pits.  The smoke seriously made me want to puke.  We lined up for the pop a 2nd time (to be expected when one gets up so early! It isn't even Boston, geez louise!)  Was fun making new friends at the pop line though!  The race started on time at 6am while RAD's time was *ten to*... yep, we were still ten-ding-to-business!  hehehe!!! :)

RAD and I were heading to bag-drop-off when Lowell finally showed up hurrying to the pop.  He wanted us to wait for him.  But we were freezing and it was already 5 min. after gun time.  He and Suzette finally caught up to us at mile 1.  He told us that he and Jason had to rescue the wheelchair athlete who has fallen into the river just before the start, goodness! 

First half:

My!  That first mile was a huffer...not too concerned as I knew it was uphill.  RAD pulled away at the mile 3 aid station.  I have got to learn not to linger at aid stations.  Ran with Suzette and Lowell, what a hoot! :)  It was like Poky all over again, singing, laughing, telling jokes and completely lost all my dignity with Lowell's incessant teasing and harassing.  Good thing I love him so much or I would've ditched him and his ole-fartin' at the mile 8, 9 & 12 hills.  Instead we (Suzette and I, the sassy women according to him) stayed with him passing runners making lots of friends who were either amused or annoyed by his: "What's your name?  We're wondering why you don't have any friends?  Can we walk the hill with you?"  "Good morning, Pain!  Tell us your story!"  "Smooth and Suzette are two sassy women!  They lied.  They are evil women!"  I was only guilty on one count when I told Miles from Calif. (think that's his real name since I told him my name was Smooth) that once we got over that snow-peaked mountain, it would be *smooth miles* to the finish! :)  I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful green mountains & rolling hills of the canyon while ignoring the traffic noise on the concrete hwy! :)

Second half:

I never looked at my watch until at the Half, 2:04:xx.  I was happily surprised when I saw hubby on the north bound lane shoulder cheering! ♥ Was fun to see AlisaB and wish she would latch on to our group.  We also caught up to Cath and she got to listen to Lowell's story of his early law days.  Don't know when we lost Cath and Luz; but we stopped to take pictures for two girls who wanted the water-fall scenery as backdrop.  The fun part of running at the back and middle of the pack is that you get to pass/meet all these people who run as friends, father-sons-daughters together.  You get to hear inspiring stories.  You get to cheer and encourage first-timers, people running for a cause, etc. :) :) :)

While I enjoyed the comradarie, I tried to listen to my body's signals, pay attention to my form, remember to drink and gu.  UVM did a great job putting the aid stations close to the odd number miles and positioning the gu, powerade and water just right.  That made it easy for me to gu at the stations where they handed out gu and took orange slices where there wasn't any gu.  Thanked the volunteers profusely. :)  A cyclist almost clipped me as I ran too close to the orange cones doing the tangent!  That was scary! :/

We lost Lowell after mile 15.  I think he stayed with Sarah, a first time marathoner. Suzette and I ran together till the mouth of the canyon where I told her that the race really begins and urged her to go for it.  Now running with my own thoughts on University Ave. fearing charlie horse would hit any minute.  My thoughts immediately turned to my missionary son, Steven, who's been in the Provo MTC for exactly a month.  The first sign of cramps showed up at the top of my hamstrings where I've never experienced before; usually it's in my calves, shins or toes.  The hymn, Called to Serve, immediately popped into my head.  I sang that in my mind over and over, lengthened the back-swing-strides,  far and wide His love proclaim...ONWARD...pressing onward...until the cramps subsided.  I concentrated on good posture that Eric taught me, side-fived the children, thanked every officer at each traffic light!

The finish:

Just before mile 25, I saw a smiling Fonz jumped onto the course to run with me! :) :) :) He said: "I don't have a watch and don't know your goal but I'll stay with ya!  What time do you have?"  That's the first time I looked at my watch since the half.  It read 3:59:xx.  With that I told him: "Well, it looks like I'm not gonna make sub-4.  But unless something disastrous happens, I should have a BQ in the bag!"  I asked him how Teena and his other friend did.  It was wonderful to run with him side by side.  I just latched onto his energy and smooth strides.  He grabbed two cups of water and dumped them on me while I took a last drink of powerade...felt soooo good! :)  He pointed the blue thing - the finish line...but we still have NINE blocks to go...dang those street signs and traffic lights...and I couldn't even see the blue thing!!!  I just fixated my eyes on the Wells Fargo building.  Fonz peeled off at the last traffic light with a, "It's all yours!  Enjoy the crowds cheering!"  I saw Canyon (MarcieN), my hubby and Doone and I think I heard Kathie, Kimmy and friends cheering wildly!  Finished at last where RAD was so kind to walk in circles with me and help me recover and find my hubby!  Marathon #27 in the book!  It was a successful training run!  :)

Post-race:

Had a hunch that I placed top 5 (I passed two of my competitors) but didn't stay for the award.  We had a great lunch/birthday celebration organized by Doone for Rhett.  It was the best to top off the UVM weekend!  I am so grateful for such great and wonderful friends!  I am so thankful for the ability to run! 

 


 

 




Inspire 6 (green) Miles: 26.32
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(23)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
41.825.250.000.0047.07
Inspire 6 (green) Miles: 35.82Inspire 5 (4) Miles: 4.75
Night Sleep Time: 33.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 33.00Weight: 0.00
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