Nov 30, 2011

Luckily I have a desk drawer dedicated to food...

I've been struggling to get up in the morning.  I blame it on Daylight Savings.  In my furor to get ready this morning, I forgot to think about breakfast and the fact we are out of groceries.  Bread?  Nope.  Yogurt?  Nope.  Eggs?  Nope.  So, I grabbed an Oatmeal packet to bring to work.  Genius!  Then, I heated it up in the microwave and my raisins didn't look like raisins anymore....not a good sign.  Thank goodness I had another pack of Oatmeal in my desk that hadn't expired yet. 

I eat all day long at work.  And we have a crazy policy that you can't have food at your desk.    What they can't see....is that I hide my food in my desk and eat out of my top drawer.  Yum.  It is embarrassing when a client comes in and I just scooped a spoonful of soup into my mouth, from my desk drawer.


Then, I'm sitting at work this morning and I look out the window and I saw this........


And so I look down at my feet and realize I am wearing these babies.......


Not such a bright idea to wear shoes that expose my bare feet during the wintertime.  In my defense, it was pretty warm for a November-30th-kind-of-day and there wasn't a single snowflake on the ground or in the air when I left for work and I hate pantyhose!

Now I'm sitting here trying to debate on what workout I want to do when I get home.  Run in the snow?  or... Insanity?  Ah...decisions.  

Tomorrow is the LAST night of Turbo Kick for the semester!  I can't even believe it.  I hope its a packed house!  Tuesday's class was da bomb.  We had 25 people rockin the house.  I'm hoping for more Thursday night!  Hollllllllla!




Half N Half

So, I went all crazy this summer and did 7 Half Marathons.  It kept me sane in the beginning, and by the end I was going insane.  I would decide I didn’t want to run another race…and I would tell my husband that “I’m going to take a little break”—which lasted  1 day, and then I was looking up to find more local races.  I have  love/hate relationship with running.    

 I love to run and the summer months are so beautiful in eastern Idaho.  The cool breeze, the sun is out every single day.  And the sunrise & sunset views are breathtaking.  (Too bad I never make it up that early, or stay up that late to enjoy them.)  
Want to know some of the things I learned about me & running?  Maybe you don’t…it could be classified as TMI…but I’ll do it anyways. 
1)      My body knows when its race day----and--- I’m as regular as could be.  4am?  No problem. 
2)      Race day jitters happen Every. Single. Time.
3)      About 4 seconds before the gun goes off, I instantly feel like I have to pee.
4)      Wear a color that doesn’t show as much sweat in pictures.
5)      Keep those wiggly arms up when approaching a photographer.
6)      Don’t look at your Garmin watch when approaching the finish line, it’s not like you won the race.
7)      Bring snacks to the start & finish.
8)      Bring extra clothes that you don’t mind giving to charity.
9)      Wear a thick fabric bra.
10)   Smile.

Check the Races Tab or on the links below for more details.  

Ogden Half Marathon---May 2011

Teton Dam Half Marathon--- June 2011

SLC Freedom Half Marathon--- July 2011

Kelly Canyon Half Marathon--- July 2011

Minnesota Half Marathon--- August 2011

Mesa Falls Half Marathon---August 2011

Temple to Temple Relay---September 2011

Layton Half Marathon---October 2011

Temple to Temple Relay

Temple to Temple Relay 7.5 mile leg = 60 minutes

 I had a friend who asked me to be a part of their Temple to Temple Relay team.  I begged my hubby to run it with me--he accepted, and he did AWESOME!!!  I loved it!!!     The distance was about 40 miles, and we had 8 runners…and each runner took certain legs of the race.  It was kind of crazy because there were tons of people on the road driving to each spot.   But, it was fun all at the same time.  I worried that someone was going to get hit by a car, but luckily nothing happened.  It was pretty fun and after doing this race I would totally do it again, or do one of the Ragnar races.  Well, maybe not Ragnar, but I’d do another relay.  (I’ve heard Ragnar’s are getting out of control!!)  I was a speed demon might I add.  I was doing 8 min/mile pace which was dang awesome for me.  There was an additional pressure not to slow down because you had a team counting on you.  IT was pretty fun!





Incognito

{3.5 mile run}


It’s dang cold outside.  Ok, it could be worse…I know.  When it comes to being cold I whine, a lot.   Last night I was tempted to skip out on my workout --why does my husband ALWAYS tempt me?  But, I resisted the urge to be lazy because that’s what Sundays are for.  I bundled up and hit the dark streets.  I don’t mind wearing my tights with no cover ups on those thunder thighs…as long as its dark—and I can wear a facemask.  My bum can jiggle all it wants!!  Shake that booty!  Incognito?  Yes, indeed.

                                                         

Layton Half Marathon 2011

Layton Half Marathon--- October 2011 2:04

I ran this race again…this time with my sister Nessa.  It was her first Half Marathon, and she was excited.  She doesn’t like downhill races, so I told her that Layton would be perfect since it is extremely flat.  They changed the course this year so we actually started on Antelope Island, or close to it.  Basically it’s a long road out in the middle of a large swampy-pond-lake-thingy.  So, you have water surrounding you.  The marathon starts on the far side of the Island, and we started on the causeway (that’s what they call it).  So, rather than being able to get up later and get to the starting/finish line we had to get there early to get the bus.  We got countless emails saying “If you arrive at 6:01, you WILL miss the bus”.  So, we got there early…as to not miss the bus.  We waited and waited and only 3 buses came to the starting line to pick people up.  We thought maybe some of the buses were still on their way so we kept waiting….and realized that there were no more buses.   We patiently waited…until about 6:45.  Then, we started to get angry.  It wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t so cold.  But, it was freezing and they told us to be there at 6:00!  So cold we could see our breath.  The crisp air beating my face in 25 degree weather with a strong wind was not my idea of fun.   The buses didn’t get there until 7:30am, which was ridiculous because the race started at 8am and we needed to get bussed up to the starting line still.  I wasn’t in a happy mood with these people.  My muscles were literally sore by the time I got to the starting line because I was shivering for almost 2 hours.  It was insane.  I was wearing warm clothes (Under Armour cold gear) and I was still freezing.  Plus, some idiots on the bus put the windows down and they wouldn’t go back up.  Genius!  Apparently everyone at the starting line who actually made it had nice warm heaters and were stripped down into their undies because they were so warm.  I was livid.  I used the potty really quickly because the gun was going to go off in less than 5 minutes.  I tried to make light of the situation, since it was my sister’s first Half Marathon, but inside I wasn’t very happy and I was freezing.  I’m a big fat whiny complainer when it comes to cold weather.  They told us the chip timing wasn’t really working, or something like that…so we had to go off of the “gun” time.  So, since I was mad and the year before all the walkers crammed my groove…I shoved my way closer to the front so we wouldn’t have to run around people who decided they wanted to walk a Half Marathon.  Even getting to the front…we still had to pass people.  Crazy.  We had fun though…and by mile 9 I finally warmed up a bit.  The race was incredibly flat, which was great.  The last few miles were tough for me because my muscles were sore & tight from shivering, but we plugged away.  My sister had an amazing race for it being her first.  We finished together, which was awesome.  We did, however, look like a couple of gomers at the finish lines.  My awesome idea of holding hands at the finish made us look like we were______…well..you can fill in the blank.  They had peanut butter & jelly sandwiches at the finish- genius idea!  They also had a cool booth where you could take a picture with the new Verizon phone and text message it to your friends.  So, we text messaged our families in Minnesota.  It was fun.  And then I got really cold, and needed to get to a shower
Covering the important parts....its cold.

I dunno what is going on here.

Dancing to music to keep warm.  Where are the buses already?

Fill in the blank.  We look_______.  Haha!

Sisterly love!!


Mesa Falls Half 2011

Mesa Falls Half Marathon—August 2011
2:02:48


I attempted this bad boy again and was still pretty impressed.  For being a small race, they really know what they are doing.  IT was a beautiful day, absolutely beautiful.  And I crushed my old time on this course!  Did I mention that they give you polo’s rather than tech-t’s or t-shirts?  Yeah, it’s kind of odd, and the only time I may ever wear the polo is when I’m golfing.  Kind of fun, but kind of weird.  Haha!  This race is really popular for people who are out of town because it’s such a beautiful run.   And the people who put this race on are super accommodating and really make you wish you lived in a small town.   And the spectators?  They are awesome as usual.  I absolutely love this race.


Minnesota Half 2011

Minnesota Half Marathon--- August 2011 2:27:15

I decided to run a half marathon on my vacation—call me crazy but it helps me to not go overboard while traveling! J  I told my dad I was going to do it, and he decided he also wanted to run the race.  It surprised me, but he’s a determined guy, like me.  Well, I’m not a guy, but I’m determined.  He was pretty excited about it, and he trained all summer long for the event.   I was excited to run a “big city” race, as this race was held in downtown St. Paul.   The Expo was fairly small, which was good.  I didn’t want to overwhelm my dad.  The t-shirts were pretty cool.  They were a deep emerald green color with the state of Minnesota on the front.  I loved them!   The green reminded me of how nice it was outside.   The best part was during this time of the year it’s SO green and lush in Minnesota.  I’ve definitely missed the green trees and water everywhere.  The downside?  It was so humid I had swass (sweaty _ _ _ you fill in the blank….)as we were standing outside trying to find a parking spot.  Another downside that I didn’t really think about was that this race was not only a half marathon for runners, but for rollerbladers also.  Minnesota hockey is hard core, and they take the off season seriously.  So, there were weird men on rollerblades all over the place.  Luckily they started the rollerbladers early so we wouldn’t get trampled.  The race was gorgeous and ran right alongside the Mississippi River.  There were plenty of porta-potties, and since we got there early we took advantage.  Big time, if you know what I mean. ;)   My dad seemed overzealous and I felt bad because I didn’t want him to be competing with me.  I was there to help him accomplish his goals.  I already got my SUB 2 PR and I didn’t feel any need to rush this race.  I just wanted to have fun with it.  We started out pretty fast, but my dad said he felt comfortable.   It was hot.  It was humid.  By mile 4 I was drenched in sweat.  My body wasn’t used to the humid weather.  It was so gnarly that my dad’s i-pod stopped working and my Garmin wouldn’t change settings because it was so sticky.  I was more concentrated on my dad and making sure he felt ok, so I didn’t notice that my calves were cramping up.  I needed more water.  My dad said he doesn’t like to drink a lot of water while running but I pretty much beat him across the head everytime we got to a water station so that he would drink.  The course was beautiful.  There were live bands along the course, and it was a gorgeous day, despite the humidity.   My dad started to have some troubles around mile 9…and I told him we didn’t need to rush it to the finish…because it was a warm day and we needed to take our time.  I’ll admit that my calves were screaming at me at this point and I was ready to be done.  It was warm.  85 degrees and 90% humidity.  Wowzers.   We finished and sat in the shade for a while before attempting the walk to the car.   I went to grab snacks for us to munch on, since we just burned like 1800 calories.  I went to the runner’s tables and noticed that the snacks included Oreos, Goldfish, Cookies, Brownies, Potato Chips, and a few pieces of bread and very few pieces of fruit.  I was baffled.  Here I just ran a half marathon and they were serving junk food at the finish?  Who did they think I was?   I grabbed a few goldfish and some fruit.  Good heavens people…healthy food next time, please! 

Can you believe we're in the middle of St. Paul & Minneapolis?  Pretty!