Blacksmith Fork Freedom 15K

Sleep Schmeep. Because I haven't had a sleepover since, well, probably the mid-nineties. And it's not like we were up late giggling about boys or anything. There were last-minute Garmins to charge and playlists to create. And since we knew we had to leave Lehi at 4 AM so we could be in Logan by 6:00, Rachel was definitely sleeping over! It was 12:30 the last time I looked at the clock, and that 3:30 alarm was coming way too soon.

My awesome neighbor Raylene joined us, and by 4:10 Saturday morning we were off. Off to Layton to pickup my super fast co-worker friend Preston. And what better way for Preston to celebrate his 32nd birthday than running a race with 3 very pretty ladies? After missing the exit to Logan (just call me Chatty Cathy) and almost running out of gas in Wellsville we finally made it up the canyon in Hyrum to the start line around 6:20.

We met up our other fast friend Chuck and got in line for packet pickup and the pre-race Honey Bucket stop(s). Since this was my first experience racing in a skort, I opted to try some of Raylene's BodyGlide on the upper thighs. Because as much as I'd like to say that they DON'T rub together when I run, the fact is they do. And probably always will.

My only other 15K was Memorial Day '09 in Midway, and I came in at a whopping 1:42. Then I cried. So I felt good about my modest but reasonable goal of 90 minutes for this mostly downhill race. And the weather couldn't have been more agreeable. Here's the splits:

Mile 1  8:43
Mile 2  9:04
Mile 3  9:05
Mile 4  8:56 (thank you, little aid station)
Mile 5  8:31
Mile 6  8:51
Mile 7  9:21
Mile 8  9:48 (did that GU even help?!)
Mile 9  8:43
.38 miles  3:08

For an official finish time of 1:24:17. Wow! I killed that 90-minute goal. Raylene came in about 1.5 seconds before me, and of course the boys had finished about 20 minutes earlier. All I want is two cups of water--one to drink and one to dump on my head (which was heavenly). Then we went to wait for Rachel who struggled with some knee pain after about mile 4.

I love cheering for my friends. Awards went 6 deep in each division, and Chuck took home a lovely 5th place ribbon. Preston placed 7th but still got a free water bottle and a huge dose of embarrassment because somehow the announcer knew it was his birthday and made the entire crowd sing to him.

Great race! Beautiful course! Well organized! These pictures were taken after the race while we waited for a table at Angie's restaurant in Logan.

Provo City Half Marathon Relay Report

Oh...my...HAIL! I say that not because I shy away from the real 'H' word but because the hail started at basically the same moment I started running. Wait. I'm getting ahead of myself.

Friday night I checked an updated report from Weather.com. The forecast for 9:00 Saturday morning says mostly cloudy with a temperature of 39. Definitely opting for pants instead of capris! The rain isn't supposed to start until about 2pm--perfect.

My alarm went off at 5:30, but I didn't get up until two snoozes later. I got ready, gathered my gear, and hopped in the minivan to pick up my relay partner Rachel. We got to Provo right at 7:00 and collected our race packets. Turns out I was lucky number 13! Which doesn't really mean anything because it's not like I do this to win. But maybe it's a sign of a great run?

I gotta give a shout-out to Run 13 who does a great job. The gun went off right at 8:00 after the crowd paused a moment for the national anthem. Rachel was off! And I headed back to the minivan to find my way to the exchange point. We knew the exchange was about half-way. Rachel's Garmin read 6.22 when she arrived at 9:09 am and slapped the bracelet on my wrist. Thank goodness I could start running and warm up a little. Because Weather.com is a liar.

Like I mentioned, the hail started at the beginning of my run and bounced off my cold face for at least half a mile. The hail turned to rain, snow, and back to rain again throughout my 6.97 mile run. Most of the second leg was on the Provo River Trail which very beautiful and full of puddles. I kept thinking I could run faster if my shoes weren't full of water.

My Garmin read 1:09:20 at the finish line. Here's my mile splits (which I swore I wouldn't do). But it's for posterity.
Mile 1 9:45
Mile 2 10:05
Mile 3 9:59
Mile 4 10:02
Mile 5 10:10
Mile 6 10:11
.97 Miles 9:14

Here I am crossing the finish line. My 11-year-old said, "No offense, Mom, but you look kind of fat." I know. It's because I was running so fast at the end (trying to beat white headband girl behind me) that my shirt and tank underneath did the Gus Gus thing. You know--the little mouse from Cinderella who wouldn't fit into his shirt because his belly was so big? But Gus Gus wasn't a runner.

No finish-line nonsense for us. After grabbing some bottled water and French toast we went straight to the minivan with its glorious heated leather seats. Respect the Van! Shortly after I dropped Rachel off my gas light went on. But I absolutely, positively in no way was stopping to fill up. All I could think about was a nice hot bath waiting for me at home.

 I just checked the online results which gave me an average pace of 10:38. I'm thinking they took my total chip time and divided by half. Even though the second leg was about 3/4 mile longer than the first. Oh well. My friend Shane would ask what's next. Well, next week I find out if I got in to the St. George Marathon. AND I signed up for a sprint triathlon on June 12. Hopefully the weather warms up!

Running Into Peer Pressure

Peer Pressure. It's not always a bad thing, and it never ends. In fact you could be a perfectly content, 32-year-old inactive blogger who one day finds herself surrounded by people pushing for the post.

But I facebook! I don't have time to update that AND my blog. And I'm not very blog savvy. Even after a short blog tutorial from my friend, mine still isn't cute and fun. Plus I don't like having to check different blogs for updates. I'm all about efficiency, and FB is definitely my social networking site of choice. It lacks only one thing: Race Reports.

Yes, I'm a runner now. Two half marathons and a dozen shorter races later I am finally comfortable with this title. I still have many things to learn, and writing a race report is one of them. It was Shane who asked. He leads the American Fork Fleet Feet running group and wanted to know how the Canyonlands Half Marathon went last month. He said to write up a race report and he'd include that in next week's email.

A what? I admit, I had to review his blog and reports so I'd know what to include and what was TMI. My report was concise and precise. Mr. Baldwin (high school AP English teacher) would be proud. I didn't include any information about what I ate for breakfast or the status of my bladder/bowel habits. And forget a split time of each mile! My time is nothing to brag about. It sufficeth me to say that the race was good and shared with good friends. I shall probably do it again.

Now another race is on the horizon for this Saturday: Provo City Half Marathon Relay. My friend Rachel and I will each tackle half of 13.1 miles. I'm not making any promises, but I just may blog about my experience there. Thank heaven for positive peer pressure.

New Year's Eve Party

Big thanks to Amy & Shawn Finnegan for allowing us all to invade their beautiful home and celebrate the new year with them--again. The kids have a great time playing together. And for the adults there is always plenty of food, card games, Scene It, and serious Rock Banding.

Planetarium

Ya know how cousins seem to multiply exponentially when they get together (like 4+4=12)? Throw in half a dozen neighbor kids and you have a recipe for serious hyperactivity. We had a great time at the Planetarium and then ate lunch at McDonalds. The moms tried to shop afterwards, but you can probably imagine how successful that was. We had lots of fun!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

American Girl doll: $90. Seeing that look on Celeste's face: Priceless! Christmas Eve pajamas, Christmas Eve bath in Mom & Dad's big tub (it's a tradition) & getting ready to go to Grandma's. Oh, and the pre-tree decorating ornaments from Hallmark. We had a wonderful Christmas and are very grateful for our many, many blessings. Oh, and can anyone tell me how to put captions on photos? It seems that I'm not able to figure that one out...

Red Bull Christmas Party 08

Red Bull always goes all out for the Christmas Party. After Santa gave each girl a Webkinz and Logan a dump truck the kids got to dance and Celeste won the hula hoop contest. What a fun night! And thanks, Janel, for the pictures since I can't seem to remember mine!