I started running in the fall of 2007. I truly believe I was inspired to start running and I have seen some very big blessings come my way because of following that inspiration.
Ran Boston Marathon 2013 & 2014. My favorite PRs: 2011 at the SG 1/2 and 5K where I ran the 5K in 22:22. 2013 Nebo 1/2 (downhill) 1:36:15
Short-Term Running Goals:
Long-Term Running Goals:
Running throughout life with Tom. Staying healthy and happy.
Learn from others, learn from myself, work hard, do my best, enjoy!
On running and on life.....
On occasion we need to make a second effort - and a third effort, and a fourth effort, and as many degrees of effort as may be required to accomplish what we strive to achieve.
~Thomas S. Monson~
Personal:
Going to St. George? Bag the hotel and stay in one of our condos instead!
I went from being a Warior of Winter kind of WOW, to a Whinner, (sp?), of Winter kind of WOW and then today I am back to the WARIOR OF WINTER kind of WOW again! Who knew? Only yesterday I was celebrating the last day of January, knowing that it must be closer to spring in February. Then today I had this very enjoyable run with snowflakes that stayed on my nose and eyelashes! (Brown paper packages tied up in string...these are a few of my favorite things!) OK, I know I'm not a good singer so I'll spare ya the rest of the song! Attitude is everything! Why can't I get that into my head and just enjoy what I have at the moment?! I even came home and shoveled the walks and driveways of FOUR houses! (I hope my back will be blessed for the service, I'm a little nervous to wake up and see what it feels like in the morning.) I hope you all have a fabulous day! If you are having a bad day just think of a few of your favorite things.....and then you won't feel soooooooooo bad! OK, I'm really done singing now!
We had kids with early ball games and snowboarding. So Tom and I decided to run mid morning instead of with the SF group at 6:00. Met up with John A for a bit. I finished at 7 miles, Tom is out getting a few more.
Tom and I had planned on getting out this morning to get my miles in, but our youngest daughter did the throwup thing just before it was time for us to get going. I felt guilty leaving her alone and decided to put my run off until tonight. Tom went out and then got more miles at work and then came home to get 6 in with me. I'm glad I didn't have to go alone. It was a very pretty evening for a run. We got to watch the sun set behind the snow covered mountains. It really was quite enjoyable.
I got a lot accomplished today. It feels good at the end of the day when you look back and can see you actually got something done. I hate it when I feel like I've been doing things all day and can't show anything for it. Tonight I have clean bathrooms, vacuumed floors, mopped floors, dusted furniture, even some dusted window blinds, wiped off counters, and some laundry washed, dryed, folded and put away! Plus I got some good scripture reading in. I started the Hinckley Challenge that is going around about reading the Book of Mormon in 97 days in honor of President Hinckley. It started today and ends on May 11, which is also Mother's Day. If you want to know more about the challenge or sign up to do it go to www.hinckleychallenge.com
Sick daughter at home again today, so the run had to come a little later in the day when other kids were home with her. One good thing about the wait was that I had sunshine on my shoulders the whole way! I intended to have it be a slower pace today but it actually ended up at 9:35 pace. It felt quite good and was a mostly enjoyable run. My back has been bothering me quite a bit through the night lately. I have 2 herniated discs. They haven't caused me trouble for a while. I am a bit nervous. I don't know if it is because I have added mileage or speed or both or if I need a new matress or what. I know the main thing I have to do is strengthen my abs. I need to make sure to work on that.
Snow was coming down pretty good when I got laced up and ready to go. It settled down to just a light snow throughout the run. Enough to keep the roads covered so I couldn't see where it was slick or uneven. That was a problem. I had one really good slip. It would have been an ugly fall, but luckily it was just an ugly save instead. Kinda twisted my ankle a bit on that one, but not too bad. The weather forecast in our area is looking really good for the next several days. Suppose to be up to the 40s by the weekend. That sounds like lots of fun to me!
Tom was only getting two miles in today because of his race tomorrow. So I got up and went out with him for 2. I was planning on coming home and getting the kids off to school and then getting out to finish the rest. Just as we were about home we ran into our friend, Kay, who was just starting. I joined in with her while Tom went home and got the kids going. Thanks Tom! There were some places on the roads where I could have had my dog, Rui, with me and he could have just pulled me on the slick ice. (maybe we could have a place where we track Iditarod miles!) My ankle is just a bit sore from slipping the other day. Not too bad, but I hope I'm not irritating it by running on it. Happy Friday everyone! I think we are going to be seeing some sunshine!
My thought for the day: Always be flexible and you will never be bent out of shape!
Today is my missionary son's 20th birthday! Happy Birthday Elder Lee!
Tom and I ran 2 miles this morning for his loosen up miles before the race. I continued on to get my 5.3 before heading to SLC for the 10K Tom would be participating in. I couldn't run it today because of my sister in law's baby shower. I knew I wouldn't have time to get ready and didn't really want to crash the party as a stinky, red faced party goer.
It was really fun to be a spectator! I was able to meet all of the bloggers that were there before hand so I knew who to be cheering for! It was fun to cheer for so many by name! Everyone seemed to have a great race, make sure to read all of the race reports!
Very nice balmy almost up to freezing temps this morning! Dry roads, just a small amount of wind, great company, (the hubby), and 6 miles to start off my week! Unfortunatly the clouds were out, I was hoping to see more stars this morning. Oh well, a great start to what I hope will be a great day and great week!
I decided to see what I could do a 5K in today. First I ran 1.5 miles for a warm up. I did our elementary school 5K route which is an out and back course. I started off feeling good and went out too fast. The first mile was 8:48 and that was with a slow down in the second half of the mile. I don't know what I was thinking when I started, but my legs just wanted to go. Unfortunately that made me a little tired for the rest of it. Mile 2 ended up being 9:36 as I had to walk through a few imaginary water stops to catch up from the first mile. Mile three was 8:42, which felt pretty good. I was able to push it the last bit. Overall average pace was 9:00. Next time I would be smarter to just run actual 9:00 pace instead of doing some of the fast/slow stuff. In a few weeks I will have to have Tom pace me and see if I can be more steady in my pace and then have a good kick at the end. The overall time for 3.1 was 27:50. I had waited for the sun to show it's face before I headed out, but it waited until my cool down to show up. It was still a nice day though. I was able to have only one layer on pants and a short sleeve shirt with a lightweight jacket. I ended up with the jacket around my waist as the sun poked through a bit. I guess we are back to some yucky weather the next few days. Good luck to all who have to grin and bear it!
I was so excited to see the sun shinning so brightly this morning! I was expecting a very dreary, possibly even rainy run today. There was a slight breeze, but not too bad. Since there was the potential for wind I decided to take my 'non' wind route, (in Spanish Fork that means a little less wind than in some of the the other areas of town.). That first mile was absolutely the closest thing to spring that I have seen this year. The temps were low 30s, no wind, birds singing and beautiful sunshine! I decided to pull the cell phone out and call Tom to tell him the weather was perfect at the moment and he might want to get out a bit early for his workout so he didn't have to do it on the treadmill later if the weather goes downhill. He said he thought he might try to do just that. Well, shortly there after the wind decided to pick up quite forcefully! I hope the same thing didn't happen in Provo. He may be out there as I type cursing me and the wind. Hopefully not. I guess I'll find out when I read his report in a while. Anyway, I decided that I couldn't avoid the wind so I might as well tackle it! I headed straight up onto my canyon wind stretch! There is always something a little satisfying when you tackle your problems straight on like that! It makes us stronger in many ways! The past few years Tom and I have had to face some very difficult challenges coming at us from many directions on both sides of our families. Gutting it out during the actual hard times sometimes seems impossible. But when we have made it through each struggle we have found ourselves with better qualities and stronger individuals, stronger as a couple and stronger as a family. I guess if we didn't have some wind and rain and lots of snow in our lives we might not grow to be the person we are meant to be. Sorry, you didn't realize you were going to Sunday School when you started reading this today. Anyway, I guess I am grateful for so many things right now, I just have to express it some way. If it were always springtime it probably wouldn't be as wonderful as it is after a hard winter! If there were always rainbows we probably wouldn't notice them as much as when they come after a terrible storm!
Tom and I got up and ready to go running this morning and went out to a dang foot of snow! Holy cow! We spent Valentine morning shoveling our driveway and a neighbor's driveway instead of tramping through the terrible streets. This is when a treadmill would come in handy. I might not get anything in today. We'll see after I get home from work. But we are giving blood and doing Valentine things with the kids so it just might not happen today. But I think I am still a good person even if I only run 5 days this week instead of 6.
A very enjoyable 8 miler with Tom during his lunch break. I got to go on his lake view run, which by the way has absolutely no view of any lake that I could see. However, it did have some awesome views of our snow packed mountains with beautiful blue skies!
Talked today about making sure we get signed up for the Strider's Half in April and a run for the red 5K in March. I was laughing at how I am more afraid of the 5K than the half. I think it's because with the half I usually don't try to kill myself, whereas in the 5K I want to compete and it bugs me that I can't really do that YET!
Tom and I joined with the SF group at 6:00 this morning. It was a nice, brisk morning that frosted our eyelashes, hair and mustaches on those who had them. (I didn't want to say mustaches because I don't want you to think I have a mustache, but one guy had a really cool frosted mustache.) I was able to keep up with the slow pack a lot better than I have other times. Tom was doing a 15 miler where he speeds up 30 seconds every other mile. So he was with me for a couple of miles and is still out on his own now.
Busy day ahead with a couple basketball games, primary activity and piano festival. OK, I'm cold now, so I'm going to warm up in a nice, long, HOT shower!
Wow! The moon was amazing this morning! It started out quite high in the western sky. Big and bright and round! Tom and I watched it as it slowly set down behind the mountains in a brilliant red! It was fun to watch how much the moon changed in the hour that we were out! That was the prettiest part of our run.
The ugliest part was probably when Tom slid into first base. Actually it was an awesome slide! If he were playing baseball he would have been safe! Unfortunately it wasn't baseball, it was running and it was on the road! That was right when he met up with me. He was out for 2 miles before me. So he got six more in with no problems from the fall. Hopefully it doesn't stiffen up for tomorrow!
The six miles felt great. I am feeling good with 6 a day so far. If all continues in my favor I should hit about 38-39 miles this week. My highest so far is around 36. Tom and I are signed up for a 5K on March 8th. I hope I don't regret that. I may want to push harder than I am ready for. Oh well, we'll see what happens.
We had a fun day up at Park City and Midway yesterday. The girls, (ages 7 and 10), thought that swimming in a mountain in the winter was a pretty cool thing! The boys had fun on the slopes. Everyone was tired and went to sleep good! Now I am off to help at the school for an hour and then I get to spend the day with my parents and my brother. A very needed day for all of us!
Ran the first three miles with Beth and the last three alone. Beth hasn't been able to get out with me in quite awhile, it was great to have her with me again. She is about 9 weeks pregnant so she will probably keep things quite easy, but wants to run with me again about 3 times a week. It will be nice to have her back with me more often.
I listened to some conference talks on my mp3 today for the last three miles. I wasn't sure if that would keep me going or not, but it was great! One talk especially really reached out and grabbed me! I couldn't quite control my emotions as I listened and ran. I'm sure people who passed me wondered if they should stop and help me out.
Went out for 6 with Tom this morning. Didn't work out for me. Meds for a very miserable infection on an empty stomach and out for a run doesn't work. Bad day so far. Hopefully things will go better. Try to get the rest in after work. I wish I could have finished this morning. It is always kind of fun to run in that light falling snow.
Afternoon: Got in only one mile this morning. Came home from work to try to get 5 more. Was only able to get 2.8 more. This infection isn't the kind I should mention so I will just give you a hint of what kind it is. It starts with "B" and ends with "ladder". Anyway, it doesn't let you get too far from home. Today's miles are the most miserable miles I have ever ran! I think I will take it upon myself to award me at least 100 commando points for today! I can't wait to cash those in on a great run!
Even with the rain slapping at my face into the wind on part of this run it was tons better than yesterday's run! Yeah! First three with Beth. Nice to have her company again!
My family is having a Monk season finale party tonight. It is the second of a two parter. We love that show. If you have never seen it you really ought to try it out sometime. My parents were going to be here too, but my mom called this morning and said they have to cancel because of sickness. One reason I was happy they were coming was because it gave me a good excuse to have to really get in and clean my house. The house gets a lot of neglect lately. I guess I'd better pretend they are still coming and get a lot done today.
Kind of just a mediocre run today. Would have liked to get 8 or 9 in but with the way I have been feeling the past few days I am really glad to get seven. I had to do some walking breaks today, not the greatest time or pace. I'm really glad tomorrow is Sunday.
Tom and I finally met the famous Clay! Nice to meet you!
Great start for the week! I ran 5 miles with Tom this morning before he had to head to work. It was a very nice morning. There was a light snow for a while. We decided our expectations aren't very high right now with temps and weather. But having low expectations makes it so whatever we encounter is probably better than what we thought it might be. Anyway, I was planning on meeting Beth after getting kids off to school. However, when I went to pick her up she met me at the door with her PJs still on. She said she had come down with something and wouldn't be joining me today. I could have just went home, but I didn't! I went out anyway and finished up with 3.2 more. From now until Tom adds in his noontime routine I will actually be a bit ahead of him on the mileage chart. It will only be for a few hours but I will relish it while I can!
Just a tidbit of info. Our missionary's girlfriend who "Dear Johned" him came by yesterday to return some of his things and tell us she is engaged and show us her fiance' and her ring. It was strange as yesterday was exactly one year from the day of his Sacrament Meeting "farewell". He is doing great though and doesn't even miss having a girl to write to. In fact, I'm sure it is a relief to him in a way. She is a darling girl though and we wish her happiness in all she does.
Wow, I actually ran with my SHADOW today! Haven't seen that around for a while! I like to try to watch my form a bit when I see my shadow. But the best thing about having my shadow there was that the sun was there to provide it for me! YEAH!!!! Today's temps were beautiful! I ran in a SHORT SLEEVED SHIRT! I wish I would have had shorts on too, but I wasn't quite brave enough for that. Next time though!
I was having a hard time being motivated about running alone today so Tom invited me to come in and run with him at lunch. We figured out a way to make it work out for both of us. We started out together for 2 miles while he warmed up for his tempo run. At 2 miles he continued out at his pace while I went at mine. He went past me one way and then the other a few times and then at the end we ran together for his cool down. It worked pretty good. I had to wait for just a couple minutes at the end for him. So even though I really ran most of this run alone, it didn't feel like running alone.
I think I will run a few less miles the next few days because Tom and I are planning on a little longer run on Saturday on the Provo River Trail. The following weekend will be the Run for the Red 5K at that location. I have never ran there so we thought it would be a fun diversion for this weekend as well.
Happy sunshine for those of you who are able to see it today! And for those who don't have it yet, it will come and you will love it!
Tom and I went out this morning for an easy 4.5. Nice morning full of stars. Some wind here and there to try to discourage us a little. But no discouragement today!
Five with Tom and the stars and moon this morning. Very, very grateful to the ladies who exercise in the mornings at the Aspen Meadows church building! This week's miles should approach the 39-40 mark. Has been a very good week in many ways! I feel a bit guilty about enjoying our beautiful sunshine though when I looked at Benn's blog and saw the picture of his snow covered car! Hopefully there is some sunshine out there for all of us soon!
One final but very important note on today....One year down and one year to go for our cute missionary in Japan! It is sure fun to be a missionary mom!
If you have read Tom's blog entry today you know that his father passed away yesterday. If you haven't read his blog today you might want to turn to it and read a touching tribute from a loving son to a wonderful father. We will be heading down to Ephraim in about an hour to meet with Tom's siblings to make the final arrangements. It its a hard time, but also a joyous time as we think of his reunion with Tom's sweet mother who passed away almost 15 years ago. My run was a time to reflect on the wonderful example of a very faithful and devoted son of God! I love you Dad!
On my run today I ran up and down the hill on scenic drive and 1240 south 5 times in a row. I am going to try to do that a few times a week to get a little more love for hills. My times for each mile were 9:07, 9:36, 10:02, 9:22, 4:04 for the last half mile. Overall pace 9:23, overall time 42:14
