Time Warp - Part II

It feels a bit silly to be doing a recap of the past year when, for the most part, I can flip through all my past posts.  Which really is what a blog is for.  But for my own sake, it's been fun to look through the pictures and remember all the feelings, the ups and downs and to see how much my family has grown and changed.  It's only been a year or so and my oldest boys look like men compared to when I started blogging.  My girls look so grown up, and well my little guy, he's still a turkey. ;)

So on I go...  Oct. '10 Napa Valley Trail Marathon, Napa, Ca.  My first traveling race of the 12.  I was so excited for this one.  My in-laws are in the Bay Area, so this race was a family trip.  We love Cali.  They have a race there every weekend.  This race was also over Halloween weekend, so I got my race out of the way and then it was all about parties and trick-or-treating for the kids.  Super fun.

This race was crazy hard, but so gorgeous.  Lots of hoping over streams, logs, sliding down slick rock.  It had just a little bit of everything.  What I didn't love so much...the race is a loop that you do twice.  So knowing how tough the first half was you come back through the start line and have to do it all again.  Not that I'd quit a race, but I thought about it for a few seconds. ;)

Because of all the uphill and then the downhill that you really couldn't fly down and jumping over stuff, I was a bit slower than usual.  But I felt great.  Eeery tidbit - this was race #5, my finish time was 5:05:05.  On my garmin and on official finish time!!  This was the smallest race I'd ever done too.  I want to say 50ish marathoners, only 8 women finishers I think.  I'd have to go back and check, but that's about right!

November '10 - San Antonio Rock n Roll.  I'm not exactly sure why I picked Texas.  I wanted to go outside of the west coast, RNR's looked like fun and I have a super cute cousin that lives there that was going to run her first half marathon!  This was the first time I had a 'blogger meet-up'.  It was actually fun!  And everyone turned out completely normal!! ;)  That's always a fear, right?  We had so much fun that the restraurant manager actually had to ask us to leave because we'd been there long enough.

I'm sure you recognize a few faces in there. :)

RNR's have turned out to be not my favorite races.  Running with 30,000+  is not all it's cracked up to be.  Also this was the race where a train came in the first mile, we stopped for about 3 minutes for it to pass and the corral start was all for nothing.  I'd lift my arm to check my watch and end up elbowing someone in the gut.  We were packed in pretty tight.  4:47 finish.  Ugly race.  Sorry San Antonio, you didn't put on a good show.  Next time I go to Texas I'll go to Austin. 

Back in Utah it was snowing in December.  Tried snowshoeing for the first time.  I was trying to decide if I should do a snowshoe marathon for January's race.  Even though Julie and I had a blast...  No thanks to snowshoes for 26 miles.

Fresh moose prints.  Same canyon where we saw cougar prints just a month earlier.

December '10 - Holualoa Marathon, Tuscon, AZ.  Of course I had to pick somewhere resorty and warm for December.  Tuscon was the best choice ever... for a couple of reasons.  First we stayed here:  

Gorgeous resort, and we had perfect weather the whole weekend.  I wore shorts and a t-shirt, in December!

Another blogger meet-up.  I was fairly new to Emz's blog.  But decided to meet her at the Expo.  I remember Miss Zippy saying you should run AZ and meet Emz, you'll love her.  Kinda funny.

After meeting her and her cute fam, they invited us to dinner with her parents.  It was all over after that.  I'll save all the gushing for when I get to May.

Biggest surprise...  Em and her entire family waiting for me to come across the finish, over an hour of waiting.  I'd met these people all of one day ago and they waited and cheered me on at the finish.  So aweseome.

January '11 - RNR Pheonix, AZ.  I know.  I just said how I'm not a fan of RNR's.  But it was Arizona, much better than a snowshoeing marathon for sure.  And I got to hang out with Emz again.  Not a hard choice.

Of course blogger meet-up... Lauren, Em, and Derek.  We laughed all night.  Derek probably thought we were some pretty silly blondes.

Found our girl at the Expo.  RNR Expos are kinda like Costco.  You can walk around and get a full meal of samples to fill you up.

Thanks to Pita, I got footage of me chicking Superman behind me.  Thanks to Jamoosh for putting me in the know about all things chickage.  Sorry hommie in the Superman tank.

I wasn't going to do any link-ups to past posts....but this is one of my favorites if I'm gonna toot my own horn.  If you have an extra five check it out.  And please view it knowing that it is laced with extremely heavy sarcasm. :)

February '11 - Surf City Marathon, Huntington Beach, CA.  One of my favorite races.  One I would go back and do again and again.  Who doesn't love the coast?

Another blog meet-up...  Patrick and Chris.  Seriously two of the nicest people ever.  Chris, if I'm back on the blog roll you should be too.  C'mon.

Surf City was amazing.  Running along the coast for most of the race.  Overcast that day, perfect weather.  I think I finished around 4:35ish.  Gotta go down there again and meet Caroline next time! 

One of the best part of these races is that I got to travel and have a weekend getaway with my husband.  And with 5 kids heaven knows we need it.  Having something to look forward to each month was awesome.    Couldn't have done this without his support.

 March '11 - Mountain Marathon, Washington.  This race weekend ended up being a girls weekend.  A couple of friends traveled with me to Oregon to visit our friend Lindsay.  I knew this race would be another tough trail course but what I didn't plan on was the cold front that came through with 3 feet of snow.

Beautiful country.  Ran my first race in Yaktraks.  Toughest thing I've ever done.  Inclines were beyond intense,  it was freezing, and lots of slushy snow puddles to run through.  It would have been crazy hard without the snow!

Out on those mountains for 6 and a half hours!!!  Yeah, not much running going on.  More hiking, and trying not to fall in snow puddles.

Being with friends made up for it though.  

These two chickas are my bf's from college.  I think that was our first girl's trip since living together in college!  Long overdue.

And I had to put an 'RD' up on the famous gum wall.  I know.  Gross.

April '11 - Skyline to Sea Marathon, Santa Cruz, CA.  Another trail race.  I love them so much not only for the scenery but the pressure it takes off from feeling like I have to get a PR. :)  We started up at the top of the mountain and finished close to the beach.  Another one I would love to do again.  

Finished around 5 hours.  Could've done better but had some stomach issues that day.  I still had an awesome weekend.  My sister came with me for this race and we had a blast playing in Santa Cruz.  And we did not take one picture together.  Ridiculous.

And you know what else is ridiculous?  How long this post is.  Sorry.  Still a couple more parts to the saga. 

Time Warp - Part I

Wait.  What??  December?  I'm now officially one of those people.  You know the ones.  Those people that always said 'There just aren't enough hours in the day.' 'Where did the time go?'  And when I used to hear them say that I'd roll my eyes and think, 'Whatever.'  But I'm there.  I can't believe it's the end of the year.  I can't believe I fell of the grid for three months.

I've had this little voice in the back of my head telling me that I should recap my year.  That little voice is actually from a certain someone that keeps texting me to blog.  So I'm trying to find my blogging fire again.

It seems that many of us have had an amazing year.  I feel particularly blessed in all that I was able to experience not just in 2011 but starting back in the summer of 2010.

So for my own documentation...geneology...historical records, my recap will cover the past 18 months, rather than 12.  It is a chunk of my life that I know I'll never be able to duplicate even if I tried.  One of the most incredible years ever.  And I still look back on it and shake my head.  So bare with me through this stroll down memory lane.

I went into the twelve not really having complete confidence that I could do it.  I told my husband let me get a couple under my belt and then I'll decide for sure.  So I started with Utah Valley Marathon in Provo, June 2010.

It rained.  I wore a garbage bag the whole race.  I bled through my shoe.  Finished about 4:30ish.  I felt good.  I knew I'd be fine for the next month.

July '10.  Deseret News Marathon, SLC.  This is the race where things changed a bit.  Where suddenly the 12 in 12 was actually began.  A friend told me I should blog.  Blog?  Huh?  What?  No thanks.  I can't even keep a scrapbook for my kids.  My husband talked to a writer for a local newspaper and told her what I was doing.  She said blog about this!  She wrote an article about me the week before the race and it was solidified.  No turning back from the 12 now.  I started blogging.  Racingdawn was born.  I know.  I need a bucket too.  Gag.  ;)

Me and my cute friend Lindsay that made me blog.  She ran her first 10K that race!  Oh yeah.  And #2 turned out pretty good.  It was a PR, 4:21 I think.

Lindsay and I also did Hurt in the Dirt that month.  A bike/run relay.  She biked and I ran.  

I drink my protein shake out of this glass every day.  No lie.

August '10.  Park City Marathon, Park City.  This race sucked.  Rocks.  Elevation killed me.  Hills killed me.  Miles 15 - 23  gave me a lot of time to contemplate, 'What the crap am I doing?'

Finish line photo says it all.  First time I heard a lot of cursing from others coming across the finish.  I might have shed a tear or two over this one but my fam was there.  Had to suck it up. 5:15ish finsih.  Uggg.

Can't be too mad when you have cute little ones that think you won cause you got a medal.  :)

September was a big racing month.  One of the funnest months ever!!!  First up:  Red Rock Relay.  If you haven't done relay with a group of 12 crazy ladies, I highly recommend it.

Roughly 200 miles over 30 hours in gorgeous country.  I loved it.  Wore me right out.

The next weekend I ran Top of Utah.  Loved it.  Love Logan.  New PR.  4:14!!!  Unbelievable!

Ran second half of race with a new friend named Melissa, from Colorado.  She kept me going til the end!

I was in the Logan paper post-race.  I can't even read it because every time they quoted me I said 'like' about fifty times in a sentence.  Yes I talk like I'm fifteen.

TOU is a beautiful race.  If you're running 50 states, do either this one or Ogden!!!

The next weekend was the Dirty Dash.  Only a 10K but I believe it took us somewhere around 2 hours to finish.  Total blast.

Seriously.  Crazy fun.

I'm already worn out.  This blogging is almost as tiring as marathons.  ;)  Part II I'll wrap up the races.  It makes me want to do it all over again right now.  Running is like nothing else.  So great.  

Part II teaser...

My sister turns my hair red.

:-)

This Is The Goal...

I hope this is me warming up/stretching before a race in 40 years.  But maybe with some better running shoes.

What's A Girl To Do...

So it didn't happen.  No Boston 2012.  Yep.  I'm a little disappointed.  But it's all good.  I did everything right for race day.  Seriously, everything.  Ate right.  Hydrated well.  Fueled right through entire race.  No stomach troubles.  I just was slow from the beginning.  In the first 6 miles keeping pace was supposed to feel easy and it felt pushed.  And if it felt pushed/strained from beginning I knew I wouldn't be able to sustain for another 20 miles.  So I made a decision.  I was going to just enjoy Top of Utah Marathon.  I really love this race. 

It is a beautiful race course.  And on this day, the skies were filled with heavy dark clouds that somehow made the canyon even more spectacular.  We did get poured on, several times, during the race.  Especially during mile 10-14, where the rain came down in sheets with some hail sprinkled in.  I never did dry out from then on.  It was a little chilly.  But what it did to my hair...

That's not the wind blowing my hair.  That was it's post-pony tail position.  Getting a brush through that was not easy.

So another marathon in the books. I finished in 4:27.  Still love TOU, even though I was not even close to my goal.  But people are right.  My body is tired.  I need some good recovery time.  14 mary's in 16 months has taken its toll it would appear.  I think I need some time to heal up all my little injuries.  And some time to rebuild some base mileage with speed.  I'm not giving up.  Boston isn't going anywhere.  And you know there's already a plan for next year. :)

And...my dad even came to my race!! He hasn't been to one of races for a few years.  Love that he was able to come.  And yeah, how did I not get any of that 6'5" height.  Dang.  I could have used some longer legs... ;)

Thanks you for all the comments, thoughts and emails once again.  It's so nice to have such amazing support!  And congrats to Erin for rocking another PR and Cari for running her first marathon!  So proud of you girls!!!

So what's next?  I've got a few things in mind, but for this month...

It's all about potty-training Spiderman.  They should give medals and tech shirts for that.

One More Chance

I'm usually not a quotes person.  But that one's pretty good.

Alright.  Pokey is in the past.  I've got one last shot this weekend for BQ 2012.  Praying that Boston doesn't fill today with the 5 minuters. 

I big puffy heart love Logan.  Best memories there, ever.  So of course, I love the Top of Utah Marathon.  It's either my third or fourth time doing this race.  I can't remember, it's a blur. ; )  But it's a great BQ'ing race.  A lot of downhill once again.  I will pull back a little this time though.  No sub 8's.  I'm going to really try to race this steady, same pace beginning to end.  I've tried starting fast and that has yet to work for me.  Fingers crossed, this strategy makes it happen.

BQ or die.  At least for 2012.

I Don't Know What To Say...Pokey Had Me In The Potato Bag

First off...  I have amazing family and friends.  Thank you all for all the super supportive, kind emails, text, and comments.  I feel so lucky to have you all rooting for me.

This is one of those posts that no one wants to write.  I'm not even sure I should be writing about it now, but blogs are about journaling so you can go back someday and remember those moments in your life, whether good or bad, and hopefully be able to learn from them.  And there was WAY more good than bad this past weekend. :)

It actually was a weekend full of awesomeness.  On Friday I picked up Emily from the airport and off we were to Pocatello.  First time to hang since last May at her 24 event.  It was almost a 3 hour car ride and I don't think we stopped talking once.  So fun.  First up... meet up for lunch!

We got to meet Supermom Erin and Cari!!  They are both darling and it was so fun to meet in person.  Cute Cari drove an hour to meet up and even came back the next day to see us at the finish line!!!  Love her. 

I get to see these two again in a couple weeks.... more on that in a second...

Don't mind me standing on my tippy toes to try to compete with those 4" heels...

Next up was Expo time.  It was kind of a small sad Expo, but don't worry we grabbed our potato bags.

Race morning.  Felt good.  Slept ok.  I kept my nerves at bay.  It turns out I didn't hydrate super well. But I felt really good at the start.  Game plan: Run mostly 8:00's through first 15 and 9:00's last 10 if need be.  Main goal: keep this lady in sight.

Yeah she rocked the arm sleeves and tatts like a pro.  We chatted the first hour a little but by mile 8 it was time for music and buckling in.

Without going into writing an epic saga on the race that wasn't....  I'll give the cliff notes version because, well just because.

Halfway point I was at 1:47.  Yeah, my fastest half ever.  Still feeling pretty strong.  By the time we hit 15 there weren't too many downhills to find and I started to slow.  By 18, I think we were around 10:00's and I knew 3:35 was out the door.  By mile 21, I was barely squeaking out 12:00's and I knew BQ was gone.  Mile 23, I knew a sub 4 was gone too.  I hate realizations during the race.  I couldn't will myself any faster. 

Emily was awesome.  Completely patient.  And bored out of her mind.  I'm not a big talker during races, as in not at all.  She knew when to check in and when to just roll with it.  I kept my emotions in check, til the end.  But I knew she felt bad.  And I thought of all the people that were pulling for me.  But it is what it is.  I tried.  I fell apart the last ten miles.  Still trying to figure out what to do different.  Probably just more fast training.

Happy faces coming into the finish line.  And look at those awesome heel strikes.  ;)  Emily's parents and sister had come to the race!  They were at the finish line!!!  And cute Cari!!  I could hear them cheering.  So nice to have hugs from family and friends at the end.

We found Erin and were so happy for her awesome BQ finish time!  3:32!  So amazing.

I tried to disappear to a corner, looked at my phone and saw all my messages and just couldn't keep my composure...

It's so disappointing.  And I know it's only a race.  But I was hoping for better from myself.  Thank goodness I had a best friend there. 

So.  Finish time for me and poor Emz: 4:06.  Actually my personal best ever.  But no BQ.  Gonna try again in two weeks at Top of Utah Marathon in Logan.  If all the early registration doesn't fill the Boston Marathon, I still might have a shot to get in if I can pull off a 3:44:59 in Logan.  And Erin and Cari will be running TOU too! 

So what did I do with my potato bag?  Since I didn't mash them in the race...  nothing like a little grease to give some comfort.

I'll get over this one.  It's all good. :)