It's Official! Part 2 - Even More Official...

Yesterday I told you about a new running friend named Amy.  Well Amy happens to be a writer for the Deseret News, Utah's oldest continually daily running newspaper and second in daily circulation. She wrote a story about my 12 in 12 adventure and it's on the cover of the Outdoor section in today's paper!  Check it out... http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700049930/Going-the-distance-Avid-runners-ready-to-tackle-262-miles-in-Deseret-News-Marathon.html?pg=1

I know, crazy, right?  I can't even believe it to be to be totally honest with you.  So now, it's even more official to carry out my goal.  It's not just black & white on the computer screen - it's black & white in documented newsprint, archived and kept for generations...  Getting a little carried away now?  Yeah, I think so too.

Anyways, I got to speak with Amy Donaldson, who has her own blog on Deseret News website, http://www.deseretnews.com/blog/68/Reasons-to-run.html over the phone first and then we met up at the media preview for the Dirty Dash this week.  She was kind and definitely a force to be reckoned with!  She is running all 13 Ragnar races this year!  Some teams she's putting together and other races she's jumping in with teams that just need a runner!  So brave!  She's off to Washington this weekend and I'll be thinking about her covering her mileage with a team she doesn't even know, while I'm covering the mileage of the Deseret News Marathon this weekend.

Also in the article, Amy wrote about a man named John Bozung, who is completing his 300th marathon this Saturday at the same race as me!  Wow!  He is very motivational and has an unofficial world record for running at least a marathon a month for 188 months!  Something to work towards!  I'm definitely keeping my eye out for him this weekend in hopes for a chance to talk it up!  Amazing...

So countdown to marathon....2 more days.  No running today or tomorrow.  I did an easy 2 miles last night just to get some nerves out.  Water, water and more water! I started eating a couple of extra servings of carbs yesterday.  An extra piece of wheat bread and an extra piece of fruit throughout the day.  Today I'll do the same with 3 extra carbs tomorrow with some pasta tomorrow night.  Tonight is the packet pick-up, so we'll see what this years T-shirt looks like as well as what other goodies might get thrown in!

And, hey, if you're a Utah dweller go pick up a copy of the Deseret News!  Whew hew!

The Dirty Dash

Whoa!  I had so much fun yesterday!  I had the opportunity to preview a new race course at Soldier Hollow in Utah.  If not familiar with the area, it is where there were several events held during the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, like cross country skiing.  During the summer there are great trails, and one that is being created for an upcoming race called 'The Dirty Dash'.  You've got to check the website to see all the obstacles, but it is going to be crazy fun on race day!  We ran 5.2 miles of the 6.2 mile course at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.  Yeah it was a little warm, between 85 and 90 degrees.  Had a nice elevation of about 5500 ft. Quite the training run while trying to be conservative before my marathon on Saturday!

Let me tell you about the race...  There will be hill climbs, hay bale walls to jump over, walls to hurl your body over, a giant slip and slide about half-way through the race, water balloons thrown at you and a huge mud pond to cross before you make it to the finish line!  We were able to run the course, get some water balloons thrown at us and running/falling into the mud pond actually felt great! 

Imagine a giant slip n slide and going head first down this section!  Does it get any funner?

 



We followed the rollercoaster trail...there were way more ups than downs!

 I am grateful to a new running friend, Amy, who invited me out to be a part of the day.  We had a small group of 20 or so runners and it was fun to make to new connections and experience a unique run.  I even ran with one of the organizers, John, who shared some of the exciting details for race day.  Check out http://www.thedirtydash.com/ for all the info!  If you're going to be anywhere close to Utah at the end of September you've got to come run the race!  Photo-ops galore!



Come race day the mud pond will be 10x this size with grandstands of spectators watching with amusement!



That's me in the background crawling... Your feet literally sink as you try to run!



Amy & I lovin the mud - think spa treatment...



You'd think it would feel good to wash up after the run but a fire house is a far cry from a nice shower. Nothing like getting powered washed!



Yeah, that's mud in my teeth. I had a blast!


A special thanks to our friends Jimmy & Jan, who live close to the area and allowed me to clean up after the run!  Didn't really feel like driving home caked in mud!  Also fun to hang out, catch up and let the kiddos play.  I was instructed by Jimmy that I need to bring my kids out to the country more often because my 2 yr old mooed at a horse.  Hey, I try!  My kids were completed enthralled with the chickens running loose around the yard.  So much fun.

Here today I have my own Dirty Dash.  A course constructed by a family of seven.  It consists of many uphill climbs of stairs, mounds of shoulder high piles of laundry, mud ponds otherwise know as the kitchen floor and a slip n slide made by a 2 yr old on our bathroom floor.  My in-laws are coming into town tonight and the race is on...  This could be a PR for house-cleaning!  Better go down some Gatorade and stash some Gu in pockets to get me through the day... : )