Sunday, May 29, 2011

Memorial Day Jumping.

You take a semi-warm day, and two boys with new swimming gear.  Add a trampoline and a sprinkler.  Ensue jumping and sqealing.


Watch the little one bounce the big one 


And vice-versa. 


Cuddle up under some towels to get warm.  Is that a turtle?


No, it's Thomas.


Add a dad into the fun.  He bounces kids even higher. 


One, two, three, JUMP!


Loving summer.  Hoping that the weather will one day let us have more summer bouncing.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Thoughts after riding a bike.

I will admit it: running has made me a snob.  I sometimes get passed by bikes while on my routes only to pass them when we encounter the same hill.  I always think, how hard can that be?  I mean, with running I get places with just the help of my own two feet.  Those bikers have wheels and pedals and gears to help them adjust to terrain and get them where they want to go. 

However, in an attempt to alleviate some of the anxiety I have from taking a week off of running, I went on a bike ride with my boys this morning.  These are my thoughts:

  • Bike seats are hard and uncomfortable. No wonder they wear those padded seat bike shorts.
  • Jeans are not the right pants to ride a bike in.  I ripped my pant leg on the chain, which is sad because they were my favorite pants.
  • Plastic seats and cotton jeans don't mix well.  Just saying.
  • The same hill that kicks my butt while running kicked it even harder on the bike.  I had to do one section twice because I got stalled half way up and could not get started again.  My mantra the whole way up from there was this: just get up the hill, just get up the hill. I didn't think I could respect that hill much more, but I do.
  • I'm a chicken at riding downhill. I started to smell hot rubber after a while because I could not let myself fly down the hill as fast as the bike wanted to me to.  Had I been running, I probably would have passed myself I was riding so slowly.
  • Riding a bike really is, well, like riding a bike.  You never forget how.
  • I refused to use clips on the pedals.  The made me scared that if I needed to stop fast I wouldn't be able to take my feet out & I'd tip over.  So I pedaled on the back side of the pedal, which meant that the clip was scraping the ground whenever I leaned to one side. Special.
  • My quads are dying.  They burn every time I go up the stairs. 
I'm willing to admit I was wrong about all those bikers.  They are working hard, just not the exact kind of hard that is running.  And while I didn't feel the same kind of high that I do when I run, it doesn't mean that biking doesn't have its merits.

But I might need to invest in some of those padded shorts should I keep riding. 

So have you ever been humbled by something you've misunderstood?  Or ended up enjoying an activity that you thought you wouldn't?

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Surveying my routes.

We have some friends who are crazy about games.  They have taken us through all sorts of games through the years, from Settlers of Catan (ugh!) to Dominion (one of my faves!) to Rummy Cube and even a little No Thanks.  But my favorite?  Trains, or more appropriately, Ticket to Ride.

In TTR, you start with 3-5 train routes and some colored cards that represent train cars.  As the game goes along, you collect different colored cards to build trains to your different destinations.  Managing 3 or 4 different train tracks, collecting cards, and paying attention to what trains the other players in the game are laying keeps my mind well occupied.  I'm gathering yellows so that I can get from New York to Washington DC.  I'm gathering some blues and blacks because my route from Dallas to Duluth is mostly gray- meaning that I can pick any color, as long as the points between destinations are the same color card.  But at the same time I'm  thinking of the 1 red card I'm trying to get and wondering if I should just take the wild (and thus only get 1 card during the turn, instead of two) just so I don't have to wait for the red to show up.  I'll feel relief with every route I complete, while at the same time wondering if I should take more routes to either help my ending score or completely blow it.  It taxes my brain.  There is often a point in the game when I get completely overwhelmed, when the mental effort of planning three different strategies at once gets to me.  I feel like I can't get to my turn fast enough to either pick up that just-barely-appeared needed red card or to lay the track that everyone seems to be gunning for.  I almost feel out of breath trying to hurry-hurry-hurry to get where I want to go.

This is the point I am at with this year's Ragnar Relay.  The game board looks like this: I volunteered to be team captain, so I feel like I need to watch out for everyone, keep them informed of things like getting safety vests now instead of waiting until the middle of June when the whole valley will be empty of them (well, unless you go for the construction worker Home Depot specials, which are incredible stylish out on the course!)  They need to have a headlamp and a tail light and I should probably remind them of that fact. Also, we have to look good during the daytime, so I collected orders for skirts and long running socks.  And, oh, you know, I figure our team should probably know when Ragnar suddenly changes their mileages on their runs and alters the course with a new start and finish line.  All this while trying to digest the 3+ miles Ragnar added to my route, changing it from a doable 14.9 to a "I think I'm going to pee my pants" 18.5. 

Now I feel exactly like I do when I'm playing trains.  I feel like I need to be running every second between now and June 17.  I'm supposed to be doing a few multiple runs per day; last year, I did 2 or 3 of them and felt awesome.  But I also didn't do a half-marathon 4 weeks before last year's Ragnar.  I need to be at my peak right now, doing some endurance runs each week and mixing them up with multiple run days so that I can feel without a shadow of a doubt that I am ready for Ragnar.  Which is 180 degrees from my reality.

In an effort to pretend that my knee didn't bother me that much on Saturday's run, I ran on Tuesday.  It wasn't anything fast or hard; just a slow 2 miles on the treadmill to get me moving again.  The result was an aching knee all day long yesterday which caused an ever-growing anxiety.  What do I do?  The thoughts that swirled around my mind included:

- See a doctor, who would tell me to stop doing what I need to do, the old "don't do it some more and it will feel better" idea.  Not acceptable.

- See a physical therapist.  Because somehow I think there is a magical something they can do to make my knee feel better.  But even if there is a magical thing, my insurance won't pay for any of it, so I won't go that route.

- Lay off running for a week.  Seriously?  Not do exactly what I need to be doing right now to prepare for 18 miles?  This option goes against everything inside of me.

- Change my leg with someone else.  My sweet husband has offered to trade me, but I don't know if my pride will allow it.  Last year my leg was the second shortest route; I felt like I wasn't pulling my weight as much as others, so I had purposely picked a leg this year that would help me feel like I've gotten stronger.  I also picked the leg right after Amy's so that she can hand off to me after each of her legs - something I've been looking forward to.  I just don't think I'm ready to call "uncle" just yet on my leg. 

I'm probably just thinking too much about it.  But I know I can't get through my three legs if my knee hurts like it did on Saturday.  Mentally I just can't do that again.  I do have the advantage of knowing I need to bring some ibuprofen with me to alleviate any pain I encounter (had I had one last weekend, I would have finished in a much better state.)  That is a good thing.  But waiting a week to start training is like waiting for the turn that will never, ever come, while watching everyone else in the game laying track exactly where I want to go.  It's beyond frustrating.

So I'm looking for a new strategy.  I've seen the routes that are closed to me, so I'll start collecting cards to reroute.  It might take me a little longer to get to my destination that I had thought, but I'll make every effort I can.  Which today is resting, apparently.  I'll wait to pick up my cards until Monday when hopefully things will be a little brighter.  Maybe Monday will be the day I start a streak that will get me exactly where I was supposed to go all along.  Until then, I'll sit back and watch the game impatiently, hoping I'm playing the best card in my hand.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Race Report: Ogden Marathon Relay and Half Marathon

Last year, Shane and I did our first relay race at the Ogden Marathon Relay.  We signed up on different teams so that we could run the leg, leg 3, which starts at same place as the half-marathon.  I had a ball doing the race, so I knew I wanted to sign up again this year.

Back in October, I paid for three relay teams.  I conned two of my work friends to be the captains for the other teams, but I still ended up managing two of the teams.  By February, I still had only three runners for one of my teams and two for the other.  I turned to the internet, and within days I found runners who wanted teams to fill my teams without runners.  The team I ran on today was made up of three people from the internet and another girl who was the daughter-in-law of a friend.  Five total strangers all trying to be a team.  Four of us connected through Facebook and came up with a way of identifying each other on the course - texting each other pictures of ourselves the morning of the race, and sending a text to the person down the line two spots when we finished our leg so they had a heads up that the lovely race baton was running down the canyon toward them.  All that was left to do was run the race.  Simple, right?

I was relieved when the rain stopped in time for this morning.  The sun was peeking over the mountains as our bus hurtled us toward our starting line.  The race organizers had camp fires lining the road toward the race beginning; me and Shane and our fellow leg 3 friend Linda tried to warm up next to them.  I don't know what was harder - keeping the smoke out of our faces or avoiding the mud that surrounded the fire pits. 

About 9:30 our team's runner two came across the line. I was aching to go and so I set off.  The leg I run begins in a town called Eden.  It curls around the west side of Pine View Reservoir, encountering the Ogden Marathon course's singular series of hills.  I took them all in stride; I'm awesome at running up hills.  But what I found at mile 3 was that I've neglected training on down hills.  My knee started to act up with some stiffness that I've felt before and don't quite know how to combat.  I was able to push through my relay leg of 5.3 miles with a decent time.  I handed the relay baton off to my teammate and I walked back to find Shane.  To my relief, he was a few yards behind me - we set off at once walking to ease my knee and both of our stomachs, which were reeling from all the energy gels we had taken in our pre-run excitement.

We ran most of the course.  My knee plagued me the entire time; the stiffness permeated the whole joint, making any terrain change hard (and hellish) to negotiate.  We walked through water stations to give ourselves a chance to rehydrate and my knee to regain some flexibility.  I was glad that we only walked at the water stations; I don't think I could have dealt with any other type of walking.  By the last mile I was dying to be done in so many ways.  I always, always encourage people that racing is (mostly) mental. I still believe that, but 10+ miles of painful running had it's way with my mind, and my mental state was shot.  I let my mind turn to dark places - comparing myself to others, despairing the time I had been on the course, hating my easily accessed "current pace" calculator (at the press of a button, my iPod tells me my exact speed; both a blessing and a curse.)  I turned the corner for the last .89 of a mile and wanted to cry for the misery I was feeling.  I let Shane go ahead of me - but only after I promised him I wouldn't give up and walk.  (Not because walking is bad, but he knew if I walked then it would feel too much like giving up, and he didn't want me to feel that.  What a great husband!)

I was relieved that he went on ahead.  I hate the feeling that I am holding him back from a faster time.  I could shed that feeling.  I watched the Angel Moroni slip closer and closer as that last mile faded away.  I wished with everything I was that it was fading faster, but I accepted my slow pace and pushed on.  I met the finish line with tears in my eyes.  I hated the negative place I had allowed myself to go to.  I still regret it, but I can't change it, and it makes me want to try again and do better.  I saw my sweet husband waiting for me in the chute with a bottle of water.  This incredibly kind race volunteer put her arm around me and asked if I was okay.  I let her walk with me like that for a few minutes; those moments of kindness are tender mercies from earthly angels.  We grabbed our medals and I found my sweet friend Pat, one of my friends from work who did the race.  Pat has never, ever done a race, nor really wanted to.  She made this incredible goal of doing a 5k almost a year ago.  It made me so happy to watch her realize this goal.  It put my frustrations over time and pace and injury in perspective a little - I have much to be grateful for.  I completed a half marathon today, something most people didn't do, nor ever will.  Comparing myself against others with faster times or more winning attitudes somehow cheapens not my accomplishment, but all those who finished around me. 

So I will accept this race as something to be (a little) proud of.  I especially will be grateful for a body.  It let me down today, but it still got me to the finish line.  I can trust it to get me home when I set off for a training run or a walk around my neighborhood with my kids and husband.  I'm walking around tonight with my knee a little tender, but I know that I haven't done anything to it that won't be fixed by some ice and rest and anti-inflammatories. A less-than-par day is all part of the game.  As a wise friend once told me (another time I was whining about running!) "Ebb and Flow, dear. It's just a cycle."  (Thanks, Lucy!)  Today was an ebb.

But next time, it will be a flow.


Driving to the race.  

I do have a few things to note just so I don't forget the little details that don't center around despair and mental and physical anguish:

  • I put my cell phone in my shirt right next to my skin.  It kept the phone safe from everything but my sweat.  My phone is now resting in a nice bag of rice in the hopes that the screen will one day do more than light up. 
  • I didn't mention that I just bought this phone on Thursday when my old one broke in two.  Not a good cell phone week.
  • I tried to do a random act of kindness and let a recently-finished relay runner use my phone only to take it out of her hand again  when my teammate came to my starting line.  So much for kindness.
  • The texture of Gu is...unique.  Ish.  And why do they think they need to flavor it with chocolate? Shudder.
  • I bought a really cute bandanna and put my hair in pigtails.  I think I'll repeat the look at Ragnar.  (Along with my Team Sparkle purple skirt.  Can't wait!)  Even if my run wasn't awesome, I did have a good outfit to run it in.  You have to accept all the positives, right?
  • The McDonald's quarter pounder I ate on the way home was probably the best hamburger I've ever eaten.
  • In a flurry of song downloads yesterday, my guilty-pleasure song for the race was Nine Inch Nails Get Down Make Love.  It reminds me of my days dancing at the Vortex when I was 19.  Nothing like reliving a little of your adolescence while running a race in your mid-30's.  I got a little red in the face listening to the...lyrics.  Glad I had headphones on!
That is all.  Thanks for sticking around to the end of this long post.

Monday, May 2, 2011

10 or so for April

Ten family things that I don't want to forget:

1.  Thomas and Ben went back on track for the last time in their respective grades (fourth and kindergarten.)  I can't believe the school year will be over in 6 weeks.
2.  Thomas went the the district science fair.  He did an experiment on teeth where he soaked them in different liquids then tracked how discolored and broken down they became.  He worked really hard on it, and I was proud of him for going so far.  I don't think I did a science fair my entire school career, so it was a new experience for all of us.
3.  Ben got "pro" status at Wii tennis (you know, my life-long dream for one of my children.)  He is very determined, but not much fun to play with as he either gloats over his wins or cries over his losses.  He got so mad at Shane the other night when Shane dared to talk smack back to him that I wondered if he would ever be friends with his dad again.  He was sobbing and I went in to talk to him and his body was about 10 degrees hotter than normal from the anger he was feeling.  I don't know what I will do with him.
4.  I took Thomas to work with me one day for Bring your Daughter or Son to Work day.  It was really fun having him with me on the drive to work and walking around with him in my building.  I remember going to my mom's work when I was young and being so fascinated with everything; I think he felt something similar.  It was fun spending time with him.
5.  We had Easter at my sister's house instead of my mom's for the first time ever.  It was different, but showed that even if the place is different, the feeling can be the same.
6.  Ben lost his second tooth.  I pulled it, but I have to admit I hate that squelchy pop that results from all the tugging.
7.  We all anxiously awaited the new house across the street to get inhabitants.  We were hoping and praying for someone with a big family to move in.  In the end, a single man with one part-time child bought the house. Just our luck.  (I mean, I'm sure he's nice, but we wanted more. Sigh.)
8.  Shane set the pace for our long runs.  He would set the bar on Sunday when he ran, then I would run to catch up to him on Thursday.  I finally topped him the week I did 11 after his 10 on Sunday.  I compete; I just do it sneakily.  It is a relief to know we are both ready for our upcoming races.
9.  Ben now rides his bike when we go on walks.  Until this month, he would ride his scooter while Thomas rode his bike and me and Shane walked, but now he's big and has to ride.  Just another way that they are growing up, sniff.
10. (I can't think of a 10th.  I suck!)

9 things about half marathon training:
1.  Your niece will think you are a fruitcake when she comes over and you are 1 mile into an 8 mile treadmill run.  But she'll still hang out and take care of the kids for you.  Awesome.
2.  Gu chomps are the bomb.
3.  Music is a lifesaver.
4.  As long as your head is in the game, you can run any distance.
5.  11 miles doesn't feel much different than 7 or 8.
6.  Nike makes the very very best jackets.  I could live in mine.  Oh wait, I almost do.
7.  New running shoes make you feel really awesome.
8.  Wind can either be your best friend or worst enemy.  And you can experience this dichotomy on the same run.
9.  I don't know what I would have done without my Nano. I love it when it tells me how many miles I've finished. 

8 things that were great about April:

1. I saw a Harry Potter 7 part 2 trailer. I got goosebumps and might have wanted to cry a few times. So excited for it to come out!
2. I finished two of the 4 baby blankets I've been planning to make all year. I'm a real go getter in the sewing department!
3. I made Shane an awesome earwarmer (for running), since his favorite one was lost a year ago.
4. The unseasonable cold made for good running weather.
5. I did a free 5k with Salt Lake Running Company. It was so fun to run a flat course with no wind and lots of beautiful trees. The snow that had fallen the night before had stuck to all the trees along the course. Even though it was sunny and blue skies, the snow kept drifting down on top of me as I ran. Beautiful.
6. I made it all the way through all the conference talks. I chipped away at them week by week until I'd listening to them all. I can never listen to all of conference during conference weekend. Plus it's hard to take it all in.
7. My once-a-week soda resolve went out the window. The last week of April I positively bathed in Coke at every opportunity. Yes! I love when I restart bad habits.
8. It's Cafe Rio's fault. They have Vanilla Coke on tap. It is the perfect mix. I think about it often.

7 books I read all or part of in April:
1.  Cold Sassy Tree
2.  Harry Potter 2 (Thomas is reading it, and sometimes I read along with him.)
3.  East of Eden
4.  Juliet
5.  A Discovery of Witches
6.  Nell gets a Pet (gotta love Phonics Readers!)
7.  The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

6 things I took pictures of:
1.  The snow melting on the mountain.  It looks like marshmallow fondant the way it melts in the sun.  I couldn't get the right shot no matter what I did.
2.  My mini daffodils.
3.  My tulips.
4.  Easter grouplings of my kids, sisters, nieces, nephews.
5.  My kids (I took their photos and even printed them out.  Who knew?)
6.  The baby animals at Wheeler Farm.  Especially the goats, who were getting pepto bismal administered to them.  There is something funny about a goat with pink pepto lipstick.

Copious amounts of babies were born to:

1. A first cousin once removed
2. A niece
3. A former co-worker (have made blanket, but need to finish)
4. A former neighbor
5. A current neighbor


4 Places we ate:
1.  Cafe Rio
2.  Sampan
3.  Iggy's
4.  The Red Iguana (I'm still thinking about their enchiladas.  Oh, I want some right. now!

1 thing I said a lot:
"It's snowing....in April."