April Update

I can't believe it is already April.  And when it is April, it means that school is almost out and summer is right around the corner!

I'm still running a lot.  I had just finished my first 20 miler and was getting ready for an ice bath.  The ice bath is way worse than the 20 miler.

A screen shot of my training log.  This is the most amount of miles I've ever run in a week.

Abby is beyond obsessed with Lego Friends.  I am constantly finding Lego scenes she has created.  This is a sewing room!

During spring break, we went to Color Me Mine to paint some pottery.  It was our first time to a pottery place and our girls loved it!

We also headed south to St George.  We rented a condo for a few days.  The complex had a pool,  mini golf, shuffle board, basketball and tennis court, ping pong and checkers.  Our kids were super excited about the accommodations!  And to sleep in bunk beds!

We also headed to Snow Canyon for some hiking!

We hiked to the lava tubes.  Abby found lots of lizards and named them all.

Someone was a little nervous to go into the tubes because there were bats (they don't come out during the day!!). 

Annie and Carter hiked to the top of a small mountain.

We stopped by the famous Swig to get a drink and sugar cookie!  They tasted extra yummy after a long day of hiking!

 The next day we went to Zion's National Park.  We had a picnic lunch under a beautiful tree.

We hiked to the bottom of the Narrows.  Thankfully, the river was low and no rain clouds in sight.

We also hiked to the Emerald Ponds.  They were so beautiful!

We also saw our good friends the MacDonald family.  We spent two evenings with them.  It was wonderful to catch up and all the kids had fun playing together.

On our way out of town, we stopped by an amazing pizza place.  Almost as good as Italy.

It was fun to get out of town and go explore our beautiful state.  The kids just had a unit at school about Utah History and the rock cycle.  While on our hikes, we were bombarded with fun facts about rocks and the state.

Salt Lake Half Marathon Death March

There was nothing beautiful or lovely about this race. It was a 13.3 mile suffer fest.  



I've been really nervous about this race.  I knew that if I ran a 1:44 at the race today, I would be close to my BQ plan for the Ogden Marathon.  I guess the anxiety of that 1:44 goal put me over the edge.  And I wasn't sure how my body would hold up.  It's getting worn out and semi-broken and I still have 4 weeks to go.


I left home at 5:00 am and found a great parking spot close to the finish area.  I took Trax to the starting area.  I found a few friendly faces, Josse, Ericka, Paul, Tiffany, and Allie.  I found the 1:45 pacer and had plans to hang with him for awhile.


The gun went off and immediately, I knew this race was going to hurt.  The race started uphill and was followed by several more rolling hills.  My heart rate was already going crazy and my breathing labored.  My stomach felt sick with anxiety. I still had a LONG time to suffer through the streets of Salt Lake.


I hung with the 1:45 pacer for awhile but eventually left him during the Memory Grove down hill.  I was able to pick up some speed during this section, but felt like I was still putting forth a lot of effort.  


Tim and the kids were waiting for me at mile 5.  It was SO wonderful to see friendly faces with a big sign!


Eventually, I saw the 3:25 marathon pacer and ran with them for several miles until they split off at mile 9. I still felt like I was exerting a lot of energy and had a long ways to go.


After the pacer turned off onto the marathon course, I tried to stay with the half marathoners that were with that group.  My wheels started to rapidly fall off at mile 10.  I felt like I kept pushing the gas pedal harder and harder, but the speed was not coming.  


My calves were cramping and my mental mojo was trickling away.  I was in shuffle mode and was just trying to hang on for dear life.  The numbers on my watch kept getting slower and slower and my stomach was growing angrier by the second.  


I kept thinking to myself, "This is SO hard.  This isn't fun.  My body is going to start revolting."  I felt like I was going to burst into tears.  This desperation was not part of my race plan.


I knew I only had less than a half mile to go.  I turned the street corner and could see the finish line.  But the more I pushed the pace, the further away the finish line got.  It took forever to complete that last .5 miles.  There was no euphoria or singing angels when I finally reached the balloon arch.  I stepped off to the side right in front of the camera man and tried to keep my breakfast together.  Tears started to form in my eyes....I have never had a race experience like that before.







My body hurt in ways I didn't know was possible.  I had exerted so much mental and physical energy that I didn't care about anything else.  Pain was the only word in my post race vocabulary.


But then I saw my beautiful family.  My kids were cheering and the pain subsided momentarily.  I was so glad they were there.  I wanted to make them proud.  I told them I ran the race in a very horrible 1:44:01....which was exactly my goal.  A 7 minute course PR (the race director changed the course and it was way more difficult than last year).






I said a quick goodbye to my beautifuls and all my grumpies returned.  I left the race shortly thereafter to get home for a soccer game and egg hunt.

(It was great to see Ericka!  She rocked her race today!)

I was hoping to have a mental boost from running this half marathon today for my big race in May.  But I'm unsure of what to think of the situation.  I'm not sure I can handle that kind of excruciating nonsense for another 2 hours in a marathon.  I felt like the harder I tried push the pace, the more I mentally and physically hurt.  There was no adrenaline to take off the edge.  


I hit my goal today so I'm not sure why I'm so hesitant and not feeling the "high".  I may have entered into that next level of physical discomfort.  


And it is really painful.

TT:  1:44:01
AP:  7:52

7:59, 8:00, 7:21, 7:37, 7:20, 7:57, 7:49, 8:12, 7:58, 7:52, 7:43, 8:26, 7:57, 1:46

March Update

We had a great family home evening in March about our personal Title of Liberties.  I was really impressed about the things the kids wanted to stand for.

We babysat our cousins for a weekend.  Everyone was entertained all weekend!

Carter participated in the Cub Scout Pinewood derby.  Thankfully, we didn't come in last place.  But we certainly didn't win!

Our family friend, Bobbi came into town for a visit.  We took her and my mom up to the Brighton Ski Resort to watch Tim, Abby and Georgia ski.  We brought up lunch and enjoyed the warm day.  Ski season is coming to an end.

A quick trip for frozen yogurt.  

 



Girls ages 8 and older were invited to attend the LDS Women's Conference.  In the past, you had to be 18 years old to attend.  I was beyond excited to take my girls to this historical event.  We went out to eat before the conference and the messages from the conference were inspiring. Fun times had by all!

The girls worn their new spring dresses and shoes to the Women's Conference.

We played an awesome game of Star Wars Monopoly and used Lego guys for game pieces.

Lights Out

Last weekend, we decided to do "Lights Out."  We turned off the power and "practiced" for when we have an emergency and there isn't any lights.

We cooked hot dogs at the fire pit in the baseball field behind our house.  The kids were perplexed at how long it took to cook a hot dog over an open flame.

Of course we had s'mores too.  Yum!

We played a few games of 500.  When it got dark, we played a "escape from Alcatraz".  Everyone really got into it and played together happily.  

After showers in the dark (Mom and Dad holding flash lights), they played board games.  The games were so more fun in the dark!  The lights came back on right before breakfast!

As Tim and I were talking afterward, we figured it costs us $100 to go to the movies (including treats).  I spent $18 on food for the night and the kids had an absolute blast.  Goes to show it doesn't take fancy places or things to have fun.