DAY 76- Phoenix Marathon & MIM…

I got up early and went down to the gym.  I managed to run a good 2 miles on the treadmill and then managed to be out of the shower before Laura was awakened by her alarm.  As she was getting ready she mentioned that all the other nuns were trying to leave ASAP today before the Phoenix Marathon disrupted their shuttle ride from the hotel to the airport.  I had no idea that there was going to be a marathon today; and it was going right by the front of the hotel.  Cool! I thought and after having breakfast with the nuns, I went upstairs grabbed my camera and went down to watch.

Photo- About the 5th mile marker of the Phoenix Half Marathon.

I found a bench, took some pictures, and did some clapping-cheering as the runners went past.  It brought back fond memories of the two half marathons (Salt Lake & Park City) that I have done.  It appears that the hotel was about mile #5 of the half marathon part of the run; everyone was still rather fresh and most of them were looking like they were doing well.

Laura came back from the finish of the retreat and the plan for the day was the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM).  I went down to the front desk to ask directions around the marathon while Laura got her stuff together.  Mary at the front desk was so excited when I told her where we were going.  She told me that it was her FAVorite place and that she was sure we would have fun.  She explained how I could drive out “the back way” and get to the interstate and after that I should be fine.

Photo- Laura playing around near the orientation area of MIM.

Off we went and I sometimes amaze myself that I actually find places without a GPS and just a short hand version of Google directions.  I paid for our entrance; the least I can do since Laura is paying for the hotel room.  We get our headphones and we go to the orientation area.  We watch the short film that explains about the museum and the operation of the headphones.  Then, we head upstairs to the United States and Canada area.  We had been told by people at the hotel to start there and then work our way to the rest of the museum.  Quite a few people had said that they had gotten bogged down in the African music area and missed quite a bit of the museum because they took too long in that area. 

So up the escalator and down the hall to the United States and Canada area we went.  When we got to the area we went in and quite a bit of the first section were Native American dancing and music.  Each section had a screen that played a video and you would hear the audio through your head phones as you got close to it.  Once you moved onto another section with a video, the headphones would pick up the new audio.  We wondered around and listened to American Rock and Roll, Jazz, Country, Bluegrass, Marching Bands, and the list went on and on.   There were areas where musical instrument makers would talk about making instruments. 

Photo- Catching some play time in the interactive room.

Next, we decided to grab lunch at the café downstairs.  We hadn’t even really made a dent in the museum.  There was THAT much to see and do.  You could’ve taken days in it and still not seen everything.  We decided we needed to pick up the pace just a little bit.  We went over to the museum store to do a bit of shopping real quick while we were downstairs.  I was disappointed with their postcards and they didn’t really have the staples of what I would consider the normal souvenirs.  There was some neat stuff but a lot of the items were not specific to MIM(Musical Instrument Museum).  I didn’t purchase anything. 

Photo- One of the drums from the Olympics.

Photo- A large mechanical instrument that we saw a demo of while at the museum.

We decided next to check out the Artist Gallery which for some reason I had in my mind was going to be two dimensional art about music.  Don’t ask me why; it’s just how my mind works sometimes.  In the Artist’s Gallery, they had current and past musicians that were on display with their outfits and instruments.  They had the last guitar that Elvis played and one of the HUGE drums from the Olympics in Beijing.  They did a demonstration in the Mechanical Music Gallery of a HUGE wall area that was basically a mechanical organ, drum,etc. instrument.  It was built in the late 1940’s and had been in a dance hall somewhere over in Europe.

Photo- A Lur horn from Denmark. 

 

Photo- A violin made from an old Dutch wooden clog?
Yes, another interesting one.

Next we went back upstairs and decided to hit the Europe area.  It was wonderful and amazing all of the music and dancing that go on throughout our world. It was also fun seeing some of the unusual instruments.  There must have been about 17 different versions of the bagpipes in different cultures made out of different skins and bladders.  There was even one instrument that was made out of a pigs bladder that looked like a violin over a bladder.   There were all kinds of horns too; long winding horns and horns with four horns coming out of one.  The variety and the sounds were all unique but what was even more interesting is getting insight into all of these other cultures around the world through listening and watching their music and dancing.

Photo- A musical instrument that has a pig's bladder? YEP!

Laura gave out half way through Europe, but she encouraged me to continue on.  I picked up the pace through the rest of Europe.  Then I picked up the pace even more as I headed into Latin America and Oceania.  I was practically at an almost speed walked through the Asia area.  I gave out before I even got to the Middle East or Africa part of the museum.  I went downstairs where Laura was and ended up grabbing a coffee.  We had been at the museum for almost 5 hours and I needed caffeine before I drove us back to the hotel.

We opted for an easy night on the way back.  We swung through a fast food place.  Then back to the hotel where we ate the fast food, threw on our swimsuits, and went down to the hot tub to relax.  It was a full day of fun.

A Recovering Runner...

I’m standing among a circled chaired group with sweaty palms and fear that my deodorant may have given out. “Hi my name is Jeanne and I’m a recovering runner.”  They reply with saying Hi Jeanne.

I continue on, “It’s been 6 days since my last run.” There are audible gasps among the members of the group. "I’m just not motivated to run. 6 days ago, I did a half marathon and I feel kind of burned out from running. I felt tired after the half marathon, of course."  I smile.  "I felt slightly stiff for a couple of days, but otherwise I felt pretty good.  But I'm concerned about this lack of motivation.  I’ve been walking as usual in a course of a regular day. I’ve biked a couple of times.  Infact, I tend to wonder if the Big Guy upstairs is trying to tell me something… The two times that I’ve gone biking I had flat tires...BOTH times! I think that He is telling me to get back on the path and running.” Meanwhile, I’m getting some “Amen, Sista!” from some of members of the group.

(** NOTE:  The above situation is a work of my imagination.)

So, I’m hoping to get myself motivated to run again by signing up for another half marathon. Is this a crazy way to get motivated, or what?  I am however signed up for a 10K run at the beginning of October that will also help get me going; I'm sure.  But I will admit that I’ve been missing my bike in amidst all of this running, and I still want to do a century ride this year.


Last night I did another bike ride, and I did notice that I’m going slower on the hills than what I usually do.  ( Amazingly, no flat tire occurred!)  But this leaves me with concerns about doing a century on my bike.  The longest ride that I’ve done this year was Little Red Riding Hood and that was only 75 miles. The last 6 miles of that ride I rode in a state of cramping heat stroke. On top of the whole matter I’m even more concerned because in the last two weeks I’ve only ridden 50 miles and those 50 miles has been in the last three days.  I NEED to get my behind in gear and find some kind of motivation.  HELP!?!

Park City Half Marathon a Success!

I finished it!  I surprised myself and managed to finish the Park City Half Marathon in 3 hours and 17 minutes.  I figured with my being sick this last week I would be lucky to have finished in under 3 hours and 30 minutes.  In fact, that was really my goal to kind of just take it easy and just try to finish.  I didn't want to set myself up to beat my SLC Half Marathon time(2hrs 50min) and be disappointed.  With that in mind I took it easy during the first half of it and stuck with my friend Diane. (Above photo: Myself and Diane at the start.)

(Above photo: Diane taking a quick stop as I snap-- look at the beautiful scenery!)

It was fun we chatted and "wogged" together for about the first 7 miles.  The time and seemed to pass very quickly.  The hi-lights during our first 7 miles?  Well, there was the girls at the beginning that were saying that they brought their credit cards in case there was any shopping along the way.  The route did go through the New Park area of Park City and we were running through where shopping could have been done.  Diane laughed," Women after my own heart!"  As Diane and I were 3.5 miles out the first half marathon runner was already on his way back.  Not an ounce of fat on this guy and he was a pup!  Boy, did I feel old and slow!At mile 4 there was a guy off to the side of the route that had his guitar and was playing it as runners went by.  I stopped, took a picture, and thanked him.  Then, there was a handsome well formed tanned Greek God running by on his way back about mile 5.  Oh my!  I was about drooling over this specimen!  The REAL sad part is that he wasn't even breaking a sweat!(Below photo: Guy playing guitar along the route.)

It was at mile 6 that we saw something on a moped going by.  Diane asked," What was that?"  I quickly answered," I think it was cousin It on a moped."  We both laughed but it look like a guy totally covered with  long strands of yarn.  Strange!

(Above photo: The Barn in Park City was on the route.  It's like a local landmark in the area.)

By mile 7, Diane and I had kind of ran out of chit chat stuff and we were both in need of some music to motivate us.  So, we both put our head phones and started off doing our own thing.  Well, I got catch into my music and my pace started to pick up.  Diane ended up behind me a little ways.  We saw Paul ( Diane's hubby) coming on his way back.  We were about 1/2 mile from the turn around.  We both said hi and then proceeded on.  By the turn around, I was maybe 1/4 mile ahead of Diane and waved as I went by.  I was off in my world of music and singing along as I went.  I would smile at other runners as I went along.  But I was basically off in my own little world. 

(Photo: Art along the route, this is just one example of many.)

At about mile 8 the first full marathon runner went by and by mile 9 there were more and more full marathon runners passing me like I was standing still.  The real neat thing was that quite a few of them would give me encouragement over their shoulders as they went past.

(Photo: A band that was playing along route at mile #12. )

It was at mile 12 that Diane caught up with me.  She croaked out "Jeanne" from behind me.  I looked over my shoulder to see a purple faced sweating Diane.  I slowed and we started chatting again.  She was complaining the EVERYTHING hurt!  It was just my feet that really hurt at this point and my energy could have used a boost but otherwise I didn't feel too bad.  We went by where I had throw a long sleeve tshirt earlier in the run and I picked it up; amazed that it was still there.  I decided to tie it around my neck like a cape.  I, then, got the strangest idea that I felt like a Super Dog.  Don't ask me why?!  It's strange how the mile works after running 12 miles!

I then proceeded to tell Diane that we were going to dog paddle into the finish line.  "Okay!  Let's dog paddle! Diane!"  My hands out in front of me going up and down like I was dog paddling in a pool.  Diane would play along and laugh at me.  She was wondering where this strange idea and my last surge of energy was coming from; I'm sure.  I would keep this up from time to time as I noticed that Diane would start to lag just a bit and we arrived at the last turn.  The finish line was in sight.  There was a group of people with signs I guess this was the 100th Marathon for some guy named Kevin.  100 full marathons?!!  Wow!  I couldn't imagine.

I did promise myself that I wouldn't get emotionally like I did at the SLC Marathon finish line; that one I was crying like a baby.  I tried to smile as they took a picture as Diane and I crossed the finish line.  It felt wonderful to cross that line with a friend.

Wish Me Luck...

Tomorrow at this time, I'm hoping that I'll be done with my half of the Park City Marathon that I'm running.  Or should I say... I might be "wogging" ( a cross between a walk and a jog)?   Why will I probably be "wogging" instead of running?

Well, this last week I've been down with the "Gamboo".  It was a combination of the summer cold/ stomach flu.  I was basically sick from when I woke up this last Saturday morning till Wednesday morning when I finally started to feel semi-human again.  So, I'm really not sure what to expect for my performance for the half marathon tomorrow.  About two weeks ago, I ran 14.25 miles up & down a local canyon.  So I felt I was pretty well prepared but given this last week.  I'm not sure what to expect.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Quarterly Year Reflections...

Back in January, I set some goals for myself in 2010 and here it is all ready the last day in April. I can’t help but pause for a bit and reflect on my progress so far on those goals. (It’s also a S-L-O-W-W Friday afternoon here at work.) So here are the goals and some reflection on my progress so far.




1- Save More Money- This goal has been progressing quite well, and I really feel a sense of accomplishment from that. From each paycheck, I have been putting about 15-20% into my savings account. With what I was able to save towards the end of last year and combined with this year so far, I have started having a bit of a nest egg. It’s not a really big nest egg but enough that if I lost my job tomorrow I could survive almost 4 months. (This also probably shows how small my income is that I can all ready save enough for 4 month wroth of living.) But all in all I find that rather eases my mind especially when you just don’t know what is going to happen with the economy the way it is right now. I have heard of people that have been years at a position that would be considered “secure” and they’ve been handed the pink slip. So I feel like I’ve got a bit of a buffer zone now. That’s good.

2- Do a half marathon in the Spring and maybe work towards a full in late Summer- I finish my first half marathon on the 17th of this month. I accomplished part of this goal so far. BUT I really have to question myself whether I REALLY want to do a full marathon. After finishing the half marathon, I couldn’t see myself really wanting to do a full one. The half marathon took enough out of me. A full marathon? I think it might be the death of me!?! I am signed up to do another half marathon this August up in Park City. I would like to try to be better prepared for my second half marathon. So I guess in a way this goal is being tweaked just a little bit. Two half marathons in a year, and see if I can improve my performance on the second half marathon. I feel that’s very doable.


3- Survive and maybe do better on the Slow Salty Dog Tri-  I don’t think there’s going to be another Slow Salty Dog Tri this year. Diane has been experiencing injuries and I just couldn’t imagine trying to do this event without her or on my own. And, the thought of signing up for an official event just does not appeal to me. Too competitive for me and too expensive.

4- Do at least one century bike ride-   The bike season is finally starting here “somewhat”. I say "somewhat" because it’s been snowing and raining off and on for the last two days here. I did however manage to get in a 38 mile bike ride in this last Sunday. It was a good ride with a fair amount of climbing.  I really feel like I’m on track for this goal.

5- On my bike go up and over Little Mountain then Big Mountain to East Canyon and all the way back- This kind of reminds me of a song that that goes on to sing..."To grandma's house we go!"  I'm hoping that if the weather gets it’s act together this Sunday I'll get to the top of Little Mountain.  I figure I need to work through this goal section by section; bit by bit and I’m pretty confident that I will accomplish this goal. But only time will tell.


Wow! As I look over these, I’m kind of bit surprised. It looks like overall I’m doing all right so far. It’s a respectable quarterly reflection. What do you think? Any suggestions?  Maybe I need to come up with something else for the #3 goal ?

Half Marathon 2010 Photos... Are In!

Here are all of the photos that were taken of me during the run. I'm rather surprised... I'm photogenic! LOL! The first four are taken while I was slowly running through Liberty Park. The rest were taken while in the Gateway Mall.






So what do you think of my finishing pose?... I think it needs some work!



Here's myself and my friend Janet near the finish line. She's fast! Janet ran it her half marathon in 2 hours 9 minutes! Go Girl Go!

I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT!

Text Message: Yes! I AM SO DONE! I did it!

This was the message that I sent a few minutes after I slowly ran across the finish line of the Salt Lake City half marathon. Of course, that was after I wiped the tears from my eyes. About two blocks from the finish line the SLC Marathon turns north on an open shopping mall (Gateway Mall) and there were at least a couple of thousand people cheering you on. I found my emotions were getting caught in my throat about a half block through this entire crowd. People were clapping, yelling, whistling, and cheering YOU to the finish. (Above photo- taken with my cell phone before the start of the marathon.)

It was something I had never experienced before, and I was overwhelmed with the emotion of it. A block and a half later as I crossed the finish line, I was bawling! Shortly afterwards a volunteer slipped a finishing medal over my head. Then, another volunteer got concerned as tears are running down my face and asked if I was okay. “Yes, I’m okay.” I said that I was over come with emotion. These were tears of joy! I finished it! Then I hugged a friend who had finished the half before me.

It’s been almost two days and I still can’t quite grasp the reality of it. (Though, my muscles are grasping the reality of it quite well.) I managed the feat, my first official half marathon, in 2 hours 50 minutes and 15 seconds. I finished about 5 minutes later than what I had planned. About 4 blocks from the finish the “I’m TOO Sexy” song played on my MP3 player. It should have been my finishing song but I was beyond worrying about what song the MP3 player was on. I was just trying to concentrate on finishing.

The last mile was the hardest. (Why is that? It’s the same way in cycling too.) It’s as I’m running along State Street (the main drag) in Salt Lake City with the Capitol Dome shining in the distance that I come to the hardest part of the run. You can see all of the runners ahead of you and there’s a slight incline in the last block before you turn left. I continued to run up the incline though my feet are really starting to scream. But this wasn’t a run anymore it was like a fast paced march up the hill. As I turn to head west towards the Gateway Mall and run south along Temple Square, I decide I need to do segments of walking and running. I count out 20 foot falls of running then 20 foot falls of walking. So thus, I’m counting along as I enter the Gateway Mall. Then I lose all concentration, and become an emotional mess!

The day started with a slight chill in the air up at the Legacy Bridge up by the University of Utah. It was still dark outside as I breathed a sigh of relief escaping from the sardine- like packed Light Rail train that dropped the runners to the start. I cheered on the last batch of cyclists as they started their event with lights and fluorescent vests on. I got in line for the start. Not too close to the start; I didn’t want to get trampled. As I waited for the start I got to watch the dawn come up over the mountains as I stood among thousands of runners. It was rather an amazing feeling.

The starting horn blared and for the first 5 minutes everyone was walking across the starting line where the timing chips were acknowledged. Then it was a slow run, and then I finally managed to set off on my 12 minute average pace. It was rather interesting seeing traffic stopped like parking lots waiting for all of the runners to pass by. Some you could tell were angry while others got out of their cars and stood and cheered on the runners. The runners were claiming half of the roads. There were people in lawn chairs along the way with signs and names of people. Cow bells were commonly shaken. Then there were photographers with cameras. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to find a couple of good shots of myself on the site in a couple of days. So instead I'm leaving you with a poor shot of me taken by me before 5AM that morning....

Oh and did I mention that...
I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT!