A Little Tri Training...

Yesterday morning, I went with my friend Diane and a group of gals down to American Fork to do a preview of the Women of Steel Triathlon course.  This triathlon takes place next Saturday.  Since my favorite Chalk Creek Bike ride got cancelled due to flash flood conditions and high winds, I thought I would tag along with them.  All of them are doing this Tri next Saturday.  I was the odd man out and just wanted to get out and do something.  We met at the American Fork Rec Center where the Tri will start and finish.

The pool was closed and all of us took a gander at it through the fence.  But the main focus was to check out the bike and run course.  The bike route was comprised of two 6 mile loops, and the run was one lap of about 3 miles. 

We all got on our bikes first and started out on the course.  I quickly took to the lead, partially because I was familiar with the area and partially because I'm such a strong rider; my sport of choice.  The course was done in a clockwise loop.  The first part there was the wind at your bike as your climbing a bit of a hill; not too bad.  I will admit it was pretty with a little cemetery and fields with horses grazing. 

As you turned the corner to come back, BOOM the wind hit you full on!  It was blowing pretty hard and cut down the speed we were riding.  The wind was a definite issue.  I did my usual making myself small and focus on the pedaling.  I built up a distance from the gals that had been keeping up with me.  It was almost with a sigh that I took the turn back to the start for a second loop.  We waited for all and then started the second loop.

This will be Alex's (in blue here) first Tri!

Next was the run, which was basically the same route as the bike but with an earlier turn.  I had changed into my running shoes and stripped down to a sports tank under my bike jersey.  It was getting a bit warm out but still pretty windy.  All of us waited and started out at the same time.  Quickly most of the gals passed me on the run; not my sport of choice especially when going up hill.  I've never been good running up hill even with the wind at my back.  I will admit that I managed to keep the gals within sight until the last turn when they still had the energy to sprint to the finish.  Not me!  I discovered after about 2 miles in that my darn butt cramp from last week came back.  There must be something about running that's making it come out.  Because I had managed to bike almost 60 miles this last week and had no problem with it.    

A Whimp in the Making...

Twice a week in the early mornings, I've been going to the gym with my friend Diane.  We usually start out on the dredmill or the elliptical for about 30 to 45 minutes of cardio.  Then we head over to the weight machines for some strength training.  I REALLY hate doing this but I do it because I should and I have a friend with me.  (Maybe not the most motivating reasons, but still... I'm hanging in there at 5:30am twice a week!) 

So Monday, I do real well on the weight machines.  BUT come Thursday morning... FOr-GETita-Boud-it!  It's like my muscles have been zapped on Wednesday night and I'm like a TOTAL Whimp!  I can barely manage 1 rep of 10 at the lightest weight, and on my nemesis machine-- this machine where you are doing a variation of a chest press while sitting up.  Well, on that machine I just pull the pin and let it sit in my lap. What's up with that?  Is it a form of Thursday-itis? Or am I just the making of a Whimp on Thursday mornings! 

The Running Mario Brothers Game...

For weeks now, I’ve been running/walking laps around a local park in the wee hours of the morning. A mid the various individuals (that I can count on one hand) I have seen at the park, I’ve formed a “wave” relationship. You know like the one that you have with the neighbor down the street. You recognize him and never had said a word but you wave at each other when you see each other as you drive by in the car and what not. Well, that in a nut shell is my relationship with Mr. Mario Brothers. I have personally to myself referred to this short Latino man that I see almost even morning run at this park. He rather looks like a Mario Brothers. He always wears a ball cap and has a rather prominent mustache.

Mr. Mario Brother runs the opposite direction as me on the outside running trail of the park. I don’t trust myself to be coordinated enough to run on the trail; so thus I keep to the flat even cement. He is always running smoothly, and always has a perpetual smile under his mustache. He is also always wearing long sleeves and pants even in the middle of the hot summer mornings. Why? I don’t know, but he’s out there running fully clothed each time I see him.


So each morning as I run counter clockwise and Mr. Mario Bros. runs clockwise, I get a wave from him each time we go past each other. I wave back to him of course. Lately, I’ve noticed that when I’m walking I just get a wave from him but if I’m running I get a wave and a thumbs up from him.

So to make my morning run/walk a little more interesting I’ve turned this into a game. A moderate workout equals two waves. A good workout equals two waves and one thumbs up. A real good workout equals three waves and two thumbs up. I’m working towards four waves and three thumbs up—but I may have a heart attack before that ever happens!

Bicycle Training for Dummies…

I rather stumbled on to a new form of cycle training last night. Or should I say in hindsight I discovered that I was training when in fact it was not a “planned” training? You’ve got to love that hindsight is 20/20!

(Photo- Half way up Big Mountain-- I had to stop for a breather... Go Figure!)



Last night as I was doing my usual Tuesday night Emigration Canyon ride, I pulled off to the side about 2 miles in. My back tire felt strange to me. A couple of the guys on the ride stopped with me. One of them, being more mechanically minded than me (like 80% of the population) took a look at my back bike tire. Well, to make a long story short… I was riding my bike with the brake rubbing pretty hard. He managed to release the brake enough so I could still use my brake and ride the rest of the canyon.



(Photo- Fall color on way from Emigration towards Big Mountain's base.)


It was as I was riding my bicycle up the rest of the canyon that I got to thinking. My rear brake was probably rubbing pretty hard against my back tire ALL weekend long. That would especially explain why the ride on Saturday seemed harder than usual when I was going up Emigration, and well, that climb to the 7100 ft top of Big Mountain. It had exhausted me, and seemed to take FOR-EV-ER! But the real thing that had amazed me was that somehow I had managed to stay up right riding that mountain at 3.1mph. OMG! I never knew I could ride a bike that slow uphill and stay upright! (Mind Blowing!)

(Photo- The VIEW from the top of Big Mountain.)

So last night as everyone was regrouping at the top of Little Mountain (Emigration’s Summit), one of the guys asked if this was a new form of training by having the brake on. “Kind of like that little old lady driving in the fast lane with the brake on?” Meanwhile I thought to myself, “Yeah, its Bicycle Training for Dummies!” Now

where did I put my dunce helmet?

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!?!

Still Recovering & A Rest Stop...

It's almost been four days since I've run 14.25 miles, and I'm still trying to recover.  This last Saturday I speed walked to the top of City Creek Canyon and then ran back down.  I had originally planned to do just 12 miles BUT I was feeling SO good that when the turn around for 12 miles came... Silly me, I kept on going.  The Energizer Bunny had nothing on me at this point or so I felt like.  I was going to go on for ever and ever and ever. 

(Photo: Liesa and Mary Margaret on Pre-ULCER bike ride- you could hear the ice sizzling on their helmets! Yes, that is huge ice clumps on top of their helmets and YES it was THAT HOT out there!)

I pretty much kept going until the last mile back to my car.  By then my toes nails felt as though someone was trying to pull them out through my shoes and I could have been passed by a little old lady with a walker.  This was no longer in the ball park of a run or jog.  It was putting one foot in front of the other. A slow walk and a grimace on my face with each step I took.  I can never remember being ever so happy to see my car.  It was virtually an oasis in the desert!

The amazing part was that after all that and a long hot shower I was alert enough to go out to lunch with a friend!  Then, I managed to run some errands and do some grocery shopping.  Oh boy!  Got to love those endorphins.  I was high on them but when 5PM came around I was out for the count!

(Photo: Curt getting some goodies out of the back of my car.)

Sunday came and I did my fourth annual rest stop on the west side of Utah Lake for the BCC Pre-ULCER ride.  The ULCER ride has been put on by my bike club for over 25 years.  The ULCER stands for Utah Lake Century Epic Ride.  It traditionally is the first Saturday in August, and is a very hot hot ride.  The Pre-ULCER is the ride for BCC members to check out the ride prior to the ride or to get a chance to ride it because they'll be volunteering to help with the ride.

I started doing this rest stop the year after I ended up having an accident on the ride.  That year I hit a pot hole while reaching for my water bottle.  I ended up going over my handle bars and face planting it on the road.  All I remember is putting my hands out as the pavement came towards me.  I guess I was out for a couple of minutes and woke up with quite a few fellow cyclists standing over me.  I still remember feeling my lips swelling and the taste of blood in my throat. A short time later I took my first ever ambulance ride to a hospital.  I ended up with forty stitches inside my mouth and four stitches under my nose.  No broken bones but they ended up keeping me over for observation at the hospital because I passed out in the hall as I was trying to leave with a friend that had come to pick me up.

So, I no longer bike any of the ULCER ride.  I don't want to jinx myself or worry about replacing my bike.  Oh yeah, I totalled my Trek bike during the accident.  So instead each year I camp out along the long desolate sunny hot stretch of the west side of the Utah Lake where there's nothing but scrub brush with my snacks, coolers of ice, water, and cold beverages for my fellow club members.  I feel like it's the least I can do and they really could use the help over there in that area.

(Photo: L-R front- Carter and Doug enjoying some shade. Liesa and Jane[my fellow rest stop tendor] in the background.)

It was a good thing this year because I ended up driving two cyclists to the finish.  My friend Doug who couldn't keep down even water in his stomach and another rider, Bob, who ended up experiencing cramping in his legs.  I will say it was a tight fit for my station wagon.  Two guys, myself, two bikes, two lawn chairs, and three coolers.  But we managed, and everyone made it safely through the ride to make their ways home.

3 Canyons Attempt: 1- 3/4, A Moose & Playing Chicken With A Squirrel

Yesterday I took the day off from work to do a training ride for that I Think I Canyons ride that takes place at the end of July. I wanted to try and see how I did on a 3 canyons attempt. I figured that if I could manage the three canyons, albeit easier canyons, I could then reasonably put in some more training and be prepared for the four canyons ride in two weeks.

Well, the theory seemed to work on paper well or so I thought. If I could manage an almost 6500 feet and three canyon climbing ride, I was on the road towards the more difficult ride. Then, I could train/work some more to get me into the ballpark of the 12000 feet and four canyons.


And it could be that I thought I was better than what I thought I was. Oh, the power of the Ego! I must admit it was at work as I started off at 8AM in the morning, heading on my bike from home and towards the first canyon. The temps had already climbed to a balmy 80 degrees as I started climbing. There were predicting that it was going to climb to the upper 90’s.


City Creek Canyon, the first canyon, is a shorter narrower canyon with a stream that runs to the side of a road. It’s closed to most motorized traffic except for service vehicles. I was very much enjoying the tree coverage as I started to get to the steeper parts of the climb. I only saw one or two other cyclists in the canyon as I went along. It was nice and quiet.


I was very much enjoying the solitude and then I came around a corner to discover myself about 20 feet from a HUGE moose in standing in the middle of the road. About 30 feet past the moose I saw another cyclist that was pausing in the middle of the road waiting to come down. There’s only one way in and one way out. I stood still hoping to not draw the moose my way. I VERY slowly turned my bike towards going down the canyon as I keep my eyes peeled towards the moose. No sudden movements. Once the bike was headed in the right direction I took one final look at the moose that appeared to be looking cautiously between myself and the other cyclist. And me, thinking of saving my own hide I jumped on my bike and sprinted a ¼ mile down the road. The other cyclist was SOL!


I warned two other female cyclists coming up the canyon road. One of whom wanted to see the moose. I don’t think she believed me. I turned back and lead them to the edge of the curve to catch a glimpse of the moose. Let me tell you I don’t think quiet was in one of the gal’s vocabulary. She almost shouted,” Wow!” as we stopped on the road. It was enough to startle the moose to move off to the side of the road and I decided that I didn’t want to risk hanging out there any longer. I quickly turned and high tailed it out of there! I only managed to get 3/4 of the canyon climbed on my bike but I wasn't going to risk getting an closer to that moose.


On my way to the other canyon I took a route that I knew well but was an up & down type of route. My legs were starting to feel the climbing as I found myself at the bottom of the next canyon; Emigration. It already said 10am on my cell phone. Emigration Canyon is a canyon that I’m most familiar with. I climb this canyon almost every Tuesday night.


I decided to pace myself slower than the usual pace figuring I still had one more canyon to go. The temperature was getting quite a bit warmer and there’s less shading along the road here. I made sure I was drinking my water every mile or so. I finally reached the summit of Emigration (Little Mountain) about an hour and a half later; this being about 15 to 20 minutes slower than my average time climbing up this canyon. I stopped and sat on a road guard for a bit, and I felt my thighs start to solidify and burn as I sat there. That’s it for my climbing today. I knew from experience that I needed to call it a day. My legs were toast!


Down the canyon I coasted; enjoying the feeling of the wind cooling me off. It was as I was 1 mile from the bottom that I saw a squirrel in the middle of the bike lane. The squirrel appeared to be standing there eating something. I started towards the middle of the road figuring that the squirrel would go off to the side of the road. Nope, not this squirrel! The squirrel went that way too. The squirrel faked right and went left. I went right only to have the squirrel match me.


Then the squirrel went crazy! Quickly running left, and then right. It ran back and forth right in front of me several times. What was I to do? A car was now coming down the canyon next to me and quickly closing the distance between us. I get within 5 feet of the squirrel. The squirrel stands up and stares me down!

It was like it was challenging me! WTF? I’m going 30 miles per hour down this canyon and can’t stop on a dime and I have a squirrel that’s playing chicken with me. In my mind, I can see the squirrel getting caught in my spokes and being decapitated and then I would be face planting it on the asphalt. OMG!  Not a pretty site!

With mere seconds to go the squirrel whips down the white line between me and the car. My heart is beating terribly fast and I put a hand over it as I look at the driver who looks at me as she passes. She saw what had happened and gives me a look of concern. Meanwhile in my rearview mirror I see that darn squirrel again sitting in the middle of the bike lane. I can’t help but think this is some kind of sick game that this squirrel has played before. “A squirrel with sick sense of humor?” I think as I continue on my way home for the day.

I Think I CAN (BUT Maybe I Shouldn't?!)!

This last week as I’m checking out my local cycling club’s ride calendar and I see a ride that snared my attention. I’ve been in search of a riding challenge for myself during this cycling season. I think I may have found it?  But you tell me...

The name of this ride—I Think I CANyons Ride. There’s a choice of a 2 CANyons version or 4 CANyons version. All the proceeds of the ride benefit a local clinic that provides healthcare for the homeless. A wonderful cause and they are advertising water stops at the top of each canyon with a lunch after 2 CANyons or 4 CANyons—your choice. The event takes place on July 31st a mere 3 and a half weeks from today. So I need to decide which version I’m going to do.

The 2 CANyons version of the ride, I “could do in my sleep”; as Diane puts it and continues on, “Jeanne, it wouldn’t be enough of a challenge for you.” And yes, she probably is right; considering its 2 canyons with about a total of 3740 feet of climbing and 43 miles. Not to brag but this would require NO training what so ever for me.

So thus I’m playing with the idea of the 4 CANyons version. This version is climbing 4 CANyons along the Wasatch Front for a total of 12,000 climbing feet and 110 miles. Most people would consider this an INSANE challenge, and here I am playing with the idea of it. Can you say C-R-A-Z-Y?!?!



But in my defense I can say that I’ve climbed three of the four canyons. One of them of which I lead weekly bike rides up to the top of. The canyon I haven’t climbed is the steepest. In fact, it’s been compared to part of the Tour De France. It's Little Cottonwood Canyon.  It maybe be only 8.3 miles from the base but has a whopping average of 9.2% grade as you go up it. I’ve heard rumors that Dave Zabriskie, local cyclist turned world class, uses that canyon quite often for training. Quite often when I’ve driven it I’ve seen cyclists riding it; but then again all of these canyons along the Wasatch Front you'll see cyclists going up and down.

In the past, I’ve done rides where there was 9,700 feet of climbing but that was two years ago. And outside of climbing the one canyon I haven’t really been doing that much climbing this year. Three years ago I did another ride called the Mount Nebo Loop (Wasatch Mountain's highest peak at 11, 870 feet) where there are 37 miles of 6% or higher grade of climbing. I did the whole 70 mile ride in about 5 hours and 20 minutes which is respectable considering the amount of climbing involved. I sent an email to one of the guys that put this I Think I CANyons ride on the cycling ride calendar and asked if I was in the ball park for attempting this. He said that if I could manage ¾ of the distance that in his experience I could pull it off the full thing on the day of the ride.



So the main question is… Am I CRAZY enough to do the 4 CANyons version? I would need to add a MASSIVE amount of climbing to my cycling training schedule in the next 3 weeks to be ready for the event. That on top of the training I’m all ready doing for a half marathon that takes place in August 20th in Park City. Realistically is it possible for me to do ALL this?



Hmmmm… maybe I’ll sign up for the 4 CANyon version and see what happens? It’s only a $10 difference, and then if I find myself not ready I can always do the 2 CANyon. BUT is that giving myself to easy of a way out?  

(Editor's Note: All of the above photos are from a recent ride I took up Emigration Canyon-- which is the last canyon on the I Think I CANyon Ride. Beautiful, isn't it?)

Dredmill Action

This morning about 5Am-ish I headed to the gym.  The place where I would have usually gone to run was corded off and had a Hazmat team working on it.  You see, Salt Lake City has it's own oil spill. An oil spill?!!?  Yes, there was a strong wind that knocked down a branch that hit a security fence that cause an "electrical fault" that caused a power surge through a 1950's-era oil pipeline.  Thus, a "One in a Million" cause an oil spill in the desert city of Salt Lake. Can you say BIZARRE!!? 

So anyway, not wanting to dodge around Hazmat teams this morning, I found myself at the gym doing a little "dredmill" action.  I don't have any fangled gear that tells me what distance or speed I run.  Most times I measure a route before on my bike, and then just time my run, sometimes, with my cell phone.  It's low maintenance-low technology type stuff, AND simple math.  Plus, there's the fact that I only had planned the one route at this time; which in hindsight was rather not too bright of me.

But the good news is that I ran 3.5 miles in 45 minutes on the "dredmill".  I average about 4.6mph speed limit.  Nothing that the police would arrest me for but it felt good.  I was good and I did my stretches before and my stretches afterwards.  Then, I even managed my way up the three flights of stairs to my place.  This last weekend, I managed to get out with some friends and run/walk about 3.75 miles in about an hour.  I think it (the running) is coming back!  Slowly but surely...

Back To SQUARE ONE...

I went for a run on Wednesday morning. It had been almost 3 weeks since I had run, and I’ve lost it! I just couldn’t run. It wasn’t in my body to run, and so I ended up doing a quick paced walk for 3 miles instead of the run I had planned.




I had been SO busy with preparations for Little Red and trying to get some cycling in that the running aspect of my training got sidelined. In hindsight, it was not a good thing to be doing. I’m now paying for it. I’m starting from Square 1 again. I will admit that I’m at least a little better off than I was last year at this time. I’ve all ready ran one half marathon, and I own the shoes.



So now I find myself struggling to come up with a training plan. I’ve got a few goals that I need to work towards this summer. One century on the bike, another half marathon, and a double(possibly triple) canyon bike ride in one day. I’ve just need to come up with the balance training plan. All the while try to keep it manageable so that I can allow recovery for my body.



Another factor that’s not a “happy” thing is that Monday morning I was up 8 lbs. OUCH! Yes, I was STRESS eating while getting all of those preparations for Little Red volunteers on the way. I didn’t have time and I grabbed a lot of fast food. BAD ME!!!  I need to get back to my food journal and get serious. The extra weight is making it harder to break into the training regement. But the good news is that I got serious this week and am all ready down 4 lbs.



I’m hoping that I can get back to where I was. I was rather surprised at how quickly you can lose your running ability in a short time. It seems strange I can just hop on a bike and go 70 miles after a month of not doing anything, but run! Yeah, who’s dreaming now!

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 ?

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!

Orange Soda + Zucchini = Not Good!

This morning I woke up earlier than usual planning on running 5 miles on the treadmill at the gym. I lacked the motivation to run yesterday and needed to make up for it on my training schedule. I felt a tad bit bloated but nothing unusual as I headed out the door to the gym. So thus I found myself 20 minutes (1.75 miles) into the run, rushing from the treadmill to the restroom stall in the women’s locker room at the gym. OMG! Thank the Lord I made it, but I felt like (and still do) like my innards are wreathing in toxic gases. Argh!

I blame it on the orange soda and zucchini that my dinner comprised of last night. I know it sounds like a rather weird combo, and I will admit that I’m not a well balanced type of eater to begin with. But for some unknown reason last night I found myself craving orange soda. Orange soda? It’s been years since I’ve had one but still the craving was there. Strange! So before I cut up and sautéed a HUGE zucchini in bit of olive oil and spices. I jumped in the car and ran to the local 7-11 to cure my craving.

Oh my! I’m paying for the whole combo-event today. I teased one of my fellow employees that the women’s restroom is annexed to my office today while I fast walked to it the 50th time. I would’ve called in sick but one of the gals has been out since (all last week) her husband passed away, and the other one had a doctor’s appt. So that really only leaves me as being in the office. So here I am trying to be the responsible one answering phones and performing my job duties between restroom visits. What a way to spend a Monday!?!

On a side note—Mary, the Popette, had a very lovely birthday luncheon at Mimi’s Café on Saturday. I realized I had forgotten my camera four blocks before I arrived at the restaurant. Go figure! So thus I do not have any recent photos to post of the event here, sorry. I gave her one of my oil paintings that she has admired for a while; Couple Along the Coast. She was pleasantly pleased with the gift.

Sore, Stiff, & TOO Sexy?

Today I’m trying to silently suffer the consequences of my long run yesterday. I have stiff legs, sore muscles and a huge blister in the in-step of my left foot but for all this I really feel pretty good. You see, I surprised myself yesterday, and that doesn’t happen often. I ran 12.1 miles on the “dredmill” in 2.5 hours time. Wow! At this pace I will probably finish the half marathon in about 2 hours and 45 minutes. I'm really rather excited about that possibility.

I've popped the blister and slapped a couple of bandaids over it. I'm limping a bit today. During the run yesterday, I didn't feel the "pebble" like effect of the blister until mile 11 on the "dredmill" which I thought was pretty good, and it was only on one foot. I figured this could be worse, and can live with this if it happens again.

It was as I was stretching on Sunday morning after the run with my MP3 player still playing that I think I may have figured out what song I’ll be running/walking or maybe dragging my ass across the finish line. “I’m too sexy for my shirt, I’m too sexy for this song, I’m SOO SEXY—It HURTS!” I had to chuckle and I thought how apropos for that to be the finishing song. Here's the song....


I’ve been playing and re-playing with the song list in my MP3 player in preparation for this half marathon. I have songs from Creed, Tina Turner, the Knack, Tom Petty, the Temptations, Flogging Molly, and even others from the 60’s. A little bit of everything with a whole lot of variety. Hey it managed to get me through 2.5 hours on the "dredmill"; so I figure it can get me through 13.1 miles on an outside course. I just hope that the weather is good. I’ve even gone through and timed a walk only song about half way through to give myself a bit of a planned break. The walking song—“Don’t Worry Be Happy”.


What do you think? A good walking tune?

Good Friday & Happy Easter!

It's Good Friday today and I'm happy to see the end of this Lent season. I will admit that a great deal of my happiness stems from having no more FISHY Fridays. Oh, I know that's terrible of me(the ever struggling cafeteria Catholic) but having only fish on Fridays when I always seem to get cravings for something with chicken or beef in it has been quite the struggle for me this year. I will admit that part of the fact is that I'm not really that fond of fish in general to begin with, but I think I've noticed it more this year because I didn't do my usual giving up the three C's-- caffeine, coffee, and chocolate. I only gave up soft drinks this year and that I will admit wasn't much of a stretch. I had earlier in the year decided to give up all artificial sweeteners. So most of my Diet Cherry Coke was out, and that really only left regular soft drinks which do not play well when you are trying to lose weight.

Wishing you all a WONDERFUL and HAPPY EASTER! I hope the weather is good where ever you maybe.
They are predicting rain/snow here on both Saturday and Sunday. I had hoped to run the actual route of the Salt Lake City Half Marathon on Sunday but it looks as though the "dredmill" shall be the better deal. Darn it! This will be my last really long run before the SLC Marathon. This will be the real test to see if I'm ready.

Do You Ever Slow Down?

This questions was thrown at me on Monday night as we were walking from the restaurant to the opera. I took the night off from preparing for my Art Show that takes place this Saturday. But the question has been rather plaguing me since.

"Do you ever slow down?"

At the time I stopped cold in my tracks in the middle of State Street (a busy downtown street). The ladies I was with just cracked up at my reaction. I'm standing in the middle of a downtown street with my jaw hanging out, and a perplexed questioning look on my face. I quickly recovered with a laugh and continued on.

As we were chatting and catching up during dinner I had revealed over the meal all that I had been up to... training for a marathon, possibly training for a 70.3 triathlon, preparing for a solo art show, and volunteering, with my friend Diane, as a volunteer coordinator for the Little Red Riding Hood Ride (which has all ready filled up in a month's time with 3000 female riders). Then on top of this I'm working on a schedule with one of my dinner companions about leading bicycle rides up Emigration Canyon for the cycling season.

"Do you ever slow down?" The question has been haunting me. With my art show coming up, my whole world is in STRESS mode. I keep on thinking that I just might need a retreat or something. I remember a while back Diane mentioned on her blog about going on a retreat. At the time I checked out that retreat and got to thinking about the idea of it. But it was mainly just pipe dreaming. I looked at a couple of running retreats that looked interesting but then again would THAT really be considered a retreat? Hmmm....?

I would like to find something inexpensive and retreat-like. Maybe a "Day Spa"? Though, I don't really consider myself the pampering type. Earlier this month I had to forgo the yurting expedition because of getting ready for this show. Darn! Anyone have some suggestions out there?

The other issue that came up with this haunting question

"DO you ever slow down?"

Am I my own worst enemy? I am creating all of this stress for myself. It's all on me and no one else. It's like one of those "Aha!" moments. It's all true and it's all my fault... Now what am I going to do about it? The funny thing is that I always classified myself the type "B" personality but it seems that I woke up from a dream and discovered I'm really the "A" type personality. YIKES!! What happened? Was I deluding myself before? WOW! Talk about pipe dreaming! There must have been something real good in my pipe!

"Do you ever slow down?"

I think I need to ponder this....

Perfect 10 Update- Week 8

It's been rather a tough week. I didn't do very well on quite a few fronts, and must admit to being a bit frustrated. Here's the progress and explanations...

--Lose 10 lbs. over 10 weeks: Can we say OUCH!!!!!!!! I gained 3 lbs. this week! I must admit that I have not felt motivated at all this week. My food journal was very poorly kept up this week. I logged in my workouts but didn't write down my food intake. I was a VERY BAD GIRL!!! I ate out and even had a couple of orders of fast food with ....french fries! OMG!! So overall that puts me down to only 3 lbs. lost over the 8 weeks which is rather dismal!

--Build up to 10 miles running in less than 2.5 hours: I accomplished this goal last and was playing with the idea of seeing if I could do a combination of improving my speed and increasing my distance. With that in mind, this last Sunday morning I did what is called a tempo run. I started off with an easy run speed and then every two minutes I would increase my speed by .1 till I was running at my fastest. I managed to get up to 6.4 mph on the treadmill, and still lived to tell the tale! But I think that I injured myself in the process. The front middle of my right thigh has been hurting ever since. In fact, it's been getting worse each day no matter what I do. I didn't go to the gym this morning because I'm just limping along as is. On top of it I am really hating the fact that I live on the third floor. Stairs can be a killer.

--Balance exercises 2 times a week: Nope! Just couldn't do it with my right thigh acting up.

--Gym 3 times a week: Yep, against my better judgement... Friday, Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday. Both Monday and Wednesday I walked on the treadmill taking it easy in hopes that it would help my thigh out. Nope! So I'm planning on not going to gym tomorrow and doing an easy swim with Diane on Saturday morning.

Unknow fact:

I name my cars. I know it sounds silly but I can thank my Mom for this. She always names her cars. My current car's name is... " Sexy Soccer Mom Mobile". It was derived from a comment a co-worker said the first day I showed up to work with my 1999 Ford Taurus SE Station Wagon. He said," What are you going for that Sexy Soccer Mom look or what?" The name stuck! My previous vehicle names... Bitch Mobile (Blue Escort Wagon), Blackie (Black Ford Ranger), Chocolate Drop (Brown Dodge Aries).

Perfect 10 Update- Week 6

Here's my progress report--

--Lose 10 lbs. in 10 weeks: Good News! Good progress on this goal this week which is surprising considering that I did do a Chocolate & Wine Pairing Class on Tuesday night. But then again I did some extra cardio on Wednesday morning to combat the situation. I'm down another 1.5 lbs! YAHOOOOOOO! That puts me at a total weight loss of 4 lbs. over the 6 weeks. Hopefully, I can keep this up!

--Build to 10 miles of running in under 2.5 hours: This week was a back off from distance week. This last Sunday morning I did manage 5.35 miles in 63 minutes time. This next Sunday morning, I have a plan to run 10 miles which hopefully will take me lass than 2.5 hours. In fact, it looks like I might be able to manage within almost a two hour time frame. Keep your fingers crossed for me on this upcoming Sunday morning!

--Balance exercises 2 times per week: 50% accomplished! I did do my balance improving exercise once this week. I keep forgetting to do these exercises. I need to work on getting them into a regular part of my routine.

--Gym at least 3 times a week: 100%! Friday, Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday early mornings! I'm getting to where I have MY treadmill that I like to use... Can that be a good thing?

--Now for the UNKNOWN fact:

I got the idea this week from South Beach Steve's (http://logmyloss.com/) Perfect 10 update last week. I was a choir director for my church for almost 6 years. I have to laugh at the oddity of the whole situation because I don't play any instruments and I don't read music. I sing by ear and I don't really believe that much in practicing either. So here I am the choir director for a choir of almost 20 people. HELLO!! I see a slight issue here... but I think it was just that no one else wanted to be in charge and I've been told I'm a good people person. The choir only had about 4 regular people when I first started and when I stepped down this last year there's about 13 regular members and up to 20 for special choir events. I would quite often refer to myself as the choir organizer because when I said choir director I had people that would ask me to sing with them or ask music related questions where I had NO CLUE what they were talking about.

Perfect 10 Update- Week 4

Here’s the progress report for this week…

--Lose 10 lbs. in 10 weeks: Wow! I actually lost another lb. this week. That puts me at a total weight lost of 2 lbs in 4 weeks. It’s not looking good for reaching my goal of losing 10 lbs. But we’ll see what happens. I will admit that I’m glad to see a little more weight loss but to tell you the truth I was getting a bit frustrated. For the most part, I’ve been keeping to the plan of 1400 to 1500 total calories per day. I have been keeping a food/workout journal, and writing in it EVERY little bitty thing I eat. I even got out the measuring cups and started measuring stuff when I ate at home. I’ve been pretty darn good for the most part.

Hey, I’ll admit that I’ve had my slip ups… like that whole pint of Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. Ooopps! But even with a slip such as that I’ve been putting in extra work out time to attempt to make up for the difference. So an extra mile of running put in here or an extra three minutes on the elliptical machine, and I felt like I was covering my ass, so to say. It’s those slip ups that I need to work on. They usually occur late at night when I’m home and bored in front of the TV. Basically, if I would get a life I wouldn’t have this problem.

Build to 10 miles running in less than 2.5 hours: This was my back off week with training for length. I’ve been working some on speed with my shorter run. I ran a 5K race/run out of town this last weekend and I almost trimmed a minute off of my average minute/mile. In fact, here’s my official stuff…

Official time—33:51.4
Pace--- 11:02/ Mile
Overall place in 5K--- 309 out of 484
Overall place in female category--- 167 out of 282
Overall in my age group--- 16th out of 27

I’m very happy with how I did on the 5K.

Balance exercises twice a week: Done! I’m working on the stork that places the ¾ full glass of water on the short stool. I’m getting better at it--- a lot less spillage!

Visit the gym 3 times a week: Yep! Monday, Wednesday, and this morning! Gee I did it even though I went out of town for the weekend. I was GOOD! ;-)

The Unknown Fact:
In 6th grade, two gals and I won a dance competition in our Phys. Ed. Class. We danced to the tune of Do the Hustle; that was played on a 45 record. (If any of you remember what a record is?) Saturday Night Fever was the hot new thing in movies that year. The other two gals were mimicking each other on each side of me doing variations of the hustle dance. Meanwhile I strutted my stuff down the center just like John Travolta did in Saturday Night Fever. I was SO cool! I even borrowed a wide collared jacket from the Phys. Ed. Teacher, Mr. Reed, to look the part. Every now and then, I still like to mimic this John Travolta move!

A Thumb's Up Weekend!

Here’s Sofia yards from finishing here half marathon down in St. George. I only hope in April when I finish my first half marathon that I can look half as beautiful and happy as she looks. But I think this picture expresses my feelings for the weekend overall. A great run, hanging out, and a first visit ever (for me) to an In-N-Out burger joint.

It started early on Friday when took the day off from work and got the chance to sleep in. Then there was the beautiful drive down to St. George. The more and more I headed south the scenery improved. There were blue skies and a new whited mountainous landscape with white fluffy clouds floating along. It was hard not stopping and taking pictures. I managed to fit a few art gallery visits in between checking into my room and going to pick up the packet for tomorrow’s run. Later Sofia arrived and she was STARVING! We ended up getting take out from a terribly busy Olive Garden and back to the hotel room. It ended up being similar to a slumber party as we hung out, watched TV, and chatted. I’m afraid I kept her up later as we talked about local music; an interest of hers that just fascinated me.

The next morning, it was still dark as we went down for the continental breakfast. I could see that the cement was wet but it was so dark you couldn’t see all of what it was doing. It was predicted a high of 42 F degrees but I imagine that it was only in the mid 30’s as we walked the block and half down to the starting line. The half marathon, which Sofia was running, started 10 minutes earlier than the 5K. We both felt good, and the skies were gray but it wasn’t raining. It would be gray and bits of rain off and on for the rest of the run for both of us. Sofia was off!

Ten minutes later it was my turn to cross the starting line. I sent off some friends a text announcing my start. I started just jogging off slowly; just trying to slower warm up and work towards a good pace. About 3 blocks into the run, I started to pick up the speed a bit more. It was then when I started following this gal in a beige plaid flannel hat that looked like a crown. I was following the Queen of Flannel and she was keeping a nice pace that I could comfortably keep up with. There were a few puddles to go around and I would try to go around slower runners but I felt really good. My head phones in and I had managed a good list of music with the help of Sofia earlier that morning. I was jamming away and running in my own little world. This was fun!

The only water station came at the half way mark. I slowed down to a fast walk as I drank really strong Gatorade. OMG! The Queen of Flannel never even slowed down to drink any water. She faded in with the runners that went past me. I just can’t seem to manage the run and drinking water thing. Something to work on I guess. I started walking faster and faster working my way back to the pace I had. It was then that I noticed a guy with bright red shorts--- it was a nice view, and he was setting a good pace. So I became a stalker of Mr. Red Shorts, as I broke into my nice even pace. A good fast paced song came on my head phones and I couldn’t resist not taking advantage of it. I poured on the speed and flew past Mr. Red Shorts. Then, it was the finish line that came into sight and I poured it on even more. A sprint to the finish!

YES! I texted that I was done after they took off the timing chip. It was 34 minutes between my first text and this last last text. WOW! A 5K in 34 minutes! That was great for me! That beat my average speed of 12 minute mile. I was elated, as I hurriedly showered and changed then came back to watch Sofia cross the finish line on her half marathon. She looked great for running all of that distance and had a good time of about 2 hours and 20 min. She was more than ready for the treat of the In-N-Out Burger.

The In-N-Out Burger was a first time for me and quite frankly I was thinking that it was another version of McDonald’s (not a place that I frequent). We arrive and it’s PACKED! There’s a line for the counter and there are people vulturing around for available seats. Sofia said that they were always this way, and I was amazed. The menu was so simple it only had two types of burgers, sizes of fries, flavors of shakes, and soda sizes listed. We got into line and she asked me what I wanted and then suggested that I keep an eye out for a table. She would stay in line and I could sit at a table for us. It was a tag team. I noticed an older couple sitting a four top table and went over asked if my friend and I could share the table with them. Sure! I waved at Sofia in line and gabbed with the older couple. They were retired and living in St. George, and had moved down from the Salt Lake area. Sofia placed order and came to the table.

As we were waiting for the food, the other couple finished and left. I was surprised that there wasn't any fighting over tables as another couple and their daughter claimed the other half of the table. They were also retired and living here, but from the Chicago area. Their daughter was from the Draper area of Salt Lake. We talked about the weather and Mid-west while Sofia went up to get our food. The food was not too bad but it was more than I could handle. We both ended up sharing our fries with the appreciative couple next to us. It was fun, and interesting place to eat. It was the most interaction that I have had with people in a burger joint in (or any restaurant) in years. The food wasn’t too bad either.