Slowly Getting There

So I don't think I have posted some of the health issues I have been having. I was diagnosed with a pelvic stress fracture a bit ago and have been going to physical therapy to get fixed up. Tonight while I was at PT I finally got to run on the treadmill without the harness assisting me!! You can't imagine how great that felt for me!! I feel like I am on the road to recovery. Things are getting Better Now :)

More in Moab 2011

After all the running was done we took a drive out to the visitor center at Dead Horse Point.

Here I tryed to get a picture of us with the view in the background... Hmmmm I am not to good at doing this with my phone. Even with me new iphone I can't seem to get it right.

Some nice lady decided to help me out and take our picture for us.

I wish we would have had better weather for this picture but it is still one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Moab Half Marathon 2011

Waithing for the bus ... all the lovely people who volenteer to help out at this event. I am always so greatful that they are there.

So I have ran many 1/2 marathons before but this was the first time I ran one with my husband. I was so excited to share this experience with him. This is one of the most beautiful races and one of my favorite. Bill has never really wanted to run with me, but after the surgery on my knee he started to run with me. I think at first I really wanted him with me because I was afraid that I would start hurting and wanted someone with me. But the more we ran together the more we started to enjoy that time together. When he agreed to run this race with me I was overjoyed.
We checked in to our hotel and got our race packets, then dinner and sleep :)
In the morning we boarded the buses for the ride up the canyon.

Once they drop you off up the canyon you we had about 45 minutes before the race.

So Bill and I stood around trying to keep warm with 5000 of our new friends.

Here we are walking up to the start line with our new friends :) It was a great day, a bit windy for my liking but other then that I loved it!

Bill at the finish line!! He had enough energy he probably could have run another 5-6 miles!

Hazy Days of Winter

For the past few weeks Utah has had some of the worst air quality in the nation. As a runner this makes it difficult... do I run in the pollution and risk breathing all the bad air, or do I banish myself to run of the treadmill and save my lungs but risk my mental stability. I for one have been running on the treadmill... this has not made happy running times for me. I did get one reprieve, today I went snowshoeing with my running friend and our husbands.
Once you get up above the pollution and in the mountains it is fantastic! Blue sky, sunshine, warmer temps and sparkling snow! Ahhh it was good for my soul to see the blue sky.
We are supposed to get storms this up coming week, lets hope it will clean out our air!

The blue at the top of the pictures I posted is not the sky. I took them while in my car, so that is the top of my windshield.

Wonderful Fall Run

Yesterday I had a wonderful run down by the 21 street pond. I love running in the fall, the leaves have changed and the temperatures are perfect!

This is a picture of the path around the pond. I feel blessed to be able to live is such a beautiful place and to be able to run and enjoy it. I have to take full advantage of this before the snow flies.

Just another view of the pond before I headed back to my car.

Birthday Run with Sue

Yesterday was mine and Sue's annual birthday run. We both have July birthdays and we started this tradition about 7 years ago when we met and became running friends. Last year Sue had running injuries and so we were not able to do it. It made this year all the sweeter! This top picture is of us at The Oaks restaurant in the Ogden canyon, it's part of our tradition to have breakfast here after our run. You can just see a tiny bit of the river behind us. It's a fun place to eat.

This is a picture of The Oaks restaurant, where we have breakfast. It's lovely to sit outside by the river enjoying breakfast with a wonderful friend.

Look how dirty our legs were after we ran!! 11.43 miles round trip! We ran from the top of wheeler canyon to Ogden outlook. I wish I could run with the camera so I could have a picture of the view from the outlook.

Here we are after our run... sweaty and smiling that we have accomplished this run again!! It was so fantastic!

The view from the parking lot/dirt lot at the top of wheeler canyon, looking off to the west, this was the direction we ran. I think the far peeks are where we ran to.

Let the Craziness Begin

I few weeks ago a friend of mine asked me to join his Wasatch Back Relay team. For those if you that are not familiar with this race here is a link that will explain what it's all about. Anyway my friend had a team member drop out due to injuries and needed a replacement.
After my last years experience I had thought to myself that this race would be just a once in a life time thing. But like so many times in my life the clouds of forgetfulness fog my brain and I agreed to join their team. Let alone, there have been a few co-workers talk to me about joining a 2010 team! We runners need to plan our torture well in advance. And I have surprisingly agreed to join them yet again. I have been contemplating what chemical I'm missing in my brain that makes me think this will be something I will want to do another time?
So I will venture out this Friday and Saturday with this team and hope I can run my parts without slowing the team too much. I'm glad they are not competitive, I don't think I could do it with them if they were. But you still don't want to be the weak link.
I will try to take some pictures and if I survive I will post my 09 report of how things went. But until then... pray for me that I will come through without too much more damage to myself.

Ogden Marathon 2009

So I finished my seventh marathon yesterday. 4 hours 5 minutes and 7 seconds. It was a beautiful day, I could not have asked for better weather conditions. Cool at the beginning, I wore my sweat shirt until about mile marker 3, then nice til about 4 miles from the finish, then got a bit warm but not too bad. I was really hoping for a better finish time. To qualify to run the Boston Marathon I need to complete a marathon in 4 hours. I know it seems crazy to many non running people, I get asked why it's such a big deal to run Boston. It's hard to explain... maybe it's because you have to qualify to run it that makes it seem so important, maybe just the history to it. Anyway it's a goal that I have thought about after the first time I ran a marathon.
So what do I do with it now?... Goals are something that at one time you hope to accomplish... right? When do you give up and say this maybe something I will never accomplish. It's difficult to think about, I hope I have not got to that point just yet. I have goals with my running... goals with my sculpting... goals with just my life general. Maybe it's just that I need to rework some of these goals. I defiantly have plenty to think about for the next little while.

Long Runs

So the past few Saturday I have been running my longest runs in preparation for the Ogden Marathon. This is something that I always struggle with, and I don’t know if I will ever really get comfortable with long runs. I will be running seventh marathon and I’m still surprised that I can run that far. I didn’t start running until I was in my 30’s, I was always an active person, but never sports minded. Running has slowing become as much a part of my life as eating and sleeping. I have formed friendships that will last my lifetime, and garnered experiences I will never forget.
When it comes to preparing for a marathon, long runs are vital. Slowly building up your miles so that you body and mind can get used to running for more then three to four hours. Really… as I’m typing it does sound insane! Why would someone do this to themselves? It’s something that I really don’t have words to express. Most people would consider it torture. But I think it’s that internal drive to see what we can accomplish. Whether it’s running, school, art, we all have a need to accomplish things we can be proud of. That somehow sets us apart in a small way.
I feel privileged to belong to this small group of people that can call themselves marathoners not everyone can or will do it in their lifetime. I know that I will never stand on the winner’s podium and have my name announced. But I’m still out there every day adding up those miles on my legs.

Moab 1/2 Marathon

So I spent this weekend in Moab, Utah running the half marathon with a couple of girl friends. Moab is one of the most scenic places you could ever visit, and the canyon that you run down is spectacular! I really do love this race. I post my miles and times on Fast Running Blog and trust me there are some fast runners posting their times and miles on this blog. Of all the bloggers that participated in the Moab 1/2 I was the slowest... so humiliateing :( I'm probably an embarrasment to the blog. I really don't know what has been up with me lately, if it's age, or that I'm not training effectivly. But I seem to be slowing down considerable and it's making me a bit sad. Also when I participate in running events, I have a hard time pushing myself I think the way others do. Don't get me wrong, I run hard, but not usually until I know that I will make it to the finish line. I don't trust my body, my training, or something. The thoughts of running til I puke don't make me want to run, so I usully hold back until the last few miles before I pick up my pace a bit. I was able to pass quite a few people at the end, but still ended about 5 minutes slower then last year.

My Wasatch Back Realy Experiance

Well I’m happy to say that I survived running in the Wasatch Back Relay. It is a 181 mile relay race from Logan to Park City Utah. I was in the 2nd truck, so we started at leg 7. I was the leg 9 runner. My first two legs were OK the first was in the heat of the day so even though it was only 3.1 miles, I started to slow quite a bit about ¼ mile to the finish, because I was feeling a bit queasy from the heat. My second leg was 6.2 miles and it was in the middle of the night. I liked this leg because it was cool, but running in the dark has its hazards. Even with a head light and the support of the team, I felt a bit unsure of my footing a few times. My last leg was 3.6 miles, not long…but it was at an almost 8% incline on a dirt road. Again it was later in the day so it was starting to get hot. But, as a team we all struggled through out legs and we all finished feeling relatively good. Our team leader called me today, he said that the team has called and wants to do this again next year, and if I was in for it. I said… sure, I have a year to get ready for it. I guess they want to switch it up a bit. My truck will be truck A, so we will have the first part next time. I guess we will have to see how it goes. :)
I will post some pictures when I get them.

Ogden Marathon

I completed the Ogden Marathon on Saturday May 17th. It was a beautiful day and I met up with an old running friend at the start of the race. It had been about 2 years since I had seem or talked to him, so we ended up running the marathon together. I had set up to have some other friends meet me at around the 20-22 mile mark to run me in so when we caught up to them we all ran together. Well I guess Phil ended up being about a minute ahead of me. All in all it was a great day. My finish time was 4:02:08. I had some tummy trouble around mile 20 and had to find a port a john, if I had not had to do that I might have got in under 4 hours. In fact I checked my time that I run St. George marathon (4:09:13) so I was 7 minutes faster!!! That is great I might even be able to qualify for Boston sometime in the future!! Well that is all I have for now. I will try to get some doll updates soon. My new mini baby is out on eBay so wish my luck with that :)

Mini Baby

Well the mini baby is dresses. I still don't think she is all that cute. I will be posting her on eBay this coming week. It has been a busy weekend and I didn't get to work on my dolls as much as I would have liked. I ran the WRC 1/2 marathon on Saturday and had a terrible run. I completely bonked and felt so crappy by the end. I was pretty waisted the rest of the day. Today I have been working a bit on the BJD I should say reworking her. I hate when I can picture the way I want it to work in my mind, but it doesn't translate to my hands. I think I reworked the ball in the hip socket at least three times. I 'm hoping that I can do some work in the evenings this week, but I'll see how it goes. Anyway here is a picture of the mini baby all dressed. My sister Denise makes the clothes for my dolls and she does a wonderful job. When I get the time I will put a link in the blog to her. I named the new baby Sweet Pickles, my sisters have told me that I need to have a story or something more personal on my eBay auctions. So when I looked at this new baby, the colors in her dress reminded me of my Aunt Gretta's sweet pickles, so that is her name.

Moab Utah

The Moab 1/2 marathon is now one of my top 5 runs! It was absolutely breath taking. I had a wonderful run! I didn't set any records but I finished strong and felt great the entire time. I didn't take any pictures while I was running but the girls and I went into Arches National Park later that day. Here are some pictures from Arches.

Running in Moab

I won't get much doll work in this weekend. I'm heading to Moab Utah tomorrow to run the Moab 1/2 marathon on Saturday. It should be fun!! I'm going with a few friends. I will try and take some pictures and post them when I return. Moab is a great city, it's been a while since I have been able to visit, but from what I remember it is beautiful. Some of Utah's most beautiful scenery is there. If we are not dead after the marathon we are going to try to go into arches national park, like I said it should be fun!