Half-Marathon!

I can't believe I ran a Half-Marathon! It's pretty amazing that my feet were able to take all that pounding! I expected to have blisters or at least chafing, but apparently I dressed well because I didn't get anything like that.

Greg was such a good sport, getting up and driving him and Toby along the route and taking pictures. It meant a great deal to me. I began my run at around 6 am.

This at the end of Mile 1.

For an hour I listened to John Bytheway's "Tour deFamily" audio talk. It was so good and funny that the first hour just flew by! I was disappointed when it ended.

Mile 5.

That's when I started to get thirsty.

Halfway.

6.5 miles ran, the most I had ever ran before today. I was so excited to reach Redwood Road! And have a drink.

9 Miles Down, 4 More to Go-

Right after I crossed Bangerter Highway, I spotted a dollar on the ground! My lucky day! I was starting to get tired at this point. I began to slow down a bit, but I still managed to average 12 minute miles.

How can anyone run long distances without an mp3 to listen to??




11 Miles Down, 2 More to Go-
I had a bit of an energy boost about here. However my legs began tightening up.

Mile 12.

As I crossed the 4-way-stop onto Rose Canyon Road, I suddenly started crying. I think I was ready for the run to be over. Or it could have been the Neil Diamond song I was listening to.

Mile 13.1.

I mustered every last bit of strength to sprint across the finish line (toilet paper being held by Ben and Doug).

I think I did pretty well, getting a time of 2 hours and 36 minutes. That means I was able to run 12 minute miles, which is really good for me and my short legs.

I expected my feet or legs to hurt at the end, but actually it was my ribs! It hurt so bad to breathe!

I am glad I took on this challenge. I learned that I had more strength than I thought and I can do hard things, if I only try. And I learned things are much more fun when I have Greg and Toby there to cheer me on!

Do I have the desire to run a full Marathon? No way! Maybe another Half-Marathon, but I have no desire to run 26.2 miles anytime soon! 13.1 miles is far enough!

Tomorrow I Run!

So I took the car and clocked out 6.5 miles (so I can run to that point and turn back, making 13 miles altogether). Turns out, Redwood Road is almost exactly 6.5 miles away - so I'm going to be running to Redwood Road and back! In 2 1/2 hours (hopefully).

I love pictures. I watched "Errand of Angels" the other day and if you've seen the movie, you've seen the journal the main character keeps. I wish I could have pictures to go with everything I write (The girl in the photo above and in the previous entry are not me - but I'm sure you knew that. They are just stock photos from the internet.). If I can, I'm going to take before and after photos (to show how nice and energized I was before running 13 miles and to show how beat up and worn out I am after) and I would love it if someone could follow me in a car and get those "Kodak Moments". Like when I almost get run over at one of the three intersections I have to cross, or the look on my face when I realize at mile 6 that I have 7 more to go and I've already used up all my energy. Good times... :)

In order to be somewhat prepared for this run I browsed online for some good tips and ideas and didn't find very much (I also had to stop because Toby woke up from his nap). So I found a couple books at the library. There's one in particular that has given me great advice and is really funny, called "The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women". Instead of just flipping the pages looking for tips, I actually started from the beginning, reading it like a novel. The book is like a comedy routine, with lots of good advice thrown in; like how to tie your shoes so your toenails don't fall off (!), and what kind of clothes to wear to keep chafing down to a minimum (no cotton!). Sounds like this run is going to be fun, doesn't it?

Today I'm going to rest up, drink lots of water, eat healthy and fill up on fiber (that's what WikiHow advised to do - I hope that's right), and definitely NOT go to Yoga Class (I seem to get hurt frequently in that class - I would hate to cancel my half-marathon because of it!)

Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion...

The Biggest Loser Challenge!

On the "Biggest Loser" yesterday they had a challenge for the contestants that has really inspired me. The challenge was for the contestants to run a half-marathon, with the best time being 2 hours and 24 minutes.

I got to thinking that if these people who are still 50+ pounds overweight were able to finish it, then I should be able to, right?

So I've decided that this Saturday I'm going to try it - I'm going to run a half-marathon! I haven't run farther than 6 miles, so this will be more than double the distance - 13 miles! I'm excited!

I will post what happened - if I failed to run the distance, if I got eaten by a dog, if it took me 3 hours to run, whatever. Stay tuned...

Toby Tries to Sleep on the Stairs-

I know the new carpet is really soft, but I don't think I would try to sleep on the newly carpeted stairs! I guess it was way past Toby's bedtime...

On Ben's Shoulders-

I think this is funny. See what you think...

Contention-

Normally it's easy for me to forget what happened the previous day, after a good night's sleep. But lately there's contention in the air and a night's rest isn't cutting it. How do people get rid of bad feelings hanging around? Talking didn't help- at least the first time. Probably because voices and tempers were raised. Trust is gone and I don't know how to get that back either.

For now I pray and live for the good moments; moments like when Toby does anything cute (and that happens all the time so that gives me plenty of happy moments throughout the day :)). And most of the bad feelings disappear when Greg smiles.

Taking a Walk

So last week it was finally warm enough to take Toby for a walk. When we lived in Holladay I took Toby for walks almost every day and I'm excited to start that up again!

We went to the park at the Cove.

On the way back, we passed my old property so I decided to take a look with Toby. Here is the old driveway. It was a very long driveway and the property was 5 acres.

Here's where the house I grew up in used to be- now just a hole.

Here's a pic of the fruit and poplar trees I used to water every summer.

Toby had fun playing in the weeds and rocks

It was very sad to see the house gone, but it was neat to see the trees I worked so hard to water and keep alive are mostly still alive. Now that I've taken pictures and have taken Toby, I'll probably not go back. I don't care to dwell in the past.