San Diego

Last week Jason had a conference in San Diego.  After a lot of debate about whether the kids should miss school we decided to go with.It turned out to be a great week to go.  We left snow behind at home and enjoyed plenty of California sunshine.  Our first afternoon there while Jason went off to meetings we explored Old Town.  The kids loved it.  Especially watching them make taffy in the candy store (and eating it of course!)

We enjoyed the tour of the Mormon Battalion.  The kids had fun panning for gold.

The weather was perfect for a morning run along the bay.  These were my two cute running partners!

As always, the thing the kids wanted most was to swim in the hotel pool. Skyler had a blast splashing in the pool for his first time.  He loved everything except Andrew in his goggles which for some reason terrified him!

The kids and I spent Thursday at the San Diego Zoo while Jason was at meetings.  The pandas were the highlight of the day.

Later that evening we enjoyed delicious seafood looking out over the bay at sunset.

Friday we convinced Jason to skip some meetings and come to Sea World with us.

Skyler loved the dolphins!

Waiting for Shamu.

Petting a real alligator!

Jared and Andrew with the birds after the pet show.  This show was Skyler's favorite!  Especially the pig!

Friday evening the kids and I drove up to Fountain Valley for a short trip to visit my parents and brother, Spencer.  It was a perfect beach day!  We could have spent all day but had to cut it short to get back to San Diego.  Andrew took Skyler for his first dip in the ocean.  He didn't like the cold water too much!  The kids had a fun time flying their new kites we found at a fun kite shop in San Diego.

We got back to San Diego and walked through the Gas Lamp District for dinner.  It was a long wait and the kids were starving by the time we finally sat down to eat at the Spaghetti Factory but it's such a fun place to walk around at night!

Too soon it was time to go home.  It was a long trip in the car but a lot of fun!

Some Thoughts on Boston

Last Monday I woke up wishing so bad that I was in Boston for the marathon. Next year, I had to remind myself. I've been planning our next Boston trip ever since I crossed the finish line there in 2010. Since I didn't run a marathon last year because of my pregnancy I wasn't qualified for this year's race.  Little did I know the events that would unfold that day in Boston. I had a busy morning but kept checking on the leader board and tracking friends on my phone. I felt a twinge of disappointment when the top American finished 4th in both the women's and men's race.  Another year without an American winning Boston...

Then I was at the grocery store and my phone started ringing. "Have you heard about Boston?" I stood in utter disbelief as the stories came to me about explosions at the finish line. Suddenly finishing times and place were meaningless.  My first thought was of friends that were in Boston.  I was relieved to hear back quickly from them that they were unharmed.  Then came the thoughts of what if.  What if I hadn't had a baby last year?  If everything in my life had worked out the way I timed it, I would have been there.  And even worse my kids might have been standing at the finish line watching.  I was of course grateful that we were safe at home but I was devastated thinking about those that were in Boston this year.  So many times the questions ran through my mind.  How could this happen?  Why would anyone do this?

So many people work so hard just to qualify and get the opportunity to run Boston.  Many people have much more inspiring stories of overcoming obstacles to get there than me. My Boston experience was what every runner dreams for.  The people of Boston welcomed me, as they do all the runners, with open arms and treated me as a celebrity.  I couldn't go anywhere in town with my marathon gear without being swarmed with congratulations. The people in Boston love hosting the most prestigious marathon in the world and they come out by the hundreds of thousands to cheer on the runners over the 26 mile course.  For a recreational runner like me, it's the only place to feel as if you are an elite athlete.  There is really nothing like coming down Boylston street to the finish line.  The sense of accomplishment and achievement is like nothing else I've ever done before.

Here I am in 2010 at the spot where the bombing occurred last week.

My heart aches for those who were hurt in this tragedy.  Although I feel helpless I hope those whose lives have forever been changed will take some comfort in knowing that countless people are praying for them.  So many others walked away from the race "safe" yet all of their dreams were shattered by the senseless act of violence.  Instead of the feeling of celebration and accomplishment they were surrounded by terror.  And while we will never forget that day and those who were hurt, I hope we don't let Boston become defined by such a terrible act.  This poster hangs on my wall and I think it really sums up how I feel about Boston.

I've heard a lot of comments the last week like, marathons will never be the same, or would you ever go back?  But if we have that attitude I think we have let the terrorists have a victory.  The Boston Marathon is all about pushing yourself harder than you ever thought you could.  Every marathon runner knows you only get better by working through hard things.  The race will go on and only get better.  After all, noyhing says better, better than Boston.

Only a Half

I once read an article that pointed out that the half marathon has been unfairly named.  After all, you don't call a 5k a half 10K.  Why doesn't a 13.1 mile race deserve it's own name?  I've noticed that I often hear this conversation with the Ogden Marathon coming up.  "Are your running Ogden?" And the response, "Only the half."  Have you ever run 13.1 miles?  I really don't think running that far should be phrased as "only" 13 miles.  If you haven't run that far just try driving it and think about running it.  It's a long way.  Many half marathons have also started giving medals to finishers like full marathons since it really is an accomplishment to run that far.  Personally it's my favorite distance to race.  You don't get to the glycogen depletion like you do in the full marathon but it's long enough to be a true distance race, which happens to be my strength.

So even though I love half marathons I've realized that every time I sign up for one it's used as preparation for a full marathon.  It's always in the thick of my training and used as a predictor for how I'll handle the longer upcoming race.  This also means I'm never fully tapered and have tired legs coming off some recent hard workouts.  One of these days I need to train specifically for a half marathon but the race I ran last week was like the others.  It was the Striders Winter Racing Circuit Half Marathon.  It's part of the series I have been running and I was looking forward to it because it is basically the first half of the Ogden Marathon.  I figured it would give me a good idea of how to pace myself next month in the marathon.

We got on the bus at the finish line in Eden and headed to the starting line up South Fork Canyon.  The course is one way, my favorite way to run, no loops or out and back.  It was chilly, in the high 30s, with a slight breeze but not bad for early April in the mountains.  The buses were a little late so my warm up was cut short and my muscles didn't feel warmed up at all when I pulled off my sweats and made my way over to the starting line.  I started to wonder if I'd made a mistake wearing shorts but it was too late.  The gun went off and we started down the canyon.  The first mile I was with the lead pack of women.  This race is also part of another racing series that brings a lot of fast runners from Salt Lake.  I knew some of these runners were extremely fast and seemed to be taking it easy.  Either that or I was going too fast. The pace felt good though and I hit the first mile mark in 6:21.  It was a little fast but it was downhill so I wasn't worried.  The pack started to split up a little at that point and I settled into 5th place and let some of the faster women go.  I was running a comfortable pace hitting miles in the 6:30's.  I figured I'd slow down when we were out of the canyon.  I was surprised how fast that came.  The course does start down lower than the Ogden Marathon course and we were out in the valley already after only three miles.  Still ten to go.

The road stayed fairly flat, even a gradual downhill for the next three miles.  I was still keeping up my pace in the 6:30's and was starting to pick off all the men that were running ahead of me one at a time as they slowed down.  By about mile six or seven I was alone and that's when the hills start.  The hills aren't big but they are rolling hills that never seem to end.  The next runner ahead of me was the girl in 4th place.  She had at least a 400 meter lead on me and she was far enough ahead that it was difficult to imagine catching her.  I was about half way but I felt fantastic so I just concentrated on trying to keep my pace steady.  I was still running my miles in about 6:35 even though I was in the thick of the hills.  They just didn't seem as hard as I remembered.  After about two more miles I realized I was definitely catching the girl in front of me.  My legs were finally starting to feel like I'd been running hard for a while but I was chasing her down and I knew I could get her.

Between miles 10 and 11 I caught up to her.  She was super nice when I passed her and said "Good job!  You look great!"  I felt great!  Then she added, "You are in 4th place now."  I knew that already.  Thanks for the reminder.  See, they were giving prize money to the top three and I seem to have a habit of finishing 4th when they do that.  And the girl in 3rd still had a pretty good lead on me.  I was catching her but I was running out of time with only two miles left.  At this point I realized I was going to run a great time.  I could either be satisfied with that and just relax and keep my pace steady or I could give it everything I had left and try to catch her.  I set my eyes on her and picked up my pace.  Mile 12 was a 6:20.  I was closing the gap.  I caught her with about half a mile to go.  After I passed her I didn't even dare look back.  Was she strong enough to keep up with me and race me to the end?  I didn't want to know.  I just had to keep running as fast as I could.  Mile 13 was a 5:55!  I plan on 40 seconds for the last .1 mile but when I glanced at the finish clock I realized I had a chance at breaking 1:25 if I could do it in less than 35 seconds.  So I sprinted in and finished in 1:24:55 in third place, 40 seconds faster than 4th!

It was the fastest I have ever run any half marathon!  The race alone was an accomplishment but like I said, it sets me up in a great position for the marathon in six weeks.  The race felt so good and I can't wait to see how I feel on marathon day after a few more weeks of hard training and a full taper.  My goal: slow the first half down by five minutes and run it in 1:30 and then use Ogden Canyon in the second half to negative split and break three hours.

Jason wasn't thrilled with his race but still ran 1:22:31.  When we got home the kids were excited about the medals and prize money.  They asked how we did and when Jason told them our times Andrew said, "Dad, you better be careful.  If Mom keeps getting faster she's going to beat you!"

Here I am with Melisa Harrison and her dad Bill Sneddon.  Our training group did a great job taking a lot of the prize money and age group medals.  Melisa won the Masters division.  So I did go home with some prize money.  It wasn't much and I spent almost all of it paying the babysitter for the morning but it was still felt good!

What do you think?  Should the half marathon get it's own name?  What would you name it?

Shakespeare

Andrew's honors English class has been working hard preparing to perform Much Ado About Nothing the last month.  We went to watch their performance the other night.  I was really impressed with how well a bunch of seventh graders did with Shakespeare!  Here are a couple clips.  Keep in mind I wasn't in the best spot to film and I was also holding a baby!

Here's Andrew as Antonio.

Spring Break

Spring Break started with a beautiful sunny day at the zoo.  A few of the cousins came along with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law.  My kids were so excited to see the new exhibits that opened last year. You  really couldn't have asked for a nicer day other than there were a lot of people there.

Having lots of fun with Morgan and Winston

Loving the baby giraffe.  One of the few spots at the zoo that still looks like it did when I was a kid!

This is what big sister does to this poor baby when he falls asleep in the stroller!

Jared thinks this orangutan is stuck inside because he won't clean his room.  I wonder where he got that idea from?

Saturday morning Jason's step-brother Alex and his wife Tiffany were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple.  Jason and I were privileged to attend the beautiful ceremony.

Afterwards we went to lunch.

All Kaitlyn wanted to eat were the chocolate covered strawberries!

Andrew discovered he's almost as tall as his grandma!

Then it was off to Grandma's for an Easter egg hunt with the cousins.

We spent a quiet Easter Sunday at home and going to church.

Kaitlyn in her Easter dress

Monday was the last day of spring break and it rained.  So we took our trip to Krispy Kremes for the kids to get free donuts for the A's on their report cards and then went to a movie.

My smart kids!  A whole box for each of them!

It was a great spring break but too short!  I sure wish I could convince Ogden School District to give these kids a whole week off!