The Perfect Race

Running a marathon is hard.  If you've never run 26.2 miles get in your car and drive that far just see how far it really is!  Just completing a marathon takes a lot of training and work but to run one fast is an even bigger challenge.  It takes months of training: weekly long runs up to 22 miles or so, intervals on the track (fast for a short distance), tempo runs (not quite as fast for longer distances.)  You really have to be dedicated and not miss any training runs if you want to do your best.  Add on top of that eating and sleeping right so that you can be at your peak on race day.  But even when you have done everything you can to have the perfect race, sometimes it just doesn't work out.  Sometimes it's the weather.  Sometimes you get sick or injured.  And sometimes for reasons no one knows you just don't feel great and it's not your day to run fast.  If that happens on a 5K it's no big deal.  You find another race in a couple weeks and try again.  Marathons don't work that way.  If you want to run a marathon fast you can only run 2 or 3 a year.  It takes months of training and by the time you have recovered from your race you have to start training all over again.  All that training and you only get one shot.  So of course, every marathoner wants the perfect race on race day.

A year and a half ago Jason started training with the coach I'd been training with the last few years.  He was excited to try to break his personal record in the marathon.  He trained hard for the St. George marathon last year and although he ran well he finished in 2:52, two minutes slower than his best time.  He was disappointed but it had been a stressful week for him and it just wasn't the best timing for a marathon.  So he tried again at the Ogden Marathon this year.  The weather was perfect.  We went to watch him on the first half of the course in Huntsville and he looked really good but he hit the dreaded wall by about mile 18 and finished in 2:54.  Impressive to everyone but not what he wanted.

He wanted to try again and register for St. George.  I'll be honest.  I told him I didn't want him to.  We were having a baby and I didn't want him spending so much time and energy with running.  I wanted his help with the kids and I knew there wasn't going to be as much time for training and that we wouldn't be getting a whole lot of sleep.  He really wanted to run it so I said OK as long as it was just for fun, and not a very high priority.  His training was about what I expected.  We went through the sleep deprived stage in the summer when it was hard to get a good workout in.  He got some decent training in but not what he had done for the last two marathons.  That's why I was surprised when he started running PRs in the 10Ks and half marathons he did during the summer.  I started to think maybe less is better for him.  Maybe he was over training or putting too much pressure on himself the last year.  But I still thought the marathon would be the big challenge.  He was obviously in good shape but could he last for a whole marathon on the training he had been doing?  So we headed to St. George again for marathon weekend.

Here's a picture of the start line but it didn't look like this when he got there because it was still dark.

This is what you really see at the start.  Thousands of people trying to stay warm by the fires while it is pitch black because it's way too early to be called morning!  So while the kids and I were still sleeping in the hotel Jason had already taken a bus 26 miles away to Central and was waiting in the dark for the start.  Conditions were perfect!  Nice temperature and even a slight tail wind!

I signed up to get text message updates along the way.  They started coming about when we were heading to breakfast.  His first 10K was in 39:11.  That was a little fast but the first 10K is downhill so I figured he would be OK.

The next alert was at the halfway point.  He was at 1:24:03.  He had slowed down a little but that was expected since he'd just gone through the uphill part of the course.  He was right on track to run the perfect race if he could just take advantage of the downhill in the second half and not run out of steam before the finish!

By the third update at 30K I knew he was either running the best race of his life or he was about to die really hard!  He was at 1:56:59 and had gained back all the time he had lost in the hills and some.  I also realized we needed to leave the hotel and get over to the race course right then or we might miss seeing him!  We drove to a spot with about a mile and a half to go.  When we saw him come around the corner I knew he had it!  He looked fantastic!  The kids held their signs out for him and rang their cow bells.  We then jumped in the car and tried to get to the finish before him.  He was running fast though and by the time I got all the kids and the stroller out of the car and ran over to the finish area we just missed him. (So I had to buy pictures to remember his awesome finish!)

He finished in 2:43:21! It was his best time by 7 minutes!  His average pace was 6:14 per mile!  (If anyone is wondering why the clock is 2 seconds off, most big races have chips you wear so your time doesn't start until you cross the start line.)  Finally after all the frustrating races everything was perfect!  It was so great to see a smile like this on his face after a marathon!

Month of Thanks: Day 1

I love Thanksgiving! Maybe that's because I grew up with two grandmothers who cooked amazing Thanksgiving dinners. Or maybe it's the fond memories of Thanksgiving with my cousins. Maybe it's because my birthday falls on or near Thanksgiving. Or maybe it's because I have an ancestor who came over on the Mayflower and was at the first Thanksgiving. Whatever the reason, I'm a firm believer that being happy has more to do with your attitude and what you have. So in honor of Thanksgiving I am going to post something I am thankful for every day.

This is pretty obvious. I'm thankful for my husband and children. These are the people who make all the piles of laundry and endless of dishes worth it. These are the smiles that melt my heart.

Jared's 10th birthday

Jared's 10th birthday was this month.  He was so excited for his birthday!  I took Krispy Creme donuts to his class for birthday treats.  After I watched Jared pass out all the donuts he told me I had been there long enough and I could leave.  I guess when you are 10 it's not so cool to have your mom around anymore!  Yes, it makes me miss the days when he was little but he is also such a fun kid now that he's bigger!

Birthday Cheesecake!

Nothing more fun than new Lego's!

It had been a few years since Jared had a friend party so we spent the week planning a Harry Potter party.  Jason had to go out of town unexpectedly so that meant I got to handle 10 extra boys in the house on my own!  I spent all day making fun treats for the party.  When Jared came home he was so excited about the treats he said, "Mom, this is going to be the best Harry Potter birthday party ever!"  Well, I'm sure it wasn't but that just melted my heart.

His excitement faded a little when it started pouring rain.  He had a game of quidditch planned for outside and he did not want it rained out.  It was cold and soggy but it did let up enough they went outside and played anyway!  Hopefully I didn't upset too many parents sending their kids home cold and wet!  The kids were sorted into houses when they got here and earned house points for the games they played.  They ate dinner at the Three Broomsticks and bought their treats and party favors from Hogsmeade.  Potions was a big hit.  What better for a bunch of boys then dumping a bunch of ingredients together and watching it bubble and change color!

Here's a look at Jared at 10.

What he likes: Lego's, candy, ice cream, cheesecake, pasta, football, football and football, watching TV, Harry Potter, and playing with his baby brother.
What he doesn't like: getting up in the morning, practicing the piano, doing his chores, homework, and swimming lessons.  The best thing I did this year before school started is buy Jared a really loud and annoying alarm clock!  It works like a charm!  The other day he said the funniest thing to me. "Is Skyler waking up at night as annoying as my alarm clock going off?"  "Yup!"  It was like a light bulb went off in his head and he understood!  Then he said, "Only it's worse because you can't just turn it off!"
Things I love about Jared:  his smile, his sun-bleached hair and tan skin in the summer, his giggle, his personality is much more like me than the other kids (both good and bad traits I must say),  he is an awesome big brother (Skyler loves all his siblings but he can't help smile when Jared is around.  Jared is really good at giving him love but also being gentle!), he's smart and imaginative.

Family Pictures 2012

We needed a family picture done since we didn't have one with Skyler yet.  Fall has been so busy I had a really hard time finding a day that would work with our photographer.  We finally settled on Tuesday evening for this week.  Last week the leaves were beautiful in the valley and the weather was gorgeous!  Unfortunately that doesn't last too long in October.  Tuesday turned off cold and stormy and we got rained out.  And the weather only got worse as the week went on.  Thursday we woke up to four inches of snow and it continued to fall through the day!  The snow was melting quickly on Friday but it also took down most of the pretty colors with it.  As I drove around town all that was left on the trees were brown and dry.  So much for fall pictures I thought.  Our photographer managed to find a few trees that were still pretty and I was amazed how good they turned out!  The only problem is that it was cold!  Poor Skyler froze! He did pretty good but wasn't quite the smiley, happy guy he always is at home!

Andrew (13)

Jared (10)

Kaitlyn (6)

Skyler (4 months)

Why do family pictures always end up with the kids wrestling?

...and throwing leaves?

I think this says it all...I've had it..I'm cold...Let's go home!!!

Andrew's a Teenager!

Andrew turned 13 this month!  It's hard to believe he is that old!  Sometimes when I put Skyler in one of Andrew's old outfits it blows my mind to realize he has changed so quickly into a young man!  Andrew decided this year that he wanted to celebrate his birthday with his friend Tony, who turned 13 just a few days after Andrew.  I was somewhat relieved that I didn't have to plan a big party but I also felt a little sad that he wanted to do his own thing without me.  Tony's mom went along as a chaperone/driver but they didn't want me to come since that meant three siblings tagging along as well.  The weekend after their birthdays they had their big celebration.  They went to a movie and to dinner.  They were planning on swimming after that but the pool had to close because of lightening so they went to Tony's to play Lego's instead.  These boys can still spend hours building Lego's even if they are 13!

On Andrew's birthday after the kids got home from school Kaitlyn disappeared.  I couldn't figure out where she had gone.  I went to check her room and the door was closed with this sign on it.

She was secretly making cards and pictures for him and spent hours that afternoon in her bedroom.  Then she wrapped them up in her blanket and put them on top of his stack of presents!

We did have our own family party on his actual birthday.  Nothing fancy.  Just cake, ice cream and presents.  But really, what else does a 13 year old need?  Oh, his one request was that I make Calizones for dinner.  My family loves Calizones but I hate to make them since they take forever and make such a mess but the birthday boy got his wish!

I am so grateful for Andrew in our family!  There is never a dull moment with him around.  His Honors English teacher asked the parents to write a paper for her to get to know the kids in her class this year.  I figured this was a pretty good summary of what Andrew is like at this age.  Here is what I wrote about him.

Andrew is the oldest of four children in our family.  He has always had a lot of energy.   When he was a toddler I struggled with finding an appropriate outlet for all that energy in such a small body!  Now he loves to run, ride his bike, play soccer, and play basketball.  He enjoys running 5Ks and trying to beat his best time and is excited to be on the cross country team at Mt. Ogden this year.  He often rides his bike with his dad on long 20 mile marathon training runs.  He was just getting into mountain biking when he had an accident that resulted in several stitches in his leg.  I thought it might scare him into staying on the road but he still loves to take his bike on the trails.  When we moved to Utah three years ago he took up downhill skiing.  He was a natural and picked it up easily.  He’s also a bit of a daredevil and loves to race through the trees and go off jumps!   He’s never been a child to just sit quietly and watch TV or play video games.  He’s much happier when he is active.

                Andrew has an outgoing personality and has always been able to talk to anyone.  When he was a young child we would frequently go over “stranger danger” but no matter how many times I told him not to talk to strangers he still talked to everyone.  As he has gotten older I have found that to be a great character trait that he can relate and talk to anyone so easily, even adults.  Because of that, he has always had a lot of friends and gotten along well with others.

                Science has always been fascinating to Andrew.  When he was little he used to tell everyone he wanted to be a marine biologist when he grew up.  We would go to the library when he was a preschooler and instead of heading to the picture books he would go to the nonfiction section to check out something about science.  At twelve he doesn’t have any definite career plans but his favorite subject in school is still science even though he has excelled in all areas.  He loves to do scientific experiments with things around the house even though sometimes I’m not too thrilled with the mess that it ends in!

                Andrew has been working hard in boy scouts.  He’s not quite 13 yet and he is only one merit badge and his project away from becoming an Eagle Scout.  He loves the camping, hiking and fishing they have done as a scout troop.  He started playing the piano just over a year ago and has amazed not only us but also his piano teacher in how quickly he is advancing.  Although he doesn’t always like to practice he enjoys being able to sit down and play some of his favorite pieces that he has memorized.

                One of Andrew’s great qualities is helping other people.  Often at parent teacher conferences I have been told how he helps other students that are struggling without being asked.  He’s a huge help to me around the house.  When he was gone for a week at scout camp this summer I really didn’t know what to do when I couldn’t ask him to help me with various chores.  He’s been a great helper this year in our yard mowing the lawn every week to pay for his scout camp.  His baby brother was born in June and he adores him!  He wanted to hold him every second he could this summer.  He’s been a great big brother and the only thing he really doesn’t want to do is change diapers!

                Andrew is a hard worker and loves to learn.  He was excited to be accepted into the honors program at Mt. Ogden and has always made getting good grades a high priority.  I hope you enjoy having him in your class this year.

In September Andrew finished his cross country season at Mt Ogden.  Their last meet was the district meet.  Andrew placed 7th.  Both the boys and girls team won the meet.  The Mt. Ogden boys dominated so much that they took nine out of the top ten places. 

Celebrating a district championship with Coach Stoker and Coach Turley

The only mishap of the afternoon was right before Andrew finished.  Instead of coming straight to the finish line the course went past the finish line made a U turn around a tree and then to the finish.  The grass was wet so Andrew was trying to sprint to the finish and slipped.  He was amazingly fast jumping up though!

                     

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

No, it's not Christmas yet but fall is just as wonderful! I love the colors and the cooler temperatures! I've been dying to get up to Snowbasin for a trail run but with a new baby I'm lucky if I find 30 minutes to slip out the door for a run around the neighborhood. We did enjoy a Sunday afternoon drive and walk at the Green Pond trail yesterday. The red maple leaves are gorgeous right now!

Kaitlyn loved collecting leaves. Andrew and Jared thought it was great fun to run ahead on the trail and hide from us in the trees. Their bright orange shirts were actually pretty good camouflage with the leaves right now.

How exciting Wyoming...Isn't

We decided to end summer with a big bang and go somewhere exciting for Labor Day.  We spent all summer close to home since we had Skyler.  Jason's dad lives in Kemmerer, Wyoming and for a long time Jason has said we should drive up there and take the kids to Fossil Butte National Monument.  So Labor Day was the day

Before I go any farther, I better explain my title in case I've already offended any of my readers who might be from the great state of Wyoming.  Wyoming has some absolutely breathtakingly beautiful parts.  Jason has been dreaming of a back packing trip to the Wind Rivers for years and Yellowstone is one of my favorite places.  However, I have driven on I-80 across Wyoming too many times and it is just not a place I would choose to spend much time.  Having gotten that out of the way we did have high hopes of digging up some exciting fossils or something even though I knew we weren't headed to the beautiful mountains.

We stopped in Kemmerer to pick up Jason's dad.  It's one of those blink and you'll miss it towns.  The highlight to Kemmerer is the first JC Penney store.  I'm not sure how it got started way out there but it did.  We didn't stop to tour the building though.  We'll have to save that for our next trip.  It's dreadfully cold and snowy in the winter although summer is probably quite pleasant.  Then we headed over to the National Monument that is only a few minutes away.  The visitor's center was nice and had a lot of interesting fossils to look at.  The kids had fun doing their junior ranger books and earning their badges.  We were hoping to hike to the fossil quarry where you could actually watch them dig out fossils but that was closed.  So the fun was limited to what was at the visitors center.

After a picnic lunch that involved a lot of teasing Jared about spiders, we headed to Fort Bridger.  When we got there it was swarming with people and no where to park.  I really don't think that many people even live in southwestern Wyoming.  We finally found a place to park and walked over to the fort only to find everyone cleaning up from a weekend mountain man rendezvous that had been going on.  There were hundreds of vendors there which meant the kids were constantly asking me to buy them something.  Unfortunately we got there too late to see any of the presentations that had been going on over the weekend or it probably would have been quite interesting.  Instead there were people backing up vehicles and trailers everywhere and taking down tents and I was clinging to the kids hoping they wouldn't get run over.  The fort itself looked pretty cool but we just got there at a terrible time to see it.

So even though we enjoyed spending the day with Jason's dad, next time I'm looking for an exciting day trip I'll probably head somewhere other than Wyoming...