Charlie's turn to help

One day, Charlie wanted to help out.....

Monkey, the loved stuffed animal by Sophie & Charlie, needed to be washed (well according to Charlie-in my defence, Monkey was washed just a week prior). Charlie took it upon himself to help mom. I noticed he went in the laundry room but didn't really think much of it. Later in the day, I saw what my Charlie man was doing. Monkey was put in the washer, and he added laundry detergent.

Oh....thanks for trying to help Charlie. It was too funny I had to take a picture, then count out the scoops, so I could blog & facebook about it! How many scoops of powder soap? 19

YES NINETEEN---> and yes-luckily he can't start the washing machine himself!

Again

Spring break this year was in California. Yes-we were just there! Thanks Mother Nature for sun and good weather while we were there! I finally got pictures off my memory card, so blog posts will be coming!

more Canyonlands Half Marathon pix

Well-there were no awards for me.....The tent was empty. sad.Mike is ready to load the busses! He looks happy to go run.....yeah. Runners are weird.

Here are my pictures from the start of the race.

The busses unloaded us at this spot. That's a LOT of people! We chose to wait up the hill till we were told to walk to the race start-about a third of a mile away. We had to walk in that direction to the start. Look at this view! Amazing--that was our view during the race!

And then one last smile from everyone before the race!

Mike (above)

Jace (below)

Post race I had Jimmy there! It was GREAT! We were both proud of my accomplishment. This was maybe his first race he watched me finish. Here we are after the race @ the park!

Canyonlands Half Marathon

March 19, 2011 was the Canyonlands Half Marathon in Moab, Utah. I registered in December for this race, with my friend Michelle. So after Christmas, the training finally began. I wasn't giving myself much training time, but I wanted to do the race, and NEEDED to do it. Needed it physically, and more important mentally. I didn't want to fail or give up. I did a half marathon in 2008. I wanted to feel that good about myself again and have a more positive self image of myself. Most of my time was spent on the treadmill training. Two days a week I went to aerobics/strength training at the church. Going to the church for a FREE exercise group helped me feel I was doing more besides running to get ready for the race.

The plans for the weekend changed when Jimmy's nephew got his mission call and was to report to the MTC March 23rd, just days before my race. So instead of making this a fun-family weekend with new adventures, it was panic mode-how little time can I be away while family is coming in from out of town.

So it worked out for me to ride down with Michelle and her husband Mike. Michelle was to run the race, but an injury prevented her from doing it. :( boo-hoo. Mike was running the race, and I met their friend, Jace, who also registered for the race. So Friday afternoon, we left! I was leaving town without my husband or kids! I survived! But it was kinda different......But I would see Jimmy after the race on Saturday.

Friday night we went to a spaghetti dinner. Yum! Then walked on Main Street in Moab. Fun to look at stores in the small, tourist town, then headed back to the hotel room to get ready for the next day & watch Utah gymnastics online!

Didn't sleep well, but got up and go ready for the race. We had to catch a bus to the start of the race. Here are my running buddies-Mike and Jace.

Michelle & I before the race. EWW-I am looking scary! Why do I need to get ready to go sweat and run for 2 hours?

We had to wait and wait for the race to start. Buses brought people to the start of the race. We decided, like others, to climb the hill and find a seat on a rock as we waited 45-60 minutes for the race to start. There was music at the start & porta potty's. Finally, at 9:30 we could go to the actual starting line, and drop our bags off. We warmed up some-potty break again, then waited again for the race to start. There were a LOT of people! Weather-it was overcast and a WINDY day. There was wind almost the entire race. The few seconds there was not wind, I got hot. Jace & I ran together for about 6 miles. This was Jace's first race, and he had to slow down after 6 miles. The course was nice. Pretty scenery. Drink breaks were every two miles. Mile 10 had some drummers. It was AWESOME. One guy along the race course offered a drink to people-it was in a dark brown bottle-i assumed it was some beverage with alcohol! HA! There were campsites along the Colorado river, so it was fun to see that was we ran past. The entire race, I passed people, and people were passing me! It was crazy!

I wanted to be under 2:30, but if I wasn't, I couldn't be too upset, cause of the wind. I finished in 2:28! 2 minutes to spare! I was so happy to see Jimmy about 0.10 from the finish-it was great to see him! I finished strong. I always hope to pass at least one person at the end, and I did. AHH!

My legs felt good and I was happy with my race. I was CRAZY and ran in NEW shoes-well I got them a week before, but surprisingly I did okay! I accomplished my goal! I ran another half marathon.

Here is our post race picture:

Mike finished in 1:48 or so. Jace was only 15 minutes behind me. So, I think we were all pleased with our times.

It was exhausting, but I am still thrilled I did it. After the race, went back to the hotel room, showered, and Jimmy & I hit the road. We had to get home. Luckily family watched the kids Saturday so we could make the quick trip.

Overall Rank: 2693

Class Rank: 338

Sex Rank: 1500

Pace: 11:18 mile

Miles ran for training: about 166

Goals: Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay-June 18th-19th

Improve speed & mile pace

Better diet

Log more miles

More uphill & downhill runs

Run outside more

PR on my 10K

Loose more inches & tone-up muscles on body (weight loss too)

Look and feel better in a swimming suit this summer!

(more pix to come-these pix were from Michelle from facebook)

Highlights #3

My Sophie is so cute! I have found her doing funny things all the time. She is so yummy. We are coming into a fun stage-but a stage of independence. Love my baby!

Charlie's Thomas boots and monkey. (that monkey.......)

What a lady-church clothes and hockey gloves.

Highlights #2

Sarah & Charlie took ice skating lessons this winter. Sarah did really well, and Charlie is a typical 4 year old boy. He did fine, but he is one funny boy. One Saturday, we went ice skating with some friends. I was out watching Sophie, while Jimmy helped 5 kids out on the ice! Go Jimmy! The kids + friends had FUN.

Highlights #1

Well-catch up time! I look back at pictures & realize there has been lots of good times this winter!

We attended our first and second women's basketball game this year. It was fun! (FREE-even better) Oh-the Utah Women's Basketball is MWC Tournament Champions! Go Utes!

We stopped at the clown for balloon animals at one of the games. After Charlie's balloon popped, we had to check out a book from the library about how to make balloon animals. We need to now get some balloons & make some balloon animals!

Butternut Squash

I roasted some butternut squash last night-first time trying it. I will not be afraid of squash again. I will try cooking it again but make it sweeter.

My sweet Sarah is 6 years old today! She is a wonderful daughter! No friend party this year, just dinner @ Sizzler with the family tonight. I went into her kindergarten class to share a poster (the one we made LAST YEAR for preschool), read her favorite story, Pinkalicious, and shared a treat, Swiss Rolls. Sarah is always willing to help. She is very nice to others, and sometimes a little cuddle bug. We love our Sarah!

February miles: 59 (only 6.2 outside.....Why do I spend soo much time on my treadmill?)
It should be more.....I need a good, long run, 8-10 miles, but I haven't had the desire or decent weather to. So, I better get that in before March 19th! Oh, excuse is I need new shoes too. ugg.

Ash is getting better at her reading. I go into her class two days a week to help her & the other students take reading tests. It was another good day for Ashley. She read a book, took a test, and passed it. (She told me she said a little prayer before the test. Good girl). Ashley isn't WAY behind in reading , but just on the border of needing help-she reads at a second grade level, but we are almost 3/4 of the year through. We (teacher, mom, Ash, & state) want it higher. Its coming! I have hope! Keep it up Ashley!

Sorry no new pix. I take plenty of pictures, just don't have a way to get the pictures off my memory card. One day-LOTS of postings & pictures!

Taxes will be filed soon. I love H&R Block & my mommy! We only have to pay the state $12, which is MUCH less than what we originally thought. Federal return-YUMMY---> Its good. I still make money on my 'business' (self employed child care provider). Thats good.

My First 10K

(smiles at the start at the race) I ran my first EVER 10k race with my friend Michelle. She is my 'unofficial' running friend. This was our first run together. We are training together for the Canyonlands Half Marathon in Moab on March 19th. But this was our first time running together. (We have different schedules.)

The Salt Lake City Track Club hosted the 10K as part of the Winter Classic 30K (which is a combination of 3 races, a 5K, 10K and a 15K spaced over 6 weeks). The race was started at the Great Saltair and it was an 'out & back' course. The weather was above freezing, and the scenery was surprisingly nice. I kinda liked it. The mountain views-amazing. Too bad I only noticed them in the pictures!

I do treadmill running, so hitting the road for a race was exciting! Fresh air, no kids, change in scenery and a friend was there!

I ran the race and tried to listen to my body and run at a pace that felt good. It was hard past mile 4, but I made it to the finish in 1:05:22. MUCH better than I expected to run! I was REALLY happy with my time and my mile pace! Is it the fastest in my age-OH NO....but it was what I can do-a 10 min mile.

That's me behind that lady-I swore to catch her the WHOLE race and YUP-YEAH BABY I did!!
I passed her! Then I turned around to help Michelle finish who was only 3 mintues behind me. Not bad!


There was a professional photographer there to take pix, so these are from their website.

This is just about at the finish. It was hard, but I loved it!

We celebrated with a Keva, and went back to our lives as women & mothers. I was sore the next day. Michelle tore a muscle that hurt prior to the race.

4 weeks till the half marathon!!

Please weather-be nice

Motiviation-be there so I can make the next long run.