This ain't no kids game!

A Good day today.

Woke up early to go fishing.  Not my thing, but went along for my 2 boys.  It was so beautiful up in the mountains. Just as I was entering the "boredom zone", staring at a fishing pole that never seemed to move, I saw a lady running. As she ran by, I asked her if I could join her. We did a few miles of trail running nearby the lake, it was so much fun. Luckily she was a slow runner, so I was able to keep up with her. 

Later, I decided to brave the cool mountain lake and jumped in for a swim. I swam across the lake and back, I think about 1k. It was chilly, but so fun and relaxing out in the middle of the lake with no one else around, just peaceful and beautiful. 

Cooked up the fish the boys caught for dinner. Kind of a mess, but they were so proud of their catch, I thought it was worth it. Put enough garlic and butter on anything, it tastes good.  

I went to register for Riverton today. I am excited that I found a running buddy, that is willing to slow down enough that I can run along with her. :)  I am also pleased that my daugther said she would come along for the fun run. 

Did the Riverton 10k today. I was pleased that my daughter came along to do the fun run. This was after a week long of hearing her protesting and saying, "I don't do land sports". She finally came around. I hope she had enough fun to want to do another fun run. I'm now working on trying to convince my teenage son to do the Des News 10k. There were a lot more people doing the 10k than I thought there would be. It made me a little nervous. I was happy to get a txt message of encouragement from Quiet Pirate, right as I got to the starting line. RAD was my running buddy for the morning. She was nice to slow down enough to run with me. I appreciated the company and she talked so much, the time passed quickly. In the midst of all the chattering, I did hear her share some good gems of advice. A lot of talking, a lot of laughing, and thank goodness, no crying along the way. :) I sprinted the last bit and was happy that my time was 2 minutes faster than my Des News 10k time last year. When I told my kids I placed 98th, they laughed at me and joked, "how many people were running, 99"? A fun morning. Went home and ended up doing a couple hours of yard work in the hot sun. That sucked. I'm looking forward to the Des News 10k. Not going to do any yardwork after I finish that run, just relax, have fun...and eat yummy food.

Perfect holiday today. Early morning run, bike, swim - in that order. Off to a parade, then a picnic lunch, a hike on the mountain, a BBQ dinner, then fireworks. Life doesn't get much better than this...except that Crown burger was closed. I almost cried.   

Swim day. Woke up late, didn't get to swim until late afternoon. Not a quality swim, because I had to keep stopping. Also, I'm guessing the pool was at near capacity and I had 6 kids with me I was supppose to be watching while swimming. Thank goodness for my teenagers helping out. Even if not a good swim, I still had an enjoyable time playing in the pool with the kids.

Got my Crownburger fix for the year.

Morning run, later than usual. Thank goodness for sprinklers. I kept thinking about CIC everytime I ran through a sprinkler.  Got a quality swim in afterwards. Worked hard and no interuptions, except to wonder how the guy in the next lane over was kicking my butt. He was a really good swimmer, and even had a handwritten workout he was following. Played in the pool with the kids afterwards. I had to take pointers from the kids on how to go down the waterslide, as apparently I don't go down fast enough.

bike ride at dusk, nice and cool.

Woke up early enough to see the sun rise. Went on a 5k run around the lake, tried to tag along with RAD and Bec & Annett, but they were too fast for me.  Thanks for slowing down for me RAD. I rode my bike to/from the lake, I'm guessing about 20 miles. I got lost/took a detour and they made it back, on foot, faster than I did on the bike. Oops -that's why I'm blonde. Well that, and that I pay the hairdresser to highlight my hair to cover up the gray. 

I was pleasantly surprised that my legs weren't sore from the 3 hour bike/run yesterday.

I decided to run on a "non running" day, only a mile. I tried to run faster than my usual 11 min mile, and I did a 8.5 minute mile. I don't think I could have done another mile at that pace though.

Did a swim, worked hard doing 100 IM's. Wish my fly was stronger so I could do more 200 IM's. Practice, practice, practice. Had some spare time afterwards while the kids were playing in the pool, and I got to help the little neighbor girl learn how to swim. She was so proud that she could finally make it across the pool by herself.

5 miles on the "dreadmill". This time I remembered to set the incline to 1%. I think 5 miles is close to the 9k I'm suppose to do this week for the Hal Higdon training.  

Easy hike with kids. Not sure how far, guessing 2 miles.

Should have done a short run for Hal today, but didn't. Walked around an amusement park all day, maybe a couple of miles, but no run.

Finally got my act together and did a morning 5k run. The past few days, I just had too much going on. Fun stuff, good family type stuff, but just not "running" stuff. 

I bought this running skirt, that my teenage daughter talked my into, and I was about to chicken out and NEVER wear it and return it back to the store, but then somebody bribbed me. They promised me they would do a sprint Tri with me,  if I wore that running skirt out on a run. Well, my desire to have someone do the Tri with me overode my desire to look presentable in public. 

RAD invited me to the  RHPC run on Provo canyon. I  heard that Provo canyon was a fantastic run, so decided to give it a go. It was really amazing. I was going to do the 10k run, but I once I reached the 10k mark, I thought hey- I can do more than just a 10k. My 10k turned into a 10mile run. My first 10 mile run, maybe that running skirt is lucky  :) I listened to Radio RAD on the way up and my i-pod on the way down.  Enjoyed it all until I got lost at the end, because by then my knees were complaining.  Glad I had my cell phone with me- RAD helped me find my way back. She was at the finish line by the time I got there because she ran the 13 miles faster than I ran the 10 miles. Oops.  The folks that put on the run did a nice job, things like that take a lot of effort and it was much appreciated. 

Ran about 5k along the beach. Running in the sand is hard. Did some swimming afterwards.    

Went for a 4 hour hike with the family. Not too fast, not too steep, but fun. Probably about 5 miles total. I Forgot to sunscreen one little spot on the back of my neck. I guess I get to be a red neck tomorrow.

Swim day. It seemed hard to swim today. Maybe because I was swimming outdoors at noon, and had to wear that silly long sleeved UV swim shirt, oy maybe because I'm coming down with a head cold, or maybe it has been so long since I swam, that I just forgot how to. 

My kids embarassed me to death when they started fighting with each other in the parking lot, right when we were getting into the car. Another one of those, "who gets to sit where fights". I hate it when that happens.   I never fought with my siblings :)

I am offiicially registered for the Des News 10k, and since there is not refund, I guess that means I will be going.

Walked on the dreadmill at an incline for 5k. I was having a bad day so I called a friend to vent on the phone while I was on the treadmill. I think I spent more calories venting than I did walking. But hey, calories are calories, right?

Took a cold tablet this afternoon and it knocked me out. I had a 2 hour nap. Guess I needed the nap. Maybe all that venting, earlier in the day on the treadmill, wore me out as well.

I'm off to Jack in the Box for a shake. Yum. Thought I would start carb loading for the Des News 10k a little earlier this year.

treadmill

bike and swim

Well today was the big day for me. Des News 10k is....done.  I spent the last 8 weeks tyring to trick my legs  into running, and I think they are finally catching on.  For me, the worst part of running is having to wake up early, especially on race days. Anything before 6am is early, and I'm not a "before 6am" morning person. 

RAD gave me a wake up call, and even a ride to the event. (Thank you)  I think you can hire her for wake up calls/event transportation for a small fee, or maybe just a smile. :) Since I wasn't smiling much at 5am,  I might owe her some money.

I was happy that my teenage son decided to run the 10k with us too. This was his first 10k, and hopefully not his last. It was fun to meet some new people.  I met Carolyn in Colorado, just as pleasant and friendly in real life as on the blog. I met Cat, briefly, as she ran by me on her way down the hill. I also met Allie, who wasn't running, but I hear she is a speedy gal. 

I felt good about the run. Got a text from Quiet Pirate at mile one, I was surprised at my newfound ability to run and text at the same time. QP couldn't join us today, but she got a chuckle out of the pix we sent her with the Quiet Pirate signs on our backs. Going downhill, I felt good enough to talk to a lot of people along the way, and it felt even better to be able to pass them, even if slowly. The last 1/2 mile up to the finish line was hard. I was already tired and it took everything for me to sprint.  It was nice to see RAD and CIC waiting to run with me into the finish line. I guess my teenage son was too cool to run with me to the finish line. Somehow, that kid beat me, without even practicing at all for the 10k....that seems so unfair. 

After I got a drink and caught my breath, I went out to meet my other family members that werer running the 5k. I was proud to see my teenage daughter running, and not walking. I ran with her into the finish line. After she stopped she released her balloon into the sky, as a sign of victory. I went back and found my youngest running, neck to neck, alongside his cousin. My husband couldn't keep up with the 2 boys as they sprinted to the finish line, and he finished a short time later. Regardless of his finish time, my husband liked hearing me call him my "5k althlete" all morning.  I walked back into the 5k runners one last time to find Grandma and the baby stroller. She may be 25 years older than me , but she can still walk faster than me. We took a few family pictures once everyone was done. Wow- What a fun morning. Heading to a BBQ and fireworks this evening. Reminds me of the song by One Republic, "This has got to be the good life..."  :) 

Bike and swim.

I tried to do a practice ride for Blackridge Tri on Saturday. Those hills are tough and my legs were still tired from the Des News downhill 10k, so I didn't fnish the route. Went to the glamour gym for a swim afterwards with RAD. My legs enjoyed the swim  a lot more than the bike ride.   

After burning out my legs yesterday, I promised myself I wasn't going to ride a bike today. Well, my husband had the car, out shopping for a birthday present for my son, and I had no way to the pool but my bike.  I ate my words, hopped on the bike and went to the pool. 

My husband told me he missed hearing me call him "my 5k althlete", the title he earned after he ran the Des News 5k run on Monday. I tired to think of a special new name for him today. He said that "super laundry helper" didn't have the same appeal for him. I guess I need to be a bit more creative. 

5k hike. I enjoy hiking so much more than running or biking.  

A beautiful sunrise followed by a a morning full of swimming, biking and running. It doesn't get much better than this. 

The swim was fun. My AG was the last to start, but it was still plenty crowded in the water. I don't like crowds. After everyone was in the water and I could see, things got better and I had a good swim.  I  didn't have a wet suit on, but for only 15 minutes in the water, I didn't feel like I needed one. I was happy to see RAD for about 10 seconds at the transition area. I knew that would most likely be the last time I saw her for the day, she is so fast on the bike and run. As I was in the transition area, I didn't do the best job getting all the sand off my feet because I felt pieces of sand in my shoes and between my toes the rest of the race. 

I was worried about the bike ride because there were a lot of hills. l had to cheat in one part, where there was a steep hill, and get off and walk my bike up the hill. Once I made it to the copper mine road, I was so relieved and the rest of the ride was nearly all downhill. I have never rode my bike so fast. My whole bike was shaking, it was scary. When I got to a level road I found a buddy, and we rode side by side on our bikes for several miles chatting. It made the time go by fast. I was ready to get off my bike by the end of the bike ride. 

The run wasn't too bad, I was just tired by then. I was really happy to see the water stations, and stopped at each one for a drink. My favorite part of the whole race was towards the end, on a downhill trail, when I could see the whole wasatch mountain range ahead of me. It was so beautiful and peacefull. I just stared at the  mountains and let my mind wander. Somehow, my feet knew to just keep running.  I decided to sprint at the end and I passed this girl who was ahead of me the whole run. Yeah.  

A nice visit at the fnish line. Thanks to Brent for telling us about the Tri and suggesting we register. It was heaps of fun. I'm glad RAD and Becca decided to register too, it  was encouraging to see a familiar face along the race route. I wasn't fast enough to catch up with them, but it was fun to see them passing by in the opposite direction. I also appreciated my husband and 7 year old who showed up to cheer me on. My finish time was a few minutes faster than I thought it would be.  When they were handing out awards at the end, I was surprised to hear my name. I was so excited, I got 3rd in my AG. I have never won anything at a race before and proudly ran up to the stage to claim my award.  The perks of being in an older age group! 

I'm looking forward to doing this Tri again next year.