We've Been Snubbed by the "Winged Goddess of Victory"

From my rejection email...

The Winged Goddess of Victory has spoken. From the 30,000+ registration entries we received, we’ve drawn the names of the lucky women who will get the chance to run in the 2011 Nike Women’s Marathon.

Unfortunately, your name was not one of them.

I'm so sad! I was really wanting to get in to this race, and NOT St. George, so I guess now I have to start hoping for St. George. 

To those who signed up for St. George, lets hope "The Winged Goddess of Victory" sent our names to Utah!

SUSPENSFUL DAY!

Those of us that registered for the Nike Women's Half are waiting IMpatiently today for an acceptance email! GOOD LUCK TO US! CROSS ALL BODY PARTS that we get in!!!

I could live in Nike Tempo Shorts

Years ago at the Old Mountainside, I overheard a conversation amongst childcare workers: "Have you noticed that *Sheila Smith is always stinky?" Other girl- "Maybe she works out hard" First girl- "She is already stinky when she first gets to the gym!" 2nd girl "Oh, yeah, that is weird".

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent yet stinky.

I bet these days that I am the girl the childcare workers think is stinky. This is because sometimes I have to do a cycle class at 8:30, when I ran at 5:30. The 5:30 workout is a freeby because most people are still sleeping, so it is my bonus workout and it doesnt even count. Its a little bonus treat I get for getting up early- yay me! This is what you have to do sometimes when you love cycle, like yoga, and are obsessed with running. Sometimes you have to double up workouts. Especially when your 3 year old loves the childcare gym.

Somedays its not a 2nd workout. Somedays I need to make a trip to the store after I run, or go hiking, clean the car, or go easter egg hunting. I know that eventually I will need to get showered and put on "real clothes". I like to be clean and fresh. But I will admit that I am reluctant for the tempo short part of my day to end. I LOVE them. They are so light and fabulous. They feel like you are wearing NOTHING, and yet they are appropriate and not embarrassing the way wearing NOTHING would be.

If you dont have tempo shorts, get some! If you dont run, wear them to do your grocery shopping, clean the car, or go easter egg hunting. You will LOVE them too!

No I am not advertising for Nike. I do not have the Nike Account. But maybe I should!!!

The Leggos from Ragnar Del Sol

I know the Green Leggo!!!

This is a video from one of the fun teams we were around allot during our Ragnar Del Sol. They won the Ragnar video contest with it. Way to go Leggos!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZBLVSbvOGc

Eating my Veggies

I cant think of anything I want more than veggies right now! With fresh fruit a close 2nd. Okay- granted I like the fruit to be on top of icecream or yogurt. But Ive never craved salad and veggies as much as lately.

It is probably because Summer is around the corner. But I am thrilled that after a winter of wanting to bake bread and cookies, that my body is asking me for veggies right now!

Will this help my running? I hope so. I dont know...Id like to think so! What do you think?

Bell Rock Trail and Courthouse Loop

A beautiful Day for A Trail Run!

We are the Matchy-Matchy Girls!!!

Sedona is a great place to walk around and work out the Lactic Acid after the run. These are some of our energetic kids, helping us work out the Lactic Acid!

Wildflower is where we chose to start our nutritional recovery from our run. But it took all day to recover! Aloha Chicken, and Coldstone Creamery were also key to our recovery! And a little gourmet popcorn and fudge helped too! Ahhh, The joy of recovery!

Kayda and Missy are great examples of the FIT life. They can never have a non-blurry picture because they are always on the move! Even while hugging!

Pictures I missed- sorry (I need to get better at this whole picture-blogging life)

-Our Scandanavian Friend who played beautiful flute music on the motel porch every night (He was part of the ambiance of Sedona and we want to make sure he is there next time we go too- we need to synchronize our travel plans with him!)

-Our Beautiful Icecream

-Our hot husband mountain bikers

-Karen and I's Delectable casseroles, Cynthia's scrumptious salad and rolls, and the adorable mini-sodas!

A great weekend full of friends, endurance activities we LOVE, and food!!!

Running in the Snow

The weekend of April 9th I got the rare opportunity to run with Marcie in Utah- Yay! I flew to Utah for my Grandmother's funeral. It was cold and snowy all weekend. The snow was pretty, falling lightly and gracefully, but constantly. I kept looking out the window throughout the weekend, wanting it to stop because I was worried about our run. But everytime I looked out the window, Id see what you see in the pictures above. More and more snow...

Marcie and I debated running together on treadmills at Gold's Gym, but Im glad we decided to just "go for it". It did snow on us almost the whole time we ran, but it wasnt very cold. I didnt feel uncomfortably cold until the last 3 miles. So for 12 miles I felt really great! And even the last 3 werent too bad.

We ran a paved trail, and then some roads and then decided to do the bulk of our run on our old Highschool outdoor track. This way we could just run and talk and not worry about where to go. So we had a great time "catching up" and just changed direction every few miles. We had 3 miles to the track, 9 on the track, and then 3 home.

I love that I have a good running friend in Utah. It is always a treat- I count it right up there with the excitement of going to a race!

My First 10K

On April 2nd I ran my first ever 10K. I mean, okay, once I ran that distance on my own, in the Islands, just to see. In 2009. But this was my first real race of this distance. So in theory, any time I got would be a PR, right? But what if my pace was slower than my half marathon pace, and even my marathon pace? Still a 10K PR? What do you think?

It was still a good saturday run. I ran a 5 mile warm-up to Freestone Park where the race was being held. It was just too hot, and we knew it. Cynthia was doing the race too, and we realized quickly that it was NOT a PR racing day. TOO HOT!!!

Everyone was hugging the shade. At one stretch we were running along side a tall fence and everyone was single filing, trying to catch that little bit of shade. The shade was priority for most. People couldve taken advantage of this stretch to pass up other racers, but most preferred to get as much shade as possible along the fence line.

They passed out water 3 times. I took a cup at each water stop and dumped it on my head. This offered a moment of relief.

Cynthia and I agree that we could run this another year and possibly get really great weather! April here is a little unpredictable. Really hot, and then a cold front...hard to tell what we will get.

Anyhow it was for a good cause. Funds were donated for Leukemia.

Still a good experience. But SOOO hard. We survived. And I have more respect for Badwater Survivors! Why anyone chooses to run in horrible heat, I still dont know.

Physical Therapy

I have allot to catch up on with the running blog. It will take me a few entries. Ever since Ragnar Ive been babying my left hamstring/glute. You all know it, because I cant stop obsessing over it- sorry all of you who have had to listen to my complaints. I broke down and paid for some visits to the Physical Therapist. They have helped and seem to be worth the money. He gave me some good stretches and strengthening exercises. Thankyou Dan Beaver for a good referral. If any of you are in need of a Physical Therapist, I will recommend Nate Snell. If money was no object I would continue to go every once in awhile. Who doesnt have a small issue that they wish would go away? Its nice to have an "expert" tell you that you can keep running! And that he can make you heal even while you run, if you follow his routine. Good Stuff. If I was as fast as Kara Goucher then I could justify having my own physical therapist, masseuse, coach, and mood therapist. But until Im doing sub- 6 minute miles, I guess Ill try to figure most of these things out on my own.

San Francisco Marathon/Half Marathon Group ID

Several of us are putting our names in the lottery to run the Nike Women’s Marathon or Half Marathon on October 16^th of this year in San Francisco.  We can link our names together so that if we get picked all of us would be able to run it.  If we don’t get picked, none of us would get in.  So far I think the committed runners are: Cynthia, Lindy, Barb, Lisa and Karen.  We are all bringing our husbands and making it a fun “couples” trip, no kids!  I would love to have as many of you come as would like! I’ve heard it’s a fun race with a Tiffany Necklace as the prize. J  I think so far everyone is running the Half Marathon but you can choose which race you want to do.

Here is some info from their website on the registration process. If you decide to register with us you MUST PUT THE GROUP ID in correctly! 

From the website:  http://inside.nike.com/blogs/nikerunning_events-en_US/2011/03/16/nwm-faqs

Registration for the 2011 Nike Women's Marathon will once again be held through a random drawing process. Runners can begin registering for the random drawing beginning Monday, April 11th at 9am PDT. Registration for the random drawing will close on Friday, April 22nd at 11:59pm PDT. You may register at any time during the registration period; registering early does not improve your change of being selected.

This year, if you are interested in registering as a group, you can obtain a Group ID prior to registering in the random drawing.

OUR GROUP ID IS:  21KV84

* All group members need to copy and paste the Group ID to reduce the chances of typos.

*  Starting April 11th, every member of the group needs to input the Group ID in the appropriate box on their own random drawing application. Your Group ID must be entered correctly to be considered. If your group is selected and you mistyped your Group ID during registration, you will not be included in that group.

Here We Go Again . . .

St. George Marathon put out this video in honor of it's 35th year.  Here's hoping we'll all be running it together! {The video is about 8 minutes.}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWwKrjgSsrg&feature=player_embedded

In Training

I haven't posted in a while so I thought I'd make a few notes on how my running is going.  I ran 13 today and had to post a picture of what I wore.  Shorts!  YAY!  It's been so cold here that I've been stuck wearing long pants {not to mention the hat & glove} but it finally warmed up enough to pull out the shorts.  These are the Nike shorts that Lindy gave me for my birthday.  I love them so much!  Aren't we all lucky to have a friend like Lindy?

I registered for the Utah Grand Slam this year, which is a total of four marathons: Utah Valley, Park City, Top of Utah and St. George.  It's a competition between 175 runners for overall and age-group awards based on total time of all four marathons.  How fun does that sound?!?  Anyway, I'm in training for the Utah Valley Marathon in June and I've got Boston on my mind.  A training run doesn't happen without me thinking of BQing. I'm hoping the training program I'm following will help me get there.  I'm now on week seven of the training schedule.  Here's a look at how my week's four through six training went:

Week Four:

Monday: 5 miles at 7:53 pace (39:34)

Tuesday: 8 miles at 8:10 pace (1:05:22)

Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 5 miles at 8:13 pace (41:05)

Friday: 4 miles at 8:46 pace (35:05)

Saturday 12 miles at 8:25 pace (1:41:10)

Week Five:

Monday: 5 miles at 7:53 pace (39:25)

Tuesday: 8 miles at 8:53 pace (1:11:03)

Wednesday: 6 miles at 7:56 pace (47:37)

Thursday: Rest

Friday: 4 miles at 8:50 pace (35:21)

Saturday: 15 miles at 8:24 pace (2:06)

Week Six:
Monday: 5 miles at 8:12 pace (41:02)
Tuesday: 9 miles at 8:50 pace (1:19:36)
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 5 miles at 7:48 pace (39:04)
Friday: 4 miles at 8:52 pace (35:30)
Saturday: 13 miles at 8:15 pace (1:47:20)