Mountain Trail Adventure

This Picture was taken in front of my Parent's garage, right after our Saturday Adventure.

On Saturday I had the opportunity to run in Ogden with Marcie. My parents recently moved to North Ogden, and I havent figured out all the options yet. I searched mapmyrun.com and found 2 routes that joined up with each other. Together they equalled the 12 miles that Marcie and I were hoping for. My Dad took me out on friday night to help me find the entrance to the first trail. I was hoping that we could leave from my parents house on foot. My Dad was looking for the best entrance to this mountain trail. He suddenly stopped the truck, in the dark, and started walking briskly up the mountain. So I got out and tried to follow him. Straight up the mountain. Stumbling through the dark. 'How far up this mountain is he going to go???' I wondered. We did find the trail after we were both out of breath. He thought he could find an easier way to get on the trail, though. Which he did. We found a neighborhood that led right into the trail, with a kinder entry. Thankyou Dad for helping me! I never wouldve found either of those trail entries on my own!

On Saturday I had alarm issues. Luckily Marcie waited on my porch for 10 minutes or so until Noah heard her knocking and woke me up. The alarm issues were not my fault. But that's another story.

The first few miles were kind of brutal. We started out going up hill, right out of my parents drive way. The first several miles were mostly up hill. The first 6 mile half of the trail was a mountain trail with several spots we had to walk over or around large rocks and such. At times we wondered if we were still in the right place. But we kept going. We were looking for Rainbow Gardens, where we would start the 2nd half of this run. We finally got to a spot where we could see Rainbow Gardens. But it looked very far away, still, on the mountain trail. So we took a short cut. The shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line, right? Learned that in my math classes. So we started running down the mountain toward Rainbow Gardens. Marcie demonstrated her crazy downhill technique.

After Rainbow Gardens it was smooth sailing. A nice paved trail. It overlapped part of the Ogden Marathon route I ran in 2006. Fun to see and remember those familiar sights.

When we hit our 12 miles we called Noah on my cell phone and asked him to come find us. No, we didnt really know where we were. We described what we could see and hear. He did find us. A good man.

I look forward to doing that one again. Next time we'll know we are on the right path, and that will take a little bit of the excitement out of it. Its kind of fun feeling slightly lost with a friend. We kept making jokes about the Blair Witch Project...

But it was a super adventure. A great day. One that Ill remember.

Running with Megan

On friday I wanted to step out the door for a 3 mile run. Noah was home from work, but heading out for a chiropractic adjustment. No problem- I could leave Megan to babysit for less than an hour. But Megan wanted to rollerblade alongside me. "No, I need my babysitter" I said. As she protested further, Noah thought he could solve this with another approach..."Megan, rollerblade around the block with Mom. If she beats you back, you can't go with her." Megan beat me back.

So Noah cancelled his adjustment, and Megan came with me.

Now, Megan is my child that I assumed would probably not take up running with me. She says that running hurts her tummy. She does not like pain. So I had to smile as we zipped along the streets together. Life was handing me an unexpected gift. Megan had found her own way to come enjoy 3 miles with me. I hadnt run with Megan for 4-5 years. Since she outgrew the double running stroller and got replaced by younger siblings.

I am happy to add Megan to my list of fabulous running partners. (:

I Cannot Do My Run Today

Justine just sent this to me and I just had to share this with everyone. This is soooo me on some days! :) The writer was inspired by Shel Silverstein’s poem, “I Cannot Go To School Today”
-------------------------------------------------------------

“I cannot do my run today,”
Said little Jack or John or Kay.
“I have shin splints and the runs,
A gash, a rash and achey buns.

My mouth is wet, my throat feels like Charmin,
My sunglasses broke and I lost my Garmin.
My hamstrings are as tight as rocks,
I’ve counted eight different chafing spots.

And there’s one more, that makes it nine,
I have the flu, maybe swine.
My heels hurt, it must be plantar fasciitis,
And on top of that
I have achilles tendonitis.

I feel queasy, running makes me choke,
My last track workout was a joke.
My hips hurt when I move my legs,
My hamstrings feel like scrambled eggs.

My back is tweaked, my ankle’s sprained,
My ITBS flares each time it rains.
I get dizzy when I stand too fast,
I have six blisters on my left calf.

My foot has a stress fracture,
My psoas is weak,
I hardly talk about when running when I speak.

My favorite shoes are losing their sole,
I think my motivation is starting to go.

My arches are flat, my gait is off,
My rock hard abs are going soft.

I have runner’s knee, there are holes in my waterproof gear,
My brand new compression socks are covered in beer.

I have a neuroma, my quad is…

What? What’s that you say?
You say…. that it’s my day to race?
Goodbye then! I’m going out to run my PR pace!”


Source: http://www.runningrelays.com/?p=2001

All About the Feeling

So, I had a race this morning. Well, really TWO races. :) It was the Phoenix 10K and 5K double header in downtown Phoenix. I've never had 2 races in one morning - I started to think of it as just one big 9.3 mile race. The 10K was to start at 8:00, the 5K at 9:15. I woke up at 5:30 to be downtown by our 7:00 team warm up time. I arrived, parked and had a couple of blocks to walk over to Wesley Bolin Plaza where the race start was. As I'm walking around the state capitol building I realize that my wrist is naked. I had forgotten my Garmin! Not only that, but I further realized that even my backup Timex is in my gym bag at home. No timing method! :( So, during my walk over to the start site to go pick up my timing chip I talked myself into the fact that this is a great opportunity for me to again NOT be dependent on something for my run. I figured I could go out, enjoy it and just do what feels good!

I picked up my timing anklet and walked over to our team meeting location to head out for our warm up. Upon returning from our warm up, my friend Karine had arrived a bit late. I told her I forgot my Garmin and she immediately offered her's to me since she was doing the run with a stroller with a couple of other moms and volunteer stroller pushers that also have GPS watches. It took some considering on my part but I told her no. I said that I already talked myself into an opportunity to see how I can do without it. To go by just how I was feeling without alarms nagging and seconds staring me down.

Just before the race started I was searching for any of my teammates. I finally found Justine who was also searching for our friends. We were happy to find each other to start together. :) We started out at a seemingly easy pace due to the crowds. This is a VERY popular race. The first mile reminded me so much of PF Changs. It starts in the same area and the runner filled street was so strikingly similar. Not only that, but there were bands about every 1/2 mile - again a reminder of PF Changs. Each band I passed I took my headphones out to have a listen. I hate to be rude when they are out there for us. Some weren't so good, but I really enjoyed a few of the bands - there was even an all girl band rockin' out there. Fun times!

Side note: Water station first time incident...water up the nose!!!! Mental note for next stop: do not try running while drinking from a cup. Just walk the few steps to avoid this problem! LOL

I truly had no idea how far into the race I was at certain points. I just started to ask myself - "Do you think you could go a bit faster and stick with it?" Usually, the answer was yes and that is what I did. Just when I had turned the corner to run toward the 3 mile mark the motorcycle cops came through asking runners to move to the right over their loud speakers. They were clearing the path for the man in first place so that he had ample room on the left of the road. AMAZING! Wouldn't we all love to be fast enough to have a police escort!!! This of course made me pick up the pace a little, inspired by him. :)

At the halfway point I saw my friend James along the left side cheering for me as I ran past, then Suzanne and Jeremy on the right. All of them cheering on the 10Kers while waiting for the 5K start. Such a boost to have them there!

The 10K race was the 5K loop twice. I knew what to expect the 2nd time around, so the bands I liked the first time I made sure to remove the headphones early to soak in the good stuff! They rocked pushing me to the finish faster. I finished my last mile strong and saw the clock reading 1:03 something when I crossed. I knew I had to beat 1:02:13 to PR so this was a close call. I didn't know how far off from gun time my chip time would be. I remember it took a couple minutes to get to the actual start, but I wouldn't know until times were posted. Hmmmm...MAYBE. And there was Suzanne and Jeremy to welcome my finish then walk me over to our5K start. No more time to think about the 10K just finished!

Suzanne didn't have any particular goals. She is now almost 8 months pregnant, still very quick, but she said she would stick with me whatever pace I wanted to go after I had just finished the 10K. I was glad for this since I really felt I did my best to give the 10K an awesome effort - I wanted to just have a fun 5K. We had a nice chatty run around the same course I had just run twice. I pointed out all of the bands I liked to her. We saw some racing Elvises (Elvi??? hehe). They were in full jumpsuits "taking care of business"! Quite funny really. We kept our easy pace and finished the 5K in 32 and some seconds according to Suzanne's watch. Again, we'd have to wait for official times to be posted to know how we really did. We met up with my team and waited for Jeremy to run in. After that we milled around to get all of the free goodies being handed out and then we parted to get back to our cars to get home.

The waiting was killing me. I was checking the web site every half hour (well, except during my well deserved nap). ;) The results were finally posted at about 6:00pm. I DID IT!! I PRed the 10K by a mere 14 seconds. 1:01:59 - 9:59 min/miles. Yay! The 5K was still pretty good for taking it easy - a 32:46 - 10:33 pace. Not surprising since by that ninth mile my knees were getting sore, and my ankle too which has been sore since I twisted it October 2nd (ouch!). Still happy with that 5K though after a 10K PR! A beautiful morning and a great time. Maybe there is something to be said for not being a slave to my wrist all the time. It was nice to think about nothing except how I was truly feeling as I went along. To the Garmin girls...try a race once without it just for kicks. I surprised myself! Maybe you will too!

not feeling so well

Its not a big deal. I dont feel that Im totally sick. I just have extra bad allergys, or a head cold on top of allergys. But I did feel pretty gross last night and this morning. Noah said "youll have a bad day today if you run and wear yourself out..." So I almost cancelled. But then I thought...Ill DEFINITELY have a bad day if I dont get my saturday run.

I went, and enjoyed it. Im glad I went. Maybe I will pay for it in the long run...who ever knows if running makes your sick recovery process slower? But if I feel miserable all day, I know I enjoyed my run outside this morning.

Anyway, just made me think about how much I look forward, all week, to that longer saturday run.

It was a fun group this morning...Cynthia, Lisa, Karen, Sarah, and Meghan. The Saturday's Warriors!

There Was This Race Like a Month Ago ...

I can't believe it has taken me so long to write about St. George! You would think my shirt would have arrived in the mail by now ... Did you get yours yet, Lindy?

All month I've been thinking about the race and what I could write about it. It was really, really fun to meet everyone there. It definitely made it more exciting. I can't imagine standing in that line for the toilet without someone to talk to. :)

Friday -- All day I was mostly worried about what to or not to eat. I took Lindy's advice to eat lots of carbs and fiber on Thursday. Friday I was more concerned about drinking enough and eating protein ... and much, much less fiber. (I've been known to have issues with fiber and racing.) So, unlike me, I ate hamburgers and eggs and ice cream and pasta-minus-the-sauce and skipped the Fig Newtons and the oh-so-tasty-looking spinach salad for dinner. And I drank and drank and drank tons of water all day long. As for rest, I think my six hours of sleep were more than any one else was able to get.

Saturday Morning Pre-Race -- I was very, very grateful to Lindy, Cynthia, Lisa, and especially Lisa's husband for picking me up so my husband did not have to wake the kids at 4:30 to take me to the buses. I was also very grateful for the advice to layer clothing, especially with clothing I wasn't afraid to toss. Since we had quite a wait to start, I dared eat a bagel (did I eat two??) and a banana. The ride up chatting with Marcie didn't seem twice as long as the ride up for the Hobble Creek Half. Once we arrived I was surprised by the noise (who expects lots of loud music at 5:00 a.m.?), number of people, and cold. I was very relieved to reach the potty and completely empty my insides before the race started and thankful to Marcie for bringing extra toilet paper. It was nice to have Lisa and Cynthia to wait with for the five (if that many?) minutes after Marcie and Lindy took off. I just thought of how fun it was for them to train for this together and finally be there to run it together.

And we were off -- Right out of the gates, I flipped on my shuffle and accidentally set it to shuffle. As I had a book to listen to, I wasn't excited to have chapters mixed up. As soon as I realized it was mixing things up, I turned it off and then on again to play normally. It was mid-book! I actually stopped running to figure it out. As it is relatively new, I had no idea how to reset things. So, I figured I'd just listen to whatever came up. I had already read New Moon (um ... twice) and knew I wouldn't be lost, just slightly annoyed, if things were mixed up. It turned out that I had skipped a whole lot of the book, but it actually started playing at the most exciting part (when Alice and Bella are on their way to Italy). The rest played in perfect order. Phew! All of that before mile one! No wonder that first mile came up so quickly. And actually, the first three miles were over before I realized it.

I wish I had written sooner. The miles have blurred in my mind. I do remember being totally stoked to have someone playing the Rocky theme song from the back of a pickup truck. That was prior to stopping to apply band-aids on both feet. And that was just before the hill at mile eight. I really liked that hill, the up part. I also liked the polka band and the signs. Even though the signs were not for me, I still found them motivating. My favorite (if I remember it correctly) was, "That's not sweat, it's your fat cells crying."

I wasn't too worried about when to refuel or drink. I just drank when I felt thristy. I plodded on through the water stations until I felt my energy slacken and then I grabbed a gatorade. Near the end when my water was running low I did refill one bottle. A friend of mine had given me some Gatorade jelly beans for the race. I loved having them along! They were great to suck on and gave me a slight boost. I also packed some fruit snacks which I munched every few miles. I only needed one Honey Stinger - right about mile 13. With such little intake, there was no need to stop in line at any of the pit stops.

Other than stopping to put on more band-aids around mile 17, nothing very eventful happened until that wretched downhill at mile 20. It was not as painful for me as for others of you, but my knees were screaming as I headed down. Perfectly, the book had ended and my music started up. Yay for upbeat music when it was most needed!!! From that point on, I knew I would finish the race running. Every time I thought about finishing and seeing my family I teared up. I thought how silly that was since I hadn't overcome anything huge to make it. I hadn't fought a battle with cancer. I was not running to raise money for any great cause. But I was touched by thoughts of a supporting husband who did sacrifice during my training. I thought of my kids who would get a better-rested (and therefore less grumpy) mom back. I thought of all the 4:00 and 4:30 a.m. mornings I wouldn't have to run anymore and felt such relief that it had all paid off. In fact, any time during the run when I felt a little bit tired, I just thought, "This is it, Hannah. This is what you have worked MONTHS for. You can do this just this one time." And I knew I could.

It was tempting to speed up, but I didn't dare. I wanted to finish strong and was afraid of hitting a wall if I went too fast. In my huge history of races, I've never been able to see the finish line from a distance and therefore have not been able to "sprint" to the finish. I wasn't even totally sure all the balloons were the finish when I first saw them. I was elated when I figured out they were. I felt like a million dollars as I raced down that stretch. My husband and kids were cheering for me and I was able to cross the finish line grinning. It was perfect, even with the slowest time of our group (5:01:30). Who knows if I'll ever run another marathon. Do I really want to mess with such a fantastic memory? I loved this experience. Thanks so much to you women who motivated me to attempt it and to finish it. You are so strong. I, like you, do indeed love to run.

Still Time to Join the Ragnar Relay Team!

Hi ladies! Just a reminder that there are still open spots for our Ragnar Del Sol team. We need 3 more girls for the team. It's going to be amazing fun so let us know if you or someone you know would be interested!

From the blog we already have Lindy, Bronwyn, Cynthia, Karen, Karen's friend Bryn and myself on the team - we're hoping for a few more of you or your friends!

February 26-27, 2010 - 202.1 miles from Prescott to Mesa, 12 runners, 3 legs each, around 3 to 8 miles each leg over about 24-30 hours. AMAZING FUN!

Details here: http://www.ragnarrelay.com/delsol/index.php

Registration is $85 which we are hoping for by the end of October (or in payments starting as soon as possible). In February we will have additional fees for vans, gas, etc but we are trying to keep those to a minimum at around $40 depending on the amount of money we raise to offset the cost. We hope to have 12 runners for the team by the end of the month, so please email me at bridge.hokinson@gmail.com or comment on this blog if you or someone you know might be interested.