New Adventures

I am an adrenaline junkie, and I love new adventures-they can be fantastic adrenaline rushes.
Yes, competing in a triathlon definitely counts. While I am working on overcoming my fear of water, I will
be taking on other new adventures, and I invite you to break out of your box of comfort and try one (or more) for yourself.

-Ragnar. OK, I know Ragnar is over. But, it was a new adventure for me, and I loved it. There is another similar race that I am excited to take on, and I want to share: The Grand Teton Relay. This relay race takes you through beautiful national parks, and it takes place during a perfect time of the year: August. If you don't already have plans, mark your calendar for August 19-20th, get together 11 of your friends/family and get ready to have a fantastic time. You can check out the details at http://www.grandtetonrelay.com. Plus, this is a brand new race, so you will be among the first to say you did it!

-Trail Races. My friends at the Pleasant Grove Fire Department have turned me onto trail running, and a group of us will be running the XTERRA trail race on September 25th, in Ogden, Utah. I am totally psyched about this. You can check it out at http://www.xterraplanet.com/xduro/nationals.htm. I am by no means going for the championship, but I am going to run just for the thrill of it.

-RunnerCross. What's RunnerCross? You have to check this out! It's coming up quick- July 9th. It is an off-road race that is an obstacle course. You will get dirty. You will most likely fall once, twice (or maybe five times). You will laugh. You will have a blast. It is an experience to have. Plus, you can bring your family along- they have activities to keep everyone happy. Visit http://www.runnercross.com/events/salt-lake-city/.

I have another new adventure, and it's definitely not for the weak-hearted. My Friend Monica and I are planning on taking a skydiving trip in September. Yep-you read correctly. I can't even begin to explain how excited I am. We had actually planned to go last year, but something happened to both of us that prevented us from taking the trip. So, we are crossing our fingers and praying hard that this year, things happen in our favor. If you are up to an amazing adrenaline rush, check out http://www.skydiveutah.com/.

If you find that you are not ready to take on any of these adventures, it's OK. But, I encourage you to find something that you have never done before, take a leap of faith, and do it. It is an amazing feeling when you experience something new, and you usually learn things about yourself that you never knew before. Doors open that you didn't know existed. Make it a goal to take on at least one new adventure this summer-you'll be glad you did!

Testing The Waters

After taking a week off from running (which drove me crazy), I felt good enough this morning to test the waters and hit the pavement.
Oh, it felt so good. I took it slow, and I only ran a couple of miles, but the good news is that everything went well. It seems that all of my injuries have healed enough-I just need to remember to take it slow during this first week back.
My advice to all of you that may have an injury of any sort: Always take it slow when you first get back into any form of exercise. If you are anything like me, you are anxious to jump right back into whatever you were doing before your injury, and at the level you were doing it at. However, by doing so, you will only increase your risk of re-injury. Be patient, and take things nice and slow. Once your body is used to the level of activity you start at, then increase your endurance about 10% per week, until you are back at 100%.
Another key element: remember the strength training. It's important to strengthen your core as well as the area of injury. When you have a strong core, the rest of your body is better able to handle the level of exercise you are putting it through.
 I am happy to be back. I wish you all a safe and injury-free summer. Get out and enjoy!

Clarifying Ragnar

My post today is to clarify a few things about my Ragnar experience. Apparently, my detailed post on my  adventure left some people thinking I was tortured and had a horrible time-So, they have asked "Why would you want to do it again?" On the contrary- I had the best time!!!! :)

For those of you who don't know me very well, or at all- I am known for my long, detailed stories. I seriously don't think I could keep things short if my life depended on it (just ask anyone who knows me well). I have tried keeping things short and sweet, but that's just not me. 

So, when you read about every ache, pain and blister I have; every trial and triumph; just take it all in stride and realize that unless I absolutely say I hate something, I am really enjoying it. Oh, I don't enjoy pain, but I enjoy the overall experience. 

Second-some of the injuries that Jess, Mindy and I had on Ragnar happened before Ragnar-it's just that running two races back-to-back didn't help things at all. So, No-Ragnar wasn't a horribly hard race that caused all of these injuries. We just overdid things. 

Third-Would I recommend Ragnar for just anyone? Well.........no. I'm not saying you have to be a super athlete to participate (believe me, not everyone that does it is), but if you don't like running, lack of sleep, being dirty, getting a little crazy and having the time of your life-then this is definitely not for you. If you are up for an adventure you'll never forget, then I say get a team together and go for it!

I hope that cleared things up.

Running Ragnar-A New Adventure

 As you read in my last post, I ran Ragnar this past weekend. This was a new adventure for me, and I was so excited for it. For those of you that are wondering what in the world Ragnar is........well, in a nutshell it's a 188 mile relay (apparently this year it was almost 192 miles) across the Wasatch Back- beginning in Logan and ending in Park City. This year, about 14,000 runners took part in this crazy idea of a race. I have wanted to run Ragnar for several years now, but until this year it just didn't happen.
I have been training for this event for several months. I have run more hills than I ever care to again, and I have been training to run at different times of the day. Again, for those of you that are wondering why..........During this race, if you are a member of a 12 person team, then you run 3 legs. If you are a member of an Ultra (6 person) team, then you each run 6 legs. This means that you run at different times of the day, and the chances of getting any sleep................well, are slim-to-none.
So, Let me break down the weekend for you:

Thursday
I spend the day cleaning, packing and grocery shopping for both my family while I'm gone, and for my trip.
4:30pm- I head to Jess' house to get loaded up and headed out.
5-6:00pm-Jess, Mindy and I are preparing the food for the trip and packing everything up
6:30pm-The rest of the team arrives and we get their stuff loaded into the cars
6:45pm-We all head to Olive Garden for dinner
9:00pm-We are finished with dinner, have picked up anything that anyone had forgotten, and are on our way up to Ogden to stay at our friend Ally's parents' house.
11:00pm- While the guys are busy decorating our vehicles, the girls are separating the food and necessities between the two vehicles.

Our "Tiki Mobile"

Friday
12:30am- We make an attempt to get some sleep
1:45am-I can't sleep
2:30am- Still can't sleep
3:00am-Finally fell asleep
4:30am-Alarm goes off-time to get ready
5:45am-The girls all head out the door and head to USU Campus to make our start time
6:30am-We get our "Tribal Tattoos"

Just a few of my "Tattoos"

7:30am-And we're off! Jess starts us off. This girl runs like a Cheetah-she is amazingly fast.
11:06am-It's my turn! I was runner 5, and my first leg was up Avon Pass- an all-dirt road/trail. My run was 7.4 miles long with a 1,200 foot incline. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought run-wise, but it was worse than I thought, because with all of the cars passing by, I ate dirt the entire time. I drank a lot of water to wash it all down.

12:26pm-I pass off the "baton/bracelet" to Kristin. By this time, I have pain shooting through my leg. I spent the rest of the race rubbing Mindy's "magic oil" on it to keep the pain to a minimum.

1 Leg Down........

2:00pm- The girls are through with leg #1, and the baton is passed off to the guys. For a few hours, the girls can take a break.
9:13pm- I run my second leg. This run didn't seem so bad-it was only 4.2 miles. I took off: my leg seemed to be holding up ok, and I had more energy than I thought I would. But..........by mile 3, my leg was screaming, and the blister that popped up at Utah Valley the week before, was back again-with a vengence. Then, out of nowhere, my left IT ban began to throb. I ran with all that I had left, and at 9:48pm I handed the baton off to Kristin once again. I was so glad to be done.
10:45pm-The girls are done for the night, and the guys take over. We drove to Oakley where the next major exchange would take place.

Saturday
12:45am-We finally get to the rodeo grounds in Oakley, and decide to "sleep" in the car until the guys showed up. Sleep..........right. I did my best to lie down in the driver's seat, while everyone else crammed together in the passenger seat and in the back of the Aspen we were in. We were packed like sardines.
I was so uncomfortable that I couldn't sleep. Every time I would roll over, pain would shoot through my leg. Just when I started to fall asleep, a group of people would pull up next to us, and they were anything but quiet. I maybe got 1 1/2 hours of sleep before it was time to go for round 3.
5:30am-Jess is on her last leg. By this time, her left IT band was so bad that she just walked her whole leg. Remember, this is the "Cheetah", so for her to walk you know it hurts.
6:30am-Mindy takes over. Same thing with her. Both of her knees are in such bad shape that she traded Tanya runs, and then has to end up walking her leg anyway.
9:46am- My 3rd and final leg was under way. This one was only 3 miles-piece of cake. I swallowed my ibuprofen, rubbed the oil on both legs, and took off. I cranked my music and did my best to ignore my aching legs. I was doing pretty good.........until I turned a corner to see the monster of a hill I had to run. I won't share with you the thoughts that were going through my head, but let's just say that I wasn't happy. However, I made it up and then down that hill, and I then ran as hard as I could for the last 3/4 mile. When I reached Kristin, I was so relieved to be DONE. From here on out, I could sit back and relax.........
10:30am-the girls all went to Chick's in Heber for breakfast. It's funny- I had no appetite whatsoever, but when the food came I inhaled it like I hadn't eaten in days. It was the first actual meal we had eaten in almost 24 hours.

 So Happy To Be Done

12:30pm-We arrive at the finish line and wait for the guys to show up. We wait, and wait, and wait.........

3:30pm- FINALLY, the guys arrive and we cross the finish line as a team! 

Team Evolo 

(waiting for our last runner)

Thanks to our mascot, Zac, we even made the Deseret News: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700145334/Wasatch-Back-runners-raced-for-family-titles.html?pg=2

As you look through the pictures, you'll see us there. By the end of the race, everyone knew about our mascot. However, I do have to say that we were not the only ones with crazy costumes. You would not believe some of the things we saw. There was a team entirely dressed as different Super Heroes; some of the BYU team members were dressed in nothing but Speedos; and there were guys dressed in grass skirts and coconut shells. Some pretty insane stuff. But, that's all part of the fun. Here are a few photos of some of my favorite vehicles:

 I love this one! Written all over were things like: Running is a mental sport & we are all insane!

and Insane in the Brain! 

This car was completely decorated with monkeys and bananas.

It was one of the funnier, and cleaner themes-believe it, or not.

I came home exhausted, sore and filthy. I showered, went to dinner and hung out with my family, before finally crashing around 10:30pm. I actually got up in time for 9am church- but, as soon as I got home, I slept until 5pm. Then, I was up for a few hours before crashing for the night around 9pm.

It was a crazy time. In some ways it was harder than I thought it would be, and in other ways it was easier than I thought it would be. In the end, I would do it all again in a heartbeat. It was a TOTAL BLAST!!!!! I was part of an awesome team, and I love them all to death. A major part of the experience you have depends on the type of team you have, and my team was amazing. I can't wait until next year! YES- I may be insane :)

Running Ragnar (Summary)

I ran Ragnar this weekend, for the first time. I had a blast! Due to exhaustion and time constraints, my full post along with pictures will have to wait another day or two. But, I have some fun stories to share, along with new adventures that I have coming up (and recommend for you).
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and Happy Father's Day to all of you guys out there!
Stay tuned............................................................

Learn From My Mistakes

So, Saturday was the Utah Valley Marathon and Half Marathon- I chose to run the half. Piece of cake. I've run many half marathons before, so this one should be easy...............SHOULD be. Right. The race turned out to be an event filled with trials and blessings. But, before I get into it all, I need to back up to the beginning of the week. Oh, and while I'm at it- do you remember my post on injury prevention? Today I will add some "Do Not's" to my list. Why? Well...........let's just say that I found out the hard way and I'm hoping that through this you won't make the same mistakes I made.

First "Do Not": Don't break in new shoes the week before a race. OK, add to that: don't break in two new pairs of shoes the week before a race. Oh, I know better. I have always known that you need about three weeks to break in shoes, but my partners and I had agreed to wear one of our clients' shoes for the race. The problem: we didn't receive the shoes until the week before. So, I sucked it up and did my best to try and break them in as much as possible. We all did. What we should have done was tell our client "Sorry" and wait until after Utah Valley to begin breaking them in, and then done it slowly. These aren't like any other running shoe I've worn. They are Zero Drop, which basically means it's almost like running barefoot. It also means that you have to train your body to run a little differently because they don't have the cushion that other shoes have. Because of this, it takes about 4-6 weeks for your body to completely adjust and not feel sore. Let me repeat: 4-6 WEEKS! Not one, 4-6. Just remember that.........
As for my other new pair- well, I had already begun breaking them in a few days before, and they are actually pretty comfortable- but still too new to run long distances in.

Second "Do Not": There is such a thing as over rolling and over stretching. You can bruise your muscles, and you can actually make things worse. Remember that..........

Third "Do Not": Do not wait until race day to try out new equipment. Yeah, I know this too. Remember........

So, here's how it all fits together: I was already in the process of breaking in one pair of shoes, and things were going pretty well. Then, our shoes from our client FINALLY arrive, and although my gut said to stay away, I laced up and hit the pavement. I made it 3 miles when my calves began screaming at me, my IT band became irritated, and I got my first blister ever from running. Ugh.
Luckily, I brought another pair of shoes with me-only, they were my other new pair. After lacing those up, I managed to make it another 4 miles before my body yelled it was time to quit. I knew I was in trouble, but I kept telling myself that if I gave it a few days, I would be OK. I rolled; I massaged. I rolled some more. I went a few days without running and then once again hit the pavement. I made it 3 miles and limped back to my car. I had 72 hours before the race and my stomach was turning into knots. I always tell people "listen to your body. push yourself, but not to the point of injury". Obviously, I didn't follow my own advice. Once again, I rolled and massaged, rolled and massaged. At this point, the muscles in my right leg were becoming tender and bruised.
So, I skipped another day of running. Thursday- I hit the pavement once again. I started out well and I was getting excited because I thought I made it through. At 5.2 miles...........pain shot through my leg like a hundred needles were stuck in my knee. I limped back to the car and knew I was toast.I rolled and massaged, and that didn't even feel good anymore. It was about this time that I found out that you can over roll and over stretch- GREAT.
 I didn't run on Friday, and as I headed to the pre-race expo to pick up my packet, I seriously debated on whether I should run or not.
Knowing myself as I do, I knew that if I didn't run I would regret it. Although I had a very good reason not to run, I told myself that if I could run an entire marathon (my first marathon) in worse condition than I am now, then I can run a half and be fine.

I ate a good breakfast, had all of my things together, and my friends and I were on our way to the buses at 3:20am. My leg was feeling pretty good, but something kept telling me that I should wrap it........I didn't.
At 4:15, we loaded the buses and headed up the canyon. It was pretty warm for that time in the morning, and I was excited about that. By the time 6am rolled around, I was more than ready to go. At 6am, the race started and we were off. The first 7 miles flew by pretty quickly, and I was feeling good. I was running with my friend Tanya and another friend of hers, and we were all keeping a good pace. At mile 9, things began to change. My leg was beginning to tell me it was done, and so to try and compensate for it, I began to run on the ball of my foot.......wrong thing to do. At mile 10, my leg was screaming at me, and at mile 11 I found that I had acquired a blister on the ball of my foot-just so you know, the blister hurt worse than my IT band did. To make a long story short, I basically limped the last 2 miles of the race. If it weren't for my friend Tanya, I would have walked the last 2 miles, but there was no way she was going to let me. She pushed me and encouraged me every step. She stayed with me the entire time, even though she didn't have to. She was amazing. This is the first official race that I have run with a friend in years, and I have to say that running with friends is so much better than running alone, for many, many reasons. Thanks Tanya, you're the best!
In the end, I finished with a time of 2:01:28- not bad. Not what I was aiming for, but not bad. And hey- I finished! I always have three goals: 1-Finish 2-Don't finish last 3-Improve on my time. I am proud to say that I have accomplished this at every race, so I really can't complain.

WE DID IT, INJURIES & ALL!

Meet Mister Blister

Among my injuries, my monitor rubbed another nice blister, which has now scabbed over. I'm not sure I'll be wearing it again. It hurts. Don't worry, I'm not posting a picture of that one. :)

I wasn't the only one with injuries that day. Andrea did brave it and wore our clients' shoes. She ended up with bloody heals and blisters. Jess' IT band injury was bad enough that she listened to her body and didn't run at all. She is one smart girl-but, we missed you, Jess!

Overall, the course was beautiful and it was a great experience. I am looking forward to running it again next year-injury free! 

So, I hope that through sharing my mistakes you will not experience the same fate that I have. PLEASE-learn from this. I'm trying to spare you the pain. 

**On a side note, hats off to Alicia- she ran the marathon and did it in 4:19. WAY TO GO ALICIA!!!!! She was also able to raise $400 from her virtual 5K for her Train4Autism goal-Congrats! I want to thank all of you that participated in it, you're awesome!

Signs of a Running Addict

(this is just for fun)

You may be addicted to running if:

-There are two sizes of jeans in your closet: one for training season and one for off season (so true!)
-You experience temporary memory loss: You limp across the marathon finish line in complete pain and exhaustion, vow to never run another marathon again, then turn around and start training for the next one a few weeks later
-You can name the exact distance from your house to every landmark around the city (or town)
-You can eat 4,500 calories and still be in negative calories for the day
-You can't see out of your rear windshield because it's covered with stickers from all the races you've run
-You could watch an entire marathon and not get bored
-You consistently check out all the running stores for the latest styles
-Your shoe collection consists of more running shoes than regular shoes
-You get excited when you find a new GU or Energy Block flavor
-You keep track of your shoe's mileage (only an addicted runner could appreciate this)
-You get up earlier on weekends to run than you do during the week for work
- You plan your family vacations around your races
-Your race is part of your family vacation
-You have your race schedule for the next year planned before the current season is even over
-Your tan lines from your running tank and shorts are darker than your swimming suit tan lines
-If you miss a day of running, everyone avoids you because of the bad mood you're in
-If you miss a day of running, your whole day is thrown off
-You climb into bed at night, and you're still wearing your Garmin

*If you have any "signs" of your own to add to this list, please feel free. I have come to learn that you just never know how far a runner's addiction will go............ HAPPY RUNNING! :)