*Monday Memos* (Marathon Edition)

*MONDAY MEMOS*

 

                          
 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge -if print is too small, you need glasses! ☺)

dear elder wilding, you are such a great missionary!  This Ma couldn't be prouder of her missionary son!  You are so obedient and so willing to do what ever it is you are asked which was evident by your letter. You are being transferred for your last time (until you are transferred home in SIX weeks!) even though you really want to finish your mission where you are, but you will go because you are told to.  From this week's letter, I could tell you do whatever it is you are asked even when you have other preferences. 

The people from the area you were just transferred out of, have been posting things on Facebook about you and how great of a missionary you are and how much you have helped them and helped them change their lives for the better and how they miss you so much and how they miss your smile and happiness.  You made quite an impact of so many and changed so many lives.  Makes this Mama proud!  Only 40 more days!

dear taper week, I am actually enjoying this week of not having to run so many miles!  Usually taper week gets me in a panic because I feel like I won't be able to do the 26.2 on race day if I have stopped running a lot of miles.  But having run three other fulls, I now know that I will be okay and that the rest really will help my muscles and legs get ready for the long race ahead.  SO.....I am loving it!  I only had to do four miles on Monday and Tuesday and I have to say, that was great mentally for me! I loved the rest!  I found a piece of chalk laying by the high school tennis courts and so I took advantage of it and wrote some Run Happy signs on the road to help other runners.  I know when I see things like that it helps me!  But then it rained that night and so who knows if anyone even got to see them.  hah   McKay lost his keys and so he took my car and so I ran to the high school to get it.  It worked out perfectly for the four miles I had to go.

dear halloween open house at secret haven, oh wow what a fun time!  My friend Tracy called me up Monday and asked if I wanted to go with her and a group of ladies to Fruit Heights to a boutique called Secret Haven.  She said if we wear some kind of costume (even just a hat) we get 30% off one item.  I was game.  I got out my witch hat and cape and was ready to fly.  I couldn't find my broom unfortunately and so I had to catch a ride with her.  

Julie, Tracy, Sheila, Joanna, me

 It was so much fun!  I was SHOCKED at the costumes we saw.  Mainly the peeps who work there, but a lot of shoppers also went all out.  And when I say all out, I mean ALL out!  I couldn't believe some of the ones I saw!  They have definitely taken Halloween up a notch!

 Julie was more decked out than the rest of us.  I was just in amazement at some of those costumes!  I wish I had taken more pictures of them.  It was so fun and they had so many cute things to buy! I found a great table runner and a super cute gift for a friend that had made me a witch broom.  We are going to all go back at Christmas time too.  We got in a downpour on the way down.  So much fun!

dear sista lunch for september, this month we met at Cracker Barrel so we could crack up.  I was afraid there was only going to be four of us, but we ended up with seven!  I was so happy Jacki came!  I just love her.  She doesn't make it too often and so it was fun to have her there.  She joked about who chose that place because only 90 year olds eat there.  We discovered she was right!  hah!  But it was fun to shop after in the store.

  Robin's birthday is Saturday and so we sang to her and they gave her a free piece of cake.  She shared.  So nice of her.  Yummy!  So many photo opps! I would have loved to stayed a bit longer but I had to go tie shopping for my son for the Homecoming dance and his date only told him her dress was "kind of peachy".  Great!  That helps!  ugh

 They had a lot of animated animals that we had a good time with.  I love these sista's because they are the sista's I never had!  I do LOVE hanging out with my "old" high school pals!  :0) 
♥ ~~~ ♥

dear new discovery, I have decided all the new discoveries that I love seem to always be crunchy! I must have an addiction to all things crunchy.  I also love to crunch on crushed ice all day, so who knows!  These Half-pops are something that were like heaven sent to me!  I have ALWAYS loved granny heads...ya know those popcorn kernels that never fully pop.  I seek them out!  Dave always finds them and gives them to me when we are eating popcorn.  I really really like those things!  Half-pops are almost like granny heads.  They are lot lighter and not so hard to crunch which is good, but I wish they had less of a greasy aftertaste.  But even that won't keep me from them! I bought a bag at Costco and tore in to them on my way home and put quite a dent in the bag.  They are addicting!  If you like crunch, you will love these!

dear heavenly aroma, when I got home from lunch and shopping I walked in to find the aroma of chocolate chip cookies baking.  It was my son Bryce baking them!  He loves chocolate almost as much as I do!  I asked him if they were the frozen ones and he said no he had made them from scratch!  Wow, I was impressed!  They looked much better than mine ever do!  The aroma of cookies baking really is one of the best scents in the world!

dear witch broom, I also found this ↓ when I arrived home!  My dear and sweet friend Jamie had it made for me!  She is the most thoughtful and kindest person!  I love it!  I got her something special at the boutique that I can't wait to give her to thank her for her generosity!  YAY for Halloween!  It's almost here!  It's my favorite holiday of them all! 

 This is what I got for her!  Can't wait to give it to her!

dear last minute shopping, I set out to get Dave a swimsuit for hawaii and mckay's homecoming dance outfit.  I had got a tie on Tuesday, but then his date sent a picture of her dress and it was NOT peach.  It was orange!  So back to the drawing board.  I took McKay with me in town to a store, but they didn't have what he wanted.  He wanted orange suspenders, but to no avail.  So I called some places in Ogden and found a store that had some and off I went.  I really did not have time to go, but I did anyway.  When I got to the store they were flaming fluorescent orange!  Nope!  Not gonna work.  After looking all over, I found him a vest that he can wear with the tie and bag the suspenders.  But then I found some at Zurchers and so bought them as well and I will let him choose which he prefers.  I found a killer deal on swimsuits too!  Joe Boxer $38 suits marked down to $4.99!  I sent Bryce and Dave photos and had them pick some out.  I got McKay one too.  I love great bargains!  So I guess my trip was worth it.

dear concession stand shift, I hurried back from shopping so I could do one of shifts for the sophomore football game.  I had fun working with some great ladies and it went really fast.  I think I have two more turns to do it.  I don't mind.  It comes with the territory of being a football mom I guess.

  

dear carb loading week, I have been trying to carb load this week for the marathon.  I haven't been doing a very good job.  I haven't been wanting to eat much at all.  NOT normal for me!  I think the nerves are just getting to me and it's making it hard to eat.  I know if I don't load up on the carbs, I will bonk about mile 20.  So I am forcing myself to do it anyway.  I made a huge pan of ham fried rice to help me get some of those babies down the hatch.  I have also started on some Iron supplements.  I have really needed them, but they probably won't help much for this race as they take about a month to see any difference.  I do however see a huge difference after certain monthly times when I have zero energy whatsoever, which happens to be this week and that is not good for running a marathon on Saturday.  I am praying that I will find the energy somewhere and I can dig deep and do okay!

dear carb load lunch with Dave at Firehouse, I forgot to take a picture!  No surprise though because my nerves are in my stomach and I'm seriously a nerve bundle!  I am SO nervous for this race!  Take how I felt last week for Peach Days and times it by 10!  I have to keep telling myself to trust in my training!  I have prepared for this for four months!  I need to get myself some motivation and some mantras going in my head and then I know I will feel better!  Best news is that I found out my good friend Adrian is pacing the 4:00 runners!  That is my goal time!  I honestly am NOT putting that pressure on myself to finish at 4:00, but that would be what I ultimate want so I could get a Boston Qualifying (BQ) time!  I will be happy to finish under 4:30 because my training hasn't been as good as it was for Ogden.  I know it's  a lot of downhill but I'm not so sure how I will do AFTER all that downhill when my body is shocked back into the reality of flat and hills!  I am really in fear of that! Always a little nerve racking when you haven't run or even seen the course before!  The other bad thing is the weather took a dive!  Yeah, the temperature at race start is supposed to be 43 degrees!  WHAT?  YES!  There goes my plan for wearing my Lulu-lemon skirt that I have saved all year for THIS race!  I am afraid I will freeze to death if I wear that now!  Maybe I can go with the tacky capris under the skirt to stay warm.  It just takes away the skirt look though.  So sad!  Not sure WHY, but it seems every single marathon I have run so far, there is a weather dive the day before and I am always scrambling for what I am going to wear the day before even though I have it planned out months in advance!  Oh well, I have to just focus on the things I CAN control and let go the things I can't! 

dear homecoming game, wow!  What a great game!  McKay's team is really doing well this season.  It is so fun to watch them win and play so well.  McKay had a great game and got some nice tackles and even got his name announced over the loud speaker which was great because both sets of Grandparents were there as well as cousins and other relatives.  It was an awesome game!  They won 48-38.  Always good to win on Homecoming.  I went out on the field after for pictures and had so much fun watching McKay interact with all his friends.  He is a great kid and so well liked.   It was FREEZING though because the wind was pretty fierce!  Didn't get home until 10:45 even though I needed to be up at 2:50 a.m. for my race! 

The lighting of the B is a great tradition!  

Great game!

Great win!  

McKay with his cousin Natalie.  McKay with Riley Burt.

 McKay and his good friend Cooper.  They have been buds since birth and played football together since they were seven.  So sad knowing this is their last year!

 I love these pictures of these two!

dear big cottonwood marathon, I am SO glad that is over!  I got up at 2:50 a.m. and headed down with Jen and Linda to SLC to catch the buses for the race.  Robin had picked up our packets and so we met her to get them and then her and Linda headed off for the half and Jen and I for the full.  I have been a bundle of nerves ALL week worrying about this marathon.  I have never ran the course and I have been putting pressure on myself to get a BQ (Boston Qualifying time) because if I shave off 14 minutes from my PR then I can qualify.  Much easier said than done!  14 minutes is a lot of time, but I knew I could do it.  Problem is my training hasn't been as good as it was for my last one and I just didn't know how I would do.  I was honestly scared to run it because I know how painful and how much inner mental strength it takes to get through a full marathon.  Half's are much less draining that way.  But a full marathon makes you dig deep and see what you're made of and how much you can endure.  They are tough no matter what.  And you train for four months all for ONE day.  Anything can happen that day and you can have a great day and all the stars are aligned or a crappy one.  You just don't know what will happen.  And then there's the pressure to qualify. Getting a BQ time is VERY tough but a dream for many runners.  I REALLY want to run Boston...it is my goal.  I was so hoping today would be the day, but it wasn't meant to be.  I ended up SEVEN MEASLY MINUTES shy of a BQ!  Seven!  Oh well.  Guess that means I will have to keep trying.  Not looking forward to that though.  Marathons really take it out of me and training for that long really takes a lot of time.  There were so many reasons I wanted to do it today, but I gave it ALL I had and still came up shy.  That's why it's so hard to qualify and why it's such a coveted thing among runners.  It's kind of like the Super Bowl for runners.  It's my dream though and I really want to run it someday!  I'm soooooooo close!  Anyway, I signed up for this race (Big Cottonwood) because it touts itself as one of the fastest BQ races around. And that is just what I need - a fast course.  That was before they changed the course and made it MUCH tougher!  The first 15 are downhill and fast but then it turns and there is an 8 mile out and back that is BRUTAL!  SO. MUCH. UPHILL!  And so painful to go uphill after going 15 down!  I was surprised how tough it was.  I have never seen so many marathon racers have to walk in a race like I did in this one... ever.  It was that tough.  I didn't walk once in my last two marathons, but this one I had no choice.  Either that or kill over!  I stayed with the 4:00 pacers (I actually really tried to stay ahead of them 30 seconds or so for most of the 15 miles) but on the out and back and uphill I got behind a bit and then more and more.  My friend Adrian was the pacer for my BQ time of 4:00, and when I heard that, I was SO happy because he is one of the funnest people I know and so smart about running.  I couldn't think of anyone else I'd rather have as a pacer.  He kept us upbeat and positive and it was just so fun pacing with him!  I met some ladies in my age group who flew in from Oklahoma to run it.  They went ahead as soon as the uphill started at mile 16 and I was sad I couldn't push it more. I did great until about mile 17 but at that point I was really hurting and felt sick to my stomach.  I kept going though and kept pushing it and gave it all I had. Trying to get down a gel was impossible.  I knew if I did, I would hurl!  But I also knew if I didn't, I would hit a wall and bonk.  So I took some blox that had a small amount of caffeine and hoped for the best.  The out and back was tough as far as the course goes, but I really liked being able to see the other runners going out or back and passing them.  I got to yell and wave at Marci and Sherri as I was going out and then I saw Jen as I was going back.  It was inspiring just watching the runners that were on the tough miles (20 and up) as they passed me.  The looks on their faces was inspiring because I could tell how painful it was for them but they kept on going.  It was like being a spectator at a marathon while running it.  I did like that experience.  Miles 20-22 were tough.  I heard another ask a couple that were walking and limping if they were having cramping and she told them she had a salt tablet if they needed it.  My calves were getting tight and starting to cramp and when they said it wasn't cramping and they didn't need it, I asked her if she had a spare I could have.  Thankfully she did.  I think it helped me during those last three miles.  I kept having the thought go through my head, "Would I rather have a baby or run a marathon?"  When I have thoughts like those, it means I am hurting.  haha But I was still trying to keep it positive.   I was even super excited because I need a 4:00 to BQ but I found out that today and ONLY today if I ran it in that time I would BQ for 2015 and 2016.  AND, since I will be 55 in 2016, my BQ time goes to 4:10 and if I finished today with a 4:10 I would BQ for 2016!  That made me motivated to do it!  10 extra minutes!  But as hard as I tried, and as excited as I was that I knew I could do it, about mile 22, the 4:10 pacers passed me and I sadly kissed my Boston Marathon goodbye.  Oh man that was tough mentally.  Heartbreaking.  But I didn't have enough energy to even think about the loss of that.  I had to just keep pushing and moving forward.  As I approached mile 23, a man cheering for us said it was all downhill from there.  I said, "Really? Is that true?"  He told me it was and so that gave me some extra strength just knowing the uphill was done.  I finished strong with a time of 4:17.  My marathon PR is a 4:14 and so I was very happy with my time, just very disappointed I didn't BQ. I wanted to so bad!  Guess this means I am not done running fulls.  UGH!  I want to be!  That is after I run Boston!  Anyway, I felt good about my time and knowing that I didn't leave anything on the course was also a good feeling. I did my best.  It just wasn't good enough today.  I didn't train as hard as I needed to either like I did for the Ogden.  So, I wasn't really surprised I guess. Just let down.  Oh man did I hurt after that race!  I was really sick to my stomach and dizzy and had to sit down a long time and try and get feeling better.  I am sure I was dehydrated.  I even got a short massage after and that was helpful.  I sat down by Adrian and he told me I did great.  He even went and got me some chocolate milk.  That is the best recovery drink ever!  I ate some other things but they made me sick.  I waited for Jen to finish and was so happy for her because she got a PR and was so happy.  I was so proud of her!  She has had a bad year and turned it around today!  Jen's friend Rachelle and another girl were so nice and fun to talk to after while recovering a bit.  I was really not feeling well.  I just wanted to go home and lay down, but we headed to Jimmie Johns and got a great sub.  It was a good thing to do because it settled my stomach.  I felt a lot better after eating that.  Then I got home and had so much to do.  I helped McKay get ready for the Homecoming Dance and then tried to pack and clean and get Taylor's letter written and this post done.  It's almost 11 pm and I am so stinking tired!  I have to get up at 4:45 a.m. and so I need to get this posted and hit the hay!  LONG day!  I was so stressed and nervous about this race that I breathed a huge sigh of relief now it's over!  

 My supplies all laid out the night before...

Dave was ALSO up at 3:30 to see me off!  He is so supportive of all my races. Too late to turn back now!  I could NOT decide if I should wear my capri's under my skirt or not since it was going to be only 40 degrees at start. I didn't want my legs to freeze for the first two hours.  But I had planned on wearing this new purple lululemon skirt for months!  I opted to be warm and wear it underneath. Big mistake. By mile 15 I was really hot! Isn't it cute in the back?  I LOVE ruffles!  Especially purple ones!

It was SO freezing at the start and so hot at the finish line!

 I did it!  Yea!

 I have such great running friends!  The fall colors are in full swing!

Check out this picture ↓

My friend Jen found a photo of one of them when she was looking through unclaimed photos!  They have my shirt and purple skirts!  I wish I would have seen them, but they ran the half instead of the full.  Still made me smile!!!  GO PURPLE!
I wrote another post on this race here.

dear homecoming dance, Mckay had a great date and lots of fun, but of course I didn't get a lot of details and the pictures won't be back for a while so I will just post the ones I have of him.  Bummer being the mom of a boy on boy's choice dances because you don't get to see the girl. 

Man, he's a good lookin' kid! ☺

dear mr. cat, this is what you do ALL day when you stay out ALL night.  Gosh how I wish I could relax like that!

dear manic manican, I was surprised you were behind closed blinds all during Peach Days last week.  But this week, you were out in full view again. 

dear gratitude list for this week... 

1. Taper week!  It just feels so good to get a little rest from all the hard months of training!
2. Homemade chocolate chip cookies made by my son!  Nothing better! They always taste better when someone else makes them!
3. Finding new discoveries at Costco.
4. Talking to my son in Hawaii knowing I will be there with him soon!
5. Being able to accomplish a lot on my to do list this week.  
6. Lunch and shopping with friends! 
7. I survied the marathon and even though I didn't get a BQ, I still had a great time!
8. Maddox Mini Burgers!
9. Sleep!
10. A ticket to paradise!