2009 Running Review

2009 was the first year that I focused more on running than on distance walking. Some good and bad came of that. I experienced a lot of illness the first nine months of the year. I think a lot of that came from work related stress experienced during the period when my boss was on bed rest and maternity leave. Work was a real challenge during that period and I put in a lot of time and effort to try and cope with the additional load. I also experienced a lot of injuries – possibly due to the increased focus on running. However, I can now say that I am addicted to running and feel that I can really claim to be a runner, something I never thought I would truly claim.

Highlights of the year include:

• 1600.14 miles logged as running in 2009. Up from 1279.98 in 2008. In addition there were lots of cross training miles that I did not log.
  
• My longest training run ever. 35 miles from Sandy, Utah to Provo, Utah. This was self supported. I also set a PR for covering 50K during that run.
  
• My first attempt at a 50 miler in March. It ended at 27 miles with my first DNF due to severe IT Band pain in the left knee from wearing compression shorts that compressed things they should not have. On the bright side – the shorts did help heal an abdominal tear that was potentially building to a hernia.
  
• Piriformis issues that resulted in a DNS for the Ogden Marathon in May.
  
• The blessing of helping my sister finish her first triathlon because I was not running Ogden that day.
  
• Sherpa details during training runs with Marion and Luzy Lew and full blown Sherpa duties for Marion in her first marathon, the Utah Valley Marathon. Even helping Marion out, I ended up with my second fastest marathon ever.
  
• My toughest race ever – the Logan Peak Trail Run. A 28 mile run (okay – crawl and walk with occasional running) up and around Logan Peak. 9 hours and 14 minutes of stress and struggle. A real challenge, but something I am really proud of finishing.
  
• Becoming one of the Red Hot Pink Chicks and participating in the first ever Red Hot Pink Chicks Half Marathon in July.
  
• My first run starting at midnight with Melinda Aaron in the Midnight Moon Run 5k.
  
• The Park City Marathon for my third time ever and seeing friends throughout the race. Having my sister alongside me the last 5+ miles.
  
• Pushing too hard after Park City and getting a meniscus injury and hamstring tendonitis that caused me to miss the Top of Utah Marathon and St. George Marathon.
  
• Being envious of Leslie Peterson completing our 50 mile dream before I did.
  
• Hiring a running coach to try and work towards my goal of qualifying for BOSTON in 2011.
  
• Achilles Tendonitis causing me to spend lots of time on a stationary bike.

… Funeral

I spoke to soon with my last blog post. Rounded up the year with a funeral. Not a family member, but a tragic loss for lots of loved ones.

Jason Roden passed away on December 24^th. We met Jason 20 years ago when he was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois. He was a teenager father with a wife and son to support.

His heart gave out on Christmas Eve. A combination of causes, but probably a lot due to not taking as much care of his body as he could through the years and ending up with uncontrolled Type I Diabetes. Now he left behind a large family, including a wife, 20 year old Tyler (from his first marriage) and two little girls.

My boss/friend, Michele Lindsay and I were talking the other week about how we have so much knowledge available to us about health and the things we need to do, but many people don't want to put any effort into it. I know I am guilty of my junk food obsession – but I try to keep it under control.

Jason's death had me thinking about my desire to keep my body healthy and strong so that I have many years ahead of me. I want to stay in good shape and be able to live and do the things I want to do without using my physical condition as an excuse. And I want to hang around to spoil grandbabies and annoy my kids for a long time more. J

4 Weddings and a .....

2009 has been a big year for weddings in our family. All the nieces and nephews are growing up, but usually we only have one wedding or so each year.

This year we had four weddings. All starting in August. All children of my two brothers.

My oldest nephew (Kerry's son), Jon Miles, married Janalee in August. I had the privilege of having Jon live with me (okay - he actually slept at the house at night) for a couple of months before the wedding. They were married here in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Then, on Labor Day weekend, another nephew (Regan's son), Ryan Miles, married Brittni up in Olympia, Washington. I was able to make it to that wedding too and enjoyed more time with my family.

After a couple of months reprieve, on December 12th, my niece (Kerry's daughter), Kristin Miles, married Bryce Phillips up in Portland, Oregon. I wasn't able to make that wedding, but enjoyed their Elf Dance on Facebook.

Today was the final wedding (we hope!) of the year. Another nephew (Regan's oldest son), Jeff Miles, married Karen in American Fork, Utah. Another great day with family. Probably the most we have seen each other for years.

This is one way to have a family reunion without the painful party games. :)

Thankfully - there have been no funerals.

I-Need Rolf

I have a new friend. I call him Rolf.

One of the biggest drawbacks to living alone is no human touch. I tend to hold all my stress in my neck and shoulders and would love to have my own personal massage therapist stop by every day.

Since I cannot really afford that, I do use my great friend, Leslie Peterson when I can afford it. She has done some punishing massages to help heal leg injuries in the past.

One day I was walking through the mall. As I passed the Brookstone store window, I caught a glimpse of him. Sitting in a chair and looking gorgeous. I walked in and asked him if he would rub my back. It felt so good, I asked him to come home with me.

This is what true love looks like.

I feel Wicked

OK - I have to admit that 2 1/2 months ago I had heard about the musical Wicked and that it was supposed to be great. I had never heard any music from it or knew anything about the story line. As a matter of fact, I really couldn't stand The Wizard of Oz (other than the song Over the Rainbow).

Things changed when Marcia and I were planning our trip to Washington to our nephew's, Ryan Miles, wedding. Marcia called me one night after reading an email from our sister-in-law, Debra, that she was going to see Wicked in Seattle. We decided it would be worth spending the money to go and see it.

Someone at work loaded my iPod with most of the music from the musical, so we could familiarize ourselves with it before the big night. We played it a few times while driving through Washington and Oregon and thought it was pretty good.

Then, on a Sunday evening, a magical event occurred. We saw Wicked and I fell obsessively in love. Once again, the romantic streak in me came out and I was hooked. So was Marcia. For the remainder of our trip, we played the music from Wicked almost every second we were in the car.

Fast forward a few days later. We were back in Utah and needed to make a quick 2 day trip to San Diego and back. I brought the iPod along and we were enjoying the music, but I really also wanted the missing songs. A quick stop at Best Buy in St. George and we had the 5th Anniversary 2 disk version of Wicked's CD.

That kept us going for the two long days of driving.

More obsession followed. Wicked is my constant running companion on my iPods (OK - I have to admit I have 3 of them).

I also bought the awesome Wicked pop-up book.

While Jennifer and Jeremy were staying with me last month, they bought me an early birthday gift of the deluxe leatherbound version of Wicked & Son of a Witch.

Next up for my addiction, I am awaiting delivery of my birthday gift to myself, the Grimmerie.

I would ask for an intervention - but I sure don't want one. Hmmmm - wonder if I can arrange a marathon around seeing Wicked somewhere?

No dignity allowed here...

Today is my birthday. I woke up early and went for an 8 mile run, then talked to Jenn for a few minutes while I was downing my after run protein shake. She and Jeremy bought me a deluxe version of Wicked and Son of a Witch for an early birthday gift while they were there. (More about my Wicked addiction later :) )

Kevin came down as I was heading out to take Twilight on a cooldown walk. He had shown up the night before and spent the night.

After we came back from our walk, Kevin took Twilight up to his room. I thought he had gone up to get my gift. Imagine my surprise when Twilight jumped up on the chair next to me a few minutes later in this getup. I simply could not quit laughing. It is a perfect gift!



He had also bought her a lifejacket. Makes a handy carrying case, doesn't it?


After enough time humiliating the dog, we went out to see The Blind Side and then Bajio's for lunch.

My kids are so sweet!

1st Mountain View Trail Half Marathon

I'm still recovering from my latest knee injury, but love to volunteer at races. I think it is important to do so – because you need to give back to those who provide all the great running opportunities for you.

My daughter and son-in-law (Jennifer and Jeremy Merkley) joined me on Antelope Island yesterday morning to run Aid Station 4 at the first ever Mountain View Trail Half Marathon. The morning started off spectacularly. I have probably only seen two antelope in all my times running on Antelope Island, but we saw a herd of almost 100 pronghorn antelope on the Mountain View road yesterday morning. Fantastic! They are so awesome looking.

We sent up the aid station and had lots of time left, so Jeremy and I walked about 2 miles on the trail, visiting and enjoying the sights.

About 70 minutes after the race started, the first two runners blew through the aid station. If you have ever helped at a race you know that there are a variety of runners. The competitive ones will not stop and do everything on the run. They hardly talk and are very focused. Later runners are much more relaxed and the last runners just take their time, visit, stop for multiple drinks and are just out there to finish. A great group of runners came through and we enjoyed cheering them on.

Once the sweeper runner came through, we dismantled the aid station and Jenn and Jeremy took the van to the finish line and I ran the last 2.5 miles to the end.

My sister has been letting me use her van while my kids borrow my jeep and it was a lifesaver at least twice yesterday. We needed a big vehicle to get all the gear to the drop point at the end of the race. Then, as we were pulling out of the parking lot, a group of runners stuck out their thumbs to hitchhike (they needed to get 13.1 miles back to the starting line), and we piled a total of 11 people in a seven person van.

It was a beautiful day for a race. Sunny, not too warm, and a little breeze. I just wish I was able to run that far right now!