Gooooooo Mom!

Back in January it sounded like a good idea - signing up for some athletic events to keep me motivated to get in shape.  Lots of emails started floating around from a bunch of my girlfriends about this and that event, and "who's in?" I already knew I wanted to participate in the "Goldilocks" and "Little Red Riding Hood."  Those were no-brainers.  But then I got talked into signing-up for a half-marathon and a triathlon.
Like I said, it sounded good back in January.  But then the months flew by like they always do.  And the weather was cold and rainy.  And rainy and cold.  It was very hard for me to train indoors on a treadmill and not once did I ride an indoor biking contraption of any sort (spin bike, bike trainer, exercise bike).  So I was cramming {which I am very good at...in whatever I'm doing}.

First was the Thanksgiving Point Half-Marathon.  I have never enjoyed running in the past, but I have never really given it a fair chance.  Turns out, once I ran regularly for a few weeks, I realized it isn't completely miserable.  Just a little.  I'm not a runner.  But I did it enough to be able to enjoy the race a little bit.  Originally I was going to do the Utah Valley half with 2 of my sister-in-laws, but when I discovered we were going to be out of town I registered for this one...it was close and nice scenery.  I had already committed in my mind so I had to follow-through.  Despite the SNOW that morning and the fact that I'm a total rookie, I managed to have a good race experience.  I think I finished in 2:08.  I probably could have gone a bit faster, but I wasn't sure how fast to run for the first half because I had yet to run more than 8 miles total {which I did twice} in my life.  Just inexperienced and little time to train.  The best part of the day was when I turned the last corner and heard my name and saw 2 of my best friends cheering me on at the finish!  BS was out of town and my parents had my kids so they came to support me.  Thanks girls!

Look at the snow on these tulips - race was during the Tulip Festival

Finish line in sight!

I love these girls!

Next was Goldilocks.  This is a fantastic, organized, "cute" event that starts and finishes in Daybreak.  By cute I mean cute shirts, cute water bottles, cute decorations, cute and yummy food {including homemade cookies}, and a cute necklace at the finish line.  We all decided to stick together and rode 68 miles.  It was perfect weather and a great time with friends!

Then it was the dreaded triathlon.  I've only done this once before {3 years ago} and crossed it off of my list so I don't know why I signed-up.  Probably because some friends were doing it and I figured I would only need to worry about the swim.  And this time it was in a pool.  The "Women of Steel" event is in American Fork and is women only.  It was actually pretty nice...good weather and a course that was pretty flat.  Of course the swimming was a joke on my end but once that part was over it was great!  BS even surprised me by showing up for support and taking pictures.  I'll leave the ones that involve swim caps, goggles, and skinnies out :)

Quite a sight - hundred of women in a pool at the same time.  Don't judge my form :)

Coming into transition from biking to running

Clapping for myself at the finish!

Last, it was Little Red Riding Hood which starts and finishes near Logan.  I have done this ride twice before and it is always a great experience.  Nothing wrong with enjoying a nice meal with friends at Maddox on the drive up, staying at a hotel enjoying peace and quiet, yummy frozen yogurt for a good night snack, and riding 100 miles with thousands of women on a gorgeous route with perfect weather.   This is also very organized with a really cute theme each year.  Awesome aid stations and cute bike chain bracelet at the finish.

 I'm proud of our group's efforts and for finishing all together!  Thanks friends!

And thanks BS for your help so I can do these fun events!

Red Hot

Last Thursday, our family ventured down to beautiful Moab for the Red Hot 55K race. Yes, that's running 34 miles in the rocky, sandy, red mountains of Southern Utah. I'm sure it was a good idea last summer, but it definitely crept up on BS and he found himself starting the race without having trained much. He had some miles on the treadmill, but only 17 miles total prior to the race. He's nuts if you ask me {or anyone else}.

But, while we worried about him, we didn't complain because for us it means a fun weekend get-away with family and friends. Despite some unpleasant weather, we had a really great time!

On Friday we explored and went hiking to see Corona Arch. I'm pretty sure this is one of our family's favorite things to do...be outside and explore. Even Quincy holds her own keeping up and climbing right along with the others. Here she is next to a cairn {a pile of rocks found all along the trail to show us the way}.




The arch was big and beautiful. Uncle Adam and Jess came with us too so that was extra fun. Check out BS doing splits on the railroad track.

That evening we met up with our friends/neighbors, the Bright family. We really enjoyed hanging out with them and Will and Quin were so happy to have buddies to play with.

We stayed at Sam's Uncle's condo which is super nice and comfortable. Thanks Uncle Louis! The 6 kids all slept in the kids room with double bunk beds.

Saturday was race day. It was rainy, cool, and very windy. We love to support and cheer them on! We even went 4-wheeling in our cars up the trail to meet up with them at station 1 and 3. Quite an adventure!!!
Here, they are 17 miles into the race. The kids rang cow bells and ran along with them as they headed back out after a quick stop.

The guys did awesome, finishing in 6:40. BS's goal was under 7 hours so he was happy :)

WAY TO GO guys!

He was not so happy that night and the next day...his whole body hurt. That's where the lack of training caught up with him. But he's a tough guy and doesn't complain much.

Saturday was also Quincy's birthday!!! We celebrated at a local pizza place. I will save her birthday for a seperate post.

After some sleeping-in and a pigging out on Sunday brunch, we headed home.

Another great trip for the books.

156

156 miles is how far BS and I rode and ran last Saturday. Friday afternoon, I left with my friends to go to Logan for the Little Red Riding Hood ride. This is an all girl 100 (turned out to be 105) mile bike ride. BS had the kids and after his pre-race meeting, took the kids to Grandpa Judy's house to hang with Aunt Jenny. He signed up for the Squaw Peak 50 mile (turned out to be 51) ultramarathon. Not your typical ultra-marathon

BS is not a runner, so why exactly did he sign up for a 50 mile run that climbs nearly 15,000 feet, and 7 miles of it would still be in the snow?

Provo from high altitude

I still don't know that answer! He's crazy.
The plan was that he would probably finish in 14 hours or so, and I would meet him (after my ride) on the trail and walk the last few miles with him for support. He swore he would not be running at that point so I went along with it. Plus, he wanted me to see "Windy pass" where the Clark boys religiously go deer hunting every year.

Springville around 9am

His brother Adam, Josh Chase and Jason Lowery were going to meet him at mile 33 and run the last 17 miles with him making sure he kept his wits, didn't start hallucinating, and didn't have a mental meltdown. What he and they didn't realize is that mile 36-39 were absolutely brutal.

Mile 36-You are kidding me, right?

For 3 miles the trail literally went straight up hill on a deer trail. Along the trail people were dropping like flies. Mile 38-Almost there

Adam saved a poor lady that was severely dehydrated and couldn't stop licking her arms. She was hoping her sweat would replace some of the lost electrolytes. The poor lady nearly emptied his camelback! At the top they noticed Jason was no where in sight, but trusted he would find his way to the finish. Mile 39.5-Finally to the top of the final climb

11:17 after he started, he crossed the line, never happier with a finish, and never hurting so bad. I got an emotional phone call from him (on my friend's phone because mine broke) letting me know that he was finished. Wait, what? Finished already? I was just leaving Logan, in anticipation of having at least 2 hours until he would be finishing (IF he did finish). I could not believe how fast he did it, especially since he hardly trained due to his torn calf injury. He really is a freak of nature.
So much for the original plan. Unofficially, BS finished about 3 hours earlier than his goal and was 38th place out of 270 real "runners". His friends Eric and his pacer Jason finished a couple hours later. There is a GREAT write-up of the race at thezeph.wordpress.com (he ends up losing 7 toenails from this run). We are super proud of him as well. Turns out Jason was one of the people dropping like flies on mile 38, good thing he had plenty of snow to fill his camelback! Sorry Jason! What is next adventure for BS? I hate to ask. But I'm soooo proud and happy for him.
The next day, he could not even walk. He even tried getting out of going to church ;) But he survived and I found it hard to feel sorry for him. He did that to himself.

BS and Eric at the finish line

Meanwhile, up in Cache Valley, I gleefully accomplished my goal of 100 miles in a day. Perfect weather, beautiful scenery, and awesome girlfriends! It was also so much fun spending a nice evening away with the girls...dinner, laughs, and a nice hotel room.
The only problem was that my cell phone finally bit the dust early Saturday morning so my mind was racing all day, wondering/worrying about BS and how he was doing, and the kids.
At one point I had to decide if I wanted to ride 80 (turn right) or 100 (turn left). I knew that if I rode 100 I would definitely not make it back to Provo in time to pace Sam to the finish. But my friend Jen was feeling good and so was I, plus she was my ride home and I didn't want to be responsible for her not meeting her goal of 100 miles. So, we went ahead and did the whole thing. I felt much better this time than when I rode this 2 years ago and rode 80 miles. At the time, I couldn't fathom riding one more mile. Probably because I was such a rookie. Even now, I still feel like a rookie sometimes. Thanks to my friends for such a fun experience!
And a huge thanks to Jenny for taking great care of the kiddos! They had a blast!

p.s.- The cousins from Minnesota are here! I'm writing this from beautiful Island Park, been here since Wednesday. We are coming home today and as usual, we wish we had more time here.