St. George Marathon

I know this is long, but so is 26.2 miles...

Our time in St. George started with packet pick-up for the race. They had it organized so that you picked up your packet based on your number. Mine was 426. They had tables setup for each 500 numbers so I went to the first table and handed them my number. The lady looked at it and said "Oh, you are an elite runner, you check in over there." To this I replied, "No I'm not." She told me again that I was and to go over to the table marked elite runners. After assuring her a couple more times that I was not an elite runner I headed over to the elite check-in. When I got to the table I said "I guess I am an elite runner." They just looked at me and laughed and handed me my stuff. That was cool and scary. I found out that they seed you based on your expected finishing time. I was worried.

The morning of the race was good. It was a crazy scene at the start; bonfires and space blankets everywhere. 5,600 people lined up for the race so imagine the mass of humanity at a random spot on a small highway in southern Utah. I took a picture with my phone just to capture the oddity of the whole situation.

When I got there I noticed a gate with a big sign above it marked "elite runners." Guess where I went. The guys manning the gates looked at my number and let me in. Again, I was worried that I was in over my head. There were special port-a-potties and fires for us which was nice. They also had an area marked off right behind the starting line just for elite runners to warm up. This whole time I was loving being in there because it took a lot of the stress away but I also felt stupid based on my previous attempts at my expected time of 3:10. I kind of felt like I shouldn't be there.

The final touch of awesomeness of the elite runner's area was that the warm up area was in between the starting line and the rest of the runners. That meant that we lined up at the starting line and then, just before the start of the race, they let the rest of the racers into the area to line up behind us. So I was lined up near the front with a lot of fast people (yikes) but I did not have to wade through a billion people before I could get into a rhythm. I just came across the line and started running my pace. That was awesome.

I came out feeling pretty good. I hit the halfway at 1:32 and change so I was happy. The course is hilly at the first and then nosedives into St. George which meant that I had put some time into the bank against my Boston time on the hilly section and I was still feeling pretty fresh. As the terrain turned downhill my pace still felt strong. I kept feeling good until the hill at about mile 18 at the Ledges. I hate anyone and everyone that has ever thought about being associated with that place. It was a small hill but a killer and it took everything that I had kept in the tank on the previous hills.

The weather really started to heat up at that point too and I started getting concerned at mile 23 when I realized that I still had never seen the 3:10 pace guy. I knew he was behind me so that was good but I didn't know how far behind me he was so that was bad. I also knew that I was running slower than my target so he was gaining on me. That was nerve-wracking. Every footstep I heard behind me was the 3:10 pace group in my head. As we hit Diagonal street (mile 24-25) I was hurting but I was still ahead.

Then I saw the race clock at mile 25.2. It said 3:01:30. So, after all of the day and all of the pain I knew it was all on the line for me to run a 8:30 mile. I forgot that you can qualify for Boston at 3:10:59; I had 3:10 in my head. So I ran the hardest, most painful 8:19 mile I have ever even thought about and ran under the clock at 3:09:49. (My chip time was 3:09:36.) I was so happy that I gathered all the energy I had and raised my hands to point at the clock for a couple seconds. That was all I had.

As I crossed the finish line I started to lose equilibrium slightly (by slightly I mean that I started falling to the right side and had lost all peripheral vision). A National Guardsman came up and grabbed my hand and offered to help me. I did not argue, partly because he was big and in camo, but mainly because if he wouldn't have helped me I would have fallen over. He helped me for a bit and then I shuffled over to the fences, saw Natalie and the kids and realized that I did it.

There is no better thing in this world than saying that. "I did it." During those last couple of miles my mind kept thinking of all of the reasons why I missed the time by a minute or two. I thought about everything I would say. About how I was so close but didn't quite make it. About how hard it was to get passed by the 3:10 pace guy in the last three miles but that it was OK because I had tried. In the end I didn't have to worry about it. All I had to do was say "I did it" and soak it in. It was a good day.

Dirty Dash

The last weekend in September I did one of the funnest races I have ever done. It was called the Dirty Dash. It was a 10K that added in obstacles and lots and lots of mud.

It started running up a muddy hill and then up a lot more hills until we ran through a snowmaker that was shooting water all over the dirt, over some hay bales, through some tubes, through some mud pits, and over some walls. This picture is of me with my neighbor, Sarah, and niece, Stephanie. We were running through a mud pit right before one of the walls.

Here is my niece coming over one of the walls. The pictures of me weren't nearly as coordinated so I'm not including them. After the walls we got to run through the swamps of Deer Creek Reservoir. It didn't smell very good and pulling your shoes out of the muck got hard after a while. After that they ran us back up the hill to a giant slip and slide.

To finish it off we got to/had to run through the mud pit.

The final mud pit was waist-deep with flags criss-crossing it that you couldn't get over. That meant the only way to get through was to go under and crawl... through the mud. After crawling through the pit my friend Courtney "helped" me up. That is her in the picture up with the handful of mud getting ready to help me up. That is me right by her, crouched on the ground, about to meet that mud. Stephanie helped her out.

My ear might never be the same.

And here are the proud finishers. You can make a pig face, be incredibly muddy, and be proud in this case. It works.

And our lovely legs/shoes after it all.

This race is definitely a repeat. Lizzie was there at the finish line and when I saw her she told me very informatively, "Mom you're way dirty."

Joy School

Lizzie started a little neighborhood joy school and she wanted her picture taken just like Addie. She loves going and it is really fun for her to play with all the neighbor kids.

She is also past adorable as shown above.

 I just thought this picture of Addie was cute in the pea patch. She has really loved the garden this year and will pick beans for hours and then snap them.

Apple Problems

Addie asked for an apple yesterday. I gave it to her and didn't think anything of it. About ten minutes later she asked me to cut it up for her. I asked her why she couldn't eat it and she stuck her finger into the gap where her bottom front teeth used to be. Then she handed me an apple that had two stripes out of the skin like railroad tracks all the way around. I think I am going to give her corn on the cob as soon as possible.

First Tooth

Addie had been telling me since the start of school that her tooth was loose. First she told me that her top one was loose and it was maybe a little, but not really loose. Then she told me her bottom one was. Sure enough it was really really wiggly.

She couldn't leave it alone after that so on Sunday the 12th (this is so I remember) we pulled it out. She was pretty good about the whole thing. I tried to pull it out a couple of times and it wasn't coming so she took matters into her own hands.

She closed her mouth, made a quick face and then she pushed it out with her tongue.The look on her face when it came out was priceless. It was pure shock.

She was really excited about the tooth fairy coming until she found out that the tooth fairy actually takes the tooth. The neighbor girls helped her out and the Tooth Fairy received a note requesting the tooth to remain in Addie's possession. The nice fairy complied with the wish and Addie kept her tooth and her minor payout.

The next morning she showed me that her other bottom tooth was wiggly too and within an hour she had lost her second tooth. She was really excited that she got to write her name on the giant tooth in her classroom two times. Which meant she was the first and the second person to write their name down.

Labor Day Visitors

This past Labor Day Reza and Christy flew in for the weekend. It was great to see them and to meet Hal. We hung out, played Ticket to Ride, hiked, and caught the only good BYU game of the year after a solid afternoon of tailgating with the Derrs and Christy's brother (Bangkok Sliders are still amazing.) We also went on a small hike and that happens to be the only part of the weekend that we took pictures of. In any case we had a great time and loved seeing the Ghazimoradis. Lizzie still asks if Reza's baby is downstairs and when Reza and Christy are coming home. Now, pictures of the hike...

First day of school. First day of school

Addie started Kindergarten on September 1st. She was beyond excited and as she told me, "just a little nervous".

There are three other girls her age in our ward and they all ended up in the same class. Two of them were at our house the morning before school started and they all wanted pictures taken.The little sisters couldn't be left out either.

The school mascot was there to greet the kindergartners.

Off we go

Here is the mandatory picture with the teacher

Find a book and... What? Mom you are still here? You can go, I'm fine. 

Lizzie was not fine though and really needed a picture with the cougar. After that she was fine.

The Gardens

We took a trip to the Thanksgiving Point gardens right before school started and they were beautiful. I don't know why I have never been there before.

I added this picture just because I love the look on Rachel's face. "Please get me out! This girl is crazy and keeps bothering me."

The secret garden was my favorite,

but the girls preferred the butterfly garden.

We explored the children's garden too and Addie thought the Noah's ark was pretty cool, but wasn't interested in playing in the water much. Their very favorite part was a maze made out of hedges, but of course, I didn't get any pictures of that.

Our Annual Cabin Trip

No summer is complete without a trip to the cabin.

Rachel's favorite thing was playing in the mud in the river and chewing on one rock. One specific rock. I actually took the rock away and put it back on the ground behind her. She turned around, found the exact same rock from among all of the others and started chewing on it again.

Lizzie liked shooting the BB gun.

Addie liked being in the mud. She lost a shoe to the muck after sinking in up to her waist and pulling herself out, hence the bare feet in the picture.

She was also really interested in making sure that we took a picture the back of her muddy pants. The picture above was the result. Yikes.

The Kings brought up their 4-wheelers which Lizzie enjoyed quite a bit from her nice little seat and Millie liked to chase.

And we all enjoyed the tire swing. What more could you ask for?

Rachel's Nine Months

Yes this was clear back in August. Yes I am posting it at the end of September.

She is still kind of tiny; at nine months she was just starting to crawl. She was really good at sitting up and is my first kid that has sat up before they have crawled.

Her eyes are still huge; her two bottom teeth were just breaking through; and she was, and is, starting to develop a funny little personality and just a little bit of attitude.

Cecret Lake

Our trip up to Cecret Lake had a couple of unplanned interruptions.

A summer thunder storm hit before we could even get on the trail and rained hard. The kids didn't seem to mind, but it was cold and being out in that much lightening didn't seem like the best idea so we all hung out under the alcove of the rest room.

Then we ran into these guys....

...and they were big. PS, notice the rain that had eased up at this point.

But we finally made it to the lake and had a great time.

We threw rocks and Nick tried to throw Lizzie but she didn't go very far. Weak.

 

Lizzie was somewhat unhappy about the throwing. In all actuality she was just "being a mean lion and scaring away the bugs."