1/2 Marathon Glory

We did it. We ran 13.1 miles and loved it. Robbie ran really fast and was so sore the next day. I ran really slow and didn't have any sore muscles. I probably needed to pick it up a little. We drove up with Rachelle and Steve, Honus, and Aaron. They all took off and 45 min. after Robbie came in I showed up at the finish line. It was great. Vickie, Rachelle's kids, Brit, Katelyn, Malia, Mom and Dad all were at the finish line. It felt good. I loved it so much I am signed up for the Top of Utah half Marathon at the end of August. Rachelle, Steve, Robbie, Carrie

Honus, Aaron, Robbie, Carrie, Rachelle, Steve 6:30 Eden

Healthy body image-love your body

I found this post on The blond runner and thought it was great.

January 31st, 2009

Self concept is such an interesting topic and so much more complicated than can be illustrated in this clip. However, I enjoyed this clip as it talks about the importance of the mother's role in a child's self concept. However, we must not forget that father's also has a profound influence on a child's self concept. Both mothers and fathers need to be careful to not be overly concerned or critical of their own bodies in front of children. Try to embrace the wonderful things the body can do and try not to focus on the flaws.

Although I didn't like to see the girls on this clip criticizing others, sometimes constructive criticism spurs change. While media images often misrepresent health, some can inspire us to be more fit and healthy. I think it all depends on how we view things – half empty or half full. The human body is wondrous and amazing in all shapes, forms and sizes. Celebrate your body, treat it with respect and care for it.

While there is nothing wrong with wanting to feel and look better, we need to make sure we are "giving off" a healthy attitude towards our body and looking for our best attributes. On the clip, I love what Karen had to say about believing in ourselves and I would echo her thoughts that we need to treat people as the amazing people they can be. Give service; share your gifts and talents. Believe in yourself and others. I believe there is a healthy person in everyone, embrace the healthy person in you.

Good Friends and Running

Robbie (in the floppy hat) and Jayson ( oaring the boat) with Brit in front going down the Snake.

Jayson was the YM president when I was the YW president. He always was really involved!!

I am the worst when it comes to taking pictures with friends. We have some great friends that moved about 2 months ago from our neighborhood into a great home that they got as a foreclosure. It is such a nice house for them. Christy also just had their first baby boy 2 weeks ago and he is adorable. Tons of black hair. They now have 2 adorable girls and a cute little guy. It felt awesome to me that I didn't have one baby hungry moment. Anyway, Robbie is Jayson's rafting friend. They have been to a ton of different rivers and they have two or three more they are going on this next summer. I love this because I am crazy lady scared of rafting. I will go but I am panicked most of the time. I totally trust both of them because on the river they are safety Nazi's but it still scares me some. This has become a great past time for Rob. A great diversion from football. We went and hung out with them last night and such a great time. It has been such a long time since we have just hung out with friends. It was totally relaxing. Loved it.

Ran 4 miles today. It was crazy hard because it was all hills. Good thing I have Rob to drag me along. Love him!!

Love Your Body

Today officially begins the training for the Odgen Half Marathon. I am nervous. I was in much better shape last year and weighed 20 lbs lighter. I am going to do this though. I have to talk myself into it almost everyday. I am doing something, I am running. I love running. Say it again. I LOVE RUNNING!!! One more time and maybe I will believe it. I love Running!! Unfortunately the snow is coming down and so it is off to the treadmill for me. I get on myself a lot about my body image. I saw this and loved it. I love my body, all of it.

Start Today

Today is the day. I have to start today. This is me mentally getting myself prepared for the next 17 weeks of training for the Ogden half. I registered and so I am now totally committed. The training really is only 10 weeks but I haven't run in so so so very long. I have to run on the treadmill because it snowed 2 feet yesterday. Really I don't know if I can run at all. I haven't run truly since last June. Woooossssyyyyy. Anyway I am starting TODAY!!!

I got this list off someone else's blog but I liked it.

1. Don’t be a whiner. Nobody likes a whiner, not even other whiners.

2. Walking out the door is often the toughest part of a run.

3. Don’t make running your life. Make it part of your life.

4. During group training runs, don’t let anyone run alone.

5. Keep promises, especially ones made to yourself.

6. When doing group runs, start on time no matter who’s missing.

7. The faster you are the less you should talk about your times.

8. Keep a quarter in your pocket. One day you’ll need to call for a ride.

9. Don’t compare yourself to other runners.

10. All runners are equal, some are just faster than others.

11. Keep in mind that the later in the day it gets, the more likely it is that you won’t run.

12. For a change of pace, get driven out and then run back.

13. If it was easy, everybody would be a runner.

14. When standing in starting lines, remind yourself how fortunate you are to be there.

15. Getting out of shape is much easier than getting into shape.

16. A bad day of running still beats a good day at work.

17. Talk like a runner. “Singlets” are worn on warm days. “Tank tops” are worn to the beach.

18. Don’t talk about your running injuries. People don’t want to hear about your sore knee or black toe.

19. Don’t always run alone.

20. Don’t always run with people.

21. Approach running as if the quality of your life depended on it.

22. No matter how slow you run it is still faster than someone sitting on a couch.

23. Keep in mind that the harder you run during training, the luckier you’ll get during racing.

24. Races aren’t just for those who can run fast.25. There are no shortcuts to running excellence.

26. The best runs sometimes come on days when you didn’t feel like running.

27. Be modest after a race, especially if you have reason to brag.

28. If you say, “Let’s run this race together,” then you must stay with that person no matter how slow.

29. Think twice before agreeing to run with someone during a race.

30. There is nothing boring about running. There are, however, boring people who run.

31. Look at hills as opportunities to pass people.

32. Distance running is like cod liver oil. At first it makes you feel awful, then it makes you feel better.

33. Never throw away the instructions to your running watch.

34. Don’t try to outrun dogs.

35. Don’t trust runners who show up at races claiming to be tired, out of shape, or not feeling well.

36. Don’t wait for perfect weather. If you do, you won’t run very often.

37. When tempted to stop being a runner, make a list of the reasons you started.

38. Never run alongside very old or very young racers. They get all of the applause.

39. Without goals, training has no purpose.

40. During training runs, let the slowest runner in the group set the pace.

41. The first year in a new age group offers the best opportunity for trophies.

42. Go for broke, but be prepared to be broken.

43. Spend more time running on the roads than sitting on the couch.

44. Make progress in your training, but progress at your own rate.

45. “Winning” means different things to different people.

46. Unless you make your living as a runner, don’t take running too seriously.

47. Runners who never fail are runners who never try anything great.

48. Never tell a runner that he or she doesn't look good in tights.

49. Never confuse the Ben-Gay tube with the toothpaste tube.

50. Never apologize for doing the best you can.

51. Preventing running injuries is easier than curing them.

52. Running is simple. Don’t make it complicated.

53. Running is always enjoyable. Sometimes, though, the joy doesn’t come until the end of the run.

Running, Lacrosse, and Cabelas

We went for our weekly long Saturday run of 9 miles today. Robbie had really good times and I am still keeping my 11 minute miles. I love running!!!!! We got home and immediately started cleaning house because we were going to be gone all day with Lacrosse. We played Olympus(a SL valley team) at Highland(in Utah county). It made no sense. Why go all the way down there when both teams are from the north?? Crazy!!

Check out the hot ladies on the left!!

Luckily the day was nice and the sun was mostly out and the Lacrosse was good. A guy was taking photos and his are way better than mine. This page takes you to the high school website. Just click on the thunder league page on the right hand side. Breckin is #2, he has a yellow visor, and black shorts with a V on the leg. http://www.viewmontlax.com They won 7-2 and Breck scored 3 of the goals. After the game we went to Cabelas. Our family doesn't hunt or fish but we do eat. Cabelas has great
hamburgers and food. We went there with the Fujikawa's and the Bryson's after the game for lunch. Low and behold Breck's coach and some other player are eating there. Good Food. We also like to go there because they have a huge aquarium and all these really cool animals. It is like going to a museum. Took a long Saturday nap and wasted away the rest of the day hanging out with my family. Love it!!!!!

All we do is PLAY

My princess is a baseball star. Why anyone likes baseball is beyond me. Malia played her first game and she did great. She is playing coach pitch and every player gets 5 pitches and if they don't hit it they get to try from the Tee.Every inning (OK they only play for an hour) every player hits and the last batter gets to just run all of the bases. It really is nothing like baseball but my baby girl looked fabulous in her orange.

Robbie had another coaches clinic this weekend and so I was a complete Zombie. I don't know what the problem is when he leaves. I just stay up and watch TV. I was also nervous because of the Saturday 10 mile run and I was running with Maren Relief Society Fitness Group. It ended up being really great but I don't sleep because I am afraid I won't hear the alarm. When I do sleep all I do is dream about running, running and more running. The group has about 10 women in it. Maren ran the 1st 3 miles with us. She could have run more but I think 3 is the most she has ever run. It took me forever to build up to 3 miles. At about mile 5 the gu must have kicked in because I started to run faster than the group. I looked back once and they were 1 full block behind me. I also knew I was only running 10.5 miles and they were all running 12. I think that is one of the reasons they were slower. My times were normal. 1 hour and 55. 11min miles. Slower than I want but OK for 10 miles. Robbie ran 8 min miles. Awesome for a bunch of non-runners.

Brecks first lacrosse game was also Saturday. My friend Kristy drove out to 7000 south with me. Her son plays on Brecks team and he is number 1(because he is the smallest) Breckin is #2 because he is in the middle and Hayden(another friend) is #3 because he is the biggest. They picked uniforms that way, weird!! Breckin is 5'7", weighs 140 lbs and is a 6th grader. Hayden is about 5'7" and weighs about 180. He is a big kid and he hasn't even hit puberty yet. His dad is 6'6" and his brother in the 9th grade is 6'4. Breckins team had a double header and they won both of them. Breck scored in the first game(3-1) and played like a wild man in the second game(6-0). He is the face off guy on his team. This means that every time a goal is scored he squats down and tries to get the ball with his stick while the other guy is doing the same thing. Breck play midi which is like the midfielder in soccer.

One more week down...Almost

Saturday-Ran 10 miles with Rob from our house to the road Maren lives on in B-town and then back to C-ville to the baseball park and up through a neighborhood and onto Main Street and back to our house. When your town is only 3 miles long you have to get creative for a 10 mile run. We had stashed water and Gatorade's every 2 miles and also took energy goo. This run really wasn't bad. 1 hour and 40 minutes. The Monday run of 4 miles was horrible though. Robbie ran probably 11 1/2 because he kept running back to me if he lost visual on me. I always feel safe running with him because he always makes sure I am OK. Went to Malia's T-ball practice and got sunburned. The sun was out for like 2 minutes. Had a hot date with Rob and went to Apollo burger and then to Neilsons for frozen custard. YUMMY!! Rented August Rush.I loved it. I have to say it is one of my all time favorites. Tanner and Melanie stopped by on their way home from Chrismeaster. (No one can get together during the holidays and so they have Christmas and Easter in April. I love it). Love their girls.

Sunday- Robbie flew to Vegas for a teachers conference. 16 teachers went and he said it was pretty good. Malia gave a talk in church on being forgiving like Nephi was to his brothers Laman and Lemuel. She did a really great job. I taught our Laurel class lesson on the Book of Mormon and gaining a testimony of it. I hope the girls get how important it is and they actually read it. I read it for the 1st time when I was 19 and getting ready to be married. Sad that I wasted so many years before reading it. I like to read it fast within 6 months because it reads more like a story to me. I was 30 the second time I read it. In the past 5 years I have read it several more times as well as the New Testament. I loved the New Testament also. We went up to Marens to BBQ hot dogs but I couldn't get her grill to work so we fried them on the stove top. I love Maren's house. It is so open.

Monday- Britton stayed home from school today with a horrible head cold. He is kind of a faker like me and so I never believe him if he is sick. I actually just let him stay home so that he could catch up on sleep. I didn't believe him until I got sick on Tuesday. Ran 4 miles and it was awful. Took girls to the pool for swimming lessons and we played outside. Sprayed the garden with round up hoping to kill all the weeds in it. I am a useless vegetable gardener( I don't even like vegetables) but I love flower beds. Slept like the yucks because Robbie isn't home and I have a hard time sleeping when he isn't there.

Tuesday- My allergies went crazy today. I couldn't breath, my throat itched, and on top of that little fun I got the 24 hour flu Britton had. I made him go to school today but he texted me at lunch and said he had thrown up. So I went and got him. Skyler went to Leah's barber shop and he got his first professional hair cut. It is so stinking cute. I was the camera lady. I got home and crawled into bed. Malia got home and came to watch cartoons in my bed and then Britton ends up in my bed and falls asleep. We were a bunch of sickos. I skipped YW because Malia was supposed to have T-ball practice but it snowed. I stayed in bed and Benadryl'd up. I know that I saw Breckin at some point today I just don't know when. I know...Mother of the Year!!!

Wednesday-Still pretty groggy from the allergy medicine. Had a doctors appt. this morning. Went running 5 miles on the treadmill. That is a long time to be running no where. Breckin had lacrosse practice. Thankful for the car pool. Actually did the dishes from Sunday-NO DISHWASHER remember and I hate doing dishes. Did laundry. Still groggy from the Allergy Medicine. Over the counter allergy medicine either makes me pass out or it makes me really mean. I took some once at a wrestling tournament when the boys were 7 or 8. Some lady came and sat right in front of me and I remember getting really angry and saying some not pleasant things to the lady. About 45 minutes later the medicine started to wear off and I realized what I had done and had to apologize to her. I really try to stay away from over the counter meds. Robbie's flight was delayed and he didn't get home until about 10:30. Malia got sick and so I ended up sleeping most of the night with her. Not comfortable.

Thursday- Not sick today YEAH!!! I actually feel really good. Malia stayed home from school. She wasn't super sick but I kept her home anyway. We painted. Only shelves. My mother-in-law gave me this great shelf but it was the wrong color so I painted it black. I hung it up and love it. I painted a couple of other shelves as well and am not sure what to do with them yet. I need a new bedspread and so I can't redo my bedroom until I find one that is just right. Breckin had lacrosse practice. Britton got home from school early because the foreign language students went to BYU for the Spanish language fair. They had to present two things and he got goods on both of them. He brought friends home and I was horrified because the basement was a scary, scary place because I have been sick and not really cared. Needless to say, they didn't really care either. GROSS!! Britton actually played a practice game tonight in baseball. I am not sure whether he likes it or not. We will see I guess. Weeded so much I am totally sore, but my beds look good. Had stake leadership meeting. This is my favorite meeting. Our stake YW presidency are amazing. Tonight it was on UNITY-She talked a lot from Elder Ballards book Counseling with our Councils and Pres. Eyring talk Rise to your Call. The unity stood for specific things-
U-Understanding our responsibilities
N-Nurturing relationships with priesthood leaders
I-Including Everyone
T-Tuning in and communication
Y-You are blessed if you do all these things
I love this meeting because it is the spiritual jolt I need about every 6 months. I get great ideas from it and I need it. I wasn't going to go but I am glad I did.

Friday-Saturday-Sunday Hopefully nothing but fun and rest(OK after the 11 mile run)and family time.

8 miles and General Conference

Saturday was a long day. Robbie and I did our 8 mile run. I ran it in 1 hour 24 min. and Robbie ran it in 1 hour 15 min. He would have run it a lot faster but he always stays with me for the 1st two miles and I start off slow. I am really thankful we are doing this together. It is awesome to have someone feel what you are feeling and cheer you on. I never thought we would ever run together. In Idaho we tried it once and it ended in a huge fight. He wanted to coach me and I didn't want to be coached and so it turned into a battle. Anyway it has only taken us 10 years to move past that. I am really happy though because I am sticking to my about 10 min. miles. My legs were really tired when I got done but my lungs and breathing were fine. Looking forward to the next couple of weeks.



We listened and watched general conference on TV/Radio. For some reason the cable connection in the basement doesn't get any sound on channel 5. Of course that is what channel we needed. It wouldn't have been a big deal except that I had invited the YW and Leaders to come and watch it with me. Only 1 YW and 1 Leader showed up and so I was a little bummed about that. I had to refocus though and be glad that we were together watching Conference. Saturday morning was amazing. The solemn assembly was amazing. I love listening to the speakers. My spiritual pot gets filled to the brim and I really needed that.

I called the cable company and they were suppose to reset the stuff on their side and so the cable would be down so we cancelled the 2nd session. Unfortunately, I had 3 other girls show up for that.

Robbie took the boys to the priesthood session and not kidding you I stayed in bed from about 4:30 until it was time for bed. My legs were fried and I was tired.

Sunday's session was also amazing. We watched the first session at home and then went for a drive for the second session. We really struggle staying awake for the last session so we always go for a Sunday drive. Robbie took us up to where we are going to be running the 1/2 marathon. It was good to see.

Running and Young Women's General Conference Broadcast

I have become obsessed. I love running. Today I realized I could download the General Young Women talks onto my mp3 player. So while I ran I listened to the General Young Women's Meeting that was Saturday. Our YW actually went to it at the Conference Center but parking was horrendous and so we were late and they had already seated standby so we got shuffled a thousand different places and some of our group got put in the Little Theater in the basement of the Conference Center and some of us ended up in the Tabernacle. We sat in the balcony on the back row. I was so worried about so many other things that I totally missed the spirit of the night. I was so thankful for the opportunity to listen to it again this morning as I was running. It still is incredible that they held conference in the Tabernacle for so long. It is tiny compared to the Conference Center. For the YW broadcast the entire Conference center was full plus the theater plus the Tabernacle plus the Assembly Hall plus the theaters in the North Visitors Center. There had to be at least 25,000 young women and leaders just there. Truly Amazing. So back to the running. Saturday was a long run. It is the farthest I have ever run 6 miles. Robbie ran the first mile with me and he stopped at the high school to get his mp3 player and other running shoes. I kept running thinking that he would catch up to me but we didn't meet up until after. The school took longer than he thought(he forgot the key to his locker so he ended up running in some real junkers for shoes). It felt so good though to just run. 6 miles didn't seem so bad. I could have kept going. I ran it in 63 minutes. Right on track for 10 min. miles. Saturday is an 8 miler. Hopefully it will also be a great run. We decided to get new running shoes at a store that catered to runners and it was awesome. He sized me and brought out 3 selections and then had me try them on. He even had me run on the treadmill to see how they fit. I am glad we bought them now so that we can get them broke in by MAY 17.

Weekend

Robbie went to a coaches clinic in Portland this weekend with some of his coaches. It sounded like he had a great time. When he got home he showed us the pictures he took and asked if we knew the guys they got their pictures taken with. I said nope but Britton knew they were the coaches from Kentucky and also USC. For reals!What kind of crazy person am I raising.He even knew their names:). Coaches clinics are interesting places. Especially for coaches who don't drink beer. Robbie said they had table after table set up with beer mugs. You can kind of see it behind Dean. He said they looked everywhere for sodas and finally they found this little tiny cart stuffed in the back with some sodas in it. I am so thankful for the kind of men Robbie gets to coach with. Dean and Aaron are really great men. The kind you want you sons to be around. They have amazing families and great wives. CWA(coaches wives association) all the way!!!

So while Robbie was out gallivanting around Portland, I was at home being mother of the year. Breckin had his last basketball game. They stop keeping score after you get to 40. They probably scored another 20 points. The funniest part though is that the coach for the other team was mouthy and our coaches don't let anything go so we almost saw a fight between middle age men over 12 year old basketball. Please!! How silly is that. OK it was kind of funny but still. Saturday morning I went running with the Relief Society Fitness Group. We ran about 3 miles. Maren ran with me and it was awesome. I went home and asked Brit if he would run another 3 with me so that I could get me 6 miles in. So off we start. Together for about 1 block. I'm thinking OK so if he is only 1 block ahead of me I'm doing good. That lasted for a short time and then he turns the corner and I am huffing along and that is the last time I saw him. So much for running together with your mom. A guy at church comes up to me and says he thinks I need a new running partner. He had seen us on Sat. I had to give my excuse that I had already run 5 miles and that Britton was Fresh. Whatever. He totally kicked my behind !!

Saturday afternoon Maren and I drove to Hooper for the funeral of our cousins baby boy Turner. Stacey said they knew that Turner had a chromosomal defect called Trisomy 18 for about 6 months. Turner lived just a short time after he was born this past week. Both Stacey and Brad spoke and it was really beautiful they things they said. How blessed as member of the church that we know about the Plan of Salvation and eternal families. It brings such feelings of peace.

Saturday night the boys went to hang out with friends and so us girls watched the new Barbie movie Mariposa. I am a Barbie movie fanatic. I love them. I don't know why but I really really enjoy them. My favorite is The Princess and the Pauper. I know all of the words to the songs. Scary huh. Love It!!!

Playlists

When I run I can't listen to myself on the treadmill or my feet on the pavement. I always syke myself out and say things like "wow my breathing is really labored maybe I should stop". I have to run with music or audio books. I loved listening to all the Harry Potters on CD. Also the Lemony Snicket books. They were amazing. So this is what is on my playlist right now to run with:

Lets get it started Black Eyed Peas
Hold On KT Tunstall
The way I Are Timbaland
Since U been gone Kelly Clarkston
Never Again Kelly Clarkston clubmix
Ring the Alarm Beyonce
Sweet Sacrifice Evanescence
The Pretender Foo Fighters
No One Alicia Keys
Hips Don't Lie Shakira
Sexy Back Justin Timberlake
Numb/Encore Jay-Z & Linkin Park
Another Hole in the Head Nickelback
Livin' la Vida Loca Ricky Martin
La Copa de la Vida Ricky Martin
Not Today Maren Ord
Save your Own Stephanie Smith
This is how my Heart Breaks Rob Thomas

Running and Skyler

Today I am feeling great. It was warm enough to run outside. Maren's ward has a running group that is also going to run the Ogden half marathon. They did an outside run today. I was really worried because I have never run over 3 miles. Today I did it. I ran 4. Rock on!!!! I know this isn't a lot of mileage but I did it and for me it is purely mental (like everything isn't mental for me). The girls I ran with were really great. All of them were around my age and that is nice and they all run about the same pace which works out great. I'm glad Maren is doing this half marathon as well because I hate to do stuff like this by myself. I love having her so close. I love seeing Skyler all the time. We( Brit and me) get to babysit tonight YEAH!! I get to play and then put him to bed. I love holding him as he is falling asleep. It is so peaceful. I love it that I don't have kids this age and so I can help Maren out. Malia loves Skyler. He has been saying her name Meena. She thinks that is the best.

Random Thoughts

In the last year I have lost about 45lbs. I haven't lost any for a while. Thankfully I haven't found any either. It keeps hiding from me. Robbie and I ( I am only taking responsibility for me though) are going to be running the Ogden Half Marathon in May. I have been running for months now but today began the official 15 weeks to the Ogden Half. I love running but have never run over 3 miles ever. It will be interesting to see how this goes. Today-3 miles at a slow 5 on the treadmill. I love treadmills. Today it is snowing like crazy and I would have looked outside and went back to bed. Love the Treadmill.

I really am running in that picture although I do look posed and beautiful right. Malia told me she would take the picture if I didn't touch her though because I was sweating so much. Sweat is good.