5K turned out to be interesting

I got up in the frigid early morning to tackle another race; no surprise there. It was a Turkey Trot held at Fort Carson. I got some fun freebies in the packet that I will put to use. One of which is a tubular theraband for strength training. It was a low key relaxed race which turned out to be to my advantage place wise. This was my 3rd 5K and my goal was to set another PR which I did despite the hills. It was quite literally all up hill and flats. I even checked my Garmin on the computer: We gained over 200 feet and only declined app. 150 feet which makes it a total climb of 50 feet which isn't a lot but considering those short hills were steep, it worried me about setting my PR. I looked at my Garmin at mile 2.70 and thought ok less than a half mile to go. 3.1 miles came and went. I'm like ummm....there is no way this is off is it? I got discouraged and slowed down. I should be done right now! Where is my record? I hit the finish time with the clock reading 34:24 ish? And my Garmin read 3.55 miles. Yeah long 5k indeed. I asked other runners if their GPS system got the same reading and they said it did. Turns out they had to deviate the course due to construction but failed to tell us the new course was longer. After I got home I plugged in my GPS to the computer and noticed that at mile 3.1 (official 5K time) my time was 29:20. I placed 9th overall female and 33rd overal out of 265 runners. I waited around for the awards since I wasn't quite sure if I placed in my age group. They were giving away turkeys for those that did and as a result made some friends who ended up being the top 2 women and top male finisher. They were very down to earth and fun and could tell by the way they looked that they were in great shape! They are running the Pueblo Rock Canyon Half and I decided hey I may as well do another half.

I saw Twilight!

I was able to enjoy an evening out with some friends from the ward with whom I rarely see outside church. Denise and Irene. We started out by going to Chili's and while I can't speak for the others, my meal was terrible. I ordered steak (my mistake right there was ordering steak at a NON steakhouse establishment) and it was the greasiest mess I have ever laid eyes on. Despite the foodl it was just nice to be in the presence of other people and to expand friendships. I have definitely neglected my social life due to no one's fault but my own. Distance running has given me a new perspective on life, however, because it takes up so much time, I am having trouble balancing out all aspects of my life. Work-check, running-check, yoga-check, strength training-check, making time to talk to Abe-check, cleaning-check but procrastinate, social life-work on.

Although the movie is getting mixed reviews, there is no doubt in my mind that it is a success. I am hoping that will lead to a bigger budget for the next movie so that they will have the time to give more detail in the plot and character development, not to mention more special effects. We got to the theater an hour early and were well prepared for all the teenie boppers that would be there. During the movie, they would all scream during film highlights and actor debuts and it only enhanced the experience in an odd way. Normally that sort of behavior would bother me to no end, but this time was different, something unique. A moment that if duplicated would make it ridiculously annoying. I found myself feeling like a highschool girl again out with my buds on a Saturday night swooning over the latest "hot" actor on the big screen. I really liked the actors chosen to play the parts. With few exceptions I think they did well. My favorite picks were Bella (exactly how I envisioned her), Charlie (excellent actor), Alice (appearance fit her to a T) and of course Edward, but he had to grow on me.

So I had a great night!

Random things I've done

I saw this an another blog. If you would like to add to yours simply copy and paste. In green are the things I have done.

Things I have done in my life:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (concert and marching)
4. Visited Hawaii-will do someday
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disney World-Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain- lots of them.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping -no comment.
27. Run a Marathon-I have run a half and will do a full in May
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise-very soon
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community-just passing through on my way to NH
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant-no but when Abe has been in uniform a genrerous man insisted on paying for us.
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted-just a caricature
48. Gone deep sea fishing-no but Abe has
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie - an extra in "The Sandlot" and "Touched By an Angel"
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class-only if kickboxing counts
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check - not often though
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House -When Clinton was in office
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous-Keri Strug
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument-the flute

Wanna know what's going on in my life?

It's been two weeks since I've updated. I thought I'd just blab about what has been happening in my life the last little while.

Work is going well for me. I love my schedule and the split shifts. I know a lot of people find that type of shift work hard to do but when it's part time it's easier to handle. I just get my errands done in between. I find my job highly rewarding and fulfilling. I am a special ed bus driver and although I spend very little time with those sweet spirits I know I am impacting their life in a positive way. I have 10 elementary students and the disabilities range from autism to emotional disorders. It's hard to witness such young people with depression and anxiety issues and it makes me wonder what their home life is like. The autistic child touches my heart so dearly. I struggle with her sometimes and she has no idea of safety precautions as she does not have a problem getting up and wondering around. Once she realizes I pulled over and will not move until she sits back down, she goes back to her seat. My middle school kids are so quiet! I have one with mental retardation, one with bipolar/ADD, one with vision problems and one with downs syndrome. I love my high school students!!! We all chit chat and they let me know what is going on in their life. I think that is a positive thing that they feel they can talk to me about their problems. One student is in a wheel chair and has multiple disabilities, one is mentally handicapped, 2 are autistic. She has an extreme case. She goes ballistic if anything is out of order. She bit me one time when things didn't go the way she wanted. My legs were crossed one time in the bus load zone and she took her hands and tried to uncross them. Another the high school student has difficulty hearing.

School is not going so well. I've realized online classes are not a good motivation for me. I have been procrastinating big time. I think I need the visual/physical stimulation of a classroom setting. Plus I have realized the personal training program I am using isn't nationally accredited. Only regional. So I'm planning on taking another course anyway before I start personal training.

I'm still teaching the Young Women in my ward.

This past week I reached a distance personal record of 13.5 miles on Saturday and a weekly mileage record of 34 miles. I'm going to cut back next week and focus on more cross training to give my legs a break from the pounding. I'm planning on doing a Turkey Trot (5K) and hopefully set a PR. I want to come in at 28 minutes or less.

Sister Neddo planned a surprise birthday party for Sister Miller at Famous Dave's. Really really good food. What a wonderful and relaxing evening that was. Happy Birthday!

I received word from Abe's commander that they are looking at him coming home anywhere between February 1st to the 20th. This deployment is really starting to wear my down emotionally and that is affecting me physically. I feel tired a lot more than normal. I need to snap out of my mood. I held myself together really well the first 2/3rds of the deployment. I keep myself busy, and yet it's just so hard when I am so lonely. He's my companion and I can't even share life events with him. He's been away for 2 of our 4 anniversaries so far. He's missed 2 of our birthdays, 2 Thanksgivings, and it'll be 2 Christmases. I mourn over the memories never to be had. I mourn over lost time. But I am grateful that he will return and that we have the opportunity to be newlyweds again. I am grateful to have a husband that cares so deeply about his family that he was willing to do whatever it took to provide for us. I am proud for his service to the country.

Twilight is premiering in theaters this weekend and a bunch of people from the ward are getting together for dinner and the movie. I am really looking forward to that.

I completed a Half Marathon! (Race Report)

Let me start by saying that I have never done something like this all by myself. I am not a loner. Nope. I do have friends. I really do. But I'm the one who left them behind. I wanted to bring them, I really did. They wanted to go, they really did. But they couldn't leave until around 5:30ish and that was too late for me so I opted for a solo meditation weekend.
I started out this trip by traveling to Loveland, CO the day before the race and slept in a lovely hotel and had a nice dinner at Chick Fil A. Before all you fellow runners start griping on me for eating like crud the day before a race, I had a grilled chicken sandwhich, a side salad and some orange juice. Also I had a nice spaghetti lunch, prepared especially by me for me, that afternoon.

Weather: 50 degrees and rising. Probably 65 by the time I finished. No clouds. Simply beautiful.
Race start: 8:30
Elevation: 4,999 feet (1,000 less than what I'm used to training at so that was sweet on my lungs).
Scenery: A lake, open space, farmland, some wooded areas.
Running terrain: concrete, gravel, dirt, and road. (My favorite was the dirt-easiest on the knees)

We parked at the medical center. We then proceeded to walk about a half mile (a good nice warmup) to the race start. I lined up near the back like the slow runners should. :) With this being my first half marathon, and the first time I've run 13 miles, I didn't know what to expect as far as my body is concerned, therefore I let my HR monitor be my pace guide. I had an average HR of about 80% with a Max of 95% towards the end of the race. I swear if I didn't use that thing, I would have killed myself by mile 8 from over exertion.

Miles 1-5 were really easy on me. The course was relatively flat with a little hills here and there.
Miles 6-8 were all uphill. By uphill, I don't mean some huge 10% incline. I'm guessing it was between 3 and 4 %? And we were running against traffic in a rural area. There was an aid station at mile 7 where I opted to use my Hammer Gel as I could tell my energy was starting to deplete. Miles 8-9 were flat with some declines. I felt great the whole way and passed a few runners. Luckily they never caught up to me again.
Mile 10 was difficult because there was a steeper hill. Steeper than the one before. But luckily it didn't last long. I took this opportunity to turn on my IPOD. I opted to keep my ipod off until I needed an extra boost and the blaring music gave me just that.
I was hapapy to reach mile 11 because I was in need of a drink. Also I was having PMS related cramps. After walking through the aid station to rehydrate me, I was ready to head off.
Miles 11 -13 were just plain fun for me. I got to pass a lot of runners turned walkers who probably started the race too fast. I felt physically well and was looking forward to getting to the finish line.
I sprinted the last .10 miles to the finish and along the way passed 1 more runner.

My goal was to not finish last and to come in under 2:30. I accomplished both. My final time ended up being 2:24. I think 11:04 minutes/mile. Not too bad considering I paced myself well. I listened to my body and did not push myself past my limits like I could have done.
They provided a pancake breakfast and since is was a point to point course, they shuttled us back to our cars.

Honestly I don't know why anyone would want to get high on drugs when running is such a natural high. I was on cloud 9. Heck I'm still on cloud 9!

Here are some crappy pictures since nobody was with me to take any. In hindsight I wish I would have grabbed a fellow runner to take a pic. I'm posting these anyway because this was my first race and I just want to always remember it.

I took this in my hotel room before the race because I wanted to remember my outfit. I know, I should have shut off the light.



This picture was taken from my car and gives you a little visual of part of the course we ran on.

I finished! My arms are still flexed to show that even though I just completed 13 miles, I finished strong. (ok you can think that's corny. I do too. But it was fun anyway).

Ah finally...I get to sit down in the car and relax.....

If you love Twilight, you have to watch this...one word: HILARIOUS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dompotjTeIA

Heart Center of the Rockies Half Marathon is coming up!

This is the last week of training before my FIRST HALF MARATHON on Saturday. I would be lying if I didn't admit that I am nervous and scared of coming in last. After seeing the results of last years race, I realized it attracts the faster runners and not too many slow and steady runners. (like me!) Even if I were to come in at 2:00:00 hours,(which is highly unlikely, I'm counting on 2.5) I'd still be in the bottom of the bottom 2/3; just to give you an idea of how unbalanced the skill levels seem to be at this race. Despite all my negativity just previously posted, I am super ecstatic about what I am about to accomplish. Ultimately it doesn't matter where I place, what will matter is that I endured, I persevered, I suffered through the pain and the triumphs, and that I will have accomplished a goal I set for myself.

This is a picture of where I will be running. Not sure if this trail is part of the route or not but it gives you an idea of the area.

Race Report

I ran a local 5K today at Memorial Park which is at Prospect Lake to benefit the Peace Officers Memorial they are planning on building there at the park when they raise enough money for it. This was my 2nd 5K and I ran it in 29:40. I have been running for almost a year now (started around January) and it is apparent that I am a slow runner. However my goals are to build up my endurance by running a half marathon and a marathon, and then maybe I can work on trying to get to an 8 mile pace. After I ran the 5K I needed to get my mileage in for my long run so I ran 8.5 more miles at my favorite running trail at 12 minute/mile pace. The 5k killed me.

My Birthday Celebration

My husband is the most wonderful man in the world. At around 11 this morning I received a knock on my door and I saw a delivery guy with a package and this is what I found with a note attached:

My friend Kristie gave me these cute orchids:

Then after work my friends Kim and Sarah "kidnapped me" as they called it and took me out to eat at a local Chinese restaurant. The night is still young so who knows what else I will do.

This is old news but......

I wanted to share some pics from my first ten miler. I ran it in an 1:53 and some odd seconds, which is slow, however for those of you that have been to The Garden of the Gods know how steep those hills are. It was perfect running weather. 50 degrees. My grandparents came to Colorado just to see me race. It's always nice to have someone at the finish line.

Before and After Pics

I was always really active growing up until I got married. I love being outside and any type of fitness activity. For some reason I thought I could be lazy and eat whatever I wanted and not have it affect my weight or maybe I was just in denial. But the weight kept going up until one day I took a look in the mirror and did not like what I saw. I decided to do something about that. And so I did. I am 5'5" and went from 163 to 127. I plan on keeping it this way. Warning: I do show some skin so if you are uncomfortable with that then don't proceed.
The first pic is my before pic. It was taken on Hampton Beach in New Hampshire while visiting family.

These pics are my afters

Pics from the trail I do my long runs on

I just found a bike trail where there is an entrance to it not even 2 miles away from where I live. From what I gather, it loops around Colorado Springs. I know that it is at least 30 miles around because that was what the mile marker said before I had to turn around at my half way point. (I knew where that was thanks to my trusted Garmin GPS). I brought my camera with me so here are some pics from my 11 miles today. I felt great the whole run and I felt like I could have kept going. But alas I did not because I am following a training plan and do not want to burn out.
Me before the run.









As you can see there are a lot of bridges to cross as there is a river. I had my mp3 player with me but the sound of the water may just be enough for my runs. Man I don't want to leave this place in June.

Moving to Fort Bliss Texas!

My husband was due to get out of the military in 2010. There is an upcoming deployment that is scheduled during the time he is supposed to get out. We did not want to take the chance of getting stoplossed and have to redeploy for another year. (stoploss is where the military can keep you for a deployment even though you're due to get out around the same time.) So what did we decide to do to get around that? We decided to see if there was an opening at a nondeployable unit. He was accepted. We do not have to worry about deployments anymore. We're getting a bonus. We get to see another part of the country we haven't seen yet. (maybe even venture into Mexico.) I get to say that I have now lived in 4 states. I am not excited about the heat since I love to run. I guess winter will be the most comfortable time to do that. Abe likes to snowboard so he won't be doing much of that down in Texas. I like that I won't have to scrape car windows in the morning in the winter. We will be moving in June, just a few months after Abe is due to get home from Iraq.

My favorite running accessory

This little GPS unit is my favorite device in the world of running. Because of this device I am able to run wherever I please and know how far I have run. If I get lost it will help me find my way back. It also let's me know what my pace is so I know when I need to pick things up a few notches. It is also obviously an excellent tool when actually racing since you are able to know what your pace is and let's you know how much farther you have to go.

Of course my second favorite device is my amphipod water belt. Excellent for those long runs when hydrating throughout the run is essential.

And I'm not too fond of the taste, but this is what keeps my body fueled throughout my long runs when otherwise my energy stores would have been depleted.

I'm so jealous!

I have a really good friend whose husband is also deployed with mine. We have become really close during this deployment which has eased the lonliness more times than I can count. We go to the movies, dine out, go to the zoo, go to Denver, and we even took a random road trip to Wichita Kansas together. Well the time has finally come for her husband's R and R which is great since it's been 10 months since she has seen him last. Even though Abe already had his R and R back in June, I can't help but be jealous! I find myself wanting to dial the telephone to see how she is doing and if she wants to hang out and then before I pick up the phone, I am reminded that she is spending quality time with her husband. Gah! Only 2 more weeks till he's gone....I can do this.

I guess it's time I started blogging...everybody else is doing it.

After realizing that I do a lot of blogstalking and do not have my own blog that others can stalk, I thought it was time to actually start blogging myself. So here it is. A lot of my posts will be ramblings delving into events in this thing we call life. Be prepared for a lot of posts about running as I prepare for my first half in November and my first marathon in Ogden in May. I have already done a 5k, 10k, and a ten miler and am planning on doing another 5k and 10k before the half. Running is my antidepressant and is what keeps me sane. I love to live life to the fullest and running allows me to do just that by giving me a positive and healthy outlook on all aspects of life.