Courage

Courageis defined as the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; One of my fears was to jump off the edge of a swimming pool into the water. Even if the water was not over my head, I was still too scared to jump. I have always slid into the deep end, or walked from the shallow end to the deep end. When I am on a boat, I either use the ladder to get into the water or slowly lower myself in from the back of the boat. Today I can cross "jumping of the edge of a pool" off my bucket list! With the encouragement of Jacque, I stepped off the edge into the deep end. She stood right to the side of me, did a countdown, and jumped in with me. Now you may be wondering what this has to do with running? Running has brought me face to face with my fears and self doubts. Wondering "Am I capable of doing this or that." I have conquered mental demons, tired legs, self doubt, brain telling me I am too old, and the "what if's.". I have done this alone and with the help and encouragement of some dear friends that I have met through running. When I first started running, it was a bit intimidating. Seeing other ladies my age and older zooming past me like I was some old granny on the course. But once I smiled and said "Hi," I was immediately accepted into the running community. It didn't matter that I was in the back of the pack. What mattered was that I had the desire to become healthy and cross the finish line. My running buddies see me at my best. They see me at my worst. They support me when I am in doubt. They encourage me through my slumps. They accept me for all my faults, and they are still give me a "high five" after a bad race. They inspire me one step at a time.

Am I a Neon Rainbow Trout?

This morning I thought I would try to do an easy 3 miles. I wore my neon pink and yellow shorts with my poppy sun cycling jersey, with my neon orange shoes of course. I thought that if I wore something bright and cheery, it would boost my mental attitude. I did a few walking lunges and also walked to try to warm up my legs. I tried running slow.....tried to get into my groove....just wasn't in the cards for me today. My right foot started feeling tingly. Sat down in Millville and took my shoe off to loosen the laces. My legs felt like they were two fish flopping around out of water. My left hamstring was feeling weird. Both of my calf muscles were too tight to move. I was hungry. I was thirsty. I was feeling anxious about upcoming travels. At 1.2 miles, I decided to head for home and call it a day. Total....2.5 miles of weirdness. I guess I am still feeling effects from that dam race.

That DAM RACE

My treasured POSSE!

Saturday I ran the Mantua Dam Race. It was 5 miles around the reservoir. I was so excited to introduce my friend Tresa to our group!  Yeah! Another female runner to add to the strength of our group!

The course was loose gravely dirt. My legs and feet were definitely not used to this type of terrain. Mindy and I ran most of the way with each other.  My right calf was tight the whole stinkin way!!!  This was really weird for me. I usually do not need to "warm up" because I start out jogging so slow, that I use that as my warm up.  I got a piece of dust caught in my throat. I kept coughing and coughing. Mindy asked me if I was ok?  I even had a piece of gum that I was chewing, but just could not get enough spit in my mouth to wash the dust down. I was anxiously awaiting the aid station, so I could get a drink.

My friend Lisa hurt her hamstring.  This was not fun for her, or for any of us. I hate to see runners crossing the finish line in pain, and seeing a friend in pain was heart wrenching.  Lisa ran RRR with me, and she was so strong in Moab.  I thought that I was prepared, but RRR kind of put me in my place. But watching her run her different legs....she was ready, she was strong, and she rocked it!  So seeing her cross the finish line in pain and frustration.......well, I could feel her disappointment.

My goal was 50 minutes. I knew that this would be really pushing it.  This would be a 10 minute mile, right on the dot.  I was hoping not to go over 55 minutes.  My time was 52.51.  At mile 3.6 I started to walk just a little bit. Mindy started slowing down, and I told her to keep going.  I gave into the mental "you need to walk and take a little rest" voice!  AAARRRGGG!!!  This is something that I struggle with sooo much!  EEERRRGGG!!!  

After the race, I was walking to my car with Chris to get Lisa some Advil, and Chris ran into someone he knew.  Let's just call him "ultra running guy."  His time...31 minutes!  Anyway, he was saying that he thought that this was a tough course. He said, "I guarantee you that if this course was on a paved trail, everyone would have cut 1 to 2 minutes off of their times."  This was kind of nice to hear, especially coming from "Ultra Guy."

Ella, Jacque, Lori (Hey, my shoes are the same color as these cones!)

Jacque ran with Ella.  Ella kept saying she was hot and asking her where the finish line was. When JoAnna finished, she went back to find Ella (her daughter) and Jacque said that when Ella saw her mom, she perked up.  This is Ella's mom!  Who wouldn't perk up seeing that face!

Meet Julia Barrett. AMAZING WOMAN! She is 82 years old!  Mike, from Richmond, introduced me to her today.  She decided to start running when she was in her 60's! I see her at a lot of races. I was was glad that I officially got introduced to her. She is my idol.  I hope to be like her when I am in my 80's.  Watching her cross the finish line just brought joy to my soul.

Dam Race Done!
What an awesome way to start your morning! Thanks LooHoo for getting up
so early to run with your mom!

It's a Rubbery Morning!

During my run this morning, I looked down at my GARMIN, only to realize that I did NOT turn it on!!  FRUSTRATING.  At that point, I thought, "Well, I guess today is not about time or mileage."  I know that I reset it. I know that I connected with the satellite. Then I remember switching modes, cause I was curious what time it was. I thought I would just leave it on the "current time" screen, so when I glanced at it, I would not see the mileage. I guess it was at that point that I did not actually turn it on.  Oh well.

I wanted to run for about 1 hour this morning, but when I got back to my house, it was only about 45 to 50 minutes. My morning route went something like this: walk to highway, noticed that my neighbor was in front of me (he takes the bus to work everyday), crossed crazy highway, went to Maverick, ran through Providence (the last part of TOU half) then made a detour from TOU half route, took that long downhill road that has the Don's auto body sign on it that connects with the highway, turned on the "road closed" road, back to the Maverick road, and home sweet home.  The bridge on the "road closed" road is actually open, just has a caution sign on it.  Looks like they have done alot of work on the bank of the river. Actual bridge is still kind of beat up from the flood.  Map My Run calculates this at 4.37 miles.

I started my run at 6:35 am. I ended up running with my shadow this morning. I did see a few people this morning.   In Providence I passed  Laura M, Mariah ?, and another gal. So fun to see that running encompasses all age groups. Laura M. is about my age, and Mariah just graduated from High School.

 And this is one of the beautiful sights I ran into! NOT!!!
EEEWWWW, really people????

I passed 7 people cycling this morning. Only one acknowledged my presence. It was the lady in the back of the pack.  I also passed Mark W. this morning at 7:20 near Maverick. I know where he was going......Deer Fence Trail.  He only had one bottle of liquid!  He is crazy ultra runner guy!  I have never ran the Deer Fence Trail! Guess I better put that one on my list.

Hopefully on my next run, the scenery will be better!

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
------Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi

Noon?

I thought that if I went up the canyon, the weather would be a little cooler. 79 at my house, 76 in the parking lot up the canyon.  Cloudy at my house, sunny up the canyon.  I started running around 11:30 am this morning.  My plan was 30 minutes up, 30 minutes down.  I have never run up the canyon before, today would be my first.  Another first, I tried some of Jill's go-go juice. It was pretty sweet!

Running up the canyon, around noon, on a humid day, with no shade, was probably not the smartest thing to do.  I felt like road kill!  I have no idea how people do ultra's and run during the hottest part of the day!

At 30 minutes, I had only run 2.3 miles!!!  This was a disappointment, to say the least.

Let the decline begin!  It was a great feeling turning around, running down hill, having a little bit of breeze, and finding some shade every now and then.  Also, when I turned around, I was running alongside the river.  I'm not sure if that made a difference, temperature wise, or if it was just all in my head. Amazing what elevation and temperature will do!

2.7 miles down the hill. I ran a little bit past my car to even out my mileage.  1 hour 2 minutes for 5 miles.  Looking back in my journal, this past week I did 6 miles (in the early morning) and it took me 1 hour 4 minutes.  Go Figure????

When I got home, the first thing my daughter said was, "Ewe, you are all wet. That is gross!" Ya, I think I had a little bit of sweat going on today, along with humidity, and me dumping water on my head, I probably looked kind of "gross."

Roz's Doubts

My friend Roz was feeling the "mental" pressure of enduring her upcoming Timp Half Marathon. (Which by the way, I am jealous that she gets to run it!)   I too am still working on the "mental" part of running.  There are times when I just think that I am not strong enough to push myself to go faster.  I am always a little hesitant, afraid of injury. And funny thing is, I have never had a real injury!

Running your long runs, solo, in the heat of July is not fun.  Lucky for Roz, we got her back! A group of us came to her rescue, and in the blink of an eye, a plan developed.  An 11 miler down Blacksmith Fork Canyon would be her long run, and we (me, Stephanie, Karrie, Lindsey, Charlotte, Lisa, Rob, Tori, Joy, & Jill) would all be there for her support!

We met at 5:30 am, yes, you heard me right, A!M! Boy this was stinkin  early, but by the time we got up the canyon, it would be after 6, and it gets warm pretty fast.

The canyon was cool and peaceful this morning.  I saw 7 deer and a mother wild turkey w/her little ones. And the crazy rooster on Hollow Road scared Roz this morning!

8 little ones, looking for their Mom

I kind of was in my own zone this morning, so I was running out in front with Karrie and Roz behind me.  As I come around a corner, I see this dark blob in the middle of the road ahead of me, moving slow. I drove up the canyon, and I didn't remember seeing any dead animals on the road.  Great!!  Fresh Road Kill!  I  figured it was a skunk pulling a dead animal across the road. When I came to that area I slowed down and carefully and quietly looked off the side of the road into the weeds.  To my surprise it was just a wild turkey. Big Girl Relief!  Karrie was behind me, thinking that she was glad that I was figuring out what it was!

Each person kind of did their own thing. Some did 4 miles, 9 miles, 10 miles,  and Roz did her 11!  That was our goal today!  It was nice having someone else in the canyon near me. Felt like it kind of pushed me to go just a little faster, even though I did not have a runner right to the side of me, I knew they were there.

I feel pretty lucky to have fallen into this group of friends!

And by the way, Roz KILLED those 11 miles today!!

10 miles today took me 1.52, which averages out to be an 11 minute mile, which is my usual.  I'm not sure about the rest of the group, but I always seem to struggle on Hollow Road. Better start putting that road on my schedule!

The best way to become a mentally tough runner is to believe that you're a mentally tough runner. ---Ryan Hall

Headache from Outer Space

I think the Sun is getting closer to the Earth, cause it is HOT! 

I waited until 8:40 pm to run tonight. I thought that if I waited until later in the evening, it would get cooler. I was wrong. My evening run---- 40 minutes, 3 miles, and 8 ounces of Powerade resulted in a killer headache from outer space!!!  When I got back to my car at 9:22 pm, it was still 80 freaking DEGREES!!!

Note to self.....get your fanny out of bed early in the morning!

Coincidence???

I met the sweetest man today. Bob, 74 years old from Fountain Arizona.

I had NO plan of where to run this morning. Got out late, so decided to park at RN so I could run in some shade through Providence and Logan. (Nibley has no shade in the mornings) No route planned, just free wheeling it. I would get to stop signs, and think where should I go next. ended up in Roz's neck of the woods.

I walked up the one way blvd, then ran down temple hill, over to center street, and attempted to run up the one way blvd. I DID IT!! 1st TIME EVER I made it up w/o stopping. Anyway this man was walking his dog, and said "you looked strong coming up that hill." I said, that it was my first time making it up the hill. He congrats me, and we get to talking. he as a navy pilot. Wife died 2 years ago, (heart attack walking the dog he was walking today. Said he had to pry the leash out of her hand) they met in 2nd grade, his son is a Dr. of Theology, just got back from Peru, brought people to Christ there. asked where I grew up & what my parents did......anyway, he said I was one of the normal LDS people! I had to giggle about that one.

Coincidence that I took this route???? I was told on Sunday that there are NO conincidence's.   mmmmmm I wonder.   

I think we talked for about 10 or 15 minutes!!! What a neat man. Glad I met him.

So glad that I was not anal about my time or my mileage today.  I would have miss a wonderful opportunity.  (4 miles and NO idea how long it took me)

Thirteen IS a lucky number

(L-R Back) Lori, Alesa, Tansy, Tawyna, Roz, Marci, Stephanie, Joy
(front L-R) Jacque, Theresa, JoAnna, Lisa, Mindy

Girls Night Out.

4 miles down the canyon with Wonderful Friends!