Back at it (kind of)

Other than some yard work here and there, I've mainly been swimming for my exersize. I went 3 times last week. When I went on Monday, I forgot my goggles. I thought for just a minute about leaving, but I had just deposited the kids in the childcare and they were all happy to be there, and I was happy to be there so I just decided to try swimming without my goggles. I did a few laps with the kick board and fins which was fine, but when I got tired of that (and my feet were starting to hurt), I decided to try swimming with my eyes closed. It was really hard! BUT it was good practice for lake swimming because you pretty much can't tell where you're going in a lake except when you sight. I'd close my eyes and just sight when I breathed on my right side, so every 6 strokes or so, then I'd hurry and close my eyes again. One thing the pool has that a lake doesn't, though, is lane dividers. I would be swimming along, thinking I'm doing pretty good, and BAM I'd hit the lane divider. It was very disorienting, and I hit it pretty hard a couple times. When I was doing my hair afterwards, I noticed this lovely bruise:

The next 2 times I went, I made sure to bring my goggles! I told Pete it was so much easier to swim with goggles and he was like, "Duh!"

Friday I did 2300 yards, Saturday I did a nice easy 1250, and I don't remember what I did on Monday...


Last night I had too much on my mind to sleep very well, and when I woke up my hips and back were really sore. I was so tired, but I didn't want to go back to bed because it just hurts to lay down. For some reason, I did feel like going running, though. So, I made sure Pete was working from home, which he was, then headed out for a little run. It was probably 8:30 by the time I left, and it was already getting too hot so I took it easy and maybe went 2 miles.

Last time I went to the doctor, I asked her about running and she said that since my body is so used to running that it would be totally fine for me to start running again, even though I hadn't been for 2 months. I had gone for a little run that morning for 20 minutes, with a heart rate monitor and tried to keep my heart rate under 140, but it was impossible so I just settled for keeping it under 150. Doing a really easy run, it was at about 145. I told my doctor about this and she said that the 140 is really more of a guideline, the main thing is that I don't overdo it and get overheated. She also said riding my bike would be fine, I needed to be careful not have any sudden starts or stops. The only reason there would be sudden stops would be if I crashed, and that's what I've been worried about and why I haven't been riding my bike (other than my cruiser around town) since St. George Tri.

So today I just went out without a heart rate monitor or a watch or anything with me, and it was so much fun to get out and listen to my music and just run. I took it pretty easy, but I felt really good. My hips and back felt 100% better when I got back! I really think I'm going to start running again, but I need to get out earlier before it starts to get hot so I can go for a little longer and not worry so much about overheating. I do have a marathon planned 5 months after the baby's born, after all. I don't want to be totally starting from scratch then.

Our Exotic Getaway

Last weekend Pete and I dropped the kids off at my Dad's house on Thursday and went on a romantic getaway to Central Utah. That's right, we drove 2 hours south to a little town in the middle of nowhere called Spring City and stayed at a bed and breakfast there.




Quite exotic, I know! We actually booked this trip before I knew I was pregnant, and we were going to do some serious cycling and swimming since I would have been getting ready for BAM and Bear Lake Half. We had wanted to go to California, but decided it would be good to see more of this state and save some money.

Since I am now in a more delicate condition, it was a more of a relaxed retreat than planned, but it was still a really fun weekend.

Spring City is the smallest town I've been in for a long time, maybe ever. There aren't even any restaurants, we had to go to neighboring towns for lunch and dinner, or to find anything to do, but it was kind of nice to be so secluded for a few days.

When we first arrived at our bed and breakfast, the hostess had fresh baked cookies for us that were really good with coconut, cranberries and white chocolate, I think. That night we went to The Sorcerer's Apprentice which was very good. The first night I had a really hard time sleeping. The bed we were on was really high up, and I think, subconsciously, I was afraid to I would fall off. It was also really hard which didn't help my hips from getting sore as they tend to do when I'm pregnant. In the morning I asked if we could trade rooms and she let me sit on the other available beds to choose what one I wanted. That was nice, and the room we moved into had a much more comfortable bed.

Friday, we had lunch at a place in Mt. Pleasant called Sub-Zero where they had ok sandwiches and delicious home made ice cream. They were really smart. When we got done eating, they brought a big spoonful of ice cream out to each of us. Of course we had to order some after that, and we both got the kind that we had sampled.

After lunch we drove up Maple Canyon where there are some really cool rock formations, and it got us excited to get back into rock climbing next year. (yeah, when I have a new baby and I'll be training for Ironman St. George...)

We hiked up this little canyon and it was nice and shaded from the heat of the day. The perfect place to go climbing, even in the hot summer. The conglomerate rock is really interesting, though, not what I'm used to climbing on at all.

That evening we went to the Manti Temple. It is one of the oldest temples in the state, and it is very beautiful. I'm so glad we had the opportunity to see it.

On Saturday, we borrowed some cruiser bikes from the inn and rode them around to take a tour of some of the historic houses in the town. It was fun, but the bikes were really hard to ride and it was hot so we only did about a third of the tour. There were a lot of really cool old houses to look at.

Since it was so hot, we were excited to head down to Palisade Lake. It was about half an hour south of where were were staying. We rented a canoe and paddled across the lake, swam a little, paddled around the lake, then we each took turns swimming across the lake while the other paddled. It was really fun. I loved the little lake! It was very small, maybe 700-800 meters across and there were no motor boats to worry about so it would be a perfect lake for open water swim training. I wish I had one in my back yard!

Later that evening we had dinner at a really good Mexican restaurant in Ephram where they gave us the hugest horchatas, then we drove up Ephram canyon. We just kept driving up until we got to the top of the mountain where we got out and took these pictures.

Just then, though, there was a huge thunder crash that was almost on top of us, and it started pouring! We knew it was time to head back down, and it got pretty scary at times because it was getting pretty muddy and there were some kind of steep spots.


This picture doesn't do it justice, but I my heart was beating pretty fast right here because there were the rocks on one side and a cliff on the other side. But we made it though.

Here we are following another Jeep, and I felt like we were in a Jeep commercial. I love our Jeep!

Just after we got off the muddy roads, and back onto some less scary gravel roads, we saw this beautiful view with a rainbow. It was a lovely drive.

When we got back down to Ephram, we went to Knight and Day and enjoyed it very much. It was fun to be able to just go out and not worry about getting back for the baby-sitter or anything. Of course, we were happy to see our kids when we got back to Heber the next day, though.

So, there you go. Even though I'm not racing this year, I can still have my adventure and share them with you! :)

Some Recipes Popeye Would Love

We've been doing pretty good with our eating (not counting all the BBQs that come along with July, but those don't count, right? And a cinnamon toast every other night or so just helps settle my stomach...), but one thing we've been lacking a little is leafy green veggies. It's just hard to fit them into your day. Probably the best leafy green on the market is spinach, and I don't know about your kids, but my kids hate it. We've come up with an awesome way to get them to eat it though!

We call it a Green Slime Smoothie, and I got the name from this recipe, but we've changed it up a bit. The frozen strawberries were very difficult for our blender since we don't have a Blendtech yet, and it also wasn't very green. It was more brown - not as exciting.

Here's what I did this morning, and it was really good:

1 1/2 cups almond milk

3 oranges (I just cut the peal off, cut them in half and threw them in)

2 big handfuls of baby spinach (pre-washed from Costco, so easy!)

2 bananas

a glassful of ice

It was pretty thin, so next time I'll probably double the ice, and maybe not put quite so much milk. The almond milk was really good. It added to the sweetness I think. The key is the bananas, though. They are pretty much what you taste and they totally cover up the taste of the spinach. You still get a beautifully green drink, though! My kids all come running when I say, "Green slime is up!"

The other recipe that we loved, wasn't actually a hit with the kids, but here it is:

Spinach and Goat Cheese Salad with Beetroot Vinaigrette

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/3 (15 ounce) can pickled beets
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 pound baby spinach, rinsed and dried
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

Directions:

1. In small saucepan over medium heat, cook and stir the walnuts and sugar until walnuts are lightly browned and sugar is caramelized. Thoroughly coat the walnuts with the sugar.
2. In a blender or food processor, blend the beets with cider vinegar, bouillon granules, garlic powder, sugar, salt, and pepper. Gradually blend in the oil.
3. In a large bowl, toss together the sugar-coated walnuts and spinach. Before serving, drizzle with the blended beat mixture, toss, and sprinkle with goat cheese.

This salad is sooo yummy! I had seconds, and maybe thirds, then I ate what was left when everyone else was finished.

I found this recipe because we had bought some spinach and some beets at the Farmers Market, so I just went to allrecipes.com and searched for a recipe that used both. I ended up using feta cheese instead of goat cheese because I couldn't find any goat cheese at my ghetto grocery store, but it worked great. I also used fresh beets so I boiled them first to make them soft enough to blend. The walnuts were so good, and I'd almost say you don't even need to sugar them because the dressing was so strong and sweet that I don't think you'd notice.

Mmmm, it's making me hungry just thinking about this salad. I hope you try it. I have to make it again. Soon.

Grandma's Visit - Photo Special

Does it get any better than this??

Last week my grandma came to visit from Morehead City, North Carolina. She is very dear to me and I am always so excited when she comes!

We picked her up at the airport with enough time to go to lunch before picking Mindy up from her last day at school. Then we took her to experience my Dough Girl, and she was very much impressed. Of course. That is my favorite cookie place ever! Grandma bought more than a dozen cookies for us to bring home and share with everyone.

We relaxed at our house for a little while, then headed to Heber where we were all going to stay for the week. We stayed at my dad's house, which is the house I grew up in, though it is a lot more crowded these days. One of the nights, there were 15 of us sleeping there! 5 of those people were camping out back, but still! It was a really fun, family filled week, and I wanted to share some of my pictures so you could see what a picturesque world I live in. :)

Our first day in Heber, we went up to Wasatch State Park in Midway where we fed the ducks and the kids played on the playground. I love that place!

My Grandma's 84 and she's just as eager to get in the water as the kids! :) She's amazing!

It was unbelievably beautiful. The spring is a great time to visit the Heber Valley. But so is the fall... and the winter is fun too if you like snow.

I don't have any pictures of the rest of the day, but earlier that morning, my nurse called me and informed me that they got my lab work back and (surprise!) I had a bladder infection! What? I had no idea! So, that was a weird little detour we had to make to pick up some meds for me. I was glad I happened to have my checkup and that they caught it before it even really bothered me.

When I told the nurse that I was in Heber she said I had to go try the bread pudding at Daniels Summit Lodge. I've been wanting bread pudding for the longest time so we decided to go try it. My sister knew where it was, so we headed up there for lunch. It ended up being about 20 miles out of town, up in the mountains, so it was just beautiful. We had a good lunch, but found out that they don't have bread pudding there anymore! I was a little disappointed, but so full after lunch that it wasn't a big deal, and we were glad we'd gone up there anyway even just for the pretty drive.

The next day we just stayed at home and relaxed. We sat outside for a while and watched the kids play and the dogs run and just enjoyed the beautiful weather and the even more beautiful view.

I grew up with this view out my back door and totally took it for granted!

Here's me with my Grandma.

We made dinner for everyone that day. I made Baked Potato Soup and it was a huge hit! I shouldn't have halved it. That was really the only cooking I had to do all week, though. I was totally spoiled there! I also sat and watched the incredibly long BBC version of Persuasion because I was feeling pretty sick, but didn't want to nap because that tends to make me feel worse.

The next day, my brother and his wife and kids had joined the crew and we all went out to breakfast at Soldier Hollow. This is where they had the cross country skiing during the Olympics and where BAM is held, and there's also a golf course. I never realized there was a restaurant there, but my dad informed us they had good breakfast so of course we had to try it out. Going out to eat is what we do when my grandma's around! So fun!

Another beautiful view!

Heather and Aria

Baxter, Shane and Ethan

Elle, me (Hmmm, can you tell I was about puked on the way there?) and Ethan

Katie, Grandma and Mindy

Here's one more picture, from the next day, of the cute girls with their matching hair-dos. Awww, so cute!

Mindy, Elle, Aria

Friday afternoon, Pete rode his bike over a couple mountains, and most of the way to Heber so I went and picked him up in Provo Canyon. It was quite a ride, especially because he hasn't been out on his bike much this year. I was glad he made it in time to go out to eat with ALL of us to Tarahumara (our favorite!). I apologize to everyone I didn't get pictures of like my other sister and her husband, and my 2 new step-brothers who we got to know a little better during our stay. I wasn't really in tip top picture taking shape, and a lot of the time I wasn't much fun to be around (which Katie kept reminding me of), but I did have a good time considering the nausea!

The rest of the time it was pretty cold and rainy so we hung out at home a lot. Katie and I were pretty relieved that we weren't running the marathon anymore since we would have gotten rained on for most of it! That would have been 3 for 3 marathons in the rain for me. Provo canyon was really pretty, though, and I'm excited to do it next year. I just hope it doesn't rain! I did get a quick (Ok, not really quick, it was like 5 hours!) shopping trip in with my Grandma and Katie, and that was really fun! No maternity clothes yet, though! I'm going to try and hold off until the fall. I just really needed some summer shirts.

We went shopping in Provo and saw the last 3 marathoners still with 8 miles to go, and it had been almost 6 hours. WOW! I rolled my window down and cheered for them! One of them kind of smiled at me. I really hope they made it. That is such a long time!

I had a great trip to Heber, and I was really sad to come home and have to be in charge of cooking and cleaning and taking care of the kids again. I also just really miss Heber. It is so beautiful there (I know, you're probably think, "Ok, we've heard enough about how beautiful it is there already, geez!") and so much more relaxed. Of course, I only go there on vacation now so that could be adding to the relaxed feel, but not much. Maybe someday we'll get to move back there, but right now I'm just glad we have somewhere to go there to visit whenever we want, and at least we're only an hour away.

Amazingly, I've been feeling better the past few days. Well, maybe not today, but the 2 days before that, so I was able to get a lot done around the house, and I actually kicked my shoes off and ran around with the kids at the park yesterday! Maybe I'm almost through this yucky part!

Memorial Day Weekend & Ultrasound

Hello Bloggie-Blog (That's what my kids would name this blog), it's been awhile. To tell you the truth I really haven't had any desire to blog lately. I feel sick pretty much all the time. Some times it's pretty bearable, but a lot of the time I just want to lay in bed or sit and read Fabelhaven (my new obsession). I seriously don't remember being this sick with any of my other kids. I wonder if it's because I'm older or because I was in such good shape and mobile before I got pregnant that it makes it more noticeable? Whatever the reason, I really hate it and I'm trying not to feel depressed about it. The weather was beautiful today, it was in the high 70s, and all I did was sit around in the house. I have no desire to go outside and do anything. I actually thought I'd go swimming today, but after I got up, I quickly changed my mind.

I really shouldn't complain, though. It could be a lot worse. At least I'm able to function and eat, and I haven't thrown up once. I'm very grateful and excited about this little miracle baby. (It was a miracle, even if it wasn't one we knew we wanted!)

We did have a really fun Memorial Day Weekend!

We kicked it off early when Pete and the kids had Friday off and we went out to breakfast. It was a lot of fun!

We went to Coachman's Dinner and Pancake House. It's such a dive, but that's our style, and they have really good food! Here's my eggs benedict. Mmmmm.


Sunday afternoon we loaded 4 bikes up onto our old bike rack and headed for Heber. About half-way there, one of the straps holding it onto the car snapped. We were on the freeway and I looked back to see all the bikes leaning very far to one side! Aaaa! Luckily we were right by an exit so we were able to pull over and rig it back up to working order. We were still nervous, but we made it the rest of the way with no more problems. That was scary, though! We could have lost all our bikes! (including the tri bike, the road bike, and Mindy and Ethan's bikes) As we were pulling back onto the freeway, we saw this uncommon sight:

It's hard to see from my iphone pictures, but that's a buffalo and a zebra grazing together, along with a goat.

Sunday was a nice relaxing day, and I was so happy to be a guest at someone else's house so I didn't really have to do anything, and the kids were well entertained.


Monday morning we all went for a bike ride, though these 2 little ones actually rode in the bike trailer. It was just a short, leisurely bike ride and I felt pretty good doing it. It was actually great to get out on a bike again even if it was on Katie's crappy mt. bike. Pete and I gave my sister a lesson in riding a road bike. We are letting her borrow ours for a while since I won't really be using it, and Pete's happy to switch back over to the tri bike for now. She has a friend doing the Bear Lake tri (I don't know which one, there are 2 in August) and she's thinking about doing it with her. I really hope she does so I can live vicariously through her! Ok, that's not the only reason, I also think it would be fun and good for her. I hope she enjoys the road bike, it's a big improvement on what she's used to!

After our bike ride, we went to How To Train A Dragon. It wasn't in 3D, but I think 3D is overrated anyway. It was a really good movie!

When we got home, we walked down the street with Angela and her son, Drew, who gave the girls a ride on their horse. Ethan came too, but refused to ride it, and ended up going home early with Pete. Mindy and Ethan loved riding the horse, though, and kept wanting to go around again! Mindy even had a little scare on her first time around when the train came by and spooked the horse. She held on really good and it didn't keep her from wanting to go more.

Elle also really liked the baby cows. Or Steers. I don't know what you'd call them. Her favorite one was the one with the white face.

It was a great weekend, and I didn't want to come home. I'm excited to go spend another week in Heber when my Grandma comes to visit from North Carolina next week!

Tuesday, before we got too much back into the grindstone, I had my ultrasound appointment. It was the fastest doctor visit I've ever had! We walked in, they took us right back and got to business. "The pregnancy" as they call it, showed up right away, and I was amazed at how much bigger the baby was! Last time you couldn't see anything, and this time you could definitely see it, and the little heart just beating away! We also got to hear the whoosh whoosh whoosh of the heartbeat, and the technician said it was just at the right rate! He also said, according to the measurements I was exactly at 8 weeks and right on target for my awesome due date of 1-11-11! This was great news, but I wasn't really worried just because I'd been feeling so sick and hadn't had any problems. I just hope I stop feeling sick after 12 weeks, that's only 4 weeks away. I can make it!

By the way, the baby is about the size of a kidney bean right now. So why are my ribs already hurting!?

Belly Pictures and Crackers

And so it begins. Here's the first belly picture for this baby. It's weird because at 6 weeks, I already feel like my belly is getting a little bigger, or at least that it's more uncomfortable. I have a long ways to go so I need to get used to it. It kind of makes me laugh when I look at this picture, though, because it looks pretty normal and I know no one would even be able to tell yet.

I have been feeling pretty sick lately. I spent a lot of Friday in bed, and was very thankful that Ethan and Elle played so well and allowed it. I haven't gotten to the point of throwing up, but I do feel like I'm going to a lot and last night, in the middle of the night after getting up with Elle, I actually went and sat in the bathroom for a few minutes because I was so close to throwing up. I got up with Elle twice last night and that just is not good because my stomach is totally empty during the night which leads to the nausea, so I had a handful of crackers both times which helped.

I bought crackers for myself for the first time in a while, and I know it's kind of cheating as far as natural food goes, but I did get Triscuts which aren't that bad. They were really good too, and really hit the spot! I ate them plain a lot, but I also really liked to eat them with cottage cheese, yum! The hardest thing was keeping the kids from eating them all! "These are mommy's crackers!"

Crackers and pregnant women go together like peanut butter and chocolate (mmmm, why did I have to use that analogy?) so I feel totally justified. We used to always be able to tell who was pregnant in our college ward by who brought crackers to church. I probably would have brought my crackers to church today, but they were already gone. I had a little sandwich right before we left, but 3 hours is a long time to go without eating if you feel nauseated as soon as your stomach gets empty. I had another sandwich as soon as I got home, then after cleaning up a little, laid down for a nap. I slept until dinner time, and the roast cooked in the crockpot while I slept. I LOVE THAT! It was so nice to get up and already have food ready. I'm really going to have to start using the crockpot more.

The weirdest thing, and I remember having this from previous pregnancies, is that the foods that should sound good to make me feel better, just sound so disgusting to me sometimes! I've been loving smoothies lately, and last night Pete suggested a smoothy, but I was like, "Don't make me puke!" Even the thought of eating strawberries or grapes or apples or yogurt makes me sick sometimes. I'm sure if I ate them, they would be good and make me feel better, but it's hard to tell myself that sometimes. The same with water. I know I should be drinking a lot, but drinking water on an empty stomach makes me feel worse.

I have been craving junk food a lot more, at least the baked variety, like cookies and cake, but I'm trying to be good. I made cinnamon rolls the other day with half my bread dough. I just used butter, honey, molasses, and cinnamon as the filling and sprinkled chocolate chips on half and raisins on the other half before rolling it up and cutting it. I don't like raisins so I only had the chocolate chip ones and they were really good! We even cut them in half and made french toast with them the next morning which was yummy.

When I'm not feeling nauseous, I feel pretty good. When I wasn't in bed on Friday, I went for a bike ride with Ethan and Elle, and we stopped at this park just down the street from our house. It was fun, but it's in pretty sad shape with all the graffiti. I don't think I'll bring the kids back there even though they really like it and it's so close. I don't think I got any bad words in this shot, but there were plenty, some in huge letters that could not be ignored. Pretty sad.

Well, that's all for now. Have a great night!

Itty Bitty Plan Changer

You've probably been wondering why I haven't posted anything about running lately when the marathon is a mere 3 weeks away. You're probably also wondering why I'm not out on a 18 mile run today. Well, we've had a slight change of plans. Actually it's a huge change of plans.

At the beginning of last week I was just waiting for my period to start, and hoping it would be over before my first tri of the season. I waited, and waited, but it didn't come. I knew it was late thanks to my post complaining about it last month. As we headed down to St. George, I thought it must be coming soon because I was feeling really emotional and having other symptoms, but as the days went on I started to wonder if it was actually something else. I tried not to worry about it too much and just be happy that it had decided to wait for me to finish the race before it started. How sweet!

The friends that we stayed with have the same amount of kids as us and were totally shocked when they recently found out they were pregnant. I said, "Wouldn't that be funny if you got pregnant on accident and then I did? I mean, we have to have the same amount of kids!" She said she had a pregnancy test if I wanted to try it, but I told her I didn't even want to know until after the race.

Of course, the whole time during the race, I was thinking, "What if I am pregnant and I crash on this bike?" and things like that. Maybe it slowed me down a little, I don't know.

I was sure I wasn't pregnant, though. I had an IUD which is supposed to be 99% effective as birth control. Not very good chances there.

Sunday morning, I felt sick again and knew it was time to take the test. I had one handy so all I had to do was run into the bathroom and take it. I was nervous, though. We had kind of started thinking I was pregnant and I was actually afraid that it would be negative. Weird hu?

Well, I took the test and, you guessed it: Positive.

I didn't know weather to laugh or cry when I found out. I did find it very overwhelming, and wondered how it would change my plans. At first Pete was like, "You'll still have a great season." We figured I could just keep on doing what I've been doing. Isn't that what you're supposed to do?

When I called the doctor’s office to schedule an appointment and told them about it, they told me to just come in right away. This made me more than a little nervous.

The doctor took the IUD out, and in the process casually told me that removing an IUD can sometimes cause a miscarriage. I was thinking, “Why didn’t you tell me this before!?” Nothing happened, though. She said that it had slipped down a little and that might have been why I got pregnant, and that it could have happened during that extremely heavy period last month.

The doctor had me make an appointment later that day to get an ultrasound to make sure the pregnancy wasn’t in the wrong place because that happens a lot with IUDs and it could be life-threatening.

Ok, now I’m more nervous!

I went in and did the ultrasound, and she was really thorough, making sure there wasn’t anything where it wasn’t supposed to be, and she said she definitely saw a yolk sack where it was supposed to be. Whew!

The only problem was that it’s too early to even be able to see a heartbeat or anything, so I’m going back in 2 weeks for another ultrasound where we should be able to see a heartbeat and be able to relax a little bit.

When I talked to the nurse, after the ultrasound ordeal, I told her I was training for a marathon in 3 weeks and asked her if I should stop. She told me that they don't recommend doing any aerobic activity for longer than 45 minutes, and to keep my heart rate below 140. Well, that totally throws the marathon out then!

On the other hand, I had read some accounts online about women who did marathons or half marathons or even who just kept running while they were pregnant. I was thinking that my body is used to this, and that I'm in pretty good shape so maybe it would be fine. For a day or two I felt really stressed and conflicted about what I should do. I missed my run on Monday, then I went swimming on Tuesday and felt great so I thought maybe I'd still do it, and started planning my 10 miler on Wednesday.

Then I talked to Pete and he was like, "What? After that scare we just had?" And I knew he was right. We are incredibly blessed to even have this pregnancy, how could I even think about doing something that might put the baby in danger? It also helped that for the past few days I've felt so sick that I couldn't even think about running, let alone running a marathon! Yuck! I also thought about how hard my last few long runs were and that this is probably why. Maybe getting sick at the beginning of a pregnancy is our body's way of telling us to take it easy.

After that, it was really easy to make up my mind not to do it. I emailed the race director and told him my situation and he just put my name on the list for next year. That will be a fun thing to look forward to and to help me get back into shape after the baby is born. Besides, my sister had just decided to wait until next year anyway so we still get to do it together! I did the same thing with BAM, and luckily I hadn't registered for Bear Lake Classic Half yet.

So, to make a long story short (TOO LATE!), I'm pregnant and I'm no longer doing the marathon.

For the next few months, this blog will probably be a lot quieter and it will probably look a lot more like a mommy blog than a training blog so sorry about that for those of you who don't care about that kind of stuff. I will keep swimming a lot, walking, and riding my cruiser around with the kids this summer so I'm not going to be doing nothing.

It's amazing how something so small that you can't even see it can totally change your whole life!

Flatirons Timing

I officially LOVE Flatirons Timing! They are the company who did the timing at St. George Tri. First they, very nicely, gave me a new chip because I was stupid and forgot mine on race morning. Then, when my numbers didn't show up with the results, they very patiently stayed in contact with me until they figured out the problem. Now I have official results! I updated it on my race report if you really care to see what they are.

Yesterday I went swimming, and when I was getting out, the guy next to me was like, "I bet you've swam a mile!" He was all impressed, but that was actually a really light swim day for me. I hadn't really figured it out, but I just agreed with him. When I got home, I figured it out, and I had done just about exactly that. (how did he know?!) Here's what I did:

200 kick

200 swim

200 pull buoy

200 swim

4o0 swim

300 pull buoy

150 easy - cool down

Total Distance: 1650 meters (I think 1600 is a mile, right?)

Total Time: maybe 45 minutes?

Actually, I might have done a little more than that. I wasn't paying very good attention to my counting...

I felt really good in the pool and am so excited for the the new Northwest Rec. Center to open a few blocks from our house! The grand opening is June 4-6, so 2 weeks and 2 days! I won't have to drive 15 minutes to get to my pool anymore! :)

St. George Tri 2010 - Race Report

We drove down to St. George Friday night, and made great time. When we were about half an hour away from Cedar City, we called an order in to Pizza Factory. It's usually really busy there when we stop by on a Friday night so we just planned picking up some food and eating in the car. When we got there, there was hardly anyone there, though, so we asked them if we could just sit there and eat our food. Our food was all ready and they just took us right in to a table. It was awesome! We need to do it that way from now on. I just had some fettucini alfredo with chicken. We had plenty of time to stop at packet pick-up in Hurricane on the way, then we headed to our friends' house in Santa Clara. It was so nice to stay with them. We roasted giant marshmallows and made s'mores in their back yard, then the kids all went to bed in the tent they'd set up. Of course they didn't stay in there, and of course they didn't end up going to sleep until around midnight, but we still had a great night.

I wasn't too worried about staying up a little late because my wave didn't even start until 9:00! They moved the start of the race back because of the trouble they've had with the water being too choppy in the past. They say it usually calms down by around 8:00, so that's when they were going to start this year.

It seemed way too relaxed to go to a race that late! We usually have to get up at 5am, and we usually sleep in so we have to rush, but today we just got up at 7 and had plenty of time to get out there.

I was a little too relaxed about it, actually, because I forgot to put my timing chip in my bag. Of course, I didn't realize this until I was setting up my transition spot. At first I though, "Oh well, I'm just doing this for fun anyway, it doesn't really matter," and just finished setting up. I grabbed my wetsuit, cap and goggles and headed over to the port-a-potties. After that, I decided to find out if there was a possibility of me getting a new chip. I walked all over the parking lot in my bare feet trying to find the timing chip people, and when I did, they were very kind and just got me a new timing chip. Of course, with the chip came a new number so I had to get marked again and hurry and change the number on my bike, helmet and race belt. By the time I did this, they were announcing that all the Olympic Women 49 and under should be at the swim start. So much for a nice leisurely start.

I put my wetsuit on half-way, then ran over to the boat ramp, where we would start. I hurried and put my wetsuit on the rest of the way, trying to make sure I pulled it up good, while looking for Pete. I found him, and he took some pictures.

Here I am trying to hurry and zip my wetsuit up so I can get into the water with time to warmup.

Notice my lovely double numbers? Stylish!

I got in the water and thought, "This isn't really even cold!" Of course, when I put my head it, it was a different story. I kept looking at Pete, telling him it was cold, and he kept telling me to put my face in more and swim around. That's what I did.

I'm not the one waving, I'm the one to the far right who looks like she's still trying to adjust to the cold water.

Swim - 1.5k (.93 miles) - 31:31

After swimming around, and sticking my face in the water a bunch, I felt much better. I felt excited and ready to go. Then the guy came over and told us we had 5 minutes! What?! All that rushing for nothing? So, I kind of swam around, treaded water and chatted with the other girls until it was time to go. Soon, he was counting down and we started cheering. Then the gun went off and I realized the very front was not the best place for me! Everyone was just going at it really hard and it made me feel really overwhelmed. I like to ease into the swim a little.

Look for the bare arm. The nice thing about being one of the only people with a sleeveless wetsuit is it's easier to find me!

I was hitting people and people were hitting me. I tried to see where the buoy was, but I couldn't find it.

I thought, "It's ok, just follow everyone else." But I was feeling more claustrophobic than I thought I would when I put my face in the water, and I felt like my wetsuit was choking me. I kept telling myself it wasn't choking me, and that I just needed to find my rhythm, but I wouldn't listen. I turned over on my back for a minute and pulled my wetsuit down away from my neck, then turned around and tried again. I didn't feel any better. I looked for the buoy again. This time I found it, but it looked so far a way! I just felt like I couldn't do it. I told myself, "yes you can do this! You swam more than twice this far in the Ironman without a problem!" I was still having trouble believing myself and I still felt like my wetsuit was choking me so I rolled onto my back again thinking about how my swim time was shot so I should just relax and focus on finishing. I seriously wanted to get out of the water, but then I thought about how that would ruin everything.

I started swimming again, nice and slow and relaxed and I started to feel much better. I found some feet and followed them, and before I knew it, we were at the buoy! I kept following the feet until suddenly, she was veering way off to the left so I let her go. I felt bad for her, but what could I do? I swam by myself the rest of the way, and started passing people. When I got to the end of the first lap, I glanced at my watch and saw 15 minutes. That couldn't be right, could it!? Seeing that gave me new energy, and I realized my swim time might not be that bad after all so I pushed harder on the second loop. I passed more people, including some guys from the wave before us. That felt good, and once I rounded the buoy, I really pushed it hard, and kept pushing until I could see the boat ramp under me. I stood up and looked at my watch. It said 30 something! Wow!

T1 - 3:15

I was so happy, and hurried off to T1. I knew my official time would probably be 31 something because the timing mat was just before the transition area, but I didn't care. I felt so good and happy, and just felt my whole race turn around for the good. I felt even better when I saw a lot of bikes still racked by mine.

Sweet, my bike's not all alone here!

I put my helmet, sunglasses and shoes on - not worrying about socks, and got out of there. I was feeling pretty cold, my hands had had a hard time pulling my wetsuit off, and my jaw was all tight. I just tried to breath, relax and get moving. I knew that would warm me up.

Ahh! Sorry about my blindingly white skin!

Bike - 33k (20.5 miles) - 1:15:24 (16.2 mph average)

It probably took me 10 or 15 minutes to warm up, but I could feel the sun on my arms, and it felt good. After about 3 or 4 miles, you hit the bit hill, and that probably took me almost 10 minutes to climb. I had a couple people pass me, and I just tried to hold steady and try to pass them back later. Some of them I did, some I didn't. I felt like I did pretty good on the bike. I kept my hart rate at around 160-170, which is high for me on the bike! I just had a lot of fun too! After the turnaround, it was a lot more downhill, and I just felt so happy cruising along at 25mph with the wind in my face, I felt like I would cry! I started just smiling at everyone I passed and really enjoying it! At one point, there was a hawk soaring along beside me, and that was awesome.

I passed a lot of people and felt solid going back down the big hill, and went right over the cattle guard at the bottom without a problem. It's always a huge plus not to crash on the cattle guard while going 35mph!

T2 - 3:33

I got back to the transition, and heard Pete call my name. I was so happy to see him, and just felt so good! I threw my shoes on (again, not bothering with socks), grabbed my hat and race belt, then had to sneak out of the transition fence and run over to the port-a-potties. I ran by Pete to do this, and told him how dumb I thought it was that they didn't have any bathrooms out on the course! I tried not to be too annoyed, though, because I was having a good day! I tied my shoes and clipped my number on while I was in there then hurried back to transition to exit properly. I looked at my watch as I passed Pete again and I think it was at 1:57 so I was really excited that I had time to get in under 3 hours!

Run - 6.2 miles (10k) - 1:04:39 (10:26 min/mile average)

I was really worried about the run being too hot, but I wasn't feeling it yet. At the first aid station, one of the volunteers asked if I wanted to be splashed, and I said, "Yes please!" and took off my sunglasses. He gave me a good splash, right in the face! It went up my nose so I sputtered a little, but I thanked him and went on my way. That splash also got the front of my shirt all wet, and it stayed wet the rest of the time which helped keep me cool, but I did also dump water on my head at the other aid station, which they had every mile. It was kind of uphill most of the way out, and I just tried to keep moving steady and knew I could use the hill to my advantage on the way back.

At the turn-around, I grabbed a Hammer Gel (they even had my favorite kind, apple cinnamon!) and some more water and headed back. I tried to use the downhill, and remember that I could run faster on downhill. I don't know how fast I was going, though because I had decided against bringing the Garmin with me. I felt pretty good on the way back, but I did feel slow and couldn't really get moving faster. I ran up the hill to the parking lot, and started looking for Pete again. There were a lot of spectators lining the path here, but they were the quietest spectators I've ever seen. Very few of them were cheering or even acknowledged me. (Though there were some kids that were doing an awesome job cheering!) Oh well, all I cared about was Pete anyway. Then I saw him, and he had the camera out so I tried to look like I was running fast! hahaha

Right after I saw him, I rounded a bend and there was the finish line! Yay! There was a girl a little bit ahead of me, and I sped up so I ended up crossing the finish line at the same time as her. I really could have passed her, but she seemed really excited to be finishing and I felt like I'd be stealing her thunder if I passed her. I know, that's a dumb thing to think in a race! But, whatever.

Finish Time: 2:58:19

I looked at my watch right when I finished, and it said 2:58! That's tied with the best finish time I've ever had (at BAM last year) so I was really happy with it, especially considering I've hardly been out on my bike at all this year, and my little panic attack in the swim!

I had a great time! I'm so glad I got to go down and do it, and that it turned out so much better this year! Overall it was a really good race, and they did a pretty good job, except for the port-a-poty placement issue.

I'm so glad Pete came and stuck around the whole time to support me! He's the best husband ever!

We decided to relax and hang out with Adam and Rachel for the rest of the day (which was really fun!) then drive home that night. That way the kids could sleep in the car and it would be so easy, right? Well, on paper that sounds good, but that's not how it went at all. Ethan and Elle both woke up twice, separately, screaming and crying so that we had to stop and walk them around a little. On top of that, I was just so tired, and it seemed like the distance from St. George to Salt lake had doubled!

When I was driving, and I realized we were just a little past half-way, I felt like I was doing another race, but this time I just wasn't going to be able to do it. We passed a Motel 8 when we stopped for gas and to calm Elle down one of the times, and it just looked so tempting! I knew it really wouldn't be as nice as sleeping in our own beds, but I was tired and my legs were starting to hurt pretty badly, and I just didn't feel like I could go on any longer. Ug, it was the worst drive ever! Luckily, Pete took over driving from there so that helped. We did make it home, and our bed was so wonderful and comfy! The kids all transferred to their beds very nicely too and slept in until almost 9:00! I also took a nap this afternoon. So, that was a good ending. :)

Feeling Discouraged

Operation Jack

Last night, after I posted about my quest to find someone who's fast who hasn't always been fast, I found someone! I got on Twitter, and saw @OperationJack (Sam) and asked him how fast he was when he first started running. His reply stunned me. He said, "Probably 11 min/miles."

What?! He's doing marathons in just over 3 hours now!

Then he said, "Ran my first 1/2 in 2:29:45, ran a full in 3:07:53 less than two years later. Drop me an email. You can get faster."

I emailed him and asked him what the secret is and if he really thought I could do the marathon in 3:40 (he's pacing for that time, and it would qualify me for Boston!) since he keeps teasing me and asking me if I'm going to go for that.

Anyway, he wrote me back, and was very encouraging. He said that his long runs were 10 min/mile for his first marathon and he did that in 4:06, and that he'd guess I'm no worse than a 3:50 runner. So, that's really encouraging for at least being able to make my under 4 hour goal! He said to remember that everything is diffrent on race day so I'm probably not too far away from Boston Qualifying. Wow! How nice of him to take the time to look at what I'm doing and give me such good encouragement and advice when he's so busy working and taking care of his family and RUNNING A MARATHON OR TWO A WEEK!

Speaking of the marathon, it's exactly one month from today! Ahhhh! I really want to get my 10x10 soon so I can get an Operation Jack shirt to wear at the marathon. If I'm going to wear it for the marathon, I need a few weeks of testing it out first so who out there is willing to help me out and donate $10 to fight Autism? Click here and do it really quick. You'll at least get to see a gorgeous picture of me finishing the St. George Marathon if you click that link!

Why So Glum Chum?

So, with all the encouragement, what's with the "Feeling Discouraged" title? Well, today I had planned to do my long run since I'm doing St. George Tri on Saturday. I was going to do 14 since it's kind of a rest/recovery/race week, and I thought that was a good distance for that. (little did I know...)

For starters, I woke up in a bad mood for some reason. I was tired and grumpy and just wasn't excited about my run at all. I even had arranged with my friend for her to come pick Elle up so she could play with her daughter for a few hours. That way Elle would be happy, and I wouldn't have to wake up early to run. How perfect, right? Why was I in a bad mood, then??

Anyway, she came and got Elle, then I hurried and got ready to go. Today I brought Coconut Water in my water bottle, which might have been a mistake trying something new at this point. I didn't really like it anyway. I could tell it was hydrating me really good, and it felt ok in my stomach (I think), but I didn't like the taste of it at all.

I headed up the Avenues, then up Virginia Street. I did not feel very victorious running up that street. I actually didn't really run up that street at all. I walked. I got to 11th Avenue and headed over to City Creek Canyon. I hit 7 miles before I got to City Creek, but I wanted to stop at the restrooms there so I went to about .25 over my planned turn-around distance. It was really nice to take a little break, and the water up there in the drinking fountain is heavenly! Seriously, it's worth the run up there just to have a drink of that cold, delicious water. I took my one and only shot of hammer gel while I was there, then headed back down. It was only downhill for a few minutes, then it was back up to 11th avenue. Man, it seems like I've done this run before and it wasn't THIS hard! I just didn't feel good, and I felt like I was hardly moving. I can't even explain what didn't feel good. I didn't exactly feel sick, and my legs didn't really hurt that bad. I don't know what it was, but I just wasn't feeling it.

Finally, I decided to turn back down a little sooner than going all the way back to Virginia and headed down K Street. It was really steep and fast running down the hill! I felt pretty good on the downhills, but as soon as it would flatten out again, I'd have a really hard time keeping going. Even running down past Temple Square where I usually feel great, and have fun with all the momentum from coming down the hill, I just wanted to be done. I don't know if it was my bad attitude from this morning or if it was just that I haven't fully recovered from my hard long run on Saturday and my cold, but I just was not feeling good at all. I made myself keep running until I hit 12 miles, then I walked - even though I was almost a mile from home. I did run a little bit more after walking for a while just because I wanted to get home sooner, but it was pretty pathetic. Maybe it was because of my sniffly nose, but while I was walking, I just felt like I was going to cry, and when I got home I texted Pete and said I never wanted to run again.

I only had about 15 minutes to get a drink and stretch before it was time to pick the kids up from school. That kind of made me glad I didn't still go for the 14 miles. I was glad I at least had a few minutes of "me" time left. My legs and feet were so sore. As soon as I picked up the kids, we went and got Elle, then I came home, turned the TV on for them and had a nice hot bath while eating a Larabar and drinking some ice cold water. That made me feel much, much better.

12 miles is probably what I should have scheduled for this week anyway, 14 was too ambitions. Especially considering me still trying to get over being sick, the extra hard run I did on Saturday, and the fact that I'm supposed to be doing my first race of the season in 3 days. This is what I get for making my own schedule. I need a coach! I'm kind of mad at myself for letting this happen.

This is even what I tweeted before I started my run: "Ok, my friend just came and picked Elle up, should I go run or take a nap? J/k it's a beautiful day, I'm gonna run!"

That even sounds more upbeat than I felt. I really should have listened to my body and took that nap. On the other hand, though, it's good to have hard training days. Hopefully it will make race day seem that much nicer. (and I'm totally having key-lime pie right now. SOOOO GOOD!)

Ok, here are my slow poke numbers. I'm embarrassed to even post them.

1. 9:42
2. 10:41
3. 10:47
4. 11:19
5. 13:00 (ahem, walking up the hill is included here...)
6. 10:15
7. 9:28
8. 10:28
9. 10:48
10. 9:26
11. 9:47
12. 10:49
13. 2:09 (for the .19)

Total Distance: 12.19 miles

Total Time: 2:08:19

Average Pace: 10:31 min/mile

Here's the elevation profile of my run, if that's any consolation...

That's 1,001 ft of elevation gain/loss.

I'm taking the next 2 days off. The house could sure use some attention too so that will be good. Plus I get to pack for St. George and all that fun stuff. I hope I'm rested up by then!