100 miles of summer
2 weeks ago
Showing posts with label Running. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Running. Show all posts
Monday, August 2, 2010
Ran 20 miles Saturday!
I am planning on running "The Top of the Mountain Marathon" in Logan September 18th. I really havent been preparing like I did the St. George Marathon, so I decided to do a very long run! Today I have lost one toenail and another one soon to go. =( It took me 3.5 hours of running and 1 hr of walking/crawling =) I didn't mean to do that many miles I just got lost.....again. I seem to do that alot lately lol!
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Marathon!
It all started first thing in the morning at 2:40am my alarm goes off, I get up take a shower still feeling very drained from the two weeks prior of having a tremendous cold. I get dressed making sure I rub Vaseline all over my feet and any place I may get chaffed. I eat a light meal and drink lots of water and head out the door by 3:15am to wait for my good friend and running partner Gail J. while I’m waiting I am trying to massage my quads with a rolling pin to relax them so my IT band doesn’t KILL me through the run.
3:20 – Gail shows up and we head to the park to get on the buses for our ride up to the “Starting Line”.
4:00 am – We load the buses and head up :)How exciting!
4:40 am – We are at the “Starting Line” There is music BLARING and about 40 to 50 fire pits not yet on fire, they had hot chocolate, coffee, gloves and Vaseline for everyone. They also gathered all the Portal Potties in Washington County for this event, they were lined up in a long row. I don’t even know how many there were. It totally felt like an outdoor concert like the “Lilith Fair” or something it was AWESOME!
5:00 am – We find our seats on the ground next to one of the non lit fire pits but it was closer to the starting line so we chose it anyway. I had a blanket so Gail and I sat down on it, at this point shi
vering because the wind was blowing and it was in the late 40’s lower 50’s and sprinkling just a little, Gail went and hooked us up with two trash bags that we used as raincoats….THANKS GAIL!
5:30 am – We see some other friends of ours Kathy and Ben and their 10 year old son Elijah, they sit with us and we chat for awhile, still sprinkling and windy, and more people starting to gather around the fireless fire pit.
5:45 am – A man comes with a blow torch and lights the fire pit…Yaaaaayyyy! More people gather around the fire pit and keep the wind and some of the rain off of us. Now it’s starting to change from the “Lilith Fair” to a Hobo Convention, everyone is around the fire pits with trash bags as coats. :)
6:00 am – Wait in line for 20 minutes to use the restroom before we start running.
6:30 am - People are singing the National Anthem that we didn’t sing because we didn’t hear it….go figure.
6:40 am – Get in line to run in the order time/hours and minutes you figure it will take you to run…we were right in front of the 5 hour crowd.
6:45 am – The gun goes off! I didn’t hear it over the people, the rain, and the wind. We were although right by the Portal Potties and someone REALLY REALLY used one before the race, because DANG! We started shuffling towards the “Starting Line” heal to toe with everyone in front and behind us, there were 5,000 plus runners.
6:53 am - We Finally cross the “Starting Line” YAAAAYYYY!!!!
7:00 am – We are running in the rain which is no longer sprinkling but now pouring with a head wind coming from the south, my eyes keep getting filled with water, it’s hard to see, but we still have our trash bags on us…can I get a HALELUAH for the trash bags!
8:15 am – We are coming up on Veyo Hill! It’s so nice to see the people of the town of Veyo out in the rain supporting us, and all of the Volunteers at every other mile marker in the pouring rain with bananas, Energy Gels, Gatorade, water, Vaseline and don’t forget the Icy Hot!
We take our time walking up Veyo hill which is a 6% incline for about a quarter of a mile, so we don’t ware ourselves out. (still raining, windy and butt cold! Yup! My butt was COLD!)
8:45 am – It’s so cold and by this time I had taken off my trash bag about an hour ago. I can’t move my hands to wave at any of the supporters, I have a tank top on and keep thinking someone is poking me really hard in my left arm I look down to find that no one is there it’s just so DANG freezing that my arm is going into spasm mode.
9:45 am – We make it to Diamond Valley! Oh ya? about a half of a mile back, Gail’s husband and daughter helped work at one of the aid stations. They were waiting on the sidelines with their raincoats on shivering cold. Gail got a HUGE hug from here husband and lots of verbal support to keep her going :) We start running again with smiles on our faces (well my face, I’m not sure about Gail I didn’t look :)
10:30 am – “The Ledges” or “Winchester” same area. Only 9 more miles to go! Feeling Good it’s starting to warm up a few degrees now, it’s not pouring rain but it hasn’t stopped raining. There are still many supporters
off to the sides of the road cheering, whistling and ringing cow bells :) Great Support! I’m feeling good we have taken a few bathroom breaks and stretching breaks to keep ourselves loose and moving. It’s been really fun so far. I was REALLY enjoying running in the rain, I felt like a little kid again! Seriously when was the last time you ran in the rain? More than just running to your house or to your car? We were DRENCHED head to toe, every time we would land on a foot it would “squish” “squish”. People were off at the water stations getting Vaseline rubbed all over there back and arms. There were people getting “Icy Hot “ rubbed all over their legs to keep the pain tolerant to keep going. The volunteers were AMAZING!
11:40 am. – I’m approaching Turtle Road and Snow Canyon Parkway, It has stopped drizzling rain and we see a little bit of a blue sky through the rain clouds. I have been texting Jason through out the run to let him know approximately where I was, so I knew he would be waiting for me there :) I run down the hill and see him waving and shouting and cheering me on! What a sweet husband he is, he gives me high five and we blow each other kisses then he takes off. He also mentioned my family was on Diagonal, that was the next street I was heading down (it was right by my parents house)
Gail had told me just to run as fast as I wanted to, it was probably obvious at that moment, because I knew my family was down the street so I really wanted to run faster… then and there Gail and I separated from our long journey of 24 miles…GO GAIL!
11:55 am – I see my family! All on the side walk, my mom screaming “Go AMY! Sitting in her wheel chair and her leg in a cast hopping up and down on her chair, Summer is holding David Josh is standing in the street with Summer’s husband Sonner. My Dad sitting in his camping chair whistling and Michael??? Where is Michael?? Oh there he is…sleeping….he’s sleeping on the sidewalk… Oh well :)It was still very exciting Jason was across the street taking pictures. I stopped for a moment to stretch my leg, catch my breath and started running again.
12:00 pm – I turn the corner on 300 west and start walking, then I think what am I doing I’m almost done and it’s all down hill from here, so off I go. Now I’m running through way familiar territory the part of town I grew up in and still live…my Ward :) I see some ward members here and there, Karlinda M and Jen B. are cheering, but cheer louder when I run by (at least in my head they did :)) I run by the Metcalf Mortuary and a sign that reads “Don’t even think about stopping here!” I keep running faster and faster thinking to myself It’s almost done it’s almost over! 1 Mile Left!!!!! I keep passing people left and right because I have so much energy left and I just want to finish this dang thing!
12:10 pm – I turn the last corner and start running down the last leg of the race I see the balloons to the “Finish Line” and start running even faster! I went from a 10 min mile pace to probably a 7 minute mile pace passing people again and again. I kind of felt bad for the people I had passed because I could see the pain in there eyes and the hope of almost being done they are almost done…and then WHAM someone passes them sprinting to the finished line. A few of them saw me from the corner of
their eyes and were trying to pick up speed, but I was just cruising!
12:13 pm – I CROSS THE “FINISH LINE”! It’s done I DID IT! I DID IT! They have volunteers at the end with a medallion that they put around your neck. The lady that put the medallion around my neck gives me a HUGE hug and whispering in my ear she says “You did it, you accomplished something unimaginable for many people
congratulations I’m so PROUD of you” WOW that was AWESOME! The volunteers are so AMAZING! There were others standing there with Blue Bunny Ice-cream bars handing them out…I had two. :) I was looking for Jason and couldn’t find him anywhere, so I called him and he said “YOU ALREADY FINISHED?!” he was sad he missed my picture at the “Finish Line” the traffic was crazy! He managed to kind of get me when he took a picture of the “Finish Line”. I was getting my medallion if you zoom in REALLY REALLY closely you can see my pink bandanna :) It was okay though I was in my own Euphoric world. I did it! I did it!
This was a HUGE goal of mine the past 6 months and I went from not running AT ALL to running 26.2 MILES! It has always been unimaginable for ME and I did it! I tell you what? I did it with the Lord’s help he knew my goal and my heart and he wanted to help me accomplish it and with His help I accomplished it. I was sick and drained from the two weeks prior; I had HUGE issues with my knees so bad I couldn’t run more than a couple miles for almost 3 weeks. I thought I would be in pain the whole run! I know now that I can accomplish anything with God’s will no matter how hard it may seem and how impossible it may be, I know I can do it. I just have to have Faith and motivation and it will be done. My knees didn’t hurt terribly bad and I felt like I had more energy than I had had in a couple weeks, like I hadn’t been sick at all. Thank You Heavenly Father…. thank You my Savior and Redeemer… and thank you to all who supported me through this, my husband Jason for watching the kids on Saturday mornings for a couple of hours and thank you especially to my dear friend Gail, with out your help and motivation this would have been a much harder goal to accomplish….you will always be my running buddy. :)
If asked again if I would run the marathon one more time? I’d say “In a Heartbeat!” I was already thinking today 2 days after the marathon I want to run another one soon! I could do it all over again next week ;) I’ll give myself time to recover though…..like a year :)
3:20 – Gail shows up and we head to the park to get on the buses for our ride up to the “Starting Line”.
4:00 am – We load the buses and head up :)How exciting!
4:40 am – We are at the “Starting Line” There is music BLARING and about 40 to 50 fire pits not yet on fire, they had hot chocolate, coffee, gloves and Vaseline for everyone. They also gathered all the Portal Potties in Washington County for this event, they were lined up in a long row. I don’t even know how many there were. It totally felt like an outdoor concert like the “Lilith Fair” or something it was AWESOME!
5:00 am – We find our seats on the ground next to one of the non lit fire pits but it was closer to the starting line so we chose it anyway. I had a blanket so Gail and I sat down on it, at this point shi
vering because the wind was blowing and it was in the late 40’s lower 50’s and sprinkling just a little, Gail went and hooked us up with two trash bags that we used as raincoats….THANKS GAIL!5:30 am – We see some other friends of ours Kathy and Ben and their 10 year old son Elijah, they sit with us and we chat for awhile, still sprinkling and windy, and more people starting to gather around the fireless fire pit.
5:45 am – A man comes with a blow torch and lights the fire pit…Yaaaaayyyy! More people gather around the fire pit and keep the wind and some of the rain off of us. Now it’s starting to change from the “Lilith Fair” to a Hobo Convention, everyone is around the fire pits with trash bags as coats. :)
6:00 am – Wait in line for 20 minutes to use the restroom before we start running.
6:30 am - People are singing the National Anthem that we didn’t sing because we didn’t hear it….go figure.
6:40 am – Get in line to run in the order time/hours and minutes you figure it will take you to run…we were right in front of the 5 hour crowd.
6:45 am – The gun goes off! I didn’t hear it over the people, the rain, and the wind. We were although right by the Portal Potties and someone REALLY REALLY used one before the race, because DANG! We started shuffling towards the “Starting Line” heal to toe with everyone in front and behind us, there were 5,000 plus runners.
6:53 am - We Finally cross the “Starting Line” YAAAAYYYY!!!!
7:00 am – We are running in the rain which is no longer sprinkling but now pouring with a head wind coming from the south, my eyes keep getting filled with water, it’s hard to see, but we still have our trash bags on us…can I get a HALELUAH for the trash bags!
8:15 am – We are coming up on Veyo Hill! It’s so nice to see the people of the town of Veyo out in the rain supporting us, and all of the Volunteers at every other mile marker in the pouring rain with bananas, Energy Gels, Gatorade, water, Vaseline and don’t forget the Icy Hot!
We take our time walking up Veyo hill which is a 6% incline for about a quarter of a mile, so we don’t ware ourselves out. (still raining, windy and butt cold! Yup! My butt was COLD!)
8:45 am – It’s so cold and by this time I had taken off my trash bag about an hour ago. I can’t move my hands to wave at any of the supporters, I have a tank top on and keep thinking someone is poking me really hard in my left arm I look down to find that no one is there it’s just so DANG freezing that my arm is going into spasm mode.
9:45 am – We make it to Diamond Valley! Oh ya? about a half of a mile back, Gail’s husband and daughter helped work at one of the aid stations. They were waiting on the sidelines with their raincoats on shivering cold. Gail got a HUGE hug from here husband and lots of verbal support to keep her going :) We start running again with smiles on our faces (well my face, I’m not sure about Gail I didn’t look :)
10:30 am – “The Ledges” or “Winchester” same area. Only 9 more miles to go! Feeling Good it’s starting to warm up a few degrees now, it’s not pouring rain but it hasn’t stopped raining. There are still many supporters
off to the sides of the road cheering, whistling and ringing cow bells :) Great Support! I’m feeling good we have taken a few bathroom breaks and stretching breaks to keep ourselves loose and moving. It’s been really fun so far. I was REALLY enjoying running in the rain, I felt like a little kid again! Seriously when was the last time you ran in the rain? More than just running to your house or to your car? We were DRENCHED head to toe, every time we would land on a foot it would “squish” “squish”. People were off at the water stations getting Vaseline rubbed all over there back and arms. There were people getting “Icy Hot “ rubbed all over their legs to keep the pain tolerant to keep going. The volunteers were AMAZING!11:40 am. – I’m approaching Turtle Road and Snow Canyon Parkway, It has stopped drizzling rain and we see a little bit of a blue sky through the rain clouds. I have been texting Jason through out the run to let him know approximately where I was, so I knew he would be waiting for me there :) I run down the hill and see him waving and shouting and cheering me on! What a sweet husband he is, he gives me high five and we blow each other kisses then he takes off. He also mentioned my family was on Diagonal, that was the next street I was heading down (it was right by my parents house)
Gail had told me just to run as fast as I wanted to, it was probably obvious at that moment, because I knew my family was down the street so I really wanted to run faster… then and there Gail and I separated from our long journey of 24 miles…GO GAIL!
11:55 am – I see my family! All on the side walk, my mom screaming “Go AMY! Sitting in her wheel chair and her leg in a cast hopping up and down on her chair, Summer is holding David Josh is standing in the street with Summer’s husband Sonner. My Dad sitting in his camping chair whistling and Michael??? Where is Michael?? Oh there he is…sleeping….he’s sleeping on the sidewalk… Oh well :)It was still very exciting Jason was across the street taking pictures. I stopped for a moment to stretch my leg, catch my breath and started running again.
12:00 pm – I turn the corner on 300 west and start walking, then I think what am I doing I’m almost done and it’s all down hill from here, so off I go. Now I’m running through way familiar territory the part of town I grew up in and still live…my Ward :) I see some ward members here and there, Karlinda M and Jen B. are cheering, but cheer louder when I run by (at least in my head they did :)) I run by the Metcalf Mortuary and a sign that reads “Don’t even think about stopping here!” I keep running faster and faster thinking to myself It’s almost done it’s almost over! 1 Mile Left!!!!! I keep passing people left and right because I have so much energy left and I just want to finish this dang thing!
12:10 pm – I turn the last corner and start running down the last leg of the race I see the balloons to the “Finish Line” and start running even faster! I went from a 10 min mile pace to probably a 7 minute mile pace passing people again and again. I kind of felt bad for the people I had passed because I could see the pain in there eyes and the hope of almost being done they are almost done…and then WHAM someone passes them sprinting to the finished line. A few of them saw me from the corner of
their eyes and were trying to pick up speed, but I was just cruising!12:13 pm – I CROSS THE “FINISH LINE”! It’s done I DID IT! I DID IT! They have volunteers at the end with a medallion that they put around your neck. The lady that put the medallion around my neck gives me a HUGE hug and whispering in my ear she says “You did it, you accomplished something unimaginable for many people
congratulations I’m so PROUD of you” WOW that was AWESOME! The volunteers are so AMAZING! There were others standing there with Blue Bunny Ice-cream bars handing them out…I had two. :) I was looking for Jason and couldn’t find him anywhere, so I called him and he said “YOU ALREADY FINISHED?!” he was sad he missed my picture at the “Finish Line” the traffic was crazy! He managed to kind of get me when he took a picture of the “Finish Line”. I was getting my medallion if you zoom in REALLY REALLY closely you can see my pink bandanna :) It was okay though I was in my own Euphoric world. I did it! I did it!This was a HUGE goal of mine the past 6 months and I went from not running AT ALL to running 26.2 MILES! It has always been unimaginable for ME and I did it! I tell you what? I did it with the Lord’s help he knew my goal and my heart and he wanted to help me accomplish it and with His help I accomplished it. I was sick and drained from the two weeks prior; I had HUGE issues with my knees so bad I couldn’t run more than a couple miles for almost 3 weeks. I thought I would be in pain the whole run! I know now that I can accomplish anything with God’s will no matter how hard it may seem and how impossible it may be, I know I can do it. I just have to have Faith and motivation and it will be done. My knees didn’t hurt terribly bad and I felt like I had more energy than I had had in a couple weeks, like I hadn’t been sick at all. Thank You Heavenly Father…. thank You my Savior and Redeemer… and thank you to all who supported me through this, my husband Jason for watching the kids on Saturday mornings for a couple of hours and thank you especially to my dear friend Gail, with out your help and motivation this would have been a much harder goal to accomplish….you will always be my running buddy. :)
If asked again if I would run the marathon one more time? I’d say “In a Heartbeat!” I was already thinking today 2 days after the marathon I want to run another one soon! I could do it all over again next week ;) I’ll give myself time to recover though…..like a year :)
Friday, September 26, 2008
IT Band Issues!
I have been having huge issues with my Ilotial Band when I run. It's a sharp pain from my hip down to the outside of knee. Not only while I run but lately while I walk or just sit. I have been iceing it 3 to 4 times every day, stretching and massaging it for 15 to 30 min every morning and night and taking pain reliver with anti inflamatory meds. I have really cut back in my running so it can heal before the marathon but I'm not seeing much of a difference. It really stinks because the marathon is only in 8 DAYS! I will still be running even if it kills me....it will probably take me awhile to run it. When I have been doing my short runs I have to stop every few minutes to stretch because it has been hurting so dang bad!
Well? Wish me luck! Me and my gimp self........
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
The Hardest Day of My Life!
Okay this may be a little dramatic, but
seriously I'm still sore From the whole ordeal, so it's fresh in my mind how HARD it was both physically and mentally. Bytheway the black toenail is now gone!
I ran a 20 mile race yesterday and when I signed up for it I thought ya it will be hard but doable, well let me just tell you how
wrong I was? We started out at 6:30 am at the top of Veyo and ran towards Gunlock down to Ivins. About mile marker 1 ya that's right 1! My right knee was having sharp pains behind the knee cap so I was running limping a bit, I was wanting to take it easy so I stayed in the VERY back of the runners. By mile marker 2 I came to a very very steep hill for about a quarter of a mile....ouch. I kept running and running and this run was very very hilly. I would run up the hill for a quarter of a mile than run down the hill then up the hill then down with a little straight ways in between and that's about how it was the whole run. Now I haven't been training on hills so I was NOT expecting this. By mile marker 13 I was feeling REALLY dizzy seeing stars and all....I decided to take it easy by walking more. Now remember at the beginning I went down a steep hill so I had to come out of that valley, the last two hills were the closest to "Heck" or whatever word you want to use to describe the toughest moment in my life. I couldn't feel like I could go on any longer but I new I wouldn't stop. I walked up the steep hill and ran (hobbled, limped) down it when I got to the top. By mile marker 18 I look behind me and a 10 year old is running past me! I thought "what the crap?" A 10 year old is beating me? What now is an old man with a cane or a lady in a wheel chair going to sneak up behind me too? I had to keep telling myself "Amy you're doing a great job, keep it up girl!" Then I would catch myself saying "I can't, I can't" ....."No you're doing a great JOB!" I'm sure if someone saw me they would be sure to take me to a mental hospital or diagnose me with multiple personalities. The sun, heat, physical stress and mental stress will do crazy things to someone. LOL I turned the corner the last half a mile from the FINISH LINE, I see it long in the distance and just at the same time the song from REM starts playing "It's the end of the world" I thought how appropriate, so gungho I was and started running my hardest to finish this race.....Yaaaaa,? Not so much... that only lasted about 100 steps and here I went again talking to myself trying to talk me up and get me going. My legs couldn't move right and my feet were killing. I walked a hundred feet or so and did the same thing again. I saw in the distance Jason and David on the sidelines so I knew I would finish this race running. I started jogging towards the finish line and I hear this "Mama, Mama, Mama" I see this little boy running as fast as he could thinking he was totally going to fall on his face, yup it was Michael...so cute. He ran up to me and said "up? up?" I just laughed and said "You have GOT to be kidding me?" "You can run with mommy?, hold my hand?" so we held hands and ran together through the "Finish Line" Thank Goodness that was over! Like I said that day was the Hardest Day of my life both physically and mentally, it was harder than labor (not as painful as labor though but harder)it was harder than anything I could think of.....but it was sooooo worth it, I felt like I had accomplished something unimaginable for me and it was a GREAT feeling. Oh and by the way I will still be running the marathon in 3 weeks....crazy Amy I know.....No I'm not! Yes you are! okay...here I go again I don't think the deliriousness has worn off yet.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
SO SO SORE!!!
Today we did an 18.2 Mile Run! Wow, my knees, feet, back and basically whole body are soooo sore, but well worth it. It's an awesome feeling to complete that far of a run. (toes numb and all) Next week I am doing a 20 mile race, and the following my running pals and I are running another 20 mile run! Keep me in your prayers.....
Saturday, August 2, 2008
15 Mile Run!
I just got done with a 15 mile run...We started just before Veyo and I am soooo tired.
Seriously am I CRAZY?!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Running Provo Canyon
SO PROUD!!!
Okay so we went up to Provo this weekend for my Grandparents "60th" Wedding Anniversary and I decided I wanted to run some of Provo Canyon. I woke up Saturday morning and it was raining outside! I thought Oh well I guess I'm going to have to run in the rain! I started getting dressed in my running clothes and come to find out I FORGOT my Sportsbra! Let me just tell you....... I NEED one of those! So I decided to run to wal-mart and buy a dang bra because I still was determined to go. I got to the mouth of the canyon and started running...well jogging....well I call it jogging some may call it wanabe jogging maybe walking....but anyway I just decided to keep running up the canyon until I got tired and then turn around and it would be down hill. By the time all was said and done I had calculated that I ran around 12 MILES! Yea that's right that was NOT a typo! It was a beautiful run, it had stopped raining halfway up the hill and it was gorgeous...Well now my knees hurt...GO AMY!!!!!!
Okay so we went up to Provo this weekend for my Grandparents "60th" Wedding Anniversary and I decided I wanted to run some of Provo Canyon. I woke up Saturday morning and it was raining outside! I thought Oh well I guess I'm going to have to run in the rain! I started getting dressed in my running clothes and come to find out I FORGOT my Sportsbra! Let me just tell you....... I NEED one of those! So I decided to run to wal-mart and buy a dang bra because I still was determined to go. I got to the mouth of the canyon and started running...well jogging....well I call it jogging some may call it wanabe jogging maybe walking....but anyway I just decided to keep running up the canyon until I got tired and then turn around and it would be down hill. By the time all was said and done I had calculated that I ran around 12 MILES! Yea that's right that was NOT a typo! It was a beautiful run, it had stopped raining halfway up the hill and it was gorgeous...Well now my knees hurt...GO AMY!!!!!!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Amy to Run the Marathon
Yup That's right! I have decided to run the marathon on Conferance Weekend. I know I am crazy, but I need a goal to get into shape and what better way than to run so hard and so long that I die of exhaustion.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Marathon Update
Well I have been training slightly. I run 5 miles on Mondays and Wednesdays and I run 2 or 3 on tuesdays and Thursdays and on Saturdays I am running 6 to 10 miles. I haven't ran that much on a Saturday yet but I will this Saturday! Wish me luck that my toes don't completly fall off, they are slightly hanging currently. :)
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