My Marathon Experience...

Today was the Ogden Marathon. It has been a goal of mine to run this for a long time. I began training in November just to give myself lots of time to prepare. I was amazed each time I reached a new mileage record- from 7 miles to 20. These last six months have been spent running and running.... and running. It has really been like a second job. After running three 20 mile runs, I was feeling ready to take it all on. I had a time in mind that I wanted to reach and was pretty confident I could do it. I was nervous/excited all week knowing that I would finish this goal that I had worked so hard for. As I write this post I realize this is not the report I was wanting to give. I would love to brag about my time and say how awesome it felt to finish, but today did not go the way I expected AT ALL, but I guess that's life. So here is my experience....

Here I am so excited to get my number and tag with my name on it:)

Of course, I had to take a picture of one of the training schedules I followed.

These lovely ladies have become my dearest friends especially since we spent every Saturday morning together trekking along to get our miles in.

So nervous this morning as I got ready, but so excited to wear my cute running skirt.

All ready to go load the bus at 4:30 a.m. and ready to get this day started. If I had known how it would all turn out today I'm not sure my smile would have been so big. So probably good that I didn't.

Here I was at the mile 13- halfway! I was feeling pretty good here and was making great time. My time at the halfway point was about 1:55, which I was pretty proud of.

I knew at this point I just needed make it over the next big hill that overlooks Pineview Dam and then I would hit the canyon and finally have a downhill break. But that's when my day changed a bit. As I was going up the hill, I started to not feel so good. I remembered when I ran this hill last year it was hard but nothing I couldn't push through. But this time I couldn't push through the pain I was experiencing. I decided to try walking a bit and told my friend to go ahead of me.

That's when the dizziness hit. I dumped water on myself and did anything I could think of to feel better. I wasn't sure if I was hitting that "wall" that you hear so much about. I couldn't imagine that I was since I was only at mile 17. I soon realized I was going back and forth on the path and running into people because I was so dizzy. My friend behind me caught up with me and tried to encourage me to keep going. My running had drastically slowed down to pretty much walking.

I told her I didn't feel good and I was just trying to make it to the next aid station when my body just couldn't take anymore and that's when I collapsed. It is all kind of a blur to me because I was in and out of consciousness while throwing up with lots of medics around me. I felt like I had given up and tried to convince them to let me just finish, but I couldn't even sit up so I was obviously not going anywhere. I even remember saying "But I have to finish because I have such a cute running outfit!" I was so devastated that I couldn't finish and my dear friend stayed with me the whole time and gave up her own goal as well. I was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. So I did make it down the canyon, just in a bit more flamboyant way:)

They found that my blood sugar was at a 38 and my body was going into shock because of it. They said 60 is the lowest it should go so mine was dangerously low and it was surprising I had made it to mile 17. I also was very very dehydrated. I also learned that I unknowingly had been dealing with a little stomach bug this week that I had chalked up to just being nervous with anticipation. So the stomach problems caused even more dehydration and mix that with low blood sugar... and voila you have me lying on the side of the road.

I have been pretty disappointed that I wasn't able to finish today. This was definitely a curve ball I didn't see coming. So maybe one day I can post my finishing time and say how good it felt to cross that finish line. Unfortunately it just wasn't going to be today. But I am still very proud of all my hard work anyways! I am also grateful to be feeling much better since leaving the hospital earlier today.

What have we been up to?

I have no excuse for being such a lame blogger! So here is a little update on our lives lately... in bullet form :)

• We finished off our summer with a great trip to Lake Powell with my family.

• I ran the Park City half marathon in August in 2 hours 10 minutes.

• I began my 2nd year of teaching with only 24 students instead of 30 like last year. This school year has overall been a lot less stressful than last year because I am feeling a lot more organized and confident. It also helps that I just love 2nd graders!!! This is a picture of my first day of school just like my mom always took every year... lunch ready and all!

• My classroom theme this year is owls- last year it was fish.


• We enjoyed a great trip to Jackson Hole with Brock's family over Memorial Day weekend.

• We moved out of "Lock it Up Storage" (no not an actual storage unit, we were in the apartment above the office haha) after living there for a year.


• We moved into an adorable house that we LOVE!


• I have experimented with my crafty side on various home projects. Here is a shelf I just painted.


• We had a blast over fall break with our friends in Las Vegas- we took advantage of the 24 hour buffet pass, got in lots of shopping, and saw a Cirque De Soliel show.


• Brock has been very busy with his medical sales job and has recently started a business with our brother-in-law called Hookease. They have manufactured and are selling a revolutionary ski training device. You can see it in action www.hookease.com


• I signed up for the Ogden Marathon in May which I am so excited for minus the training throughout the cold winter.


• I made it through 2 days of parent teacher conferences.


• We just got called to teach a primary class together in our new ward... so excited!


• Overall we are staying really busy but trying to fit in as much fun as we can.

Summer Vacation

I am personally loving the fact that I am back on the "Summer Vacation" schedule from the good old days. That is definitely one of the big perks of teaching elementary school. We are taking full advantage of the summer by having as much fun as we can. We went on an amazing trip to Hawaii with some great friends. We left the day after school let out and it was the best way to relax after finishing my first year!! Then a week later we had an awesome family vacation with Brock's family to California. The big highlight of the trip was attending the U.S. Open... Brock was in golf heaven along with his dad and brother. We have also absolutely LOVED having all of our family in town. Brock's sisters have been here from Arizona and my sister has been here from Vegas. I just love summer, family time, and all the great festivities!! It's all going so fast...

Getting ready for Hawaii

Aaaahhhhh so much fun!

Our awesome friends we went with Eric and Jessica Garner.

Enjoying the Cherry Days parade with our adorable niece Maylen.

Brock and Jake... this is what Brock looked like when he was a baby.

We love all of our nieces and nephews.

Hiking waterfall canyon and hauling baby Brighton the whole way just because I love him so much (and I wanted to burn lots of calories! haha)

Ogden Marathon

I would love to lie and say that I just ran the full Ogden Marathon, but I am pretty sure everyone would know I was lying. So that will be a future goal... one day right! But I must admit I was proud of myself for running in the Marathon on a relay team. It was so much fun! I just loved running with everyone. My leg was only 5 miles. I started at Eden Park which was the halfway point for the marathon. So I got to see all the full marathoners hitting their halfway mark... so inspiring. My leg ended at The Oaks in the canyon. I stopped and passed off to my teammate and then I realized I was having so much fun I didn't really want it to end so soon. So I decided to just keep running. I also told Brock I just wanted to keep hitting up the rest stops with everyone passing out drinks and refueling snacks... haha. But I ended up just running the rest of the marathon. So I really ran 13 miles which I hadn't thought that I could do before! I'm glad I proved myself wrong.

Next time I will just sign up for the 1/2 in the first place, but the good thing was I got to start at 9:30 and run the 13 miles instead of being there at 4:45 a.m. for the official half marathon. So it was all to my advantage. I also didn't keep track of my time because once I was done with my leg, my time stopped. It was all just for fun:)

Obviously I was loving the thumbs up sign. It was such a good day!

Spinach = Delicious!!

So I thought I would post my favorite recipe that I use lots and lots of spinach with. Yes, at first you may think it sounds or even looks disgusting but don't judge to fast. This is a favorite in my family and everyone that tries it also LOVES it. It is also pretty healthy so it is the perfect treat!

Ingredients:

1 banana

1/2 can of pineapple with juice (no sugar added)

1 small container of vanilla yogurt ( the carbmaster Kroger brand is my personal favorite)

ice

lots and lots of spinach- I usually just fill up the rest of the blender until I can fit no more

*optional- If you would like to make it a protein smoothie you can add vanilla protein powder. I haven't tried it yet, but have heard it works great.

Blend all ingredients together and enjoy!

The green color also makes it twice as appetizing don't you think? Try it and you will be convinced as well!

Do You Like Your Job.....?

This is Brock and I don't post very often, but I figured this was worth mentioning. I just have a quick post about some people that have inspired me lately. I am sure many of you have seen the Liberty Tax Dancers out on a busy street corner dancing to advertise during tax season. Many of the "dancers" stand still and simply wave while others really "bust a move." In particular, there is a dancer on main street in Bountiful that really has it going on, and the most amazing thing about this guy is that he dances out there for hours and is grinning from ear to ear as he waves at all of the cars. I can tell that this guy is in his mid-30s and probably has a family of his own. First of all, when I see him, it makes me very grateful for my job. Second, it makes me think of how I choose to act while I perform my job each day. Although this guy probably had work elsewhere in recent months, he has now been forced to do anything he can to support himself and his family and he does it with a huge smile. This man has encouraged me to smile more each day and hopefully I can inspire someone else as he has inspired me.

My best friend the chef.

I just wanted to wish my forever friend Lindsey Scano a very happy birthday today!! We have been friends since pre-school and I love her to death. She has become the most AMAZING cook and will be graduating from culinary school this spring. So we had her come teach us a few tips in the kitchen and she put on a wonderful dinner.

These lovely appetizers were to die for!

As you can see the pears were my personal favorite. I had recurring dreams about them the next day. Yummy!!!

It was so fun to learn how to cook some wonderful dishes and just have a fun night together. I am so proud of you Linds!