4 am

Where were you this morning at 4 am?

Let me guess, you were nice and snug in your toasty bed, snuggled close to your lover, dead asleep.

Me? I was getting ready to load the shuttle bus bound for Eden, UT which was the beginning of the Ogden Half Marathon.

Don't ask me why we had to get up so stinking early. The race did not start until 7am. The shuttle left near the finish line at precisely 4:45. That left nearly 2,000 runners waiting in the cold, dark morning for over an hour and a half.

Madness, I know.

I think they wanted to freeze us before we started so our joints would be nice and stiff for the race.

Let me preface my 1/2 marathon entry by saying that this was my very first 1/2 marathon, I am no where near a professional runner,

If you can even call what I do running.

I did not even start running until I had all 4 of my babies.

I run for the fun of it.

I run for the silence.

I run for the sweat.

I run for the smells of the blossoming trees.

I run for the sound of the birds.

I run so I don't get grumpy.

I run for the sunshine.

I run for the runners high.

I run for the crazy races.

I run very slowly, never the less,

I run.

Today however, was a little different.

Today I hobbled.

I started having knee pain about a month ago during my training.

I pushed through on my long runs and my short runs were a little easier, but the pain was always there. I was nervous about it coming back for the race, but I determined that if it did I'd just run through it and deal with it after the race.

My knee did not like that idea.

It started hurting within the first 1/4 mile. I knew I was in for a battle. I told myself, just don't stop until the end, no matter what. I knew that if I stopped I'd never get started again.

My knee did not like that idea either. Just after mile 2 the pain became unbearable.

It nearly took my breath away.

I decided to walk a little until the pain went away.

As soon as I started walking the pain stopped. So I ran. Again the pain returned immediately. I played this game for the next mile and a half. I really wanted to be running. I had energy, I felt good, I was ready to just go. But my knee would not let me. I decided to walk for a solid mile and try again. Again, unbearable pain. So around mile 6 I resigned myself to walking the rest of the course. It was really pitiful. I was being passed by old people (no offense to you old ones). Then I saw the first full marathon runner pass me. I think I may have been the last 1/2 marathon runner (hobbler) to finish.

My worst fear realized.

Oh well, someone had to be last!

But I finished!

And guess what? I'm not even sore,

as long as I don't move.

I can not bend my knee,

at all.

I have like a 2 degree range of motion.

What is wrong?

AAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I really hope it's not hurt for good.

Other than my blasted knee the race was amazing.

That is a really good course.

It starts in Eden, UT which is total farm land and just open country.

I saw horses running in fields and beautiful green rolling hills.

Then the course went along the Pine view reservoir, which was gorgeous in the early morning light. Then we went over the Pine View dam. Next we made our way through the Ogden canyon which is full of rugged rocky cliffs. There were 2 different waterfalls, one of which I had never seen before, it was hiding behind bushes. The river passes along the course all through the canyon and then beyond. Once we were through the canyon we started along the Ogden River Parkway, which also follows the river. The parkway was lined with trees and is simply beautiful. After the parkway we were headed for the final stretch to the finish line in down town Ogden, just behind the Ogden temple.

It really was a beautiful course, and mostly all down hill.

It would have been a perfect run it my knee had cooperated.

But one good thing came form this adventure.

I used a porta potty.

That is huge for me.

I have not used one of those things for well over 10 years.

I have a debilitating fear of the ronchy things.

This fear is almost as bad as my fear of the little 8 legged creepy things that shall not be named.

Porta Johns and I don't get along.

I can't handle the wide openness of the waste catcher.

I can't handle the smell.

I can't handle the confined space.

I can't handle how it sounds when your "business" lands in the pile of other people's "business".

*GAG*

OK, I'm giving myself the Heeby Geebys.

I would much rather use the trees or a bush or something, but with a huge crowd of people watching and not a decent grove in sight and a long run ahead of me, I bit the bullet.

I closed my eyes and would not look in the hole.

I plugged my ears and sang,"la,la,la,la,la,la."

Then I was out of there like a flash.

Now, just because I used it once does not mean this will become a regular habit.

It was every bit as terrifying as I imagined it would be.

I think I need counseling.

So do you want to know my time for finishing the race?

You have to promise not to laugh.

I am only telling you to show you that if I can hobble this course, anyone can do it.

I also want all of you marathoners and 1/2 marathoners to feel really good about your own finish time.

Plus, it will be really easy for me to beat my personal best next year.

Unless of course my knee is broken for good.

OK, here it is.

3 hours and 12 minutes.

Go ahead, feel better about yourselves at my expense.

Goin' Crazy

I think I've gone around the corner to the luney bin.

Guess what I did?

I signed up to run the Ogden 1/2 Marathon.

I am way excited.

I hope I don't die. I also hope I'm not the last one to finish, which I likely will be.

I am so slow, but this will be a fun adventure.

There are a little less than 14 weeks to train, who's with me?

Sign up at this link

and download a training schedule at this link!

Come on guys, lets get running.

Race Update

The stats are in! We came in 467 out of 546 teams in our category. Aren't you so impressed? I'm sure my picking wild flowers and looking for bugs had nothing to do with how slow we were...

I forgot to mention this guy in my last post. We found him driving on our way home. I have no clue where we were (my shirt said "Where am I?" for a reason). I just know the race was over and I could not get home fast enough. The next thing I know Kerilyn is yelling

"A MOOSE, A MOOSE!!!"

That is the first real live moose I have ever seen. Isn't he beautiful? I also forgot to mention that Saturday was the hottest day of the year so far. And we were right in the middle of it running. Want to know something ironic? Hottest day of the year, yet Kerilyn's last run, you know the top part of the mountain we climbed, went right past patches of snow. Here she is throwing some of it at Mr. Bird!

We could literally feel the air cooling off the higher we went. Next year we are thinking of doing the relay they do in Washington state. Check out the maps of that race. It goes through Puget Sound right along the coast of Washington.

Can you imagine running along the coastline at night or when the sun is rising or setting over the ocean? I AM SO THERE!

Who's with me?!?

Are you ready for this?

We Are DONE!! I can't believe we ran the Wasatch back! It was so much fun. It was so hard, but fun! Now I feel like I can do anything! What is the Wasatch Back Relay you say? Here is the synopsis in a nut shell. The course goes from Logan, UT to Park City, UT, a distance of 181 miles. Each team is made up of 12 runners. Each of the 12 runners takes 3 turns or legs. The legs range anywhere from 3 to 8 miles each. Each team has two vehicles with 6 runners in each. I took Baby Cakes with us since he's still nursing. One of the ladies in our other truck had her nursing baby too. So each of our trucks had 7 passengers. We decorated our trucks Thursday night and had a big pasta dinner for our whole team. We put love sacs in the back of the trucks with big umbrellas for shade. We had matching shirts and we bought iron-on transfers to personalized them with. We made our own sayings for each runner. Mrs. Bird's shirt said "What's that smell?" Mine said "Where am I?" Some of the others were "I just passed Chuck Norris", "Under this outfit I'm NAKED", "If you can read this turn me around, I'm going the wrong way", "3 months ago I weighed 300 lbs","Are we there yet, Are we there yet, Are we there yet?","My wife made me do this" I can't remember all the others. We made onesies for the babies that said "Milkshakes or Bust!" They were fun. Then we all went home for SLEEP. The First half of our team started at 8:40 am on Friday June 20. Mr. Bird and I were in the second truck with another couple we met through homeschooling, Matt and Kerilyn, a friend from church, Jeremy and Kerilyn's Brother-in-Law, Ryan. The first half of the team finished their fist legs around 2:30 in the afternoon. We met at the exchange then sent Ryan out for his first run. I was runner nine and Mr. Bird was runner 12, the last on our team. My first leg was easy. It was 3.5 miles and slightly down hill. This is the map of my run . The hard part was that I was running it at 4 in the evening with no shade. It was SO HOT. My ears were bumping and my head felt like it was going to explode! It was a fun to see all the other runners and knowing I was part of something bigger than myself. My run was in farm land. I passed one florescent green pasture after another. In one one the pastures there were 4 of the most beautiful horses I have ever seen. They were in a frenzy from all the runners and vehicles on their otherwise quite country road. They were running through their pasture at full gallop kicking their hind legs and rearing up sporadically. I passed huge sprinklers watering huge pastures. The sound of the sprinklers matched the beating of my heart. As I passed one set of sprinklers the end of it spayed a few drops of water on my smoking body. It felt like heaven. I passed another set of horses that was so happy to see the runners. They started running with me at their fence line and stayed with me at my pace until their pasture ended. It was so cool to see the horses get into the spirit of the race. I ran the whole way and I felt good after I got back in the truck. I ate a cold banana and have never felt so refreshed in all my life. After all our runners ran we met the other truck at the next exchange and we knew we had about 5 hours before we would need to meet them for our next legs. Matt and Kerilyn live not too far from the course so we went back to their house for left over pasta and showers and sleep. It all went as planned except the sleep part. I put baby cakes to sleep and laid down to try to sleep. My mind just kept racing. Then I heard whispers and footsteps upstairs. It was obvious no one was sleeping. So I went back up to join the party. Next thing I knew it was time to go to the next exchange to start our second legs.

Here is me running my second leg at 2 am!!! This one was harder. It was 6.2 miles at a slight constant incline. But it was BEAUTIFUL!! What a run. I felt great, the temperature was perfect. The air was crisp. I felt like I could have kept on running for miles and miles. I could hear all the crickets chirping and bugs singing. I passed Echo Reservoir and the moon light was shimmering on the water. I went under a train bridge just as a train was passing over me. I thought of Mr. Bird's mom and yelled at the top of my voice " I'M SO LUCKY!!!". I ran right next to a huge cliff. When I looked up and saw the top it made me kinda dizzy. I just felt so much a part of our big beautiful world. I love the beauty of it all. After my runs I started having knee pain. I have never had knee pain from running so I got kind of nervous about it. Lucky for us we had a chiropractor on our team. He was in the first truck.

When we met at the next exchange he worked on Matt's back and my knee and Mr. Bird's knee and hip. I don't know what I would have done with out him. I felt so much better. He gave me a wrap for my knee to wear for my last run.

We finished our second legs around 5 am. We parked the truck and crashed. Three of the boys "slept" in the bed of the truck. Matt and Kerilyn snuggled up in one sleeping bag on the ground next to the truck. Baby cakes and I slept in the crew part of the crew cab. It was awful, so uncomfortable. I could not stretch out my legs, my hip was sore from laying on the same side, I had a seat belt in my back. I think I managed a hour of something like sleep though. Baby Cakes, on the other hand, slept wonderfully. He fell asleep way back at the house around 9pm and slept until 4:30. I fed him then he went back to sleep and slept until almost 7 am.He did so good. It was harder for him during the day. He was hot and did not want to take naps. When he finally did fall asleep for a nap he was awake again within 20 minutes. That made him kinda crabby. Licorice always made him feel better though! Yes, that's licorice on his face, not a horrible rash.

We all got up and loaded in the truck to find breakfast and head to the next exchange. This sign is a great description of my last leg. It was only 3.6 miles but it was straight uphill. It was an average uphill grade of 7.6% and I climbed 1482 feet in elevation, and it was high noon. I was walking on my shadow, yes, walking, not running. I did start out running but that only lasted about 1/2 mile. I decided to enjoy it even though it was hard.

I started collecting beautiful wild flowers. I did not want to carry them so they ended up in my hair. Then I found a little hitch hiker. He was light enough for me to carry and really fuzzy and wriggly. I wanted to bring him home for Doodle so we could watch him turn into a butterfly, but I dropped him and could not turn around to find him. Sad. Cry. I saw beautiful scenic vistas, butterflies fluttering on gorgeous wide opened wild flowers. It was such a beautiful hike. The trail started out running right past a babbling brook. The trees and flowers and grass seemed to just glow out their colors, they were so vibrant. It was such a great feeling when I finished that leg. I was FINISHED! I had done what I have been training to do for months! Plus I had flowers in my hair. I know, I'm so pretty! My legs literally felt like jello. They were shaking and they were done. I knew as soon as I stopped walking I would not be able to get them to go again. Kerilyn's last leg was right after mine. She ended up hiking the rest of that mountain. Here we are at the top.

WE DID IT! WAA-HOOO!!!

Here are our cute guys hanging out in the truck. What a fun time we all had. When Mr. Bird ran his last leg we knew we were almost done. We dropped him off and drove to the finish line to wait for him. When we saw him coming we joined him and all 12 of us ran in together for the last 100 feet. We were quite the group with two babies in our arms. I had such a hard time standing up. We hung out with our team for a while then said our good byes and headed for home. When we got here I could not move my legs. They were rejecting any commands I gave them. It was physically impossible for them to get me up our stairs so I could shower and sleep. Mr. Bird stood behind me and I put one foot on a step then he pushed my body up. We did that one step at a time until I was up. I fed baby cakes and we all slept 10 hours, then I fed baby cakes and we all slept 2 more hours. It's amazing what sleep can do for you. My legs are functional gain. They hurt like I have never felt before, but they are moving! I just have to say,

What a rush!

I hope I survive!

Mr. Bird and I are on our way to run the Wasatch Back relay! It goes from Logan, UT to Park City Utah. I'm nervous, but anxious to get started. Wish me luck. If I make it through I'll post more about it. If I don't you can check out their site to find out more about this insane race and what killed me!

http://www.ragnarrelay.com/wasatchback/index.php?PHPSESSID=69073d40a16dc3ff1e9e17361265953b