Cake Class!

I thought it would be really fun to take a cake decorating class.  So of course I made my mum do it with me.

She complained.  Of course.

And then enjoyed it.  Of course.

It was four classes, four Thursday evenings in a row.  We'd meet for dinner after work and then head over to Joann's for class.  I think our teacher thought we were a bit crazy.  There were only two others in our class and they were definitely more conservative than we were.  Class was really fun though and I actually learned a ton!  And it was much easier than I expected.  Which actually really built my confidence in baking from scratch.  Something I had never ever done before this class.  Now I've baked several things from scratch all of which have turned out pretty well.

My first cake.

Mum's first cake.

I decorated these lovely cupcakes another week.

They didn't even make it in the house before Oliver knocked them out of my hands.

I have now accumulated an entire laundry basket full of cake decorating and baking "supplies".  Each week we would have to bring certain supplies in order to do what was assigned that week.  Most of the things are kind of first time investment type things.  Like the below .. those purple cushion things are awesome!  I never would have known about them without this class.  But they basically help your cake bake evenly, rather than the outside baking quicker than the inside.

My crowning achievement.

Jonathan's birthday cake.

Technically I didn't actually use any of my newly learned decorating skills.

However, I did bake from scratch and it was amazing!

We planned to do the second Wilton decorating course but there weren't enough people so they cancelled it.  Now we're hoping to do it in February the next time it's offered.  It really was a ton of fun!

Lavender Days

So I'm just closing in on the end of my Timpanogos Half Marathon training.  This is the first time that I've added any kind of speed work into my training plan.  Timpanogos will be half marathon number 4 for me.  The speed sessions have sometimes inspired me, making me feel strong.  Other times they have left me feeling deflated and like no matter what I do I will never be able to increase my speed.  I think what makes it harder is that I'm comparing myself to people who for the most part are much younger than I am. Not that I'm calling myself old by any means.  I'm not.  But the fact of the matter is it's probably not very realistic to compare myself to someone who is 5 or 10 years younger than me.  Not to mention people who have been running for years longer as well.  But I am in competition with myself as well.  I work hard so that I can improve on my own times.  Even if it's only by a couple minutes.

All of that is to say that this "race" wasn't meant to be a race.  But I did run the Lavender Days Half Marathon this weekend.  It was meant to be a training run.  Which means you run it slower than your normal runs.  I was scheduled for an 11 mile run this weekend and this race was really cheap so we figured why not.  It's only another two miles.  You have to excuse the quality of the pictures, these were all taken with my iPhone.

Well that was until Saturday morning at 3:55am when my alarm went off.  Then all of a sudden it actually felt like a really stupid idea.  I mean seriously, 3:55am is still the night before to me, not the morning.  The race started at 6:30am in Mona, UT.  So that was an hour drive south for us.  We arrived right when we planned to and I managed to stay awake the entire drive down there.

We rode the bus up to the starting line and it was literally still too dark at first.  When we arrive there were horses just hanging out next to the porta potties.  As it got a little more light (enough to take a picture) they had drifted away some.  As you can see we were smack in the middle of nowhere.

 We just sat back and watched people arrive on the buses and start stretching.

There is an awesome energy in the air at the beginning of a race.

  Geared up and ready to go.

In my lavender colored clothes.

Please pretend to ignore the way my hydration belt and spybelt are squeezing my belly in the middle.

I look like Santa Clause or pregnant!  One of the two.

 We weren't expecting all the dirt and gravel roads for sure. But I was okay with it.  We started out nice and easy as planned.  It didn't take long before the horn went off and all these people were literally racing up the first hill.  We were passed by so many people.  We chugged at a nice and easy pace for the first couple of miles and then found ourselves on a paved road finally.  Rebecca wasn't able to find her groove right away so we ended up drifting apart pretty early on.  After we had split up I decided that I would just run with whatever felt good.  Push myself enough to feel like I was working a little but not hard by any means.

It was at that point that I picked up the pace enough that I began passing people one after another.  Considering all the times I was passed running Ragnar it felt really nice to pass people for a change.

After the race wound around the reservoir the last 3 miles headed into the actual lavender fields.

And more dirt roads.

Rebecca did great!

 We were surprised to receive an actual medal at the end.

Then you also received a small potted lavender plant.

It smelled divine.

Race Results:

Chip Time:  2:27:46

Average Pace:  11:17/m

Age Group Place:  18 of 28

Overall Place:  161 of 215

The course was hilly and rumored to not be an easy race.  Between the hills and the dirt/gravel roads.

I was real happy with my performance.

There was a downhill right at the end and I felt like I flew down at that point.

We had to make do with a self portrait.

Both happy to be finished.

We headed home.

I went and picked up some of my kids.

Grabbed some lunch.  Which gave me a belly ache for the rest of the day.

Threw on my compression sleeves and put my feet up.

Jeramie was working, so there was no nap in the cards for me.  Bummer considering I only got at best 4 hours sleep the night before.  Then that evening I headed up to my parents with all four kids by myself while Jeramie went back to work again.  We had a post Ragnar team BBQ.  It was fun to see them all again.  They're a really nice group of people.  By the end of the BBQ I was plain loopy from the lack of sleep and physical exertion for the day. 

Oh and as a side note on my quest to lose 10 lbs.  Week 1.  FAIL.

I gained a pound.  Really?  I ran a freaking half marathon and burned a days worth of calories in 2.5 hours and I gained a pound.  It feels disheartening.

Everything happens for a reason.

How ironic, the same day that I wrote my last post about the trouble that we experienced down on the Parkway last weekend then that night when I got home from my parents I get a text from my sweet sister in law Rachel that they found a body in the river!  That in itself is troubling.  I've thought to myself as I have retold the story about our events that Sunday whether people just think I'm crazy or dramatic that I went as far as to call the police.  At the time it was scary.  In the moment it felt like the right and responsible thing to do.  How to you explain to someone that something just didn't "feel right"? It was a sixth sense kind of thing.  I still maintain that those guys down there were not just taking the stupid dog for a swim in the canal .. I mean really who does that at 10am on a chilly 30 degree Sunday morning?  Then brings a WET dog into their work truck?  And why would the guy have had to walk way up the trail to be able to do it?  It's just weird and really makes no sense.

So going back to this poor girl who has been killed and dumped in the river.  It's scary on so many levels.  This past Sunday morning as I mentioned solely because of the events of the week before my friend and I ran a different route.  Had we ran our usual route at our usual time it's very likely that WE could have been the ones that found that bloody shoe.  And no I'm not being dramatic.  This is literally the plain truth.  We had 9 miles to do on Sunday, which would have meant that we headed out for 5.5 miles before hitting our turnaround point.  From our starting point this would have taken us within mere feet of where the body was discovered and within feet of  the footbridge where that shoe was found.  THAT is disturbing.

And still they have no idea what happened to this poor girl.  The police indicate that they do not believe that this was a "random act of violence", it was an isolated incident.  Joggers and the such should not be afraid there is a serial killer on the loose.  But really, how do they know??  They have no idea what happened to this girl, no idea who killed her or why.  I was listening to the news on my way home from work yesterday and they report that "the trail is safe".  However, without even taking a breath they also say that you should take precautions, don't go down there at night .. run with a partner .. etc.  So which is it?  If it's safe then why should you have to run with someone?  Shouldn't you just be safe?  The police also indicated that they "routinely patrol the trail".  Umm .. I've been running down there multiple times a week for at least 5 months now.  I have NEVER NOT ONE SINGLE TIME seen any police down there patrolling the trail.  Salt Lake County indicated that they work hard to clear out dead brush to keep it safe, I will agree with this.  Just a few weeks ago they were out there clearing away a lot of debris for several days. 

It's so frustrating.  Am I safe?  I feel like I take the best precautions that I can.  I run with pepper spray and now a knife as well.  I keep my music super low and periodically check over my shoulder to see who might be gaining on me behind me.  I don't "zone out" .. I work hard to remain alert to my surroundings.  I wish it were an option to run with a partner every time I head out.  But lets face it, I'm out there four days a week.  I don't run my long runs alone ever.  I used to have a running buddy at work, but his wife became uncomfortable with his running with me so frequently.  There aren't any other girls I work with that run, at least not during lunch hours.  So my options are limited.  Kind of sucks.

So it goes I guess.  I will continue to run.  Probably still on the Parkway.  But those creepers make me really mad.  I hate that as a woman we have to worry about our safety.

Truth #1:  Female Runners have to constantly worry about their safety when out running alone.  Men don't have to worry about that stupid shit.

Truth #2:  Male Runners look a little weird in running tights.  At least us ladies have lots of super cute clothes to choose from.  For example running tights can make your butt look fabulous and running skirts are just super cute period.

Today I am grateful for my running buddy.

Nothing like a sweaty post-9 mile picture.

Comparisons, Envy, Perception

We all basically start out like this right?

Beautiful little babies.

Or do we?  Nature vs. Nurture arguments commence.

Why do we spend our entire lives seeing how we measure up?

Who weighs less?  Because of course thinner is somehow better.
Who drives a nicer / newer car?
Who's kids were better behaved in church?
Who is prettier, more handsome, or cuter?  Enter "My Grandkids are cuter than yours" license plate frame.
Who makes more money?
Who got better grades?
Who's kids have better manners?
Who went to college?
Who has a bigger home?  In a nicer neighborhood?  Enter East side vs. West side.
Who's kids learned to read sooner?
Who's kids are better behaved?
Who's a better mom, dad, husband, wife, brother, sister, son, daughter, cousin, friend?  You get the point.
Who has a better marriage?
Who is kinder?
Who exercises vs. who "doesn't have time"?
Who budgets better?
Who is more compassionate?
Who has a cleaner house?
Who had a better upbringing?
Who is a more fun person?
Who got the best deal?
Who has suffered the biggest heartache or heartbreak?

Oh how the list could go on and on and on ... yeah .. you get the point.

Why do we spend our lives so worried about what other people think?  While it's nice to say you don't give a crap what other people think, who really truly doesn't give a crap?  Nobody likes anybody thinking something negative about them if it isn't true.  They say that so many people run the risk of painting a "too perfect life" through their blog life.  I think it's kind of true, because really who wants to air out their dirty laundry for all to see?  But we all have bad days and good days I think.

But when does it end?

As Jackson started kindergarten this year it's been a huge adjustment for us. In many ways it's a first for me.  Baylee's education was SO very different.  There weren't mountains of kindergarten homework. There was never any comparing her to the rest of the class.  This is all new territory.  There was "grading" but let's face it, it's pretty loose grading.  Her last report card was straight A's!  But she isn't doing what "normal" 8th graders are doing.  Jackson has very little interest in the academic side of kindergarten.  But the kid sure loves his recess and his friends.  But look, here I am comparing Baylee's educational experience to Jackson's.  It's what we do.  Compare everything.  It's hard not to compare apples to apples.  And as a result of comparing one thing to another it often results in Envy.  Not something people intentionally want to feel.  Often people will push such feelings out of their minds.  Because we know it's "wrong" to feel envy.  It isn't a positive feeling.  And how often have people thought to themselves (whether they say it out loud or not, or would even admit to it or not) but would think they would trade their own problem for someone elses any time.  Which leads up to Perception.  Our perception of other people.  Their lives.  Their problems.  Their successes.  Their failures.  You realize that a lot of the time our perception is wrong.  Yours and mine.

Who are we to judge each other?  People in glass houses ...

But really ... when does it end?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately.  As I get older it turns into:

Who's better prepared for their retirement?
Who's kids go to college?
Who's kids get better jobs?
Who has a better relationship with their parents?
Who paid their house off quicker?
Who gets to retire sooner?
Who's kids get married first?
Who's kids marriages succeed versus fail?
Who's kids grow up happy and well adjusted?
Who's kids end up in jail?  Please let it not be mine!

I swear it feels like it never ends.   At least not at the rate so many people are going.  It takes a conscious effort to not get caught up in the Comparison, Envy, Perception trap.  It's REALLY hard.  Because even when you think you aren't doing it to other people .. because you're working so hard not to.  Then you can't help but wonder whether they're doing it to you?  Assuming that people say things to "rub in" that they are somehow better than you are.  Sometimes people are just sharing something because they've been thinking about it.  Because they're excited about it.  As soon as I posted my last post about vacation I instantly wondered what "hidden meanings" people would draw from it.  There were no hidden messages.  I was literally updating my budget spreadsheet and thinking to myself how excited I am about our next vacation.  It's one of the ways that always makes me feel better about working full time.  That it means we get to do fun things like this with our kids.  It's these moments that help make it worth it. 

There are no hidden meanings in this post.  No pointing fingers.  Things are so much easier when they're this little.  Eat.  Sleep.  Poop.  But even then and for some people it isn't even THAT simple.

I was just thinking about this stuff this week.  How much I worry about these kinds of things sometimes and I just wish it was easy not to.  I read in this book the following, "When unhappiness or stress hovers overhead, rather than taking it all personally, you learn to treat them as if they were black clouds in the sky, and to observe them with friendly curiosity as they drift past."  Sounds so simple doesn't it.  Simply put, YOU are not your thoughts, you choose how you react to them.

May I give my kids the tools to handle Comparison, Envy and Perception well.  I hope I teach them how to cope with those things.  But I worry.  Three boys .. what if one is athletically gifted while another really struggles.  Some things will come easy .. others will not.

Vegas Baby!

Rebecca and I flew out Saturday afternoon for Vegas.  We had a 4pm flight and HAD to pick up our race packets by 8pm that evening. So it was kind of a mad rush to get there.  We had to check in to our room and hurry and grab a taxi to take us to the expo.  This was the first big expo I had been to.  It was pretty cool.  We both picked up a souvenir race shirt (although all they had left were medium, small and extra small), which sucked a little because they were really short.  But it was fun walking around and seeing all the different booths they had set up.

Our corral.

I thought these were so cute for fitting rooms.  There were no toilets inside.

Getting my game face on. I was so ready to rock this race!

Yeah .. I was a little excited.

We both won these headbands at the expo and decided to try them on.

haha .. my pre race dinner.  Probably not race approved.

It was delicious though.

After dinner we headed back to our room.  It was time to get off our feet.  We went to bed pretty quickly too.  The next morning we got up and headed straight to breakfast.  We ended up opting to buy an all day all you can eat buffet pass.  At the time it seemed like a good idea since we weren't planning to go anywhere outside of the hotel before the race.  After we ate we just headed back to our room and entertained ourselves with some travel scrabble.  It worked out well and the time flew by pretty quickly.  Before we knew it we needed to head back down to the buffet for a light lunch.

We both opted for some carbs and loaded up on some Gatorade.  We did get smart at breakfast and figure out it was WAY better to fill up our water bottles at the buffet with the filtered water out of the soda machine rather than paying $5 a bottle for bottled water at the hotel store.  It worked out really well.  Plus we snuck some Gatorade too.  After lunch we headed back to our room to start to gear up.  We were both carrying our own fuel (I took shot bloks) and we both carried a handheld water bottle. Turns out this was a REALLY good decision.  It was nice not to have to fight crowds at the water stations during the race.  Also as it turned out there is a lot of debate about the integrity of the water they were giving out.  Which is too bad really.  I guess they were pulling water out of the fire hydrants.  There are a ton of people who have blamed this for themselves getting sick.  I refilled my water bottle 2 or 3 times with the water and was just fine.  Frankly I think there were a lot of people that either partied too hard, didn't hydrate well, ate weird stuff, weren't prepared for the cold, and/or the time of day of the race threw them off.   

We had originally planned to wear matching outfits (sort of).  But then it ended up being much colder than we had anticipated.  Fortunately I had thrown in a long sleeve tech shirt at the very last minute when I was packing.  So I was set and feel really grateful that I had the perfect amount of layers.  I was prepared to take the long sleeve off if I got hot but I didn't need to in the end.

My pants had these really cool pockets in the legs that I stuffed my fuel and during the race my gloves into.  They couldn't have worked out more perfectly.  My legs looked a little lumpy was all.

Once we were dressed we headed over to the Mandalay Bay.  It took us a little while to make our way to the starting area.  They had a big band going when we first got there.  Then soon enough it was time to head over to find our corral.  We were in corral 32 which meant that we were WAY towards the back.  That kind of sucked.  The race started at 5:30 and they were supposed to be releasing corrals with 2 minutes in between each.  So we figured we wouldn't be crossing the actual start line until closer to 6:30. It was cold and there were SO many people.

That there is the direction we were going to head.  Straight down the middle of Las Vegas Blvd.  Does it get any cooler? 

After a while they weren't stopping in between corrals anymore.  We ended up crossing the start line at 6pm instead.  For the first mile there were just clothes people had abandoned EVERYWHERE!  You really had to be very careful not to trip over a discarded sweatshirt or gloves.  It was a mess.  Lots of people do this, they wear their "throw away clothes" and as they warm up they just throw them to the side of the road. Afterwards the race people collect them all and donate them somewhere.

Once we got past that first mile of piles of clothes Rebecca and I chugged along and a relatively slow pace for the first 9 miles.  We ran through the main part of the Las Vegas strip and then the course turned west and we went through some older parts of the city.  Overall it was lit really well.  There were SO MANY people though.  In total there were 44,000 runners between the full marathon and the half marathon.  After a little while the full marathon runners were dropped into the half marathon course with us.  It was then that you began to hear people yelling what felt like non-stop, "FULL TO THE LEFT, HALF TO THE RIGHT!!"  To be honest this got really old after awhile.  There were SO MANY walkers.  We're not just talking people walking on the right. We're talking people walking 3 to 5 people shoulder to shoulder down the middle of the road.  For those of us (like us) that were wanting to run this posed a huge challenge.  We literally spent the entire race trying to navigate around walkers who were just chatting with their friends, talking on their phones, Facebooking, Tweeting.  It kind of sucked.  Honestly I have no problem with people who want to walk the distance but have the courtesy to stay all the way over on the right so that those of us that are running can do so.  My only goal was to finish.  So it wasn't like I was going for some massive time goal or anything.  But we wasted a ton of energy just trying to get around people.

At around mile 9 Rebecca (who had been plagued with injury the last month of our training) needed to slow down.  So we agreed to split up.  At that point it got a little easier for me to navigate around people and just keep going, plus I had gotten past a lot of the initial walkers.  I felt really good.  The dedication to my training plan had really paid off.  I never got to the point of much pain and I never once thought about walking.

Looking back at the finish line.

My self portrait while I waited for Rebecca to finish.

It was freaking amazing!  So much fun.  I felt strong the whole race.  When I finished I knew I could have run a better time than I did. But all in all I was happy with what I did. I enjoyed the majority of the race running with Rebecca.  And I finished strong.  The course was fun.  I mean how cool is it that they shut down the Las Vegas strip for all us runners?  Once we finished we headed inside the Mandalay Bay to make our way back to our hotel (only two hotels down).  We made SUCH a wise decision staying so close to the start/finish line.  There were horror stories of people trying to get back to their hotels by taxi and using the shuttles.  The worse part for us was the standstill cattle we were in inside Mandalay Bay.  Truly it was dangerous.  We passed people who were sick and getting medical attention and there was just no way in or out.  If there had been any major disaster we would have died.  But eventually we got out of there and walked back to our hotel.

We stopped at the buffet for dinner (and to finish using our all day pass).  Since it took us so long to get out of Mandalay Bay the buffet had closed (they were nice enough to offer us breakfast the next morning instead).  So we made our way to our room, stretched out and then headed downstairs for some Baja Fresh!  MMMMM!!!  We used to have Baja Fresh here in Utah but they all closed.  It's a bummer because I loved Baja Fresh!  After our dinner at 11pm we headed into one of the other restaurants where they had live music. We had a celebratory frozen cocktail, listened the music, watched the funny runners dancing in their race outfits and then headed back to our room to bed.

All in all it was a fantastic trip.  I am so very proud of myself that I completed a half marathon.  I know that I will do several more this year.  You're supposed to take off the same number of days for the number of miles you run.  So that equals 13 days of no running.  I did a quick 2 mile shakeout run on Thursday and felt good. Other than a little stiffness in my hips I felt really good after the race and the next few days that followed.  More than anything I'm worried that I'll pick up some pounds while I'm not running for a couple weeks.  It doesn't help that it's also the holiday season and there tons of yummy food everywhere we go. 

I will start my next official training cycle the first week of January.  Jeramie is supposed to be joining me.  We will be training for the Salt Lake City Half Marathon in April.  I plan to add some speed work into this training cycle to start improving my time.  I can't wait to start!!

Racing Cane 5K

Race day had arrived again.

I was originally planning to run the 10K.

But when my friend Rebecca decided to take up running as well this was the ideal first race for her.

I could still have run the 10K but I really wanted to be there when she finished so 5K it was.

My goal today was to come in under 30 minutes.

We ran another Run13 race back in July.

They give medals to the top 3 finishers in each age group.

So I checked my stats from our last race and figured if I finished under 30 minutes

I could possibly win a medal.

My first two official 5K's I had finished in 34 minutes.

I really wanted to hit a PR today as well.  So I was looking at shaving a solid 4 minutes from my time.

I have been much better about my training than I was for the Hobbler.

I've been running pain free for quite awhile now.

We shipped Jackson and Wyland off to Grandma Robie's for the night.

We were up and out of the house by 7am this morning.

Baylee was also very excited because she was signed up to run a 1K.

 

The race was in Orem and with the big rivalry football game today I knew I had to represent.

Me and Rebecca before the race.  She was NERVOUS.

Not me .. I was just excited.  For me and her.

Jeramie makes fun of all my running "gear".

So what I tell him.  I need the two knee straps to run pain free.

I need my iPod to keep me moving.

I need my Garmin to manage my pace.

And I love my socks because they make me feel SASSY!!

Oh and I need my arm warmers to keep me .. well .. warm.

That last half mile was harder than I expected.  But for the most part I felt so good the entire time.

I was passing many people and very few were passing me.  I really felt like I was running strong.

I occasionally found myself running in the low 9's and was afraid I was going out too fast.

I used my Garmin to manage my pace as best as I could.

I knew if I could just keep myself in the mid 9's then I was running my best race.

After I crossed the finish line I said hello to Jeramie and then walked back out onto the course.

I wanted to catch Rebecca and let her know she was almost there.  She was doing awesome

and running at a sub 12mm pace.  I ran the rest of the way with her and then slid off the 

track as she crossed the finish line. I was so happy for her.  Completing that first race is such a great feeling.

I was so excited to see the first results posted.  I knew I was really close to my goal.

When they posted I saw I finished officially at 30:13 (so close to 30 minutes)

And I couldn't believe it when I saw I finished number THREE in my age group!

I got a medal!

I was a winner!!!!

Baylee did awesome too!

She ran with a younger age group.  At first she didn't want to run.

When I told her I wouldn't sign her up again if she didn't she changed her mind.

Then Uncle Evan and Papa came out to run with her and she felt her usual special self.

 They were so nice too.  When she crossed the finish line they announced her name

and gave her a high five.  Seriously these people were awesome!

Oliver got to come with us as well.

Thanks to Evan, Rachel, and my parents for all coming down to cheer us on.

I don't think they realize how much it means to a runner to have people on the sidelines cheering them on.

It is so motivating to have your family there.

Rachel made Baylee a poster as well.

When they announced Baylee Howard as a first place winner we were shocked.

Because she didn't get first place.  She didn't even run in her correct age group.

But the Run13 guys were awesome.  I think another parent was quick to point out their mistake.

When she came up to collect they asked her what place she came in.

She said first.  And there you have it, they laughed and gave her a first place medal.

I have to be honest I'm very impressed with this race series.

The people are awesome and the events are organized, and very family friendly.

Me kissing my medal. Okay .. so perhaps a little bit shallow.

But I accomplished my goal and I was so excited.

They had face painting for the kids.

This is one of my new favorite pictures of Baylee and I.

All in all it was such an awesome morning.

I hit my goal.

Got a medal.

Baylee did awesome.

My BFF Rebecca ran her first ever race and kicked but.

And I was so happy my family came out to watch.

I killed it today and it was the BEST!

So what's next you ask?

Well next Saturday Evan, Rachel, Jeramie and I are running the Dirty Dash.

It's a 10K.  I think it's gonna be hard. I can run 6 miles but that's my max right now.

Running 6 miles in mud .. well .. I guess we shall see.

That's my last race this season.

Unless I can talk my friend Rebecca into doing the Las Vegas Half Marathon in December.

If not her .. maybe Jeramie?

Otherwise it's on to 2012.

I'm so excited to continue on this running adventure.

If you are even remotely interested in taking up running .. DO IT!!

Or tell me you want to and we'll DO IT together!