Garden Love

Now that there's snow on the ground I am really missing our garden. Not the weeding or the work, but the fresh tomatoes. Store bought ones just do not taste good. And we're a good 7-8 months away from that luxury again. My husband is the visionary in our house. He killed half our back lawn in order to put in a big garden. And while I was the skeptic, I love it just as much as he does. Our kids really enjoy it as well. Not so much the weeding, but all the great produce. And they like running up and down the rows playing games.

We had quite a few lover carrots this year. And even a three some. It was fun pulling them all out before it got real cold and seeing all the different sizes and shapes. We need to do better about thinning them next year.

I peeled them all, diced them, blanched them, and then froze them for the winter use.

We got 32 quart sized bags full. They're great to throw in soups or just to eat. And they taste so much better than store bought.

This picture does not really do justice to the size of this bowl. These were what were left over after making spaghetti sauce and salsa. I chopped them up as well and threw them in the freezer. They're great added to eggs or soups as well.

My awesome neighbor gave us some grapes last week for juicing.

He let me borrow one of his juicers so it went twice as fast!

There is nothing like fresh grape juice. My favorite after workout snack is grape juice mixed with 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder. So good!

We also grew an abnormal amount of basil so I could make pesto sauce. It really doesn't take as much as I thought it would. And toasting and peeling pine nuts sucks.

But the efforts were so good on homemade pizza!

It was my husband's idea to get chickens as well a couple of years ago. It was so nice to be able to go out back and get breakfast.

Spaghetti sauce. I think we're stocked up for the winter.

My favorite way to eat tomatoes is bacon and tomato sandwiches. We grew a lot of different kinds of heirloom tomatoes as well. The yellow ones were so sweet!

And that sweet corn on the cob was delicious! Unfortunately we ate all of it and didn't get to freeze any this year!

Peaches from our tree

More spaghetti sauce. So good with lots of garlic and basil.

These little cherry tomatoes were better than candy. So sweet and everyone's favorite snack!

And beans. Truthfully, I let these go to waste more than I should have. If you keep picking them, they will keep growing. I let some go too long and the plants died at the end of the summer. Next year I will keep on top of them and try to freeze them once a week. We did eat a lot of them during the summer. I just didn't put much away for the winter.

And it's nice that the kids will help too.

Do you garden?

What is your favorite vegetable?

Why do we keep running?

What does running do for you? Why do we all keep running? We don't make excuses (well, maybe sometimes we do) but rain or shine and even wind, on treadmills, or roads, or trails, we run.

We all run for varied reasons. We run to improve our health and to be a good example to our families. We run so that we can eat whatever we want. We run to clear our minds and to have a mental release. We run for the sense of accomplishment. We run for time alone or time to be with friends.

In the relatively short time that I have been running, I have run for each of these reasons. Some have taken priority over others because of what's going on in my life. But there's something that has been the main reason why I run.

I didn't know it when I first started but it's always been there in the background, if no where else, giving a constant beat to every other reason. I learn life lessons through running. But it goes deeper than that. It's a spiritual connection to God. Lessons about who I am and what I am capable of doing with His help. I learn that we make self imposed limitations but through God nothing is impossible. Running has taught me that. And I don't know if I would have ever learned that lesson any other way.

I was not athletic growing up. I was more interested in boys and dancing with boys. I was NOT an athlete. I still don't consider myself an athlete, but what I have accomplished is more than I could have ever conjured up.

Things changed when I decided to run a marathon. Even when I was running consistently, this seemed so far out of my reach. But once I made the commitment and started training, I was surprised each week as I was able to do more than I thought was possible. I also had an ulterior motive. I needed to change something about myself. I didn't like who I was. But I was scared. I thought it was going to be too hard. So I bargained with God and told him that if I could run this marathon that I would change and be better. As the weeks leading up to that starting line got closer, I was nervous for the race, but was increasing worried that I'd actually be able to do it and then I really would have to uphold my end of the bargain. In fact, I KNEW that I was going to be able to finish because He wanted me to finish so that I'd change. Sure enough, I finished, felt like I could do anything, and then I upheld my part of the deal. I was able to do something that was harder than I thought possible. And the rewards have been far greater than I thought were possible as well.

Since that time, each marathon has been a race to beat that time. And it has not happened. I have not been faster than my very first marathon. Do I think it will happen someday? Yes. Otherwise I might have given up a long time ago. But all 6 marathons following that first one have taught me valuable lessons about gratitude, faith, trials, patience, friendship, courage, strength to overcome and enduring to the end that I don't think I could have tangibly have learned any other way. In fact, I don't look for that runner's high anymore. I know it will be there eventually. You run long enough and you'll find it. Nope, I'm looking for that runner's low. We've all been there too. That point where you don't feel like you can take another step... and then you do. The power to overcome. To do what you didn't believe was possible. To break those bands of self limitations.

The last several weeks have not been easy. I don't know if I would have believed that I could run a 20 miler followed the next day by a 10 miler. And this week's 22 miler was tough. Really tough. It never felt like my calves recovered from the week before. The last 4 miles were a death march. It felt every bit as hard as a marathon. But the 11 miler the next day was again surprisingly good. Next week is a step down week and I may take the whole week off. My calves are tight. One of my shins is slightly sore. But do I think I can still do it? Yes. Because I'm going to learn a whole new set of lessons from this experience. And by doing so, it will help with life in general. Hopefully I'll know how to deal with tough situations from what I learn while running. Most of all, I know that there's strength beyond my own that will get me through whatever I face.

A couple of weeks ago I was laying in bed dreading my run. It was the day after my 18 miler. I was tired and that run didn't go well. I knelt to say my prayers and after I had finished the first thought I had was that one of my favorite artists (Hilary Weeks) had a new CD that was to be released that day. I went and plugged in my iPhone and found it had downloaded (as I had prepaid for it) and went down to the treadmill. I listened to it during that 10 miler and listened to several songs repeatedly. That run was so good. And I've come away with a couple of new favorite songs. Some would say that it was a coincidence that I remembered it was the day of the release. I know better. I know that it was a tender mercy, help for me to get through what I thought would be a tough run. Because He cares about what I do. He cares that I succeed. It was another lesson that I needed to remember.

Here's some of the lyrics to "Past the Point" and you'll see why it's one my new favorites:

Lock me up, that's what you'll have to do

If you're gonna stop me from getting where I'm going to.

Or try to keep the sun from coming up

Or the tide from rolling in

Now that I know what I'm capable of.

'Cause every time I wanted to stop I kept running

And every time I hit a wall I climbed

I've broken the bands of my self limitations

Gonna go into line

Going past the point, beyond the mark

Further than I ever thought I could

Out of the dark, into the light

Just like He always knew I would

And when Heaven tells me I can,

I believe it.

No more storms

No wave of fear or doubt

No chains of disappointment could ever hold me back now

'Cause every time I wanna stop I'll keep running

And every time I hit a wall I'll climb

I'm breaking the bands of my self limitations

Gonna go into line

Going past the point, beyond the mark

Further than I ever thought I could

Out of the dark, into the light

Just like He always knew I would

And when Heaven tells me I can,

I believe it.

There it is right in front me just a few more steps, just a few more breaths and I'll get

Past the point, beyond the mark...

Go give it a listen here:

and while you're there give a listen to "That's who I am" and "Living Proof" as well.

Then go check out her music video for "Beautiful Heartbreak". You might see some familiar faces!

What are your reasons to keep running?

What life lessons have you learned?

Mantua Spooktacular and this really did sounded like a good idea 4 months ago...

Fall is my favorite season. Not just to run during, but just to enjoy. It's as if the world takes a big sigh of relief from the hot summer and celebrates by changing all the leaves to brilliant colors. I love the cool mornings and evenings and the sunny warm days. I like the occasional rain and snow storms that remind me that winter is coming. I love the smell of damp leaves. That shouldn't be a good smell, but it is. I like kicking the leaves on my runs and hearing them crunch underfoot. I love how it is soup and hot chocolate season. I love that the garden is done. I just really love fall.

Heather and I took my day off and walked the trail. It was simply gorgeous. And I really noticed a lot more things just walking rather than running. It was fun. We parked a car at the top and the bottom to make it a little easier. Heather has been told to take it easy these last 2 1/2 months of her pregnancy. Unfortunately, we left the keys for the bottom vehicle in the top car so we walked back up the canyon to get them. We like to make things exciting.

Last Saturday we both ran the Mantua Spooktacular 5K. The shirts were awesome!

The course was difficult. I still don't know my official time finish but it was 28 something. I was a little disappointed after that great PR a couple of weeks ago, but knew that I wasn't running at top condition. And it really was a more difficult course. But we all had fun!

I was really disappointed that there were very few who dressed up for a Halloween run. I thought that having 8 legs would make me run faster. Ha ha! And I wished I'd had a photographer for this run. I bet all those legs looked cool while I was running. Of course that may just be how I thought it would look in my mind. I probably just looked like a spastic spider.

Have you seen that sign during a marathon that says something like, "This sounded like a good idea 4 months ago!"? I always liked that one. And now I'm starting to think that on a weekly basis. Back in July (when I wasn't training seriously for anything and was reading too many books), I came up with a great challenge for myself. I've always wanted to do a winter marathon. They just don't exist. At least around here. And I don't want to go to Arizona during the winter. I want a cold weather marathon.

So I decided that it would be really "fun" to run 37 miles on my upcoming 37th birthday in December. People could run miles with me instead of buying me presents. I could do all my favorite loops. My husband agreed to be my water boy and aid stations. I found a couple of ultra training plans and tweaked them to fit my date and goal. It basically consists of two long runs back to back working up to 26/10 miles and then 3 other runs during the week that work up to 10 miles.

I've really been surprised at how well it's been going. I was mostly worried about the second longer run immediately after the first one. But so far, that's ended up being the best run of the week. I really haven't been too sore either and have really enjoyed the step back weeks that have occurred every fourth week. Last week and this week however have proved challenging and the 5 weeks coming up will tell me if I can really do this thing or not. Last week's 18 miler was really hard to get through. My stomach was not doing well and I couldn't wait for it to be over. I woke up the next day DREADING my second long run. But that 10 miler was great.

So Monday, in my best RUNNERD fashion, I busted out 20 miles on the treadmill. That's a new record for me by a long shot. It kept my pace in check for the first half and the plan was to go outside after a while and try to keep the pace the same. But after I had finished 12 and could go outside, I didn't want to have to change clothes, so I just kept going and finished it out.

And if that wasn't enough for one day, we still had Halloween that night.

Which meant I still had to be "on" for a doctor's appointment, for our spooky dinner...

And trick or treating. Good thing we only walked about a mile or so. And it was a really great night. Perfect weather and everything!

No downtime at all, no nap (obviously) and I felt o.k. I wasn't until after my 10 miler yesterday day that the calves really started hurting. I sure am glad today is a rest day!

Fabulous Fall

It feels like fall has finally arrived. We had a nice Indian summer all September with temperatures in the high 80's. Then last week we dropped 50 degrees and had our highs in the low 40's. It rained and even snowed but things are finally just right. While I love winter and colder temperatures, it was a pretty big shock to have to dig out the gloves. I still have a pile of mittens and hats that need to be sorted sitting on my front room floor.

Rain always creates some great pictures though.

It was still warm on this Tuesday morning. That was the last nice day last week. That and a 6 mile tempo run explains why I'm glowing.

Have you ever noticed how beautiful sagebrush in bloom is?

A few random things:

*My youngest child went to kindergarten this year. I was really worried about being alone. Turns out it's o.k. 2 1/2 hours really isn't that much time and I enjoy the quiet. I also enjoy helping in his class and seeing him interact with the other kids. And I still enjoy when he comes home and we have plenty of time to talk and hang out.

*I have been a complete slacker on my bike and haven't been on it or been to a spin class in about 2 months. I need to get my rear in gear. The night classes are starting up again this month and my goal is to get there at least once a week.

*I have been a slacker about my weights as well and am only getting it in once a week. I need to find another day to sneak it in.

*I have gained 5 lbs. slowly over the course of the summer and now the fall. I'm just about at the freak out point. So much for that 8 lbs. that I lost last winter over the holidays. I know the problem. It's my eating. My willpower is just gone and though I want to do something about it, at the same time, I don't.

*We got rid of our TV last month. It's been harder on my husband and I than it has been the kids. We still have Hulu and Netflixs but it's just not the same at night when the kids are all tucked in and there's no Food Network to watch to put me to sleep. I'm sure we'll get used to it. But I'm surprised how hard it has been.

*My running partner, Heather is pregnant. I can't wait to go over and hold her little guy and pretend that I was brave enough to do that again. She's still running a couple of times a week. She's been doing part of my long runs with me and I can't say how much I love it. It breaks up the time and we get to catch up with what's going on in our lives.

And now here's a few pictures from my 16 mile run this morning that included my favorite little trail down the canyon. And just for your info, I don't carry a camera with me, it's just my i phone. But it does such a good job that I never replaced the last one that I ruined.

Oh, how I love fall.

Chiropractic 5K

I hate 5k's. They are so hard. There's no easing into things. There's no warm up time. It's just balls to the wall (as Janz's grandpa puts it!) from the very beginning. I don't know how to pace myself really well and as a result I usually either go out too fast or too slow. But I have told myself that I need to do more of these smaller races to gain experience, use them as a sort of speed work, and overcome my fears. Truthfully, before last December, I had only run 1 5k in my life. And it was for a dear friend who had lost her son. He had been an organ donor and we did it in his honor. I was injured and my time was not great (31 something...) and I had no desire to do another. Well I guess I did a Santa Run 5k but that was just for the pictures and the cookies and milk. And we finished that in 31:49.

This year I've done 3 now. (26:40, 28:36 (barefoot), 27:25) And this one was the one that I felt the most pressure behind it. The chiropractor that I've gone to in the past to help with my IT band issues was putting on a 5k. They do it to raise funds for the pregnancy center in our town. I've had a really good relationship with my chiropractor. He's been so good to help with my issues. But he's not sold on the barefoot running thing so I felt like I had something to prove. Pretty silly, I know. So I showed up in my running sandals ready to go. Truthfully, I didn't know how it was going to go. You just never know what kind of running day it's going to be.

The "before" picture. Me, Jodi, and Robyn

I started off at a comfortable fast pace. There were a couple of times in the first mile that I wanted to go faster but wasn't sure if I could sustain it or not so I backed off. But after the mile and a half marker I just let it go. There were some good uphills as well as downhills, nothing too major, just slight inclines. And on the last 1/2 mile uphill I pushed it. I'm a little better on the inclines than the declines. I was coming up on a girl I knew was in my age group who I never thought I'd ever be able to keep up with. I was feeling the need to puke because I was pushing it so hard. I contemplated backing off. But just decided to keep going. I was on a crazy mission to see what I could do, what I could physically and mentally push through. So I began dry heaving while I was running. Not a pretty picture I'm sure. I caught up to her, said hi, and passed slowly. She caught up to me and passed me. Now I am not a competitive person, but I wasn't in the mood to be passed at this point in the race. So I picked it up and passed her. Another girl caught up. Pretty soon we were in a 3 way sprint to the finish. I came in second in that little fight but ahead of the girl in my age group. It was a pretty exciting finish! I didn't even hear my time but I filled out my card and went over to get a drink. It wasn't until about 15 minutes later that I found my time card and discovered that I'd won 3rd in my age group and scored a new PR of 24:50. Shocked doesn't even begin to explain what I was thinking. And really worry because I don't know if I'll ever beat that!

Jodi and I both took 3rd in our age groups!

I had a nice chat with my Dr. and it was good to catch up. I don't know how he feels about barefoot running, but he said it was obviously doing good things for me. I passed my year mark of barefoot and minimalist running a couple of weeks ago and I still need to do a post on that.

After the awards Jodi and I downed some chocolate milk and headed over to the bike/hiking trail that I've been building. It was the city's grand opening of the trail now that we have over a 2 mile loop completed. We ran it and though my legs were feeling a bit sluggish, we enjoyed the views and the conversation. It was a long day and by the end I was exhausted. Who knew a 5k could take so much out of you!

How do you feel about shorter races?

Love them or do you long for distance? I have to say that I long for distance but there was a definite feeling of accomplishment after this exciting finish!

Top of Utah 1/2 Marathon, Man Vs. Mud 5K, and Peach Days 10K

To say that life has been crazy lately would be an understatement. And until I get to a catch up post, here's a catch up race post! Each race really deserves it's own but since I've been such a slacker they're gonna get lumped all together. Which is fitting because that's how my life feels right now.

The Top of Utah Half: this really is such a great course. It's the sweet part of the marathon between miles 7 and 20 and is so beautiful. It's the canyon that I spent most of my dating dates with my husband so I love to reminisce as we run down it. I can pick out certain fishing spots and a certain place where we fogged up his windows one night. And I've run it the last 3 years so I knew that no matter what shape I was in that I was going to have to run it again.

It's a perfect end of summer event. I felt so good for most of the race. The last couple of miles were tough but only because I was having some shoe issues. I've really been lucky (code word for blessed) because I was offered a chance to try some Invisible Shoe huarache style sandals. I will be doing a full review on them later but the bottom line is that I LOVE them. However, I found during a test run in the 4mm thin style that I could feel the knot after about 8 miles. I wound up having to wear these ones during the half and the last 6 miles felt like I was stepping on a rock with every step. Not comfy. I'm not sure yet if I'll just get used to it or if the 6mm ones are going to have to be my choice for over a certain mileage. Time will tell.

Tough or not, I finished in 2:04 and was pleased. Not a PR but it was a good day none the less.

The next weekend me and 5 of my friends battled the Man Vs. Mud 5K. It had 27 obstacles and I really didn't think we'd be doing much running at all. I was surprised that it really did have some good stretches in between challenges.

The Hot Mudders!

There were 4 HUGE slip and slides with the last one ending in a giant mud puddle.

My favorite challenges were the very long mud trough, the mud pit at the end, and the army crawl through the mud. Our team was the Hot Mudders and we all had such a great time. It was my most favorite run to date. I don't mind getting dirty normally but this was extreme and it was a blast!

I've never been so dirty or had so much fun in all my life.

I stood in the shower with my clothes on and then proceeded to strip. I didn't ever think the water would be clear again or that I'd get the mud out of my nose, ears, and hair. What a blast!

The next weekend was Peach Days. They have one of the oldest races (started in 1974) in Utah and also one of the toughest. This was the first race I ever ran. But I have become very picky when it comes to running it. If the weather is bad I just won't do it. A couple of people have died doing this race. This year it was nice, so the night before I decided to run it.

Fresh peaches at the finish.

I had been having a crappy running week. I tripped on the Wednesday before while running around the block barefoot with my son. I had my glasses on and misjudged the distance while stepping up a curb. I tweaked my ankle and limped a little but thought everything was fine. After the 10K I realized that it was not completely back to normal yet and that maybe I shouldn't have run on it. However, I did manage a 6 minute PR from the last time I ran it 3 years ago and finished with a time of 55:26. Some said the timer was off by a minute but I'm not sure so I'll just go with what they gave me. It was still a pretty great day! And I promise that I'm going to get caught up with all of you!