Lately my hip has been hurting REALLY bad. Whenever I run more than 4 miles, my left hip hurts really bad. Also, when I walk, there is a clicking in my hip.
I found out last night too, whenever I sit on a hard surface for too long, that doesn't do well for my hip either.
Up until now, I've just kind of dealt with the pain. It seems to be getting a little worse, so I've made an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon and on November 9th I'll see him. Let's hope it's nothing too bad.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Las Vegas Ragnar Relay 2011
Last weekend I had the privledge of participating in the 2011 Las Vegas Ragnar Relay. I had SO much fun and made 8 new friends. I already knew 3 of the people on our team.
Now, let's back up a second. When I found out I'd be doing the Las Vegas Ragnar, I had just got done running the Epic Cache-Teton Relay. In the Cache-Teton relay I ran a total of 4 legs and it wasn't a challenge, so I told my Las Vegas Ragnar captain (Sylvia) to give me a challenge. A challenge I did get!
I was originally going to be in van # 1 with Sylvia, David and Khris, because we were all co-workers, but when I told Sylvia to give me a challenge, that put me in van # 2. I became runner # 7.
We left Thursday night from Sylvia's house and drove down to Mesquite. We didn't want to stay in Las Vegas Thursday night because we knew hotels would be expensive. Plus, Mesquite was only 1 hour away from the starting line and 1 1/2 hours away from the first major exchange. Half of us left Sylvia's at 4:00 and the other van left at 6:00 because they ahd to work.
We ended up carbing up in Cedar City at Arby's. Not my ideal way of carbing up, but when you're traveling, you take what you can get. Lol. Had a BLAST on the way down. Got to know Rob and Katie well on the way down.
We met up with van # 2 when they got down to Mesquite and we quickly called it a night. Van # 1 had to get up at 6:30 a.m. to head to the starting line. We had a start time of 9:00 a.m.
After van # 1 got off on their way, I met up with my van mates (I didn't know ANYBODY) and we started to get things ready to go. We knew we had to be at the major exchange between 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. because we still had to go through safety training and check in and I would start running around 2:00 p.m.
Side note: My only concern about running the Ragnar Relay in Las Vegas was the heat. Granted, it was the end of October, but it's still alot hotter than it is up here in Utah down in Las Vegas.
Well, we went to the local Wal-Mart, picked up the stuff for PBJ's, went and carbed up at McDonald's and then hit the road.
Not long after we got on I-15, we had a VERY unpleasant surprise. Traffic was HORRIBLE. It was backed up as far as we could see.
I started tweeting out to my fellow Twitterers that were doing the Las Vegas Ragnar to see if they were running in to traffic, but they stayed in Henderson, so they were already at the exchange.
I was starting to get SUPER nervous about getting to the exchange on time. I didn't want Khris to have to run in to the exchange and have nobody to pass off to.
We finally came upon what was holding us up:
I don't know if anybody was hurt. There were no ambulance or anything there. The truck that was pulling the trailer didn't seem to be too banged up. I hope nobody was hurt too bad.
After we got through the traffic jam, Ryan FLOORED it. We finally made it to the exchange and got checked in. Got to go to the potty. We were standing in safety training and we'd been listening to the schpeel for about 5 minutes and I see Khris run in to the exchange. I decided to duck out of safety training (oops) and go get the hand off from Khris. I promise the safety training was almost over & I'd heard it from a previous training.
As we were driving in to the exchange, I got a preview of my run. OMG!!! It was NOTHING but hills. I didn't think it would be too bad. I'd have water with me, it was only 6.1 miles. Oh Lord was I in for a treat.
First off, I started out on that leg too fast. :( Second off, this was an unsupported leg. My van could have stopped and helped, but because we were told this was an unsupported leg, nobody stopped. At mile 0.5 I ran out of water. Not good. I stopped and was walking, I felt weak, I just kept saying over and over "I need more water". Well, another runner must have heard that and told some people ahead, because not long after, a girl came up to me and said "Someone said you need water. Are you ok?" I told her I didn't have water and needed it. She was so kind. Her name was Emily. She walked with me for a while, filled up my water bottle twice with Gatorade, and gave me ice to stick down my bra and on my forehead. Finally she had to leave and stay with her van and I made it a little farther.
Then, another guy stopped and walked with me and gave me his water. I don't know his name, but I remember talking to him and he said he was from Kaysville. He gave me ALL of his water & we walked & talked for a little bit. He then left me & said if I needed anything to holler. Well, a few minutes later, I see him walking back towards me. He asked if I'd had any salt. I told him I'd eaten a pack of energy beans before I started running and then I'd had 2 bottles of Gatorade. He gave me a salt tablet thing and that seemed to help a little bit.
We FINALLY made it to the first water station at mile 4. I drank alot of water & and filled up my water bottle again and headed off running. The guy from Kaysville left me again. He said I was looking much better and said he'd see me at the next exchange. Apparently I wasn't looking too hot during that leg of the race. But, I was able to run the last 2 miles to the next exchange.
My van was so kind. They said I ran in to the exchange looking really strong. I wish I felt strong. But I passed off to Lisa and Lisa started running. I wish I had pictures from my first leg, but I don't. :( Sorry.
I ran/walked my first leg of 6.1 miles uphill in 1:23:34 (not my ideal time) and I burned 1,356 calories. :) No kills, but alot of deaths.
I believe Lisa passed off to Emily.
Emily passed off to Ryan, Ryan passed off to Kirsten & Kirsten passed off to BJ. BJ & Ryan are SUPER fast runners.
Before we got to our major exchange where we passed off to van # 1, we had some pretty good runs. Everybody ran really well. I was really impressed with how well our team did.
BJ passed off to Rob at the Lake Las Vegas resort. Holy cow that place is BEAUTIFUL!!! I wish I got pictures while we were there. I would LOVE to be able to stay there one day, but I don't know if I'm rich enough. Here is a picture of the resort I got off the internet.
By this time we were all hungry & we were in Henderson, so we stopped at Panda Express to carb up for our next time we had to run. I don't make a habit of eating there very often, so I asked Ryan what was good to eat there. I got 2 sides and fried rice. It was DELICIOUS!!! I got orange chicken & shrimp for my sides.
Weird thing that happened while we were at Panda Express. A couple of different Ragnar teams stopped there to eat. I was sitting at our table and this guy walks up to me and says "Hi, my name's Chris. How are you?" My first thought was who the crap is this guy. So, I was being friendly and said hi back. The next thing he says is "You do alot of races don't you? I think I saw you at the Layton Triathlon, the Willard Bay Triathlon and you did the Layton 1/2 Marathon two weeks ago, didn't you?" Holy crap!!! This dude is stalking me. Lol. Everything was right except for I didn't do the Willard Bay Triathlon. Come to find out, he trains at the South Davis Recreation Center where I train too. He was at the pool Thursday morning when I was there. He trains with a company called Blonde Runner. I didn't think people really noticed me at my races. Well, apparently I'm wrong. It's kind of cool.
After we got done running, we made it to the next major exchange and we were all going to nap, but my parents came to that exchange, so I was able to hang out with my parents for a little bit before I started running.
This was an awesome place to be a major exchange. There was alot of grass to nap on if you were given the chance, lots of restrooms, etc.
I felt kind of bad for Khris. When he came running in to pass off to me, he didn't realize it until he came upon it, but after running about 6 miles, he had to climb a TON of stairs to get to the exchange.
I felt pretty confident about running this next leg. It was only 6 miles, it was alot cooler because it was 11:00 p.m. There were hills, but they weren't as bad as I expected. It was all uphill, with maybe, if I was lucky, about 100 yds of flat. I was able to run the entire 6 miles.
I told my van to stop every 2 miles to see if I was ok. They weren't able to stop until about mile 3.5 because I was running fast and they had to pack up the van and everything. They gave me water at mile 3.5 and then just met me at the finish. I was good with that.
When you're running the Ragnar, you anxiously await the 1 mile left to go sign. I got to the 1 mile left sign and then that last mile seemed to take FOREVER!!! The last hill I had to run was the hardest, but I knew at the end of that hill Lisa would be waiting for me.
I ran my 2nd leg of 6 miles in 66 minutes and burned 1,156 calories. Towards the end of this leg, my hip and my knees were starting to hurt, but it wasn't anything too bad. I got 2 kills on this leg.
Everybody else ran their legs really fast. I was pleasantly surprised. After everybody finished their legs, we headed to the last major exchange where we would be able to catch a few hours of sleep before I had to start running my last leg.
Here is a picture of BJ getting ready to run his second leg. It's not a good picture, but that's what you get when you're running at night. :)
Ryan was our driver most of the time. In the Ragnar Bible, the driving instructions to our last exchange was basically to follow the runners. :( Not good. It took us 2 hrs (driving down a dirt road) to get to our exchange. By the time we got to our exchange, the place was PACKED. It was FREEZING cold because the wind was blowing. We found a place to park the van and we all got our sleeping bags out and fell asleep.
I got to sleep for about 1 hour until I had to wake up and move so another van could get out because it was time for them to start running. Once I got up then, I was awake. So, I got about 1 hour of sleep. By the way, we were sleeping on gravel. Here's a picture I got of the rest of my team bundled up in their sleeping bags sleeping.
Since I couldn't sleep, I decided to get up & get ready to run my last leg. I walked around & cheered on other runners, made a potty stop & found out that a local scout group was at that exchange selling pancakes, eggs, and sausage. I ran back to my van, got some $$$ and bought me some unlimited pancakes, eggs & sausage. What an awesome way to carb up for my last run.
Finally, the rest of my team woke up & before I knew it, it was almost time to start running my last leg.
This last leg of mine, I was terrified. It was the "Ragnar" leg, which is the hardest leg on the course. It was starting to heat up outside. I decided that I was going to run with my music to keep me sane. I decided to run with my phone too. I was going to run with my phone because the van that was next to us, they'd done this race before and they said that sometimes you see interesting things on the side of the road. I thought, well, to make it more fun and keep my mind off of how hard this leg of the race was, I would run with my phone and if I saw anything interesting or funny, I'd stop and take a picture.
Well, no more than 10 minutes before it was time for me to run, I just got terrified. I ended up having a major anxiety attack. I called my dad and was just sobbing. I was terrified. I knew I just needed to start running. I just prayed that Khris got there soon. Sylvia saw me panicing and just came up & told me that everything would be ok.
Finally, Khris came running in and I took off. I made sure I started out slow this time because I knew that part of my problem on my first leg was I started out WAY too fast.
Luckly on this leg of the race, they had water every 3 miles. More lucky than that, van # 1 and # 2 decided to stop and support me. It was AWESOME!!! I SO wasn't expecting it. Plus, all the other vans that were supporting their runners had squirt bottles and water guns that they were spraying every runner.
Van # 1 was the first one to stop & support me. At about mile 2, Rob got out & gave me some cold water. I took whatever water I had in my water bottle & poured it over my head. Even though I ate some energy gel before I started running, about every 2 miles I ended up needing some gel or gu or sports beans or something.
Mile 3 I got more water from the water station and then between mile 3 & 4, Rob got out of van # 1 and gave me some energy gel 'cause I hollered at them that I needed some more. When van # 1 stopped and Rob gave me more water and energy gel, I ended up giving him my phone because I was soaking wet from pouring water over me I was afraid that my phone was going to get ruined. They met up with my van somewhere and gave them my phone.
Mile 4, my van stopped & gave me water and then about mile 6 1/2 they had another water station. When I stopped at the second water station, I told them, please tell me I am at least at mile 6. They told me I was about 0.5 miles from the top! I was THRILLED!!!
Van # 2 was stopped at the top to give me more water, but I didn't need it. I just told them to meet me at the exchange. The last 3 miles were all downhill and I was booking it. Everybody that I passed they told me that I was cookin' and I was going super fast. That gave me confidence.
On this leg, I got to run past a brothel. I wish I would've had my camera with me, but I had already passed it off, otherwise I would've taken a picture of it. It was disguised as a "bar", but hello, we were in Pahrump, NV, they're known for their brothels, I knew better. Lol.
I got to pass off to Lisa and Lisa had to run 4 miles downhill. She did awesome!!! But, here is a picture Ryan took of me running the "Ragnar" leg.
The "Ragnar" leg was a total of 10.2 miles (7 miles, uphill, and then 3.2 miles downhill). I gained a total of 1500 feet running uphill (can you see why I was scared Lol). I ran it in 1:53:05 and I burned 1,833 calories. I was able to run all but about 200 yds of the leg. I only stopped to walk when I was eating the energy gel and blocks.
When Lisa passed off to Emily, Emily got to run through Blue Mountain, NV. It's a cute little town. We pulled off to support Emily right by the Blue Mountain Town Park. Here's a picture of the park:
Yes, you are viewing this correctly. Donkeys in the park. They were SO cute. There was actually a donkey on the highway. It was really throwing the runners off.
Emily passed off to Ryan. Ryan wasn't too confident about running as fast as he normally would, but he did great! He ran faster than I normally would. We stopped & supported all of the runners.
Ryan passed off to Kirsten & Kirsten passed off to BJ. Both BJ & Kirsten ran like rock stars!!! Hell, everybody on my team ran like rockstars!
As soon as Kirsten passed off to BJ, we had to book it to the finish line. BJ didn't have far to run & he was running fast. We still had to find a parking spot at the finish line and wait for BJ.
My dad was at the finish line & we all gave him our cameras so he could take pictures of us running in to the finish.
Here's BJ leading the pack in to the finish. I was desparately trying to catch up to him and nobody really caught up with him until we crossed the finish. He was on a mission! Lol.
Here's a team picture of us at the finish line in our team t-shirts.
One last team picture.
My well deserved finishers medal!
Our two vans:
Chuck the Champion Chrysler
Donna the Dodge Destiny
I had a TON of fun with Team Kick ASSphalt on the Las Vegas Ragnar. I made a TON of new friends & I hope to do many many more races with them.
Now, let's back up a second. When I found out I'd be doing the Las Vegas Ragnar, I had just got done running the Epic Cache-Teton Relay. In the Cache-Teton relay I ran a total of 4 legs and it wasn't a challenge, so I told my Las Vegas Ragnar captain (Sylvia) to give me a challenge. A challenge I did get!
I was originally going to be in van # 1 with Sylvia, David and Khris, because we were all co-workers, but when I told Sylvia to give me a challenge, that put me in van # 2. I became runner # 7.
We left Thursday night from Sylvia's house and drove down to Mesquite. We didn't want to stay in Las Vegas Thursday night because we knew hotels would be expensive. Plus, Mesquite was only 1 hour away from the starting line and 1 1/2 hours away from the first major exchange. Half of us left Sylvia's at 4:00 and the other van left at 6:00 because they ahd to work.
We ended up carbing up in Cedar City at Arby's. Not my ideal way of carbing up, but when you're traveling, you take what you can get. Lol. Had a BLAST on the way down. Got to know Rob and Katie well on the way down.
We met up with van # 2 when they got down to Mesquite and we quickly called it a night. Van # 1 had to get up at 6:30 a.m. to head to the starting line. We had a start time of 9:00 a.m.
After van # 1 got off on their way, I met up with my van mates (I didn't know ANYBODY) and we started to get things ready to go. We knew we had to be at the major exchange between 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. because we still had to go through safety training and check in and I would start running around 2:00 p.m.
Side note: My only concern about running the Ragnar Relay in Las Vegas was the heat. Granted, it was the end of October, but it's still alot hotter than it is up here in Utah down in Las Vegas.
Well, we went to the local Wal-Mart, picked up the stuff for PBJ's, went and carbed up at McDonald's and then hit the road.
Not long after we got on I-15, we had a VERY unpleasant surprise. Traffic was HORRIBLE. It was backed up as far as we could see.
I started tweeting out to my fellow Twitterers that were doing the Las Vegas Ragnar to see if they were running in to traffic, but they stayed in Henderson, so they were already at the exchange.
I was starting to get SUPER nervous about getting to the exchange on time. I didn't want Khris to have to run in to the exchange and have nobody to pass off to.
We finally came upon what was holding us up:
I don't know if anybody was hurt. There were no ambulance or anything there. The truck that was pulling the trailer didn't seem to be too banged up. I hope nobody was hurt too bad.
After we got through the traffic jam, Ryan FLOORED it. We finally made it to the exchange and got checked in. Got to go to the potty. We were standing in safety training and we'd been listening to the schpeel for about 5 minutes and I see Khris run in to the exchange. I decided to duck out of safety training (oops) and go get the hand off from Khris. I promise the safety training was almost over & I'd heard it from a previous training.
As we were driving in to the exchange, I got a preview of my run. OMG!!! It was NOTHING but hills. I didn't think it would be too bad. I'd have water with me, it was only 6.1 miles. Oh Lord was I in for a treat.
First off, I started out on that leg too fast. :( Second off, this was an unsupported leg. My van could have stopped and helped, but because we were told this was an unsupported leg, nobody stopped. At mile 0.5 I ran out of water. Not good. I stopped and was walking, I felt weak, I just kept saying over and over "I need more water". Well, another runner must have heard that and told some people ahead, because not long after, a girl came up to me and said "Someone said you need water. Are you ok?" I told her I didn't have water and needed it. She was so kind. Her name was Emily. She walked with me for a while, filled up my water bottle twice with Gatorade, and gave me ice to stick down my bra and on my forehead. Finally she had to leave and stay with her van and I made it a little farther.
Then, another guy stopped and walked with me and gave me his water. I don't know his name, but I remember talking to him and he said he was from Kaysville. He gave me ALL of his water & we walked & talked for a little bit. He then left me & said if I needed anything to holler. Well, a few minutes later, I see him walking back towards me. He asked if I'd had any salt. I told him I'd eaten a pack of energy beans before I started running and then I'd had 2 bottles of Gatorade. He gave me a salt tablet thing and that seemed to help a little bit.
We FINALLY made it to the first water station at mile 4. I drank alot of water & and filled up my water bottle again and headed off running. The guy from Kaysville left me again. He said I was looking much better and said he'd see me at the next exchange. Apparently I wasn't looking too hot during that leg of the race. But, I was able to run the last 2 miles to the next exchange.
My van was so kind. They said I ran in to the exchange looking really strong. I wish I felt strong. But I passed off to Lisa and Lisa started running. I wish I had pictures from my first leg, but I don't. :( Sorry.
I ran/walked my first leg of 6.1 miles uphill in 1:23:34 (not my ideal time) and I burned 1,356 calories. :) No kills, but alot of deaths.
I believe Lisa passed off to Emily.
Emily passed off to Ryan, Ryan passed off to Kirsten & Kirsten passed off to BJ. BJ & Ryan are SUPER fast runners.
Before we got to our major exchange where we passed off to van # 1, we had some pretty good runs. Everybody ran really well. I was really impressed with how well our team did.
BJ passed off to Rob at the Lake Las Vegas resort. Holy cow that place is BEAUTIFUL!!! I wish I got pictures while we were there. I would LOVE to be able to stay there one day, but I don't know if I'm rich enough. Here is a picture of the resort I got off the internet.
By this time we were all hungry & we were in Henderson, so we stopped at Panda Express to carb up for our next time we had to run. I don't make a habit of eating there very often, so I asked Ryan what was good to eat there. I got 2 sides and fried rice. It was DELICIOUS!!! I got orange chicken & shrimp for my sides.
Weird thing that happened while we were at Panda Express. A couple of different Ragnar teams stopped there to eat. I was sitting at our table and this guy walks up to me and says "Hi, my name's Chris. How are you?" My first thought was who the crap is this guy. So, I was being friendly and said hi back. The next thing he says is "You do alot of races don't you? I think I saw you at the Layton Triathlon, the Willard Bay Triathlon and you did the Layton 1/2 Marathon two weeks ago, didn't you?" Holy crap!!! This dude is stalking me. Lol. Everything was right except for I didn't do the Willard Bay Triathlon. Come to find out, he trains at the South Davis Recreation Center where I train too. He was at the pool Thursday morning when I was there. He trains with a company called Blonde Runner. I didn't think people really noticed me at my races. Well, apparently I'm wrong. It's kind of cool.
After we got done running, we made it to the next major exchange and we were all going to nap, but my parents came to that exchange, so I was able to hang out with my parents for a little bit before I started running.
This was an awesome place to be a major exchange. There was alot of grass to nap on if you were given the chance, lots of restrooms, etc.
I felt kind of bad for Khris. When he came running in to pass off to me, he didn't realize it until he came upon it, but after running about 6 miles, he had to climb a TON of stairs to get to the exchange.
I felt pretty confident about running this next leg. It was only 6 miles, it was alot cooler because it was 11:00 p.m. There were hills, but they weren't as bad as I expected. It was all uphill, with maybe, if I was lucky, about 100 yds of flat. I was able to run the entire 6 miles.
I told my van to stop every 2 miles to see if I was ok. They weren't able to stop until about mile 3.5 because I was running fast and they had to pack up the van and everything. They gave me water at mile 3.5 and then just met me at the finish. I was good with that.
When you're running the Ragnar, you anxiously await the 1 mile left to go sign. I got to the 1 mile left sign and then that last mile seemed to take FOREVER!!! The last hill I had to run was the hardest, but I knew at the end of that hill Lisa would be waiting for me.
I ran my 2nd leg of 6 miles in 66 minutes and burned 1,156 calories. Towards the end of this leg, my hip and my knees were starting to hurt, but it wasn't anything too bad. I got 2 kills on this leg.
Everybody else ran their legs really fast. I was pleasantly surprised. After everybody finished their legs, we headed to the last major exchange where we would be able to catch a few hours of sleep before I had to start running my last leg.
Here is a picture of BJ getting ready to run his second leg. It's not a good picture, but that's what you get when you're running at night. :)
Ryan was our driver most of the time. In the Ragnar Bible, the driving instructions to our last exchange was basically to follow the runners. :( Not good. It took us 2 hrs (driving down a dirt road) to get to our exchange. By the time we got to our exchange, the place was PACKED. It was FREEZING cold because the wind was blowing. We found a place to park the van and we all got our sleeping bags out and fell asleep.
I got to sleep for about 1 hour until I had to wake up and move so another van could get out because it was time for them to start running. Once I got up then, I was awake. So, I got about 1 hour of sleep. By the way, we were sleeping on gravel. Here's a picture I got of the rest of my team bundled up in their sleeping bags sleeping.
Since I couldn't sleep, I decided to get up & get ready to run my last leg. I walked around & cheered on other runners, made a potty stop & found out that a local scout group was at that exchange selling pancakes, eggs, and sausage. I ran back to my van, got some $$$ and bought me some unlimited pancakes, eggs & sausage. What an awesome way to carb up for my last run.
Finally, the rest of my team woke up & before I knew it, it was almost time to start running my last leg.
This last leg of mine, I was terrified. It was the "Ragnar" leg, which is the hardest leg on the course. It was starting to heat up outside. I decided that I was going to run with my music to keep me sane. I decided to run with my phone too. I was going to run with my phone because the van that was next to us, they'd done this race before and they said that sometimes you see interesting things on the side of the road. I thought, well, to make it more fun and keep my mind off of how hard this leg of the race was, I would run with my phone and if I saw anything interesting or funny, I'd stop and take a picture.
Well, no more than 10 minutes before it was time for me to run, I just got terrified. I ended up having a major anxiety attack. I called my dad and was just sobbing. I was terrified. I knew I just needed to start running. I just prayed that Khris got there soon. Sylvia saw me panicing and just came up & told me that everything would be ok.
Finally, Khris came running in and I took off. I made sure I started out slow this time because I knew that part of my problem on my first leg was I started out WAY too fast.
Luckly on this leg of the race, they had water every 3 miles. More lucky than that, van # 1 and # 2 decided to stop and support me. It was AWESOME!!! I SO wasn't expecting it. Plus, all the other vans that were supporting their runners had squirt bottles and water guns that they were spraying every runner.
Van # 1 was the first one to stop & support me. At about mile 2, Rob got out & gave me some cold water. I took whatever water I had in my water bottle & poured it over my head. Even though I ate some energy gel before I started running, about every 2 miles I ended up needing some gel or gu or sports beans or something.
Mile 3 I got more water from the water station and then between mile 3 & 4, Rob got out of van # 1 and gave me some energy gel 'cause I hollered at them that I needed some more. When van # 1 stopped and Rob gave me more water and energy gel, I ended up giving him my phone because I was soaking wet from pouring water over me I was afraid that my phone was going to get ruined. They met up with my van somewhere and gave them my phone.
Mile 4, my van stopped & gave me water and then about mile 6 1/2 they had another water station. When I stopped at the second water station, I told them, please tell me I am at least at mile 6. They told me I was about 0.5 miles from the top! I was THRILLED!!!
Van # 2 was stopped at the top to give me more water, but I didn't need it. I just told them to meet me at the exchange. The last 3 miles were all downhill and I was booking it. Everybody that I passed they told me that I was cookin' and I was going super fast. That gave me confidence.
On this leg, I got to run past a brothel. I wish I would've had my camera with me, but I had already passed it off, otherwise I would've taken a picture of it. It was disguised as a "bar", but hello, we were in Pahrump, NV, they're known for their brothels, I knew better. Lol.
I got to pass off to Lisa and Lisa had to run 4 miles downhill. She did awesome!!! But, here is a picture Ryan took of me running the "Ragnar" leg.
The "Ragnar" leg was a total of 10.2 miles (7 miles, uphill, and then 3.2 miles downhill). I gained a total of 1500 feet running uphill (can you see why I was scared Lol). I ran it in 1:53:05 and I burned 1,833 calories. I was able to run all but about 200 yds of the leg. I only stopped to walk when I was eating the energy gel and blocks.
When Lisa passed off to Emily, Emily got to run through Blue Mountain, NV. It's a cute little town. We pulled off to support Emily right by the Blue Mountain Town Park. Here's a picture of the park:
Yes, you are viewing this correctly. Donkeys in the park. They were SO cute. There was actually a donkey on the highway. It was really throwing the runners off.
Emily passed off to Ryan. Ryan wasn't too confident about running as fast as he normally would, but he did great! He ran faster than I normally would. We stopped & supported all of the runners.
Ryan passed off to Kirsten & Kirsten passed off to BJ. Both BJ & Kirsten ran like rock stars!!! Hell, everybody on my team ran like rockstars!
As soon as Kirsten passed off to BJ, we had to book it to the finish line. BJ didn't have far to run & he was running fast. We still had to find a parking spot at the finish line and wait for BJ.
My dad was at the finish line & we all gave him our cameras so he could take pictures of us running in to the finish.
Here's BJ leading the pack in to the finish. I was desparately trying to catch up to him and nobody really caught up with him until we crossed the finish. He was on a mission! Lol.
Here's a team picture of us at the finish line in our team t-shirts.
One last team picture.
My well deserved finishers medal!
Our two vans:
Chuck the Champion Chrysler
Donna the Dodge Destiny
I had a TON of fun with Team Kick ASSphalt on the Las Vegas Ragnar. I made a TON of new friends & I hope to do many many more races with them.
Winter Running
I went to a clinic the other night at Salt Lake Running Company about winter running. I thought I'd do a recap of the clinic on here because I learned quite a bit. I hope I can do it justice.
One of the first things they tell you is if you wear underwear while running DO NOT wear cotton. I've never had a problem wearing cotton, but the longer the run, I can definitely see. Cotton absorbs the moisture and doesn't wick it away, therefore it can cause a rash, infection, etc. :( That's no bueno in my book. They highly recommend either wool or synthetic underwear. I don't know about you, but when I think of wool underwear, I think of itchy scratchy heavy duty wool socks, but they had a fashion show at SLRC and the underwear looks REALLY nice.
SLRC has a layering system that they call S-VIP.
S = Support - Elminiate chaffing and aid in moister transfer {non-cotton underwear}.
V = Ventilation - Keep the skin dry. Wear wool or fabric that will wick the moisture away.
I = Insulation - Manage your body temperature (read further down).
P = Protection - Shield the skin from the wind and elements. Usually people wear shorts over tights.
Manage your body temperature: If you get hot, take off your gloves. Your hands cool down the fastest on your body and if you take your gloves off, it will help cool your body down quickly. Also, try & get tops that have zippers, but only have a 1/2 zipper so that when you get hot, you can unzip and then when you get cold again, zip right back up.
I found it interesting that they said that neon yellow & green are best with if you aren't wearing a reflective vest. Your eye will gravitate to that color fastest. But ALWAYS wear a reflective vest if your running in the early morning or evening. If you have a headlamp, wear that as well. They said that if you have freshly fallen snow, black is a good color to wear because it stands out against the white.
Last but not least, they said to run with a HOT water bottle. By the time you get out and running and need a drink, because it's cold, the hot water will have cooled down and you'll have a cold beverage.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
How Do They Afford It?
I read one blog of a gal up in Oregon that does triathlons. She is SUPER enspiring. So far this year she's don IMCdL, she did Augusta 70.3 and she's getting ready to do IMAZ.
It's not just her that does alot of Ironman's. My personal trainer did IMSG this year (he always does) and he qualified for KONA, so he went over to KONA too. Plus he did a bunch of Olympic distance triathlon's.
I've looked to see how much registration fees are for an Ironman and they are EXPENSIVE!!! If I remember correctly, they are close to $600...for one race!!! HOLY CRAP!!! Granted, it's worth it. It's definitely worth it when you cross that finish line and hear that YOU are an Ironman.
But good grief, how do people afford to do multiple Ironman's in a year? I wish I had the money to do a couple of Ironman's a year AND have the money for the traveling expenses too.
Next year, all I'm going to do are Olympic distance triathlons (with the exception of a full marathon and the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay) and Olympic distance triathlons are expensive. They're usually around $70-80 a race. I'm definitely having to scale back how many races I do.
The year that I do my Ironman, unless I strike it rich between now and then and win the lottery, that will be THE ONLY race I do that year.
I just don't get how people have the $$$ to do all these races. I guess they all have better jobs than I do and make more money. :)
It's not just her that does alot of Ironman's. My personal trainer did IMSG this year (he always does) and he qualified for KONA, so he went over to KONA too. Plus he did a bunch of Olympic distance triathlon's.
I've looked to see how much registration fees are for an Ironman and they are EXPENSIVE!!! If I remember correctly, they are close to $600...for one race!!! HOLY CRAP!!! Granted, it's worth it. It's definitely worth it when you cross that finish line and hear that YOU are an Ironman.
But good grief, how do people afford to do multiple Ironman's in a year? I wish I had the money to do a couple of Ironman's a year AND have the money for the traveling expenses too.
Next year, all I'm going to do are Olympic distance triathlons (with the exception of a full marathon and the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay) and Olympic distance triathlons are expensive. They're usually around $70-80 a race. I'm definitely having to scale back how many races I do.
The year that I do my Ironman, unless I strike it rich between now and then and win the lottery, that will be THE ONLY race I do that year.
I just don't get how people have the $$$ to do all these races. I guess they all have better jobs than I do and make more money. :)
Home Made Power Bars
My boss gave me this recipe and they are now a staple when I do a Ragnar or Epic Relay.
They are home made energy/power bars and they are DELICIOUS!!! You just make them a couple of nights before or so, wrap them in saran wrap, stick them in the freezer and then eat them along the way.
High Energy Trail Bars
1 Cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup butter (or margarine), melted
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 cup crisp rice cereal
1 6 oz package chocolate chips
1 cup raisins or craisins
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup wheat germ
2 tbsp sesame seeds
Grease 9x13 pan, set aside. Combine brown sugar, peanut butter, corn syrup, butter, and vanilla. In another bowl combine oats, cereal, chocolate, raisins, coconut, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, and sesame seeds. Stir in peanut butter mixture. Press evenly into pan. Bake at 350 for 25 min. or until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into bars. (Cooking too long makes them hard instead of chewy.)
They are home made energy/power bars and they are DELICIOUS!!! You just make them a couple of nights before or so, wrap them in saran wrap, stick them in the freezer and then eat them along the way.
High Energy Trail Bars
1 Cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup butter (or margarine), melted
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 cup crisp rice cereal
1 6 oz package chocolate chips
1 cup raisins or craisins
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup wheat germ
2 tbsp sesame seeds
Grease 9x13 pan, set aside. Combine brown sugar, peanut butter, corn syrup, butter, and vanilla. In another bowl combine oats, cereal, chocolate, raisins, coconut, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, and sesame seeds. Stir in peanut butter mixture. Press evenly into pan. Bake at 350 for 25 min. or until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into bars. (Cooking too long makes them hard instead of chewy.)
Friday, October 14, 2011
2012 Racing Partner
In 2012, I just might have a racing partner for 2 of my races, and it comes in the form of my now 4 year old nephew Cooper.
(This pic was taken in July 2010)
Cooper LOVES sports. He's REALLY good at them too. He has his own set of golf clubs, and hits the golf ball farther than his grandpa sometimes. He plays baseball, loves to play basketball, everything.
Earlier this year I did the Utah Tour de Donut and had a BLAST!!! You should totally consider doing it next year. Well, after the Tour de Donut, I was talking to Cooper about it. He LOVES to ride his bike with his mom. I asked Cooper if he wanted to do it with me next year and he said yes (this was back in July when we had this conversation). He told me he could eat a whole box of donuts (the kid probably could).
Then, after the Dirty Dash in September, I asked Cooper if he wanted to do the 5k with me next year and play in the mud and get dirty and of course he said yes.
Well, I thought absolutely nothing of it after that. I mean, he's 4 years old, he won't remember. Well, when they came over for my birthday, Cooper came up to me and asked me if he could still race with me next year. Lol. It TOTALLY made my day! I couldn't believe he remembered the conversations we had 1 and 3 months ago. I told Cooper he could do the races with me next year if his mom and dad would let him.
I sure hope they let him race with me. I think it would be a ton of fun.
(This pic was taken in July 2010)
Cooper LOVES sports. He's REALLY good at them too. He has his own set of golf clubs, and hits the golf ball farther than his grandpa sometimes. He plays baseball, loves to play basketball, everything.
Earlier this year I did the Utah Tour de Donut and had a BLAST!!! You should totally consider doing it next year. Well, after the Tour de Donut, I was talking to Cooper about it. He LOVES to ride his bike with his mom. I asked Cooper if he wanted to do it with me next year and he said yes (this was back in July when we had this conversation). He told me he could eat a whole box of donuts (the kid probably could).
Then, after the Dirty Dash in September, I asked Cooper if he wanted to do the 5k with me next year and play in the mud and get dirty and of course he said yes.
Well, I thought absolutely nothing of it after that. I mean, he's 4 years old, he won't remember. Well, when they came over for my birthday, Cooper came up to me and asked me if he could still race with me next year. Lol. It TOTALLY made my day! I couldn't believe he remembered the conversations we had 1 and 3 months ago. I told Cooper he could do the races with me next year if his mom and dad would let him.
I sure hope they let him race with me. I think it would be a ton of fun.
Las Vegas Ragnar Relay
This next weekend I will be doing the Las Vegas Ragnar Relay! I'm SUPER excited, but also scared out of my mind.
Earlier this year I did the Epic Cache-Teton Relay. It was alot of fun. Because of injuries I ended up running 4 legs (about 20 miles). It didn't phase me at all. It was really quite easy for me.
So, when I found out I was doing the Las Vegas Ragnar, I told my team captain to give me a challenge...and she did. I basically volunteered to run the hardest legs on the course.
Take a look here at runner # 7's legs. Yup, those are the legs I'm running. Lord help me!
The past 2 days I've been running City Creek Canyon to get my hills in hoping that it'll help me, but it has been rough. Tomorrow I have to run a total of 11 miles, so I'm going to go in to City Creek tomorrow morning to run all 11 miles.
Hopefully by next weekend I'll be good and ready for Ragnar. I'm also the strongest female runner in my van. So, I wouldn't be surprised, and I honestly don't mind, if I need to get out and help the other runners, even if it's running along side of them and giving them verbal support. I know how much that helps.
I will keep everyone abreast next weekend via Facebook and Twitter how things are going.
Layton 1/2 Marathon Recap
It's been a week since my 1/2 marathon. I apologize for it taking so long to get a race recap in here.
A week before the 1/2 marathon I was sick for about 10 days and hadn't been able to workout. As you can read in the previous post, I was nervous about the race, because I didn't know how I would do physically, but mentally I was ready for it. I just felt ready.
This was my second year doing the race. The first year it was an out and back course, and this year, they bussed us out to the starting line.
The race was supposed to start at 7:30 a.m. and it didn't start until about 8:10 a.m. I was getting kind of impatient at the starting line until I found out that it was out of the race directors control as to why we were starting late. The race director had ordered 9 school busses to get everyone out to the 1/2 marathon starting line and only 6 showed up!
The only other downer about the starting line was it was terribly cold. I didn't dress too warm for the race because I knew as soon as I started running I'd warm right up. But before the race, it was SUPER cold and they only had a very small heater for everyone to crowd around. :(
Finally the race started and I started my heart rate monitor. I normally don't look at my heart rate monitor during the race because it messes with my mind. I can see the time and I'm afraid it'll mess with my mind too much and it'll frustrate me. I decided to look at my heart rate monitor at the 1.0 mile mark and I had ran the first mile in 8:45!!! Woot woot!!! Never run that fast before.
I tried SO hard to keep the pace up for most of the race. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it up the whole race, but I wanted to keep that pace for as long as I could.
I kept looking for my dad along the race route too, but never saw him. It was really frustrating. However, there were lots of other people along the route that was cheering everybody on. There were lots of cowbells!
I didn't check my watch again until the 1/2 way mark. When I got to the half way mark I looked at my watch and it said 1:08:45. That didn't register in my mind that it was slower than a 10 minute pace until just now, but I still don't care. I felt like I was keeping a good pace.
Soon after the 1/2 way mark, there was a little boy, probably couldn't have been more than 3-4 years old and he was holding a poster board that said "Touch this sign for extra energy!" It was SO cute. Everybody that ran past touched the sign.
Soon after the 1/2 way mark, I started to feel rumblies in my tumblies. I thought "oh crap!" (no pun intended). I told myself though, I don't care if I crap myself, I REFUSE to stop at a honeybucket along the way. That is VERY valuable time.
Right during the rumblies in my tumblies, my earphones kept falling out of my ears. I thought screw this and ran the last 6.5 miles with no music. I should have done that from the start.
I finally crossed the finish line at 2:11:01.1! Yes, that is a new PR. My time from last year was 2:12:37. So, I improved my time by a whole 1 1/2 minutes! That is a LONG time in the racing world.
As soon as I crossed the finish line I headed straight for the honeybuckets. God bless the honey buckets! Lol. Wow, never thought I'd say that.
Unfortunately, the only pictures my dad got was at the finish line. Every time he tried to pull over on the course to watch for me, a police officer told him he couldn't park there. :( So, that's why I never saw my dad along the course. I'm not sure where my camera is right now, so that's why there are no pictures on here.
I was just thinking tonight...the 1/2 marathons are getting easier and easier. I didn't struggle with energy or anything during this race. I'm SO ready to try my hand at a full marathon. I'm going to try & sign up for the Ogden full marathon in May 2012.
A week before the 1/2 marathon I was sick for about 10 days and hadn't been able to workout. As you can read in the previous post, I was nervous about the race, because I didn't know how I would do physically, but mentally I was ready for it. I just felt ready.
This was my second year doing the race. The first year it was an out and back course, and this year, they bussed us out to the starting line.
The race was supposed to start at 7:30 a.m. and it didn't start until about 8:10 a.m. I was getting kind of impatient at the starting line until I found out that it was out of the race directors control as to why we were starting late. The race director had ordered 9 school busses to get everyone out to the 1/2 marathon starting line and only 6 showed up!
The only other downer about the starting line was it was terribly cold. I didn't dress too warm for the race because I knew as soon as I started running I'd warm right up. But before the race, it was SUPER cold and they only had a very small heater for everyone to crowd around. :(
Finally the race started and I started my heart rate monitor. I normally don't look at my heart rate monitor during the race because it messes with my mind. I can see the time and I'm afraid it'll mess with my mind too much and it'll frustrate me. I decided to look at my heart rate monitor at the 1.0 mile mark and I had ran the first mile in 8:45!!! Woot woot!!! Never run that fast before.
I tried SO hard to keep the pace up for most of the race. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it up the whole race, but I wanted to keep that pace for as long as I could.
I kept looking for my dad along the race route too, but never saw him. It was really frustrating. However, there were lots of other people along the route that was cheering everybody on. There were lots of cowbells!
I didn't check my watch again until the 1/2 way mark. When I got to the half way mark I looked at my watch and it said 1:08:45. That didn't register in my mind that it was slower than a 10 minute pace until just now, but I still don't care. I felt like I was keeping a good pace.
Soon after the 1/2 way mark, there was a little boy, probably couldn't have been more than 3-4 years old and he was holding a poster board that said "Touch this sign for extra energy!" It was SO cute. Everybody that ran past touched the sign.
Soon after the 1/2 way mark, I started to feel rumblies in my tumblies. I thought "oh crap!" (no pun intended). I told myself though, I don't care if I crap myself, I REFUSE to stop at a honeybucket along the way. That is VERY valuable time.
Right during the rumblies in my tumblies, my earphones kept falling out of my ears. I thought screw this and ran the last 6.5 miles with no music. I should have done that from the start.
I finally crossed the finish line at 2:11:01.1! Yes, that is a new PR. My time from last year was 2:12:37. So, I improved my time by a whole 1 1/2 minutes! That is a LONG time in the racing world.
As soon as I crossed the finish line I headed straight for the honeybuckets. God bless the honey buckets! Lol. Wow, never thought I'd say that.
Unfortunately, the only pictures my dad got was at the finish line. Every time he tried to pull over on the course to watch for me, a police officer told him he couldn't park there. :( So, that's why I never saw my dad along the course. I'm not sure where my camera is right now, so that's why there are no pictures on here.
I was just thinking tonight...the 1/2 marathons are getting easier and easier. I didn't struggle with energy or anything during this race. I'm SO ready to try my hand at a full marathon. I'm going to try & sign up for the Ogden full marathon in May 2012.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Ready or Not
Ready or not, here I come 1/2 marathon. In 2 days I'm running the Layton 1/2 Marathon.
This is my second year running this 1/2 marathon and I'm pretty excited. They've changed the course a little bit and I'm super excited. Last year it was an out and back course. This year, they're bussing us out to the causeway to Antelope Island and then we'll run back 13.1 miles. I'm excited to be running on the causeway. This is a nice run. Last year I saw parts of Layton that I've never seen before and I've lived in Utah my entire life. Lol. It's actually a pretty flat course too.
I wanted to do the full marathon. I emailed the race directors a couple of months ago to see if I could upgrade and do the full marathon, but they never emailed me back, so I'm just sticking with the 1/2 marathon. My first full marathon will be next May.
Earlier this week I wasn't feeling to hot. I'd been sick for about 2 weeks and this last Monday was the first day I felt REALLY good. So, I've been working out every day this week. I've been pretty worried lately about my running this 1/2. Especially since I haven't been able to workout as much lately.
Today while I was at work, I just got this overwhelming feeling that I'm SO ready for this race. I might not set a PR, but mentally I am ready for this race.
Ideally I'd love to finish this race in less than 2 hours, but I don't think that's too practical considering I've been sick and this is the first full week I've been able to workout. Last year I finished in 2:10:00, so I ran a 10 minute mile, but I just don't think it's practical to hope I finish in less than 2 hours. I'll be happy just finishing.
Me before the race last year
This is my second year running this 1/2 marathon and I'm pretty excited. They've changed the course a little bit and I'm super excited. Last year it was an out and back course. This year, they're bussing us out to the causeway to Antelope Island and then we'll run back 13.1 miles. I'm excited to be running on the causeway. This is a nice run. Last year I saw parts of Layton that I've never seen before and I've lived in Utah my entire life. Lol. It's actually a pretty flat course too.
I wanted to do the full marathon. I emailed the race directors a couple of months ago to see if I could upgrade and do the full marathon, but they never emailed me back, so I'm just sticking with the 1/2 marathon. My first full marathon will be next May.
Earlier this week I wasn't feeling to hot. I'd been sick for about 2 weeks and this last Monday was the first day I felt REALLY good. So, I've been working out every day this week. I've been pretty worried lately about my running this 1/2. Especially since I haven't been able to workout as much lately.
Today while I was at work, I just got this overwhelming feeling that I'm SO ready for this race. I might not set a PR, but mentally I am ready for this race.
Ideally I'd love to finish this race in less than 2 hours, but I don't think that's too practical considering I've been sick and this is the first full week I've been able to workout. Last year I finished in 2:10:00, so I ran a 10 minute mile, but I just don't think it's practical to hope I finish in less than 2 hours. I'll be happy just finishing.
Me before the race last year
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Running Shoe Giveaway
I am on Twitter (singlentri_ing) and one of my friends on there posted about this free shoe giveaway. Who doesn't want a free pair of running shoes? Seriously!
So, I went to this blog, and I'm actually gonna start following it because she sounds like a really cool gal. But, you should go there & enter for this free shoe giveaway too!
http://www.hungryrunnergirl.com/2011/10/running-shoes-giveaway.html#comment-101646
So, I went to this blog, and I'm actually gonna start following it because she sounds like a really cool gal. But, you should go there & enter for this free shoe giveaway too!
http://www.hungryrunnergirl.com/2011/10/running-shoes-giveaway.html#comment-101646
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
My Bum Hurts
My bum hurts and here is why:
My workout tonight was to do a 90 minute ride and then run 3 miles after the ride. It was terrible weather today, so I didn't want to take my bike out, so up to the gym I went.
I got up to the gym and the only spinning bike available had the seat picture above. The cycling still had to be done so I hopped on. Oh dear Lord it was painful. I'm sure it was quite humorous to see. I felt like I was on a unicycle because you were constantly trying to balance your weight in hopes of keeping the seat in a flat position. It never happened. I stayed on the bike for one hour and then switched to the other bike, but it wasn't any better because you can't adjust how far back the seat is, so it was uncomfortable too. BUT...it was less uncomfortable than the other bike.
I have now emailed the SDRC to let them know they need to get that fixed pronto.
My workout tonight was to do a 90 minute ride and then run 3 miles after the ride. It was terrible weather today, so I didn't want to take my bike out, so up to the gym I went.
I got up to the gym and the only spinning bike available had the seat picture above. The cycling still had to be done so I hopped on. Oh dear Lord it was painful. I'm sure it was quite humorous to see. I felt like I was on a unicycle because you were constantly trying to balance your weight in hopes of keeping the seat in a flat position. It never happened. I stayed on the bike for one hour and then switched to the other bike, but it wasn't any better because you can't adjust how far back the seat is, so it was uncomfortable too. BUT...it was less uncomfortable than the other bike.
I have now emailed the SDRC to let them know they need to get that fixed pronto.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Best Time
I had my best time ever running up City Creek Canyon on Friday. It was an out and back 5 mile run. So I ran 2 1/2 miles up, and 2 1/2 miles back. There are parts of the canyon that are pretty steep. The farther up you go, the steeper it gets.
But, I only did 5 miles 'cause that's the amount of time I had available to me. I did it in 50 minutes. So, I stuck to a 10 minute mile the entire time. I'm pretty satisfied with that considering I hadn't been running for a while.
I was so excited to be back out & running. I had gone swimming Friday morning as well. I was feeling pretty good.
Unfortunately, about midnight on Friday, I felt like I hit a brick wall. My cold came back. :( It's more a chest cold than it is a head cold. It really sucks. So, I'm back to taking Mucinex every 12 hours and I hope that it clears up asap.
No matter what, I've got to get up and go swimming tomorrow morning and running tomorrow night. Come hell or high water, I'm going to do my 1/2 marathon next Saturday.
But, I only did 5 miles 'cause that's the amount of time I had available to me. I did it in 50 minutes. So, I stuck to a 10 minute mile the entire time. I'm pretty satisfied with that considering I hadn't been running for a while.
I was so excited to be back out & running. I had gone swimming Friday morning as well. I was feeling pretty good.
Unfortunately, about midnight on Friday, I felt like I hit a brick wall. My cold came back. :( It's more a chest cold than it is a head cold. It really sucks. So, I'm back to taking Mucinex every 12 hours and I hope that it clears up asap.
No matter what, I've got to get up and go swimming tomorrow morning and running tomorrow night. Come hell or high water, I'm going to do my 1/2 marathon next Saturday.
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