Spring Training

I'm so lucky to have sporty friends. Staci has us on a training program to get ready for the Ogden Half Marathon and we're getting faster and going farther. I got some new running shoes. Nic and I have been training on bikes for her mountain bike trip and a bike tour we have planned for the summer. I never train, so this new plan feels great!

Little Red Bike Century

We had a smaller crowd than last year, which was too bad, because we had a big and delightful (and slightly scary) farmhouse in Corinne.  

The weather was beautiful the next morning when we started. 

We were only 20 miles in when we got sandwiched by a super-aggressive, but not highly-skilled group and Nicole went down. She got road rash on her knuckles and knee and a big bruise on her hand, a rip in her jacket and her shoe.  I might have just cried and quit if I were her, but she's a tough one, so she just checked in for a bandaid at the next medical tent and kept pedaling. 

The course went into Idaho!

I hate going fast. My top speed is usually 25 mph, so I really let it rip downhill this time. 

Far enough! 

Ogden Half Marathon

I went with the Jeffreys to pick up our race packets at Weber State U, ate a spaghetti and meatball calzone at Slackwater, and we tucked ourselves in at the elder Jeffreys' cozy home in the hills above Ogden. Mr. Jeffreys drove us over the pass to the rainy start line in Huntsville, which earned us an extra hour and half of sleep. So nice!

It was raining at the start of the race and Nicole and I wore Dollar Store ponchos while Bryan just went for the all-wet look. My shoes were soaked through by the time we crossed the dam at Pineview Reservoir. I lost track of Nicole at about mile 5. I ditched the poncho at about mile 7 and my cycling windjacket soaked through at about mile 10. I listened to two episodes of Serial on the iPod and felt pretty good coming in to the finish line. I set a goal of under 2 hours, and I trained for this race way more than usual because Nicole is such a go-getter and she was very motivating to me. I crossed the finish line at 1:59:20, which means 40 seconds to spare!

Bryan was ahead of me and Nicole was right behind me and we were FREEZING as soon as we hit the finish line and quit running. Lucky for us, Mr. Jeffreys was there with towels and bags of dry clothes to whisk us away to warm showers back at his home. The service by the Jeffreys was just incredible!

I had such a great time with Bryan and Nicole and their girls and the elder Jeffreys. This race is going to be on my calendar every year. 

Goldilocks Cycling

I signed up for the 60-mile Goldilocks bike ride with Miss Terry (the best preschool teacher in the world) and my friend Janessa. The day started out chilly and early, but with puffy little bears everywhere.

 

Two of Terry's friends, Janessa, Aimee, Terry

We lost Terry and her friends about 3 miles into the ride, and it started raining at 10 miles. Janessa and I saw someone crash on slippery railroad tracks, we stopped at an aid station to wring out our socks, and wondered why we were still riding when our jackets and shorts soaked through. When we arrived at the soggy lunch stop about 40 miles in and there was no lunch, we quit. Terry and her friends had trained all year for their first ever big bike event so they were way more motivated than Janessa and I who mostly wanted to not lose toes to frostbite, so those three swam on. J & I took a van ride with our bikes back to the start and had to ride the world's coldest five miles back to our car at Terry's house. I was cold for like two days after, but I didn't lose any appendages. I gave Terry a big high-five when I found out that she stuck it out for the whole ride. 

Moab (the second time this month!)

Delicate Arch at sunset

Good hikers and photo bombers

It was Jovie's half birthday, so she chose all the activities, hiking and jumping from bed to bed. After a sunset hike to Delicate Arch, we checked into a little cabin at Moab Valley RV park. The kids liked the bunkbed, they made lots of friends on the playground, and Ikey helped a mom and daughter play a giant chess game. He gave them pointers like..."A knight on the rim is dim" and he did some trash-talking which was pretty funny to all of us. TB says we've outgrown the community bathroom setup. His shower was slightly chilly. So that's it for you, little cabins...

And what the heck?!? I am sick on every single vacation. The kids and I got a nasal spray flu vaccine on Thursday because it seemed easier, but 12 hours later I had lost my voice. With my super wimpy ENT system, I developed a sinus infection really quickly. The whole trip, I was coughing and choking but not talking or sleeping. It drove TB crazy, because I kept asking him to yell at the kids for me. It drove them crazy because they really did miss my non-stop lectures. Ikey said I was faking. It drove me crazy when I realized that I am really friendly and I couldn't talk to strangers like I wanted to. When I croaked out that I had lost my voice to the guy at a convenience store, he said he thought I was European and I just didn't understand anything. 

TB was a champ and he played with the kids the whole time I was shopping for more tissues or DayQuil or taking a nap or whatever. They played on the big sand hill across the freeway from Arches' entrance for the first time. 

At 6 am on Sunday, I caught a ride from a fellow cabin-stayer to the shuttle pick up for The Other Half Marathon. It's always so chilly 26 miles up Castle Valley, but not too cold this year, so we just stood by the fire barrels for fun.

This is the first time I've run with an iPhone and I'm sure I lost like five minutes fooling around with it. I kept turning running backward to get photos of the beautiful scenery I was running toward. No more iPhones during races. Another four minutes lost waiting for a port-a-potty at mile 8, and I wasn't going to make my goal of 2:10.

Overall Rank 598/1095
Class Rank 61/115
Gender Rank 318/697
FINAL 2:19:17
Pace 10:36
Chip Final 2:18:54 (I lined up with the 2:10 pacer and it took us 23 sec to get to the start line)
Bib # 557

TB was a good nurse to me during the trip and a good dad. Luckily, he got to ride his bike with the guys on the last trip to Moab, because this trip wasn't his usual speed. 

My prize pint of beer at the finish line. I dumped it out pretty fast. Who drinks beer at 11 am? Well, a lot of people, but not me. 

Wonder Woman Century

Nicole and I went on vacation to Payson. We loaded up the bikes, did a little shopping in Provo, and ate a delicious dinner of fried chicken, pork tenderloin, and carrots at Communal. We checked into our sweet accomodations in Payson and went to bed early!

The next morning, we started off on our first century bike ride a little late in the morning, but too early to see Ellen and Amy. Our PR long ride was the 50 miles we did at Little Red earlier in summer, so between our trepidation at our audacity to try a century and the poorly marked course, we felt a little lost.  

I cramped up at about 50 miles, but after cola and sandwiches (and cookies, lots of cookies) at the lunch break, my legs loosened up and we finished with no more problems. 

Oh my goodness, it was so much fun. I've loved riding bikes so much with Nicole this year and she was there for every part of the Year of the Bike: White Rim, Little Red Riding Hood, Wonder Woman Century.

Armstrong Trail

 Armstrong trail is a one-way mountain bike trail that heads up hill from Silver Star and it's fun to hike too.

White Rim Mountain Bike Through Canyonlands

We gathered up a dozen friends to check out the crazy stuff in Green River, then ride 100 miles through Canyonlands National Park on mountain bikes. It was awesome. 

"The Ratio"

"Elements"

Crystal Geyser

This cold water CO2 geyser erupted when we were there. How lucky! The water bubbled water up through this pipe and filled up this little pond and flowed over the travertine walls toward the river.

 We had dinner at Ray's Tavern and sat around the pool at River Terrace Inn. We met up the next morning at Holiday River Expedition's HQ. 

Steve, Pete, Dan, Nicole, Bryan, Todd, Aimee, Scott, Hank, Deb, Tim, Andy at the stop of Shafer Trail.

Todd and Aimee walked across Musselman Arch

Camp 1 at Gooseberry

 http://youtu.be/JHIdN7qjjEQ

Aimee, Nicole, Deb at White Crack

Todd on Diving Board Rock

Climbing!

A slot canyon at the end of Day 2

View from Burrows's tent on Day 3 at Candlestick.

Everybody made it! Bryan, Nicole, Tim, Hank, Deb, Andy, Ferg and Dave, Steve, Pete, Dan, Aimee, Todd, Scott

No one rode in the SAG wagon. Pete and Todd didn't walk any of it. Hank walked the littlest bit because he got caught in a microburst wind tunnel. Andy and Aimee didn't have rear suspension, and surely my bike was the heaviest. It was so fun.