Tennessee!

We had the best time down in Knoxville, Tennessee this past week.  Neil was invited to give a seminar and lecture down at the University of Tennessee there, and Tom Mueller, who invited him, extended the invitation to me as well and also offered to have us stay with him and his family in their beautiful home.  What fun we had as we drove up into the Great Smoky Mountains, experienced College football at its finest, sampled some delicious food (fried catfish, bar-b-qued ribs, and smoked turkey), and felt welcomed with true Tennessee hospitality everywhere we went. We left 25 degree weather and arrived home in Calgary to snow!  Oh well, it was still great to be back home!

Thanksgiving

I have so much to be thankful for.  This was brought home to me this weekend as I visited my parents down in Coaldale and was also able to visit three married children and four beautiful grandchildren in Lethbridge, and stop by Calgary to visit another married son and his delightful family.  It is such a blessing to be a mother to such fine children, married in the temple and raising children in the Gospel.  It was general conference weekend, so we were also able to hear the counsel of our prophet and apostles, raising their voices in clarity, love, and inspiration to all within the sound of their voices.  We visited the new Calgary temple and felt the spirit there.  We ate delicious food.  We enjoyed beautiful fall weather and marvelled at this beautiful world.  I feel blessed.

Pics to prove it!

I just wanted to post a couple of pics to prove that yes, I did actually do part of this race.  The 12K bike ride into Banff, and (most of) the run.  So here they are.  ( if I can figure out how to actually post pics on this site!)
This bike pic is pretty awesome because:
1. My hair is in its usual "I just got out of a freezing lake, yanked off my wetsuit and swim cap, and threw on a bike helmet" style.
2. My bike jacket is actually blowing in the wind!  (That's how fast I was going!)  OK, it was a really fun downhill section where everyone else was all focused and down in the aero position.  But not me!  I was smiling for the camera. 

Blood, sweat, and tears on the tri course- part Two!

So, at this point you are probably wondering "what about the blood?". I did forget to mention that they also poked my finger to check my blood sugar.  So there was a bit of blood.  My blood.  And some tears.  Not many,though.  I don't tend to cry in front of strangers.   And now we come to the "sweat"!  This is the exciting part.  This is the part where I walked up to T1 all dejected thinking I would have to call it a day and ride the shuttle to Banff in defeat.  BUT when I got up there and put on my shirt and bike jacket and looked at my race number just waiting to be put on, I DID put it on.  I remembered what the ATA official had told me down in the medical tent.  He said I could have just done the shorter distance anyway, and just been DQ'd but still have my time.  I didn't have a timing chip.  I could do anything I wanted,  I was a free agent.  So what I decided to do was ride the 12k super sprint distance back into Banff on my bike, rack it at T2, and then do whatever part of the run course I felt like.  And that's just what I did.  I had an awesome, mostly downhill ride back into Banff, racked my bike, and then proceeded onto the run course just like I belonged there.  I took a bathroom break at T2 and ate a gel, too.  The gel didn't sit quite right, though, so I was back with tummy issues.  I saw Neil, though, right at the start of the run course.  He was so happy to see me and of course oblivious to everything that had happened.  I just called out, "I didn't do the whole thing!", and kept on running.  Kind of running.  Jogging at best, mixed with walking.  At 2 points on the course I just crossed the street instead of doing the little loop, so I probably only did 4k of the course, but I was only out there to experience the run course and feel like I'd done all I could.  I felt nauseous the whole way but just took it really easy.  At one point, a couple of blocks from the finish line, a runner came up and said, "Do you want to run in with me?  I'm going really slow". But after about 100 meters I had to let her go on because I felt like throwing up.  Very sweet of her to help.  I came to the finish chute and jogged in.  Sweaty.  A little teary.  Glad I was able to do what I could do given my awful start to the race.  So In spite of my disappointment with this race, I am so grateful for so much.  The awesome volunteers that assisted me on the swim course.  Those fellow athletes that helped and encouraged me.  All the spectators in the town of Banff that cheered me on to my "unofficial" finish! And my stalwart husband who stands by me and supports me in every possible way.  Including loading my bike into the car and driving me home while I slept.

Blood, sweat, and tears on the tri course

Today was a first- a DNF in a race.  I had always thought that would be pretty much the worst thing I would have to endure as an athlete-albeit a very recreational one.  I won't  say it was fun, but I survived to tell the tale, so here it is!  The story actually starts way back in Jan. 2012 when I decided to sign up for a triathlon I've never done- a fairly challenging course in Banff National Park here in Alberta.  My brother has done this race and said it was beautiful! So I signed up early to get the discounted race fee and proceeded to set up my training program.  First, however I needed to keep up with my training for the Ogden half Marathon in May.  No problem, since my training for running events always includes water running, swimming, and biking as cross training along with my weight training days.  My training and race went well- the half marathon was awesome! I had a few weeks of easy recovery workouts  and then proceeded to train in earnest for Banff.  The weather here in Alberta this summer was just awesome for training, especially on the bike.  Some summers can be so cool and windy.  So I kept up my running, biking, and swimming.  In July my daughter got engaged and set the wedding day for Aug 24th, 3 weeks before my tri,  which made those weeks in between pretty crazy with Wedding plans.  But I forged on and only missed a few workouts the week or two before the wedding and the actual wedding week.  After the wedding, I was pretty tired.  I felt so drained of energy.  I had to cut back on some of my longer bike rides and runs.  My local swimming pool closed for maintenace, so I had to travel farther to swim.  I did do 2 lake swims in preparation for the Banff swim in Two Jack Lake, which went o.k.  I don't like lake swims.  I am pretty intimidated by open water even after completing 5 open water tri's in the past few years.  I especially don't like cold water, which of course the water in a National Park up in the mountains is pretty much guaranteed to be.  But I like a challenge, too. Last Tues., I started to feel a little "off"- my tummy felt unsettled and I basically had no appetite.  By Wed. afternoon, I was hit with a full blown case of the flu, complete with chills, body aches, nausea, and then a fever.  I spent most of the day in bed on  Wed., and Thurs. morning as well.  I didn't feel like eating at all, but tried to keep my strength up    with diluted Powerade, water, and a little soup.  At this point, I didn't think I would be able to  compete in Banff at all, but wanted to stay hydrated.  I just kept hoping for a quick recovery.   Thurs.was the last day for registrations in the triathlon. The deadline was noon.  I thought I would e-mail the race organizers to see if I could switch my registration to the shorter distance-the super sprint.  Instead of a 500 meter swim, it was 300 meter. The bike was 12k rather than 25, and the run was the same-5k.  That sounded doable to me at that point.  So, I started packing all my equipment and readied myself for the super sprint.  I was excited about it.  It was a distance I was pretty sure I could do, even given my low energy after the flu bout.  Friday morning I checked my e-mail one more time before my husband and I started packing the car, and there was one from the race directors informing me that it was too late for any race distance change-I would have to do the Sprint.  Ahhh!  I was so frustrated.  But I was feeling a lot better on Friday, so figured we would go ahead and make the drive up to Banff and hope for the best.  I was eating a little more- toast and soup along with clear fluids.  But my tummy was still pretty iffy.  So, 3 days of basically fluids instead of carb-loading.  A very critical error, I came to realize later.  The drive to Banff was beautiful.  The mountains were shining in the sun.  It was 25 degrees C with a forecast for today of 26!  We drove up to two jack lake after I checked in and got my numbers and swim cap, along with my various bags for all my gear.  I had a little swim in the lake, and it actually felt pretty good.  Cold, but not too bad with my wetsuit and cap.  We drove the bike course, all 25k of it and it was here that I wondered if I would have the energy to climb those mountain hills and then run 5k.  I knew I would find out soon enough, though.  We found a nice little pub type place for a little supper.  Neil had a meat pie but I still only felt like soup.  We enjoyed a soak in the Hotel hot tub before going to bed.  It was a lovely soft bed and I actually slept pretty well until around 5, then mostly a laid awake thinking about the race until our wake-up call at 7.   Then I got busy putting on my trisuit,bike jacket, and runners and packing up my bags for the two transition areas.  Breakfast was a complimentary buffet at the Hotel, but I only felt like eating a little yogurt and a piece of toast.  (is there a pattern here?). So, Neil dropped me off at T2 where the busses picked us up, the he went to his meeting for the volunteers on the run course.  I made a friend on the bus-krista from Calgary, who was doing her first triathlon today!  She was pretty nervous about the swim, so I gave her some tips and told her she would be just fine if she stayed calm.  I helped her get her wetsuit on so it wouldn't restrict her breathing, and she helped me with mine too.  I ate a banana, since the gel I was planning to eat didn't seem appealing.  Then we walked down to the lake and got ready for our wave to start.  I got my cap and goggles on, and got way over to the right where I like to swim.  The horn went off, and I was swimming!  From the start, it just  didn't feel right.  My breathing was regular but too fast.  I kept getting out of breath..  I started  thinking about the long, difficult bike ride ahead of me when I completed the swim.  I just felt weak  and shaky.  Lightheaded and starting to get dizzy.  I was probably just past halfway when I flagged down a kayak and held on.  Once I got hold of the edge, I didn't want to let go.  I felt like it was my lifeline.  The volunteer in the kayak was calm and reassuring and told me I could hold on as long as I  needed to.  At that point, I started to shake and said"I can't swim any more".  I was done.  Weak.  Shaky.  Finished barely after I had started.  The volunteer waved over a rowboat, which came over to pull me out of the water.  All I could feel was relief that I dodn't have to be in the water any more.  The volunteers in the boat were great.  Supportive but not overbearing.  They took me back to shore where I could report to the medical tent. I felt so disappointed.  After all my training for this race, and then to have it end so abruptly was hard.  They gave me a chair and a blanket, checked my pulse and had me put my head down for a while.  There was a young man beside me who had done the whole swim without a wetsuit.  He was suffering from hypothermia.  He couldn't warm up.  They ended up getting him in the ambulance.  I realized that the race was over for me.  I had to fight back tears.the nurses told me that when I felt ready I could go up to T1 and catch the shuttle back to Banff .  They took off my timing chip.  
(Now go to Part Two- the exciting part!)

So, this is a picture of me (in pink) and my daughter-in-law Royall coming in to the finish line of the Top of Utah half marathon last August!  It was pretty amazing to run that race with her.  I loved it.  (See how happy we are.  See the dejected walkers behind us.  Illustrates perfectly the power of proper pacing in a race! )  This past Thursday, I ran a 10 mile long run.  It was awful.  My hip hurt. My knee started hurting.  But I kept going- and going- and finished the run.  But after, I had to ice pretty much my whole legs/hips/knees, and I haven't run since.  So was that smart or not?  I really don't know.  Not smart in that I am now injured and can't run for a few days and will need a couple of physio treatments.  But maybe OK because I discovered a weakness in my hips and glutes that needs to be addressed now rather than later in my training, closer to race day.  And maybe OK because it brought me down to earth a little and helped me realize that I do have limitations and pushing them doesn't always bring the results I want.  So, now I am wondering if I really can do this whole marathon training thing, or if it is beyond my body's capabilities right now. 10 miles is only half of 20, which will be my longest training run.  I have enlisted the help of an online running coach- Coach Jenny Hadfield, who I believe is the very best out there.  She will contact me tomorrow to discuss my training program.  She doesn't know I'm injured, at this point, but she will.  And I'm counting on her to help me through the next few months of marathon training- or not- (maybe it will turn into half marathon training if I don't heal up fast enough)_It iis good to know in either instance that I have someone to count on.  Someone to give me good training advice and encouragement.  But I know, too, that ultimately it will be me who will know what I can expect my body to do.  I have learned to listen.  To be gentle or to push.  To rest or to run.  John Bingham said that sometimes being a runner means not running and this week I am finding out all about that.  Water running.  Walking.  Stationary biking.  Swimming.Waiting.  I keep reminding myself when I get feeling down about it all that I am indeed in training still.  Just in a different way this week.  4 months.  We'll see!

New Year's Resolutions

Today, in Relief Society Sister Hatch gave a lesson on setting goals.  She talked about time management, prioritizing, and avoiding procrastination.  I needed that lesson!  I needed to be reminded of the importance of thinking about my goals for the future and writing them down so I can start making them happen.  I feel like I have more time than I ever have had, but I don't utilize it well. I think of how much I accomplished when I was a young mother, with seven children at home!  I wonder how I did it all.  And then I go back in my remote memory and remember how exhausted I was most nights as I fell into bed.  (But mostly in a good way)  And how much more I wished I could have done, but didn't.  Or how much I sometimes yearned for some unnterrupted quiet time to just ponder and think.  I have more of that kind of time now.  But sometimes a wide open afternoon or evening invites not only pondering and thinking but also time wasting.  It's like I'm lost without more structure to my day.  So, I'm going to change that.  I'm going to set aside time for not only the pondering and thinking and scripture reading and prayer, but also the home organzing, letter writing, cleaning, lesson preparation, and healthy meal preparation.  I've already set goals in the physical activity area of my life.  I'm training for a marathon!  Which sometimes takes over my brain (and body!) entirely and makes me a pretty unbalanced person.  So, my challenge will be to find the balance on most days.  I know my long run days will be mostly taken up with running, recovering, stretching, and napping.  But that isn't very many days.  The other days I will set aside time for each aspect of my life.  I will call someone just to cheer them up.  I will keep a cleaner, more organized home.  I will continue reading the scriptures, praying, studying, and pondering.  I will fulfill my church callings.  I will read an educational, interesting book. Balance.  I can do it!

Jan 2012

A brand new year!  It will be an eventful year, as I train for and run my first marathon!  I am so excited to be getting closer to actually reaching this goal.  Today, I ran 2 miles (25 min) in the water, and also did strength training at the gym after work.  My knees are a little creaky, so  I need to be extra careful of them.  I have been doing my hip strengthening exercises, so seem to be keeping trouble at bay.  It was wonderful to be down in Southern Alberta this past weekend, and actually be able to run outside! I ran 4 miles on Sat. around Henderson Lake, and then 4.5 miles on Monday down in the river valley on the amazing trail system.