Ogden 1/2 Marathon

This past week I had a few sleepless nights. The reality of participatiing in the Ogden 1/2 marathon was finally setting in. I had dreams about not packing what I needed, not knowing where to go, getting to the Expo late and not picking up my packet. So when Friday finally arrived I was quite relieved. I just had to sit back and let everything happen. Before Steve and I left for Ogden, my good friend Annette called and said she would be stopping by. Next thing I knew there was a 6 foot bird standing in my foyer holding a sports bottle, a pair of socks and a note that read:

From one old bird to another,
Knock your socks off...
Run like the wind is beneath your wings.

What a great way to get sent off.
Steve and I drove up to Ogden, checked into our hotel and then walked over to the Expo. This was pretty cool. I had partcipated in 5Ks before, but this time I got to walk over to the section that said 1/2 Marathon...CRAZY!!!! I was then given my bib number 5689 and my drop bag for the next morning. The excitement was rising in me.
It was time to "Carb Load". We met up with our friends:Brian, Suzanne, Stacey, Wendy and Tom for dinner and headed to Fazzoli's. Not the best Italian food, but they did have all you could eat Spaghetti for $5.99. We ate and talked, but by far the best entertainment was Tom and his "interesting" stories.
We said goodnight to our friends as we all went our separate ways to our rooms. I laid out my gear and went through all my stuff to guarantee I had everything I needed. We put on our jammies, turned on the Jazz playoff game and TRIED to relax enough to fall asleep. Sleep was not easy to come by all night. I woke up every 30 minutes expecting it to be time to get dressed. Finally Steve informed me it was 10 minutes to 4:00am and I decided it was as good a time as any to get up and get ready. Before I knew it we were out of the room and meeting up with the others in the lobby and we were off to meet our buses. It was then that the Marathoners and the Halfers parted ways.
I sat next to Wendy and tried to carry on a conversation so the reality of how long the bus ride was to the starting line would not be noticed. It didn't work well, I still noticed it was FAR!!! We got off the bus to find it was much colder up the Canyon than it had been outside of our hotel. We wandered over to where the fires were so that we could warm up. We also made a couple of trips over to the Port-O-Potties.

Now ordinarily I would not enjoy the site of a Port-O-Potty, but as nervous as I was it was a welcomed site.

I was then that SOUTH JORDAN SOLE SISTERS (that is what the front of our t-shirts say)made their way to the starting line. Many of the group debated about stripping off the last of their warmer clothing. The sun was just beginning to peek over the mountain, but we were not quite feeling the full effects of that heat. As we stood there at the start line and I babbled as I do in my nervous way, I managed to stick my foot in my mouth and insult someone standing near me. I was definitely ready to run, walk, crawl under a rock...anything so I did not have to be reminded of my big mouth.
And then the race began. I had decided I would be walking. I went our running with Steve a few weeks ago and he informed me that my run is the same pace as my walk...4.0 mph...so why put all that effort in to go the same distance. I was quite lucky that my friend Suzanne, who really is a runner, she just ran in Boston last month, offered to walk along with me because she was having some knee problems. So we started our trek out of the Canyon. It was just beautiful: green fields with horses, Pineview Reservoir to look at, and towards the end of the Canyon there was a beautiful waterfall. Suzanne and I got to watch the Elite Runners make their way past us. I did pretty well, but as we came to the end of the Canyon I could feel the impact of the downhill on my knees. We rounded a bend at the end of the Canyon where spectators were standing and not cheering. It was really weird. They must not understand that the runners need that. It was actually kind of uncomfortable to walk by them as they are just looking at you. It was not long after that when my knees and left foot began to tell me that they were done. And then another angel came my way...Nanette and her daughter Jessie. They walked along with us and talked and helped get my mind off the pain that shot into my eye balls every time my left foot touched the ground. It was not long after that when I noticed I only had 2 miles left and Suzanne told me it would be the longest 2 miles of the whole rest. Steve ran by us and we saw another friend Eric go by and continued to hobble along. Many times the thought crossed my mind that I should tell Suzanne to go ahead and run off without me. I was so afraid my knee was just going to give out and I might have a good cry and I did not want to embarrass myself that way in front of people I knew and respected. Then we saw Wendy, who had already crossed the finished line with a time of 2:38 and had come back to meet us. She walked along and told us my friend Stacey who also was a newbie to this racing this had met her goal to run the WHOLE thing had accomplished that. WHOOHOO!!! I just teared up thinking of her. I could see the finish line by this time. And Suzanne could see her husband Brian and asked if I would be upset if she ran in with him...of course not...and then she was off, with her hand on his back as they made their way to that Finish Line. Wendy stayed by my side as we counted he stop lights. when I approached the last set of signals I told Wendy I want to jog from that point. I had wanted to run in...that was my goal...so when we got to the light I used everything I had to make my legs move in a running motion. I don't think I was going very fast, but I sure was trying and then I saw Steve and I LOST IT!!! I did, as Oprah would say, the "Ugly Cry". I could hear my children yelling for me, Steve was crying and telling me how proud he was of me. I crossed the finish line and felt so good, pain in my knees and feet, but I felt awesome. I went to where they were handing out the medals and the girl asked me, "do you want a medal?" I was thinking, "Are you kidding me...I just went 13.1 miles...of course I want my medal...I may wear it everywhere I go..." But what came out of my mouth was, "yes...thank you."
It was incredible...I MADE IT...I am not an athletic person. I have always wanted to have that talent, but just have never been good at these kind of things. And I had decided last summer I wanted more for myself. I wanted to live my life and stop being a spectator to it...I wanted to be STRONGER in my belief of my own abilities. I know that there are people that ran that race faster and other that went farther, BUT this was my race to finish...to accomplish...to believe in myself. There is a quote that says:

The woman that starts the race,
Isn't the same woman that finishes it.

I can whole heartedly agree with that. I also need to say I am so grateful for friends. They helped me so much: from the 6 foot bird in my house...Suzanne being willing to walk along with me when she proabbly could have jogged much of that course...Nanette and Jessie coming up to Ogden to watch all of the runners and walking along with me and running many of our friends in...Wendy coming back to meet us after having finished her own race and walking/jogging the end with me...and last but certainly not least Steve, my very best friend, who supported me from the time I told him my goal of doing this (even if he thought I had bit off more than I could chew) and then standing there at the finish line crying and telling me how proud he was. I am touched and in awe of all their kindness.

Mother's Day

I woke up this morning to Steve standing over me with a tray. He had prepared breakfast for me and leisurely sat in my bed and read it as I read the Sunday (just the advertisements) paper. I also enjoyed a cup of hot cocoa. My kidlets would peak into the room every so often to see if there was anything else that I needed.

When I finished my breakfast, I carried the tray downstairs to find all my Mother's Day goodies set up on the counter in the kitchen. And the rest of my family gathered there to greet me. Steve had purchased 2 large rose bushes to plant in my front yard with the other two rose bushes I have planted in previous years. He also got me some Clif Shot Bloks and some Sports Beans to use during my race next weekend and some blister powder to prevent my feet from getting blistered during said race.

Zack then presented me with a faux magazine cover that he had made for me on the computer. He had cropped a photo of me and I became a "cover girl" It was way cute. I am definitely going to frame that and hang it in my scrap room. Then Belle gave me a box of what I thoughts was chocolates, but thankful she had replaced all the chocolates with a Lean Cuisine Meal and 100 Calorie Snack Packs. It was too cute and very thoughtful that she had taken me new lifestyle into account.
Next, Becky sent me on an obstacle course. I opened the front door where I found a basketball and a note that said to dribble the basketball down to the mailbox. Inside the mailbox was a jump rope with an accompanying note that read to skip rope to the sycamore tree. I continued to venture around the front yard...jumping on one foot, dribbling a soccer ball and even preforming a cartwheel. At the end I was led to Steve truck where I found a bunch of bananas.

My final gift was from Katie. I followed a rainbow she had drawn on the sidewalk. At the end there was note written in chalk that said to go and look at the island on the island was a bag that had once contained Nestle Treasure candies, but now held a bunch of Crystal Light, which was my treasure at the end of the rainbow.
It was so neat to see how creative my little ones could be. Needless to say I had an awesome Mother's Day.

Grandparent Program

Last Friday at at the school the 2nd Graders put on their GRANDPARENT PROGRAM. For weeks Katie and Becky would come home from school, so excited about the songs hat they were practicing. They made invitations for their grandparents. Steve and I even brought along one of those invitations along with us to Boston and personally delivered it to Grandma Weber. She enjoyed seeing the invitation, but we returned to Utah with Grandma's regrets in not being able to attend. We are lucky to have Grandma and Papa Sansevero living near by and they were able to attend the festivities.
All the children participated in the program in one way or another. Some recited stories and other were able to speak about their own grandparent. Becky participated in a cute telling of a story, while Katie was asked to recite a paragraph she had written about Papa Sansevero and his horses. It was very cute and I was so proud of each one of the.
The program was also filled with different songs. My favorite is:
GRANDMA'S FEATHER BED
(Jim Connor)
John Denver

When I was a little bitty boy
just up off a floor
We used to go down to Grandma's house
every month end or so,
We'd have chicken pie and country ham
'n' home made butter on the bread
But the best darn thing about Grandma's house
was her great big feather bed

It was nine feet tall and six feet wide
soft as a downy chick
It was made from the feathers of forty eleven geese
took a whole bolt of cloth for the tick
It'd hold eight kids 'n' four hound dogs
and a piggy we stole from the shed
We didn't get much sleep but we had a lot of fun
on Grandma's feather bed

After supper we'd sit around the fire
the old folks'd spit and chew
Pa would talk about the farm and the war
and Granny'd sing a ballad or two
I'd sit and listen and watch the fire
till the cobwebs filled my head
Next thing I'd know I'd wake up in the morning
in the middle of the old feather bed

It was nine feet tall and six feet wide
soft as a downy chick
It was made from the feathers of forty eleven geese
took a whole bolt of cloth for the tick
It'd hold eight kids 'n' four hound dogs
and a piggy we stole from the shed
We didn't get much sleep but we had a lot of fun
on Grandma's feather bed

Well I love my Ma, I love my Pa
I love Granny and Grandpa too
I been fishing with my uncle
I rasled with my cousin
I even kissed Aunt Lou ooo!
But if I ever had to make a choice
I guess it ought to be said
That I'd trade 'em all plus the gal down the road
for Grandma's feather bed
I'd trade 'em all plus the gal down the road...

It was nine feet tall and six feet wide
soft as a downy chick
It was made from the feathers of forty eleven geese
took a whole bolt of cloth for the tick
It'd hold eight kids 'n' four hound dogs
and a piggy we stole from the shed
We didn't get much sleep but we had a lot of fun
on Grandma's feather bed
We didn't get much sleep but we had a lot of fun
on Grandma's feather bed
Following all the program activities there was wonderful slide show. All the parents had been asked to submit photos of the children with their grandparents. It was neat to see all the children with their grandparents, but it was especially sweet to see photos of the girls with their grandparents, specifically Papa Weber. When the slide show was over and I had dried my eyes, the teachers announced that there would be a grandparent waltz. They then played Anne Murray's "Could I Have this Dance". And this cute kids, dressed in their Sunday best, held their granparent's hands and began to move around the dance floor. It was just so sweet to watch.