Flying Pig Half-Marathon 2010

Yesterday I ran the Flying Pig Half with Mikayla. We got downtown in the pouring rain and prayed that we wouldn't have a delay because of the lightning. Our feet were soaked through in the first mile and we ran using garbage bags as ponchos until about mile 2. Luckily, the rain eased up and we ran in sprinkling rain until the end.

I loved the crowd support! I could not believe how many people were lining the streets in downtown Cincinnati. People cheered and clapped and shouted out encouragement! We ran along the edges so we could get high-fives whenever possible. I even got a high-five from the Elvis Impersonator at the Krohn Conservatory. The hills were killer! But, I only had to walk about 4-5 times during the entire race. That thrilled me because I have had some really rough long runs over the past few months where I had to walk a lot!

Shane brought other kids and Eric down to see us run and we found him at about the 8.5 mile mark which was the split-off for the half marathon. the half-marathoners go left and the marathoners go right. I didn't even start the turn. I ran right into his arms for a hug and kiss. Then I told him we wanted pictures. I knew he wouldn't be able to come down for the finish and I HAD to have pictures with my kids. The only bummer was that Hunter was down a few yards with Eric, so he wasn't in the first family photo! But as we passed Hunter and Eric, Shane took another picture for us!

Shane got everybody in the van quickly and caught up with us 2 more times on the route where he and the kids yelled out the window and he honked the horn before heading home.

Mikayla was really supportive. She is a great runner and could have left me behind many times, but she stuck right by me. We had a wonderful time looking at all the buildings, and people, and beautiful sights. I'm so glad we had this opportunity to accomplish such a huge goal together! She shares my love of running and is much better at it than I am!

After seeing the family we ran back down into Cincinnati and I was getting very fatigued. The last mile was the worst! I thought I would be so excited and full of adrenaline that it would be easier to finish. Instead, I was praying over and over in my head "Please help me....please help me... please help me..." It kept me moving. We finished in 2 hours 39 minutes!

I ended up with some chafing burns on my back from my clothing and I got one blister on the arch of my foot that I was expecting anyway. But, as wet as we were, I think we got off pretty easy. My favorite thing about the race was my pace tattoo. You decided how fast you think you can run your race and pick a temporary tattoo to match. It shows you what time the clock should read at each mile marker, so you know if you are running faster or slower than you planned. I LOVED it. During every race I'm doing mental math to see if my pace is ok and this time I just glanced down at my forearm to see how were were doing. Every mile was good. We lost a couple minutes on the hills and and then made it up on the downhills. My pace tattoo was for a 2:45 finish and we did it 2:39!

I wondered if I could finish a Half Marathon and now I know that I can. I did it 4 days before my 40th birthday! Today my thighs are sore and I'm tired, but I feel REALLY good. I could use a nap, but Jared isn't cooperating. At my house, "race-recovery" means doing all the housework that didn't get done because I was racing!

On my other goals, I finally lost the original 22 pounds I set out to lose about a year and a half ago. I swore off pop (diet or sugar-full) for the month of April and didn't cheat at all. I think that helped with the weight-loss!

I promised myself that when I finished the half-marathon I would post a picture from my first Flying Pig event. This is Jessica and me at the Flying Pig 5K on 5/6/07! When Jared saw it, he asked who that friend was with Jessica!

And this is me & Mikayla with Tanner, Savannah, and Jared yesterday at the Flying Pig Half-marathon!

Here we are with Hunter and Eric!

I still have a long way to go before I reach my ultimate fitness level, but I'm definitely on my way!

February 2, 2010

Holy Cow! Another month gone. 3 months from today is the half-marathon. January actually went really well. I did great with my first goal of just 20 minutes of exercise 5 times a week for 6 weeks.

1st week- 137 minutes
2nd week- 217 minutes
3rd week- 270 minutes
4th week- 100 minutes

Mikayla and I did our long runs on Saturdays.
Jan.9- 2.8 miles
Jan. 16- 5.2 miles
Jan. 23- 6.4 miles Run, plus 1.6 mile Walk
Jan. 30- Mik. was on a temple trip and I chickened out because of the cold!

My weight is back down to within 2 pounds of my pre-Christmas weight! I really struggle with controlling my appetite under stress. One day 2 weeks ago, I did really good all day sticking to my diet plans. Then, Shane came home and we were preparing to go out for dinner. Jared woke up from a late nap and came crying up the stairs to our room. Now on my bed was an open package of fruit snacks. I don't actually like fruit snacks. Some child had started this package and left it on my bed. I had seen it several times and passed by it. I wasn't interested in eating it and hadn't yet found the culprit who left it on my bed. When Jared came up the stairs crying, anxiety suddenly kicked in and I actually caught myself reaching for the fruit snack to grab it and eat a couple bites!!!! Wow! What a telling moment. I can do really well with my eating until my stress level increases.

I was really glad that I caught myself and recognized that I was just eating for emotional reasons. I confessed (through my tears) to a friend earlier that same week that I am completely willing to do whatever exercise it takes to lose weight, but that I can't control my appetite. She told me about a book about changing your thought process about dieting. I bought it right away. It's called The Complete Beck Diet for Life. I have struggled with depression in the past and have learned how to talk to myself to help combat those feelings, so I was very interested in a book about changing how I talk to myself about dieting. So far, I'm enjoying the book and I think it is helping me feel more in control.

The plan is to lose about a 1 pound a week until May 2nd. I'm trying to get as much exercise built into my schedule as possible. So, I'm going to a Zumba class every Monday evening, trying for 3 exercise sessions at home during the week, and then a long run on Saturday. Yesterday, I did an exercise video for 50 minutes and then did Zumba last night. All in all, things are going very well.

Monday and Tues

Monday- I did really well with my eating through the day. Ate a bit too much at dinner, but that happens. Mikayla and I did take Jared in the jogging stroller. Wow! What a process this was. We had to get all our cold weather running stuff on and then get the stroller figured out (we've only used it one other time) and THEN get Jared dressed and ready to go. I was SWEATING up a storm and we were still in the front hall of our house! (note to self: don't put on your coat until you are really sure you are walking out the front door!)

Pushing the jogging stroller brought running to a whole new level of difficulty! We couldn't run on the sidewalks because a lot of people haven't cleared the snow off yet, so we ran in the road. There is still a lot of ice and snow there too! So, we ran around the ice, snow, parked cars, and tried to stay out of traffic. But, the thing that killed me were the little wimpy hills! I cannot run up hills easily even when I'm not pushing a 33 pound kid in a stroller!!! We went about 10 minutes and had to turn back because I had to go to work (and I was DYING!). We will try it again, because it was a really good workout. When we got back to the house, Mikayla took Jared up the street of our neighborhood for five extra minutes. Obviously, she is in much better shape than I am!

Tuesday- Today started out very promising. I had two jobs and instead of counting of fast food I, (are you sitting down?) ACTUALLY packed my lunch! I know, you are in shock! I packed a nice salad with turkey and cheese, an apple, and a bottle of water. I ate this while getting Jared from preschool and dropping him off at Karlin's while I headed to my next house to clean.

After work, I fell off the wagon. I had a lot of driving to do to get Mikayla where she needed to go and the little kids TALKED MY EARS OFF! I swear I must hear the word "mom" 300 times a day. I love my kids so much, but sometimes I can't listen any more. Did I take a time out? No, I took food instead! Ate too much and got discouraged. But, after I ate at 3:30 I decided I was done eating for the day. My late after-lunch-snack could also be my dinner. And so I have not eaten anything else and I'm drinking lots of water. For my exercise today I attended a free Zumba class at a friend's dance studio. Heather went with me and although the music and dance moves were not to our taste, we definitely got a good aerobic workout. It reminded me how much I love a good exercise class and I'm determined to go a couple times a month to the Zumba class I like at another location. It is so fun to see other women dancing and feeling foolish (or some who really CAN dance). It's also nice to get away for a while and sweat away some stress!

Day 2

It is Sunday.....a day of rest. :) I stayed up too late to watch the Dallas Cowboys football game and so arrived at church a bit bleary-eyed. I stuck to my breakfast plan of Special K, milk, and half a banana. Had 3 pieces of chocolate on my way home! oops! Ate a reasonable lunch and dinner. However, I did "stress-eat" a large cookie when I woke up from a too-short nap and had only 30 minutes to get dinner ready for the missionaries. My best accomplishment for today was that I DID NOT EAT any dessert or snacks after dinner and I didn't have 2nds at dinner either.

Mikayla and I are going to try running together right after school tomorrow with Jared in a jogging stroller.

16 Weeks to a Half-Marathon

In 16 Weeks and 1 day I will be running a half-marathon. It will be 4 days before my 40th birthday. This week I have been gearing up and setting my goals and making plans on how I can reach the incredible goal of finishing a half marathon. I work part-time. I am a mom with 5 kids at home and one in college. I have 2 church callings and my husband is a counselor in the bishopric. Sounds like the perfect time to run a half-marathon.


Every couple of days I'm going to write my progress (or lack thereof) on my blog. I plan to lose 13 pounds by May 2nd. (That is the big half-marathon day.)

This week I started exercising again. I was just aiming for 20 minutes a day for 4 days, because I needed a goal that I felt I could reach. This gearing up worked. I know because last night I dreamed of running again!

Wed-Jan 6th- 10 minutes of upper body weights
Thurs-Jan 7th- 3 Fast Miles walking DVD & 45 min. shoveling snow
Fri-Jan 8th- 4 Fast Miles walking DVD & 45 min. shoveling snow

Saturday-Jan 9th. Today Shane took the kids to the Primary activity. I started the dishwasher, ate my Special K cereal breakfast (that is important because I really hate breakfast cereal, but this one tastes good and is part of my diet goals), straightened up the kitchen, started the laundry, popped in my walking DVD, and then got ready to exercise.


I was lacing up my shoes and watching the DVD intro when suddenly I realized I was ALONE! I could actually leave the house for a run if I wanted. I couldn't believe my luck! That NEVER happens. I quickly switched to cold weather running clothes, grabbed my cell phone, and RAN OUT THE DOOR!

I am so proud of myself. I haven't run outside since early December. I ran 2.8 miles in 32 minutes. I had to walk about a fourth of the time, but that is not too bad since I've not been exercising and I've been eating junk food!


I handled the cold pretty well. I need to remember to put on Chapstick, wear heavier gloves, and switch to a hat that covers my ears. Other than that, it was PERFECT!


So, wish me luck. I am heading to one of the biggest acheivements I have ever set my heart on.