Hardly Awesome!!

Today was 19 miles of blissful fun ;)  Holly thought it was "hardly awesome!"  She meant awesomely hard...I think, but it came out a little backwards!  We basically ran from south Provo to the Canyon, into Orem onto State Street and back to soooooouth Provo, really south, then back to the Gold's on 9th East.  19 miles is far, that is all I will say.  We only feared for our lives once when a shady looking fella walked past us.  We both turned around to make sure he was still going the opposite direction and guess what?  He turned around to look at us at the exact same time, oopsie!  We survived the run!

The foam rolling and ice bath were a different story.  MISERABLE!

Now let me rewind a little to how I was feeling yesterday.  I felt great all day and then suddenly at about 3 o'clock I could barely walk.  Okay, I could walk but not without a limp, my buttocks was killing me.  Something just wasn't right!  I got home from work and foam rolled and stretched but it only seemed to get worse!  I started to panic just a little, I know how stubborn angry muscles can be and I didn't want to miss this looooooong run!  I know from earlier posts you may think that I wanted to but in reality I knew I couldn't miss this.  Luckily, Jorge was willing to give me a not so sensual maaaaasage ;)  It was painful to say the least but I was able to run today with none of the pain I was experiencing yesterday!  YAY Jorge!  The House of Pain came through again.  I can't believe the difference massage can make, when done right that is.  I don't want any fluff with my massage just good ol' fashioned pain :)  For a minute I thought perhaps Jorge was angry with me and was taking his frustrations out on my poor little (I mean HUGE ;) muscles!  Nope, he was just doing what he does best, fixing angry muscles!

So at this point I could rattle off mile by mile how my run went but what would be the fun in that, besides the point that I don't rightly recall every little detail.  Instead I will share a few things that have happened this past week.

Guess how many of these little gems it took to properly fuel my run this morning??

2!  Yep, I ate 2 of these suckers yesterday.  I called Jake early in the day to express my concern about Hill's Bakery running out of chocolate cake donuts before I could make it there.  I love the bakery but they NEVER make enough of the good stuff.  He said he would go and get me one, what a wonderful man I have lawfully wedded!  Then Holly being the kind, wonderful person that she is brought me donut to work.  I have got these people wrapped around my little finger ;) JK!!  They are amazing and I am grateful to have them in my life!

I have been blessed (not) with very large veins that like to stick out!  The other day as I was conditioning the gymnasts this conversation took place:

Gymnast: "Holy cow, she must be angry!" (said to the other girls)

Me: "Why?"

Gymnast: "Because your veins are popping out!"

Me: "Yes, I am like the Hulk and when I get angry my veins pop out, so you better get to work and watch out!"  Hee hee hee, it was funny!  Now I know how to get them to work hard, just bust out the vein-y arms baaahaaaaahaaahaaa!

A few days ago I was telling Jake a story about someone close to my heart who had been "profiled" (I guess that's the right word) by a cop!  Jake said "That's illegal!"

I said "It is?"

Jake: "Well, that's what my friend Jay Z tells me!"

Ha ha ha, Jay Z :) 

(Maybe you had to be there ;/)

I couldn't leave you without a funny Kobe story, now could I?

The other day I was doing my cornies hair for school and Kobe said, looking at Kenna "We look just the same...well, never mind I don't have elf ears!" FUNNY!

Kenna doesn't have elf ears at all, just for your FYI (that was a line stolen from House Bunny, I know it doesn't make sense, so don't tell me ;)

I guess I am done with my non-sense for today!  I hope you all have a great weekend!  I am getting ready to head off to In and Out for a big A cheeseburger!  I have never been a huge In and Out fan so we will see how it goes.  Jake didn't believe me when I told him I would go there.  I guess running 19 miles makes me crave a huge, greasy cheeseburger and fries :)  Good day me Mateys!!

"The Plan"

I have a bit of advise for anyone who has a hard time motivating themselves to do a particular workout!  Maybe this only works for people with CrAzY brains like mine but I find that if I am following some sort of training program I HAVE to stick to it!  If it is written down then it has to be done.  Right now I am training for a marathon and I am following a training program that I put together, I pretty much combined 2 different schedules and put my own twist on some of the miles :)  Anyways, this morning I was supposed to do 6 X Hill repeats and I was DREADING it!!  But guess what?  It was on the schedule so I made myself do it.

I should, however, pay closer attention to the little things, like am I supposed to do .25 mile repeats or .50 mile repeats?  It may not seem like a big difference but I am here to tell you that it is!!!  I guess in my little pea-sized brain I got Yazzo 800's mixed up with hill repeats.  I started my warm-up and the whole time I was dreading what was coming.  Pretty soon that first mile was finished and it was time to bump up the incline.  I decided to start "easy" and put it at 5.5% while running at 7.5 mph (obviously done on a treadmill)!  I couldn't believe how hard it was, after all, last time I was at the same speed but my incline was at 7%!!!  It took A LOT of self talk to get me through the next 2, I wanted so badly to give up but it was on the schedule so I HAD to do it!  By the third repeat I decided that I was either going to stay at 5.5% and quite possibly DIE or lower the incline a titch.  I did the last 3 repeats at a 5% and it was tough.

Here is what I have wanted to do all day...did I get to? NO!

At about the halfway point of this workout I thought to myself "was I supposed to be doing .25 or .50 mile repeats?"  When I got home I checked and I must admit that I felt pretty hardcore when I saw that I was only supposed to do .25 milers but I did .50 milers!  I guess that explains why I felt like death at such a lower % incline.

I know that had this workout not been part of "the plan" I would have given up.  I had to keep telling myself that it was my mind that was done, not my body.  That was easy for me to say, my poor toe was throbbing.  Yesterday I had to pull my toenail out because had I left it hanging it would have been ripped off and no good could come of that!  I had to complete the workout and I am so glad that I did.  Sure I was a sweaty, disgusting mess but I did it! 

This was not taken today but McKenna wondered why on earth I would wear

my hoodie to workout in...I didn't I was just such a sweaty mess that it went through

onto my hoodie!

No matter what I need to accomplish in my life, I find that if it is written down it gets done and if it isn't written down it most likely won't get done.  Following a plan, especially in running/working out, makes a big difference.  I can pull up my training schedule the night before a run and know exactly what I am suppose to do the next day.  I can mentally prepare, or at least try, some workouts are pretty hard to get geared up for no matter what :)  Take for instance my long run on Saturday.  I am supposed to do 19 miles, that just seems a little too far ;)  The week of my 17 mile run I was in a rush and only did 14 (I don't know what got into me that week, I didn't stick to the plan), so the furthest I have run in a loooong time is 16 miles.  Lesson learned, stick to the plan!  Had I done 17 that week I don't think I would be so blasted scared of 19!

I guess to fuel my long run I am forced to go get my secret to a good long run :) YUM!!

The week that I didn't stick to the plan is also the week that I over-trained myself!! 

No matter what distance you are training for if you follow a training schedule and do the work you will know without a doubt that you are ready on race day!!

Be Mine!

Valentines Day came early for us this year.  My sweet little Mama brought us a little something last night...

They were delicious!  This morning when I got home from the gym I found these

sitting on the kitchen counter...YUM!

Then I went to Hill's Bakery in Ream's and picked up these little beauties, yes I got myself one.  I knew that with this kind of goodness no one would share, don't worry I ate it before anyone even knew!!

Then it was off to Kobe's third grade class for a Valentine's Day party and can I just tell you how grateful I am for teachers!  I could NEVER do it, those kids are hoodlums ;)  I was in charge of a game so we played "Be Mine" aka BINGO!  It was quite the time.  Kobe and a large kid in his class did a chest bump and I thought Kobe was going to fly into the next classroom.

McKenna had her first dance today!  It was the 6th Grade sock hop, she looked so cute in her little poodle skirt.  I wish I would have gotten a picture but she is at gymnastics now so too bad for you.

In case I hadn't eaten enough garbage for one day Holly sent McKenna home with some "devil cookies."  There is no picture because it had been at least 5 hours since my last cookie and I gobbled them right up ;)  I ate waaaaay too many of them!  I think the theme of this Valentine's Day is LOVE HANDLES!!!  I should have ran A LOT further than 9 miles today that's for sure.  Truth be told I feel like going out and running 10 more miles.  Or maybe I will just tell Jake and the kids that I will meet them at Zupa's and I will run there...I wish!  Jake wouldn't have it, especially after I told him how I over did it a week or so ago.  He is always saying that I workout too much anyway, is that even possible ;) JK!!! 

So although the theme of this holiday seems to be cookies and chocolate, I am truly grateful for all of the great people in my life.  I am so lucky to have the best husband EVER and the two sweetest little cornies anyone could ever ask for.  I have the best parents, in-laws, out-laws...oh wait, forget that last one.  I have the BEST family and I love them all!  I am also greatly blessed with some pretty great friends.  This morning Holly gave me this box of goodies...

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!  Here is a little Valentine from me to you!

Well, for some reason my picture is upside down :/ just flip your computer over right quick so you can read your very special Valentine.  It was one of my favorite "Be Mine" cards from our game today!

Darn those Diplomat's!

Although it has been a week since McKenna and I went to Arizona I have really wanted to do a post about our trip.  First, I will say that the week of this trip I ran more miles than I EVER have in a week.  I did a grand total of 72 miles, which I am sure is nothing compared to what most of you do but to me it was a big deal.  Here is how my week of running went:


Monday:  I did 10 miles at the gym.  After work as I was driving home I decided that I wanted to go for a run outside.  Jake said he was going to go pay our car payment but I insisted that I run it there so I did 7.5 miles.  It was a bit further than I was hoping for but it felt good.
Tuesday:  9.75 miles at the gym.
Wednesday:  After our 2 hour workout at the gym Holly and I decided to go for a run to pay one of her bills, there really is no better way to pay bills ;)  We did 6.75 miles!  Holly was a champ and pushed her hilarious 2 year old in the jogging stroller...we do NOT live in a flat area!
Thursday: 8 miles at the gym.
Friday:  I decided to get my long run in before we left for Arizona, we were scheduled to do 17 but I only got 14 in :(  I was just glad I got a workout in before sitting in the car ALLLLLLL day!
Saturday:  I woke up early and headed one door down to the hotel gym for a 10 mile run.
Sunday:  After sitting in the car all weekend and eating pazookies, I decided to do 6 miles on the hotel treadmill while Kenna swam with her friends.
I must admit that I went a little overboard and over trained myself.  I have decided that it is much better for me to stick closer to 50 miles a week.  I know a lot of people run way more than 72 miles a week but I know my limits and I went over that limit :(  I paid for my stupidity all last week and only ran 48 miles.  I had a hard time looking at that number, I wanted at least 50 but I resisted the urge to get those last 2 miles in.  I knew I had over trained and that I was better off with a low mileage week.


Now onto more entertaining things...I hope.  So the reason for our trip to Arizona was so that McKenna and her team could do a gymnastics competition, McKenna is a level 7 and is soooo fun to watch!  Holly and her boys made this for McKenna and brought it over right before we left.  They are so sweet!

Needless to say she had plenty of snacks for the road!

We drove down with Brinlee, her teammate, and her mom Marcie.  We left Springville at about 8:30 a.m. and drove all the live long day.  Sure we stopped 763 times, or 5, but still why does Arizona have to be so blasted far away?  We went through Las Vegas and let me tell you that that was the ugliest drive EVER!!  From Vegas to Chandler there is NOTHING but a few million cacti, sure they can be entertaining to look at but only for so long.  Some kind of "beautiful country" that turned out to be ;)  I was really looking forward to driving over the Hoover Dam, we have been there before and I thought it was so amazing.  I was expecting to see this...

Instead I saw NOTHING, you couldn't even tell you were driving over the dam dam, it was "a dam shame!"  Hee Hee Hee, that's what Marcie's husband said when we told him about the sadness!  Here is a picture of the new dam bridge, it looks like you would be able to see the dam but you can't!!  Okay, enough of the dam non-sense!

We stopped at Wickenburg for some Micky D's, there were slim pickin's in Wickenburg!  We tried to keep ourselves pretty well entertained but by the time we got to Chandler we were all CRAZYSAUCE!!  That was the WORST drive of my life and I did not want to do it again in 1.2 days!


When we walked into the hotel I felt right at home, it was a short people convention!  Oh wait, it was just a lot of gymnasts and their short families.   It was kind of weird being surrounded by so many small people, that just doesn't happen everyday!  Unless, I'm at a family reunion that is.  The pool was a sight too, tons of buff little girls hanging out!


Saturday was spent sitting by the pool in the lovely 70 degree weather, shopping, laughing, eating....Oh wait, I nearly forgot something very important.  Way back in the summer one of my co-workers told me that I just HAD to go to the best store EVER!!  She said it was like the Nordstrom Rack only cheaper, what could be better than that??  So I told Marcie about it, we typed the address into "Char", the GPS, and off we went.  We drove at least 25 minutes to Phoenix to go to a store that was nothing short of Deseret Industries.  It was HORRIBLE!!  All we could do was laugh, we had driven all that way for ab.so.lutley NOTHING!!


Saturday night we met up with all of the AirTime gymnasts, their families and Coach Meagan for some supper at the Old Spaghetti Factory!  It was a fine time, I was really hoping to go to BJ's so I could partake of a pazookie but alas all the girls wanted OSF...what did they think, that this trip was for them or something ;)


Sunday morning we woke up early to get over to the Fiesta Bowl, it was in this huge "tent" thingy and it was freeeezing cold.  The meet was very well organized and went very smoothly.  I had no idea going into the meet that the girls would be competing against all of the top gyms in the COUNTRY.  There were teams there from Alaska to Texas and everywhere in between and beyond!  The girls held their own but it was kind of a rough meet for my sweet little Kenna Korn! 


They had beam first and as soon as they started warming up I could tell that she was freaking herself out, she was breathing heavy and I could see the fear in her eyes.  She was the last girl to warm-up on beam and she feel about 80 times, okay I exaggerated but she fell A LOT!  I felt horrible for her, she started crying and so did Marcie and I, OK we just got a little teary but it was hard to watch.  Poor little Kenna was a mess, I wanted so badly to go out and give her a big hug and tell her that everything would be okay.  When she actually competed she did her back handspring perfectly but fell on her blasted full turn, I was just glad she did the back handspring!!  I was so proud of her for getting up on that beam and going for it even though I knew how scared she was.


Next up was floor, I wasn't too worried about floor other than the fact that her coach wanted her to do a "full" instead of a back tuck and she was nervous about that.  She nailed her routine, she looked great!!  Her score took forever to come up, I couldn't figure out what was taking so long.  Then her score came up...7.9!  WHAT???  She looked awesome, surely I must have missed something.  None of the other moms could figure it out either.  Another girl actually fell on her routine and got a higher score.  It took all that I had not to walk up to the stupid judges and slap their faces...jk I'm not a physical person :)  Apparently, Kenna had done a level C trick and they are only allowed to do levels A and B!  Seriously, they gave her a crappy score for doing a trick that was too hard?  It's not like what she did was dangerous, yet they took off a whole point just for doing a switch leap.  That was frustrating, in case you couldn't tell.

Vault and bars were pretty uneventful...thank goodness.  Overall, she had a good time and I thought it was good to see where our girls were in comparison to other girls from around the nation.  It was a fun meet!  McKenna got 8th on bars!  The competition was tough, especially in her age group, you had to score well over a 9 to place at all!  I think our girls did great and it was fun to spend the weekend with them.

Here is a team photo

After the meet we decided we had better get to BJ's for my beloved pazookie that I have been craving since September when I first experienced the deliciousness! 

Then it was back in the car to look at the weird cacti.  We decided to stop in Mesquite on the way home, the drive is just too long!  One of the other gymnasts and her parents decided to stop in Mesquite too.  As we were traveling along we texted them to see where they were.  They had left about an hour before us, yet they were in Vegas at about the same time we were.  Brinlee was reading a text they had sent.  Here is what I heard...those darn diplomat's sent them to Laughlin!  WHAT???  Here is what was actually said...the darn google maps sent them to Laughlin.  Darn those diplomats anyways.


In Vegas we stopped at Pei Wei for dinner and I got the best fortune EVER!! 

So we did and here is what we found...

blath·er·skite/ˈblaT͟Hərˌskīt/

Noun:

A person who talks at great length without making much sense. Foolish talk; nonsense: "politicians get away all the time with their blatherskite".

Well, if you know me at all then you know that blatherskite describes me pretty dang well :)

That pretty much sums up our weekend, it was so much fun...I could have done without the 10+ hour drive to and fro Arizona.  This was the first girl's weekend McKenna and I have had together and I loved it!  I did miss my boys greatly though.  I have been away from Jake for weeks at a time but not Kobe.  I did have a hard time being away from Kobe for so long, Boston is going to be HARD!!!  At least I knew he was at home with Jake having all sorts of fun!

Talk about being a blatherskite, sorry that was so long!