Training Day 18 - Gardner Village

K guys, you ready for what I'm about to lay on you???

I.

RAN.

T-W-E-N-T-Y.

MILES.

Can you believe it?!?!? I can't either. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be running 5 miles let alone 20, I would have laughed in your face and then stuffed my own with another Oreo.

5k? Do it in my sleep.

10k? Just getting warmed up.

Half marathon? Barely breaking a sweat.

Full marathon? Right around the corner!!!

20 freakin' miles!!! I can't get over it! I'm so amazed by myself and my ability that I can't help but feel proud and brag about it to all those who will listen!

This will be the farthest I run until my marathon. And now that I've done 20, those last 6.2 miles are just time on my feet. I'm golden!

I have to admit, though, I was so jovial about this 20 mile run while I was actually running.

Since different teams were running different mileage on Saturday, I ran a good portion of the 20 miles by my onesies. I ran the first 9 miles with Steph, but since she only had to run 16 that day, she turned around before I did. I was left to run the last half all alone.

I was doing all right until about mile 15 and I started getting a bit dehydrated. I finally made it to the next water stop and chugged like 16 gallons of Gatorade. And in the short time that I had stopped to rehydrate and refuel, my muscles started freezing up. I immediately became so stiff that I really didn't think I could run one more stop. But alas, I made myself a deal that if I ran one more mile, I'd let myself walk the remaining 4.

That next mile was probably one of the hardest I've ever ran. Every square inch of my body was aching and even though I had just guzzled down fluids, I was still close to being dehydrated. I was in tears and nearly ready to give up when I saw one of my team captains, Scott, pedaling toward me on his bike.

He gave me the verbal equivalent of a pat on the back and told me that just 2 weeks before I had already run 18 miles so he and I both knew I could do it. I sucked it up and kept running...though at a VERY slow pace.

Scott helped me set mini goals and before I knew it, I was past the next two water stops and on to my very last mile.

Near the end, Coach Dave also met up with us on his bike and pedaled along until I was about 1/2 mile out. The trail was fenced off, so Coach Dave and Scott couldn't squeeze their bikes through and I was once again left on my own. But with the pep talk and encouragement I just received from Scott and Coach Dave, and with the end literally in site, I not only ran the last 1/2 mile to the finish on my own, but I also increased my pace.

On my way home, I pretty much bawled like a baby the entire time. I cried not only because my body was so sore but also because next to getting married, graduating college, and having a child, successfully running 20 miles was one of the best moments of my life.

I know that when I finally run my marathon in less than 3 weeks, I'll be an emotional wreck. Crossing that finish line will be one of the most incredible feelings. And I'm so happy and excited to share that moment with all my friends and family.

Thank you, thank you for your love and support.

My Crusty Crusts

How exactly do you dye your hurr wif kool-aid?

Dictionary

After reading SSLA's most recent post on family sayings, I felt all nostalgic and reread a previous post I wrote over a year ago on this very same subject.

After having a good laugh, I've decided to update my list of family sayings and made-up words.

1. Boonie Bear, Schnitzel, Blitzen, Squiggles: terms of endearment we use to refer to Baby
2. I'm making chocolate cake: standard answer given whenever a family member asks us what we're doing; derived from a family friend who, when she was younger, was out in her mother's garden, wallowing in soil. Upon asking her what in the world she was doing, she proceeded to explain, in her raspy voice, that she was making chocolate cake.
3. moe moe: sleep ; Hawaiian
4. hal kika: mahal kita, I love you; Tagolog
5. Poomart: Walmart; we HATE that place cuz it reminds us of the place we used to live, but damn those low prices!
6. the place we used to live: we hate this state so much that we won't even refer to it by it's proper name; the state in which Graceland is located
7. a one: in actual existence or something true, e.g. "Tim-Tams in the U.S.? I didn't even know that was a one!"
8. What's a Wu Tang?: said when someone asks a silly question; derived from a time when my brothers and I were talking about Wu Tang Clan and Grandma pipes in to ask, "What's a Wu Tang?"
9. toe-buhlly: totally; Lolli adapted it from Crush on Finding Nemo
10. gypsy: GPS

What are some of your favorite made-up words or phrases that have made their way into your daily vocabulary?

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Since I'm only about 1 month away from my marathon, I promised myself that after Easter and once all the candy was out of my house, I'd start a healthier diet. But after my 17.5 mile run this weekend, I felt like I could reward myself with a little See's candy. Surely I burned enough calories during my run to balance out the calories of a single, tiny, caramely piece of chocolate heaven.

Big problem: I didn't eat just one piece of See's candy. No, no. I ate about 6 pieces of See's candy. That's like a BILLION calories in a single sitting!!!

Since then, all I can think about is See's candy. Whereas before, when I had all the Easter candy in my house, I didn't really eat much of it. But now, because I've cleared my cupboards of goodies and I've told myself "no junk," of course that's all I want!!!

I've never been good at diets. I think they're stupid. I hate them. I love food. Therein lies my problem.

"Do you live to eat or eat to live?"

Those words, spoken at our team nutrition clinic by a licensed dietitian, will continue to haunt me.

Damn you, 1 pound box of nuts and chews!!!

Training Day 17 - Provo River Parkway

Remember how pumped I was back in February when I ran 10 miles down in Vegas? Well, those 10 miles were NOTHING compared to the 17.5 I ran yesterday.

17.5 miles.

Seventeen and one half miles.

I ran 17.5 miles down the Provo River Parkway.

Well sure I can't walk today nor can I pick up my child without feeling like my lumbar spine is about to splinter into a thousand million pieces...but damn it! I ran 17.5 miles!

All joking aside, this has come to be one of my greatest life accomplishments. I couldn't be more proud, impressed, or fulfilled. The only thing that could be better is completing 26.2 miles on May 15th. Can't wait!!

A huge !THANK YOU! to everyone who has helped me get to this point. Whether you supported me financially by making donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society or you simply sent good and positive vibes my way, I thank you a million times over.

There's no way I could have come this far by myself, and I've still got so much farther to go. I welcome your continued support and can't wait to cross that finish line.

17.5 miles down, 8.7 more to go!!

Your to stupid to get it's meaning

As an English/editing major, I hold a special place in my heart for grammar. I love diagramming sentences, identifying parts of speech, and studying punctuation. I love love LOVE the Chicago Manual of Style and at one point, I even had the thing practically memorized! Copy editing is one of my most favorite pastimes.

My dreams of working as an editor for a gossip magazine have come and gone, but that doesn't mean I've let my love for grammar go. That also doesn't mean that I ALWAYS author posts that are grammatically correct.

The thing that I love about blogs is that you can be as formal or as casual as you want. With email, texting, social networking site, whatever, I hardly ever use proper grammar. Half the time, i dont even capitalize or punctuate correctly. Usually I'm in such a rush to send out an email or get a post up that I have a million typos in whatever I'm writing. Hell, this blog post probably already has like 90 typos. So don't worry. I'm not judging your texts, emails, or Tweets. I don't pick a part everything you type or write. I don't really care and I don't really have the time.

NEVERTHELESS...

There are a few flagrant grammar mistakes people make that aggravate the hell outta me and just make you look stupid. In no particular order:

Your/You're
AHHHHHH!!!! I can't stand when people get these two mixed up! What don't you get? One means you possess it the other means you are. Get it straight!

There/Their/They're
These are 3 different words, people. They're not meant to be used interchangeably.

Lay/Lie
Lie is an intransitive verb whereas lay is a transitive verb and requires a direct object. Too geeky for you? Try this: You lay your head on a pillow when you lie down. Your head is the direct object. Down is simply an adverb, describing where you're resting your head. Not that hard.

To/Too
Too is an adverb with two different meanings, 1. excessively, You're too stupid and 2. also or as well, He's stupid, too. On the other hand, to is a participle. To meets up with a verb to create an infinitive like to punch. Or, to can be used as a preposition as in I learned proper grammar by going to school.

Its/It's
Its is possessive, Hawaii is known for its beautiful women. (heehee!) It's is a contraction, meaning it is or it has, It's been a pain in my ass trying to read your grammatically incorrect term paper.

Do any of you share my sentiments when it comes to these grammatical errors? Or am I just anal? What are some of your grammatical pet peeves?

Training Day 16 - Easter

After rolling my ankle and being sick for nearly 2 weeks, I've finally been able to get out and run. I've missed 2 team runs; a 10 mile recovery run as well as a crazy 18 miler. This Saturday, I was all set to get back in the game and head up to the Capitol to do another recovery run with the team. Well, I totally forgot about the holiday weekend. Our ward was doing a big Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning that I was supposed to take Lolli to. So, I ditched out on my team run so I'd be available in the morning to take Lolli over to the park. Ummm...I didn't even wake up 'til about noon. I completely missed the team run and I didn't even wake up in time to go over to the park. Taking a sleeping pill at 11:30pm is NOT recommended! You'll be out cold for at least 9 hours!

When I groggily got myself out of bed, I told myself I'd run the 10 miles around the neighborhood on my own. But another family Easter egg hunt and an entire bag of Cadbury mini eggs later, I was way too lethargic and full to even move. I vowed to run the following day.

Once again, the day started off with sleeping in WAY too late. It wasn't noon, but it was still pretty late. We had to rush over to my mom's house for lunch and another Easter egg hunt with the grand babies. And lemme tell you, by this point, Lolli was an Easter egg hunting queen! She rounded up TONS of eggs. Actually, all of the babies were quite good at it. Though, whenever candy is involved, they're good at anything!

After the hunt, I continued to stuff my face with egg salad sandwiches, See's chocolate eggs, and Reese's bunnies. By the time we left my mom's house, I was crying for my stretchy pants! And even worse? We were due at Ry's mom's house in less than 2 hours for another Easter feast! (Having lots of family around is fun, but it sure gets busy and tiresome and can cause you to gain a few pounds.)

So when we got home, instead of lazing around and watching trashy T.V. or crawling into bed to take a nap like I wanted to, I threw on my workout gear and hit the pavement.

The first 5 miles were cake. I had adrenaline coursing through my veins and was starting to feel the effects of the carb BOOM! i had downed just prior to leaving mi casa.

I get to about 5.5 miles and stop to grab a swig of water and throw back another gel. Waiting for the gel to kick in, I take off again for another lap around the neighborhood. Dunno what happened but it was all I could do to keep putting one foot in front of the other for the next 3 miles. My body felt SOOOO heavy. Maybe I should have held off on eating that 2nd helping of baked beans at my mom's. Or maybe it was that handful of Swedish fish in between the bite-size Milky Way and Snicker's that I inhaled??? Whatever the reason, those 3 miles were killer!!

But then, an Easter miracle! My iPod, which was on shuffle, started kicking out songs with raging beats. I felt the adrenaline rush back in and noticed my stride started to synch with the beat of the music. And before I knew it, I was off again! I finished the last 2.5 miles in record time.

My husband picked me up and we headed over to my in-laws where I consumed 23 slices of glazed ham and about 19 pounds of funeral potatoes. Good thing I did run those 10 miles because I may have helped myself to a little too much cream for my bowl of strawberries.

I could never be anorexic. I love food.