The Baker's Dozen Half Marathon

Hurricane Utah holds a special place in my heart. My grandparents lived here when I was a young girl all the way into adult life and I would come every Summer while young to work in their souvenir, moccasin, turquoise jewelry, and gift shop. It was there at "The Wheel" where I learned my first experiences in working behind a counter, helping customers, and learning about handling money. They have both passed away many years ago but I still have so many warm and loving memories of them and the things they taught me. When I learned about this Baker's Dozen Half Marathon coming up in this cute little town of Hurricane I just knew I needed to come down and participate. I still have cousins and other relatives that live here and I knew it was time for a visit with them as well as getting to enjoy a December race. Half Marathons up North are pretty much non-existent in December, unless you create your own with running friends.

(which is already in the works for Saturday December 22nd 7:00 am-let me know if you want to join us!)

I had to teach piano until 4:30 pm on Friday and so as soon as I was done I picked up my sister, Marie, who would be traveling down with me.  We got to Hurricane late Friday night.  I dropped her off at one cousin's house and I headed over to another cousin's house where I spent the night and then got up early Saturday morning to a nice little steady drizzle of rain going on outside.

I headed to the starting line and got my packet and put on my costume, where I was greeted by the ever famous Cory Reese, aka-race director, costume guru, ultra runner, piano-playing machine, and just an all around good guy.  You can tell just looking at this picture right?  Seriously, do you know anybody who would wear a pair of yellow tights?  Let alone own a pair of yellow tights? That's proof he's harmless!  This race used to be called the Hostess Half Marathon until Cory officially made this run official?  We were encouraged to dress up and so I just knew I needed to pull out this old trusty twinkie outfit to run it.

I met up with a running friend, Lori Spindler from way up North, in the Logan area.  She was just as nuts as me in traveling so far to run 13 miles.  But we weren't the craziest ones.  Apparently, somebody came from Georgia and three other gals flew in to Vegas then drove here.  They are from Colorado.  That's some serious traveling for a race.

We lined up for pictures of just those in costumes and then the whole entire group of runners as well.  The photographer has some amazing skills and was so kind to let us use them for personal use.  His name is Alex Santiago and I was happy to get to meet him.  I've seen some of his other running photography before on Face book and Cory's blog.  It's pretty obvious which photos are his in this post.  I love the vibrant and contrasting colors he so creatively edits into his work.

Alex Santiago aka, amazing photographer!!

This race was set up as a 3.25 mile loop and we would be running it four times.  I have never run a loop course half marathon before.  I have run a 5K loop course though.  I was just happy that I would get to see runners throughout the course because of my slow running skills. I knew at some point I would be getting lapped.  There was an aid station called the Sugar Shack here at the starting line that had some pretty awesome treats in store for us runners.  The only requirement when we signed up for this race was that we had to eat at least one treat each loop.  There would be a prize for the man and woman who could down the most. 

I managed to down 6 of these sweet quarter chunks.  They were super duper delicious and my mouth is still watering just looking at them and remembering how yummy they were.  I certainly wasn't going for the mostest award which turned out to be 30 by the man winner and 21 by the woman winner.  I'm not sure how they kept those things in their belly and still managed to keep running.

This is how they kept track of our eating!  Even after two days of showers I still had left over tally marks on my wrist.  That's a pretty powerful marker they used.  Although I certainly enjoy eating treats at a race for me this race was all about seeing other running friends and just being out there having a great time.  I felt like a little kid getting to play in the rain.

You could even say I was singing in the rain.  My ipod I had brought didn't get charged at home before coming to the race and so I put it back in my car after discovering a dead battery and decided to just sing some Christmas songs near the end of the race.  You could say Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Up on the Housetop, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and a few others were sung a few times with a nice little catchy beat to keep me feeling a little more pumped.

At one point in the loop we got to run on a dirt trail.  You can bet this was my favorite part of the course.  I could have just run up and down this section and been as pleased as pudding for the rest of the race.  Oh well, then I would have missed stuff like this cute sign, that after a little while in the rain wasn't looking so "Merry and Bright" anymore.

In all my lifetime of coming to Hurricane, Utah I don't recall ever seeing snow on Molly's Nipple.  This was a pretty rare sight for me so a photo was a definite need. 

As I was completing my third lap many people were passing me and I just knew they were finishing up their fourth time around.  I looked back at this cute gal, Kaelee Clifford and told her she was a speedy girl.  She recognized me from Runner's Anonymous Face book group and we chatted for a little bit as we ran.  It was certainly a fun opportunity to meet her.  She headed into the ending and I ate a treat at the sugar shack and headed out for my fourth and final loop.

When I did my final 3.25 miles and came into the ending I saw a few more people to chat with.  First off, my cousin whom I stayed with stopped by to see me at the finish.

This blogging friend of mine, Betsy Hoenes made the trip down from Salt Lake City with her husband and I visited with her for a few minutes.

This is Rebecca, one of the girls who came all the way from Colorado for this race.  She's pretty amazing because she has run a half marathon in every one of the 50 states.  I think that is so awesome!  She is also working on a race on every continent.  What a fun goal!

And this girl I saved for the very end.  Are there ever any people in your life you just feel an instant kinship with?  I have followed Jess's blog for a quite a few months now and have been so excited to finally get to meet this girl in real life.  She is a runner and does cross fit and is a super strong woman.  She is pregnant now and so didn't run the race but came to be a volunteer and cheer for the runners.  I wanted so much to hang out with her longer and just get to know her more.  We talked about different races in Utah and vowed that we WILL run a race together at some point.  It probably won't happen until 2014 because she's got to get that little precious baby here first and then get back to training.  Next time I'm in Hurricane Jess, we are going to lunch and are going to hang out K? And I can't wait to get to hold your little baby when he/she gets here.  

The most delicious looking medal I own.  Isn't it a pretty one? 

Pretty funny, sad but true, shirt we got at the race.  Creative minds out there conjuring up this stuff!  Great race Cory Reese!!

My final time from wearing a spongy, rain drenched twinkie costume was 2:41:40.  Not too bad for having a party out there on the course and for enjoying some tasty treats at the sugar shack.  This race will be on the list as a must do again in 2013.  I can honestly say this race will go down in history as a top favorite.  When you have the opportunity to just run and have a party at the same time how could it not be a great experience?

The Santa 5K Run

It's that time of year for holiday posts and I will be posting a few. Some running related and others not so much. I've also been debating about starting a new blog that is separate from my running adventures that are just family related. This blog reached its max recently of photo capacity and so I frantically started deleting everything I had already made a blog book out of from 2008 and 2009. But now I'm not so sure I want to keep doing that.  My 2010 blog book is here with all of the posts about my precious son Porter who passed away that year in that tragic hiking accident that is constantly there in the back of my mind.  I'm pretty sure my running has helped me cope with his loss.  It's so often as I'm running I get to just think about him, so to just delete all those posts from 2010 just doesn't seem right for me, yet. Even though I now have them in a big hard bound book.  Anyway, on to this post about running and the holidays.

This is Joe, my Cousins husband who is a race director in Utah and does about 8 big races a year.  I ran his Midnight Legacy Run this last Summer up on the Legacy Parkway Trail and had a fabulous time.  For the Provo Santa 5K run he asked if I would wear his Go Pro camera on my head while I ran.  This he would use as he creates the promotional video for next year's Santa Runs.  He does three of them in the state. I'm kind of excited to see what his video will be like and if any of my filming while running paid off.

I arrived about a half hour before the race started and got my outfit on and the camera turned on.  I didn't know how to operate it very well so I just told Joe to turn it on and leave it on so I didn't mess up anything.

As the Santa runners were gathering I just meandered around the crowd trying to film people just being themselves.  When it came closer to race time I stood right at the starting line about thirty feet in front of everyone in the middle of the street backwards and let them run by me so I could film them wizzing by.  Joe warned them on his loudspeaker to not trample me as they ran by.  Yeah, that was a pretty scary feeling to be rushed at by 900 Santas.

Do any of you own one of these little gadgets?  I'm sure they are a pretty fun little toy but I'm here to tell you they squeezed the who-knows-what out of my brains.  About mile 2 into the race my head was hurting and I had to do a little adjusting to somehow stop the squeezing.  It didn't work too well.  By about mile 2.75 I couldn't wait to get this thing off of me, but I was given an assignment and I was going to complete it. 

Yup, this is getting near the end of the race and I was over-dressed, over-heated, and over-squeezed.  I did have a fabulous time though running back and forth throughout the crowd and telling people to do something fun for the camera as they were running.  When I got to the finish line I couldn't believe that 3 miles was already over.  A 5K just seems so short when compared to half marathons.  I wasn't ready to be done and so I didn't run through the chute, instead I turned around and headed back out on the course so that I could keep filming people.  My final time which really didn't matter one bit this time because of the fun assignment I had was 38:22.  I came in to the finish line area where I enjoyed some hot chocolate, chips, and a visit with my very fun Uncle Arden.  This is my cousins daddy and he was hear helping out with the race as well. 

The course was a one mile loop that we went around three times and then a short little turn down the street and around a corner to the finish line area.  I have never run a loop course before and so this was a fun experience because I never knew where I was as far as standings go.  There were always people in front and me and behind me and I never felt like I was near last place, like some races I have run. I guess I just can't help it if I'm a slow runner.  And I guess I shouldn't care but I sort of do.  For now it's about enjoying the experiences.

Christmas Piano Recital 2012

I don't post much about my life as a piano teacher but I truly do love it and feel like I have the most amazing kids ever that I have the opportunity of teaching. They bring so much joy to my life and fill my day with glad sounds. After losing Porter I thought teaching was going to be a challenge but it has actually been a huge blessing as these kids come so diligently week after week and fill my home with happy melodies. They give me an extra special purpose to life and bring smiles to my face.

At Halloween time they learn and memorize a Halloween song and dress up in a costume and play for each other and one guest.  Just only 6-7 weeks later they are working hard getting a Christmas piece learned to perform for the parents and families and I put huge pressure on them to get it learned and memorized in time.  Most of them pull through for me and make me proud.  Because I teach a large number of kids (about 43)  I have to split the recitals into two sessions so that all the families may be accommodated in one recital hall. 

This is the first group of kids

The second group of kids.

We were missing a few others due to scheduling conflicts and I missed them.

This is my good buddy Laurie.  I walk with her twice a week and share all my life's details with her.  She basically knows everything about me and I appreciate her so much for all the leaning I do on her.  She was just recently made the RS President in her ward and I wasn't one bit surprised.  She has a great heart and is just so warm and caring and easy to be around. She will serve her group of ladies well and they are so lucky to have her.

I love all my students so much and these two included have found a special place in my heart.
Some kids I have taught for a lengthy amount of time and as they grow and turn into little young adults it's so hard to watch them move on to colleges and missions.  It's like they have become one of my own kids and I get so attached to them and it's hard to see them leave. 

My life is so filled up with running, piano teaching, being a wife, mother and grandmother that I have neglected my relationships with other family members.  It's not on purpose, it's just gradually happened over the years and I've recently been trying to turn that around.  My two sisters are a joy to be around and really know how to bring on the laughter and fun. This is my sister Kareena and Marie.  With the holidays so near we have been trying to do more things together and I was so delighted that they both wanted to attend my piano recital and share in that joy with me.  Thanks sisses for being there.

Christmas Chreche Exhibit in Midway

This is an absolutely beautiful display of the most unique, gorgeous, strange, fun, cute etc. Christmas Creches. We went last year and had a great time and decided to head up to Midway and see it again. Last year I took a whole bunch of photos of the creches and you may see them here. This year it's just photos of the family.

Cooper and Brittany went as well as my sister Marie.  She had never seen anything quite like this exhibit and absolutely loved everything she was seeing.  She probably could have stayed another hour soaking it all in.  We had dinner at home though in the crockpot and we were all pretty hungry so we headed on home and enjoyed a yummy feast with more visiting and eating and being together.  I love the holidays and love being with my cute family. 

Thanksgiving Morning Run and Thanksgiving Feast

My Thanksgiving morning started out with a planned run up the Provo Canyon Trail with a group of Runner's Anonymous Facebook friends.  We started with 7 of us but 2 of them wanted to start at the top and run down while the 5 of us had other plans.  Brad and Cindy Hills were going to run 1 hour and then turn around and go back.  Monnica was going to run 6 miles to the turn around spot and then drive back to the start.  Gay was planning to do the same thing.  I personally wanted to run the whole thing because I wanted to be able to just enjoy my Thanksgiving feast without worrying about calories consumed.

Brad, Cindy, Monnica, Gay, (in back) and me

It was a very brisk morning and I was thankful I didn't ditch my gloves.  I started with the group but I had just finished my 10 day antibiotic and was just finally feeling better.  If I wanted to push it I really don't think I could have.  I was just grateful to be out there.  I ran along with the group for maybe a mile or two.  I lost track because we were all enjoying some great conversation.  But then I could tell I just wasn't going to be able to maintain the pace and so I slowed down.  Gay was so nice to hang back with me and was just happy to be out running too and not worried about her pace.  I felt so lucky to get to run and chat with her and just get to know her a little more.  I had run with her a couple months back in Draper Trails but didn't talk one-on-one like I got to today.  It really made the miles fly by faster.   

Brad and Cindy did their hour and turned around with Monnica and found us a little ways back on the trail.  Then Monnica joined us as we continued up the canyon.  When we reached the 6 mile mark Gay had some pretty delicious apple cider with cloves in it in her vehicle that she shared with us.  YUMMY!  That was a super delightful treat!  Monnica and Gay then got in their vehicle and I said good-bye and ventured back down the canyon all on my own.

I just pulled out my music and turned on the Christmas tunes and had an absolutely fabulous run for the next 6 miles all by myself.

Seeing Bridal Veil Falls never gets old.  I got to run right by this.  When I got back to my car Mark was there waiting, but only because I had locked my keys in the car and he had to come rescue me.  He is such a good guy!  I drove on home and then decided that I wanted to be able to say that I did a half marathon on Thanksgiving Day.  So I headed out on the streets in my neighborhood and got myself another 1.10 miles in.  Yes, us runners are kind of weird about the numbers sometimes.  This was definitely one of my slower half marathons but that's alright.  2:45:10.  I think my watch told me I burned over 2000 calories.  I'll take it!

After a shower and rounding up the Thanksgiving food we had prepared we headed over to our church and had a big feast with about 35 family members on Mark's side of the family.  It was nice to see some family that we haven't seen for quite awhile.  Mark's mother in purple looks so good for being over 80 years old.  She's just as sweet as they come.

Rachelle and Bear Fisher

Shayna, Cole, and Cameron Henke

Time to dig in!

Kali and Harper with Grandma Fisher

Back in September Kali told me that her hubby Wade didn't really know the Fisher side very well and so we decided we needed to change that.  That's when we started organizing this get together and I invited my parents too, not really knowing if they had plans or not yet.  She agreed to come and bring my dad.  I was so grateful because she loves to decorate and she did a fabulous job on the tables working her magic.  Here Cooper is helping to take it all down after we are done eating.  Silly me, I should have taken a picture before they started the clean up.

This cute little baby Harper is just so precious and I just can't get enough of her sweetness. She's only 3 1/2 weeks old here.

Wade, Miles, Kali, and Harper

It's getting harder to get Miles to cooperate in pictures.  He just wanted to run and play!

It was a great Thanksgiving with so much good food and family togetherness, exactly what a Thanksgiving should be like.  Afterwards we went home and I didn't look at one single Black Friday ad.  I had no desire whatsoever to go out in the crowds.  I've been there and done that and was happy to stay home where it's cozy and warm.