Barkley the Shih Apso

So, it looks like we have a name for our little guy... Barkley. The kids had decided on Simon at first but Jake and I both agreed that Simon and Truman sound alike and we didn't want to confuse the dogs. Then I saw online that Harry S. Truman's Vice President was Alben Barkley. Truman/Barkley... get it?! We thought it was pretty funny, and he sort of looks like a Barkley to me. My mom is driving him down tomorrow and the kids are counting down the hours. Poor Truman is going to have his world turned upside down... hopefully for the better.

Getting a New Family Member

NO, I'm not pregnant. Just wanted to be clear on that!
I think most of you know we have a labradoodle, Truman. I've wanted a smaller dog for awhile now and Jake has been totally supportive, but I decided to wait. Yesterday my dad e-mailed and said a co-worker was giving away his two shih tzu/lhasa apso puppies to good homes and we needed to act fast if we wanted one. I fell in love with this one. It actually looks a lot like the puppies I had been considering when Jake and I were looking a couple months ago. He is 9 weeks old and seems good around kids. We were told this morning that he is ours so now we are figuring out how we're going to get him here from Oregon... either we will pay to have him shipped on Delta or my mom said she might drive him out here. We will get the details ironed out most likely tonight. Hopefully in the next couple days our little guy will get here, then we can spoil him rotten and shower him with love. The kids are very excited and can't wait for "Truman's little brother" to arrive.

SLC 1/2 Marathon

It was pretty surreal this morning, running past the finish line and thinking how last June I couldn't even run 5 minutes straight without feeling like I was going to die... and here I was running 13.1 miles. We got an early start this morning (me, my sister, Ashleigh, my youngest sister, Whitney, and Whitney's best friend, Mallory.) We woke up around 4:50am and parked at Gateway and took the TRAX up to the starting line. We had about 45 minutes to go to the bathroom, stretch and warm-up. We were all a little wired. In fact, one guy came up to us and told Whit and Mal that he wanted to run with "these ladies." Assuming from their dance moves that they would be a riot to run with. Then he asked what their pace was and they both looked at him and said "We don't know." Then he walked away pretty quickly after that. I guess we weren't serious enough for this guy. My friend, Amber, met us a couple minutes later and at 7am the buzzer went off and it was race time. The first mile my knee started aching and I thought "Oh no. How am I going to make it another 12?!!" Thankfully though the 4 ibuprofen I took 30 minutes before kicked in and I didn't really start feeling pain until about mile 8. At mile 10 2 of my online friends, Leslie and Heidi, were there cheering me on. It was a great boost and definitely much needed at that point. Around mile 11 my hip really started to hurt. I pushed through as much as I could but eventually had to walk. There was a hill we had to go up from about mile 11 to mile 12 and it seemed to make my hip worse, which was frustrating. I didn't want to have to walk too much, but the pain started getting worse. When I hit mile 12 I got a second wind, knowing I was only 1 mile away from the finish line. So I picked it up and tried to push harder than I had the last couple miles. I LOVED running down Gateway. The crowd screaming and music blasting made me so excited and gave me that extra oomph I needed to finish strong. I almost had tears in my eyes running that last stretch. It was awesome. I crossed the finish line at 2:22. I was a little sad just because I was running around 10 min/miles for the first half of the route (and even had a couple faster miles) and was hoping to keep it up, but by the end I was just glad to finish. I told my sister "At least I beat the fastest person on the Biggest Loser!" I actually think I was probably a little faster because after I crossed the mat at the start, it took me a good two minutes to get going because there were a lot of people we were weaving through. Well, at least I have a time to beat now for my next half! After the race we all got massages (mine wasn't that great but better than nothing.) Then we went out to lunch at IHOP. We were all stinky and making multiple bathroom runs, as our digestive tracts were starting to function again. ;) The drugs I took have worn off now and both my knees are hurting pretty badly. I'm really grateful though that I was able to make it all the way through. After I finished my first race ever in 2004 (5 mile race in Moab) I told myself I would NEVER run a race that long again. My first thought after this race, even though my hip was hurting was "I can't wait to sign up for another one." So, I guess I've come a long way these last couple years and I hope I just keep getting faster and stronger. Thanks to all of you for your well wishes. It really meant a lot.

(Notice the Ethiopian guy on the right in the background. He had just won the marathon. Amazing to think someone can run a marathon in the time it took me to run half of one!)


Can you guess which one doesn't look like the others? Yes, I think my toenail will be coming off very soon. It actually looks worse in person but you get the picture.

13.1 miles... here I come!

So, tomorrow is the big day, my first half marathon. I've been training for months and cardio-wise I feel very ready. My knee, though, started hurting a couple weeks ago during one of my long runs and hasn't been the same since. I took this whole week off to rest my knee. I've been doing some special stretches and rolling my IT band out with a foam roller (hurts like @$%^). If I was to get an injury, I'm just thankful it was now and not when I first started so I was able to push hard for this long. I'm optimistic though. I bought a special IT band strap that's supposed to be a pressure point thing, I have my bottle of Aleve I will take with me and a huge jar of icy hot. I also have some kinesio tape I got at the Expo yesterday that I can try too. My sister, Ashleigh, gets in tonight around 9:30pm and her, me, my other sister Whitney, and her best friend Mallory, will head out around 5:15am tomorrow. It looks like we will have perfect running weather. I'm sure it will be great!

Only 10 more days left!

There are only 10 days left to register for the Salt Lake City Marathon/Half Marathon/5K. The race is on Saturday, April 18th and the half and full marathons start at 7am. I'm crossing my fingers that the weather holds up. Last year when my sister-in-law, Allison, ran it the weather was perfect and I'm hoping we get the same luck this year. I ran the 5K in 2004 and loved it. The finish line is at the end of the Gateway. There is music, lots of people cheering. It's awesome and I guarantee if you do it, you will have a good time.

As for my half marathon training, I feel ready. I've had a couple really good long runs, met some short term goals, lost some weight and became healthier during this whole process. It's been a win-win situation. I'm already checking my calendar and planning for the next couple races this summer/fall. Thanks for all of your support over these past 9 1/2 months. I'm lucky to have such a great support system. I'm still throwing around the idea of a full marathon (26.2 miles) but don't know if my body is up for the challenge. My head is, for sure, now if I can just get my knees to agree with my head.

Back to the SLC races. Here is the registration link and hopefully we will see you there:

http://saltlakecitymarathon.com/Registration.143.0.html

Emma the Diva

I took Emma to Kiddie Kandids today for her 4-year shots. As I helped her get her dress on in the bathroom at the mall, she asked me "Mom? Will people tell me how pretty I am in my dress?" I said probably not, but I bet everyone will be thinking it. That seemed to satisfy her and as we were walking to Kiddie Kandids a grandma pointed to Emma and told her two young granddaughters to "look at the pretty girl." Emma looked up at me with the biggest smile on her face. It made her day. Yesterday we went to Burlington Coat Factory and there are these mirrors at the end of each aisle. Emma was walking ahead of me and didn't realize I was watching her. At each mirror she would stop, stare at herself, blow herself a kiss, and then move on to the next mirror. Oh my! Jake and I are in for trouble with this one... I'm sure of it. I bought her a pink headband at The Children's Place today. Tonight she came running out of her room in her pink pajamas and new headband and said "Mom, I LOVE my new headband because it's pink and it matches my pajamas. I just looked in the mirror and I look SO pretty." She's definitely a girl, a very confident one. ;)

Feel the Stevie Love!

Last night Stevie Wonder made a guest appearance on American Idol. He performed a Motown medley of his songs (My Cherie Amour, Superstition, Overjoyed, and All About the Love). I forgot just how much I love Stevie Wonder. He's a musical genius. I was clapping and singing to his songs. It was awesome! (Too bad AI doesn't have more guests like THAT!) The great thing about Stevie Wonder is he's still just as good as he was 30 years ago! You can't say that about too many artists. Just listen to these songs and feel the Stevie love!