Green Valley 8K Race

On Thursday my good friend Amy told me that she was running a race on Saturday. I have signed up to do the Snickers Half-Marathon in a few weeks since Myrtle Beach was canceled. I signed up for the race on my phone in the Costco parking lot. Last night another friend Danielle mentioned that she was going – so we went together.

I was SO scared. I had never run an 8K before (about 4.96 miles). I walked a half marathon a few years ago, but I have had sore feet for three months & only done a 2.0 mile walk & a 5.0 mile walk/run on Wednesday of this week. My ITB (outside of the knee) was really, really tight & painful after Wednesday. But I decided to try – I stay on my feet for hours & hours every day, right? I could walk if I needed to. My goal was to finish in 1:15.00 minutes.

It was COLD to start – I wore Scott’s nice fleece gloves (thanks Julie!) plus a long-sleeved jacket. I had checked out the times from last year & knew that I would be in the END of the pack. I decided to run two minutes, walk three minutes for the race. It worked! The campus is beautiful – I even took a picture while I was walking. (… while putting the camera/ipod back into my pocket, I accidentally turned up the volume & blasted my ears.) The course was a lot hillier than I expected. The hardest point for me was the hill that was right after the 3.0 mark – mentally I knew that I had not raced that far. Luckily, my walk came just after that point & I was able to talk to “Michelle” for the next three minutes. It was funny being at the end of the back – the cyclists kept riding by to make sure that we were all still upright.

Music really helped me on the run – I made a new playlist this morning & enjoyed all but one song. (Bad language/topic – I didn’t know!!!)  For the last mile I just decided to run as much as I could. My time was 58:46. Not super fast but not really that slow either. :) I am so happy that I went the distance & finished & that my feet didn’t kill me. Next week I have to run 2, 5, & 6 miles.

“I Love Technology!”

Let’s sing in our best Napoleon voices! Lately, I have just been fascinated by all things techy! A few of my favorite things include:

The Flip video recorder is a tiny, easy-to-hold & use camcorder. It is just slightly larger than my old cell phone. It takes descent videos & the software allows you to take a snapshot from a video. The picture of the whale shark was taken from a video that I took yesterday at the Georgia Aquarium.  The whale sharks are only seen in captivity in Atlanta, China, & Japan plus in the wild in Mexico.

I think that the Flip could be very useful for photographing young children & babies. You choose a general time frame to take a snapshot & then pick frame by frame for the best shot.

 

My cell phone has been giving me great grief. If I held it the wrong way, I could hear you but you couldn’t hear me. My hubby & oldest son told me to get an iPhone & one day I finally did it. Usually, I research things out but this time I just jumped. The guy at the store even said, “You can bring it back if you don’t like it, but you are really going to love it!” And I do. It’s great to have my calendar with me all the time – and my to-do list – and a phone book, ipod, Pandora radio (fave!), LDS radio broadcasts, the scriptures, general conference addresses, etc. Today, I learned how to use the voice feature. I say “Call home!” and it does. Oh yeah, and I love having a camera & a basic video recorder. And APPS – my favorite funny? Sit or Squat – an application that helps you find the closest restroom facilities that are open for business.

 

My new digital camera has been a lot of fun! I love the details on faces, the droplets of water in mid-air, and the split-second action shots. I feel like it is very complicated still, but I love some of the results so far!

        

 

Our van has been a wonderful vehicle. I have never dreamed of owning a mini-van. It is just the most

practical and gas efficient way that we have found to take lots of people & stuff where we need to go. My boys asked me one day what type of car I would drive if I could. Because it has never been a choice, it has never crossed my mind.

I have driven to Seattle and back once (& only once). I have driven to the beach & back & been a passenger a lot of times. I have driven to & from school at least 170 times per year. We crossed the 100k mark about the same time that we paid it off. Hopefully, we will have another 100k miles on it. It has been a great car. And I think it is green.

DVR is the final cool thing I would like to praise – I love that I could record the Olympics & watch them whenever I want to and with or without commercials. I love watching & rewatching what I miss. I love that the television works for me & my time abilities & not the other way around. I still don’t know how to turn the silly machines on & off for watching movies but at least I can watch TV.

What are your favorite techy devices?

Myrtle Beach un-Marathon 2010

The race was canceled, but the runners did not pay attention. The roads this morning were clear. USUALLY when it snows in The South, the roads are icy. The city made a mistake in stopping the race. Scott, Mom & Julie went out and ran/walked the entire course. Julie was #222, burned 2022 calories, and her time was 2:22! Our racers were not the only ones – hundreds of runners were out running the course, earning their medals, and making the best of an unfortunate situation.

   

After the race we enjoyed the pool and hot tub, went to dinner, & ate ice cream. Scott’s half-marathon time was 1:43.18. I was supposed to run or walk but have had foot issues for the last few months. I decided that since the race wasn’t officially on – my feet were not officially obligated to walk and run. Hopefully they will be back to normal soon.

Big fluffy flakes bring shock and awe to Myrtle Beach

Scott wanted to run the Myrtle Beach marathon last year, but I did not register him in time & the marathon filled up. This year he registered early. I registered for the half.  My mom and my sister decided that they wanted to do it too. Reservations were made. Training was completed. My feet got hurt along the way & running was not really possible for me. But I wanted to try!!!

We drove down to MB today and went to the Runner’s Expo. While we were there, an official announcement was made about the possibility of canceling the marathon. We did not believe that it was possible – come on! How much snow was really going to fall??? At 10:30 p.m. the city of Myrtle Beach officially decided to cancel the marathon – seriously. All the normal drive-in-the-snow people cannot believe that

Scott just came out and asked if they had canceled the cancellation. Unfortunately, they did not. But Scott & my sister Julie & my mom are going to go out & log some serious mileage tomorrow morning while wearing their bibs. Too bad it’s not just a bad dream.

Blogging

I am so far behind – if I’m behind in blogging & scrapbooking then I am just plain BEHIND! We have had a lot going on lately. Hopefully, I will be able to post soon about

• Thanksgiving
• Decorating for Christmas
• Christmas day
• Trip to Florida
• The Downtown 5K
• Snow Days
• An Eagle scout project
• Fish Tacos, Brownie Cheesecake, and Sweet & Saucy Chicken Thighs
• Wicked & Grandma & Grandpa’s visit
• Chris’ 16th birthday
• Ryan’s 12th birthday
• Three boys in suits
• The MB Marathon & special guests

OK. Phew! I feel caught up now. :)