Wasatch Back 2010

What word would you use to describe this race?

1) Pay $80/person
2) Decorate your car.
3) Meet at friend's house at 4:30 in the morning with a bag of clothes/food which is supposed to last you 36 hours.
4) Fill up an SUV with 6 women and 2 men.
5) Drive to Logan where you are told to wear safety vests and headlamps. Get a "free" shirt.
6) Cheer as your friends run down road after road.
7) Cry when it is your turn to run.
8) Take a 5 hour energy shot before it is your turn to run.
9) Follow runners in your car. On a normal day this would be called "stalking," but here it is normal to follow a person a few yards behind, hop out with an orange flag to cross the street and give them water, and even spray them off with a water gun.
10) Decorate your car with Christmas lights in the middle of the night.
11) Yell, "Hold it in, Vanessa. Don't go in your pants," as you run down the road at 1 a.m. with no Honey Bucket in sight.
12) Get excited to use a Honey Bucket every hour on the hour.
13) Ingest 3 Anti-Diahrreal Pills within a 6 hour period.
14) Regret taking the pills a few hours later.
15) Miss crossing the finish line with your final runner because of a traffic jam.

So, what do you think? Does the word "CRAZY" come to mind?

Here are a few more images to help you picture the insanity . . .


Team decorating the car.


Before the race. Still feeling fresh.


My first leg. The insanity begins.


Uh. Oh. Potty stop.


Taking pictures of each other taking pictures. Starting to lose it?!


Impersonating pole dancers. Really losing it?


Middle of the night. Car decorated with Christmas lights. Just finished 2nd 5 hour energy shot. Completely wired. Normal?!


In the middle of my last leg. So tired and hot I can't even move. Standing still being shot by a water gun. 3rd 5 hour energy shot did not work. I think my body has a limit on how much caffeine it can absorb. Seems pretty normal!


Helping each other walk up a mountain in the middle of the day. Running on no sleep and no food. Thirsty but all of our water is warm. Loving life.


Together at the end. We are all smiling on the outside. Our two wonderful drivers are wondering why they signed up for this. They were amazing. We all made a pinky promise never to do this to ourselves again!

**On the way home, I had 2nd thoughts. Why didn't we want to do this again? I couldn't remember?

Utah Valley Marathon

Another marathon?! Seriously . . .

When I woke up this morning at 2 a.m. I just didn't think I had it in me to run another 26.2 miles. I felt lethargic in the shower, lethargic eating my bagel and banana, and lethargic on the bus riding up the canyon.

Normally, I am a bundle of nerves and have to use the porta potty at least 5 times before the race. Unfortunately, I think my lethargy affected my bowels in a negative manner before the race. My normally OVERACTIVE bowels would not cooperate. When I sat down in the pitch dark at 4:30 a.m. on the plastic seat inside the Honey Bucket, I was unsuccessful -- 3 different times. I think it may have been because my porta potty was set up on a slant, tipping dangerously forward in an overgrown field. I was scared to death that the cubicle was going to fall over with me in it! I was so scared, that nothing that I wanted to have happen pre-race, happened . . . Miracle of miracles. The deed that didn't happen pre-race, didn't happen during the race either. Yeah!!

Of course, a race with Vanessa in it, wouldn't be a race without some unseemly, nasty body function occuring, and of course I SHOULD NOT MENTION what happened. No one needs to know. But . . . I'm going to mention it anyways. I don't know if it was the rain falling around me, or the constant drinking I did at the aid stations, but . . . I had to pee . . . A LOT!

What if YOU had to pee, say 10-12 times during a race. Would you . . .
A. Stop at every porta potty you see along the route to pee in a "purified" hole.
B. Squat by the side of the road or behind a bush and ignore the people running by you.
C. Pee on yourself.
D. Pray that your bladder will hold until the end.

Well, "normal" people would choose "A" or "D" everytime. I, on the other hand, have turned into such a gross person, that it didn't even phase me to choose "C" . . . everytime! After all, had I stopped at a porta potty each time I had to go, I never would've finished the race.

To sum up Utah Valley . . . The race was HARD! Not only did I have wet drawers, but there were lots of hills -- up and down. As I ran along, I kept thinking of the poor person that had to give me a ride home after the marathon. I really need to start carrying an extra pair of shorts along with me!!

Luckily, my sweet Dad offered to give me a ride home. I put a blanket on the seat of his van, sat down, cracked a window, and prayed that he wouldn't notice . . . That man deserves a medal!

**Note** The race ended up being another AMAZING experience. Jeff, Sterling, Marisa, Jamie, and I . . . all qualified for Boston 2011!

Ogden Marathon 2010 - Charlie's Angels

What words come to mind when you think of an angel? white, wings, kind, loving, protector . . .

Well, I was SUPPOSED to be an angel during the Ogden Marathon. Charlie (AKA: Jeff) trained with his 3 angels: Marisa, Jamie, and Vanessa all winter long. Charlie and his angels ran through snow, hail, rain, and darkness. . . all in the name of qualifying for Boston 2011.

Race day morning was a blast. We all rode up on the bus together, ate bagels and bananas together, stood in the porta potty line together and used it 5x a piece. It was so much fun. (I know. Using porta potties, fun?! It's just so much better than going outside in the open where people stare at you!)

The weather was beautiful. We joked around and laughed throughout the entire 1st half of the race. Unfortunately, I lost my "angelic" status soon after that. I cursed at a photographer kind of/sort of by accident, I yelled mean things at Charlie, and I lost feeling in my legs around Mile #16.

Even though the 4 of us didn't cross the finish line together, we all set PRs that day. It truly was a race to be remembered!

Pictured below: Angel Vanessa when she still had both wings.


Pictured below: Vanessa with only one wing left.



Pictured below: Vanessa after she lost both of her wings.

Cali's 9th grade year in 1000 words or less . . .

1st day of work at Seven Peaks!

Soccer champs!

Last day of 9th grade!

Mom's summary of the year:
made 3 goals in one soccer game (checked that one off her bucket list), spring soccer team won the championship, learned to play a whole concerto, 4.0 GPA, made lots of new friends, had first boy/girl party, got her first "real job" at Seven Peaks . . .

What was your funniest memory? "In Seminary the substitute was reading the lesson straight out of the manual and EVERYONE was falling asleep!"

Who were your best friends? "Natalie, Julie, Mackenzie, Melanie, and Milan."

What did you love about your teachers? "Their creative lesson plans."

What will you remember the most about your 9th grade year? "The sub in seminary and all of the friendships I gained."

Ian's 5th grade year in 1000 words or less . . .

Mom's summary of the year:
"bullied" by a classmate (no, it wasn't Carson), became friends with the "bully," loosened up a little bit, hated writing essays, spent HOURS practicing essay writing with mom, dressed up as Lois Armstrong for the wax museum, loved playing soccer, became an 11-year-old Scout, felt overwhelmed earning merit badges, hated stamp collecting, cooked himself breakfast every morning . . .

What was your funniest memory this year? "When Mr. T. got marker on his clothes."

Who were your best friends in class? "Bryant."

What did you love about your teacher? "He was funny and one of a kind!"

What will you remember most about your year? "The water balloon fight on the last day of school."

Nyah's 4th grade year in 1000 words or less . . .

Mom's summary of the year:
truly loved by her teacher, switched seats a lot so she could focus, had a bout of "I need glasses", found out she didn't need glasses, chased boys at recess, started dancing, lots of stomach ailments around testing time, packed herself fabulous lunches daily, learned how to be a "bit" more organized . . .

What was your funniest memory? "We had a dirt clod fight. I put a lot of dirt in my jacket. I threw it up in the air and the idrt hit me in the head instead of the boys."

Who were your bestest buds this year? "Ady, Clara, Hillary, Kaitlin."

What do you love about Mrs. Shepherd? "She is really nice and funny."

What will you remember most about your year? "My class hatching eggs and seeing the chicks."

Carson's Kindergarten Year in 1000 words or less . . .

Mom's summary of Carson's year:
accused of being classroom bully, lost 2 front teeth, loved recess and playing with all of his friends, won "wisdom" award, ate pb & jelly sandwiches everyday after school, played with Sterling, Spencer, or Nick at least once a day after school, was grounded from the computer for being a "bully," kissed up to mom a lot.

What Carson loved about Mrs. Hyer?
She awes givs us hugs wen we breng her prises. (translation: She always gives us hugs when we bring her prizes.)

What Carson will remember most about kindergarten? all my frens (translation: All of my friends.)

Hope of America

Cali entered a contest at school called "The Hope of America." It is sponsored by the Kiwanis Club. On the entry form, students have to explain what service he/she has provided to the school and community, and the hopes that they have for the future of America.

Drumroll please . . .

Cali won.

Another drumroll . . .

$200 prize.

(I wonder if she'll be buying her dear mother a treat with her prize money?)

**This is a picture of Cali with Ethan Lowe, the boy that won the award as well.

What are YOU Thankful For?

It is usually around Thanksgiving when we start to hear people listing things that they are grateful for in life: family, home, church, books, etc . . . November is just once a year though and we should be grateful all year long, right?! I thought June would be a perfect time to really dig deep and drudge up some things we truly CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT!!

So here it goes, the thing I'm most grateful for -- along with a little unneccessary background information . . .

Yesterday I went on my Saturday run, had to make an emergency pitstop for a potty break, and low and behold, I had started my period. I know . . . another unmentionable, being mentioned by . . . ME!!

What do you do when you are at Mile #5 and have 8 more miles to go? Well, I decided to try a little trick that I learned in junior high -- stuff toilet paper in your underwear until you get home. Let's just say that there is a reason that people wear maxi pads and tampons. Toilet paper is really not very absorbent, and certainly does not stay in one place for very long. Runners behind me probably thought I had some major hygiene issues as I kept rearranging my shorts throughout the run. Awkward!!

I have also been reading a book about women in Biblical times and what they did during their "cycle." I'm not sure how historically correct this is, but THE BOOK says that the women would go into a tent and sit on a bale of hay until their period was over. Can anyone say, "Itchy?!" Thank goodness I thought of the toilet paper and didn't try hay instead!!

So, back to the original question, "What are you thankful for?!" At the top of my list . . .

Good ol' fashioned tampons. Never leave home without them!!

I would love to hear what you are most grateful for!! Embarrassing background information is NOT required!