I RAN a Half Marathon!

Me just before the start of the race

My crazy OCD self with all my stuff set out the night before

 

It all started over a year ago when I did my first 5k in Lake Havasu City when I decided that it would be "fun" to run a half marathon.  Well, it's official on April 14, 2012 I finished my first half marathon!  I finished in 2 hours 40 minutes and 58 seconds, 444th out of 500 in the Havasu Half Marathon.  I ran the whole time, minus a couple porta-potty breaks (nearly 3 hours is a LONG time).  


I am a slow turtle, so I was in with the run/walkers.  Whenever they would walk I'd pass them and whenever they would run they'd pass me, and it kept like that until about mile 11 when I finally passed them! The course was an out and back and the best part about that were all the awesome women that provided encouragement and high fives to me on my way out, and which I was able to return on the way back.  Somewhere after mile 10 I lost my bib, which was a pretty big deal because it had my chip on it, and without the chip I would be a DNF (did not finish).  I was trying not to freak out shortly after I discovered it was gone, then all of a sudden I heard an angel yell my name I turned around and she gave me my bib and then was instantly gone before I could thank her.  I have no idea where she came from or where she went, but my only explanation is that it was a true angel!  It was also around that time that my body wasn't feeling the greatest and wasn't so sure that I wanted to finish the half marathon, but I got my motivation back and the push I needed to finish.  


I saw lots of people looking kind of green after the race, but I felt fantastic.  I got my beer and medal and then went back to the hotel as it was freakishly cold and windy in Lake Havasu.  I don't usually eat beef or hamburgers, but later that afternoon I had my first burger in 2 years from In-N-Out that hit the spot.  I probably won't ever do a full marathon, but I may do another half.

Cory and I after our races, still looking and feeling great!

I'm going to run a Half Marathon?!?

Last year in April I ran my first 5k race in Lake Havasu City.  I have to admit that I was a little jealous of all the half marathoners running over the London Bridge.  I then completed my first triathlon last August and finally decided in December that I would sign up for the half marathon in Lake Havasu City this year.

I am exactly a month away from the half marathon and am doing fairly well in my training.  I try to run 3 times a week, with 1 long run a week.  My last long run was 10 miles.  According to running coaches your longest training run only needs to be 7 miles, however I felt a little skeptical about that and want to make sure I won't die, so I have gone a little beyond that distance in my training.  I have found that I really enjoy the distance between 3 and 5 miles, however I realized that anything over 5 miles becomes uncomfortable.  My first attempt at an 8 mile run did not go well for me. I did everything I absolutely could to get to 7.65 miles, but I could not go an inch further, it was then I decided that I am absolutely crazy for ever deciding that a half marathon was a good idea.  My 9 and 10 mile runs have proven to be better than that silly 7.65 mile run, but still running for over 2 hours continuously is just a little bit nuts.

Wallow Fire

We live about 60 miles away from where the Wallow fire is currently burning in Arizona.  We can see smoke plumes and sometimes smell it from where we are.  It is the largest wildfire in the history of Arizona at 478,000 acres, which was reported at about 10am this morning, so most likely it is much larger.  I have never been so near to an active wildfire, and it's a little scary.  Lots of the people I work with went through the Rodeo-Chediski fire in 2002 (that was previously the largest wildfire in AZ until the Wallow fire). They said it was one of the worst experiences, just thinking that you'd have to pack up what you can and leave not knowing if you'd have a home to come back to.  

I wanted to share one of the photos that really moved me, it's of a "Hot Shot" crew moving to their next destination within the fire. They must be able to hike 3 miles with 45 pounds of equipment in 45 minutes.  This photo came from our local news paper the White Mountain Independent.

I took a couple photos of the smoke from the fire over a week ago.  The first photo is the plume seen when driving into town.  The second photo is taken from the Show Low Days festival.  It's a little scary to think that you can see the smoke from 60 miles away that well!

The last thing I will post is a map of the fire progression since the start.  ABC 15 showed an overlay of the map on top of the Phoenix area and it pretty much covers the entire Phoenix metro area.  This map is from inciweb where you can follow the progression of the fire.  Note: inciweb has been down recently due to high traffic to the site.

Time to finish what I started!

Well, I started this whole 30 Day Challenge to get me back into the blog, but here it is JUNE and I still didn't finish this back in March- whoops!  I like to finish things, so that's what I'll do.  I apologize in advance for the long post.


Day 24 — A movie no one would expect you to love
I was going to say Gangs of New York, but I LOVE Leonardo DiCaprio so that's probably not unexpected.  I will say 27 dresses, I'm usually not much of a chick flick girl, but I did like that movie quite a bit.


Day 25 — A recipe
I have a couple good recipes that I like to keep in my pocket. When I cook there are two outcomes, complete masterpiece or total disaster.  Usually when I try out a new recipe it's a 50/50 gamble so that makes cooking a little less enjoyable for me.  My husband has told me (when my food turns out) that my cooking is amazing, I guess I just need to work on the consistency thing.  I will share a very dangerous recipe that I got from a co-worker (these things are to DIE for if you're a chocolate lover)!


Oreo Truffles
- 1 16oz pkg Oreos
- 1 8z tub whipped cream cheese
- 12 oz semi sweet baker's chocolate
Put the Oreos in a food processor (or blender like me if you don't have a food processor) and finely crush the Oreos.  The Oreos should almost be a powder, then pour the Oreo powder into a bowl and mix in the cream cheese.  I find that it's best to use your hands to mix in the cream cheese, so make sure to wash your hands well. I find that 1 TBSP makes a perfect sized ball (form the balls with your hands) and put them on a cookie sheet covered with either parchment paper or waxed paper.  After all the balls are formed heat the baking chocolate in the microwave for about 3 minutes stirring every minute until the chocolate is melted. Drop the balls into the chocolate and then place them back on the cookie sheet.  Put the truffles in the fridge for about an hour to let the chocolate harden.  Be sure that when you aren't serving the truffles that you keep them in the fridge due to the cream cheese in them.  I find that they taste best about a day after making them!




Day 26 — A childhood memory
I was quite fortunate to have a pretty wonderful childhood up until about the end of 5th grade when my mom got cancer (probably the worst time one could pick for a kid to have a parent with cancer- during middle school).  Anyhow, it was after a game of T-Ball and it was incredibly hot out.  I think we had just returned from Dairy Queen and it started to rain, but the sun was still out.  Our parents let my sister and I run around in the rain (the usually wouldn't let us do stuff like that) and ended up soaking wet. My parents took a picture of my sister and I together standing in the rain and we look so incredibly happy, I think my dad still has the picture sitting on his dresser today. 


Day 27 — A physical feature you love
From 2006-2009 I struggled with my weight, I had completely stopped working out and was eating far too much food for someone my size.  During that time I struggled to find something I loved about my body.  I thought to myself, I've always liked my freckles.  They're not the unsightly orange kind, but the nice brown ones, they help disguise how truly white I am.  So I love my freckles and I also love my shoulders!  

Day 28 — A scar you have, and its story
Unfortunately I have far too many scars, I manage to injure myself almost daily.  My husband has told me that he's never met anyone in his entire life as klutzy as me!  Anyhow I have a rather large and nearly perfectly round scar on my right knee cap.  I got that scar while on vacation in Washington state visiting my Aunt.  We were at Gasworks Park in Seattle.  My aunt had brought a bunch of fun things with to the park and one of those things was a soccer ball.  I decided to run after the soccer ball along the top of a retaining wall.  Well as I got to the end of the retaining wall there was a bit of a difference in height where the two walls met at the corner, I hooked my foot and landed knee first on the pavement below.  My Aunt had a friend along who was training to be a nursing student at the time and she patched me up.  She even drew a Mickey mouse head on my knee  with batadine using my wound as the nose.  That wound turned into a hard, purple, scar that my parents would look for whenever I was swimming in a swim meet, since we all looked the same in our matching swim suits and caps!  The scar is no longer hard and purple, but it's still on my knee and quite prominent.  I remember always asking my mom to tell me the story about her scar on her leg when I was a kid, and I'm sure I'll do the same with my kids about my scar on my knee.


Day 29 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
I have always had a "plan" or goals for myself and where I see myself in the next 5 years or so.  I currently am in the process of applying for my AICP exam and I hope to pass that this November.  I also plan to finish my first triathlon in the middle of August, after which I will head to Minnesota where I will spend a glorious 11 days with family, friends, and fried foods on a stick.  I dream that I will loose another 20 pounds and look amazing in a bikini, but if not it's really not the end of the world.  


Day 30 — A motto or philosophy
Never take anyone or anything for granted!

Catching up again

Well, Day 19 & 20 were tough for me to think of, but I finally think I got it figured out!


Day 19 — A talent of yours
Ever since the age of 7 or 8 I have loved the water.  We went on a trip to California and went swimming at the pool of a condo of one of my Dad's friends.  There was a boy there swimming, probably a little bit older than me along with his grandfather, who was sitting poolside.  The grandfather had thrown quarters in the pool and said whoever could swim to the bottom and pick them up the quarters could keep them.  Well, I took this as a challenge!  I can't remember how many I was able to pick up or even if I picked up any.  But it was a definite turning point with water for me.  As before I had struggled with swimming and water.  I even went on to be on the Fridley swim team from 7th-12th grade.  My favorite events were the 200yd and 500yd swims (considered distance for high school).  I never won state or anything like that, but my husband has told me that the only time I seem graceful is when I'm swimming (for me that's a talent!).

Day 20 — A hobby of yours
I have several hobbies, right now I am training for a 5K in April (after that is over I will start training for a triathlon in August).  I also enjoy scrap  booking and beading.

Day 21 — Something you know you do differently than most people
I get lots of comments on this next one; everyone sees how I write and will make the comment, "oh you're a lefty!"  I am not actually a lefty, I am a right handed person who's handwriting appears to be that of a lefty.  I recall the struggle I had when first learning to write how I wasn't holding my pencil properly and how I was slanting the paper too much.  Even to this day I don't write "properly".  I eventually learned that no one really cares how you hold a pen or pencil or how the page is slanted as long as it is legible.  If I don't slant my paper my words would practically be laying on their sides!  I don't know if it's a flexibility issue in my wrist or what, but I've become rather fond of my writing style and it's a little unique thing about me! My handwriting style is quite unique (I've heard it described on more than one occasion as "European") almost everyone who knows me can recognize it as mine right away.

Day 22 — A website
This one is too easy!  I am not sure if my husband or I found it first, but we both really enjoy http://theoatmeal.com/ I got Cory The Oatmeal book for his birthday this year.  I have spent many hours reading the cartoons and laughing at this site, I love it!


Hopefully I will stay inspired and post daily from now on!

Day 18 — A time when you felt passionate and alive

Well, this one is easy!  Lately it's been Saturday mornings after Zumba and Sunday afternoons after a run (or really any time after a good workout).  Before I started getting back into fitness I felt lost and that I didn't have a purpose other than going to work and being a couch bum with Cory.  All we really did was eat and watch television.  After our wake-up call to lose weight things have really turned around.  I go to Zumba 3 times a week and try to run at least  3 times a week to train for a 5k in April.  In August I plan to compete in my first triathlon.  We also now try to go on a hike every time we go to the valley (the Phoenix area).  I finally realized that fitness and being fit can be a hobby, a fun one at that, and one that gets you in shape.  I am really glad that I found fitness again!

Day 17 — An art piece

This one is kind of vague, do they mean one I like, one that I did?  I would like to post one that I did myself, but I can't find my portfolio of artwork so I will go for one that I like.  For some reason I've always had an attraction to, "The Scream" by Edvard Munch. 

 

I even did a Styrofoam etch of it in my printmaking class in  high school (which I would have posted if I could have found it!). I enjoy art and making art, however as I am O.K. at it I am not great at it and being a  perfectionist kind of hinders my desire to do much art.  I know I shouldn't let that stop me, but I struggle with it.