Saint to Sinner!

I did it! I got my awesome Saint to Sinner medal! After running the Wasatch Back this June I was hooked on Relays. There is nothing quite like pushing yourself to the absolute limit and then some more with 11 other awesome/crazy runners.

Start time was Friday 10:00 a.m. at the Valley of Fire. Luckily it was a nice overcast day with a high in the upper 60's

My Awesome Van 1 Team
(Blaine, Aaron, Cami, Me, Annie and Ice-Man)
I mean Shane

The Annie to Ray exchange.


I was runner 3. My first leg was 7.6 Miles with a nice 3 mile climb at the end. I averaged 9:30 on my first leg. Not my best performance but I was happy with it considering the hill climb at the end and the fact that the first 3 miles my shins were not feeling so good.

Me on my first leg of the relay.

"The Van 1 Girls" We lost a runner and struggled to find a fun girl runner. Luckily I thought of Cami. We were both the room moms for my daughters class. She was fun and fast.

We didn't take leg 2 pics (It was dark) My 2nd run was 4.1 miles through Henderson, NV. Thanks too some fellow runners I stayed on course most the run. It was pretty hard to stay on course and my shins were not liking me most the run. I averaged 10 min mile pace.

We were privileged to have the cute little town of Goodsprings NV to wait for our last exchange, and to get some much needed rest. Cute little town of maybe 200 people. We laid down on the grass at the community center and just as we were relaxing and finally getting to sleep.

THE SPRINKLERS CAME ON!!

Our pillows and sleeping bags were soaked on the outside and most our stuff was wet too. We found a nice HARD cement pad and layed back down. It was so cold! I'm not sure how much sleep I got but I was freezing cold.

Now that we got some rest it is time for Leg 3!

At this point we are all tired, worn out, sick of each other (J/K), and ready to be done.

My 3rd leg is 5.7 miles and the first 3.5 is a nice steep 900 ft decline! I want to finish hard and strong. Glad I bought my new shoes a half size bigger or I would have lost all the toenails.

I cruised down that hill! I averaged 7:20 going down the hill. I don't think I have ever ran that fast for more than 20 seconds. After the hill I slowed down and still averaged 8:30. That was an exciting finish for me.

Me hydrating during my last run.

Cami to Shane exchange

Annie and Ray at the mile post

Blaine and his Australian Running GU (aka Twinkie)

Remnant of the Twinkie

Aaron sweating it up

Team running to Finish Line

FINISH LINE

Team minus Cami posing at The Ragnar Van after an exhausting weekend.


The medal we all earned

Me with my Saint to Sinner medal

Julie and I with our Awesome medals. (If you run more than two Ragnar Relays in the same year you earn a Saint to Sinner medal or a Deuces Wild medal.

Overall Finish Time

Van 1's Awesome Road Kills

Baby Goes to School

September was a CrAzY BuZy month. So happy and sad to say that my Baby (Kenaddie) started School. She has been SO excited to be a big girl and go to school like her big "Sissies."

Kenaddie standing in front of Miss Heathers' house right before preschool.


Kenaddie and Logan ready to walk to school! If she was older and his hand was there it would not be pretty! However, at this age I will overlook it. But just this once.

Kenaddie and her BFF Logan walking home from school. (Yes, I told them to hold hands). They had so much fun! They have been friends since they were months old.

The Best Day Ever!

It was definitely time for school to start this year! We had a ton of fun this summer going to the pool weekly, Lagoon, camping and lots of playing with friends. However, we ALL needed a break from each other. (Mostly them from Me)

They are both so cute in their new school clothes!

Courtney is 9 and in 4th grade this year.


Brooklyne is 7 and in the 2nd grade.


Courtney and her BFF Tori. They are inseparable and cause a lot of drama to Annie and I.

Brookie with 2 of her BFF's. Their are 4 of them together on our street and they definitely give us a run for our money! They are super fun!


The whole 1700 North gang heading off to their first day at Sego Lily Elementary 2010!

Hobble Creek Half

Friday seemed to be a rough day for eating and drinking for me. I was having one of those days where you know you need to eat good , yet nothing sounds good and the thought of eating makes you sick. So Friday was not a good day for proper "Nutrition." Friday evening we had a super fun street party with the coolest neighbors ever. However, their was no pasta or high carb foods except chips and cookies. I did my best at carb loading that evening.

My alarm went of at 3:50! I had 40 minutes to be at Josh and Katie's house to carpool out to Mapleton. I ate my pre-race bagel, got my Crystal Light Energy Drink ready to drink, and my banana.

We got to Mapleton with plenty of time for race packet pickup and to get on the buses to head up the canyon. We got to the bus drop off point and headed our almost 1 mile hike up to the starting line. Not sure what the problem is with this race, but it starts VERY late every year. Finally about 40 minutes late the gun went off.

I thought I was at a good point to start the race. However, I had numerous SLOW runners who think they can start closer to the front that I had to pass. After I had a good pace going I had that sudden urge to use the restroom. I knew I would not be able to run 13 miles having to go to the restroom, so the first set of Honey Buckets (Outhouses) I saw I decided to stop. Probalby was a good idea however, now I am behind all the slower runners again that I had to already pass. Mile 2 ended up being a race to pass. The first 3 miles like it always is, is not so much fun. (It takes me at least 3 miles to work out all the shin/calf pain.) Not sure why but when my right foot hit the road, I would get a shooting nerve pain in the bottom of my foot. I think the seam of my sock was irritating my foot. Well Buck up Ray and keep running. Sure enough around mile 3 I get warmed up and am ready to run.

About mile 4 or 5 I spot Heidi and Josh (My Bro-in-Law and Sis-in-Law) Yeah I had caught back up to them. Now I have someone to run with to push me. I am running in this beautiful canyon with Heidi and I look down at my watch. 44 minutes into the run. I think I am running to slow to hit mile 6.5 at 60 minutes. My goal is to get to the finish line before 2 hours. I tell Heidi I need to pick up the pace and am off.

It is getting really HOT! I am getting pretty tired and my Right Quad is hurting a lot. Around mile 8 I see Katie. I catch myself up to her. We run together for the next little while. I have my moments that having her there pushes me and I push her.

After we get out of the canyon I am getting pretty thirsty and tired. I stop at every water station to get a drink and dump a cup of water on me. I think I am going to barely make it to the finish line under 2 hours if I can keep my pace up above 9:30. But, it is so hard! I am so tired and thirsty. When we come around to the park my body was done. I saw the finish line it was so close to 2:00:00. My body was not going to let me go any faster! I cross the finish line at 2:00:01!

I know I should be excited and proud. But I am not. It was kinda a disappointment to push so hard and barely miss my goal. Maybe next time. Not sure when I am going to want to run another one again.

Pace Breakdown

Mile 1- 9:38 (Honey Bucket Break)
Mile 2-9:09
Mile 3-9:30 (Finally warmed up)
Mile 4-8:44
Mile 5-8:45
Mile 6-8:31
Mile 7-8:59
Mile 8-9:44 (Getting tired, took a GU)
Mile 9-9:10
Mile 10-9:47 (Getting Hot, Quad hurts)
Mile 11-9:28
Mile 12-9:46
Mile 13-8:47

Notes for nest year: Must bring own water belt or handheld!
Go to Olive Garden night before race!
Don't put sock on with crooked seam!
Start closer to starting line!

Epic Cache-Teton Relay 2010

Since I had such a good time doing the Wasatch back this Summer I easily got talked in to run another relay. My neighbor/friend decided to get a team together to run the Epic Cache-Teton Relay. This Relay is 195 miles from Logan UT to Jackson Hole WY.

A lot of convincing and begging was involved in getting a team together. Not sure why it was so difficult rounding up a bunch of crazies but it was. We were able to get our 6 girls and 6 boys together and seriously had the best time ever! Our team name was "Remember the Tetons" since we were running to the Tetons.

Race Morning: Van 1 met up at Annie's house. We loaded up the van and headed off for Logan at 6:30 am. We were scheduled to start the relay at 9:55am sharp. We arrived in Logan just in time to pick up race packets and take pictures.



Van 1
1. Katie aka: Ca-Caw
2. Raylene aka:Flash
3. Don aka: Hammie4. Annie aka: Slugger
5. Blaine aka: Daddy Long Legs
6. Rory aka: Nacho Peaches

Runner 1 (Katie) was off. It was getting hot already! Not sure if we calculated our team pace wrong but we were running with some seriously fast runners. I was runner 2. We handed off around 11:00am. It was getting pretty warm out. My run was only 3.3 miles through Logan. My pace was a little slower than I had planned but I didn't want to burn myself out on my first run. Luckily one of the teams had a "well fed" runner and I was able to pass him up. Yeah my first roadkill out of the race! We all exchange through our first runs and hand off to our amazing van 2. We ran 35 miles out of the 195.



Driving to our next major exchange Hammie decides to take a detour off roading to some hot pools. Seriously, we are going to die! He is the craziest driver ever! (Sorry Don but it is true). We end up at a river and Annie and Rory decide to go bridge jumping to cool off. It looks so fun, I wish I knew how to swim so I could join! Maybe next year. We get to Grace ID for our next hand off and try getting some rest. Hours later our Van 2 arrives for trade off. Off we go again. It is getting dark so we have to gear up with our reflective vests and headlamps. Katie runs her 5 miles and hands off to me to do my 5 miles. I end up running on a main highway (30). They have me running with traffic on the shoulder. It is a little scary running in the dark, with nobody in sight, with huge Semi-trucks speeding by. Every time I got passed by a semi it would push me off the road. I enjoyed running in the dark but was a little freaked out I was going to get hit by a car. Van 1 rotates through runners and finish around 12 or 1am. We meet Van 2 at the next major exchange in Freedom ID to rest.




We lay out our sleeping bags on the grass at the park and try to wind down for a rest. We are all so tired all we can do is laugh. We are in the state of no sleep where everything and anything is so funny. We are looking up at the stars and it is awesome. Out of nowhere we start hearing raindrops! Seriously are you kidding me? We get in our bags cover up our heads and fall asleep while it rains on us. We wake up around 6:00am to get ready for our last runs. It is so freaking cold! It is 35 degrees outside. Our sleeping bags are wet and we are cold.



Again Katie starts us off and it is COLD! She has 5 1/2 miles to run and then its my turn. We hand off around 7:00am. I have just over three miles to run. I feel great and am enjoying this last run. The sun starts coming up. It is so pretty out here! I am so glad to be able to be out here running. I hand off to Hammie and am done! Hammie runs his last leg and then hands off to Annie. She has a long 7.75 mile run along the snake river. It is beautiful! Annie hands off to Blaine for his last 7.5. Rory (Nacho Peaches) is up last. We are almost done! We hand off to Van 2 and head off for Jackson Hole.

Van 2 meets us at Teton Village for their last runner (Brett) to finish the last of the 195 miles. When we see him coming we all together run up to the finish line. We end up finishing 23rd out of 42 teams. Average pace of 9:15. 30 hrs 3 minutes.

Our group of runners where some of the funnest people I have ever got to hang out with. We had the best time! I am for sure up for next year. You never have to ask me twice.

RAGNAR Wasatch Back 2010

A lot of people have wondered how my race went" My mind is still kinda "out of it" so I figured I would give you all a race report so you can get the whole run down and so I would remember better.

My sister in law Katie asked me if I wanted to run the Wasatch Back with her and some friends months ago. I said yes nervously. Could I really do it? I've never been good at ANY athletic type sport, never been on a real team never try anything unless I know without a doubt I can do it. This was stretching the limit for me. I am so glad I got to do this race with 6 of the hottest "HOT TAMALES" and 6 of the hunkiest "BIG HUNKS." That was our team name "Hot Tamales and Big Hunks." The girls had a bit more of a running background so we took van 2 the boys took van 1 (Van 2 is harder).

Two of the girls on our team lost their mothers to cancer this year and Katie (my Sister-in-law) lost her dad to cancer when she was a teenager so we decided to be on the American Cancer Society DetermiNation Team. They would pay our entry fee, get all our food, massages, VIP party in a hotel after the race. Our team together raised over $4,200.00 to help support cancer research. I had a lot of support from my friends and family and I thank you all so much. Every time I think about all the hard work and effort I put in to raise that money I think of my amazing friends and family and how lucky I am to have such great support.

Now lets get started!

Woke up Friday morning at 4:30a.m. got dressed, ate some cereal and toast waiting for a van to pick me up. We drove up to Logan and arrived just in time for team "Safety Training" and packet pick up. Packet pick up was a little bit of a disappointment. Since we where an ACS team they didn't have our bib numbers printed right. So we got left over bib numbers with the wrong numbers and hand written numbers while everyone else got their number and team name printed nicely on their bibs.


Bob (my neighbor) was runner 1. At 8:00 sharp he was off. Van 1 was off for the first 6 legs. The girls decided to go get breakfast at a local cafe while the boys did their first legs. We meet up at exchange 6 ready for the trade off at 1:45. Now the nervousness sets in. I am runner 12 I am expected to run at 4:45. Every trade off is good, all runners do awesome we end off being faster than expected and are ahead at least 30 minutes. My turn is up! It is the hilll I have been dreading. I trained as much as I could on hills at Traverse Mountain preparing for this. It was 3 miles with an elevation gain of 835feet. It is HOT! I take off and every thing feels good. I pass quite a few walkers, feel really good with my hill training. I think it is purely excitement and adrenaline getting me up this hill. I see the exchange and am so glad I was able to run the whole hill without stopping. I arrive 5 minutes ahead of my expected arrival and am feeling pretty good just thirsty and hot. Now we have a break till about 10:00 that night.


ACS has told us to go to Morgan High School and they will have cots for us to get some sleep on and some food in a classroom. We get there and TRY to get some rest. We only get about 3 hours to rest and recover and are off again for the second legs.

We exchange off at exchange station 12 at about 8:30. I am expected to run my 6.5 miles at 3:30ish in the morning. I will need my reflective vest, head lamp, and butt lamp. We are all getting nauseous. Not sure if it from being car sick, dehydration, being in the heat or hungry.
All runners again do awesome! It is now my turn again for leg #24. I am all geared up with warmer clothes, got my GU in my vest in case I need a energy boost. This run is a little bit easier it is not so hot and the hills are minimal. It is dark. My headlamp is not very bright I really can't see the road. I am glad I have an extra light too hold in my hand. I start getting nervous about wild animals in the bushes and wonder what I will do. I don't have many runners near me, occasionally someone will pass me or I will pass them. I kinda feel alone. I should have told my van to stop for me every mile to give me support. I told them to stop at mile 3 and 5 for a quick drink of water. The run goes good. I run without stopping all 6.5 miles. Get to the exchange and hand off to Bob around 4:30 for Van 1's last legs. We have till 8:00 a.m. to rest and recover for our last legs.

Again ACS has cots and food waiting for us at South Summit High (I think that was the school. I was pretty tired.) We get to the school to the reserved classroom and every cot is taken by runners who should not be sleeping on them! We are all so ticked off. We start shaking people to wake them up and tell them they need to get off our cots. Finally after all the commotion, changing our clothes, etc... we lay down. We are feeling really tired, cranky, slightly dehydrated, and really dirty. The cot is better than sleeping on the floor but is not comfortable at all. I am cold. I should have brought a warmer blanket or a sleeping bag. I manage to get 1 hour of sleep and wake up in a near delirious state.

We arrive at exchage 18 for the last trade off. The boys are off to meet us at our hotel suite the ACS has for us in Park City. Runner 7 completes her last run with two nasty blisters on her feet. Runner 8 has a long 6.1 mile run through Heber and gets really sick. She is dehydrated and can't go on any further. Runner 7 takes over for her and runs her last mile. Runner 9 starts with her grueling hill climb that starts "The Ragnar Hill" It is tough! She rotates speed walking with running on her toes and makes it up. In the process of her running we notice the gas light comes on! Why were we not organized. We are on the mountain on a dirt road with absolutely no gas stations around. We drive up to the exchange and ask everyone we pass if they have any gas. They all laugh and say "Ya we have some gas for you" thinking we mean farting I guess. Finally a Ragnar worker says she has some gas for her generator we can use. She puts the two gallons gas in our van. We are near tears grateful for her. Now it is Runner 10 (Katie) this is a horribly grueling 4 mile hill climb up the rest of "The Ragnar Hill" I am amazed at how steep it is. We decide to pull off every mile or sooner to stop and give her water. She is pounding up this hill. Everyone around her is walking and she just keeps running. She is amazing! Now it is Runner 11 she has the 5 mile downhill. She does great! I am waiting at the last exchange feeling great. I CAN DO THIS! 5.1 miles easy right? I am on a roll running through scenic Park City neighborhoods, trails, it's beautilful. I look down at my trusty Garmin and I am going fast. I am running around 8:30 min mile! (That is fast for me) I am getting hot and thirsty. This is a run my van cannot help me on. I see a water station take a quick drink and keep flying. I am giving it all I got. I pass the one mile to go sign. It's almost over! I turn the corner and WTF is that? I did not realize I had to climd another hill! It is steep and I have no energy left. I keep playing "Till I Collapse" by Eminem over and over on my ipod to keep me going. I look down at my watch 4.75 miles and what do I do? I STOP. Why? I couldn't go any further. I walk up this stupid hill. I know the finish line is so close I can hear the cheering. I look down at my watch as I start running again 4.85. I see my team they are waiting to cross the finish line with me. We cross the finish line! They take us immediatly to the finish line and give us our REAL finisher metals. Now what is happening? Oh my gosh I am bawling my eyes out! What is wrong with me? I don't cry! I am so physically and mentally tired! I am also so proud of myself and my amazing team! I finally belonged to a team.

We go up to our room and I am amazed at how much the ACS spoiled us. My kids, Jared, and my in laws are all their to congratulate us. There is Olive Garden, Cafe Rio, Subway, Drinks and more. We relax for awhile try to eat and then try to decide if the race was fun.

Was it fun? Would I do it again? HELL YES in a insane kinda way. I want to do it next year for sure!

BLOG Slacker

Well it's been awhile since I've done the blog thing. I think I'm ready to get started again. It has been a CRAZY and BUSY year for our family, but we have had tons of fun. So check back often.