Nitty-gritty details about the race that may not interest anyone

A few weeks ago when Kalie wrote about her experience in the Ogden Marathon she mentioned that she took a little Imodium before the start of the race.  Since one of the things I've hated about marathons is that I constantly am having GI issues I decided to try it out.  It made a huge difference!  I owe part of my awesome marathon to her!

I've been looking for a long time for something to eat/take during the marathons that I could handle.  I don't like gu's (or any brands of similar stuff) because it's gross when I don't have the marathon nausea, but it's downright impossible for me to down the stuff after about mile 3.  So it was basically useless.  I tried using the cliff shot blocks for awhile, but they were so sticky and stuck to my teeth so much that they were no easier to get down than the gu's.  Terra found these things and loaned me some one run and they were awesome.  They have a little burst of fluid in the middle that towards the end of the marathon was a little gross, but it was so minimal that it was completely manageable.  The gummy part is about the consistency of gummy life savers, so they're not sticky even when you have a little bit of cotton mouth.  I was able to down one as late as mile 22 (which is far later than I'm usually able to handle anything).  I consider these a win.

I also took some of these Hammer nutrition endurolytes pills.  They are awesome.  I've been using, and loving these, for about a year.  They are great at replacing electrolytes.  I was first worried that it would be difficult to swallow a pill on the run, and it did take some getting used to, but I can do it on the run now without even stopping (because I'm awesome like that).  They also help your body absorb more water and really reduce the amount of sloshing in the belly.  Between the energy blasts and these caps I took something about every two to two and a half miles.  I had a hard time swallowing one of these at about mile 17 as I was hitting the wall, and I didn't try again (I probably would have been fine, it was mostly mental) so I stopped taking these a little earlier than the energy blasts.  But between the two it seemed to work out well.  Although you could just use one or the other I chose to use both.  I like that the pills cut the sloshing, but they don't have enough calories so I used the gummies as well to replace calories.

This was my first race with Alice, my trusty hydration pack.  Alice (you know, like the camel) and I only met about a month ago, but we became fast friends right from the start.  I learned (the hard way) that keeping my mouth wet by frequent small sips of water was way better than guzzling at water stations.  The only way to do that is to carry your own.  Since water belts and I don't get along (because I'm shaped like a 12 year old boy) I finally decided to spring for a pack and it was totally worth it for me, despite the high cost.  It also carries a lot of stuff and I had easy access to my pills and gummies and room to stash arm warmers etc. if necessary.  Terra carried all my stuff around in her water belt for a long time, now I'm her Sherpa and returning the favor.  Plus, if you stash chocolate in the pouch closest to the water, it doesn't melt even on a hot day (well, hot for Washington, I can't say what will happen in the rest of the country where you don't consider 80 degrees burning hot).  Though it does make you look like you have an exo-sports bra on (which is ironic because I certainly don't need one) it's totally worth it.  As, I said yesterday I passed it off to Vaughn about mile 22 so hopefully I have some pictures without it where I look like a normal person.

Because of all the points mentioned above I was able to run this entire race without walking a single step.  A first for me.  No water stations, bathroom breaks, or food issues.  It was great!

I failed to mention yesterday my buddy Allison.  I met her a few months ago at a ropes course training I attended.  It was super fun to catch up to her before the race started, cheer for each other as we passed in the out and back (thank goodness Vaughn, who had only seen her once this morning, noticed her or we would have never seen each other!) and again at the end.  It was her first marathon and she was incredible and looked way fresher at the finish than I did!

I mentioned yesterday that we toured a lighthouse after the race.  I didn't bring my camera up with me to the lighthouse (or to the beach) so thank goodness Terra was willing to share her pictures!  The house was beautiful, and I'm glad we took the time to take a look at it!

Last night I woke up at 3 AM absolutely famished.  I was kind of expecting this since it has happened after every single marathon I've run (okay, there have only been three).  When I woke up this time though I decided to take an epsom salt bath while I was awake.  It felt so good.  Although I would have preferred to stay asleep, it was still awesome.  Things like this are why when people say I'm crazy to do marathons I can only agree.

I am the organist for my congregation at church as I was playing this morning I eventually had to stop using the pedals and use the cheater button because my legs were shaking so badly I couldn't hold the pedals down.  To use the pedals you have to use enough force to push the pedal down so your muscles are slightly flexed, but you can't actually put any weight on it.  My legs were just too tired to do that today!

Here are a few more random pictures of us at the beach.  And yes, I wish I could make my hair not look dorky too.  But hey, I had just ran a marathon, taken an awkward shower in a high school locker room and traversed down the hill to the beach.  It's amazing I was standing.

Vaughn was awesome after the race too.  Newport is a very hilly little town.  As we were walking around he would put his hand on the small of my back every time we started going uphill and have me lean into him a little and he would literally propell me up the hill.  Though he has his faults, he was absolutely perfect this weekend.  (I'm sure this will translate into back rub blackmail later.)

And the greatest miracle of the day, the jump shot.  This is even take two!

I'm experiencing a strange sensation right now.  I can't wait to go back and do it again!  This is really weird.  Anyone want to come run Newport 2013 with me?

Bonus points if you made it all the way through this long rambling post!

Oh, and I've been collecting awesome stuff for a giveaway.  Stay tuned.

Newport Marathon 2012

I totally enjoyed both my time in Newport, Oregon and the marathon.  It was a fantastic low key event.  Even though there were only 900 runners in the marathon, it never felt small and we were taken care of so well.  

We left right after the kids got out of school to drive the 5 hours to Newport.  When we got to town, we headed straight to the expo.

Hanging out at the expo with my buddy:

Since Vaughn's so fit and looks just like the models sometimes I get a little confused...

Even though the race was small people came from all over.  I thought this map was a fun representation of where everyone came from:

There were banners and signs all over town.  Many businesses had welcome runners signs and discounts for runners.  From the moment we got there we really felt like the town was behind us! 

Vaughn looked up a cafe to go to for dinner.  Unfortunately we walked a few blocks in the wrong direction before we realized it (though if we had turned around we would have realized that the cafe we wanted to go to was right next door to our hotel.)  Instead we ended up at a Mexican restaurant and it was an awesome mistake.

I ate my entire giant enchilada in about 5 minutes flat.  I inhaled it.

I know, I don't have a forehead, I have a fivehead.

After dinner we headed to a grocery store to pick up a few things and met a guy named Ron (I think).  He did the Texas full ironman two weeks earlier and was worried about his performance.  He was a super nice guy and I was able to run with him for a bit during the race.  It's so fun to meet new runners!

Marathon morning, bright and early:

Vaughn was the most awesome race support ever.  He was there on his bike with his saddle bags and was ready to help us out with whatever we needed.  At the last moment before the race I gave him my arm warmers to carry and when we got to the starting line I immediately regret it.  It wasn't 5 minutes later that Vaughn showed up on his bike and I retrieved my arm warmers from him.  He was helpful even before the race started and it just got better from there!

He spent the entire race (excepting a half hour or so when he went to get breakfast in the beginning) he was there every few minutes going back and forth between Terra and I.  Cheering us on, taking pictures, and just being there (which is all you need in a marathon sometimes).  He even opened a package of gummies for Terra, offered snacks to other runners, and picked up stuff when runners dropped stuff (it's hard to pick something up off the ground after 15 miles of running).  He was fantastic.

I met a guy around mile 5 named Mike (who has the same birthday as me) and we ran together for about 10 miles.  His wife, who is a spectacular runner, ended up winning the womens division.  I love marathons because you make great friends of random people.  He pulled away from me about mile 17, but I caught back up to him about mile 25 when we were both struggling and he finished just a minute or so behind me.  Mike was a huge help and made the whole experience fantastic!

Also, you can see how badly I overpronate in this picture.  I should really work on that.

I know the picture of Terra blow is a little blurry, but she looks fast in this one so it's the one I chose.  Since I lost Terra almost immediately after the start she had a completely separate race experiance.  You'll have to read her blog to see how she did.  (She hasn't posted yet, but it'll be there soon)

The mile markers at the marathon were permanent signs on the road.  They were really cool.  The course started at the ocean, went a few miles around town, and then followed a winding river for an out and back.  It was a beautiful course, and flat.  Aside from the road being a little tilted at times (a common problem for runners) it was absolutely perfect.  And the weather was phenomenal.  It was about 55 degrees and a light misty rain.  It was awesome.

After the turnaround just past mile 16 I really started struggling.  My miles went from the 7:30-7:40's they had been up until then to higher than 9:30.  I'm really bad at pacing myself.  I was really struggling, but I knew that stopping only delayed the inevitable.  Vaughn was there by my side almost exclusively the last 6 miles.  (Sorry Terra.)  When I ran out of water I gave him my pack to carry and he would hand me his bike water bottle when I need it.  Though it wasn't windy, occasionally there were gusts that seemed pretty strong on my 20+ miles legs.  When a gust of wind would come along he would ride directly in front of me to block the wind so I could draft off him a little.  He was amazing.  He made a huge difference in how the race went. I am so glad he was there for me!

He even refrained from cracking all the jokes he was thinking, which if you know Vaughn is a really difficult thing for him to do.  He was there for me today, and I love him for it.

The last two miles or so I realized that qualifying for Boston was within my grasp (I didn't let myself think about it before then).  But I no longer had the energy to move much faster than a slow shuffle.  I gave Vaughn my garmin so that I would stress or freak myself out over it.  He passed it back off to me just in time to cross the finish line and I stopped it.

I finished in a heart breaking 3:35:09 official time (I needed a 3:35:00 or under to qualify for Boston).  When I realized how close I was (less than half a second per mile!) I was really upset.  If I had missed it by 5 minutes it would have been fine.  My main goal for the race was to finish feeling like I did my best.  And I did.  But coming so close to a BQ and not getting it was difficult.

But you know what, it was still a PR by 20 minutes and 30 seconds!  How can I be sad about that!

Terra came in just a few minutes behind me (again, you'll have to read her blog for more details, not my story to tell).

We were so happy (relieved) to be done running.  We had a great experience and I will totally run this race again (yes, this race made me think that maybe I don't hate marathons).  

It took me forever to come out of the runners section because I had to catch up with all the friends I had made.  Both Ron and Mike ran great races and it was awesome to catch up with them at the end.  (PS I'm totally wearing my BYU sweatshirt to every race now, that's how I met both fellows because Ron was an alum and Mike has a daughter going there.  Plus Vaughn met a few spectators who were also mormons it was so much fun!)

Vaughn went to pick up the car, and Terra and I ended up standing at the bottom of a hill (because it seemed like too much work to walk up it and find Vaughn).  A cop at the bottom of the hill totally moved cones and directed traffic so that Vaughn could drive straight to us and we wouldn't have to walk more than necessary.  It was so nice.

After the race we headed over to the high school that was open for runners to shower.  When I walked in I saw this sign and laughed over it for a long time: 

After the race I wanted to head back to the starting line.  The beach was so beautiful but it was cloudy and dark when we had been there earlier.  My determination to get to the beach took me down a few flights of stairs, some downhill paths and a sand bar to get there but it was worth it.  It was gorgeous (Terra has all the good pictures, I'll post some when I steal them from her).  

We also went and toured a lighthouse that was right there.  

We were starved by then, so we headed back downtown for some lunch.  

One of the things in our awesome (they really had great stuff) swag bags was a token for free clam chowder. Yum!  So we headed to Mo's for some seafood.  They sat us at a table right by the water.  It was fantastic! We even saw an animal of some sort (seal, sea lion, loch ness monster, we don't really know) while we were eating.  It was awesome.

It was a great trip and an awesome marathon.  I'm glad I tried again after the horror of the St. George Marathon last year.  The volunteers and organizers were fantastic, the spectators were enthusiastic and totally supportive, and the whole town would congratulate you when they saw your medal.  It was a blast.

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

Congratulations to Stephanie for winning the eShakti giveaway!

AWKWARD:

• I was showing off my volleyball bruises to some friends and one of them asked what that bump was.  It was my wrist bone.  Everyone has one.  Mine just stick out, a lot.  I'm very bony.  
• I haven't had any candy and hardly any sugar in almost a week in preparation for my marathon.  I hate it.
• I ate so much for lunch yesterday that when I went running 5 hours later I was still so full I wanted to vomit.  I didn't, but I had a lot of curry tasting burps (I ate Indian food for lunch.  And yes, I burp when I run.  A lot.) 
• I found a new piano piece a really love.  I want to play it at my student's recital next Saturday, but I just barely started learning it yesterday.  All of the other pieces I can play with my eyes closed I've worked on them so hard no loner sound appealing for the recital.  I want to play this one.  We'll see if I can learn it well enough in the next week and a half that I don't totally embarrass myself.  If you come by my house in the next week, I'll probably be playing it.  
• Henry left his strider bike under the car.  I didn't notice it.  I ran over it and broke the front wheel.  Lame.
• Someone in my family is waiting to hear some potentially awesome news.  I am totally bad at being patient and I can't stand it.

AWESOME:

• I did my last run before Saturday's race last night.  It was awesome.  I did 3 miles at a sub 7 pace and I felt really good and I didn't feel like I was pushing it.  I hope I feel good on Saturday
• Tyler said to me "Mom, Grandpa is so funny.  He's funny like Dad.  Grandpa taught Dad to be funny, and Dad will teach me to be funny.  Then we'll all be funny."  He's already succeeding.  It was hilarious when he said that.
• Henry doesn't have school on Wednesdays.  Vaughn jokingly said "Well Henry do you want to go to work instead?"  Henry hopped off my lap where he had been sitting and got dressed in record time.  Vaughn, who wasn't really prepared to do it, followed through and took Henry to work.  (Only for an hour, I came and picked him up as soon as I took Tyler off at school.)
• South Sound Running - seriously the best running store ever.  I love hanging out there.  They literally had to kick me out when they closed last Friday.  Love them.
• Speaking of Saturday - I did my last long run of 10 miles at a 7:56 pace and felt completely awesome.  If I can do that race day I will be beyond thrilled.  
• I leave for Newport tomorrow to go to the expo for the race.  Can you tell marathons are on the brain?  

If I don't manage to blog before Saturday wish me luck!  (I'll need it!)  If I do well, you'll hear immediately, if I don't, I won't blog for a week or so while I attend my pity party.  

Product Review: Krill Oil

Everest Nutrition was kind enough to send me some krilloil.com to test.  (This post is long overdue, sorry!!)

I've been a regular partaker of fish oil for months and I've loved it.  It gives me more energy and I feel more balanced and healthy.  No seriously, I'm not kooky, I really do.

Fish supplements can:

• Protect your heart
• Lower your cholesterol
• Boost your energy levels
• Improve your memory
• Alleviate PMS symptoms
• Relieve joint pain

Fish oil in general is super good for you.

Krill Oil has more Omega 3's and 54x more antioxidant power than regular fish oil.  Even Dr. Oz is on board.  (Click here to see a video)

I'm going to be honest, I went into this skeptical that a different kind of fish oil would really make a difference.

But it totally did.

I honestly felt even better than I did taking regular fish oil.  And there was no yucky fish taste, and way fewer burps than fish oil pills.  (If you've ever taken fish oil, you know what I'm talking about.)

So, at the end of the day, I loved it!  It was fantastic!  I'm over my old fish pills and will be using these from now on.  Honestly.

Click here to check out their website to find out more about krill oil!

If you ask a friend to target....

She may mock you for your cart pushing skillz.  (I looked so much cooler in my mind.)

If she makes you fall off the cart and into a display she may feel bad and invite you to stay and watch a movie.

(Friend in picture is not the cart pushing one.)

If you stay to watch a movie you may eat an entire grasshopper pie.

If you eat the whole pie she may pull out fake mustaches.  

If you put on fake mustaches it may get out of control.

If you use all the fake mustaches it's probably time to go to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~

Best accidental girls night out ever.

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

AWKWARD:

• A few weekends ago we had a surprise birthday party for biking buddy April at LeMay - America's Car Museum (the museum wasn't open yet and we only had access to one gallery, we will be taking our kids there when it opens because there was some really neat stuff!) .  There were some hecka cool cars there, though neither Vaughn or I know much about cars so honestly it was a bit wasted on us.  We got our friend Pam to take a few pictures of us, but Vaughn and I are the most awkward people ever and negated her skill by looking like idiots.  These two pictures pretty much are a window into our lives...

 (I know, you're all jealous of our awkwardness.)

• I played my first game ever of volleyball on Tuesday night.  I'm super bad at it.  And my forearms are now totally bruised.  Unfortunately, it doesn't really show in the picture, but trust me, they are.  I'm sad I waited until the last night of the season to give it a whirl because it was a blast.  

• Last night the chain on Tyler's bike came off.  Right in front of a couple of salesmen trying to sell cleaning supplies.  Bless their hearts, they tried their darndest to get the chain back on.  But once I figured out what was going on I relieved them of their duties (before they tried their magic cleaning solution on it, because that solves everything didn't you know?)  I'm pretty sure Vaughn will be able to do my entire bike rebuild in less time than it takes to get the chain back on a kids bike.  Also, time for a few stranger danger lessons.
• There is that awkward time between when you run out of easy to make/eat food but payday isn't for a few more days so you find yourself feeding your kids chocolate cake for a snack because you have ingredients for chocolate cake but no crackers left.  Yeah, I totally did that.  Also, time to do a "cash month" because I'm getting worse and worse at budgeting my allotment.  (Stupid Target and all their awesome stuff that makes me impulse buy.)
• Terra and I put off our late night tempo run last night in favor of this morning.  Last night it wasn't raining, this morning it is.  Serves us right.  When Vaughn reads this I guarantee he's feeling smug.

AWESOME:

• Terra and I were asked, for about the third time in a month, if we were students at the high school while running on their track.
• This is totally just a slinky on a treadmill, but it's totally fascinating.  Every time I think disaster is about to strike, the slinky pulls through.  I hope I can be so tireless in my marathon!  I seriously watched the entire thing, something may be wrong with me.

• I found a YouTube channel that has all the full episodes of Magic School Bus on it.  We've had a blast with that.  Best show ever.  Raise your hand if you want Mrs. Frizzle to be your teacher!  (My hand is totally raised and waiving like the annoying know it all kid in class.)
• Henry got into preschool for next year.  Wahoo!  Now I just have to save up all summer to pay his tuition (there is a 10% discount for paying the entire year in advance, totally worth it).  AND when I took the kids to the pediatrician last week for their yearly visits I remembered to ask for printed copies of their immunization records so I have it on hand when I register the kids for school.  I feel totally on the ball (as long as that's the only thing I ever have to do).
• Vaughn bought an ipod touch off craigslist with a cracked screen.  They originally wanted a carton of cigarettes for it.  Vaughn said he'd pay cash.  They asked for $50, Vaughn said no.  A little while later they asked for $35 if he could do it this afternoon.  The ATM only spits out $20's so Vaughn asked if they had change.  They said no.  Vaughn was on his bike and it was raining so he said throw in a sandwich and a ziplock bag to put the ipod in and we'll call it even.  So they did.  

The Great Bike Rebuild

(Don't forget to enter my giveaway, there aren't a lot of entries yet, so you still have a great chance of winning!)

Folks, I'm getting a new bike.  

Well, not exactly, but I'm basically getting a new bike.  

Once upon a time there was a guy named Tom (Vaughn's brother) who got hit by a car on his bike.  His bike was "totaled" so he got a new bike.  

Years later the old forgotten bike is still sitting in his garage when Vaughn gets the brilliant idea to steal all the stuff off his bike and put it onto my bike (and thus circumventing my desire to get a new bike without spending any money, stuff like this is why Vaughn is awesome).  

We head over to his brother's house and no cars are in the garage but the garage is open.  

So we take the bike.  (Vaughn did tell his brother ahead of time that we were coming to get it.)

The bike on the left is the "broken" (but not really all that broken) bike.  The one on the right is my bike. 

By the time Vaughn is done basically the only thing the same will be my frame (because I'm short so it's small).  Between the new stem and handlebars I've gotten in the last month and the new stuff we're harvesting off Tom's bike it'll be way better and newer.  We're even taking the carbon fork off his bike to replace my aluminum one, making it lighter and me way faster.  

Okay, I probably won't get faster, but it'll be lighter so I can take it off the wall easier.  

It's perfect timing for a bike rebuild too.  My poor biking buddy April got into a car accident last week and can't go riding with me for awhile - she's fine, just stiff, sore, and without a car.  (Some friends bring her treats and offers of rides, I took her over my rowing machine since she can't run or ride right now and can't get to the gym.  I know, I'm a great person to have in a bind - NOT.)

Also, since my marathon is only 10 days away it's a great time to back off the biking.  

Having my own personal bike mechanic is totally handy.