Mother Racer

Wednesday: I met up with Beth for a 9 mile run. We ran about a 7:24-7:40 pace for each mile (well except for my 1st). On my Mapmyrun I had…  

 Mine is always a little off time when I run with someone with a garmin. It shows that my miles are faster by 2 to 3 seconds. Oh well… It was a good run. Today was more of a relaxing day… I didn’t do much cleaning, the girls did have friends over but I didn’t pay much attention to them today. Oh I did take my youngest to the park today…  

 So I guess I did do something, somewhat productive. Soon it was time for track. The varsity guys/girls did a Fartlek run over a 7 mile route (90 seconds fast, 60 sec recovery, 60 sec fast, 60 sec recovery x 5). The JV runners went on a 7 mile recovery run.  

 In the evening, I went on RS visits and then the girls and I went to bed. Corom works late tonight. 

Thursday: I met up with Amber and we went out for 10 miles. Once again my “mapmyrun” was off by 2 to 3 seconds from her Garmin. Mine was faster. So weird!  

 I came home to my 2 oldest girls holding their pets…  

 Yes… The snake is a little creepy! My oldest found it and now it is her pet. I dropped the girls off at school and headed over to the JR High for a talent show (a couple of girls in my neighborhood asked if I would come watch). They did really well… Very cute, fun girls!  

 I then went on more RS visits. We had a good time visiting more ladies today. I met up with a few friends at the park. My kids loved it! It was nice for me to hang out with other adults.  

 Soon it was track again. 🙂 The Varsity runners went on a 6-7 mile recovery run and the JV runners ran the workout the varsity ran on Monday. 🙂 I had 1 kid throwing up, a couple laying on the ground and a couple more hanging over the bars wanting to puke. Love this workout!  (3 x 400 at 2 mile pace with a 100 jog when finished then a 100 sprint, 2 x 400 at mile pace with the 100’s, 2 x 400’s at 800 pace with the 100’s and a fast 400)…

 Tough workout… Good kids! Corom and our oldest went out with the Activity Day Girls (the girls between 8-11 in our ward/church), shortly after dinner. They all wanted to ride in our bus.  

Friday: I went out on a longer run today because tomorrow I have to be at a track meet all day. I won’t have too much time in the morning to run long… So I combined a 14 mile run with a good tempo. I kick myself because I should have started my stop watch when I began my tempo to match up the times. With mapmyrun always being a few seconds off… It would have been nice to compare each mile marker. The 1st and 3rd mile was a good downhill. The 2nd & 4th was flat and the 5th was flat and slightly up. (My tempo began from mile 6-11) I felt good and my legs were so tired after this workout! Like I mentioned earlier… The times are probably a little faster (so I will know to add on 2-3 seconds). 

 I was glad to be done… The girls had an assembly first thing this morning (the Star’s Award assembly). All 3 girls earned their award this morning. They were excited to get it! 🙂  

 After helping with the assembly I went to my kindergartener’s class to help with their spring fling. I don’t know how teachers do it all day. After an hour of the assembly and an hour of being excited and animated in the classroom, I was tired!!! The Kindergartener’s had a great activity at each station. 

 I watched a couple of kids after school and then a friend came over and hung out (thanks Emilee).  

Then once again headed off to track practice (I didn’t have to bring the girls today… Corom came home early). 🙂 They all went on a easy run. I went into the weight room with one of the mid-distance runners (she is injured :() to do pull-ups. K I have not tried doing a pull-up since, oh maybe high school…  I didn’t even know if I could. (That’s Amber and she did so many of them like it was nothing)… I struggled to get 2 with my hands over and 3 with the hands under the bar. I was able to get 2 sets of that. I have to admit that I was excited to be able to do them. 

  We did pizza and movie night with our neighbors…  

 The kids (and neighbor kids) love movie night… Well so do I… It’s quiet! 🙂 

Sunday: We all went to church today (Corom had his meetings before so we just met him there)… My youngest was a little difficult today!!! But that’s not a shocker… After church I had a meeting (the girls came with me and played with the other kids) and Corom went to visit a family. We then headed up to the Fullmers (with the Barneys) for dinner.  

 It was an okay Sunday. I was still not feeling 100% and I was just tired today. 

Monday: I did get a 10 miler in this morning. I wanted to stop at 5 or 6 but I just wouldn’t allow myself to stop. I have issues that way! But I guess many of us runners do. If it’s on the schedule… Then we have to do it!  

 I ran errands this morning, neighbor kids came and played and then soon it was off to track practice. The varsity runners had a speed workout while the JV runners went out on a 5 mile easy run. They have a track meet tomorrow and the varsity runners have a track meet this weekend.  It was a tough workout today… There were a few that couldn’t finish (they weren’t hitting their marks so I pulled them)… But that is how this workout is. It is key to hit your times! 

  We had our home teachers come (we used it as Family Night) and then Corom took out our 3rd daughter on their “date” (they went to the pet store to buy crickets for the snake the girls caught :/). After I took out our 4th on our “date”. We went to the local store and got an icecream cone, then went to visit our elderly neighbor (with an icecream for her).  

I went to bed early tonight!!! I think by 8:45-9, I was in my covers. 🙂 

Tuesday: I had a hard time getting out of bed (maybe because I knew it was a speed day). I started with a 4 mile warmup and then began 5 x 1200’s. I struggled with today’s workout! I don’t know if my body was weaker from the weekend and my loss of appetite for the past few days or what, but I had to push through every 1200! (It’s actually a little shorter than a 1200… It’s about .71-.72.) My 1st was a 4:02, 2nd was a 4:02, 3rd was a 3:58, 4th was a 3:59, and the 5th was death but I came across at a 3:57. I did run a 3 minute recovery between each 1200. Then I finished off with a 2 mile cool down (11 miles total).  

 I had a few friends come hang out today (which was much needed), a few neighbor kids over, and I was able to get some cleaning done (which was much needed)… Then it was off to track practice. Coach Vantassel’s and I stayed back with the varsity runners, and 2 other coaches went to the track meet with the JV runners (I hope they took pictures)! I decided to run with the distance runners to get a few more miles in. Yeah, I put in too many more miles! My plan was to just run 3-4 miles with them but then I got to a point that I had to finish the loop.  

 Towards the end of the run, I was done (mentally)! But I guess it’s good to get the extra miles in… So I ran 19 miles total today. Ouch! We went and did our tax returns tonight and then it was bedtime! 

Thursday: Amber and I went out on a 12 1/2 mile run up Harry’s loop and ran Amber’s pace for a tempo down. The tempo miles were 6:29, 6:28, 6:26 and 6:36. The overall run took about 1:30.22. It was a good run. Once again the girls (neighbor kids that I take to school) all left early for the book fair (I helped again and of course the kids love to get there early to look around.  

 I came home a little while later to see Corom, Mike & Kitty (our very pregnant and very needy English Mastiff) all hanging out… 

  Then the 2 decided to “sunbathe” out on the front lawn…. It was a little embarrassing when the JH kids got out of school and would walk past our house. They looked a little weird. 🙂  

 I had track to run off too, Corom manned the house… And then I took 2 of my girls to their SEP conference (parent/teacher meeting), brought dinner for the teachers and helped a little longer in the Book Fair room. My 2nd child went to a bday party…  

 A busy day…but when is it not… 

Friday: I went out with Mac and Amber for an easy 7.2 miler. It was very nice!!! We ran for 55:47 and that is when I said I was done. One of those mornings of just not wanting to run. I worked at the Clarion Event Center today for a few hours… We set up for a wedding dinner and then I helped prepare food for an event that Elizabeth Smart was speaking at. I was bummed that I couldn’t go to the event but I had a track meet this afternoon.  

 The girls had a blast playing with their friends (at a neighbors… Thanks Camille) and with a babysitter. At the track meet, we had some excellent performances!!! Our kids ran well and competed hard. It was an exciting meet to watch and I wish I could talk about everyone. We did have kids qualify for State (this was the 1st meet they could qualify) and some that broke the school record. Our male miler was one of the kids that broke a school record and missed State qualifying by .2 sec. He ran a 4:24.2 mile and the time to hit is a 4:24.0.  

 As coaches we had to work the long jump, so that is where we spent most of our time, but that was so fun to watch. The female jumpers took 5 spots out of the 9 for finals. Great talent (amongst all the schools)… Our head coach went above and beyond to clear the board for these jumpers…  

 I was able to take pictures of some of the jumpers… 

 We had lots of help, the teammates cheered hard for their teammates and we were able to BBQ again… 

 We got home a little later (8:30), I got the girls ready for bed and shortly after (about 10) went to bed myself. Corom left for the evening to go camping with the scouts. 

Saturday: Where do I begin… My morning started off at 1 a.m… My youngest came to my bed (a little earlier) and wet the bed. Then 30 minutes later our dog began to freak out (in the garage) by barking and growling… She doesn’t normally do that at night, so I got up to let her out. She flipped… There was a man between our house and our neighbors so with a flashlight. I, too, pretended I was a man and yelled “Hey”… I didn’t see where he went (and it could have been nothing). He was calling out a name, I’m assuming for a dog, but who knows. It is nice have a massive dog to scare people away. That lasted for about 45 min to an hour (our dog was way worked up and I guess you could say, I was just a little nervous going back to bed, especially without Corom there). Kitty went back to bed (in the garage) and I did too. But then, I got up shortly after, and I’m sorry because this is going to be graphic and gross, but my stomach was churning… I had diarrhea and began to puke. I know it had to be something I ate because the rest of me felt fine. A few more times of getting up before my babysitter came (at 4 a.m.). I headed down to St. George, Utah (about 3 1/2 hours away) to go race in a 10k. I was meeting Corom and Mike about an hour and twenty minutes into my drive. On the way I had a few stops to make… Once again sorry, a little graphic!  I took a picture just for the blog…  

We finally made it to the buses (the last 3 buses) and up to the start with 20 minutes to spare. Once I got to the starting line I knew I wanted to race. I don’t know what is wrong with me! I was able to get about 1/2 mile to maybe a mile in before the race. (I wanted to see how my stomach would hold up.) The race began and I took off… The 1st mile was all downhill. I looked at my watch when we got to mile 1 and read 5:36. K… I knew I had to back off because the 2nd half is not down hill. 2nd mile, I came across at 11:29, 3rd mile was a 17:30, 4th was a 23:34, 5th was 29:28, 6th was a 35:32 and I finished with a 36:35.9. (A 5:53 pace). At mile 2 my stomach began to cramp up… I just kept thinking, 4 more miles is nothing and if I were to slow down it would take that much longer to be done. Yes I was glad to finish. I ended up taking 1st with a lady not too far behind. The top right pic is of the lady that took 2nd place (36:59).  We ran a 2 mile cool down and then I had to stop (about 9 miles total)… I wanted 13-15 today but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. 

 Mike and Corom ran well (57:07 and 57:08). Wherever they go, they are always goofing off!  

 We made the drive back and finally got home around 3:30. The girls had a blast with the babysitters! They made treats (muddy-buddies… One of their favorites), watched a movie and built a huge fort.  

 I was able to sneak a good hour nap in before making the girls their dinner. I’m still not feeling the greatest and I know after last night, my body is so tired! It was a pretty quiet night… Which was nice! I just ache all over… No fun! I was hoping the race would help me sweat it out, whatever I have. 

Monday: I went out for an easy run! I tried to stay closer to the 8 minute pace. There are times that I just pick up my pace without realizing it and I make my easy run into a moderate (not fully recovered) run. 

 I felt good after this run but just noticed that the second half, I picked up the pace. I babysat today (5 extra kids) and then headed off to track practice. We had to set up for the meet that is being held at our place tomorrow. I sent the distance runners on a 7 1/2 mile run (we train through these smaller meets) and went out to the field and began putting flags up with some of the other coaches and athletes. 

I took my 2nd child to SEP’s (parent teacher conference) right after practice… She is doing really well in her class! 



We (Corom and I) had one of the other coaches kids come over for dinner and to hang out, while he finished setting things up for the meet. The kids all played and we had dessert and family night together. 

This is our wonderful turtle game. 🙂 it does wonders! 

Tuesday: I had to do a speed workout of 9 x 800’s. Jeff was able to join me… It helped a lot. We ran a 2 mile warmup and then began the 800’s on the road (the 1st 350 with a 1% downhill). It helps get the leg turnover going. Our 1st was a 2:33, 2nd: 2:34, 3rd: 2:35, 4th: 2:38, 5th:2:38, 6th: 2:37, 7th: 2:38, 8th: 2:35, 9th: 2:32. We finished with a 2 mile cool down… Totaling 13 miles. The 1st 2 800’s were fast. Too fast… I knew I had to slow it down because I did not want to be dead for the last 3-4… I, surprisingly felt really good doing this workout. It did help having someone to chase and pace off of! Back at home, it was the hustle of getting kids ready for school (for St. Patrick’s Day). We have so much going on today at the school that I needed to be there an hour early… (I usually take 3 kids to school everyday, so they, too, were ready to go early). We (The PTO-PTA) had green donuts and milk for the kids (and parents if they were able to make it)… 

I was going back and forth from this pastry event to the Book Fair… 

 Yeah… Corom and I were a little over the top. I’m just glad our girls are still young enough not to be embarrassed of us yet. Because you know… This will never change. 🙂 

I went back throughout the day to help with the book fair. We had a track meet at our HS today. There were 3 other schools that came to compete. I was able to take a few pictures of the meet but not many because I was in charge of the finish line. I love having the meets at our school but then again I don’t because I can’t “coach” the kids as well. But everyone did really well. 

For some reason, the sprinters decided to jump in the mile race… Yes… They were way entertaining! 

I hurried home right when the meet was finished, to the traditional corned beef & cabbage meal. 🙂 The Barneys came for dinner. I was a little late coming home… Everyone else was done already. 

Corom and Travis took off for the YM’s activity (they were taking a tour of the jail… Where Corom works) and Megan, the kids and I hung out for a little while. Soon it was bedtime… 🙂 

Wednesday: I went on a easy recovery run this morning. I went out for 1:10.22. I don’t know how far I went but I felt good. We (the girls and kids I take to school and the 2 kids I babysit on wednesdays) all arrived at school early again. I helped in the book fair again while all the kids looked/hung around. 

We (Megan and I) went around and did RS visits and at lunch time I went back to the book fair at the school (with my 2 youngest and the 2 kids I babysit). The girls (my 2 youngest) had friend over and soon after we went to track practice… 

Then to piano lessons, then home with homework, dinner, showers and bedtime routine… Corom works late tonight and so I’m going to bed. 🙂 

Saturday: I woke up so early this Saturday morning to go on a 10 mile run with Amber. Today was my easy, recovery day. I had to go out early because I had to get to a track meet that was an hour away and it started at 9. I was able to finish in 1:14.33. After feeding my kids and getting them ready for the day, I took off… Corom and the girls spent the morning/early afternoon cleaning and hanging around the house. I hung out at the meet (it was the varsity day for the relays). They started off with the 4 x 2 mile. We ran it so well in both the male and female division. 

This meet is always fun to watch… They had the 4 x 1 mile, 4 x 200, 4 x 400, 4 x 100, sprint medley, distance medley, throwers relay, all field events relay… I know that I’m missing some events. 

The team performed really well! We have some great talent and great kids that are willing to fill in anywhere! We had a thrower jump in the 4 x 1 mile to fill the team. She did really well especially for not ever running a mile before! I do believe we won the meet on both the girls and boys… But I did not hear what the results were, so I could be wrong. 

One of the team captains did bring a grill up… The kids brought their meat for them and the coaches brought up theirs… 

It was a great lunch. 🙂 The track meet meet ended pretty early… So I was home by 2. It was back to cleaning, playing and breaking up fights (amongst the girls)… 

(This is my 3rd child… My 2nd oldest decided to use her finger nails against my 3rd child’s neck. :/)… Yeah… She was in big trouble! The sad thing is that that is how it is here! They play, they fight, play, fight… All day long! We did have a few families over for dinner. All the kids played after eating, while we were able to visit. It was a nice evening! 

Sunday: Another Sunday at church. I really enjoyed the lessons and talks that were given today… Just stuff I needed to hear. I was feeling a little blah this morning so it was nice to go and leave feeling better! We visited with a few people today and ate dinner with Corom’s family (at his mom’s house). His sister is visiting from Florida with her family, so it was good to see them. 

This was a picture I took of my 3rd child… I guess she couldn’t wait to change out of her dress after church. 🙂  We did have a lady come inspect our house for the Foriegn Exchange Student program tonight… We will be taking one for a week out of the month until school gets out (to help out the family that is hosting her now), but not until April. Other than that… Nothing else is going on but getting to bed. 🙂