Red Rock Relay 187 miles

All I can say is wow!!!!!!

I have to rate this race as one of the top 10 most fun things I have ever done in my life! It was like an all girls sleepover in a 12 passenger van. No sleep, alot a laughs and a few tears. The only difference was that you had to get out and run every once in awhile.

I was really nervous for this run because I totally bombed my other relay I just had done 2 weeks ago! Only this time there were alot more people to let down!

The races started up at Brian Head Resort. The weather was partly cloudy but didn't look like any threat of rain. I was to run the 3rd leg that was almost 9 miles long. As I was waiting for the tag I took a deep breath and told myself "You can do this." I started my run and was feeling great. 2 miles into the run there was this massive short hill that would usually put me into a freak out, didn't even phase me. I turned up my tunes and kept an even pace. I hit mile 3 and the ran started coming down it was starting to get cold which I like. It numbs the legs so you can't feel as much pain. I continued on and the weather got worse. It started to hail and the wind started to blow. The hail was hitting me in the side of of face and was hurting but I still had a smile on my face. My team gave me some gloves and a hat to block protect me from the weather. In the mist of all this I had my ipod on shuffle and Christmas music began to play! I came around my last turn and saw my tag partner and I still felt strong!

My Second leg was in the middle of the night through a canyon that went from Cedar to Newcastle. It was really dark and all I could see was what was in front of me with my head lamp. This was good though because I knew 2 of these 4 miles were straight up hill. I would rather not see what I am running but instead just put one foot in front of the other. My team was really helpful I would tell them to drive up to the next turn and I would run to them. I was getting to the end of the hill and I was so tired my legs were burning my calves felt like they were separating from the bone. I pushed through and finally made it to the top. The rest was easy sailing as I let the hill take me.

At this point of the run I really wish I would have run with a watch. I usually don't like to because I start to play mental games with myself if I am running to fast or to slow.

My Third leg was on the Snow Canyon Trail. This was a scary run. It was about 5:00 in the morning and still pitch black. I was running on a trail that was far away from any roads, people or lights. My motivation was to run as fast as I could so I didn't get attacked by any animals. Lucky for me I only had to run 3 miles. I probably set a PR because I was so scared but didn't wear a watch.

The rest of the time was spent motivating my other teammates as they ran their legs. We then drove to the finish line to wait for our other van to finish. We ate breakfast and slept in the park. I wish we would have instead went and found our other team and helped cheer them on. They finally came around the corner and we all ran to the finish line Loved It! Go Wonder Woman! I think we finished around 27 hours!

I really hope I get invited to run this again next year! It was so fun and I felt amazing the whole time.

Cedar Express 31 Miles Relay

continue...Read below First

If I could keep a good consistent pace I would be ok. As I was running I could hear someone right behind me. Started thinking again "What if she passes, I'm going to let my whole team down" I started to shut down at that point. The team we were racing to be 3rd passed me and at that point I felt defeated. My team drove by and could see I was burning out. One of them jumped out of the car and started running with me. Leslie kept yelling at me to push forward. Its not that I couldn't it was because I had already given up mentally. I pushed forward not happily but I did. I finally made it to transition and I felt horrible. "We weren't going to place because of me." At the last leg one of our stronger runners was going to have to make my time up. As we went towards the finish line we could see her running through the neighborhood and she did it. She passed the team we had been competing with for 3rd. She came through the finish line a little over 4 hours. We were so excited to place. One of our team mates went to the timing desk to get our time and it said that we placed 1st in woman's division. We were all so shocked. The whole time we thought we were competing for 3rd. Love my team!!!
What I ultimately learned from this experience is personal affirmations are powerful. The positive ones and the negative ones. I let my thoughts control my run and ended up having one of the worse runs ever. I don't just think that the personal affirmations in running are important but in our daily lives as we tackle those everyday problems. Think positive even in negative situations and they will turn out positive. It always goes back to that saying "If you say you can't your right"

Cedar Express 31 Miles Relay

I have to label this experience as TOTALLY MENTAL
This was the first relay that I have ever participated in. In my head I thought it would be way easier than running a 1/2 marathon because I was only expected to run two 3 mile legs. We decided as a team that it would be extra sweet if we could place 1st 2nd or 3rd. Out of the 10 legs I was to run leg 3 and 7. As it came my time to run my first leg (which I thought would be pretty easy because half was running down the canyon and the other half was a gradual up hill.) I notices 4 other girls leave the transition spot before I did so I knew we were behind. I started down the canyon with my first girl insight and the thoughts started creeping in my mind "What if I can't pass her" "My team is depending on me" I'm not strong enough" "I'm letting my whole team down" I notices that with my thoughts brought panic and I started to hyperventilate I needed to regain my focus. I started to say positive affirmations and continued forward. I ended up passing the girl in front of me as we started climbing the 1 mile hill. The farther we got up the hill and the more tired I got those negative thoughts came creeping in again. I started to lose focus and had to regain it because I knew if I could just make it to transition we would be ok. As the race went on we passed this team we thought we were racing for 3rd place and they would pass us. It was really close. As my 2nd leg came up I noticed we were still in front of this team but not by much. I caught the tag and took off running. I knew this was going to be a hard leg it was all up hill and the sun was hot at this point. Go to home button and read the rest. continue.. still new to blogging haven't completely figured it all out yet!

Training 8/23

Training Tip of the Day- Have you ever decided that exercising just to lose weight isn't motivation enough! In the past I have found myself getting bored real fast of the continual exercise programs I would do over and over to lose weight. When I started running 1 1/2 years ago I realized that I needed to have more of a reason to exercise. I decided to make my self a work out goal. I signed up for my first 5k. This gave me motivation enough to step on that treadmill everyday because I knew I didn't want to bomb this run. I ran my first race 5 weeks later and became hooked to running races ever since. I felt so accomplished when I was done. I actually finished something I started and I realized with hard work comes great benefits. I now run because of the next big race. Losing weight is just an added bonus. Do I love every time I run? NO!! But I do love how I feel every time I cross that finish line.

If running is not your thing then try making another goal. Biking a certain milage, swimming a certain distance, walking or running for so many min. It doesn't have to be a workout goal but just something that would motivate you enough to stick with it!

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Eating Clean 8/22

Oh Gosh I wish this would come a little more easliy for me than what it does. I loooooove food! It's never a good idea for me to start eating clean on Mondays. I am a very emotional eater and because I know I have to go to work the next day I have all sorts of anxiety every monday! I have had 3 clean meals today, its my snacks that I kind of went crazy on.
Meal 1- Weight Control Oatmeal and banana
Meal 2- You don't want to know
Meal3- turkey sanwich and carrotts
Meal4- You don't want to know
Meal5- Turkey Taco salad.
I promise to do better tomorrow

Training 8/22

Exercise Tip of the Day- "GUILT" Its such an ugly word but something moms struggle with all the time. When it comes to exercise or taking care of our selves we would rather not, so we don't have to feel it. I am a working mother so the time that I'm not working I had always felt needed to be spent with my family. Well guess what? That's how I gained 30lbs in 3 months. I also realized how tired I was all of the time. I was short with my kids when they were causing problems all because I didn't feel good and didn't feel good about myself. I wasn't the kind of mom that my children deserved. I decided to take the guilt out and do it no matter what. It was amazing to me to see that my example of taking the time to exercise was starting to rub off on my kids. My 10 year old started a running group with 4 other boys in the neighborhood. My 6 year old was asking to lift weights with me and my 2 year old would try and do sit-ups. What wonderful examples we can be to our children just by taking the time to do something to make up feel better. If we don't take the time to take care of ourselves how on earth are we suppose to take care of our families.

My Training- I am getting so excited for the Cedar City Express 31 mile relay on Sat. This will be my first relay ever. Each leg is about 2.5-3.5 miles. You have 5 people on your team and each team member runs 2 legs. My team got together and drove the relay route. Holy Smokes! The route consists of running down the canyon, running on city streets, on dirt, up and down steep steep hills. Its going to be really challenging but so much fun.
Mon- run 5 miles with hills
Tues-run 5 miles work back & stomach
Wed- run 5 miles work upper body
REST FOR RACE ON SAT.