Jill had one of the busiest weeks of her life! We have all been pretty overwhelmed with so many basketball, football, dance, and soccer practices, but she has managed to get the kids to each one. She's also been helping with end of the year class parties at the school. Young Women activities and meetings require a lot of work too. Her week was especially busy, though, because she was helping with assemblies at the school.
All of our craziness culminated this week as the boys were finishing up their seasons of sports, Alyssa had a dance recital, and Jill put on the YW/YM combined activity and helped put on assemblies at the school. I didn't go to the school for the assembly but the PTA Literacy Committee (Jill's one of three members) put on an assembly where the children went through a "Journey through Time." The children competed in five different activities and had a blast. Each grade got their own assembly so Jill and the PTA put the same assembly on nine times over two days. Here is Alyssa playing a game called Cupside Down.
Jill put on the assembly five times and then came home to put on the combined youth activity. The activity was a service scavenger hunt. She placed the youth into groups and gave them a list of tasks to complete (as many as they could in a set amount of time). Then they performed various service acts around Riverton. Some of the service the youth did was around the community. They put away grocery store carts, picked up trash at a park, and gave away car fresheners. Most of the service they did, though, was around the neighborhood. They swept kitchen floors, cleaned windows, and read books to children. Afterward, they met back at the church for some ice cream. Jill was exhausted by the end of the day and she still woke up the next day to perform the assembly four more times!
Logan has been working on a country report. It's sad that the boy has been to seven countries now but that all the countries he wanted to do a report on were spoken for by other children in his class. He really wanted to do it on Germany, but it was taken. France was also taken by another student. So he ended up picking the Bahamas, where we went this year. He studied about the Bahamas and was even able to use some of the facts our taxi driver shared with us while we were there. One of these was that Paradise Island was once called Hog Island. Logan did a great job putting together his country report, both the written report and the display board. He also did well presenting the oral report to his class. His class displayed their reports for parents. Our Logan is sure growing up.
For months I've been preparing for the Ogden Marathon. It's been so overwhelming trying to train long miles on the weekends while going to all of the children's activities. The big day finally came and I began my 4th Ogden Marathon. I've been training with Doug Burton and we've trained step for step the whole way. The day before the race, he took the day off and took his wife to Ogden and made a day of getting his packet. I drove up alone after work and met Rob at his new house in Layton. He came with me to Ogden to get my race packet.
Later, we went to dinner at an Indian restaurant so I could carbo load on curry. Just for fun we drove the course up to the half way point at Pineview Reservoir. I'm glad we drove the course because it gave me confidence for the last half. We didn't get back to his place until almost 9:30 p.m. and then we watched a few episodes of How I Met Your Mother before going to sleep. Sleeping at Rob's was great. Not only was I his first house guest, but it's only twenty minutes away from the finish line where we met the busses that took us up to the starting line. I woke up at 4:00 a.m. and met Doug at the busses at 5:00 a.m.
We had a quiet ride to the start and I was amazed at how light it was at 6:00 a.m. when we got there, and how the sun was up when the race started at 7:00 a.m. In years past, it has been muddy, or rainy, but today was perfect! I trained harder than I ever have for a marathon, the weather was perfect, and I got great rest the night before. Everything was perfect........ except the race.
I started with Doug and I kept telling him, "we are starting too fast." He assured me we were right on schedule. At mile one my watch said it was 6:40! The plan was to run the first 10 miles at 7:20, so we did start fast. I let him go and I stayed back and ran 7 minute miles through mile 10. I felt great so I didn't worry about the fast start. Just after mile 10, though, I wasn't feeling quite as strong, but the course had more hills so I didn't worry too much. By mile 17 I felt like I needed a quick bathroom break and I stopped at the port a potty by the dam. When I came out I should have felt great and ready for the downhill. The problem was, I never could get back into a good rhythm. My feet hurt and I couldn't get into a good grove. I knew at that moment I wouldn't get my goal of 3:20, so I quit. I ran/walked for a few miles and at mile 21 I told myself this is my last stand! I ran the full mile from 21 to 22, but after that point it was pretty much walking the rest of the way in. Sometimes I would run for a minute or so, but mostly it was all walking. Just after mile 22 I wanted something to give me some energy and at an aid station I saw some licorice. I took a piece and when I put it into my mouth, I can only say it felt like a dry piece of turkey! My mouth had no saliva whatsoever to break up this piece of candy. At that point I realized I was dehydrated. Before my last few marathons I've given up soda for the two months before the race. But for Ogden, I kept drinking soda (and not much water) and I'm confident that dehydration was what did me in.
I was finally able to see the finish line so I had to start running again. There on the course watching me was my cousin Richard who came up just to watch me qualify for Boston. I was sad to disappoint him, but it was so great that he came all the way up to see me finish. I was really touched. By the time I got to the finish line it was so nice to finish and be done with the race. I was exhausted. I don't know what it is about these dang marathons that get me so emotional. I wasn't in tears this time, but I did tear up a bit at the finish knowing I had finished my 15th marathon. It's something I'm very proud of.
Doug was there to welcome me to the finish. He did qualify for Boston with a 3:11! I'm really excited for him.
In the end it wasn't my best time, but it wasn't my worst time either. Here are my official results. The goal was always to qualify for the Boston Marathon in St. George in October, but to use Ogden to get ready for St. George. The goal is still there, and I'm going to make sure to hydrate much better in October.
After the race I enjoyed resting in the cool grass with my shoes off. I drove myself home and rested a bit while Jill was at a soccer game with Alyssa and the boys. I did get in a small nap and then took Landon to his last football game while Jill and Logan took Alyssa to her spring dance recital. I was sad not to be there for Alyssa but Landon played really well at his football game. They took a team picture afterward. His coach is a police officer and he told the boys if they smiled during the picture they would have to run laps!
Alyssa, on the other hand, smiled during her entire performance! Several people told me how great she did. It helps that a lot of our ward members take dance from the same teacher. Both Grandmas and Grandpas also went to see her perform and she did great! She performed "Animal Train" (tap) and loved wearing an animal mask. She also performed "I'm Learning to Speak French" which was a ballet dance.
One of the last dances of the recital was "Watch me Twirl my Baton." She did such a great job in each one. She's always fun to watch because she knows the steps and looks like she is having fun on stage. It's been a really fun year, especially since she's had so many friends in her class. She liked dancing with her friends Calli Chandler and Brooklynn Steiner from our ward and her friends Ellie Christiansen and Carly from school.
Thank you for the support Grandmas and Grandpas.
One proud mama! I love Alyssa's smile. She is so happy.
What a week! So much has happened that Sunday we just wanted to sit and relax. Logan never relaxes, though, and his mind is always working. Sunday he came up with a plan for him and Landon to buy an Xbox. It was so cute; he broke down how much he makes mowing lawns and determined that if he and Landon pool their money, they will have enough to buy an Xbox in nine weeks. I'm really proud of him and I'm sure he will reach his goal. He still hasn't eaten candy or dessert so he is well on his way to accomplishing that goal too.
15 marathons! That's amazing!
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