Each Day Is a Gift

It was 4 degrees this morning!!! Hubby got up early and ready to go skiing!!!  I slept in and went to the LC.  Everyone and their dogs were at the rec. center.  All the cardio machines were taken.  Karen and her sister and bro-in-law had already run 18 laps on the track when I jumped in.  The track was crowded too.  It was fun to pass some of the ladies in my Stake.  They thought I was some teenager until I turned to say hello to them!  They sure made me feel good! Hehehe!  :)

Saw Melany on my way down to the pool.  We talked about how tough it is to train in this winter weather and road condition for Spring marathons.  She is an AWESOME and AMAZING runner!  Swam for 45 min.

We held our traditional NYEve's family party at my nephew's house this year.  For the last 30 years we've had it in a hotel's conference room.  It is so much better in a home!  :)  The highlight of the family program was watching my nephew's video of his summit climb on Mt. Denali in Alaska this past summer with his youngest brother.  Wow!!! It's so breath-taking beautiful, so dangerous and adventurous!  They captured the avalanche that took the life of two Japanese tourists that fateful summer day.  I can only dream of such extreme sport!

2012 has been a good year.  Even with two stress fractures I was able to finish the season with decent amount of marathons.  I had fun this year making memories and new friends in the running community.  On a sad note, a neighbor was put on life support (and died on Jan 2 unexpectedly).  She was only 49.  Had a minor knee surgery, came home and collapsed on Sat. as a result of a stroke secondary to pulmonary embolus.  She was a healthy runner, a loving mother and grandmother.  Her whole family played the role of Lehi's family in our Stake's Book of Mormon Fireside this past Nov.  Her youngest sons are age 10 and 7.  I feel so sad for them! :(  Life is fragile.  Family is precious!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! :) :) :)

The whole family went skiing today!!!  Brrrr it was below zero when we got to the ski resort.  There was hardly anybody on the road or the slopes.  I got 10 runs done by 10:30 and went in the brown bag lounge to thaw out my frozen digits.   Took an hour long leisure lunch then skied for 2.5 hours more with the grand nieces and nephews.  SO MUCH FUN!!! :)

This week I start week 4 of the 18 week training for Boston.  Well, actually I'm not really training to "race" Boston....just training to get to Boston healthy and to be able to finish in one piece!

Ran 6 miles on the treadmill with some 1min on/off thrown in.   I am too wimpy these days to go out on the ice and frozen tundra, not to mention the poor air quality which may trigger my asthma. :)

Then hubby and I went swimming at the LC.  BOY!!! That place was packed with families!  So I did the TI drill on the shallow end of the regular pool.  I'm getting the hang of "underswitch" FINALLY!!!

Then we went to lunch and movie, Les Miserable, with Bryan.  Then we went to a wedding reception of my husband's counselor's daughter.  They are such an awesome family, the whole church was packed!  :)

Hubby had a funeral to preside and visits to make this morning.  So Karen and I went to the LC by ourselves.  We ran one mile on the track until two treadmills become available.  I ran faster than I wanted because it's just too boring to run indoor especially on the mill.  This Utah inversion has got to go away.  I wish I could go up to the ski resort and run there! 

We then swim for 30 min and got in the jacuzzi for some hydro therapy. 

Ran with Karen on the LC track, all the treadmills were taken plus a tm class was to start in 20 min.   After 3 miles, we went down to the front desk and asked if we could possibly change direction...NOPE!!!  The rule remains that direction is changed on daily basis. Runners/walkers must run the same direction for the day.  So we wrote up a suggestion for the manager to give to Dan, the boss who doesn't come in on Friday.  "Please for the sake of runners who run more than 3 miles (8 laps = 1 mile) to allow change of directions at least hourly to prevent injuries as runners make over 6 tight turns on each lap."  They would not need to put up the directional arrow signs daily, just a permanent sign to state that on the odd hour go clockwise, on the even hour go counter-clockwise."  Then we ran back to the track for another two miles; by then my right ITB was not happy.  It seemed to bug more running clockwise...if the track wasn't so crowded I would've changed direction on the outside lane.

Karen got to the gym 3 min before me and found two available treadmills side by side, YAY!!! :)  Neither of us wanted to run fast so we chatted away.  But then we got inspired by the speedy girls in front of us, Melanie and JulieE, who had already run 11 miles.  WOW!!!  Such dedication and awesome running forms. :) They took a quick water break and chatted a bit with us before finishing their 14 miler.  I showed Karen the one min on/off thing and we did 8 of those then had to restart the mill.  It stops after 60 min. and put you on cool-down mode..so annoying.  We did 8 miles and decided it's time to let others use the mill.  Karen had to go to a piano recital in Orem so she only had time to run 2 more miles on the track.  We booked it on those 2 miles in around 16ish min.  Then I ran for 1.5 more for a total of 11.5 miles.  28 laps is all I can handle plus it was getting crowded...not fun weaving in and out of people!  The right ITB bugged on the mill but felt okay on the track going counter-clockwise with the bum leg on the outside turn. 

Swam/TI drills for 40 min.  Starving!!!!  Was too early to eat breakfast before the run!  :)