1 fuel belt and 10 miles later...

This morning I set out on my longest adventure yet. Graham and I headed to the Runners Roost to try to locate a fuel belt for me to take on the run. Luckily my dad has a good friend at work who runs marathons and gave me a tip for the type to get....and lucky again the store had one in stock and in my size. I also picked up a gel pack and was on my way. It was fairly quiet out on the run today, maybe passed by 5 people the whole 1 hour 45 minutes I was out. It was very peaceful and overall nice weather but a bit windy. My new strategy to drink a little something (either water or sports drink) each mile and choke down the gel around mile 7 worked great and I made it the whole 10 miles and felt good! Yeah! I saw some great birds on the way- all black with white wings...very cool. Thought my mom would like them since she is the black and white cat lover. =) 5 weeks until the mini-marathon in fort collins. I'm getting pretty excited. Today out on the run I even thought about someday training for a full marathon..... but we'll see!

spring snow

This morning we woke up to march snow that fell overnight and throughout the day today. I snapped a few pictures on my way to work. Our trip to Mexico (in 1 week and counting) couldn't come at a better time!

moab, utah

Here are a few more pics from our camping trip last weekend to Moab, Utah. It was about 80 degrees this day and was beautiful! We had a great campsite and had smores on the fire after dark! my idea of course! yumm!!

tales from a run

I'm currently working on training for a mini-marathon coming up in May and thought it would be fun to post after my long runs on the weekends. A friend from work told me her husband (who runs marathons) encourages people who are getting into running keep a "running diary" to stay motivated and create a memory of the training experience. So...here's my first entry....

I started running more regularly during the second week of January this year after feeling the urge to set an exercise goal and to increase motivation for daily workouts. This weekend I was slated to run 9 miles.

I set out midmorning and ran the 1/2 mile from our house to the trail head that runs through the open spaces of Westminster. There were many people out and about today and I found myself feel a surge of energy every time I saw another woman run by- and a special connection to the ones who were looking somewhat as famished as I. After one wrong turn on the trail around mile 2 I managed to find myself back on the main stretch and enjoyed the sunshine and breeze- until I turned corners and found myself running directly into the wind which slowed my pace ....was I still running? did a walker just pass me? Around mile 5 I started to enter the negative mind space of "What the heck was I thinking wanting to train for a running race?" and challenged myself to stay positive and say my mantra "strong and steady" in order to stay out of thinking about how tired my legs were and how hot my face was feeling. After the half way point I turned around and the excitement of being 'on the way home' leg of the run was a boost...for a bit. At mile 7.5 I began wondering if I was going to make it and wished I had brought some food for energy as my pace was slowing. Mile 8 came and I decided to walk for a few minutes to get some energy for the last push and reminded myself that there was no shame in walking! I picked up the pace again after a few minutes and made it home. Yeah! I think running past the city park and seeing the sparkling water in the pond and feeling a part of the 'running community' when seeing other runners, were my favorite parts of the run today. My challenge for the next long run will be staying in the positive mental space and remind myself to just keep on truckin'.

start of a blogspot

Hi! I have loved being able to see pictures and updates from my sister-in-law's blogspot so thought I'd make one of my own for Graham and I and hope our families also like to check up and see what is new with us from time to time.

Last weekend we took a trip to Moab, Utah for camping, hiking, bike riding, and relaxation! Here's a picture of us before we headed home. I think it was day 3 with no shower? =0

Here are the other 2 members of our family- Elvis and Stubbs. Elvie is enjoying using his little brother as a nice soft head rest in this photo!