Working on the blog, working on the bod

Hey, it's Kristin.

Browsing around and reading other people's blogs has become my favorite hobby lately. And not just runners' blogs (though I do enjoy those quite often). I like blogs full of eye candy and ideas, blogs about moms' lives (even though I don't have kids yet), and blogs about my friends and family. Blogs are so cool! You can read about people's lives, and ideas, and creations, and advice- all for free! It's crazy. And I love the novelty of them. I like thinking about things to blog about, and reading people's comments. Ok, I'll stop being blogsessed now.

Today D and I went for a run. It's been a bizarre running week for us. One day the ground was slick with new snow and slush and we couldn't run cuz we were sliding all over the place. Out of kindness, D didn't wear her Yaktrax (so we could be equals) and we forged the trail together. Instead of running we walked up and down a hill we call "glute hill" for it's tendency to work our bums. We must've walked up and down that thing for over an hour. Then yesterday the mad howling wind scared me back to bed (Danna will run in anything though. She was probably disappointed). I could just imagine coming home all face-chafed and frazzled after trying to run in that insane wind. And my bed's comfy-ness didn't help. I probably should've stayed up and done a work-out video, but...I didn't occur to me since I was part zombie still. PS: Runners- do you run in crazy wind? Advice?


Today we finally got in a good run. It was an afternoon/evening run. (Suzy's kind of out of commission for a bit right now and that's why we haven't run with her lately.) I love night runs. Totally different that AM runs. That ethereal fog and moonlight are so cool in the mornings! But at night the city is alive, and the air is warmer. So refreshing. Anyway, we just did 5 miles, but it was fun and a nice way to end our crazy work weeks. Our bodies really needed that run too! After skipping too many days we can really feel the lost conditioning!

Side note: I called the cops on a guy on the trail whom I saw sitting in the bushes. I actually call the local police quite often. I think they must roll their eyes when they look at the caller ID: "It's her again!" I call them when there are suspicious lurkers in the bushes (tonight), or obnoxious drunk people on the train, or people trying to start fights, or teens with illegal substances, or even people without a leash whose dogs are running (and pooping) rampant all over the parkway! Yes, I'm that lady. And proud of it, darn it!

Oh!! This week I'm going on a business trip to Coralville Iowa. We're checking out the nearby hospital and tring to implement some of their technology. I'm definitely going to have to find a cool place to run. Anyone know the area?! Running trails? Cool spots?

XOXO
~K

The Winter Running Blahs

By: Kristin

It's snowing like mad outside and I am not happy about it. Part of that is due to the fact that my Snow Shoveler has a sore post-dislocation shoulder. I'm also not looking forward to running in it tomorrow.

I know Danna and Suzy have braved much worse, but I am a wimp. I find it so so hard to motivate my lazy bum out of bed at Vicky:thirty in the cold. Even more-so in the snow. I long for lovely summer morning runs where I don't even need a jacket.

I just got peppy text messages from both Danna and Suzy stating that we'll run at 6. I replied, "see u then" and they replied "OK!" Really? The exclamation point?

So how do I get out of bed?
1. Sheer peer pressure. (Say that little tongue twister10x fast!)
2. Fear of weight gain/desire for weight loss. Yes, even greater desire for weight loss/non-gain than for comfort, warmth, and sleep.
3. Fabulous conversation with ma girls.
4. Addiction to the "runner's high."
5. Seriously, once you do it a couple times you realize it really is not that bad. It's quite comfortable even (after the warm-up phase) and truly refreshing.
6. To avoid losing the stamina we've gained. Who wants to start huffing and puffing at 3 miles all over again?

Ok, so I'm going to do this. I think after a while you stop questioning and just go through the motions. Anyone have any motivation helps??

Guess I'll go shovel snow now.
XOXO

Adventurous Washington weekend

This is Kristin, posting to you live from Washington (state). Matt and I came to see our friends Matt and Alicia Curtis for Matt C's 30th Bday.

First of all, it's a 13 hour drive from SLC so we drove all night long. This was a rough night for many reasons. The weather was rainy and verrrry foggy, the roads were icy, and I had a hard time sleeping soundly (despite the fact that Matt is an excellent night/snow driver/stay-up -all-nighter. Alicia offered to get us a hotel room, but much to my disappointment, Matt said he'd prefer she just put the money toward our gas fill-ups to help with the over-all cost of the trip. I was bummed. :)

At about 2:30 Matt and I had a super scary experience in a snowy mountain. The battery light kept coming on, the head and dash lights kept getting dimmer, and the wipers kept getting slower. So did the car. Seriously, just writing about it gives me anxiety- it was so freaky! We couldn't find an exit and didn't think we'd make it to the next one (we later learned it was 20 more minutes away anyway). The car slowly came to a puttering stop and we barely made it off the road. We sat shivering and said a prayer. To make a long story short we had a long tow to the nearest town (which was behind us) and cost over $300! Then the alternator needed repair which cost ~$300. We had to sit and wait for the repair shop to open, wait for parts, wait for repairs... Oh and while we waited Matt slipped on the ice and dislocated his shoulder (again!!!) and we bummed a ride to the emergency room. Rough trip, eh?

Well, it was amazing to see our prayers answered in so many ways. On that mountain there was no phone reception, but somehow I just happened to have a bar left when we needed to call the police and tow truck (and Dad). We found the only spot where there was adequate shoulder to pull over. The repair shop said it would be 2 days but we found a nice local teen who fixed it for us that day (and ran to other towns looking for parts). The hospital had no drugs for Matt, but he was able to stand the "re-location" drug-free! What a stud! He's so awesome and tough. The towns people we amazing- offering rides, buying us breakfast, finding a mechanic. It was this hilariously classic small town where EVERYONE knew each other, and knew who we were within a couple hours. The town is called Cle Elum, Washington, and I think the following pictures sum it up.


I found them under Google images for Cle Elum. They are very Cle Elum-ish. Matt agrees.

FINALLY after a 24-hour+ journey, we were back on the road. We got to our friends' house, and went straight to the movie theater for Avatar in IMAX 3-D! It was so awesome, people. Then we went to Red Robin- Matt and Matt's favorite restaurant. Then we came home and crashed (poor Matt hadn't slept since we got up on Thursday)!

The trip was fun and therapeutic for all of us I think (once we got there!). We all love talking, and playing games. They are such good friends to us! We're leaving tomorrow morning. Needless to say I am dreading the drive home, but we decided to do it during the day this time.

During the trip I did get to go on a run! My foot is feeling better and better, and I had no pain at all! I ran around some of the neighborhoods and business areas (I may have done about 4 miles?) and had a great time. Seattle's weather is usually cloudy and misty or rainy. The air was completely saturated with mist and it was really refreshing to run through. It felt like running inside a humidifier! I loved seeing all the trees covered with moss. It was nice to have no snow. My new hat was perfect for the mist and the cool (see Suzy's post a week or so ago).

I love going running when I'm out of town! You get to check out new trails, new weather, and see the area from a runner's perspective. I also love passing fellow runners and sharing that, "We are awesome for being out here in this wet/cold weather" look.

Anyone ever run in a cool city while on vacation? We wanna hear about it.

APX alarm protects more than just your home

So many exciting things have happened lately. Where to begin...

First, I want to tell about our run a couple of weeks ago- the biggest run yet- 16 miles!! Can you believe it? I'm amazed at myself! And the strangest thing is, it wasn't even hard- it felt good. Weird!!

The weather that morning. Rain!

Danna, Suzy, and I arrived at our new trail after much driving around in circles in the rain. We finally found the spot where we could park on the Legacy Parkway trail in Davis County- my favorite location yet! Oh yeah, it was pouring! It was pre-crack of dawn. It was freezing. Who'dve thought to check the weather in the middle of August? We've never really run in heavy rain before. If the girls had said, "Let's bag it," I was game. We wimpily sat in the car for a WHILE, reapplying bodyglide, staring at the trail, leaning on the head rests.

My hood was scant protection against the downpour. I rage against nature.

When we finally stepped out, we were immediately frozen and drenched. None of us wanted to get our only hoodies soaked and render them useless before we even started, so we took them off and huddled together under a covering.

Then I had a genius idea! Matt used to sell security systems for a company called APX and all his old work shirts were in the trunk waiting to go to the D.I. We each put on a sweet blue APX shirt (I put on 2) and it totally did the trick! It was so funny though because the shirts were so manly and big, and all matchy-matchy too! People must've thought it was our team outfit! Ha ha! Plus we ran with our arms inside the shirts for at least a couple miles. And our water belts were inside too! We probably looked like a bunch of crazies. Out in the rain, armless, lumpy, matching. Go team APX!! Well of course these shirts are now a permanent car trunk item. You just never know when they'll come in handy again! Plus they have major sentimental value now.




As we warmed up, the weather actually felt really good, and the new scenery was great, the conversation was stellar, and the run was awesome!!

Then last Saturday, Danna and I ran in SLC- from Memory Grove up City Creek Canyon to the top and back. It was our designated "hill training week." Danna knew I was dreading hill training big time and am very freaked about the elevation changes on the actual St. George Marathon course. I have been whining and scared about it for weeks. I read all the St. George forums about it too, and freak myself out even more. We ran uphill for about 7 miles- torture for me! Then down for 5-6. Danna had to pull out all the big guns for me to be able to continue. She even provided me with motivational and distracting gifts throughout so that I would make it to the top. Like Jelly Belly energy beans, mango creme savers (PS: Adam, I know the Jelly Bellys were from you. You're the best!) which are surprisingly helpful. I even brought her a gift of my own! I put my hand on my bum at one point (no idea why now that you ask) and felt something strange. I said, "There's something on my bum!!" and after a short struggle, I pulled out:
A dish scrubbie pad! Yes, it had adhered its sneaky little self to my shorts' inner lining while in the dryer. Plus I wear the little Under Armor shorts under those. Wow. If anyone on that mountain had needed a pot scrubbed, I was their girl!

Danna also found a cute little cave. I was unable to join her in spelunking as: a.) it would have required that I climbed down and up a bunch of stairs, and my legs were already uber-stiff (and it was only about mile 7) so I'm pretty sure I never would have made it back up the stairs and b.) I was charitably trying to help her learn to use the timer button on her camera. :) Danna was way too spunky during hill training. She ran down and up those stairs twice! And at the end of our torturous run, she asked if we could run up the hill to the Avenues, and then down the steps to the car again. Um, no Danna. That's enough!! I told her she was more than welcome to do so, as long as she didn't mind walking home alone.

Here we are icing and stuff:

No, but seriously, the hill training wasn't as bad as I had feared. I really think Danna picked out a sick run this time and we got to see so many cool and beautiful (and blissfully distracting) things. Like Memory Grove when it's still dark! We also saw homeless people getting up in the morning, and druggies dealing, and dogs running around, and fellow St. George Marathon-ers. We ran for several miles near these 2 other guys training for St. George, and they were so funny. Might I add that they were veteran marathoners, and we passed them!! I hope they didn't see our high fives. They told us about other marathons they'd run, including one they ran next to none other than JEFF himself!! And we (D and I) talked together about every topic under the sun- from the gospel, to the differences between men and women, to life working in the hospital, to bristle pads of all things!!

Girl's camp

A couple weeks ago I was at girls' camp which was super fun- I love all the girls so much!! They are fabulous. Here's the only shot I took. What a lame camerawoman, right? Luckily, one of the YW -Bailey- helped me out and took 16 interesting shots of her own face. I have shared some real gems below from that sample.

Last week Matt and I spent the week with my fam and a few friends in Lake Powell. I did a lot of water running as X-training. Mikelle and I even got up at 6 one morning and went running on some hiking trails. It was fun. We got to drive the wave runner up a cool swampy river, saw baby frogs, ancient pictographs, we nearly sprained our ankles, and we rocked out with out ipods!On our way to the run!

Inside the boat

My dad has been feeling worried that the world may think I only ever wear a sweaty bun in my hair, to match my sweaty outfit and make-up-less face. (My parents have always been vehemently anti-bun.) Well, just for you, Daddio, I have included a few photos below, proving that I am not just Sweaty Bun Girl. And I do have an outfit other than that dang black and white one I think we are all a little sick of seeing on the blog by now.