Close to Christmas.

How you know it is getting close to Christmas time? For some people once they put up their trees and for others it is once the decorations go up. For me I know that Christmas is getting close when I see these packages on the kitchen counter.

Those are bags of masa for tamales. My wife’s mother grew up in Mormon colonies in Mexico. Her family has a big Christmas Eve dinner of tamales and posole. So once Christmas get closer my wife starts to make her tamales which is a process that take ups large amounts of the kitchen but it is so worth it.

Richmond Marathon Race Report

It has been just about 3 weeks since I ran the Richmond Marathon so I figured I would do a race report and then I thought that would take a lot of time. So I was lucky to get an email forwarded to me from Darrell (who also ran the marathon) the other day. The email was an email from his sister-in-law giving her play by play thoughts on the race. I thought the email was funny and a much better race report than I could ever give so here is the email/race report:

7:50 Did you sleep at all last night? Did you get a blessing? Are you nervous? Your dream is just minutes away.

8:20 I wonder if your knee is hurting at all yet? Remember, NO REGRETS.

8:45 I'm worried that the tracker isn't going to work for me. Looks like I can't see any results until 10k. You can do this Darrell! I'm your 2nd biggest cheerleader.

8:58 Are you staring at your watch at each water station? It's OK to walk the length of the water station if you start feeling rough. Are you drinking enough? Do you have any cliff bars or gels with you? You are probably 1/3 of the way by now. I'm so proud of you, in so many ways. Thank you for taking care of your body so you can be a better father and husband. I know I've said it before, but let remind you that you are my favorite brother in law.

9:35 Holy Cow Darrell you're doing awesome. 54:57 for the first 10k. How is your knee? I'm saying a prayer that you will be able to withstand any discomfort. GO DARRELL GO !!! Ryan's time was 54:40. I call Nobs and she hadn't gotten a text so I'll be calling her at the half way point to let you know how you're doing. Lot's a noise in that hotel room.

9:47 The suns getting hotter. I hope you didn't dress too heavy. Think positive thoughts. Like . . . there's no more Welfare Meetings, no more Activities Committee's, no more RS Enrichment Music calling and lots of other changes to the handbook. Excellent training except the barfable "mock Ward Council Mtg". Honestly I could have strangled the woman depicting the RS President. You are my hero and I can't wait for every natty detail at Fairy Stone. I have GOT to take a shower.

10:00 YIPPEE You're halfway and your time is 1:55:46. Keep your eye on the prize bro!!! You're doing awesome. The hotel gang is cheering and calculating and strategizing for you. They are sending you subliminal messages about your pace. My personal advice is . . . breath in, breath out, and think about chocolate, a long nap, a hot oil massage, or anything else that will help you get to the finish line.

10:23 Two Saturdays in a row of getting absolutely squat done while being glued to race trackers. The house is dirty, the cupboards are bare, there are no clean towels, and everyone has an attitude but hey, I'm supporting some of the most important men in my life and having a darned good time doing it. I will have to get going soon after your race. The 3 missionary sisters, a new convert, and investigator, and M and D are coming to dinner tomorrow and I don't think grilled cheese will cut it. Thanks for providing a lazy Saturday morning for me.

10:35 Out of the shower. No news. Back to brush my teeth.

11:00 Awesome. You're 20 miles in 3:00:01. Your knee's gotta be screaming. Looks like you and Ryan have split up. Nobs and the kiddos's are trying to find the finish line. They just realized they're heading in the wrong direction. Is anyone surprised??? NO. I want to know exactly how it feels to cross the finish line and find your family there to greet you.

11:32 3 of 4 teenagers have arisen and eaten scrambled egg sandwiches and juice. The remaining sloth will have to eat a cinnamon bun. In 30 minutes you'll be flying high. Your adrenaline will carry you for hours. NO REGRETS !!!

11:48 I'm glued to the screen. If you don't finish soon I will definitely be serving PBJ for dinner tomorrow.

12:05 Now I'm nervous. I don't know what a "chip time" is.

(Here is Darrell finishing the race)

(Here I am finishing the race)

12:08 4:04:26. Incredible. I'm so proud of you. Enjoy your victory. Ryan's time was 4:12:08.






Well I have caught the bug so I plan on signing up for another marathon hopefully before the end of the year (also see my post just before this post)

Bucket Lists

You all know what I am talking about, the list that people have made of their goals and dreams before they kick the bucket, so to speak. (Side note: How many people kick a bucket when they pass away?) I would ask you if you have a list like this. I never had one until the last couple of years when I started running. Once I started running I stated a list of things that I thought I would love to complete one day. The first event on the list was the Virginia Ten Miller, which I have now completed three times. After that I had a half marathon and then a full marathon. I completed the half marathon last year (see here) and I will complete a full marathon this weekend (fingers crossed on that one). So it is time I had to the list of things to complete. I have decided to move in the direction of triathlons. I completed as part of a relay team this year and will probably do it next year also. So I have decided I would like to complete a sprint triathlon, then a half Ironman triathlon, and then a full Ironman. I think I am crazy but then I watch videos like this and start to think I can do this. Time will only tell.

Bib number 2040

On November 23, 2009 I signed up for my first marathon in Richmond Virginia. I have trained hard for this race since July and did my longest long run last weekend. With only two more weeks until race day I find myself telling myself “You can do this in my goal time of 4 hours” or telling myself “I sure hope they do not close the course before I am done.” In two weeks I will let you know how this all turned out.

Here is video of the course

Running family

Well in the past 3 years our family has started to run more and more. In the town of Lynchburg we have the Virginia 10 miler, which has a four mile race and then a kid’s one mile race with it. In the past the kid’s race has been during the 10 mile so neither Dacy nor I could watch the kids. This year they moved the kids’ race to Friday night so Quin and Max were able to complete. Quin did a great job considering she fell at the beginning and was the very very last one to start the run. She passed several kids in the end and her time was 14:36. Max did a great job. He just seemed to be having a fun time and his time was 9:48 and he finished 7 overall in his age group (5 and under) and was the 4th boy in his age group. The past two years I have run the 10 miler while Dacy has run the 4 mile race. This year Dacy decided to run the 10 miler. She did an amazing job. I am training for the Richmond Marathon so I ran with her and used the run has part of my training. We used the run-walk-run method (run 1 mile, walk 30 sec) She did great until the last hill which is a 1.5 mile long hill, and it is the last 1.5 miles of the race. I will quote the winner of the race “It was very hilly course.” We finished the race in 1:42:00 which is 3 mins faster than Dacy’s goal time.

The kids after their races with their metals

The start of the race

I took pictures of Dacy every mile but the best picture which shows how hard the last 1 1/2 miles is, is the picture I took of her at mile 9

See what I mean. She may kill me for showing this picture.
Some breast cancer club was handing out the pink gloves
which is the reason Dacy has a pair.

After the race, standing in the line for free food

Summer 2010

LET THE FUN BEGIN.

We will be traveling out west this summer to Arizona for Dacy's sisters wedding and then after that we will head to a family reunion in New Mexico. Round trip we will be traveling about 4300 miles and will spend about 72 hours in the car. We have done this trip 2 times before but this year will be the first time we willing not be following anyone and will be heading thru different cities and spending more time with family and friends. Our kids for the most part travel well. The first day is the hardest (and one of the longest) days and then after that the kids realize that they are going to be in the car for a long time and just learn to deal with it. I will follow up on this post with pictures of our summer adventures.

The total number of miles we drove this summer trip out west!

2010 Running log

This post is for my information only. I need somewhere to write down how far I run every week just to keep track. This year is a big big year for me as I plan on running my first (and hopefully not my last) marathon in November in Richmond. When I start to really think about running 26.2 miles, which my goal is to do it under 4 hours or 9:00 pace, seems nearly impossible to do. Luck for me I have some great guys I have gotten to know over the past 4 months or so who the majority of them have run marathons before so they can and will provide that motivation that I will need. My biggest concern will be this summer when we are planning on being gone for two weeks for a weeding and family reunion in Arizona and New Mexico which is not cool during the summer. So I hope to be able to find the time and motivation to keep my training up during this time. So here we go.........

Week of Jan 4th, 01/05/10 3.2 miles (treadmill)= Total for week 3.2 miles
Week of Jan 11th, 01/13/10 4 miles (Percival's Island) + 01/14/10 6 miles (treadmill) + 01/16/10 5 miles (treadmill) = Total for week 15 miles
Week of Jan 18th, 01/18/10 4 miles (Kemper St) + 01/19/10 3.3 miles (downtown) + 01/20/10 4.2 miles (Percival's Island) + 01/21/10 4 miles (Wyndhurst) = Total for week 15.5 miles
Week of Jan 25th, 01/25/10 4 miles (Kemper St) + 01/26/10 4 miles (treadmill) 01/27/09 4 miles (Cabell St) 01/28/10 8 miles (Wyndhurst) = Total for week 20 miles
Week of Feb 1st, 02/01/10 4 miles (Reverse Miller Park) + 02/02/10 4 miles (treadmill) + 02/03/10 4 miles (Reverse Miller Park) + 02/04/10 3.6 miles (Graveyard run) = Total for week 16 miles
Week of Feb 8th, 02/08/10 4 miles (Reverse Miller Park) + 02/09/10 4 miles + 02/10/10 4 miles (new course) + 02/11/10 6 miles (treadmill) = Total for week 18 miles
Week of Feb 15th, 02/15/10 4 miles (treadmill)= Total for week 4 miles (bad week)
Week of Feb 22nd, 02/22/10 4.1 miles (new course) + 02/23/10 4 miles (treadmill) + 02/24/10 4.3 miles (Cabel St) 02/25/10 4 miles (treadmill) 02/26/10 3.1 miles (treadmill) = Total for week 19.5 miles
Week of March 1st, 03/01/10 4 miles (Kemper St) 03/02/10 swimming, 03/03/10 4 miles (Miller Park), 03/05/10 8 miles (treadmill) = Total for week 16 miles
Week of March 8th, 03/08/10 4 miles (Kemper St) 03/09/10 swimming, 03/10/10 4 miles (Cabel St), 03/11/10 6 miles (Rivermont Ave) = Total for week 14 miles
Week of March 15th, 03/15/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 03/16/10 swimming, 03/17/10 4 miles (Lower Basin), 03/18/10 3.1 miles (Wyndhurst) +03/19/10 3.8 miles (Friday run) = Total for week 14.9 miles
Week of March 22nd 03/22/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 03/23/10 swimming, 03/24/10 4 miles (Island), 03/25/10 2 miles (sprints)+ Total for week 10 miles
Week of March 29th 03/30/10 3.25 miles (treadmill) and swimming, 03/31/10 4.1 miles (Mike's course), 04/01/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St.) 04/03/10 3.1 miles (Point of Honor 5k) = Total for week 14.45 miles
Week of April 5th 04/07/10 4 miles (Lower/Upper), 04/08/10 swimming, 04/09/10 3.8 miles (Friday run) = Total for week 7.8 miles
Week of April 12th 04/12/10 4 miles (Kemper St.), 04/13/10 swimming, 04/14/10 4 miles (Lower/upper), 04/15/10 swimming = Total for week 8 miles
Week of April 19th 04/19/10 4 miles (Kemper St.), 04/20/10 swimming, 04/21/10 4 miles (Percival's Island), 04/22/10 swimming = Total for week 8 miles
Week of April 26th 04/26/10 4 miles (Kemper St.), 04/27/10 swimming, 04/28/10 swimming, 04/29/10 swimming, 05/01/10 swimming
Week of May 3rd 05/03/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 05/04/10 4 miles (treadmill), 05/05/10 4
miles (Rivermont Ave) = Total for week 12 miles
Week of May 10th, 05/110/1 4. 17 miles (Percival's Island), 05/12/10 4 miles (Lower/Upper), 05/14/10 5.7 miles (Grayson Loop), 05/15/10 10 miles (Grayson GA 20)= Total for week 23.87 miles
Week of May 17th, 05/19/10 4 miles (reverse Miller Park), 05/20/10 10 Miles (Rivermont Ave), 5/21/10 3.6 miles (Friday run) = Total for week 17.6 miles
Week of May 24th, 05/24/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 05/25/10 3.2 miles (Wyndhurst), 05/26/10 4.1 Miles (Island), 05/28/10 3.2 miles (treadmill) = Total for week 14.5 miles
Week of May 31st, 05/31/10 6.2 miles (10k race), 06/01/10 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 06/02/10 4 miles (Blackwater Trail), 06/03/10 10 miles (Rivermont Ave) = Total for week 24.2 miles
Week of June 7th, 06/07/10 4 miles (Kemper St.), 06/08/10 4 miles (Wyndhurst), 06/09/10 4.87 miles (Dearington), 06/10/10 11 miles (Rivermont Ave) = Total for week 23.87 miles
Week of June 14th, 06/14/10 4 miles (Kemper St.), 06/15/10 4 miles (Wyndhurst) = Total for week 8 miles
Week of June 21st, 06/21/10 5 miles (Mesa, AZ) = Total for week 5 miles
Week of June 28th, 07/01/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St), 07/02/10 3.6 miles (Friday run), 07/03/10 12 miles (Trent's Ferry Loop) = Total for week 19.6 miles
Week of July 5th, 07/06/10 4 miles (Lower/Upper), 07/07/10 4 miles (Island), 07/08/10 10 miles (Rivermont Ave) = Total for week 18 miles
Week of July 12th, 07/12/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 07/13/10 4 miles (Reverse Miller Park), 07/17/10 14 miles (Trent's Ferry Loop) = Total for week 22 miles
Week of July 19th, 07/19/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 07/21/10 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 07/22/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St), 07/24/10 12 miles (Blackwater Creek trail) = Total for week 24 miles
Week of July 26th, 07/26/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 07/28/10 4 miles (Miller Park), 07/29/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St), = Total for week 12 miles
Week of Aug 2nd, 08/02/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 08/03/10 4 miles (Lower/Upper), 08/04/10 4 .1 miles (Hollins Mill Rd), 08/05/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St), 08/07/10 16.1 miles (Trail) = Total for week 32.2 miles
Week of Aug 9th, 08/09/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 08/10/10 4 miles (Island), 08/11/10 4.4 miles (Wild Card Wednesday Bob), 08/12/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St), 08/13/10 10 miles = Total for week 26.4 miles
Week of Aug 16th, 08/16/10 4 miles (Kemper St.), 08/17/10 4 miles (Island), 08/18/10 4 miles (WCW), 08/19/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St.), 08/21/10 17.13 miles (Rivermont Ave) = Total for week 33.13 miles
Week of Aug 23rd 08/23/10 4 miles (Kemper St.), 08/25/10 4.1 miles (WCW), 08/26/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St.), 08/28/10 18 miles (Cracker Barrel loop) = Total for week 30.1 miles
Week of Aug 30th (Cruise week=not good) 9/2/10 4 miles (treadmill) = Total for week 4 miles
Week of Sept 6th 09/07/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 09/08/10 4 miles (WCW), 09/09/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St) = Total for week 12 miles
Week of Sept 13th, 09/13/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 09/14/10 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 09/15/10 3.82 miles (WCW), 09/16/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St), 09/18/10 20 miles (10 miler/Blackwater Creek Trail) = Total for week 35.82 miles
Week of Sept 20th, 09/20/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 09/22/10 4 miles (WWC), 09/25/10 10 miles (VA 10 Miler) = Total for week 18 miles
Week of Sept 27th, 09/27/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 09/28/10 4 miles (Rivermont Ave), 09/29/10 4 miles (WCW), 09/30/10 22 miles = Total for week 34 miles
Week of Oct 4th, 10/04/10 3 miles (Island), 10/05/10 4.5 miles (MTY), 10/06/10 4.5 miles (WCW), 10/07/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper), 10/08/10 23 miles = Total for week 39 miles
Week of Oct 11th, 10/11/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 10/12/1 4 miles (Downtown), 10/14/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper), 10/15/10 10 miles (Rivermont Ave) = Total for week 22 miles
Week of Oct 18th 10/18/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 10/19/10 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 10/20/10 4 miles (WCW), 10/21/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper), 10/23/10 24 miles = Total for week 40 miles
Week of Oct 25th, 10/25/10 4 miles (Treadmill), 10/29/10 4 miles (Friday run), 10/30/10 18 miles (Long run) = Total for week 26 miles
Week of Nov 1st, 11/01/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 11/02/10 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 11/03/10 4 miles (Island), 11/04/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper) = Total for week 16 miles
Week of Nov 8th (RACE WEEK), 11/08/1 4 miles (Kemper St), 11/09/10 4 miles (Upper/lower), 11/13/10 26.2 miles (Richmond Marathon) = Total for week 34.2 miles
Week of Nov 15th, 11/15/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 11/18/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper), 11/19/10 3.6 miles (Friday run)= Total for week 11.6 miles
Week of Nov22nd, 11/22/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 11/23/10 4 miles (Miller Park), 11/24/10 4 miles (Island), 11/25/10 14.5 miles (Trail) = Total for week 26.5 miles
Week of Nov29th, 11/29/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 11/30/10 4.25 miles (Cable St), 12/02/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper) = Total for week 12 miles
Week of Dec 6th, 12/06/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 12/07/10 4 miles (Reverse Miller) = Total for week 8 miles
Week of Dec 13th, 12/13/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 12/15/10 4 miles (Upper/Lower) = Total for week 8 miles
Week of Dec 20th, 12/20/10 4 miles (Reverse Miller), 12/21/10 4 miles (Hybrid Friday run), 12/22/10 4 miles, 12/24/10 4.25 miles = Total for week 16.25 miles

Grand total for the year of 887.94 miles