Winter Running

Running in the snow.

I stopped running after my half marathon in August.  I was burned out and life took a lot of unpleasant turns and I just stopped running.  I decided in December I would start running again   I wasn't terribly consistent, but some running was better than none.  I've never ran in the winter so it's all new to me.  Kenny was proud of me for running one day while the snow was falling that he decided to take some pictures of me.  I was totally surprised, but I thought it was so nice of him.  If only we knew at the time that this little amount of snow and slightly cold temperatures were just a small taste of what this winter would be.  :)

Run Katie, Run

August 25th marked the day I had been training for all summer long.  Well, I was suppose to be training all summer, but I kind of got burned out by mid July.  Anyway, August 25th was my first half marathon.  The Top of Utah half runs 13.1 miles down Blacksmith Fork Canyon in Hyrum Utah.  My goal was to be under 2 hours, but as I said earlier, I kind of stopped training in mid July.  It was just too hot and I had too many other things to take up my time.  I was worried, come race time, that I wouldn't be able to hit my goal, but at the same time I was okay with that.  I had spent my summer focusing on my kids, giving them a good summer and making memories.  I was content with how I'd spent my time, but I still wanted to be under 2 hours.  :)

The night before the race we went to my parents house.  We had to be on the buses, headed up the canyon by 5:30 so I thought it would be best to spend the night in Logan.  That night I started feeling sick.  I hoped it was just nervousness  but I quickly realized I was indeed, sick.  I spent most of the night in the bathroom and was so bummed that I had to get sick the day of my run.  I was feeling okay, kind of, when 5:00 came around and decided to give it a try.  We, my dad ran the race also, headed to the buses and by the time we got to where the race started I was in serious need of a bathroom again.  As I sat in the bathroom I was nearly in tears.  I had trained for this and I was so upset that it was not going to happen for me.  I said a little prayer to make it though the race and headed to the starting line.

My stomach did pretty good the entire way down the mountain   I had some issues on mile marker 7 and thought I may have to stop at one of the bathrooms they had on the side of the road (this would have been fine, but it would have added time and I didn't want that.)  I managed to make it all the way to the finish line without habing to use the restroom and I was so happy.  Moments after crossing the finish line I was back in the bathroom and I was sick for the next day and a half, but I made it through the race and I'm so grateful for that.

My official time 1:58:12.  I was under my 2 hour goal.  What relief!  It was hard, exhausting, and crazy all at the same time.  I'm excited to do another one, hopefully next year.

Another 10k

Mindy and I after our run.  (Please don't look at my grossness.)

I found a cheep 10k in Ogden over Memorial Day weekend and I decided to call my running mate sister-in-law Mindy to see if she wanted to join me.  We had so much fun running together and definitely need to do more of these races together (to bad we're both mom's and have a hard time finding the time.)

Running to the finish line.  The wind was HORRIBLE at the end and I was really feeling it.

My final time was 54:04, a good improvement over my last 10k, and I was very pleased with it.  Mindy, who had not run 6 consecutive miles yet this year, came in a few minutes behind me.  I thought for sure the weather would be miserable, it was at 10:00 in the morning the last Saturday in May, but it ended up being chilly, windy, and a little rainy.  Perfect for running (minus the wind.)  

Mindy, just about to cross the finish line.

Run Katie Run

After my first 10k with my dad and cousin Kristin.

I've decided to take up running.  My dad is a marathon runner and has been for 30 years or some crazy number like that (as long as I can remember.)  He's always wanted to run with either my brother or I, but we've never been interested in it.  Ryan, my brother, tried to run last year, but hurt his ankle so he wasn't able to run.  I've tried in the past, but never really got into it enough to stick with it.  This February I decided to start working out.  It was time to make a lifestyle change and get rid of all this baby fat once and for all.  I started doing workout videos and then we got bikes and I rode my bike a little.  My cousin signed up for a half marathon and it made me think about getting back into running.  Kind of a, if she can do it I should be able to do it too, type of mentality.  I started running and to my amazement I was pretty good at it.  I started out running 3 miles (which I could barely do before) and was surprised at how easy it was.  I worked my way up to 6 miles and  decided I actually kind of liked running.  I got new shoes, signed up for the Top of Utah Half Marathon in August and decided to run the Health Days 10k with my dad and cousin over Mother's Day weekend.  

About to cross the finish line.

I didn't do as good on the race as I wanted to, but it was my first one and I was just starting.  Besides the entire first half of the run was up Smithfield Canyon and I had never run hills before.  It was a killer.  I finished in 56:53 which was not as fast as the 55:00 I was hoping for, but was close enough.  It was a lot of fun and I definitely felt the race fever.  It's fun to run races and I love that I don't have to compete with the top runners (there's no way I could compete with them) I can just compete against myself.

Kristin finishing up her run.