2013 -- The Year of AwesoME. Part 2

I had three large goals for this year:  run a half marathon, hike the Grand Canyon rim to rim, and graduate with my MBA.

You should know that I am not an athlete.  I never have been an athlete.  I never will be an athlete.  If it involves, throwing, catching, hitting, jumping, running, kicking or anything else that involves any kind of coordination, I cannot do it.  Really.  I can't.  I'm one big clumsy oaf.

Nor is my body a thing of beauty.  Don't get me wrong.  I love my body.  But there is nothing remarkable about me physically.  I am not beautiful.  I don't have long sinewy legs.  I've never been particularly lean (though I've also never been particularly fat).  I'm just basically a very nice average person.

Does anyone wonder, then, why two of my goals were so physical?  Besides me, I mean.

Well, y'all, guess what?  I finished #2 this week!

Here's a little timeline:

June 2012 -- Janece tells me about Phantom Ranch and how it is a bucket list item of hers to hike the Grand Canyon rim to rim.  So I say, "I would do that with you!"

July 2012 -- Janece says she is going to try to get reservations for Phantom, but they are taken 13 months in advance.  I tell her to count us in (see how I did that to Spencer?).

August 2012 -- After 1 1/2 hours of dialing and re-dialing, Janece finally gets hold of Phantom Ranch to try to get reservations for September 2013.  They are already sold out.

September 2012 -- Janece and two other friends spend the morning dialing and re-dialing, and Laurie gets reservations for nine of us for October 2013.

January to September 2013 -- I run nearly every day.

June to October 2013 -- Janece and I climb 32 flights of stairs twice a week.

July 2013 -- Janece, Spencer, Landon, Devin (Landon's friend), and I climb Mt. Olympus.  I wonder what I was thinking to agree to do this.

September 2013 -- I successfully run a half marathon.

October 1, 2013 -- The U.S. Government "shuts down."  All national parks are closed until the government leaders can somehow reach agreement about the national budget.  Arizona and Utah top the states who offer to pay to keep their national parks open.  Eventually the federal government gives permission for this to happen, but it will only be in effect till October 18.  Finally the government shutdown ends, and we are a "Go" for the Grand Canyon!

Friday, October 18, 2013 -- Aundrea gets an infection, sees the doctor, and starts taking antibiotics, which are marked "Avoid direct sunlight while taking this medication."  We purchase two backpacks (I know, nothing like preparedness, right?) and trail food.  We pack till nearly midnight.

Saturday, October 19, 2013 -- Spencer and I left home at 7:15 a.m. so we could be at Janece's by 8:00.  We put our packs and our bodies into her Toyota Corolla and headed for Arizona.  We stopped for a little bit at the Best Friends animal shelter, which I think our kids would enjoy seeing.  We didn't go see all the animals, but we watched their video and just had a nice rest stop.  From there we drove to Jacob Lake.  Janece and her brother, Scott, drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for the sunset, while Spencer and I hung out and then had dinner with our "son," Logan Gifford.  We went to bed once we'd looked at the stars, taken some pictures, bought me a new pink coat, and played a couple of rounds of Hollywood Rummy.  I think it was 8:30 when we called it a night.

Sunday, October 20, 2013 -- We reloaded Janece's car, then Spencer, Scott, and I went into Jacob Lake lodge for a nice breakfast.  As soon as breakfast was over, we drove to the North Rim Kaibab Trail entrance.  Janece's car said it was 29 degrees outside.  We bundled up in coat and gear, and got onto the trail around 8:45 a.m.  Then we walked.  We took pictures.  Repeat a lot.

Seven miles from the trail head we stopped at Cottonwood Campground for lunch.  It was about 1:00 p.m.  We knew we had a very slow pace, so Janece and I decided that in the interest of safety it would be better if she and I just stayed on the main trail to Phantom Ranch.  Scott and Spencer, however, really wanted to go to Ribbon Falls.  So they took off together, while we girls stuck together.  The boys caught back up to us, and I have say that I was really starting to be fatigued.

Finally I realized that if I let it go much longer I was not going to be in good shape.  So I said to Spencer, "I am very fatigued.  My legs don't want to move.  I just want to curl up here and go to sleep, but I know it would not be good to be stuck here in the dark.  I am mildly nauseated.  Help me know what to do."  We stopped and he had me eat some dried apricots.  He looked at my legs, and they were EXTREMELY red and sore, like sunburn, only I'd been in long pants all day.  We figured that the medication for my infection had probably caused some of that, exacerbated by my knee braces.  Spencer wanted to massage my legs, but it was like rubbing sandpaper on a sunburn.  Then we plodded on.  Spencer took some of the articles from my pack and put them into his.  We walked for a very long time.  And then we walked some more.  Spencer would call ahead to me, "Take a drink, Babe," or "Have another apricot."  I got feeling quite a bit better, but I was seriously so tired!  At 6:15 we hiked into Phantom Ranch.

Our dinner was at 6:30.  They fed us stew, cornbread, and salad.  And chocolate cake.  Everyone talked about how delicious it was.  I know the stew was pretty spiced with pepper and bay leaf, but it was all I could do to lift a spoon to my mouth.  :)  Once dinner was over, I went to our dorm, took a quick shower, and went. to. bed.

Monday, October 21, 2013 -- At 4:30 a.m. a Phantom Ranch employee knocked on our door with a 4:30 a.m. wake-up call.  A few people got up then for 5:00 a.m. breakfast.  I went back to sleep.  At 6:30 Phantom Ranch rang the 6:30 breakfast bell.  I went back to sleep.  :)

When I finally got up, I took my time getting ready for the day, then went to the men's dorm for Spencer, who also had just gotten up.  We ate some breakfast together, then did some wandering.  Except for my sore, faux-sunburned legs, I was tender but doing much better.  We visited with the other members of our group, who did their hike south-to-north.  John and Shauna used to be in the ward Janece lived in.  Laurie is Shauna's sister and Rich is Laurie's husband.  Laurie and Rich live in Montana.  It was nice to make new friends, but the four of them stayed grouped for things while Janece, Scott, Spencer, and I made up another group.

That afternoon all eight of us decided to take the River Trail hike, which was only a couple of miles and not strenuous.  We passed some Hopi Indian ruins as well as the only sanctioned burial in the Grand Canyon (a man who was killed during a blast while making the trail).  We hiked along the Bright Angel Creek to the Colorado River, over the Black Bridge, downriver a ways (we watched a river run trip for a few minutes), across the Silver Bridge, and back to camp.

We sent postcards to our kids (they haven't arrived yet), had some "Lemmy" (Phantom Ranch's lemonade) and some M&M's.  Then, blessing of all blessings! Spencer made arrangements for the mules to take my pack out of the Grand Canyon the next day.  We put as much of our gear into my pack as we could, leaving his for water and last items we needed to carry.  We filled all our water packs (Camelbacks and hand-held water bottles) so we were completely ready for the next day.  We went to a fun ranger talk which was formatted like a game of Jeopardy, where we learned a lot.  We went to Bright Angel Creek and soaked our feet in the numbingly cold water (it was HEAVENLY).  We had a lovely and much more lively steak dinner at the Ranch.

Tuesday, October 22 -- We had gone to bed early again.  Scott and Spencer had the 5:00 a.m. breakfast, but Janece and I opted to eat our trail food and get on the road, knowing the men would catch us before we were very far.  She and I dropped my pack off for the mules, then turned on our headlamps and took off.  It was still full night when we left at 5:15ish, and it was seriously beautiful to watch the stars and the moon as we walked.  The men caught us just as we had decided it was light enough for us to turn off our headlamps.  Spencer and I stopped for a picture of the river, and both Scott and Janece were long gone.  Scott was a VERY fast hiker.  He made it out of the canyon in about 4.5 hours.  We thought we would catch up with Janece, but she never appeared, so we figured she had made it up ahead of us.  It turned out that we had passed her while she was in a restroom or something.  We beat her to the top by about 2 hours (it took us about 6 hours even).

You guys, this hike was in.cred.i.ble.  The bottom half (4.5 miles) was uphill with a few strenuous stretches and switchbacks, but nothing too hard.  But the view!  And we had the blessing of doing this as the sun came up into the canyon, illuminating it piece by piece.  We kept thinking we'd have to turn a corner and we'd lose our view, but no.  Each time we turned a switchback, we'd look and have our breath taken away again.  It was seriously so beautiful that we kept trying to find words to describe it, and nothing seemed like enough.  Majestic.  Awesome.  Breath-taking. Expansive.  Vast.  Glorious.  Huge.  Beautiful.  Gorgeous.  Amazing.  There's just nothing that adequately described it.

Wednesday, October 24 --  We caught a shuttle back to the North Rim (where our car was).  That took 4.5 hours.  We drove an hour back to Jacob Lake for lunch, then started the 5 hour journey home.  Arrived back to our safe family, lovely home, and my blessed pillow!  :)

I'm so grateful we went on this trip!  Actually, more than anything, this feels like a gratitude trip for me.  What a lovely world we live in!  I'm so glad we had the means to do this (both economically and physically), and I'm so glad the park was re-opened just in time.  Our weather could not have been more perfect, and the autumn colors with the colors of the rock were all splendid.  The stars were out in full force, and we saw the Milky Way for the first time in MONTHS.  We had beds, bedding, toilets and showers.  Everyone was well, including me.  Part of me is a little disappointed in myself for not being able to pack everything all the time.  Most of all, though, I'm so grateful for my sweetheart, who never abandoned me, who never made me feel like I was a burden, who quietly and graciously took care of me.  We laughed together.  We worked together.  We took pictures and laughed some more.  We played games.  We oo'd and ahh'd over the amazing gift that we had to be on this trip.  We talked about our kids.  We prayed together.  It was a glorious, glorious trip in every single way.  I'm so glad we did both rims.  I'm so glad we spent a full day in the bottom of the canyon.  I was so grateful to not have that infection (because of antibiotics), and I was so grateful for the freezing cold water on my burning legs (because of antibiotics).

They felt as nasty as they look!

We saw a fox in camp.  During our hike in, Janece and I saw one of the large Kaibab squirrels.  We saw a ringtail in camp (not even scared of us at all, of course).  We saw deer and elk and even a blue bird.  We saw agave and yucca and other cacti.  We saw wild flowers and millions of trees and shrubs and grasses.  We saw ancient American pictographs.  We met people from all over the world (Japan, Germany, Australia, Britain, France, Canada, Mexico, and MANY places in the US).  And seriously, you just can't believe the expanse, the vastness, or the majesty of the Grand Canyon till you see it.  Seriously, people.  Pictures can't do it justice.

Also, I'm not a photographer.  Just hand me a PHD (push here, dummy) camera, and you get what you get. Here's some of what I got.

Scott, Janece, me, Spencer

At our cabin at Jacob Lake.  I love this man!

Spencer, me, Logan

This is maybe my favorite of all the pix I got.  This is Janece.

North rim 

I was enthralled by the water, and wanted a picture of this...

...but my husband photo-bombed the picture!

Daddy, can you see the face?

Another favorite picture.  Look at the colors!

Gravesite near Phantom Ranch

Indian ruins along River Trail

The Colorado River

More pictures in another post.  Blogger's fighting me right now.

2013: The Year of AwesoME. Part 1

A long time ago, Briana and I went to Wasatch Running to get some good shoes.  There was a van there that had a bumper sticker on it that said Determined Enough to Run a Half; Not Stupid Enough to Run a Full.  At that time, I decided that "someday" I was going to run a half marathon.

Running has taken a serious back burner since I started in school, but I decided there was no more putting it off.  That half marathon was to happen THIS YEAR.  So in January I signed up for the Big Cottonwood Half and I had Spencer make me a training schedule.  I have not been 100% faithful in my running, but I've been fairly consistent.  Three weeks ago I did a 10-mile run around our neighborhood, and no kidding, it was awful.  I was miserable, I had to walk the last 1.5 miles home, and my knees and feet were killing me.  That was such a downer, and I haven't been running since.  But there was no way I was going to have worked for 8 months and not do that half.  My goal in the beginning was to be able to run the entire distance.  My goal this month turned into "Do the distance."

Today was the big day!  I was feeling trepidation and nervousness.  I was sure the thing was going to take me around 3.5 hours, because we use the term "run" very loosely to describe what I do, plus my training had taken this serious dip.

Spencer and I went to the expo last night to pick up our shirt and race bib.  We went to Fazoli's for some carb loading.  We came home and got all of our stuff together:  my pink jacket, a rain coat, my running clothes, ShotBlocks and Clif Bars, knee braces, phone, headphones, headband, armband--check, check, and check.

We went to bed, and I slept HARD.  The alarm went off (Bruno Mars, "When I Was Your Man"), and at first I thought, "I don't wanna go to work!"  Then I realized this was race day, so even though it was still the middle of the night (3:30 a.m.), I got up.  We got all ready for the day (at least physically, because I was really nervous) and left.  We parked at Cottonwood High School, then got onto a bus, which took us up Big Cottonwood Canyon to the large parking area near Donut Falls.  When we drove around the S-curve, I knew where we were in the canyon.  It felt like it took FOREVER to get to our drop-off, and I thought, "Holy crap!  What have I gotten myself into?  I have to get to the bottom of this!"

We hung out there for about an hour and a half till gun time.  The forecast was for rain.  Luckily, there was no rain, but it was cold.  Still, not as cold as I expected.  I didn't want to take off my coats and long-sleeved shirts and gloves and solar blanket, but I also didn't want to have something around my waist for the entire waist; so I stripped (don't worry, I wouldn't do THAT to anyone), and off we went.

Spencer stayed with me for the first mile.  At that point we caught up to the 3-hour pace group, and he asked if I wanted to stay with them.  I told him I thought I would and to have a good race, so he took off.  I talked to the pacers for a minute, but they were going so slowly that it would have hurt my legs to stay with them, so I went out ahead.  I took 3 potty stops, I think, during the race.  I alternated Gatorade and water at each stop.  I took a Gu when they gave them out.  And I just coasted.  I wasn't trying to run fast, but I was amazed that I was actually passing people (that didn't happen at Ragnar!).  I caught up with the 2:45 pace group, but again, it would have hurt to slow to that pace, so I passed them, too.

My friend from work, Steve, had run his first half earlier this year.  He had encouraged me to make it as fun as I could by talking to people, so I tried.  I mean, partially you get into a zone, and I didn't want to visit, you know?  But sometimes things just came up, and it was fun.

Can you believe it?  I just said it was fun!

Well, I stopped at bathrooms, but then I'd get right back into the run.  I ran till about 10 miles.  After that my legs were pretty dang tired.  But there was this woman who I passed, then she passed me, then I passed her, etc. several times during the race.  We were right together at Mile 12, and I said to her, "My friend's mother says that anyone can run a mile."  She said, "Yes, especially since you've already done twelve miles."  So I ran.  Then I started walking.  She ran past me, looked at me, moved her head to the side, and said, "Let's go."  So we went together.  Then she started walking.  So I walked ahead of her a bit, till she decided to run again.  I kept looking back at her.  When she ran up to me, I said, "Let's do this."  So we ran the last probably about .5 mile.  She gave me a high five when we got onto 1300 E., and we stayed together as we ran into the school parking lot and crossed the finish line together.  She stopped me while we were in the runners' area and thanked me for keeping her going.  Ha!  What a laugh!  She's the one who kept me going.  Her name was Lori, and she said, "See you next year."  I said, "I don't know."  She said, "Yes, you will!  I'll see you next year!"

Y'all, my chip time was 2:35:10, which gave me an average pace of about 11:30 per mile.  For someone who is going FAST if she's going at a 12:00 per mile pace (I TOLD you we use the term "running" loosely), I was so thrilled with my performance.  Best of all, though I'm sore, I'm not dead or injured.

My other two goals for this Year of AwesoME are to hike the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim, which we are scheduled to do next month; and to graduate.  I'm totally going to get this done, and completing today's race as well as I did really helped my confidence.  Yay!

Worst in the Class, but Better Than...

I joined a gym.  It's hard to get up in the morning.  The people on the treadmills all around me are running far faster and much farther than I am.  I use 5-pound weights at the very most.  I cannot do a full, real push up.  Burpees are from hell.  My muscles ache, and I have found muscles I'm not sure I EVER knew I had.  I am UGLY when I work out--no kidding!

But I'm lapping the people who are on the couch and I actually DID the burpees and someday I'll be able to use an 8-pound weight and get through an entire class.  And this fall, I WILL run that half marathon and hike the entire Grand Canyon.

I'm not saying I'm better than you, but I am FOR SURE better than the me I was 5 weeks ago.  It counts.