Pioneer Day 10K Race Report

My friend Jessica had planned on running the Deseret News Marathon. She had some unexpected illnesses and decided to switch to the 10k. I'd been going back and forth about entering it as I couldn't get the day off work and wasn't sure I'd want to work all day after an early morning race. Jess doing the 10k clinched my decision to run with her. I've been training for a half marathon (2 little weeks away!).

I've never run a 10K and was excited to try out a new distance. I still wasn't so excited about the 6am start time. Jessica lives in Sacramento so she stayed with me the night before the race. I was up at 4:30 am as we planned on leaving my house around 5. I am not a morning person and it was rough getting up so early. Jessica and I made it to the start about 10 minutes before the gun went off. There were well over 1000 people and that's a conservative estimate. That's something that always amazes me about races, the variety of people who run them. There is no cookie cutter shape for a runner.

The race start was at Research Park at the University of Utah. The course would take us to downtown Salt Lake and finish at Liberty park. A 10K is 6.2 miles. Jessica and I had decided we wouldn't actually run together as I have a faster pace. My goal for the race was to average an 8 minute mile. Most of the first half of the course was downhill and my 3 mile time was 23:15. The course leveled out after that and it felt as if the last couple of miles were even at a slight incline.

I was mostly with the same group of runners throughout the race. I was listening to my music during the run, but the music didn't drown out the grunter running next to me off and on. I was seriously worried about the dude with the noises he was making. I finally realized that was just the noise he made while he ran. It just sounded like he was in pain and about to keel over.

I started feeling the pain about 4 1/2 miles. With my limited time available for training, I don't do any pace work and just try to get the miles in at whatever pace I can. For my long runs, I usually average 9-9 1/2 minute miles. I was really pushing myself for the 10k. The last couple of miles were along the parade route and there were lots of people who had camped out the night before and were there to cheer us on. Some preferred to taunt us. One guy was offering donuts to the runners and another yelling only 5 miles to go.

I could tell my pace had slowed a bit and I wasn't sure if I'd make my goal or not. The last 2-300 yards were uphill and it hurt. I was trying for that last kick at the end. I didn't have too much left. I was actually concentrating on not wetting my pants in front of the crowd at the finish. I'm not that serious of runner just yet! My finishing time (by my watch) was 49:56. I was really pleased with that. That was an 8 minute mile average.

I grabbed water, relieved myself in an appropriate place, got a bagel, and was there to watch Jessica finish. Jess did great as well, finishing just under an hour. There is such a great energy about a race. It's hard to explain, but I love being apart of it. I survived work that day and I think I may make the 10K an annual event. I don't have any pictures to post. I'd lost my camera the day before so I didn't have it with me. I luckily found it! I'm waiting to see if there are any pictures of me online. They take pictures of most racers so I'll post that if I can.

Gabby was in Montana with her dad all week vacationing. It was nice to have some time off mom-duty but I'm so glad to have her home. She's such a great girl, I really missed her!

UPDATE!! The official results posted. I finished 670 over all out of 2262. My chip time was 49:45.2 and the gun time was 50.19

Thanksgiving Point

I took Gabby and Madison to Thanksgiving Point on Saturday. They were good girls and had fun seeing all the farm animals.

Madison riding the pony

Gabby riding the pony

Gabby petting the baby pony. I couldn't get over how tiny it was!

When we were coming to the farm, Madison said the one thing she really wanted to do was milk a cow. I told her I didn't think it could happen. Fortunately, there was a fake cow to test her milking skills.

Gabby loved the rabbits. She got her fingers stuck in the cage which she didn't love so much.

Busted!

It was a busy, fun day and Gabby fell asleep at about 6pm on the couch downstairs. I wasn't sure whether to wake her not and was deliberating on the subject when she stood up and walked out of the room. I followed her a few minutes later and this is how I found her. I guess the stairs were just too much for her.

Riding the ponies

Gabby Loves Swimming

You probably wouldn't think it, but Gabby is very cautious when it comes to most things. She can be very resistant about trying new things. I actually am glad that Gabby is so cautious around water. I don't have to worry so much when we're swimming. She's doing a lot better in the pool this summer. Last summer, she mostly just stayed on the steps unless I was in the water with her and she would have a vice-like grip on me. We picked out a new float toy and floaties and Gabs has done great in the water. I enjoy the pool much more as I can lay out and read while Gabby has a blast swimming. She isn't the least bit cautious around people and always makes new friends at the pool. I took Tuesday off last week and the Baileys and Torgersons came over to swim with us.

Gabby with her fishy that allows her to be a fishy

The audio for this video is great!

Gabby is even brave enough to jump in now!

A Tale of the Lost Tail, Part II

Apparently lightening does strike twice! Ever since the first "incident," Gabby has done well with the rule of not taking her gerbils out without me there. I suppose it's my own fault as I didn't explicitly tell her that she shouldn't pull off their tails. I took for granted that this would be obvious to a 4 year old, especially given previous events. Gabby will put her hand in the cage and "pet" Sunny and Michael as they trembled in terror. We take them out every evening and play with them. This actually consists of me holding one of them as it poops in my hand and Gabby laughs. Gabby refuses to hold them herself as she has is afraid of breaking them. I naively thought I had nothing to worry about with Gabby hurting the gerbils again.

I thought all was well tonight. Gabby was bathed and in bed and I was enjoying an episode of Samantha Who. I hear the faint sounds of Gabby crying upstairs. I pause the show and can just make out Gabby crying, "My mommy is going to be so mad at me. I can't ever tell her what I've done!" I was actually hopeful that she'd let the gerbil out and it wasn't another bloody nub of a tail. I slowly climbed the stairs dreading a replay of events of June 13.

Gabby is sobbing under her blanket about breaking Sunny and me being mad. "Gabby, what happened?" I tried to ask as calmly as possible. "I broke Sunny! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to." I feared the worst, that Sunny was dead. I looked in the cage and Sunny was still in there and alive. "Gabby, what happened?" She tearfully answered, "I don't want you to be mad. I didn't mean to, but I broke Sunny's tail!" I asked, "Well, where is it?" Gabby was calming down and said, "I picked it up and threw it away in the trash."

I felt a small victory in that act by Gabby. Apparently, hiding my revulsion had paid off, leaving Gabby able to dispose of gerbil tails herself. I turned my face away from Gabby as the urge to laugh hysterically was growing stronger with my assessment of the situation. I was grateful to be suppressing laughter and not vomit with this second bout of broken tails. I angled to look at Sunny's tail and it appeared that only a quarter of it was missing rather than half of it like Michael. I still couldn't believe this had happened again.

Gabby asked if Sunny was ok. I told her I thought she would be. I also told her if she killed her gerbils, she wasn't getting new ones. Gabby said, "But Sunny will just chew it off and then she and Michael will be the same. She won't be dead, it's just a little broken. I am really sorry I broke Sunny, too." I went over the rule with the addendum that Gabby never touches the gerbils' tails. Michael doesn't have much tail left to grab, but Sunny unfortunately has enough tail left that can be further broken. Gabby has cried herself asleep again for breaking her pets. I'm just really glad she threw that tail away herself. And as Gabby managed to point out, at least they have broken tails together. And I pointed out that they can cower in the corner in terror together when Gabby approaches. If our life were a Pixar movie, Gabby would be the kid in Toy Story who mutilates his toys. Sunny and Michael have got view Gabby like that. Poor gerbils!

See, Sunny has lot more tail left than Michael.

Some Updates

The No Sugar Contest is over! Two weeks ago, we took out white or enriched flour to make it tougher. There 6 of us at that point. The flour thing really sucks. I've hated it! It took out so many options, especially eating out like I do. It was down to 3 of us today and we decided to call it and split the $260 pot. So I made $67 off the whole thing. I still haven't had any sugar. I'm too afraid to open that flood gate. The cravings are long gone and I'm not sure I want them back so who knows when I'll eat sugar again! I can't believe I made it 12 weeks. I'm really pleased with myself!

There's another thing that I'm really pleased about, my nails. I've been a nail biter as long as I can remember. When I was 19, I finally managed to stop biting them for a couple of years. Even when I wasn't biting them, I still kind of was and they would never grow long and pretty. When I bite my nails, I really bite them short, so much so that it would be painful. Yeah, not the best habit! I finally stopped biting them last October again. I feel like I've kicked the habit once and for all and my nails have never looked so good naturally!

I still think my hands are ugly. Pretty nails can only do so much!

Michael is doing great, but she cowers in the corner whenever we open the cage. Gabby is pleased being the boss of her gerbils. She took this shot.

I've also gotten back into running. It feels so great! I'm doing a 10k on Pioneer Day (July 24). I've never run a 10k before so that should be fun. I can't have the day off work, so I'll run the 6+ miles and then have to work all day. I'm not looking forward that part. I'm running the Provo Half-marathon in August as well. My expectations for that aren't too high as I can't devote as much time to training as I did 2 years ago. I'm usually able to work 2-3 runs in a week. I take Gabby to Nick's after work and run around his neighborhood. That's been working well and gives Nick and Gabby a bit more time together. Plus, I don't feel as guilty for running since she's with 1 parent. I take her to play with Madison and David sometimes, too. Still, my runs are going well and it's so nice to feel like I'm in half-way decent shape.

From the Mouth of Babes

Being a single mother can be overwhelming at times. Let's face it, being a mother at all is overwhelming. For me, it's a crazy juggling act trying to do and take care of it all and some days some of those balls get dropped for various reasons. I don't always feel like I'm doing the best job with Gabby and I especially worry about helping her develop a love and faith for Christ and his gospel. It's so hard to know if anything you do is actually hitting its mark and leaving an impression. And then suddenly, your child lets you know she's paying attention.



Our stake president spoke at church on Sunday. At the start of his talk, I had asked Gabby to color a picture mostly to get her off my lap and to give me a chance to focus on the speaker. Gabby seemed wholly engrossed with her picture and I was able to give my full attention to the stake president. Gabby had her back to the pulpit and was using the pew as a desk. President Linnell spoke about the recent and sudden death of his brother-in-law and the comfort that Christ, the plan of salvation, and temple brought to his sister and all of their family. It was a powerful message and testimony.



Just as he was ending his talk, Gabby turned around and looked at President Linnell and with a most disappointed tone exclaimed, "Ohhhhhhhh!" She turned back and buried her face in her hands. I asked her what was wrong. Gabby replied, "I thought that was Jesus speaking and I really wanted it to be him so I could see him. Mommy, is that what Jesus' voice would sound like?"



I was so stunned. And overwhelmed. I told her that I thought she would feel the same way she did then if Jesus had been speaking and it was the Holy Ghost who helped her feel like it was Jesus speaking. I was so grateful for the reminder that children are not as far removed from our heavenly home as we are. I was also reminded that they can pick up on more than we often expect. It's amazing how one moment like this makes all the difficult and discouraging times feel completely worth it.

A Tale of the Lost Tail

Gabby has been asking for a new pet, but has specifically excluded further fish. I've been giving her chores lately and told her she would have to earn her pet. I specified something small. Our good friends, the Nevers, have 2 gerbils. Gabby fell in love with them when we were last there. She's had her heart set on getting a gerbil. She's done well with her chores. Her chores range from putting her dirty clothes in the hamper, being polite, acknowledging that I am the boss, dusting, and picking up her toys and books.

I decided today would be a good day to get Gabby her new pet. Her sweet prayers for gerbils pushed me over my reservations. We had hamsters growing up for a few years. Twinkie lasted for at least a year, maybe two. I don't really like rodents now and it's hard to remember why I liked them so much when I was young. I can only think vermin. So Gabby and I went to Petsmart, picked out a cage, food and two gerbils. They're both female. Sunny is the white one and Michael is the gray one. Gabby chose both names. She has been thrilled with her new pets. David and Madison came over to meet Sunny and Michaela and were just as impressed.

I gave Gabby one rule for her gerbils, that she never takes them out of the cage unless I'm there. I thought I was clear enough with her and that she understood. We moved the cage to her room after Maddy and David left. I was downstairs when I heard blood-curdling screams coming from Gabby. I assumed that she'd gotten a gerbil out and he escaped. I come into Gabby's room and she's screaming, "Gerbil, gerbil, come back. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry!" Michael had escaped. I wasn't too worried about capturing her, she actually was trying to get back in the cage. Then Gabby wailed, "Mommy, I broke her tail. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to break her tail."

With great trepidation, I look at Michael's tail and sure enough, about half of it was gone. My stomach lurched in revulsion as I saw the other half of her tail on the floor. My initial instinct was to was to run screaming and crying from the room and let Gabby deal with her own mess. I didn't think I signed up for cleaning up broken off gerbil tails when I bought them. Their tails grossed me out attached to their bodies. I took a deep breath, remembered that I was on my own and couldn't imagine who I could call to pick a gerbil tail off the floor. That kind of phone call would be more awkward than the actual act. I also don't want to pass my revulsion and squeamishness to Gabby and she was hysterical enough without me adding to it. I put on a brave face and I grabbed Michael and shoved her as delicately as I could back in the cage. I swear Michael gave a great sigh of relief to have a barrier between her and Gabby.

I grabbed the tail off the floor and summoned all of my will power to not scream as I ran it to the trash. I decided to just grab it with my bare hands before I had time to think much about it and lose my nerve. I scrubbed my hands, but the utter revulsion wouldn't be washed away with soap and water. I finally turned to my hysterical child who had not ceased her lamentations or apologies throughout my ordeal.

"Gabby, why did you take Michael out of the cage and how did you break her tail?" Unfortunately, my tone was too harsh and she cried even harder. She finally managed to reply, "It was an accident. I love Michael so much. I didn't want to hurt her and now I broke my pet!" The wailing recommenced at an even louder level. It was one of those moments as a mother that tears your heart in two. Part of me was angry and upset that she'd broken the one rule in less than 10 minutes. That part was also completely incredulous of just how she broke the tail. The other part only wanted to comfort and soothe especially as one myself who is so accident-prone. I decided to make sure that she understood first that I had made the rule for a reason of which she now had ample appreciation.

I didn't press the point too much as it was clear Gabby's heart was just as broken as the tail was. I began comforting her and showing her that Michael seemed to be alright. Poor Michael. She was actually cowering in the corner of the cage in complete gerbil shock. I hoped her memory would be as short as her tail now was. Gabby was difficult to soothe. As soon as I thought she was coming round, she'd repeat, "I broke Michael's tail. I am so, so sorry I broke my pet!" She eventually cried herself to sleep.

The bloody nub of tail Gabby left for Michael. She still hasn't been able to tell me just how she broke it. I surmise that she was holding her and knew she was breaking the rule. Either when Michael was trying to escape or when Gabby was trying to capture Michael, her adrenaline kicked in and she just pulled too hard. I suppose it could happen to anyone. I take that back, this could only happen to me and Gabby. I've never heard of a little girl breaking a gerbil tail off. Lizards, yes. Gerbils, no. That's how the lady at the store got them out of the cage, she picked them up by the tail. Seriously, who would have thought? I'm also at the point to really laugh about it. I just have to gag a bit first.

The other half of the tail is there on the right. That's not a small bit of tail. Poor Gabby. Imagine the horror she felt to only have half a tail between her fingers and her gerbil escaped!

Sunny and Michael before the Horror.