"Let's face it, I'm hotter than you!"

If your not a Twilight fan and haven't seen the movies the above quote will not make any sense to you at all but trust me it is HILARIOUS.

So this dude is a wolf and his temperature runs hot, vampires body temperature is cold so that's why he says to Edward the vampire.
"Let's face it I'm hotter than you"

SWIM TEAM has taken over our lives the last few months but it has been a ton of fun.  Waking up early every morning and sitting out in the blazing sun for an hour then returning in the evening twice a week to once again sit in the blazing sun for another 2 hours.  I LOVE IT!  Actually 118 degrees doesn't even seem hot anymore.  It is completely normal now.  My 11 year old feels a little differently though.  I think his exact quote was.  "I wish somebody made human size coolers with windows on the side so we could just get in them and watch the meet from there."  Kids these days are so soft.

So other than swim team we have been trying to take this summer by storm and fit in as much fun as possible.  We work hard and we play harder.

  Here is a quick rundown:

 My friend Molly (on the left) lives in Nashville and her husband is a dentist for the US Army and was deployed to Iraq for several months so my friend Kate (on the right) who lives in Utah and myself headed to Nashville to visit.  We have been friends since 9th grade.  It was so much fun to be together and we took in a few sites.

 Have you ever noticed that airports have the coolest stuff.  I took this picture of these two books that were side by side in one of the Chicago airport shops.  Which book would you choose for your flight?  Which one do you think I bought? *

 This is a picture of the toilet in the Chicago Airport.  Has anyone ever seen one of these before?  In my opinion this is THE BEST INVENTION EVER!

 Here are instructions on how to use it in case you didn't buy the "how do successful people think" book and you are not sure what to do.

 Since Nashville we have had a few Birthday parties!  Dayton turned 9 years old and we had a pool party to celebrate.

Sadie getting ready to do a few laps.

Birthday boy Dayton opening up his loot.

We have had a ton of visitors this summer which has been a vacation in itself.  My sister's family came for  a week.  My friend Kate and her family came for a few days, my parents came for a week and some of our great friends from Colorado, the Stewarts came for a couple of days.  I was a slacker and didn't take very many pictures.  I guess I was too busy having fun.  Here are a few.

Taking my nieces and nephew hiking at Thunderbird State Park, AZ

It is probably not a good thing that a Yogurtology opened up right down the street from us.   Reece's  concoctions are always the most costly.  He can handle the calories though so no worries.

 My kids have been having fun playing with the trucks old tires.  We aren't white trash at all I promise.

 "Come on Reece, go down the ramp, you'll be totally fine!"

After our mass of visitors left we made a visit of our own to Grandma's and Grandpa's in Utah.  Again I sucked at taking pictures but we had tons of fun, 4 wheelin, sleepovers with cousins, riding horses with friends, visiting old stomping grounds and eating WAY too much food.  (5 BBQ's in one week!! I cannot eat another hamburger)

 A visit to Kennecott Copper mine in Utah.  The trucks are HUGE.   This is one of the tires , it only costs $25,000 and will last a whole year.

I don't really know why my kids are meditating inside a teepee at the  Fremont Indian State Park in Utah.  I guess they are just that zen.

Travis helping a friends kid aim and shoot and Dayton in the background shooting on a camping trip in the mountains  up north in AZ.

Lots and lots of swimming to beat the heat.

We all went to the Blake Shelton Concert for the 4th of July!  So fun.

Blake Shelton is hot!  Go Miranda.

Fireworks afterword were so great!!!  I love the USA!  (No offense Canadians--eh?)

I haven't been running too much in this heat but I have been going to my new/old gym Lifetime Fitness.  I went to Lifetime when I lived in Colorado and LOVED it but there wasn't one close to me here in AZ. I tried some other, closer gyms (4 to be exact) over the past year and I didn't like any of them.  I guess I'm a gym snob.  So after being in AZ for over a year I decided not to try anymore gyms and return to Lifetime.  It's a 20 minute drive but it's worth it.  Am I crazy?  How far are you willing to drive for a great workout?  Are you a gym snob or do you hate gyms? I guess it boils down to the fact that I am not very self disciplined and I need others to make me suffer get a good workout.  The Lifetime here in Scottsdale is pretty much the same as the one in Colorado but there are a lot more girls with fake boobs here in Scottsdale so I guess I'll have to put that on my list.  As they say, "When in Rome....."  Anyone have an extra 10k I can borrow for the new girls?    Single guys should move here.  You will not be disappointed.  I'm not jealous of these hot chicks at all, damn them, they all seem very nice.  

Most girls at the new gym look like this.  Just change the hair color to your preference.

I hope everyone is having as much fun this summer as I am.  Keep up the blogging and tell me all about your adventures and running.  I need the motivation.  

*Of course I bought the Knock knock jokes book, Why would I need the other one, I already know what I think. 

 (Yes Adam I am copying your * thing you do.  What are you going to do about it?  That's what you get for running your SYTO 5k while I was out of town.  :) Just teasing, I just like the * thing you do.  Keep up the good work.)

Happy Running,

Adrienne

Pat Tillman Race Report

Pat Tillman is a local and national hero but I've realized since moving to Arizona that The Pat Tillman Race is sort of like "The Race to Run" if you live in the Phoenix area.  Sort of like how the "Boulder Boulder" is the Race to run if you live near Denver.   The short story on Pat Tillman is that he was a professional football player who was inspired to give up his career to join the armed forces after the 9/11 attacks on the USA.  He joined the elite Army Ranger program and was deployed several times.  Sadly he was killed by friendly fire and his death was "covered up" by the military.  

Pat Tillman (left) and his brother Kevin (right) both enlisted in the army after  the 9/11 attacks.
Pat played for the NFL (AZ Cardinals) and Kevin was drafted by the Anaheim Angels for baseball.

Some things I learned about Pat Tillman that are less known are:
*He graduated from ASU with a 3.83 GPA in 3 1/2 years (impressive) in Business Marketing.
*At one point in his NFL career he turned down a $9 Million dollar offer from the Rams out of loyalty to the Cardinals.
*He ran marathons and tri-athalons during the off season
*When he decided to join the Army Rangers he asked his friend J.R. Rosania (a professional trainer/tri athlete) to train him and help him prepare for war.  He was also planning on competing in his first Ironman (Hawaii) when he returned from his last deployment in Afghanistan.  Of course he didn't make it back.  J.R. Rosania dedicated    his Hawaii Ironman race to his friend and wore his Cardinal #40 in the race in Pat's honor.  
*One thing I found particularly interesting especially since I am very active in my religion as a mormon is that Pat had read the Bible, Qur'an, and The Book of Mormon but was an atheist.  *He was 27 when he died.  I don't know about you but I don't know a lot of 27 year old football players sitting around reading the Qur'an.
*His widow Marie was his high school sweetheart.  Friends have said that before Pat was killed they would have said he was the stronger person in the relationship. Afterward they changed their mind and said that she was the stronger person.  From what I have read about her she seems to be a quiet, private, behind the scenes type of person and sometimes that is perceived as weakness.  Obviously that is not true.


It seems he had lived a lot of life in his short 27 years.  It was an honor to run to support his foundation that is used to provide scholarship funds and support to military families.  

I realize these pictures are super exciting.  They were taken quickly before we headed out to the race.

I like the tech shirts they had for this race although it was a HOT morning and
 I was wishing I  had stuck with my usual tank top.

Anyway........


The morning started off well enough except the fact that we underestimated how long it would take us to park and get to the starting line with a crowd that size.  We ended up parking 1.5 miles away from the start line.  We both had to go to the bathroom and we had about 20 minutes until start time so we ran from the car to the start for a lovely 1.5 mile warmup.  About a mile more than I usually warm up.  :)  We ditched each other before we even made it to the start because Travis was starting in corral 1 and I was in 9 so he was anxious not to be late to the start.  I think his Facebook status best describes his start.


"Pat Tillman race update: slept in to give me just enough time to get to Sun Devil stadium (had a "red eye" the night before and needed to catch up on sleep)...road closed. won't make it in time to start, so park 1.5 miles away. run to the stadium and bathroom line...I had to pee!..3 minutes to start, I jump out of line and run to the starting line with a full bladder. 4.2 miles later..... new Pat Tillman PR!"


He forgot to mention in his update that he jumped over the gate into the 1st corral winning him lovely looks from the other runners.  (I told you he would find a way)


Travis ran the Pat Tillman last year with a time of 25:15 so his goal this year was to get in under 25 minutes, beat all the girls (last year 3 beat him but he didn't know this because they started after him so their chip time was faster but they weren't "ahead" of him during the race) and have a less than 6 minute pace.  His official time for 2011 was 24:59!  Goal achieved with 1 second to spare.  Pace 5:56. Goal Achieved. Overall place was 64 and this year their were 6 girls that whooped him!!  Too bad buddy.  :)


My Race:


I had plenty of time for a potty break and afterwards I got in line at the very back of corral 9.  And we were off.  Actually corral one was off and we followed about 10 minutes later.  As we were running the group I was in was slower than what I wanted to be running.  They were at a steady 11 minute pace.  I kept thinking that at any second the crowd would thin a bit and I could make my way around them and pick up my speed.  It never thinned.  So I spent the next mile weaving my way in and out, around, over and through people.  It was really annoying. At one point I turned sideways to get through the 10 across group that decided to stop and walk after the first mile.  Walking is fine but why do you line up in a running corral if you are going to walk?  I don't get it.  I was on the right hand side of the crowd and there was a water stop at mile one on the right.  I don't normally drink water in a race this short but everyone else apparently does because once they saw the water stop they all charged across right in front of me and bombarded the water stop.  Awesome!  
Mile 2 a dude jetted right in front of me and then puked!  Super Awesome.  
Mile 3 was pretty cool where a pack of army dudes were chanting and that was fun up until one of them took out one of those orange construction barrier things because he "didn't see it" then yelled up at his army buddies that they should have told him about it.  Good thing it wasn't a cliff.  
Mile 4 I thought "I'm just going to salvage this race and run as fast as I can into the stadium"  So I pick up the pace and start my kick and a 12 year old literally steps on the back of my shoes and I do the arm thing to keep myself from falling over.  So at that point I just give up and fall into step with the other masses where we shuffle across the finish line.  I had a soft goal of coming in under 40 minutes knowing it was going to be crowded and I just wanted to see what it was like to run with a mass crowd in a race.  I thought this goal had a lot of wiggle room but I crossed in 43 minutes.  This tells me I definitely don't know how to run very well in crowds.  I think a lot of energy was lost running to the start line and also darting in and out of people.  The beginning of races are always stressful to me because of the crowd but then when it thins out I settle down.  The fact that it never thinned out was not a good thing for me.  


The finish line was very anti climatic.  They had the ASU football players lining the chute to the finish line but they were just standing there not cheering or anything...LAME. And then once you crossed the finish line it was all business of people continuing to "move you along" to make room for the people still coming in.  


I found Travis, we walked out, grabbed some Powerade and a banana.  Walked through the expo and then we decided we better head out because our oldest son was watching the other kids at home.  We ran the mile and a half back to the car together and that was probably my favorite part of the race.  We headed home and on with the day.  


I realize this race report sounds negative.  I think the problem is that the race didn't meet my expectations.  My expectations were likely off.  I will run this race again but maybe this would be a good one to do with kids where I'm not trying to necessarily "run" but just enjoy the event.  I know it is possible to run fast in a race like this because Travis did it and Jeff over at  Running Through Phoenix PR'd  and lots of my other friends did just fine so I guess it's just me.  I just need to figure out how to run more efficiently during this type of event. I also realized (I think I already knew) that I enjoy running to "escape" the craziness of life and have some "me" time so running with this many other people doesn't really fit into why I enjoy running.  Lots to learn.  Lot's to learn.  And so the story goes.  


I might note that this is the 4th race I have run this year (2011).  Before 2011 I had only run 4 races TOTAL in my life so at least This Non Race Runner is still Putting herself out there.  I'm growing by leaps and bounds :)


Happy Running Everyone,
Adrienne

Race Update!

I ran the Pat Tillman 4.2 miler race this morning and I came in 9922 place!!!! YES, YES, YES!!  That was EXACTLY what I was hoping for!  :)

Just teasing, full race report some time Sunday.
Race was at least interesting if nothing else.
Stay tuned.
Happy Running and Good luck to my friends running Ragnar, Boston and other Races this weekend!
Love you people!

Adrienne

Keepin it Real

A few weeks ago Travis and I just happen to be going for a run at the same time so I asked him if he wanted to run with me.

His reply.........

and I quote..... 

"No"

12 years later, the Honeymoon is over.

This morning I got an email from the people from the Pat Tillman Run Race that Travis and I will be participating in this weekend.

It was an email telling us what are bib # is and what corral we will start from.
So my bib # is 7342.  

Travis's bib # is 538.  

So immediately I started wondering what this all means.  I've never run in a "Big" race before.  The Pat Tillman is expecting 30,000 people.  That is more than a little nuts in my book.  

Anyway back to the analyzing of the bib #'s.  

First thing I thought is my bib # is much higher than Travis's so I'm guessing that shows that I am a much slower runner than him.  Not news to me.  I registered myself way before I registered him so I know it's not assigned by order of registration.  

Although receiving this # doesn't really bother me one way or another does a specific bib # bother anyone out there?  Especially if you are running with friends and they have a lower #?  Just curious.

The second thing I thought of was that although Travis's # is much lower than mine at #538, does this mean that their are 537 people registered that expect to run faster than him? Seems that way to me.  Last year Travis ran this race and placed 72 overall.  So unless there are some much faster runners this year I am thinking I must have screwed up his race time when I registered him for this race.  Hopefully he will be in the 1st starting corral.  

But if not than.......

You know what they say......

Karma's a B*tch!  What goes around comes around buddy!  Next time I ask if you want to run with me you say YES!  

If you've been following me for a bit you know I'm totally teasing.  We all know if Travis isn't in the first corral he will find a way to push, shove, cheat and weasel his way up there and he will be just fine.  I say all this about him with love.  

Hopefully I'll see some of you out there this weekend!

Happy Running,

Adrienne

Do you know what the running blog world needs?.........

More filler posts
(This one is dedicated to you Kovas)

Presenting My ABC's of me.  Like Patrick says.  Complete Narcissism.
A) Age: 34

(B) Bed Size: King

(C) Chore You Hate: Laundry, Any takers?

This is the hallway outside my laundry room on Monday.  All clean clothes were eventually sorted, ironed and put away+ about 4 suitcases that needed to be unpacked.  

(D) Dogs: 1 80 pound pure bred weimaraner whose favorite snack is carpet.

Travis makes me take Jasper on night runs and Jasper makes me run faster so I guess it's a good thing.  Too bad he is a total wuss and only looks fierce!

(E) Essential Start Your Day Item: Waking up seems to help with starting the day.

(F) Favorite Color:  Pink

(G) Gold or Silver: Yes

(H) Height: 5'8"

(I) Instruments You Play: Sadly none but hope to take piano soon.

(J) Job Title: Mom but it's pronounced MOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!

(K) Kids: We are on the 4 no more plan.

(L) Live: Peoria (N. Phoenix) Arizona 

(M) Mom's Name: LeeAnn

(N) Nicknames: Kickbutt Honeycutt (maiden name)

(O) Overnight Hospital Stays: 5 baby deliveries, 1 bone tumor removal, 3 overnighters with kids with seizures, 3 overnighters with kids with RSV.  I think that's all.

(P) Pet Peeve: Passive Aggressive people.  Either be aggressive or don't be. But don't pretend you aren't when you are.

(Q) Quote from a Movie: Dumb and Dumber
Jim Carey: "What are the chances of you and me getting together?"
 Girl: "One in a million"
Jim Carey: "So your saying I have a chance!"

(R) Right or Left Handed: Right

(S) Siblings: 5 total 3 brothers, 2 sisters.  I'm #4 in the line up.

(T) What time do you get up? In the morning? Or in the middle of the night?  Morning around 7:30 am.  Night around 1 or 2 am.

(U) Underwear: Every day

(V) Vegetable You Dislike: ??  I like most if they are prepared correctly.

(W) What Makes You Run Late: Sadie (2 year old) stripping down naked 2 minutes before we are heading out the door.  It's her new thing.  

(X) X-Rays You've Had Done: Teeth, hand, back, knee.

(Y) Yummy Food You Make: Key lime pie, sesame chicken.

(Z) Zoo, Favorite Animal: The gorillas that eat their poop, it's super gross yet mesmerizing at the same time.



And I'm WAY WAY WAY overdue with a huge THANK YOU to Candice, over at I have Run, for my new Runnerd Sticker.  I have a place at my desk with all my folders and sadly my running folder wasn't even labeled?  No longer.  Perfect spot for it.  Thanks girl!

You know your a RUNNERD when: 


You have 20+ people coming over to your house for book club at 7 pm and a small feast to prepare for them and you head out your door for a "quick" 4 miler around 5:15 pm with a disaster mess of a house and having cooked NOTHING yet.  Get home, quick shower, quick hair, speed (in car) to the store, (leaving husband and kids to clean) buy a bunch of stuff that looks like you made it, speed home (arrive at 7:15) throw all the stuff on "pretty" plates and stash all the store containers in the pantry closet.  Later the ladies are asking for recipes and you let them know you'll email them to them.  


This may or may not have happened 2 nights ago.


How do you know your a Runnerd? 


Another BIG Thank you to RIO over at Her name is Rio and She Runs for my new RUN magnet.  How cool is this.  I havent' found the perfect spot for it yet so it's still a work in progress.  First I wanted to put in on my fridge but I have one of those fake stainless steel front fridges so magnets don't work on it. ANNOYING! So I ended up sticking it on my oven? 

Hmmmm.  I'm thinking I'll have to get a new fridge.  


You know your a Runnerd when:
You buy a new fridge for your Run Magnet.  




Happy Running!
Adrienne

Drama+Anger=PR!

Sweet!  I just got a new PR this morning!

This morning I posted a long post after a long break and am happy to get all that out of my system.  Of course just blogging about it doesn't make everything magically better but RUNNING DOES!

Have you ever used running as therapy before?
Running is my #1 therapy.  Chocolate and Diet Coke #2.

I got to the gym and jumped on the treadmill and started in on what was to be a 5 mile run at at 9:45-9:55 pace.  Well the 9:40 pace was not cutting it.  Too much adrenaline that needed to get out.  I moved it up to a 9:20 pace a few miles in.  Still not working.  Moved it to a 9:00 mile pace at around mile 3.  Nothing happening.  So at mile 4 I cranked the treadmill up to a 8:34 pace.  I've never run this fast before but finished out the last mile at a new mile PR of 8:34!  YAY for ANGER!

Have you ever felt an emotion so strongly that you felt like you could run and run and run forever?

The only thing missing from my run was that it was inside on a treadmill and should have been outside in the pouring rain or up the side of a mountain.  For just a few brief moments I felt "Dean like"

Have you guys been following Dean?  Seriously so inspiring!  As of today he has run 1259.39 miles in his Run Across America Challenge that he is doing in order to raise money to fight Obesity in Children.  Don't know what I'm talking about?  Get out from under the rock you have been living under and check out the info here.

 I was actually registered to "Run with Dean" while he was here in Arizona for one of his 5k's he was doing.  The registration fee was a whopping $50 which is pretty steep in my book for a 5K but I felt like it was one of those "experiences" that was worth it.  Unfortunately with the "drama" that is currently swirling around me I chose to bail on it at the last minute.  I could give you a list of excuses but truth is I should have just sucked it up and gone anyway but instead I chose to stay in bed crying like a sissy.  Dean wakes up and runs 40-50 miles a day and I couldn't even get out of bed for a measly 3 miles. Old habits die hard.  My friend Christina has a quote on her blog that I think is great.  It says "You never regret the runs you do just the ones you don't do."  So true.  Good news is my $50 registration fee went towards the charity so I'm happy with that. I won't give my power away and miss out again.  Lesson learned.  My next run is the local Pat Tilman 4.2 miler in a few weeks, time to get ready!

After running this morning I wasn't angry anymore.  It's time to let it go and move on.  It's just not worth the time, effort and emotion that it is taking from me.  I so grateful that I'm able to run. You can start out feeling one way and through the course of the run even if it is a short one you can experience every emotion under the sun.  Usually at the end when your tired, sweaty and exhausted you some how feel rejuvenated.  Even if it's slower than some and not as consistent as others it really is a great tool for me to help me stay grounded and keep a clear head and did I mention I have a new mile PR?

Happy Running,

Adrienne

The Good the Bad and the Ugly --not necessarily in that order

Good grief has it really been over three weeks since my last post?  My Bad.

I met a new friend a few weeks back and from her own confession to me she told me she had done a little "digging" around and found me on facebook and then found my old family blog and she read a few of my posts and thought I was pretty funny (duh) and got a bit of a kick out of them.  Then her next comment to me "irked" me a tad.  She said, "I wish I had time to do a blog."  Funny thing is everyone I know in the blog world is extremely busy but we make time to blog because we enjoy it.  I know I love it and have missed it. Mostly I've missed YOU!  You guys rock.

So I haven't blogged for a bit.  It happens.

"Life is what happens when you're making plans"

So I'm sure you don't want me to bore you with all the little details of where I've been and what I've been doing so I'll just.....
What?
What was that?
Oh you DO want me to bore you with the details?
Oh alright if you insist!

Life is what happens when your making plans is an awesome saying isn't it?  We all work hard, schedule things out in black and white and then BAM--life gets in the way.  What can you do?
Like the Bible says, "Bless-ed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape".  Okay the bible doesn't really say that but it should.  We tell ourselves we shouldn't worry about things we can't control but we all still do don't we.
(THE BAD)
Like the next door neighbors who tell you they've decided to get a divorce.  When their kids are in your home 7 days a week it's hard to not feel your heart ripping out of your chest and keep a smile on your face and pretend everything will be okay.  Sucks.
Or your other good friend who is currently fighting cancer herself finds out that her 15 year old son also has cancer.  What does one say to this friend? Totally sucks.
Or that friend that you have known for more than half your life and even though you live far away when you finally connect on a phone call you pick up right where you left off only this time when you talk you learn her husband is being deployed to Afghanistan and the lump in your throat makes it hard for you to breathe.  Suck. Suck. Suck.
In my mind on the scale of 1 to big deal any of these things would rank on the big deal side.  Of course none of them happened directly to me but when they happen to those we love it's easy to get sucked into the black hole of despair.  So that's where I've been.  Funny thing is all of these things are big deals but there was one more thing that happened that isn't even on the big deal scale that really affected me these last few weeks.  It doesn't even rank a "1" on the scale.
(The Ugly)
I won't go into details but I'll just say there was an event that happened that ended with me throwing somebody out of my house.  NO NOT TRAVIS!  We are still happily married.  This person is a non relative but still someone I dealt with on a daily basis.  I don't know about you but this is a first for me.  Usually I only see this kind of stuff in the movies.  Uggg.  It sucked.  This event was followed by a LONG LONG "therapy" like session as I was seeking counsel with my religious leader where afterward I felt better but it still sucked nonetheless.  I'm still in the midst of this drama but it will hopefully see a close in the next few weeks.
(The Good)
Well now that I have fully depressed all of you including myself I'll give you the good news.  Oh wait there isn't any.  HA!  Okay kidding kidding, there is always a silver lining right?  Well as luck would have it, it was spring break here last week and before my little world seemed to be ending we had a trip planned for Disneyland---The Happiest Place on Earth.  Just what the doctor ordered.

I love to run and this is intended to be a running blog but sometimes it's SO SO nice to RUN AWAY!  And I suppose that is okay every now and then.  We had a great time together as a family in California and the mini break always helps to re-energize us for what we need to do. Sometimes we just want things to be okay or a certain way and for whatever reason they just cannot or will not ever be that way.  It's like the saying goes "It isn't what it isn't".  And since I'm all about the quotes in this post I'll give you another.

"Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved"

I think that if we can remember this little bit of wisdom we will likely avoid a lot of the pit falls or self induced sorrow we find ourselves in.  Of course there are always those trials and struggles that we will face that we cannot control but even if we find ourselves getting sucked into the despair pit we MUST MUST MUST find our "happy place," pick ourselves back up and carry on.  There is always a silver lining.  Life is good.

Thanks for letting me share my good, bad and ugly with you.  My apologies for not being my usual happy, sarcastic, obnoxious self in this post.  If it makes anyone feel better I've still been trying to rip on Chris K through facebook and email so all is not lost, I'll try to do it more regularly on the blog.  Andrew also asked for my advice on how to run a sub 30 minute 5k.  My advice is to run a 9:40 minute mile pace.  Hope that helps Andrew (wink wink).  Seriously though I think I just needed to get all this heavy stuff off my chest so now I can go back to the worthless crap I usually blog about that just makes me smile.  (Insert Big sigh here)  Can't wait!

Take Care and Happy Running,

Adrienne

12 year old Genius! And Nomination!

My computer is JACKED UP!  I don't know what the deal is but the screen looks like I've been smoking something strong.  It's all psychedelic looking.  So I am going to have to take the Mac in to see the 12 year old.  Don't know what I'm talking about?  I'll explain.  If you have a Mac and go to an apple store you will understand this.  For those that don't this is what happens.  You walk in. You are greeted by a twenty something year old who immediately makes you an appointment with a regular computer geek using his Iphone.  Two minutes later a computer geek in his teens appears from the back and takes a look at your computer issues.  After a few failed attempts to fix the problem he schedules you an appointment at the "genius bar".  After another 2 minute wait you are escorted to the back of the store where you meet the 12 year old who is sitting behind the big apple logo stating "Genius".  He takes a look at your computer and humors you by asking you to type in your password even though you know and he knows and he knows that you know it would be faster for him to just hack his way in with his eyes closed but he doesn't want you to feel like your computer information isn't "safe" so he allows you to finger it in anyway.  After that he somehow gets into a part of your computer that you have never seen before and writes a new program to override the current program that is causing your screen to be all "freaky" as that is how you technically explained to him what your problem is and he most likely hacked into your bank account while you were sitting their watching him and as we speak it is slowly siphoning pennies, nickels and maybe even dimes from your account into some offshore account but he knows and you know and he knows you will never know how to prove this as you are standing right behind him watching this take place so how could this have possibly happened.  At any rate in less than 2 minutes your computer is "fixed" and your asking if his mom is going to pick him up later because you would like to thank her for allowing him to miss school in order to work here to help me with my computer.  He stares blankly at you and you take this as your cue to grab your Mac and exit.

So my apologies for not posting the nomination for The Athlete's Plate winner earlier but without further ado I have chosen Heather over at The Crazy World of a Running Mom !  Congratulations Heather and I hope you enjoy the dishes Jason serves up for you.
Happy Running Everyone,
Adrienne

Diet? Nutrition? Featured on The Athlete's Plate!

I'm #5 in front.  Coach Belt is off on the right
he was also the school's x-country coach
and always tried to get me to run on the team.
It was during soccer so not going to happen. Plus
I always complained about running in high school.
10 years later my dad saw him in town and told him
I was running a marathon in a few weeks.  My dad
said he almost fell over.  HA!  I would have
liked to see that.  Coach Belt was awesome.

I've always been "a jock" and loved sports and such.   In high school my favorite sport was basketball.  I have great friends and fond memories of ruling the halls of Orem High school, flipping a coin to decide if we would make it to class or if we should "rebel" and hit the local gas station for a giant sized Mountain Dew instead.  Often if the results weren't in our favor it would turn into one of those coin tosses where you say "two out of three", "three out of five" and on and on until you get the desired result.  We'd jump into the old beater car and we were off.  44oz Mountain Dew and maybe a bag of cheetos for lunch, sounds good to me.  After the last school bell rang around 3:30 pm it was off to the designated practice depending on what season it was (Soccer, basketball or softball).  Several hours of running, jumping, shooting, kicking and hitting later it was home for quick shower, an attempt of homework, scarf down whatever mom had saved from dinner for you and off to pass out on the bed.  The next morning, wake up usually at the last possible second so you didn't have any time for  breakfast and repeat the previous days activities.  In my four years of High school I did not eat in the school cafeteria 1 time, zero, zilch, nada.

Mmmmm, Mt. Dew.
Lunch of champions.

 Despite my frequent "coin tosses" and class ditching in high school  I managed to pull decent grades and it was off to college.  My college days were busy like most college students I suppose.  18 credit hours of classes per semester while working part time and trying to date as many players from the football and baseball teams as humanely possible. This did not leave a lot of time for "cooking".  Most days would involve me grabbing a bagel and my book bag and I was out the door not likely to return until late that evening where I again reverted back to the high school habit of "quick shower, shove some random food in, attempt some homework and pass out on the bed".  I remember one day in particular that I was standing in the hall waiting to go into class and became somewhat light headed, I leaned against the wall and next thing I remember is waking up with a bunch of people looking over me.  Apparently I passed out and slid down the wall.  My professor happened to be among the witnesses and took it upon himself to bring me a cup of soup every day for class (not in a creepy way but in a really kind grandfatherly way--seriously so nice).  He also "lectured" me on the importance of eating.  Food=No passing out and living.  No food=passing out and Death.  Okay that was a little dramatic, it didn't really go down like that.
I want to add a note of caution here.  I did not have a eating disorder by any stretch I was just a lazy, busy student so I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I eat....BELIEVE THAT....plenty but not very nutritiously.
Fast forward to marriage, kids and now I'm in this role of "mother" and "stay at home mom", "homemaker" and it falls upon me to keep these people fed.  Ughhh.  I love reading some of your blogs like Cotter's Crunch, The Hungry Runner and of course Athlete's Plate who all offer these amazing nutritious recipes that sound so delicious but at the same time as I am reading these my eyes start to glaze over and I go into a catatonic state thinking "that just sounds exhausting" and they do these productions every day?  Wow.  I'm impressed.  Really I am.  Cooking is not my happy place and unfortunately it isn't Travis's happy place either.  If he comes home from work and their isn't anything on the table he looks at me and says "So are we eating out?" To which I reply "YouBETCHA!" and we're off.  Luckily he is a mellow husband and contrary to what people think about stay at home moms he doesn't expect me to be barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen at all times.  On the contrary I'm usually wearing shoes and I'm at the mall.  I like to eat yummy food just not make it all the time.

So Anyway, to make a long story longer.  I was reading Sean's blog over at In Clean Air--A running philosophy and he had just been featured on The Athlete's Plate.  If you don't read Sean's blog you really should.  He is like that "voice of reason" that God forgot to give me.  Just cool, calm and collected.  His posts area always positive, uplifting and motivating and I was nominated by him for

THE ATHLETE'S PLATE.

How perfect is this?  Talk about someone who needs serious help in the menu department.  One of my MAJOR goals this year is to try to eat healthier in order to have more energy and lose about 10 pounds.  I'm within the "normal" weight range for my height but we all know how those weight ranges work.  There is a range of about 20 lbs and right now I'm closer to the high part and would rather be closer to the low part.  Plus I think if I can lose the weight it could help me get faster and eating better will help me have more energy.  To see what the Amazing Jason came up with for Yours Truly Click HERE for all the recipes.

Thank you so much for Jason for creating these wonderful dishes for me. 

 I really appreciate it.

Thank you to Sean for nominating me.

Is your eating as jacked up as mine?

Are you looking for some healthier food choices?

Do you need to change your eating habits in order to reach your goals?

Does the inside of your refrigerator look as boring as this?

It's not that it is all that bad it's just not that exciting.  You have your veggie drawer, fruit drawer, yogurt shelf, milk, ravioli, assorted processed cheeses with the staples of Diet Coke and Diet Mt. Dew and every condiment you can think of in the side door.

Then do I have a deal for you!  Leave me a comment letting me know if you would like to appear on  the Athlete's Plate and I will choose a winner on Sunday night.  If you have already been featured on The Athlete's Plate let me know as well as I would love to see what dishes Jason came up with for you. 

(Sneak Peak)

Reece's Raspberry Pancakes

Hopefully these dishes will help kick start me to being a healthier eater, better homemaker and faster runner!

Happy Running,

Adrienne

Heart and Sole 5K Race Report

Goodyear Ballpark Arizona Heart and Sole 5K

This morning the alarm went off at 6 am and I thought to myself....."why am I doing this?"  After being up twice in the night with two different kids I was less than enthused about running a race.
BUT I dragged my sorry rear end out of bed, got ready and we were out the door.  The oldest child left to watch the younger ones while Travis and I headed to the 5K.
I had some goals in mind of what I wanted to do but I honestly wasn't really sure how it would all play out.
Not sure because :
A.  I'm fairly new to racing and don't really know what I'm doing.
B.  This is only my 2nd 5k, 1st "officially" timed 5k.
C.  Did I mention I don't know what I'm doing?

Since my 1/2 marathon at the end of January (exactly 3 weeks ago) I've been doing a lot of 5k goal paced runs (9:40 min/mile) and speed work with a few longer (8 mile) runs.  My 1st ever and previous 5k was the FYTO race and my finish time there was a 31:10 which gave me a 10:03 pace.  I was okay with that but that race I was working on more of my mental issues (like how I never run races cause they cause me huge anxiety) so I didn't feel I pushed too hard physically but it was a HUGE step for me mentally (thank you Adam) .  This 5k I wanted to see PHYSICALLY what I could do.  Here is what I planned on doing.

My Pre Race Plan:
I decided I would let myself go out faster than normal and let the momentum carry me for the first bit then settle into a 9:40 pace and try to hold that for the remainder and then try to have a "kick" at the end and see what happens.  My simple strategy I had for when I felt tired would be to "lengthen my stride". If I was able to do this and hold a 9:40 pace I would have a finish time of 29:59 and that was my time goal.  To make it in under 30 minutes.  I thought this would be a good plan.  Not too ambitious but shaving 23 seconds off of every mile would be challenging for me.

In training I have been able to hold a 9:40 pace for a mile but then I would slow for about 10-15 seconds and then back up for another mile for 9:40 and then another 10-15 second rest at a slower pace.  On race day I was hoping to do the same except take out the rests.

What Actually Happened:
I went out fast (just like planned) and I just enjoyed the enthusiasm of the race.  Coming up at the 1 mile mark I looked at my watch and I had just run a 9:15 mile --score!  Plus at this point in the race the leaders are coming back and Travis is in the lead--seriously such a turn on!  I slowed on purpose at this point thinking I would not be able to hold that quick of a pace.  Next mile I stayed fairly steady at a 9:30-9:40 pace.  I was not being passed at all and at one point I looked at my watch and it was registering a 10:00 minute pace--CRAP!  I immediately sped up.  I think I have a habit of falling into the pace of the runners around me, I think that was the case of this slower stretch.  I was more studious about checking my watch after that and was feeling pretty good up until around 2.25 miles in.  It seemed that everybody around me was walking.  I was thinking WTH?  This is a 5K?  The event was a run/walk and I think more of the walkers got the memo.  I wanted the energy of other "runners" around me but it just wasn't there.  Oh well, I'm running my own race anyway so I just went.  By now I've got 1/2 a mile left and I'm starting to hurt but I wasn't done yet.  Time for my last strategy of "lengthening my stride".  There are only two ways to go faster.  You can lengthen your stride or have a faster leg turnover.  Ideally you would do both.  At this point I couldn't go any faster but I'm 5'8" and I can stride so stride I did.  Travis was waiting at the final turn of the race (since he had already finished) and was cheering me on and when I hit what I guessed was the last .15 of the race I started to kick.  The finish line was set up where you had to make a sharp 90 degree turn about 15 feet before the timing mat so you couldn't kick full speed into the finish.  THAT is pretty annoying.  But I made it. Hit my watch and bent over trying to catch my breath.  Walked around for a few minutes, then looked at my watch to check my results.  28:58!!  That would be a 9:20 minute per mile pace!!  Wahoo!!  I was honestly SHOCKED.  I couldn't believe I had not only made my goal but beat it by a margin of 20 seconds per mile.  It was surreal.
Travis ended up taking 3rd overall.  2nd in his age group with a time of 18:25 for a 5:56 minute per mile pace.  He is such a stud muffin.  I can't say enough about him.
So the good and bad news about Travis placing is we end up sticking around for the awards ceremony.  While we were waiting we were goofing off so that was at least fun.

We went into the "family" bathroom and pretended to be Adam from The Boring Runner.

Here are some of my best impersonations:

OH MY SWEET MOTHER OF MARY!!!

OOHHHH!  THAT'S THE TICKET!  NOW I AM READY TO RUN!
(AND NO I DO NOT SIT ON PUBLIC TOILETS WITH OR WITHOUT MY PANTS DOWN--
THAT IS WHERE SQUATS COME IN HANDY)

Then there was knocking on the door and our fun was over and we got some "strange" looks as we exited the bathroom together.  What?  Doesn't every running couple go to the family bathroom together? It's a sign of true love.

Finally it was time for the Awards Ceremony and we waited patiently as they announced the "Overall Winner" (The two top finishers were on Travis's tail the whole way and overtook him with around 3/4  of a mile left to go)

Blah blah blah, on and on.  Then they went through each age group starting at 0-7 years old.  

"I'm thinking, oh good grief this is taking forever"  Usually I don't mind but remember I have a soccer game to get to.  

Blah blah blah, on and on. 

Then they get to Women's age 30-34. 

1st place...blah blah

2nd place....blah blah

3rd place....Adrienne Jensen

Wha wha what?  Well oh me oh my I just won a medal?!

Yes it's true....I can prove it right here:

5K RUN - FEMALE AGE GROUP: 30-34

PLACE   NO. NAME                    SEX AGE    TIME   PACE   
=====  ==== =====================   === ===  ======= =====  
    1    29 ROBIN DAYNES             F   34    26:41  8:36         
    2   146 KRISTIN STEELE           F   32    28:28  9:10        
    3    72 ADRIENNE JENSEN          F   34    28:58  9:20  

Even though I wasn't planning on winning I was able to come up with a speech on the spot.  I was all ready to give it but Travis waved me back over....apparently they don't do that at these sort of award ceremonies.  It was really good though. 

It went something like this "I'd like to thank my family and friends, all my fans, and especially all the fast runner women between the ages of 30 and 34 who decided not to come to this race, without you it was all possible....(there is more but you get the idea)".

Then it was Travis's turn for a medal in the 35-40 Age group I might note!  (Yes I am younger than him)

5K RUN - MALE AGE GROUP: 35-39

 PLACE   NO. NAME                    SEX AGE    TIME   PACE   
 =====  ==== =====================   === ===  ======= =====
  1   200 J.T. ASTON               M   38    17:49     5:44  

2    73 TRAVIS JENSEN            M   35    18:25     5:56

So here we are together.  I know we look like a total power couple but don't worry we are just normal, everyday people and I promise I won't let this go to my head.  :) 

And to think I wanted to just sleep in and forget the whole thing!

I think I could get use to this Racing Thing.

Hope all your races were as fun as mine this weekend.

Happy Running!

Adrienne