St. George Half Marathon Results

Our St. George Pacing Team

Some readers may remember a few months ago I was offered the amazing opportunity to pace for American Flyers, and St. George was our first race of the season. I have been quite giddy about pacing this year as it allows me to run races I wouldn't sign up for normally. Take St. George- I wouldn't be inclined to book a hotel room and pay a hefty registration fee to run a primarily uphill course. And let's be real folks, I live in Utah. A state where on any given Saturday you can find at least five races within a 20 mile radius. Why would I travel for a measly 13.1 miles? But as a pacer, our registration fee is waived and for destination races, like St. George, lodging is provided.  

Given the mostly uphill course of St. George, I choose to pace 2:20. Pacers have to be able to run at least 20 minutes faster than their pace time so while I was tempted to snag the 2:10 spot, I thought I'd play it safe and take the 2:20. Another eventful thing happened over the race weekend: Utah got its first real snowstorm of the year. I was pretty excited to ski the fresh powder Friday morning (I'm almost half way through my ski challenge!) then head down to sunny St. George. But the joke was on me. While it had been 60 degrees Friday when I arrived, the Saturday morning temperatures plummeted and the rain clouds rolled in. I really can't complain because I truly enjoy running in the rain and snow, but oh boy, I was getting chilly after 13 miles! Even though I was sopping wet, I crossed that finish line at exactly 2:18:30! Woohoo! 

Our pacing group has already lined up to pace four more races this spring, but sadly one race is the same weekend we'll be in Vegas while another race is going on while Troy and I will be soaking up rays in the Florida keys. I am, however, signed up to pace the 2:20 again in the Riverton Half this March. Yay! This is going to be the best running season yet!

Rail Trail Snowshoe 5K Results

After almost three months of winter produced only about 6 inches of snow the Rail Trail 5K had to nix the snowshoes and hold a regular 5K instead. This course is an out and back--1.55 miles downhill, 1.55 uphill. Even though the snow coverage was too thin for snowshoes or spikes, the entire course was still snow/ice packed. I approached it cautiously since I was pacing a half marathon a week later, and the last thing I want to do is start my racing season off with an injury. It wasn't until half way through the race I realized I forgot to delete the auto pause function on my Garmin. D'oh! A few days prior I had been doing sprints, and had my watch programmed to stop when, during my recovery time, my pace was slower than a 10 min/mile. This wasn't a problem for the first part of the race, but at the turn around, where everyone becomes congested, the auto pause kicked in. So even though my watch read 31:00 when I finished, I figure I should round up to the next minute for good measure.  It was a great start to my 2012 racing season. Come back tomorrow for the details about my first pacing experience!

**Two Months Until Vegas**
**Three Months Until Florida**

30 Percent

Today I am 30 days into my 100 days of skiing challenge. I do see the humor in the fact that I chose to log 100 days during the one Utah winter that has produced no snow. When I say no show, I mean we have literally seen only about 4 inches of snow fall this year. It's been so warm that Thursday after skiing, Troy took his paddleboard out on Jordanelle Reservoir. Ha! Now I'm not complaining that I've been coatless and rocking flip flops in January, but it sure has made for an interesting ski season!

2011 Recap, Plus Plans For 2012

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all are diligently plugging away on those resolutions. So what does 2012 have in store for me and Troy? Here's the scoop:

Travel: 2011 was a good year for travel. By year's end, we had gone to Vegas, Disneyworld, Boston, and Mexico. We spent 10 days camping in Range Creek, a weekend in Capitol Reef, and a few small camping trips closer to home. Our plans for 2012 include a March trip to Vegas, a week of April spent in the Florida Keys, Chicago in May, and though we haven't worked out all the kinks yet, we are planning to travel to South America this fall for our annual international trip. We will again accompany the University of Utah's archaeology team into Range Creek. Our camping trips are planned on a monthly basis.

Learning German: I began taking German lessons at the U last August, and I must say, it's going really well! Though I'm still far from fluent, if you'd like to small talk about the weather or ask for directions, I'm your gal. ;) I take classes two days a week on campus, and two days a week online. I will continue studying German in 2012.

Running: 2011 was also a good year for races. I ended up with a total of 19 races completed (3 5ks, 5 10Ks, 7 half marathons, 4 full marathons). My best half time was 2:01, and my best marathon time was 5:10. My main focus for 2012 is to lower my marathon finish time to at least 4:30. I also want to get my half finish under 1:50. I plan on completing my first 50K this year, and up the number of races completed. I am also pacing my first half marathon in just two weeks!

Martial Arts: At the end of 2011, I was three belts into my Taekwondo training. At the Utah Open I competed with the University of Utah's team, and placed first in forms and second in sparring. This year I will continue diligently training in Taekwondo, and will be adding Muay Thai to my cross training. Muay Thai counts as my new hobby for the year. :) If that's not enough, I'm also still boxing on a weekly basis. My goal for 2012 is to train at least five days a week (2-3 days Taekwondo, 1-2 days boxing, 1-2 days of Muay Thai). I'll be a ninja in no time! :)

Volunteer Work: 2011 brought 10 foster dogs into our home. Troy and I are now starting our third year fostering for Friends Of Animals, and hopefully we'll be able to house even more pups this year. Though I already do in-house volunteer work for FOA, my goal is to schedule it on a more consistent basis. I will spend at least one day a week volunteering in our local animal shelter.

Since we're only a week into this new year that pretty much wraps up our plans at this time. I'm excited to see what else this year has in store!