Pocatello Half Marathon Results

In July, I had the honor of being asked to pace with the national marathon pacing group. Woohoo! I quickly jumped on the Pocatello Half Marathon so I could get a race with them under my belt, and it's a great excuse to visit my sister in Idaho.

I had an easy pacing assignment (2:10) so I had no worries going into this race. I was spot on with my mile splits, and earned a chip time of 2:10:00! I was invited back to pace with this team in the future. Now I just need to convince the hubby we need to take some more race-inspired trips. :)

Elevated Half Marathon Results

The inaugural Elevated Half Marathon was a total blast! It's the first race to run down beautiful Little Cottonwood Canyon. When they say this course is fast, they're not kidding!

Miles 1-7:

6:58
6:56
7:03
6:57
6:55
6:51
6:59

The first half of this race flew by. I stuck with my typical fueling plan (a bite of GU every 10-15 minutes), and grabbed some water at each aid station.

Miles 8-13:

6:52
6:53
8:13
8:32
8:26
8:33

At the base of the canyon, runners hit a few small rollers. My pace obviously slowed here, but I was still ahead of my goal time. I crossed the finish at 1:38:50! My first sub-1:40 half!

Porter's Half Marathon Results

Porter's is a small, fun half marathon held in Draper. I had absolutely no goal going into this race. Truth be told, I only signed up for this cheap race as a way to knock out my long Saturday run. :)

I stuck with the pace my coach assigned, and came across the finish line at 2:06:12.

She Runs 5K Results

A week after the Timpanogos Half, I ran the women's-only She Run 5K in Midway. The runners lined up a block below Memorial Hill (pictured above), and ran just over a mile to the top of hill. Once there, we flipped back around and coasted down to the park.

After the gun fired, I quickly found myself in the fourth overall place. I stuck close to the third place gal as we knocked out the first two miles. As we were closing in on the last quarter mile, I pulled ahead to snag myself a third place overall spot!

TImpanogos Half Marathon Results

Since my running season is wrapping up for a few months, I finally have a chance to sit down and catch up on a TON of race reports!

This year was the third year I ran Timpanogos. This is a great course comprised of the same first nine miles of the American Fork Half Marathon. I must admit I was quite fatigued going into this race--in retrospect, I probably shouldn't have added in that extra 10K race three days earlier. ;)

My time ended up being much slower than what I was aiming for (1:47:22), but that's ok. Lesson learned to go easier on my training during the week, and I did end up hitting that sub-1:40 goal soon after Timpanogos. Stay tuned!

There's Another Madsen!

Woah! I have some serious catching up to do. I have so many race reports, foster updates and life happens to write about, but first things first: we have another Madsen! We adopted Winston from Friends Of Animals, one of the rescues we foster with. You all know as much as I love all dogs, Corgis are my all time, hands down favorite dogs so I was thrilled to see him arrive.

Winston

Winston is a 3-4 year old Pembroke Corgi who was abandoned at the Park City shelter. His previous owner tied him to the shelter's sign in the middle of the night. Poor kid--I can't believe how many people do this to their animals! After getting neutered and some dental work (he had some broken teeth to be extracted), I picked him up immediately. He didn't even step foot in a kennel!

Deseret News 10K Results

10K Finish Line

I love the Deseret News 10K. Even if it's typically hotter than comfortable and the aid station water comes from a hose (if you're even lucky enough to have water provided that year), it's so much fun to run an early race along the parade route.

This race is held every Pioneer Day (July 24th) in conjunction with a 5K, half marathon, and marathon. I have always and will always choose the 10K since 6.2 miles isn't a race distance you see too often, and the 6:00 AM start allows me to get to work on time. :)

I didn't want to push hard in this race since I had the Timpanogos Half three days later, but I do always set a goal going into a race. Since last year I ran the 10K in 53:00, my goal was to simply break 50 minutes. I finished in 49:37 (7:59 min/mile).

Bryce Canyon Half Marathon Results

Bryce Canyon was the first time I covered a sub-2:00 half marathon. As pacers we have to be able to run at least 10-15 minutes faster than our pace time, but even though my PR is in the low 1:40s, I've always kept it super conservative and opt for the 2:00+ groups. No more. I realized I needed to stop playing it safe and actually use these half marathons or marathons as more of a training run, rather than a leisurely outing.

Bryce Canyon was a beautiful and quite easy course. My friend Crystal and I teamed up to lead the 1:55 group with the American Flyers Race Pacers. We came in a bit fast (1 minute ahead of schedule), but we had a blast! Troy and I spent the rest of the weekend hiking through Bryce Canyon National Park. So fun! I know I say it almost every post, but the Bryce Half is a race I'd love to attend again!

American Fork Half Marathon Results

I had three goal races going into 2013: break 1:45 at American Fork, break 1:40 at Timpanogos, and qualify for Boston at Big Cottonwood. June 15th was my first chance to see how my months of hard training translated on the race course.

I've ran American Fork twice before. In 2011 I finished the course in approximately 2:03; in 2012 I ran a 1:53. It's safe to say I'm familiar with the course. During my training runs, I'd visualize where I was going to push my comfort levels, and how I'd tackle the small climbs on the parkway. I was a little nervous going into the race, but overall I felt confident in my training.

Mile splits 1-6:

8:33

8:11

8:06

7:34

7:06

7:06

The race didn't start well. I lined up with the 1:45 pacer with the plan of following him until the last mile or two and from there pushing for my sub-1:45. The gun went off and thousands of runners funneled down the narrow one-lane road. This is where I'm going to take a second to gripe. Runners, if you want to approach a half marathon as a leisurely, catch-up-with-my-girlfriends stroll, great. But for heaven's sake, do not start the gab session while toeing the line with the guy who's running a 5 min/mile. As you can tell by my splits, my first mile was incredibly slower than every other mile because I was swerving, tip toeing, and not-so-subtly asking walls of ladies to let me through. If this happens at my next race, I've resolved I will have no problem red rovering myself right through the ladies who think it's appropriate to walk four abreast on a very narrow course. 

During the chaos of the fist mile, I lost sight of my pacer. It took me three miles to finally break away from the crowds and find my running stride.

I pushed my pace as hard as I knew I could without hitting that possible burnout zone.

Mile splits 7-13:

7:25

7:42

7:52

8:07

8:03

8:07

8:08

By the time we exited the canyon at mile 9, I was shoulder to shoulder with my pacer again. The course becomes more flat at this point as runners wind around the golf course. I continued to focus on leg turnover, and hydrating at each station as the course became hotter. 

About 11 the fatigue started to hit. That's when I had to take the mental component up a notch, and remind myself what I was aiming for. I kept telling myself I had already ran eleven miles on pace, what's two more? 

I finished with a time of 1:43:22! I hit my first goal!

Utah Valley Marathon Results

My second marathon pacing experience was the Utah Valley Marathon. The combination of pacing at Provo City and the fact that I've ran Utah Valley twice before made me feel 100% confident going into this race. I opted to stick with the 5:00 group again--I want to pace another marathon or two before I start moving my way up the time spots.

Mile 18. Still loving the journey!

I must admit I had a less than stellar experience at Utah Valley last year, which is one of the motivators behind running it again this year. This year was a perfect race! The weather held up, I had an amazing group of experienced and newbie marathoners stick with me, and I felt strong the whole 26 miles. 

The Utah Valley Marathon made a slight tweak to the last 6 miles of the course. Now when runners enter Provo, the route follows the east side of University Avenue instead of the west side. It's amazing what a difference such a small change can make! This provided quite a bit more shade when the temps started to become uncomfortably warm. A+ for the change, Utah Valley!

Rocking my Utah Race Pacers gear

I finished with an overall time of 4:59:03. About a quarter mile out, I saw I was going to be a bit early, but truth be told, I was ready at that point to call it good. Five hours is a long time to be running in the sun! Though I could have been a little closer to that five-hour mark, I'm incredibly happy with this year's event. I can tell marathons are becoming much less physically and mentally taxing, and dare I say pounding out 26.2 miles is almost becoming easy?!

I look forward to running the 2014 Utah Valley Marathon as either a racer or pacer!

Ogden Marathon Results

While running the Ogden Marathon was on my bucket list, it certainly wasn't on my 2013 race list until about a month prior. One of my pacing friends was looking to unload his entry, and was willing to hand it over for free to any chump willing to get up at 3:00 AM and pound out some serious mileage. I was the lucky sap.

Ogden and Salt Lake had one thing is common this year: it down poured during both events. But unlike Salt Lake where you can easily split with the half marathon group, once you're on the Ogden course, there's only one 26.2 mile-long way to get to the finish line. 

I tried my best to keep positive and remain focused on the goal as my hands burned from hours of exposure, my arms and legs chaffed from nonstop moisture, and my teeth chattered continuously. By the time mile 23 was coming into view, I more than had my fill of Ogden. I begrungingly pushed through the last 5K, and finished with an uninspiring 4:42. Though a good chunk of me hopes to never run highway 39 again, a small part of me wants to tackle it again just to prove I can do better. 

I guess we'll see which voice I choose to follow come next May. 

Vigor Half Marathon Results

It was the day of the Provo City Marathon that we got word the Utah Race Pacers had been invited to cover the Vigor Half Marathon the following week. Our pace director made us a deal: full marathon pacers at the Provo City race who came within 30 seconds of their goal time could have first dibs on Vigor, and half marathon pacers at Provo City could have second dibs before the race was opened to the rest of the group. Since I came within 20 seconds on my goal time at Provo, I had no problem securing myself as the 2:10 pacer for Vigor.

The Vigor Half Marathon is an amazing all downhill run through Big Cottonwood. Except for a slight change on the last two miles, this run follows the Big Cottonwood Half Marathon course held in September.

Even though I had paced a 26.2 mile race only seven days before, I felt great during this race. My legs felt fresh, and I hit each mile marker up to mile 12 with 10 seconds to spare. I was so proud of myself that I was going to be within single digit seconds of my goal time until I came around the corner at 12.8 miles, and I was in the finishing chutes! CRAP! The course was short. I slowed my pace as much as I could--I was seriously moving my feet but not moving forward. :) I lingered as long as possible, but I eventually had to cross that finish line at 2:07:36. I have never been more than 30 seconds early as a pacer, but I couldn't buy any more time in the chutes. On the plus side, a lot of the runners around me didn't realize pacers go off chip time instead of gun time so when that clock read 2:09 plus change, they all thanked me for getting them in on time. I simply said "you're welcome" and left it at that. :)

Provo City Marathon Results

Woah, sorry about that little hiatus, blogger world. I've been busy earning a promotion at work (yay!), and I haven't had time to share my latest running endeavors.

Well, some may recall one of my goals for 2013 was to start pacing marathons. In April I was invited to join the Utah Race Pacers--the local team who covers primarily marathons.  When the chance came to sign up for Provo City, I jumped on the 5:00 spot.

Luckily I am familiar with the race--I ran the half marathon last year, which covers the first part of the course. Two years ago I ran the half marathon, which at that time was the second half of the course. Even though I hadn't attempted the full yet, I felt confident tackling the route.

I have to be honest, I was nervous going into this race. I know I am more than capable of running a 5:00 marathon, but every worst case scenario kept popping into my brain: What if I cramp up? Can I really maintain an even effort the whole race? What if I miss my 30-second finishing window? etc.

When that starting gun went off, I realized all I could do was take a deep breath, trust my training and all my previous pacing experience, and go for it.

In less than five miles, my anxiety had completely subsided. I found my rhythm, and had absolutely no problems holding that steady pace for the full 26.2 miles. I crossed the finish line in 4:59:40!

There is one thing I will do differently in future full marathon pacing, and that's wearing my SPIbelt. I always carry two extra GUs when I'm pacing as well as extra safety pins and hair ties in case any of the other runners find themselves in need. In the full marathon though, I realized I should have carried more supplies like Ibuprofen, Vaseline, and Bandaids. Even with such a small event like Provo City, I came across two runners who were in need of these things, and I felt horrible I couldn't help them out.

But besides that one small change, I am thrilled my first experience went so well! I can't wait to take on Utah Valley in two weeks as a full marathon pacer!

Foster Care: Year 4; Month 4

Jake (English Setter, Paws For Life)

Jake was our only foster in April. He had a few health issues we were dealing with so we thought it best to not add any more dogs to the mix for now. He has been pre-adopted (YAY!), and if everything goes through, he'll be headed to his forever home in two weeks!

Salt Lake Half Marathon Results

Well, what a change from last year's race! In 2012, the SLC Marathon experienced unseasonably high temperatures, and this year it was FREEZING cold with a nonstop downpour. I will never let rain, snow, or heat deter me from running, but let me just say, I'm so glad I was only doing the half. :) 

I didn't race this year--my coach had assigned me a 13 miler at a 10 min/mile so I used this course as a chance to get my training run in. I ran the course slightly faster, and finished in 2:03. 

Running For Relief 5K Results

Running For Relief, a small event to benefit the local Methodist church, has been a spring time tradition of mine for three years now. Troy, after taking a 15-year hiatus from the running scene, has recently rekindled his love of the sport, and decided to join me for this year's run. Let me just say how impressed I am with Troy--this was his third 5K in less than six months!

Going into the race, Troy set a simple goal: finish the 3.1 miles without taking any walking breaks. I stuck by his side, and kept him updated on our speed and time. After breezing through our first mile, Troy decided to take it up a notch. After mile two was done, we again bumped up the pace. The 5K turned out to be a progressive run with the following splits:

9:57
9:12
8:17
7:08

Our overall time was 28:21. The results haven't been published yet, but given the size of this event, I wouldn't be surprised at all if both Troy and I placed in our groups. That's one of the great things about 5Ks--it's easy to place. ;) I'll update this post as soon as I know where we stand.

Post script: Troy placed first in his age group (WOOHOO!), and I took second in mine.

Strider's Half Marathon Results

Strider's Half was my second opportunity to pace this year. I was particularly excited that this course was the first half of the Ogden Marathon, which I am running for the first time next month. I couldn't pass on the chance to familiarize myself with my pending marathon route, so I signed up to lead the 2:05 group.

The course was relatively easy, though not nearly as downhill as it appeared on the organizer's website.

My official time was 2:05:02.

Long Beach, CA

Our monthly get-out-of-town trip took us to Long Beach, California for the weekend. It was a fun three days spent on the warm beach with the hubs. Now I'm back in beautiful Park City,with a hint of a tan, ready to make the most of this month!

Foster Care: Year 4; Month 3

We're wrapping up month three this weekend! Here's the scoop:

Reba (Shepherd mix, Paws For Life)

After Charlie left, we took in Reba for Heber's Paws For Life rescue. She is a young Shepherd mix we had for about three weeks. Our local Friends Of Animals was interested in this amazing outdoors companion, and ended up taking her in to their rescue. She was adopted within 48 hours.

Boo Radley (Basset Hound, Friends Of Animals)

Boo was our short-term foster for Friends Of Animals. Again, we only have these dogs for the weekend, and some evenings during the week. Friends Of Animals, unlike Paws For Life, has a physical location where potential owners can come check out the animals during the day. Paws For Life uses foster homes, and relies on their shelter page, Petfinder, and once-a-month adoption events to find their animals a permanent home. 

Jake (English Setter, Paws For Life)

Jake came home with me this weekend as our next long-term foster. An employee arrived at the Heber County Animal Shelter to find Jake tethered to the sign. During the night, someone tied him so tightly to the sign that the poor boy couldn't even lie down. Paws For Life took him in, gave his extremely matted coat a grooming, put a few pounds on his malnourished frame, and now he's a Madsen! Paws For Life realized Jake is deaf. We've been testing out some different sounds with him (talking, whistling, clapping, etc.) and he's not responsive to any of them. We're presuming this is something he's had for awhile, maybe his whole life, as he appears to be mute as well. 

I love all the shelter animals, but special needs cases really tug at my heart--that's how I ended up adopting two deaf and mostly blind Corgis. :) Jake is an amazing boy, and just needs a family would can be understanding of his condition. 

Canyonlands Half Marathon Results

The Canyonlands Half Marathon was my first pacing experience in 2013. Though it is only March, for some reason I felt I was behind schedule this year for half marathons. I guess that's what running halfs in January the past few years will do to you. ;)

Canyonlands Pacers

I chose to lead the 2:30 group this time around. I usually will cover the 1:50-2:20, but when I'm not familiar with the course at all, I like to play it safe and keep my time super conservative. I'm also pacing my first full marathon in May (Eek!), and I thought the 2:30 spot would be great practice for my 5:00 full.

After the race, Troy commented that as each pacing group went by, the runners were continually looking more exhausted. When I saw this photo I giggled. By the time the 2:30 arrived, I was definitely the only one smiling. :)

Finish line!

I came in with 18 seconds to spare! I had a fabulous time covering this event, and an amazing weekend in Moab with the hubby. I can't wait to go back for our fall Moab race!

Run For Recess 5K Results

Well, my first "real" 5K for the year is now in the books. This year the Run For Recess 5K was held at Salt Lake Community College instead of Liberty Park like last year's inaugural event. The course consisted of two big loops around the campus.

My splits were as followed:

7:42
8:31
8:30
6:18

I finished with an overall time of 25:17. The results didn't have runners divided into age groups so I'm not sure where I stand in the 25-29 group, but I did take 8th overall female.

Foster Care: Year 4; Month 2

Charlie (Hound, Paws For Life)

It took Charlie six weeks to find his forever home. I told myself I wasn't going to get too attached to him, but of course, I was lying. :) He was the sweetest boy, but we know he went to an excellent home. 

As our first long-term foster, we were unsure how long Charlie would be staying with us. We know these long-term cases can result in the dogs staying in temporary housing for upwards of three months. We were surprised how quickly Charlie went (relatively speaking), but also that this awesome man made it a whole six weeks without someone snatching him up. We had our second foster dog from Paws For Life lined up, but, fortunately, she too was adopted the same day Charlie left.

Radcliff (Dachshund mix, Friends Of Animals)

Radcliff was our short-term foster in February. Due to the higher visibility of the Friends Of Animals dogs, they typically don't make it more than 10 days in foster care with us.

I did the math this morning, and Radcliff was the 58th dog fostered with us over these past four years. Wow! Here's hoping we can at least break 70 this year!

Striders Winter Circuit 10K Results

Running the Striders 10K was a last minute addition to my calender. With the hubby having to work, I figured I could easily sneak one more race into the mix, and there's honestly nothing I'd rather be doing early on Saturday morning than pounding out some miles. Striders hold a winter circuit series each year consisting of a 5K, 10K, 10 miler, half marathon, and 30K, but yet somehow I've never had the chance to run any of their events until today.

There were surprisingly a lot of runners out for an 18 degree race. The gun fired, and everyone bolted across the starting mats. This is nothing new in races, and I figured as everyone settled into their paces, the runners within sight would be easily catchable.

They weren't.

Over a mile into the run, no one was falling back. I could see my goal of placing top 10 easily slipping away, but I kept pushing my hardest up those hills.

My 10K splits were as followed:

8:22
7:41
8:29
8:44
10:00 (what happened?!)
9:47
6:44

I finished with an overall time of 54:40, and placed 10th out of 25 in my AG. The goal continues!

**SLC Marathon in 9 weeks!**

Hale 10K Results

I raced the Hale 10K for the first time last weekend. I was pretty excited for this run as 10K isn't a race distance you see very often. To date, I've only ran three 10Ks--two of those being the most popular 10K in Utah: Deseret News.

The Hale 10K course makes a big loop through Orem, which added a nice mix of downhill and uphill.  The route was pretty icy on race day so I ran the freshly salted roads cautiously, and heeded the race director's repeated warning to "not aim for your fastest race".

Hale 10K Elevation Chart

My splits for the race were as followed:

8:53
8:18
8:37
9:02
9:50
8:38

The course came up a bit short, but I finished in 53:20--less than a minute off my current 10K PR. I'm not sure where I stand in my age group, but I'll update this post as soon as the results appear online.

Post script: the results just appeared online, and I took 3rd in my age group.

**SLC Marathon in 10 weeks**

Moab, UT

Our first 2013 getaway is now in the books! Troy and I spent last weekend in Moab to celebrate the hubby's upcoming 38th birthday. We dedicated a full day to Arches National Park and a full day to Canyonlands before make the trip back home to Park City.

**California next month**

Foster Care: Year 4; Month 1

We've taken in three dogs in January, and so far we have successfully adopted out two of them. Here are the pictures of the pups that have been hanging around the Madsen house:

Salty (Papillon, Friends Of Animals)

 Salty was a complete gem to have in our house. We're not surprised that he was adopted in three days.

Rocky (Boxer, Friends Of Animals)

Rocky was a one-year-old Boxer we had for a week before he found his forever home. Out of all the breeds we've taken in, Boxers are easily the most high strung, and this is coming from a gal who has worked with Weimaraners and Rat Terriers. That's really saying something!  In the picture above, you can see even our obnoxious terrier, Shady, felt the need to hide from Rocky. :)

Charlie (hound, Paws For Life)

Charlie is our first long-term foster from the Paws For Life rescue in Heber, UT. We've had him for about two weeks now, and he is an absolute doll! He loves to ride shot gun as I run errands, and when we get home, there's nothing he'd rather do than plop that big 70-pound body across my lap and catch some zzz's. There hasn't been any interest in him yet, but we're more than happy to have him staying with us until someone out there realizes what they're missing without this big boy in their life.

Rail Trail Snowshoe 5K Results

This January was the third consecutive year I ran the snowshoe 5K, and for the third year in a row I took first in my age group! Ok, ok, I'll admit this year I somehow happened to be the only runner in my age group, but I can still count it as a win, right? ;)

The winter season put down almost two feet of snow the day before the race so it was slow running, especially on the second half of the course where runners had to break trail. I ended up snagging a 37:00 finish.

2013 Goals

Expand Our Fostering Service.  Troy and I are now entering our fourth year as fosters for Friends Of Animals. I've been in contact with other rescues for the past few months, and as of this month, we'll be taking in additional dogs as long-term fosters. Our first foster, Charlie, is arriving this weekend from the Paws For Life rescue in Heber.

Continue Volunteering In The Shelter Every Week.  I started this goal in 2012 as a way to do more for my local rescue than just fostering dogs. I spend every Sunday afternoon walking dogs, washing laundry, cleaning floors, etc. at Friends Of Animals. I will continue this goal in 2013.

Run A 1:30 Half Marathon. Right now I'm sitting on a 1:50 half PR. In 2013 I'm going to lower my half time to 1:30 or faster.

Begin Pacing Full Marathons. I have been pacing halfs for a year now, and while I absolutely love helping others along the 13.1 miles, I want to push myself and tackle 26.2 as a pacer. My current pacing team primarily covers halfs (to date I believe we only cover two marathons) so I've been scouting out some additional teams to join.

Qualify For Boston. This is my biggest goal of the year. I am currently in training to hit that 3:35 marathon finish, and plan to qualify at Big Cottonwood in September.

Place Top 10 In My Age Group Every Race. With the volume of races I do, this is going to be tough, but I'll gladly accept the challenge. For the races I'm not pacing, I'm striving to finish in the top 10 for women 25-29.

Become A Better Vegetarian Cook. Troy and I followed a pescetarian diet for four years. Over a year ago, we switched to cooking strictly vegetarian dishes in our house. While I have to admit I am a pretty good cook already, I really want to step it up this year for not only meals, but healthy food prep/snacks (juicing, roasting veggies, dehydrating fruit, etc.) As part of this goal I'm going to start posting some of my favorite vegetarian recipes on this blog.

Travel Internationally. For our seventh year of international travel, Troy and I are currently looking at either Argentina or Tahiti.

Compete In Taekwondo. I will compete in the same state competitions I attended the previous two years. This will be my last chance to compete before I'm a black belt!

Run An Ultramarathon. This has been on my goal list for quite some time. I thought I was finally going to be able to cross it off my list last October, but our Taekwondo competition ended up being rescheduled for the same day. This year it's going to happen! I'm aiming for late fall after I've finished Big Cottonwood.

And that's about it! I have two others goals I'm working on right now, but I'm not quite ready to reveal them. But I'm positive if you check back in a few months, I'll have some posts about the completion of both my secretive and not-so-secretive goals.

2012 Goals In Review

Last January, I posted my yearly goals for all the world to see. Now, as 12 months have come and gone, it's time to bring out that list again, and see how I did.

Run A Sub-2:00 Half Marathon.  I hit this goal early in the season, and beat it several more times.

Become A Pacer. I started with American Flyers in January of 2012. By December, I had paced 6 half marathons with them.

Train 5 Days A Week In Martial Arts.  This goal was easy to do early in the year, but when running season was in full swing, I had to cut back to 3-4 days a week. Right now I attend Taekwondo 2-3 days a week, box 1-2 days a week, and do Muay Thai training about once a week.

Compete In Taekwondo. I competed in both state Taekwondo competitions again last year. Between both tournaments, I competed in five categories. I ended up earning four first place wins, and one second place win.

Continue Fostering Dogs With Friends Of Animals. Last year was our third year as fosters. By the end of 2012, we had taken in 15 dogs.

Volunteer In The Shelter One Day A Week. I'm proud to say I completed this goal, and will continue doing this in 2013. I lined it up so that I work in the shelter every Sunday after church. During the weeks when work was less chaotic, I was able to squeeze in two volunteer sessions.

Earn A Promotion At Work. Done. :)

Expanding My Fitness Teaching Certifications. In 2012 I added TRX and Kinesis to my list of Pilates Mat, Pilates Reformer, BarreEvolution, Spin, and Group Fitness certifications.

Ski 100 Days In A Single Season. This was a hard one with the mild winter we had, but I still ended up hitting my goal before the resorts closed in April.

Continue Serving In My Church. At the beginning of last year, I switched calling from the teacher of the 12 year olds to teacher of the four year olds. I currently still teach the youngsters.

Read One Book A Month. This has been an on-going goal of mine for quite some time. Though I haven't been as diligent to log my books online as I once was, I still am mindful to read a new book every month.

Travel Internationally.  This is our sixth consecutive year of international travel. In 2012 Troy and I visited Costa Rica.

That's it for my 2012 list! I'm really going to be stepping it up in 2013 so stay tuned for the announcement of my new goals!

2012 Running Review

My 2012 Race Board

 2012 was the best year yet for my running. First off, I completed a record number of races. By the end of the year, I had racked up 10 5Ks, 1 10K, 15 half marathons, 3 marathons, and 1 relay. I set and broke PRs in every category. I also placed top three in my age group in several events.

2012 Race With Finish Times

Secondly, I seized the opportunity to become a pacer with a prominent local team, American Flyers. By the end of the year I had paced 6 half marathons around Utah with them.

Lastly, I continued to volunteer as a running buddy with Girls On The Run in Salt Lake City. I volunteered at Whittier Elementary again during both six-week training sessions, and ran both races with a former fourth grade student of mine.

Foster Care: Year 3; Months 6-12

December marks the end of our third year fostering dogs for Friends Of Animals. Here is the update of the pups that lived with us for the last six months:

Coco (Chocolate Lab)

Sherlock (Bloodhound)

Weldon (Chihuahua)

Zoe (Lab mix)

Ladybird (Pointer)

Patches (Shih Tzu)

Rosie (Pit Bull)

Rosie is our current foster dog, and the poor gal has been searching for her forever home for a couple months now. :( She is a sweetheart so we don't doubt someone will snatch her up soon.

In 2013 we will continue working as fosters and volunteers for Friends Of Animals as well as begin work with the Paws For Life rescue in Heber and the Utah Animal Adoption Center in Salt Lake City. 

Girls On The Run 5K Results

This past December was my third time volunteering as a running buddy for Girls On The Run. I was paired up again with Hannah--my former student I ran with the previous two times. Poor Hannah wasn't feeling too great on race morning, but she still shaved almost four whole minutes off her spring 5K time! We finished in 31 minutes this go around. Also, Troy must have been still experiencing runner's high from the Thanksgiving 5K because he signed up last minute and ran the race too!

Thanksgiving 5K Results

Troy and I arrive home from Costa Rica the day before Thanksgiving. We drove straight from the airport to Price so we could spend the holiday with our family.

Now my dad calls me every week, sometimes a couple times a week, to get the scoop on how my training has been coming along, and which races I have planned in the near future. He always expresses interest in doing a race himself so I said we were going to finally set a deadline and complete a 5K. I contacted my siblings to get them on board, and Troy even said he'd break his 15-year race hiatus if my dad would run. Before you knew, I had 10 people crossing the finish line at the Huntington Thanksgiving 5K! Yipee! Everyone, especially my dad, had such a great time, they're all planning on running it again next year. I'm hoping to make this a new Strate family tradition. :)

Costa Rica

For our annual international trip, Troy and I chose to visit Costa Rica in 2012.  Because I was able to score a ridiculously low rate at the all-inclusive Papagayo Resort, we opted to stay at that hotel for the whole seven days, and do four day trips out to see the sights. 

 Taking a boat ride across Arenal Lake to hike along the volcano.

After visiting beaches in California, northern Florida, the Florida keys, Oahu, Kauai, Mexico, Spain, Sicily, and Monaco, Troy and I both agree Cost Rica's were the most beautiful. This above picture is from one of the days we decided to stay "local" and not drive. We grabbed a sea kayak and went for an adventure through the gulf. It was so fun!

Of course you have to go ziplining while in Costa Rica.

Spotting crocs in the Palo Verde National Park.

One of our adventures was a 14-hour long rain forest exploration followed by soaking in the hot springs.

Discovering the local trails.

Looking out over the Papagayo Gulf.

Visiting an old Nicaraguan settlement.

Troy and I were a little nervous the all-inclusive resort setting would appeal mostly to retiree couples. We were so happy to find out it was quite the opposite. On the days we decided not to drive, we snorkeled, kayaked, and jet skied. We met up with other young couples to go mountain biking, hiking, trail running, and jumped into some beach soccer and volleyball games. And of course we still found time to lounge in a poolside chair with a good book. :)

By the time our week was coming to a close, Troy and I had had the best vacation ever. I'm not saying we haven't loved the other places we've visited--we've never had a bad vacation, but Costa Rica was by far our favorite. We weren't even on the plane to leave yet before Troy was checking hotel availability for us to come visit again. :) I'm sure it's safe to say Costa Rica is place we'll visit again very soon.