Getting Ready for St. George 2011

I have been training for seven months to complete a race I've run three times now.  The difference is, this will be the first time I am running for time, and not just to finish.  I want to qualify for the Holy Grail of all marathons:  The Boston. 

Unfortunately, this year the Boston is lowering their qualifying cut-off by five minutes, which means I have only 12 seconds at each aid station if I am going to maintain my 8-minute-mile pace.  I have only 3:35:00 to run 26.2 miles.  For a short person like me with a tiny stride, there is no room for error. 

Today, I did a practice marathon and chose Highlands Ranch as the location.  The steep hills hammered me, but I am pretty sure St. George will not be nearly as strenuous.  I was 2-miles from the finish when I hit the Boston cut-off.  Not  bad, but since I was running 10-minute miles at that point, I was 20 minutes short of my target time. 

I'm not giving up, though.  I want this so bad I can taste it.  Here is a little video that I enjoyed watching to help me get geared up.  If you'd like to know what to expect on race day, please watch. 

Enjoy. 

Fathers and Sons Campout

Ben freaked people out with his plastic lizard that he intentionally left on the hood of the truck.

Talk about king of all sticks!  In fact, it's more than a stick; it's an ax.  Ben was knocking entire branches off of trees.

Showing off the spoils of the bishop's candy hunt.

This chipmunk knew there was something good inside.

A man in"the zone."

Canning (For Staci)

Gardens are just for looks, right?  James recently reminded me there is food out there in our back yard and that we need to do something with it. Ugh.  On my list of priorities, I have canning right under "paint the eaves."  Oh well. Last week I thrust in my sickle and was a wise steward.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have a seminary lesson to prepare...

First Day of School

Back to the grind!