My First Half Marathon-June 9, 2012

12 weeks of training and the day has already come and gone.  Looking back, it went by so fast.  When I injured my foot playing indoor soccer, I was 2 weeks into training and all I could think about while laying on the floor, not able to feel my entire leg at all, was my half marathon.  I was so devastated.  I understood that I was ahead of my 12 weeks training but with this being my first big race and half marathon, I was thrilled about being so ahead of schedule.  I am not a runner, I never understood how people could love running so much, its funny to say now, I understand why.  Anyways, my foot healed greatly, I was in a boot for about 3 weeks.  The boot was off for a few days before we headed on our cruise in March.  It still hurt at times, especially when wearing heels, but I was extra careful with it.  The week we got back from the cruise, it was exactly 12 weeks away from my half.  Perfect timing. I can honestly say I stuck to my Hal Higdon's training schedule 100%.  I didn't run a few days because I was sick for a little bit, but other than that, I was very committed.  I couldn't believe the progress I was making.  Running became so easy and the distances I was going, without stopping, was a great feeling.  One thing that was a little bothersome was not seeing a difference in my body.  I have toned up a bit, but not as much as I would have liked.  Oh well.

I had butterflies a few weeks out and the week of the race, I was completely excited and anxious for it to be here.  I had zero percent nerves the days leading up to it.  We stayed in Provo Friday night, because we had to board the bus between 3:30am-4:30am.  The race started at 6:00am on the dot.  Gabrielle did the race as well, I don't think she'll ever do one again.  I told her we should do it, months and months ago, she agreed, with pressure from Cole, and was terrified up until the moment it happened.  We went to Spaghetti Factory Friday evening, got our carb load in, and then headed to Provo.  We picked up our packet and went straight to our hotel room.  The boys left for an evening on the town, they didn't come back until 2:30am.  I slept awful, just awful.  It took me about an hour to finally fall asleep (totally not like me).  I wasn't nervous, I was just going over in my mind how the race would unfold, how would I do, and where the crap Rodger was.  3:00am came and off we went to board the bus to take us up to the starting line.  We had to wait up in the canyon by camp fires and porta potties for about 2 and a half hours.  That was the worst part of the entire experience.  The wait was long and all I wanted to do was take off and get running.  I didn't even realize that I was sitting next to John Rhode, the Biggest Loser Season 12 winner.  Once I realized who he was, we talked for a little bit and I got my picture taken with him, nice guy.

I took one last tinkle at 5:30 (I literally went 4 times while waiting up by the canyon) and Gabs and I walked down to the start line to stretch and get ready.  Before I knew it, it was time to run.  I turned my music on, tried to get around people to get a good pace, and lost Gabrielle in the meantime.  We ran together for probably 20 seconds.  My goal was to be under 2 hours.  I could see the 2:00 hour pacer with their big sign ahead of me.  I kept them in sight and kept up with them, until about mile 9.  Everything was going great, I felt wonderful, my pace was right on track, if not better, and I couldn't believe how fast it was going.  My mistake was drinking too much.  I took a cup of water at every aid station, which was every 2 miles.  This was a big mistake and I found that out at about mile 10.5-11.  I was literally going to pee my pants.  There were no more porta potties.  Every single step I took I was going to explode.  I was almost near tears.  I kept powering through, doing everything I could to not wet myself.  I feel that if this didn't come over me, I could have been near the 2:00 hour mark.  In the end, I finished at 2:09:13.  I saw Cole and Rodger right under the "finish arch."  I smiled and ran on through, grabbed my metal, and sped walked to the bathrooms.  It was so refreshing.  Poor Rodger didn't know where I went but we eventually found each other, after I grabbed a Creamy, of course.

While we were waiting for Gabrielle to come through, the first marathon runner came in at 2:28:56.  It was a very cool thing to experience.  I got chills.  Soon after, Gabrielle came running in at 2:33.  I was very proud.

Our boys were such great supporters.  I left Rodger a cute little note beforehand explaining where to go for the finish line and that I loved him very much so.  I couldn't wait to see his face at the end.  I kept thinking about that those last 3 miles.

I had so much fun.  I keep thinking back on it and I loved it.  I loved the atmosphere and the energy you felt.  I can't wait to do more races.  In fact, I just signed up for a full marathon, September 29th.  I'm crazy.

Enjoy the pictures!

Mr. John and I patiently waiting for the race to start!

Silly me with all my gear ready to go for when I woke up.

Awful picture of me finishing, but it's the only one Rodger got.

I love this boy for his awesome support.  He was a trooper.

I'm hooked and can't wait to do another!

The Dirty Dash-Spring 2012

 Oh, the Dirty, the good old Dirty.  Lindsey, Gabs, and I had such a good time last Fall, that we made the others join.  Ashley, of course, would have joined back in the Fall, had she not been pregnant with Charley Bucket.

 

The event was Saturday June 2nd.  It was located in Midway at Solider Hollow.

Waiting to start and getting each other dirty.

Before I took this picture, the boys had to remember to show that they were not having fun, when indeed they were!

 Cole brought a water proof camera, great idea, and then we realized it was not so great. 

The pictures are quite blurry due to the mud.  At least we had something.

 

 It was a lot of fun!!

Rodger, myself, Cole, and Gabs stayed up in Midway that evening at Zermatt Resort.

I love staying up there, it is so much fun.

We went to a concert playing at The Homestead outside on the grass.

We rode the motorcycles up and enjoyed crusing around Park City and Midway.

The boys matching, with their new shorts they got at the outlets.

We always have a great time with them!

Our Current Life

Wow, I have been horrific at blogging.  Rodger and I have just been busy with everyday life events, I feel like we are always on the go.  For the most part of the first of the year, we were busy with our home being on the market, work, hanging out with family and friends, and celebrating 4 years of marriage.

To document our home selling process, here is the short version of how it all went down.  We were having about on average 4 showings per week, which was great.  We received an offer within the first 2 weeks, it was low, and on top of that, they wanted most of our furniture.  We countered back, but things just didn't work out, they were asking way to much for little money.  We continued on and about a month later received another offer.  It was reasonable and we were able to negotiate back and forth.  Everything was looking great, until the appraisal came back.  It was $20k off of the price.  The people loved our home so much that they switched lenders and tried again for another appraisal.  Our fingers, toes, arms, and legs were crossed for about 2 weeks.  We finally heard back and it was good news!  It came back at our asking price and we were able to move forward with the sale.  We had 1 week to get out and boy was that week busy.  I hadn't packed one single box, because I was afraid of the thought of the appraisal not going through.  On our official moving day we had just Rodger, myself, and Joe.  It was a full day and I don't know what we would have done without Joe.  We officially signed papers on April 25th and the house was no longer ours April 27th.  I miss the house, but I am happy to be moving forward.

We are currently living with my dad in his home in Farmington.  I can't believe we have already been there for 8 weeks.  Time flies when you don't have a house to keep up on, although my laundry load has gotten larger, my father is loving his fast and fresh cloths.

We have been anxiously and patiently waiting for the right house to pop up.  We did make an offer on a home in Farmington that backs Oakridge Country Club, but it didn't work out.  They were pretty high in price and not willing to come down.  We currently have an offer in for a short sale in Bountiful.  I doubt it goes through, because they take quite some time and we are in second position, but you never know.  We also have an offer in for a lot in Farmington, it also will be a short sale process, I hope this one works out because I would love to build.  We are just enjoying the position we are in at the moment, no complaints here.

Anyways, below are some pictures from the last few months, with short descriptions, enjoy!

*Some pictures are not the best, it is much easier to take pictures with your cell phones than grabbing a camera:)

Here we are cuddling on our couch celebrating our 4 years.

I love Rodger more and more each year.

For V-Day I provided Rodger with a few of his favorite things.  My card was an outline of the reasons I love him, sssshhhh, it's a secret, but I made him tear up.  It was a special moment.

 I also gave him a framed picture of our important dates.

For our A-Day I gave him a small basket of treats.

He gave me tickets to Ingrid Michaelson and we went with Joey & Amanda.  LOVE her.

We played on an Indoor Coed Soccer Game for all of Fall/Winter.  It was a lot of fun.  Rodger joined only because I wanted him too, he was not thrilled at all.  He did enjoy the workout and being goalie.  Anyways, on one particular night, some hard core guy and myself were going for the ball at the same time, he was going full force.  The impact of his leg and the ball hitting the inside of my foot was strong and it knocked me down to the floor.  I instantly started crying and making a fool of myself.  I couldn't feel my entire leg, I thought I was doomed.  All I could think about was the training I just started doing for my first half marathon in a couple of months.  Anyways, I bruised my bone and had to wear a boot for about 3 weeks.
My shoes below were the result of only wearing one shoe...haha.

Here we are at a random Jazz game.  My boss gave us tickets, row 10, right behind the Jazz players, it was a lot of fun.

While mom and dad were in the hosptial welcoming Colter into the world, Rodger and I got to babysit Sarah overnight.  We love this little girl and had a great time.  She slept inbetween us, and even though it was the worst night of sleep for us, it was worth it.

Colter Joseph Covington was born on April 11, 2012.  He seriously is the sweetest baby.  I love cuddling him.

Here is Charley Bucket & I.  This little girl is a chuck.  She is a joy, love her so much.

Sarah is like my best friend.  She is at the most fun age of all.

Here we are doing the "Spider" on the swing.

She loved it.

Colty Boy.

Here we are, last picture of our house.

We always do full length body hugs while saying our last goodbye to our hosue.



Just some small proof of how awful our packing process was, we have a lot of stuff!

Rodger went to Vegas with Joey & Taylor in April.  He also met Gordon Ramsay while he was there.  Rodger loves him.  "Very nice that Risotto."

Rodgie bought a motorcycle and is loving it.  The only way I allowed this to happen again is because he agreed to wear his helmet ALL THE TIME.  He has kept to that promise and I love him for that.

One of our favorite things to do is rollerblade/longboard to a movie in Farmington.  They make for a great day.

For Mother's Day I decided to tackle a big project just a couple of days before.  I made a "Birthday Decor Reminder" for all 5 of our mothers and grandmothers.  It was a bigger project than I anticipated, but fun to do.  I have to give a big thanks to Joe & Chelsea for spending one of their Friday nights heping us with our projects.  We couldn't have done it without them.

Here are all the girls for mother's birthday on June 14th.  We went up to Mueller Canyon for a picnic dinner.

Here are the boys!

 Rodger & Ava on their way boating!

Caroline & Rodger

We stayed up in Eden for Father's Day weekend.  It was great.  We got the boat out for the first time this season.  I can't wait for many more boating trips.

Anyways, in conclusion, it has been a great year so far.  I promise to do my best on blogging.