Posts Tagged ‘marathon’
Time is up and all of the guesses are now in. I want to thank the eight people who participated in our little Marathon time guessing game. We have some great prizes to give away. So, how long did it actually take me to complete the Salt Lake City Marathon? The answer is…too long! My time was 5 hours 14 minutes 26 seconds. Nothing like going on a five plus hour jog. Well, I looked at the results a bit closer and out of the 89 early start people, I was number 28. And, upon looking a bit further, I was in the top ten female early start finishers…number 8 of the top ten to be exact. So, not so bad for a first timer.
There were a few factors that added some minutes to my time. First off, I was super paranoid about getting dehydrated so I actually ended up being very well hydrated and had to stop and pee about five or six times along the route. This probably added several minutes. Also, someone thought it’d be interesting to put a hill climb on mile 25 or so…not cool…not cool. I had to walk about five minutes on that hill which added a bit more. I also kept a pretty slow pace so I would insure that I’d finish which added even more time.
Now to announce the winners:
#1 Kay Kamper who guessed 5 hours 10 minutes-4 minute 28 seconds off-won 4 Park City Alpine Slide Passes
#2 & #3 (a tie) Heather Noakes who guessed 5 hours 7 minutes & Heather Gay who guessed 5 hours 21 minutes-7 minutes 28 seconds off-won Laser Quest passes and Golf Package
Thank you all so much for your support! We have raised $1065.00 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and that is just fantastic!
If you’d still like to donate please do! Go to Julia’s Warriors Great Strides page to help us find a cure for cystic fibrosis.
Yesterday was the big day…the day that I ran the Salt Lake City Marathon in hopes of raising a little money for CF. The forecast showed a sunny day with mild temperatures which I was very excited about. My sister Sarah was my back end support, going with me to the starting line and meeting me along the way. I couldn’t have done it without her. Thanks Sarah, you’re the best! So on four hours of sleep I get ready to run the Salt Lake City Marathon! Here is a little video of me just before starting:
It was a very long 26.2 miles, and truly an amazing experience. However, for me it’s something I want to do only once. I participated in the early start which began 45 minutes before the actual marathon began. There were some definite positives to this. First, we didn’t have to fight mobs and mobs of people. Second, I knew I wouldn’t be the last one out on the road. Third, the outhouses at the starting line were the freshest I’ve ever been in, untouched. I’ve never been in a better smelling honey bucket. The only negative about starting early is that by about half way, I was being passed by hundreds of runners, making me feel like I was a real slowpoke.
I loved the great people who sat out in their front yards and cheered us runners on. It really helped to have some encouragement. The sign that I will never forget was the one that was help up by a woman and it said, “Define yourself.” Wow! I loved that!
After about mile 20, I was really feeling it. My right ankle was hurting badly and my right calf muscle was threatening to cramp up at any moment. So today, my right ankle is swollen and bruised and my right calf muscle feels like I had one of the worst Charley Horses ever. My knees felt great the entire race. I was very under trained, but it ended up being the best decision ever because my knees needed to heal from all of my long runs. Here is the video of me just after finishing. I was holding back some tears and found that the last mile was a very emotional one for me.
So, one question you might have is, “What was your finish time?” Well, I’m going to tell you all in one week because I want to give you all a chance to go to Julia’s Warriors donation page and get your guesses in. Sarah has rounded up some great prizes for the three closest winners, things such as Park City Alpine Slide tickets, Laser Quest tickets, and much more. So far only five people have put in guesses so chances of winning are very high. All you need to do is go to Julia’s Warriors donation page and donate a minimum of $20 and put your guess time in the comments section. The top three guesses will receive prizes. My goal was to raise $3000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and we so far have raised $920. I need your help desperately! I’m begging you to please help us. We can’t do this alone. We are so close to a cure…so close.
I'm huddled under an overhang of a building, trying to stay dry before the race. I'm taking my first Gu packet about 15 minutes before starting. I hope to never consume a Gu ever, ever again! However, I think my friend Gu got me through the race.
About a quarter mile from the finish!
Just finished!
I even got a cool medal, now go and make your guess!
This week we had five donations to our Julia’s Warriors Great Strides campaign. So that means that five people went into the bucket for a chance at our prize…a $20 Domino’s Pizza gift certificate and two Bitesizers. This week we raised $550 dollars for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation! I am so excited about this! That makes our grand total $780! Here is our drawing video:
Congratulations Margie! This week we’re giving away a $25 gift certificate to Old Navy and two Bitesizers. To enter our drawing make a minimum donation of $20 to Julia’s Warriors Great Strides campaign by Friday, April 15th.
Also, this Saturday, April 16th I’m running the Salt Lake City Marathon in honor of Julia and those with cystic fibrosis. Be sure to leave a marathon finish time guess in your comments when you make your donation. The closest guess will get a fantastic prize. My sister Sarah has been rounding up some pretty amazing things. She was able to score four Alpine Slide tickets in Park City which may be a possible prize if the winner is a local. I’ll keep you posted, but the winner will for sure get a Julia’s Warriors t-shirt, a couple of Bitesizers and one other mystery item.
I am scared to death of this whole marathon business and I can’t wait for Saturday to be over. It looks like good weather is expected, so hopefully that holds for this Saturday. Get your guess in soon because it’s less than one week away!
Friday was Olivia’s appointment with an ENT. There are a few things we now know for sure:
1. Olivia has hearing deficiencies in not only her right ear, but her left ear as well. Her left ear is the better of the two and the right ear takes a big dive right around 2000 HZ, which the doctor says is about what frequency a woman’s voice is. He did say that with the level of deficiency that Olivia has, she would probably have difficulty hearing me if I were talking to her with my back turned.
2. The doctor does believe that this loss was present at birth and was picked up by the newborn hearing screening test. With Olivia passing the ABR at about three weeks of age, we thought we were “out of the woods.”
3. Olivia’s outer ear looks great! There appears to be no problem with her outer ear. Olivia did have a CT scan up at Primary Children’s to determine if there are any problems with the inner ear. The fear is that her hearing loss could be progressive, causing her hearing to worsen over time.
4. The chances of Olivia having a hearing aid are high. This doctor said they like to have kids try it out with this level of loss and go from there.
We will go back to the ENT doctor soon to see what he thinks about the scan and go from there. I’ll keep you all posted!
Olivia getting ready for her scan.
Such a brave little girl!
So, why does this seem so much harder for me to accept? If she were getting glasses, I know it wouldn’t be such a big deal. I showed Olivia what hearing aids looked like on the internet and explained to her what they were. She is not too excited about trying them out, but I think she will. They do come in all sorts of fun colors. We’ll just have to wait and see what we are to do next. For now, she is sitting closer to the teacher with her left ear, her good ear, closest to her as well. For now, I am trying to stay positive and keep my preconceived notions about hearing aids out of the picture. They’re not just for old men and “special” kids right? For those who know me, I’m totally joking! I love old people and grew up with a very “special” brother…and as a matter of fact, my mom has hearing aids and I promise, I’ve never made fun of her. Deep breaths for this mama…
On another note…week one of marathon training is over! I’m still alive! I’ll keep you posted on my running and its connection to CF fundraising. I need to get some kinks worked out and then I’ll let you know how you can get involved.