"Now Serving SoCal"

 

All right folks, I think I have found my new favorite thing...Ragnar races.  I just raced from Huntington Beach, CA to Coronado Island with the 11 coolest girls.  And I may be biased, but my van was the COOLEST!  The morning the race started, Van #1 headed off to the start line while we decorated our van.  I had made magnets to put on the side of the van, but apparently they flew off of Van #1, so we ended up putting all of our on the back of the van like bumper stickers.  But we have some crafty people in our van and we covered every square inch of our van with window paint.  It looked awesome...I wonder how hard it was to clean....

After our van was decked out, it was time to head to the first major exchange.  We had to check in all of our night time safety gear and pick up our bib numbers.  Then we waited, and waited, and waited for our runner to come through the exchange point.  In the meantime, "Peanuts or pretzels anyone?"

After Lisa took off for her leg, the butterflies started going crazy in my stomach.  I always get butterflies when I compete, but it's always been worse for relays.  We all hopped into the van to head to the start of my leg, only to get stuck in the sand!  Ah!  We didn't really have time to dig ourselves out, but luckily for us (and unfortunately for them) there was another van also stuck.  They were from Minnesota and have had plenty of practice getting cars out of snow drifts.  So he hopped in and rocked our van until we were able to get enough traction to push it free.  Those were a tense couple of minutes.  We rewarded our rescuers with peanuts and pretzels, courtesy of the flight attendants of Mile High. 

Once we got going, it was just a matter of run, drive, sleep, repeat. 

Each of us had three legs that varied in length from 2.5 miles to 9.7 miles.  Our first legs were run in the afternoon in 85 degree weather.  It was sooo hot.  I made it half way through my 5.5 mile leg before I started getting dizzy from the dehydration.  I didn't have any water with me and I didn't know where my van was.  An older gentleman running next to me offered me some water, and at that point I didn't care who it came from, I said yes and made it through my leg.  After that we decided to stay as close to our runner as possible so that we could offer them water every two miles or so.  Even with all of that support, one of our runners got really dehydrated and walked/cried/jogged her way past her exchange and we had to go find her.  Don't worry, and extra 1.5 miles won't hurt anybody.  Here we are stopped and waiting to support one of our girls. 

Needless to say, we were exhausted after our first legs.  We found an Olive Garden for dinner, then tried to catch some zzz's while van 1 was racing.  We parked in an open field with all the other vans and hoped for the best.  We only had benches/seats in the van for five of us, so our littlest team member, Kimberlie slept up on top of the dash.  If it wasn't so cold that night it would have been a pretty good solution.  Of course, you can't expect six girls to sleep in a van without a little slumber party giggles.  We had almost fallen asleep when Lisa started talking in her sleep, "Ehh."  That totally set us off and we laughed at nothing for a good five minutes.  

Our night runs were fantastic.  The weather had cooled off and we had a full one hour nap...heck, we were full of energy.  I managed to hold a strong and steady pace up my second straight hill run of the race.  And I got to run with Pete from Biggest Loser.  Yes, we saw Mark too.  We rubbed shoulders with famous people :) 

In fact, everyone did great on their night runs and we were very excited for our last legs.  We camped out one more time, slept one more hour, and went to wait at the next exchange.  This exchange was near Torrey Pines and we sat up on a bluff overlooking the ocean.  It was gorgeous. 

But you can only look at the ocean for so long before you start to talk about strange things like finding your third thumb.

On the back of the van we recorded our "kills," or how many people you pass during your run.  This was after two of our legs and we were pretty proud of ourselves, we really added to it on our last leg.  From this perspective you can really see how awesome our bumper stickers are.

Then it was time to start our third and final legs!  Yippee!  Our van all got to run at least part of their last leg within sight of the ocean.  Except for poor Jamie, she ran next to a naval base!  It was beautiful running next to the ocean, but since it was so beautiful, you can bet people were there.  They don't close the course since it is so long, so you just have to navigate around people.  I ran on the boardwalk and it was so crowded.  I was dodging bicycles, dog walkers, roller bladers, and other runners.  It was total chaos.  When I saw my mile marker for my last mile I was so excited.  I kicked it into gear and ran the best mile of my race.  I started thinking that the mile was lasting a little long, but then I saw a group of runners gathered ahead and figured that was the exchange.  I ran up in a full out sprint only to find out that the group of runners was a lost group of runners.  Someone had moved our direction sign and we were a mile from the exchange in the wrong direction.  I nearly lost my lunch at that news.  Luckily one girl had a map and we managed to find our way.  We came in from the wrong direction and in total chaos.  But at that point we didn't care.  From then on we sent all of our runners out with a cell phone, which came in handy because there were more missing directional markers.  What a pain. 

At the end of the race there is a point where you can join up with your final runner so you can all cross the finish line together.  Erin was our last runner and she was so excited to be done that the rest of us could barely keep up with her. 

Here is a picture of our entire team.  I felt bad I didn't get to spend much time with the girls in the other van, but that's just kind of the nature of the race.  We still had a fantastic time. 

And what a way to cross the finish line, in front of a beautiful sunset.

Do you ever wonder?

Do you ever wonder if you're a little OCD?  Sometimes I think I'm a little too particular about things.  For example:

• My bed has to be made the exact same way every day.  If the top isn't folded down, it really bugs me and I will fix it before I climb into bed. 
• I have to have the girls' beds made the same way every morning.  When Cambrie is a sweetheart and makes her own bed, I really have to fight the instinct to correct the mistakes. 
• The dishes have to be clean by the time I wake up in the morning.  I need to start off my day with a fully stocked cabinet of sippy cups, bowls, and spoons.  If I have to run the dishwasher in the morning instead of while I'm sleeping the night before....I get grumpy and it throws of my whole morning.
• The blinds in the kitchen need to be open by the time we eat breakfast.
• They also need to be closed the minute it gets dark outside.
• The house needs to be picked up before I go to my room for the night.  If I wake up and there are still books on the floor...grumpiness ensues.
• My clothes all have to face the same direction on the hanger.  I like to have them hung so I can see the front while I'm deciding what to wear.
• If I clean something, my girls are basically not allowed to touch anything because I don't want to clean it again.
• The blankets on my girls' shelf are arranged by fabric type.
• My shower, hair, and make-up routine is exactly the same every morning, as well as my bedtime routine.  Jeremy laughs because he can tell by what noises the soap and water and making how close I am to being done.
• I'm on such a routine that at night after the girls go to bed, it doesn't matter if I'm hungry or not, I will eat a treat anyway while watching TV.
• I like my girls' clothes to match.  If they don't match...I'm not as patient with them during the day.  Weird, I know.

But at the same time, I can't be that bad. With all my very particular traits, you'd think I'd actually have things organized.

• The clothes in my drawer rarely stay folded.
• My necklaces aren't even in a jewelry box, they're in a P.F. Chang's take-out container.
• The desk is always piled with projects, bills, and things to file.
• My spice cabinet is a maze to negotiate.
• Good luck trying to find a working pen in our house.
• I'm in luck if I vacuum once a week.
• I'm in luck if I mop once every two weeks.
• I have "junk boxes" where all the extra stuff ends up when I'm cleaning.  Those rarely get sorted.
• I don't even have a good space to put my runner gear...it's in a pile next to my lotion of all things.
• Our shoes live in a massive pile by the garage door.

So I don't know.  Maybe I'm crazy but trying to ignore it.

RAGNAR team pics

In three short days I am hoping on a plane and headed to California, where my 11 teammates and I will run a 200 mile race together, Ragnar SoCal.  When I first found out about this race last summer, Jamie Bohn had just moved to Erie and let me know they needed another teammate and wondered if I'd like to join.  True, I was still homeless at the moment living with my parents.  And it was also true that I didn't know anyone but Jamie who lived in Colorado.  But I don't like to turn down an adventure so I said yes.  Since then we've had a few parties and a few training runs together and these girls are fantastic.  They are funny and spontaneous and just a lot of fun to be around, so I am very glad I said yes.  To get ready for our race we decided to take some team pictures.  Our team name is The Mile High (Runners) Club, obviously a double entendre...anyway...we live in Denver.  So the girls thought it would be fun if we had simple costumes and dressed as stewardesses and had our pictures taken with some fun planes.  We went to the Spirit of Flight museum in Erie and had a fun little photo shoot.  Over the last few days I have been editing pictures, photo shopping in absent team members, and trying to be creative.  Here is a sample of what I have been working on:

It's getting warmer!

This Friday and Saturday were absolutely wonderful.  The temperatures were up in the 70's so we pulled out the shorts and sunscreen and tried to play outside a lot.  Since it was also Conference weekend, we had to squeeze in the play between sessions, but we did a pretty good job.  Cambrie practiced riding her two-wheeler bicycle.  We picked this purple beauty up from a thrift store last fall for $6.  I wonder how long she'll keep it (since the tires are quite bald).  She's also using the only helmet we have in her size, a snowboarding helmet.  But despite her duds, she had fun.  Riding on two wheels is definitely different that riding on three. 

Cambrie also requested to have her fingernails painted.  McKenzie didn't want to be left out of the action, so we painted one of her hands too. 

And this weekend we picked up new swimming suits and matching rash guards (plus shorts) for the girls.  With Cambrie's braids she totally looks like she's ready for island time. 

One by one

So it seems like every member of our family has a small little story to share today.  I'll start with McKenzie.  She rediscovered her slide from her birthday and has since learned how to slide all by herself.  The first few times she climbed up, sat down on her bottom and slid down normally.  She must have decided that took too much energy and started going down head first.  Once she was in position she would use her sticky hands to slowly lower her down the slide.  When her hands no longer had any grip, she slide down very quickly and totally face planted on the carpet.  Did she cry?  No. She laughed and laughed, then would climb back up for another go.  

Now for Cambrie.  While I was getting ready for the day, Cambrie walked into my bedroom and said, "Mom, can I make your bed for you?  I want to make Heavenly Father and Jesus happy."  I grinned a happy, satisfied, very sweet grin at my little girl and let her go ahead.  She made this all by herself and did a wonderful job. 

Jeremy just found out that after some schedule rearranging, he is able to go on a weekend golf trip to Arizona with his company.  They pay for the travel, the lodging, the food, and for all the golf that is played for the three days they are there.  He is very excited.  He has fully embraced the dentist/golfer stereotype and is loving his job. 

And lastly, I decided that the pain in my knee couldn't be ignored any longer, so I went to the physical therapist today.  I went in expecting just an initial evaluation, but it turned into an entire treatment session.  Come to find out, (A) pregnancy messed with my hips and the length of my legs, so my left leg is 6-8 mm longer than my right.  (B) I have been training too slowly for my body.  (C) I also have "medial patellar retenaculem irritation and pes anserine tendinitis."  Basically the side tendons that hold my knee cap in place, and the tendons that attach my hamstring to my knee are strained.  I need to keep my quadriceps stretched and strengthen my hamstrings to fix this.  But for today's treatment she gave me a really deep tissue massage (ouch!), stuck 14 needles in my knee (who knew I'd ever receive acupuncture treatments), and a little electrical stimulation (the strong tingling was really tingly).  Hopefully it will heal soon, but I have a feeling it will take awhile.  I get to go back for a couple more treatments after Ragnar, and I secretly hope it doesn't involve more needles.

Doc Brown to Darling

Some of you may or may not have noticed McKenzie's hair as it's starting to grow in.  The top is just fine.  The back is a matted mess nearly all the time.  And the hair right behind her ears has grown the longest.  Most of the time her hair resembles Doc Brown's on "Back to the Future."  While yes, any hair on a little kid is cute, this has started driving me a little crazy.  Especially because elastics and hair bows last approximately ten seconds in her hair before she rips them out.  So tonight I decided to find my inner hair stylist and try to tame her mane.  We set up one of the girls' small chairs in our shower (two special treats), and had Cambrie sing to her while I trimmed away.  She sat remarkably still for a one-year-old.  It is true, I really have no idea how to cut hair, but I decided it was worth a shot. 

When we were finished it was shorter than I had planned on, but not nearly as hideous as it could have been.  It resembles a simple A-line hair cut.  (Kristen, if it doesn't, you are free to laugh at me).  Her neckline is so uneven that it's hard to tell where to take the line while still keeping it even on a wiggling head.  But I think it will do and should grow out a little cuter than her previous tangled mass. 

She was so proud of her new "do" that she pulled the stool from the bathroom and admired herself in the mirror before going to bed. 

Break out the mouse ears

Yea for packages!  Today a package came that I have been anticipating for awhile.  Jeremy got out the scissors and made a very dramatic moment of showing Cambrie what was inside.  Cambrie was jumping up and down with anticipation (while she was wearing her next-year's snow coat that we just found on clearance). 

Then what to our wondering eyes should appear....our Disneyland tickets!  We are headed to the magical kingdom in just two and a half short weeks and we are all very excited.  Cambrie is nearing the end of her sticker chart, I have told her every story I can think of about Disneyland, and shown her nearly every picture in existence about the wonderful place.  Ah ha!  It's so close!  I'm not sure who is more excited...Cambrie or me ;)