Happy Wednesday!

I'm so proud... (insert sarcasm here)

Hello, lovely family and friends!  I'm finally (somewhat) settled in here in Iraq and have a semi-decent internet connection in my room. I promise to do my best to try to keep everyone updated...

I've been able to keep up with friends and family sporadically through Facebook (oh, the joys of social networks!) and when I logged on the other day, this was the photo I saw on my handsome hubby's page.  Most of our friends and family know that Bru is OBSESSED with CrossFit.  This was his "workout" the other day...the exact FB quote?  "Beer for time, while doing a one handed hand stand, against the wall of course.....If I could do it without the wall- then I would be the man." 

And that, my friends, is one of the many, many reasons why I adore this man--no one can make me laugh like he can.  (Although I just may be a tad concerned about what my house will look like in nine months when I return home...)

Yes, CrossFit would be even better, but....wow

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

2010 Salt Lake City Half Marathon

(image via Huntsman Cancer Foundation)

I ran in the Salt Lake City Half-Marathon yesterday (I'm using the word "ran" very liberally here...it was more like a fast jog.)  I'd actually planned to participate in the full marathon back in January, but around the last week of March when I realized that I hadn't run for over a month I started thinking that maybe I should scale down to the half. 

This was my seventh half-marathon and I didn't set a PR by any means!  My training for this particular event was sporadic (if not non-existent!) because of work and a lot of traveling (I know--excuses, excuses...)  The last time I'd run before the race was April 9th when I ran 2 miles for my PT test (which I also did not train for--geez!)  I ended up in the lower mid-pack with a finish of 2:21:11 (that's a 10:46 pace--I was runner # 1748 out of a field of 2882.)  This isn't the first half that I've run with no training and I always kick myself afterwards--if my performance is relatively mediocre without training, it'd be nice to see what I could do WITH some training!

Even if I didn't do as well as I'd have liked, I really enjoyed the whole experience.   Bruce was an excellent cheerleader/support team, and I had a lot of fun during the actual run.  Unfortunately, the battery to my camera died so I didn't get to take any photos--huge bummer because it was a perfect day and I kept seeing things during the run that I wanted to take pictures of:  a nail salon in Sugarhouse with a sign advertising for pedicures and asking, "Do your feet hurt?"...Two girls running together in bright red tutus...A sweet, sweet 9-year-old little girl running (with perfect form, may I add!) alongside her mom ...An older gentleman who ran the entire half marathon while pushing a man in a wheelchair that was adorned with flags...A guy on the side of the route wearing a purple feathered hat and playing his guitar for the runners...

I was able to stick with the pose running for the first 4 miles and actually felt great until about mile 9.  Once I got to the (evil and COMPLETELY uphill!) street leading up to the Capitol Building at about mile 11.5, I was definitely ready to finish!  At that point all I could think about were the bananas, ice cream bars, and Paradise Bakery rolls waiting for me at the end...I was SO hungry!

All in all, I had a lot of fun, but I definitely need to work on training before events (I'm not as young as I used to be!!)  It was a beautiful day today and I was able to get a short jog/walk in this afternoon to work out some of the soreness.  I do have a lovely dime-sized blister the color of a watermelon Jolly Rancher on my toe as a souvenir, but I don't feel as tired or as achy today as I thought I would.  So I guess that means I have no excuse not to show up to a WOD tomorrow at CFUV, right??  :-)

(photo credits)

(photo by Theorris)

Now THIS is dedication....or obsession...

I was checking out the CrossFit UV page this morning to see what today's WOD (workout of the day) would be, and this is their daily photo for Friday: 

I guess my excuse that work is "busy" pales when my husband can make the effort to get a good workout in (to include handstand pushups) when he's just had major ankle reconstruction and is non-weight-bearing for 8 weeks...

Anyone up for a run??

I've been feeling a bit in a funk lately...work feels like it has been non-stop between my full time job in recruiting and getting ready to mobilize with my deploying unit...since Bruce has had the surgery and is laid up for awhile, there's a lot of slack that I have to pick up at home (it's so easy to take for granted how much Bru does around here--but I SO appreciate him!)...I've been so busy working (at work and at home) that I haven't really made an effort to get to the gym consistently (which always makes me grouchy!)...and I guess I just have the all-around-in-general-winter-blahs. 

I decided that I needed to do SOMETHING to pick me up...soooo....I'm starting to train for the Salt Lake City Marathon on 17 April.  I've been bummed out that I'll miss the St George Marathon this year since I'll be deployed (I've entered the lottery two years in a row and didn't get selected, so this year was my automatic entry), and I need a goal...something to look forward to.  Thus...the SLC Marathon. 

I'm excited--I've run tons of half marathons, but only one full marathon (and that one was with no training whatsoever...I SO don't recommend that!)  I love having something to look forward to and motivate me to make some time for myself. 

If anyone's up for it, I'd love to have a training partner and someone to share the experience with on April 17th!!

(photo credit)

...but it's a GOOD hurt!

So anyone that knows Bruce well knows that he is a HUGE advocate of CrossFit.  I've always been pretty fit, and with a background in traditional fitness education, I tend to be more of a traditional workout kind of girl.  When we moved down here to Orem we found CrossFit UV, a local CrossFit gym, and we LOVE it!  I still do some of the traditional stuff--running, yoga, etc--but I'm sold on CrossFit now, too.  It is undoubtedly a fantastic workout and the members of CrossFit UV are fabulous--friendly, encouraging, fun--they're like family (which motivates me to push myself harder and to do better each time.)  Where else can you get a workout done in 10 minutes and feel like throwing up afterwards??

If you're looking for a great workout and awesome folks, you MUST check out the best gym in Utah Valley!

(photos courtesy of http://www.crossfituv.com/)