NIGHT ON THE TOWN

Well, if you haven't noticed, this blog is losing steam.  The newness is wearing off and it sure feels a lot like homework anymore.  But I do want to keep it going as a type of journal that my family can look back on and remember some of the fun times that we've had.  The biggest problem is that it is usually late at night when I do these posts. I'm tired and all I want to do is go to bed.  I don't want to do homework.  I thought I was done with that years ago.

Another recent problem for this blog was my surgery.  It was definitely not a good thing for me to be restricted from exercising during the Thanksgiving holiday.  I have no self control.  Heidi made such a nice meal, and I ate it for the next three days.  All of the pies and friendship bread that have been in our house the last couple weeks didn't help either.  I have definitely done a 180 as far as weight loss is concerned.  It might not be as bad as I fear, but I haven't dared check the scale.  When you are used to exercising on a regular basis and then have to stop temporarily, you just "feel" yourself getting fatter every day.  But, it's now time to get back into the game and kick some little calorie butt.

This past weekend was great! Mostly.  It started Saturday morning with Randi's spin class.  This was my first attempt at exercising since the surgery.  It went really good, except for the fact that I definitely felt out of shape.  I did experience a bit of numbness, but I attribute it mostly to just having been inactive lately.  It doesn't take long to start losing what you have worked so hard to obtain.  Hopefully it returns just as fast.  The class kicked my butt, but it felt really good while it was doing it.

During class, Randi said that her family had gone downtown the night before to watch a movie and see the christmas lights at Temple Square.  It sounded like something that would be fun to try with our kids.  And for the most part it was.  However, there were a few times that I questioned our sanity.  It is so frustrating when you try to do something fun for your kids and they spend a lot of the time fighting with each other and just generally not listening to you.  These "family times" never turn out as cool as I think they are going to.  But like I said, for the most part it was fun.

We decided that we would ride the Trax to downtown.  That was our first mistake.  When we got to the station I couldn't get the machine to read my debit card and print us some tickets.  It was bad enough that it was costing me $24 to give the kids a ride on the "train".  The last thing I needed was the machine to not work.  While silently cussing the machine, the next train came and left without us on it.  We told the kids we would just be driving tonight and Chase was not happy with that.  When Chase is not happy about something, everyone within 4 city blocks knows it.  He had been so excited to ride the train.  I felt bad but what could I do?  We decided that we would just buy 5 tickets, which was $20, and we could pay it with cash.  We later found out that we only needed 5 anyways, Chase could ride for free.  Twenty minutes later we were happily riding the rails.



Chase was so excited to ride the train



When we got downtown after having missed the first train, we had just under 30 minutes to eat before the movie started.  We went to the Gateway (outdoor mall) for both dinner and the movie.

 
Being a weekend night, all of the places to eat were very busy.  BYU had just finished playing a basketball game at the Energy Solutions Arena and their fans were everywhere.  The night was not going very smoothly so far.  It was looking like dinner was going to be popcorn at the movie, and I was starving.  Then we got lucky.  Right next to the theatre was a Costa Vida mexican restaurant.  We knew the line would move quickly and we might be able to get through and eat in the 30 minutes we had.  And we did, barely.

The movie we saw was Megamind.  It was an animated movie in 3D, like every other movie being made right now.  It was a better movie than I had expected.  In fact, I liked it.  That was a nice surprise.

After the movie was over it was time for another train ride to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.

By the time we got to Temple Square it was 9:30.  The younger kids, Chase mostly, were starting to act tired and I was quietly wondering how long they would tolerate having to continue walking around.  But there is something magical about all those lights.  Once inside and surrounded by the spirit of Christmas, the kids came alive.  It really is a beautiful sight to see all those lights.

The weekend ended with a little lighting of our own.  We had a couple of good snow storms a couple weeks ago and it has been really cold since then.  So cold that the snow hasn't been melting. I was starting to think I wasn't going to get any lights on the house for Christmas this year.  I felt bad because I know the kids like to have lights on the house.  I do to.  Luckily, the last few days have been a little warmer and melted the snow off the roof.  So I took advantage.

The holidays are officially here.  I hope you all have a wonderful season with your family and friends!

GIVING THANKS

In our life, we sometimes spend too much time complaining about the things we do not like or have. Today, being thanksgiving, I want to take time to give thanks for the blessings I have.

I am thankful for the family that raised me.  We are all where we are today because our parents or guardians raised us.  Not just our parents but our siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, etc.  I definitely have a lot to be thankful for.

I am thankful for the family I now have.  I consider my wife and children to be my greatest blessing in my life.  Everything I do is because of them, or for them.  They are my greatest source of joy.  Nothing in life compares to making memories with my family.  This morning I took the kids out for some sledding before dinner.  Watching them smile makes you feel good as a parent.

        



 

  

 

I am thankful for friends.  True friends encourage us, motivate us and push us to do better.  I have been blessed with some of the best friends in my life.  I recently joined facebook after saying for a long time that I never would.  Why did I finally do it?  To reconnect with my friends.  Friends have played such a role in my life and facebook has given me a chance to continue those friendships.  It has been a lot of fun to see where everyone is and what they are all doing.  I only hope that my kids will be blessed with friends as good as mine have been for me.

I am thankful for a roof over my head.  If am thankful that I have a place to rest and relax.  A place of safety and encouragement.  I am thankful that Heidi and I are able to provide this same blessing for our children.

I am thankful for laughter.  I am thankful for the laughter of my wife, my children, and my friends.  It is said that laughter is the best medicine.  As a pharmacist, I should know.  Laughter is contagious, try it.  Share a laugh with someone and make your day brighter.

I am thankful for my job.   A job is a great blessing, whether we are happy with the job we are in or not.  I am lucky to have a job that I enjoy.  As a husband and father, I am thankful that I am able to provide the necessities of life for my family.

I am thankful for the freedoms that I have.  We have so many freedoms that other countries do not have and it has cost some men and women their lives.  This freedom continues to cost people time away from their families and physical injuries.  I am thankful for the opportunity I had to serve this country and for those members of my family who have, and continue to serve.

I am thankful for my health and the health of my family.  Heidi and I both work in the medical field so we are often reminded of how lucky we are for the health that we and our children enjoy.  So many people in life have physical limitations that they have to deal with.  I am thankful to be able to run, ride my bike, hike in the mountains, hunt and fish.  Without my health, what hobbies would I have?  Probably not the ones that I enjoy right now.  This last week has been a good reminder of that.  While my health hasn't been compromised, some of these things that I enjoy have been off limits.  Last Friday I underwent an outpatient surgery.  As a result, the doctor told me that I shouldn't exercise this week.  It has been a little frustrating not being able to run, or ride my bike, or go swimming.  These activities have become a significant part of my life.  And with my current goal of weight loss, it has been even more frustrating.  With each day that passes, I feel like the work I have been doing in the past is being wasted.  I just feel myself getting fatter. And today being Thanksgiving didn't help.  But it has also given me a nice break and a new sense of dedication once Monday is here and I can start exercising again.  I am again thankful for my family who has taken care of me during my recovery.  The first couple of days were spent doing not much more than laying on the couch watching television.  Chase thought it would make me feel better if he piled all of his favorite toys on me.  He gave me all of his favorite stuffed animals and his balloon.  Could a father be any luckier than I am?

Thank you all so much for making my life what it is.  I especially want to thank my wife and kids.  I love you all so much.

DRESSED IN SUCCESS

After getting the kids off to school this morning, I decided to go down to the fitness center and get some swimming in.  Mid morning, 9:00-11:00, usually seems to be a good time for those of us less-than-Phelps swimmers to get a little water time.  Early morning usually has a couple of people in each lane.  Not a good time to get in and work on my self taught swim stroke.  My water wings usually get in the way and I keep hitting the other swimmers in the head with them.  Mid morning I can usually get a lane to myself. The younger generation is busy going to work, the seniors are still home watching reruns of Little House On The Prairie, Bonanza, and Hogan's Heroes.

When I got to the fitness center, they gave me our shirts for recently completing the Ironman challenge that they were sponsoring.  I asked him if I could tell everyone that I won first place in my division.  What division you ask?  Forty year old men named Leon, that live in South Jordan, work as a pharmacist for Smith's, have 3 sons and 1 daughter, one smokin' hot wife, and a blog called Win The Day.  He looked at the results and told me that I was 4th in that division, just finishing out of the medals.  So I added in the qualifier that you had to finish 4th in the previously mentioned division, and just like that, I won my division.  That's right, taking home the gold!!!  Heidi, also won her division.  What division you ask?  The division of women married to a forty year old man named Leon, that live in South Jordan, works for Smith's........just kidding.  Her division was women who could beat their husbands in each of the three events.  I might have slacked off a little bit to allow her to win that division, maybe.  She also won the swimsuit competition.  I came in a close second.

It was nice to swim this morning without having to try and keep track of how many laps I had swum.  My swimming has improved a lot.  For the most part I can swim trying to concentrate on improving one specific area of my stroke.  I'm not swimming anymore trying to think about all of the components of my stroke at the same time.  What are my legs doing? Why can't I keep them near the surface?  What are my arms doing? Why do I always get so gassy when I swim?  Forgetting that you can't breathe in while under the water.  Try thinking about all of those things and having to keep track of the number of laps at the same time.  So it was a nice break to just swim today without counting.

After the television reruns were over, the senior crowd started to show up.  I started to get squeezed out of my lane.  I was ok with that because I had to pick Chase up from school.  It's too bad though.  For the few minutes that we were all there together, I was definitely the best swimmer.  I usually can't make that claim, best swimmer in the pool.  Too bad I couldn't stay there and drown myself in that feeling.

After picking up Chase from school, I thought I would get a little running in.  He played the wii while I watched him from the treadmill.  It amazes me how well these 4 year old kids can play with these electronic devices of today.  I know that I couldn't play those games near as well as he was.  Does that make me a bad parent?  The fact that my 4 year old can kick some wii butt.  Today's games are so much more complicated than the PacMan, Asteroids, Missile Command, and Centipede games of my day.  And today's Donkey Kong would literally pick up the Kong from my day and just throw him off the screen completely.  I'll stick to the running.  That I can do, kind of.  Today I did 6.5 miles of it, leaving 1156 calories to roam the galaxy with Mario.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

This weekend was definitely made up of the good, bad, and the ugly.  Let me explain.

THE GOOD: I guess we'll start with the good stuff.  As you know, the last two weeks Heidi and I have been participating in the Ironman challenge that is being sponsored by the South Jordan Fitness Center.  Saturday morning Heidi was needing to finish a few miles of both running and cycling.  I had finished the swimming (2.4 miles) and biking (112 miles) but still needed just under 8 miles of running.  We reserved bikes for Randi's spin class that morning.  A one hour spin class can be used for 15 miles of cycling, which was more that Heidi needed.  I would say that Randi's classes are harder than riding 15 miles, and she proved me right again.  The spin class was a good way to start the day.  I love walking out of her classes feeling fully spent, knowing that I got my moneys worth.  Heidi managed to pull a fast one on me that morning.  She woke up early and finished her running before the spin class.  I think she wanted to finish the Ironman before me, knowing that I would still need to run after the spin class.  Well played Heidi, well played.  At the end of the day I did get my run in, challenge complete.

Hot chocolate on a cold day is always a good thing!!

Best Buddies (most of the time)
Brandon either has a hot chocolate mustache,
or a fat lip

Brandon has been losing his front teeth lately,
he's either pulling another one or eating a marshmallow

Chase and his marshmallow mountain

THE BAD:  After the spin class we went to Austin's football game.  His team was playing Brighton for the state championship.  His team beat Brighton earlier in the season 28-27, in what was probably the best game of the year.  I was expecting, hoping for another game just as exciting.  It wasn't to be.  If the first game between these teams was the best game of the year, this was the worst.  Brighton scored a couple of quick touchdowns, while Austin's team just couldn't catch a break.  Two plays in particular set the tone for the game.  A false start on us when we had 1st and goal on the 1/2 yard line, we didn't end up scoring.  Brighton drove it down the field and scored again.  Instead of being a 13-7 game, it was now 20-0 and our boys began to look beaten.  On our next drive, our running back had gotten behind everyone, nothing but green grass between him and the end zone, he tripped and fell.  It was obviously not our day.  We just could never get anything going and ended up losing 33-6.  It was sad to see them have such a good season and then struggle in the championship game.  I was so proud of Austin.  He proved to be so much tougher than I thought he was.  It was fun to watch him learn the game and get better every week.  I will miss not being able to watch him until next year.  I love you Buddy.

THE UGLY:  The ugly was the University of Utah losing a football game for the second week in a row.  They went into Notre Dame and lost 28-3.  To think that two weeks ago we were ranked #5 in the country, and probably won't be in the top 25 after this week.  It shows how far the football program has come when losing at Notre Dame is considered a disappointment.  But it still was just that, a ugly disappointment.

All disappointment was forgotten this morning.  Today being Monday, meant it was time to weigh in again.  My goal is to weigh 220 at the end of this month.  I almost saw that number this morning.  This past week I lost another 3 pounds.  That makes 12 pounds that I have been able to lose in about six weeks.  I still have a long way to go, but so far, so good.

12 down, 21 to go

GOD BLESS THE USA

Today is Veterans Day.  Having served in the Army Reserve, I know the pride that is felt in serving your community and country.  It's not always fun.  It's not always easy.  But it is always worth it.  A lot of people have sacrificed friendships, time with family, put their careers on hold, missed births of their own children, and many other things, including their lives for our freedom.  Thank you doesn't seem to be enough.  That being said, thank you!  Thank you for putting country before self.

Today we had a break in the weather.  At least it wasn't raining or snowing.  But it was cold.  I was still needing about 33 miles on my bike to complete the 112 miles needed for the Ironman. I decided to go for a ride that would exorcise my demons.  The last couple of rides that I have taken to the Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain areas have not been without incidents.  Either the back tire blowing out and needing to be replaced, or the three flat tires on the last ride.

Today's ride was almost perfect, almost.  I recently purchased some cold weather riding gear and today it did it's job.  At least the stuff I decided to wear.  I thought I would be ok without my insulated shoe covers.  I thought wrong.  The first half of the ride was great.  The climb towards Camp Williams has never been so easy.  Usually the wind is in my face when I make that climb, not today.  I blew right past the areas where I had my flat tires on the last ride.  This was fun.  No flats, demons exorcised.

After riding to Saratoga Springs, I turned West towards Cedar Fort.  Seven miles later there is a road that turns South and goes into the city center of Eagle Mountain.  Today was the first time that I have ridden this road.  I found a new favorite stretch of road.  Unfortunately, it was only about 5 miles long.  It is a nice little country road out in the middle of the farmland, nothing but open fields on both sides.  It had bike lanes, and very little traffic.  I couldn't believe it.  Was I dead?  Was this heaven?  It was a clean road, no little rocks covering the bike lanes, and with the wind at my back I was flying. One of those moments when everything is perfect.  Although I was moving fast, it almost seemed like I was in slow motion and everything was still and quiet.  I could have ridden forever.  Then it ended.

I turned back towards the North, towards The Ranches of Eagle Mountain.  I found out why I had been flying down the road so fast.  Now I was riding into the wind, and I had to climb.  It didn't take long to realise that I should have worn my shoe covers.  That wind had my toes freezing in no time.  As miserable as the wind was making things, it was a neat stretch of road.  It was another 4 or 5 miles of open country to bike through to reach The Ranches.  But along the road the city had positioned flags about every 1/4 mile.  All of those flags flapping in the wind definitely created a feeling of patriotism.  It was fun to ride for a few miles and think about some of my friends and experiences in the military.

Shortly after taking this picture, I passed the place where my rear tire blew out the last time.  It was definitely more fun to ride this stretch of road, than to be pushing my bike through the rainstorm.  Rear tire full of air and me riding my bike, demons exorcised.

The rest of the ride was uneventful.  Only the wind got stronger, and my toes got colder. After 43 miles I was back at my truck, Ironman biking miles now complete.

A THORN IN MY SIDE, TIMES THREE

The weather last week was just too good to last for long.  It turned today, in a big way.  Knowing that the bad weather was coming, Heidi and I tried to get a bike ride in before it got too bad.  Our goal when we left the house was 40 miles.  Before leaving Heidi asked me if I thought she would be warm enough.  She does get cold easy, but I thought she would be ok.  She said she thought she would be ok too, as long as we didn't have to stop.  I think she jinxed us.

We headed south on Redwood Road towards Saratoga Springs.  We intended to ride to Saratoga, take a loop through Eagle Mountain, and return home.  Just before reaching Camp Williams I noticed my rear tire slowly losing air pressure.  I stopped to check it and found a thorn in the tire.  This would be a good opportunity to teach Heidi how to fix a flat. She has wanted me to show her how so that she would be ready if ever alone.  Why is it that when you are trying to show someone how to do something, it never goes smoothly?  It took way too long to change that tire.  When it was finally changed we got ready to ride, only to notice that the front tire was flat also.  What a disappointment.  We were so ready to start riding again.  The weather was turning fast and Heidi was starting to get cold.  And now I had another thorn to extract and another tube to change out.  This one went much smoother and we were soon riding again.  But we didn't get too far.  After about 2 miles of riding the front tire was flat once again.  It seemed so fast that I was wondering if I had pinched the tube or done something else incorrectly when changing the last one.  But a third thorn was found and removed.  It's a good thing Heidi was riding with me on this ride.  I usually only carry two extra tubes.  At this point I would have been out of tubes and calling Heidi for a ride home.  By now I was getting very good at fixing flats.  It was quickly changed, but so had the weather.  Heidi was turning blue, it was time to turn towards home.  We made it home without any more stops.  Unfortunately we only got 26.5 miles of riding, leaving us about 35 short of completing the Ironman.

Rainy, snowy, days are perfect for indoor swimming.  Still needing 68 laps to complete the 2.4 miles, I headed for the fitness center.  My swimming has really improved.  I guess swimming a couple of miles will have that effect.  That was one of my goals when I registered for this Ironman, improve my swimming.  Heck, I just might be competing in triathlons come next summer.  It's kind of funny that the swimming was the thing I was most worried about, and it's the one that I finished first.  I guess swimming is the first event in a triathlon, so it's fitting that I finish it first.

I did weigh in earlier this morning.  But I forgot and weighed in after eating breakfast.  I didn't get a picture but I am back down to 224, losing the three pounds that I had gained last week.  My goal is to be down to 220 at the end of this month.  That is going to be a challenge with all of the pumpkin pie coming later this month.  I love pumpkin pie!

A GREAT DAY FOR PLAYING FOOTBALL, NOT SO FOR WATCHING

My day started off with a couple hours of volunteer service.  Herriman was hosting some of the state playoff football games today.  I was assigned to walk the fence line watching for people trying to hop over, and kindly remind them that they needed to pay to get in.  I was the bouncer.  That's what you get for being such a big, muscular, intimidating figure.  What else would they do with me, stick me in concessions?  One look at me and they probably thought they better keep me away from the food.  I must have looked the part, as nobody attempted to climb over the fence.  Either that, or they figured it was a lot easier to pay the $3 than to try climbing over the fence while carrying chairs, coolers, etc. and then having to scale down a 10 foot rock wall.

After my service hours were complete, it was time to watch Austin's game.  It was time to get some revenge on the Alta Hawks.  Alta beat us earlier in the year, in a close overtime game.  Austin's team has gotten so much better since that game.  Each week they are a noticeably better team.  It has been a lot of fun to watch Austin learn the game.  Today, we dominated the game.  Alta scored a touchdown in the last minute to make it seem closer than it should have been.  We beat them 27-20, and will now play Brighton next week for the state championship.

After the game and a trip to In-N-Out burger, which Heidi correctly predicted Austin would ask for after his game, it was home to watch the University of Utah game on TV.  This should have been a good game to watch.  A good ending to this day of football. Utah was ranked #5 in the nation and TCU #3.  Unfortunately, the game got out of control quickly and the Utes never had a chance.  When I woke up from my nap, Utah was losing 40-0 before going on to lose 47-7.  Oh well, you can't win them all.

My day ended in the pool.  Heidi has already finished with her swimming for the Ironman.  I still have a long ways to go, having completed only 28 of the 170 laps.  Tonight I was able to get a little closer.  Make that, a lot closer.  When they closed the pool I had swum 74 more laps, a little over one mile.  So I now have 102 of the 170 laps completed.  Who says I can't swim?  I do.  But I'm getting better.

A LONG WAY FOR A GATORADE

Finally, I have a chance to get back on here and catch up.  This week has been so busy.  I worked Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Three straight 13 hour days tend to put everything else in my life on hold.

It's been kind of frustrating because my Ironman started Monday and I have felt like I haven't really had a chance to work on it.  I am still stressed about the swimming mostly.  Now I have to try doing it on the weekend and I know the pool will be crowded.  The pool only has two lanes, and it's rare that someone or multiple people aren't in them.  I am not a strong enough, confident enough swimmer, to jump in a lane and share it with multiple people.

Monday was a day off and I thought I would try getting some of the swimming done to relieve my anxiety.  After taking care of my parental responsibilities in the morning, I went down to the pool in the afternoon.  It just happened to be the time that one of the youth swim teams was having a practice.  There were about 30 kids crammed into those two lanes.  No swimming done, increased anxiety.  When would I get some pool time in?  I headed home thinking I could get a couple of hours on my bike before it got dark.  I was certainly frustrated.  When I got home, Heidi suggested that I wait and try to swim after dinner, thinking the pool might be less crowded in the late evening.  What did I have to lose?  I got back to the pool a little after 8:00 hoping to find empty lanes.  Wrong.  One lane had a father and daughter in it, the other a young boy.  I figured they were all together and that if I got in the lane with the boy, he would get scared of the big man and move over with his dad and sister.  By the time I had changed into my swim trunks and entered the pool, the boy was nowhere to be seen.  The lane was mine.  That's the good news.  The bad news was that the pool closed at 9:00, not 10:00 like everything else.  That left me with only 40 minutes to swim.  It's times like that I wish I was a good swimmer.  Forty minutes later I had completed 28 laps, not bad for me. Only 142 more to go.  Note to self, don't swim after eating tacos again.  I was tasting those tacos the rest of the night.  They were good the first time. Thanks Heidi.

Working the next three days meant early morning runs.  That was my plan when I signed up for the Ironman.  Swim and bike on my days off, running the mornings on days I worked.  Tuesday came and went, zero miles ran.  Wednesday morning I found the strength to pull myself out of bed.  It hasn't gotten any easier to get up in the mornings for a run.  Probably never will.  It helped that Heidi was meeting her friend April to run that morning also.  I managed to pound out 5.66 miles in just under an hour.  And it was a pounding.  I never felt like I could get into a good rhythm.  My hip has been really bothering me since my run last Thursday.  I think my last two runs, about 18 miles, on the inside track at the fitness center affected my hip.  Running on that little track put a lot of pressure on my inside leg during all those turns.  Whatever the reason, my hip has been hurting to the point that this was my first run in a week.  About 1.5 miles into my run I considered turning around for home.  My hip was hurting, and even though I wanted to run I didn't want to do more damage to my hip.  And I knew that Heidi wasn't home to call for a rescue pick up.  I didn't want to get too far away from home and then have to limp home arriving too late to get ready and get to work on time.  I chose to continue on.  I figured the worse that could happen is that I would have to walk home and get to work a little late.  I'll take that risk.  I walked for 1/4 mile trying to stretch it out a little and then finished my run.  As awkward as I felt, kind of felt like I was running with one leg shorter than the other one, I still finished my run close to my normal pace.  In the process, I left 997 calories out there looking for a handicap permit.

Thursday morning's run was pretty much a repeat of Wednesday's.  My hip was still sore.  It causes me to shorten my stride with my right leg.  Because my left leg isn't smart enough to realise that something is wrong on the other side, it continues to take a full stride.  Or maybe it's like a brother/sister thing.  My left leg (brother) sees the right leg (sister) suffering but continues to take a full stride to tease and irritate the sister.  This leaves me feeling like I am running on a right leg that is shorter than my left.  Not real comfortable. I have to keep getting between brother and sister to separate them.  While trying to keep the family peace, I ran 6.72 miles and left 1183 calories on the road promising to be nice to each other if I wouldn't spank them.  I spanked them anyways, hard.  Now they're someone else's problem.  That's 12.38 miles of running so far, only 14 more to go to complete the running requirement.

Today was going to be such a good day.  I was going to get 75 miles of bike riding done.  Heidi was going to be sleeping after working last night.  The younger kids were going to be at the daycare.  It was just going to be me and my bike.  And the day was beautiful. Sunny, no wind, and probably close to 70 degrees.  Perfect.  Then life got in the way.  A couple of times during the year we get an extra employee discount at the Smith's Marketplace.  Today was one of those days.  They really come in handy, especially with Christmas next month.  Heidi was tired after working all night.  I guess that's a good enough excuse.  So I was chosen to get some of the Christmas shopping done.  No problem.  I had the list.  In and out in less than an hour.  Right.  You can't shop on one of these days without running into people you have worked with at other stores.  And you can't just say hi and then keep shopping.  You have to stop and talk about your kids, hear all the gossip from each others current store, etc.  That one hour shopping trip soon turns into three.  But it was soon over, money was saved, it was time to ride.

I had Brooke take this picture before I left and she proved herself to be all girl.  She commented that my new black and yellow helmet didn't match my shirt or my bike.  That's why she picked a white helmet, so that it would always match her clothes.  I told her that it was ok because when it's on my head I can't see it.  Because I was getting a later start than I had originally planned, I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get in the full 75 miles.  Heidi had some afternoon meetings at her work, which meant that I would have to be back to pick up the boys at 5:30.  But I figured that I had enough time to get in at least 50 miles.  My plan was an out and back ride to Cedar Fort.  I have done this ride before and knew that it was 50 miles.                      

When I got to Cedar Fort I stopped at the one store that is in the small town and bought a Gatorade to drink and take a break before turning back around for home.  As I was obviously riding a bike, the cashier was asking me some questions about cycling and commenting on the perfect weather.  She made the comment that I had ridden a long way to buy a Gatorade.  I told her they always taste better if I ride a long way to get one.  And it did taste good.  The Gatorade was gone too soon.  Time to ride for home.                               

It was a perfect ride.  As the picture shows, I got back home at 5:10, just in time to pick up the boys at 5:30.  I always hate riding when I know I have to be home at a certain time.  Those are usually the times that something will go wrong.  It just adds a little pressure to the ride when you are on a schedule.  I put 53.30 more miles on my new back tire.  It's so nice when the tires cooperate, unlike my last ride in the Eagle Mountain area.  I dropped 4199 calories on the road to feast on all the roadkill.  I think I saw more roadkill on my ride today than any of my other rides, ever.  When you are riding a bike, and you are breathing hard, stinky, rotting roadkill is not what you want to frequently encounter.  And the fourth number in the picture, zero.  Today I had zero incidences.  No flat tires, no ruined tires that need to be replaced, no crashes, no mechanical issues, nothing.  Only 70 more miles left to complete the biking requirement of the Ironman.  Why can't swimming be this easy? 

DOUBLE THE PLEASURE

Today, was a day that I have been looking forward to for a couple of weeks.  My day once again began before the sun came up.  But this time for something fun, not another run.  Today when the sun came up, it found me sitting on a boat at Strawberry Reservoir.

Strawberry is one of my favorite places to go ice fishing.  But today was the first chance I had to fish it from a boat.  My friend Eric, and his friend Jake, invited me to tag along with them.  I was scheduled to work today, but was I going to let that stop me?  Not a chance.  One phone call to the boss with a little coughing and moaning to sound convincing, and I was free to fish.  Just kidding.  I would never do that.  He reads this blog on occasion.

We trolled all around the whole Renegade area of the reservoir for about 7 hours without landing a single fish.  We got the occasional strike, but failed to set a hook in one.  After all those hours of talking about our wives and how lucky they are to have us in their lives, we accepted defeat and turned toward the boat ramp.  It was time to get home to those lucky women.  I don't know which wife is the luckiest.  We are all three pretty cool dudes.  I will leave that up to the wives to fight out.

As we were approaching the boat ramp, literally within a minute of reeling in our lines, Jake hooked into one.  At the same time, I felt one on the end of my line.  Because they hit at the exact same time, my first thought was that our lines had crossed.  I figured that one of us had hooked a fish and that's what we were both feeling.  As we were reeling in our lines, I was secretly hoping that the fish would be on my Jake's line.  To our surprise, we reeled in untangled lines.  As our trip was concluding, we had hooked into a double.

We drove all around that reservoir for 7 hours, and it took coming back near the boat ramp where it all started before we landed a fish.  A bad day of fishing?  You bet.  Was it better than working?  You bet.  Will I do it again?  I hope so.

RUNNING WITH THE DEVIL

So, it's been four days since my last post.  I could blame it on being really busy.  I could blame it on a bad weigh in Monday that I haven't wanted to post.  I could blame it on being really tired, both physically and tired of blogging.  As I knew it would, this blogging takes a lot of time.  It gets late at night and I just feel too tired, too unmotivated, to sit down and blog.  And I don't know if anyone is reading this stuff anyway.  But I do enjoy going back and reading my past posts.  And I know I will enjoy it even more a few years from now.  So, I will keep blogging.

You probably noticed my reference to the Devil in the title.  It seems like I am crossing paths with him with increasing frequency.  A recent post title also referenced the Devil, when Brooke and I visited his kitchen.  And my weigh in on Monday was definitely influenced by him.  They say that all bad things are from the Devil, so that's my excuse for gaining 2 pounds last week.

That's all I am going to say about the weigh in.  It was definitely depressing and left me questioning if this is all worth it.  But it was just temporary depression and I will not be denied of my ultimate goal.  It was his fault.

Monday we also received our first snowfall here in the valley.  I stepped outside that morning, saw the snow and felt the cool breeze blowing on my face, and couldn't help but get excited for the ice fishing season that will soon be here.  So after the depressing weigh in, and dropping Chase off at school, I took a short drive up the canyon on my way home.  It was beautiful!  The colors of fall covered in white snow.  Someone was definitely at work in all His beauty, and it wasn't the Devil.

 

 

 

 

After returning home, Heidi and I decided it was time to get moved in to our new house.  I know we have been here for four years now, but that didn't stop us from having a move in party.  We purchased some patio furniture for our back yard this summer and wanted to place it in the basement now that the snow is starting to fall.  That meant that we needed to go through the boxes that have been sitting mostly untouched for the last four years.  We needed to discard some things, and rearrange the lucky items spared from the landfill in order to make room for the furniture. I should have taken before and after pictures because we did a really good job.  And now we are finally all moved in.  Send gifts if you want. (Heidi really likes Cabela's gift cards)

Tuesday morning I had another run in with the Devil.  Heidi and I hit the rec center for some weight lifting and a spin class.  We had a substitute instructor in spin class, you guessed it.  He tried to disguise himself as Randi, but he couldn't hide the horns sticking out of his head.  Some of the people thought it was just Randi in a costume, but the ride she he put us through, left no doubt.  Randi would never have been that mean.  I wasn't fooled.

BIG NEWS!   Today I signed up for an Ironman triathlon.

There is a little catch.  As the picture shows, I have two weeks to complete the required miles.  Which is a good thing.  It's going to take me that long to swim the 2.4 miles.  The bike, 112 miles, and the run, 26.2 miles, shouldn't present too much problem.  I just hope we have good weather and I can get my bike miles outside on my own bike.  I can't imaging riding 112 miles on a stationary bike.

I went to the fitness center today to get my run in on the track.  I went to run an easy paced 5 miles.  I never could imagine myself saying this, but I still felt strong after those 5 miles were done.  And it had only been about 45 minutes.  Remember when my goal for an hour run was 5 miles and I missed it by 10 seconds?  So I figured I would run the full hour before quitting.  Fifteen minutes later I ended my nike+ workout program and it said that I had run 6.66 miles!!!  That's right, I had been running with the devil.  I left him with 1172 calories to take back to hell and remember me by. 

After my run I went for a swim to see if I was up to the Ironman challenge.  I have mentioned before what a strong swimmer I am.  If I recall correctly, I think I said I can't swim to save my life.  That hasn't changed.  But I don't think that will be required of me in the 6 foot deep pool. Let's hope.  2.4 miles is 170 lengths of the pool at the fitness center.  That breaks down to an average of 12 lengths a day to finish in the 2 weeks.  Sounds easy doesn't it?  Unless you can't swim.  I figure that at least 3 days of the week I won't be able to swim, because of work.  That means I will probably need to average about 25 lengths a day, if I swim every day that I don't work.  Am I going to swim every day that I don't work? Probably not.  So realistically, I am probably looking at about 35-40 lengths each time I go swimming.  Does that still sound easy?  Maybe to Heidi, but not to me.  But today I swam 20 lengths before getting out.  I still felt pretty good.  I probably could have done 35-40, I think.  So considering that I had just ran a little more than 6.5 miles before swimming today, I felt confident that I could complete the swimming portion.  So it's official, I registered.  Beginning Monday I begin my quest to become an Ironman.  A two week Ironman.  Wish me luck.

SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY

This weekend has been pretty miserable, at least as far as the weather goes.  Saturday we woke up to rain, and it rained most of the day.  In fact, it is now Sunday night and it is still raining.  Makes it hard to get outside and get some exercise in.  Maybe I should have waited until next Spring to start this weight loss quest.  Maybe not.  I can still do this.

Rain can make it pretty miserable for kids sporting activities.  Austin had his football game at 9:00 and it rained pretty much the whole game.  Heidi and I were both soaking wet down to our underwear by the time it ended.  We might need to invest in some good umbrellas.  We have one small one that is partially functional.  It managed to keep Heidi's hair partially dry.  I was hoping to get some good pictures of Austin, but wasn't about to pull the camera out.

Austin's team still managed to play a good game against the Jordan Beetdiggers.  They jumped out to a quick 13-0 lead, and lead 13-6 at halftime.  Austin's team seems to play good first halves and struggle in the second.  They played that way again and trailed 14-13 in the 4th quarter.  They had lost all momentum and it looked like the rain would wash away any chance of winning.  They found a spark somewhere in all that wetness and played a great last half quarter, winning the game 27-14.  They have now won 3 of their 4 region games, having lost their first game to Alta in overtime.

Chase's game got cancelled due to the weather.  Considering his team mascot is the frogs, you would think they wouldn't mind playing in a little water.  They mush have been playing against The Wicked Witches of The West.

Brandon's game was at 2:30 and the rain had let up by then.  Brandon has turned into a great defender on his team.  He is a lot of fun to watch.  His team won their game, as they always do.

The day ended with pizza and a movie.  We watched Iron Man 2 and took turns falling asleep on the couches.  Today was also the opening day of the rifle deer hunt.  It was one opener I didn't mind missing.  I'm sure it was pretty miserable out there today.  If it wasn't raining, it was snowing in the mountains.  The first snow of the year showed up on the mountains here in the valley.  It was a good day to be watching the kids and falling asleep indoors.

first snow of the year

On Friday I said that one of the benefits of running, is being able to go out for a burger every once in awhile without the guilt.  Well, today I experienced one of the non-benefits. 

With the rain continuing to fall outside, it looked like a day for the treadmill.  Hard to get excited about that.  The other option was going down to the rec center.  They have an indoor track that is about 0.10 miles around.  Still not that exciting, but it beats the treadmill.  My goal was to run 10 miles today, that's a lot of little laps.  So I started to run, hoping to not get dizzy.

Heidi ran 5 miles before going downstairs to do some swimming.  When she was done and came back upstairs, I was just about to finish 11 miles.  I finished 11 miles and stopped to get a drink.  Heidi came over and said, "what's that?"

Well, what that is is a running non-benefit.  It's a bloody nipple!  I've had this issue before, never this bad, and tried some different things.  The little round band-aids won't stay on, the big band-aids stick to my hair and hurt to pull off.  I thought that I had toughened up my nipples by now, guess not.  I guess I will need to keep looking for a solution.  And to think that I was worried about wearing the white shirt because I was afraid that when it got wet with sweat all my hair would show through.  Just shows the level of my dedication.  I will bleed if I have to, in order to achieve my goals.  When it's all said and done, 1966 calories are now hanging out at the rec center looking for a band-aid.

CHEATING WITH MY GIRLS

This morning I was again up at 5:30 for my morning run.  It is such a relief to get it out of the way in the morning.  Yesterday, I felt no such relief. 

Wednesday I stayed up until midnight watching the playoff baseball game that I had recorded earlier in the evening.  So when the alarm went off yesterday, 5 hours of sleep was not enough to give me the strength I needed to get out of bed.  I barely had the strength to reach over and hit the snooze bar those 14 times, or however many there were.  When I finally got out of bed, I of course was disappointed that I hadn't gotten up.  I gave myself the "it's ok, you can run tonight after work" pep talk, to lessen my disappointment.  So all day long at work I had the evening run hanging over my head, like a less than favorite customer.  Something you try not think about it, but can't help dreading having to deal with.  I knew I would be tired and in no mood to run.  But I kept reminding myself that my last run after work had been one of my stronger ones.  It wasn't working very good.  I needed wanted a good reason to justify not running.  Driving home after work I found the reason.

Herriman High School had their homecoming football game last night with Riverton.  There were a lot of people at the game, as both schools are very close, creating a natural rivalry.  Unfortunately, it's not much of a rivalry yet.  Riverton won the game 45-0.  Shortly after arriving home there would be a lot of people driving the roads near my house.  More specifically, a lot of high school kids driving the roads by my house.  Would it be safe to be running the dark roads with all of those kids out there driving around?  Remembering my own high school nights, I decided to stay in the house with the doors locked.

This morning it helped that Heidi was getting up to go to a spin class with her friend, April.  It's easier getting up to punish yourself when you know that someone else is up suffering too.  Is that mean?  I don't care if it is.  At 5:30 in the morning, I will take whatever motivation I can find.  Thanks Hon!  You're suffering is my motivation. It worked.  I felt very motivated this morning.  It was a great run.  One of my best yet.  It seems like I say that after a lot of my runs.  It really was though.  6.9 miles in one hour and seven minutes.  I dropped 1217 calories out there to find someone else that is lacking my motivation.  So if you're not motivated, you better not come near my house for the next little while.  Those little c's will latch on to you if they haven't already found a new home.

What's one of the best things about getting up for a run in the morning?  You feel a little less guilty when you cheat.  Today my girls, Heidi and Brooke, picked me up from work and took me out for lunch.  It was nice to be together without the boys for once. They had been out this morning shopping and doing other silly, girly things.  If I was going to cheat, it was going to be good.  We went to In-N-Out Burger for lunch.  It was great sitting next to the two prettiest girls there.  Thanks for lunch sweethearts.  I love you girls, "just the way you are."

Randi's Health Tips

• Allow yourself ONE cheat meal a week.  Whatever you want to eat in that meal - do it!  Depriving yourself entirely of things you love will only lead to failure.  Be realistic and enjoy something you love to eat once a week.  One meal a week is not going to ruin your diet but one meal a day will.
• Limit the amount of fast food you eat.  Eating at home is not always easier but it is always healthier and cheaper!  This may not always be possible buy you can learn to order healthier options or by choosing restaurants you know offer healthy choices.  Eating out frequently also teaches your kids to be selfish.  They learn to think that they can have individualized meals and that eating does not require any work.  Children need to be involved in the cooking and cleaning up of food at home to see that it requires work to provide food for a family.  They also learn to eat what the family eats -  not just eating what they ordered.  Teaching your children to cook healthy gives them invaluable skills not only for their future but for their future families.  YES BOYS CAN COOK TOO!!!

STANDING IN THE DEVIL'S KITCHEN

Today I had to run back down to Ephraim to meet Britnee, and pick up Brooke.  I know that she wasn't as happy to see me, as I was to see her.  She really enjoys her time with Doug and Britnee and their kids.  As sad as she was to say good-bye, I hope that a small part of her was happy to see her dad and be coming back home.

Running back down there gave me a chance to fish Snow Lake for a few hours again.  I went alone this time, no kids.  This always gives me mixed emotions.  I really do enjoy fishing with my kids, despite all of the frustrations that brings with it.  I feel a little guilty when I go without them.  But, I figured this would be my last trip down there this year and I really wanted to get some fishing in for myself.  And I had a new book that I wanted to start reading.  Sitting in a chair next to a fishing pole, with a good book, is about as good as it gets.  But once you add kids to that picture, it all changes.  There is no sitting in a chair.  My time is spent moving from kid to kid to untangle lines, re-casting their line because they wanted to reel it in and see if a fish ate the bait, applying band-aids, delivering snacks, drinks, etc.  And forget about reading anything for all of the same reasons.  I am happy to take the kids along and help them fish, but today I was going to be a little selfish.

What's wrong with this picture?
Absolutely nothing

The fishing started off very fast.  I had caught two fish in the first five minutes.  I was thinking that if this kept up, I wasn't going to get any reading in.  I guess I should be careful what I wish for.  After those first two fish, I had plenty of time to read.  No more fish.  I was reading the newest book by Nicholas Sparks, Safe Haven.  I have read many of his books and enjoyed them all.  I'm sure this one will be the same.

While driving home, I decided to take the Mt. Nebo scenic loop.  I love the fall colors and wanted to get another look at them before they are gone.  We also stopped and looked at some rock formations that are called the Devil's Kitchen.