Spring has FINALLY arrived and it's all nice and springy

The most beautiful run Monday night! It rained on us for the first half mile or so, but then we were gifted the most beautiful Utah evening for the rest of the run. A double rainbow, beautiful mountains. Utah knows how to put on a show. 

New glasses. Genevieve's eyes are getting worse way too fast! They're as bad as mine were when I got LASIK in my 20s and she's only ten. Thankfully we have a great eye doctor who is watching her and has some options to help if they keep deteriorating. 

Aaron's turn to get a new haircut. 

End of year band concert! She's such a good little flautist. 

Run club pancake breakfast Saturday morning! We had like 20 runners, which is amazing. And then some families came for our breakfast too. The weather was warm! Loved it so much. 

First soccer game of the season for Chloe. She missed last week because she was sick. She really likes it! Which is so fun because she didn't actually like it two years ago when she played and she skipped last year. I'm glad she thinks it's great now. We're soccer lovers around here, everyone except for Aaron, that is. 

We went to Saratoga Springs Temple Open House Saturday afternoon. It was so beautiful! I love all the colors and patterns. There were lavender chairs and these really beautiful blue on white chairs. So much beautiful stained glass. I loved it all. I highly recommend doing a walk through. We didn't have reservations, but we didn't have to wait at all. The kids really loved it, which is cool because they were kind of cranky on the way down. This was Spencer's second time going. He first went with the young men for his activity earlier this week. 

😍😍

 

Salt Lake Half Marathon

 I ran the Salt Lake Half Marathon yesterday morning. This is the race I signed up for in November and have spent a few months training for. It's the first race I've designed an actual training plan for in years. Previous to April I hadn't run a half marathon since Halloween 2015 when I ran one down in South Carolina with my brother and Bill. I was barely pregnant with Chloe at the time. 

I did most all of my training with my South Jordan Run Club, and specifically with my friend Katie. We run a really similar pace and have found we have a great time running together. We decided to make some actual pace goals for this race. We chose to train to run a 2-hour half marathon. At the time that felt like a bit of a stretch goal. Back in my 20s I ran faster times than that, but I've not run all that fast in a couple years since I injured my hamstring and it has been a persistent injury in some form or another ever since. 

So we created a training plan that included speed work and some good long runs. We added yoga in and some weight training. It was a 12-week plan, so we started in February. The weather was so awful this winter, so I'm really glad we decided to train and setup a schedule because otherwise I wouldn't have wanted to be out on so many of those runs. 

In March Katie mentioned that the Riverton Half happened to fall on a day we were already planning to run 13 miles. We both signed up and a friend of ours, who is also a running coach, ran it with us. The week before that race we ran another 13-mile training run and even not pushing very hard, after seven or eight weeks of dedicated speed training and weight lifting, we ran a 2:04 half. That kind of blew us away. We talked a big talk that we would just run chill at Riverton, but of course we didn't. I don't think it's possible for me to run in an actual race and take it easy. And you know what? We rocked it. I finished in 1:58 on a course that was a few tenths longer than a half marathon distance. It was awesome. And then I totally fell off the motivation wagon to keep the speed training up. I faded out of the weight lifting too, though this was more purposeful because I was feeling like I was over training just a bit and wanted to prioritize sleep and down days more. 

So yesterday morning I came into the race not really knowing what I wanted to do. I'd already hit my sub-two hour half goal. But Katie and I were chatting beforehand deciding what pace group to line up with and I said well, I'll probably line up with the two-hour one. She said she was thinking about going with the 1:55. I didn't realize there was a 1:55, so of course I said sure, I'll do that too. Mind you, that's an 8:46 mile pace for the full distance. That's on the top edge of what we were training at in most of our runs, so it definitely felt like we weren't sure we'd be able to make it happen. But this is what good running buddies are for. We push each other to try just a little bit harder things and then help each other make it happen. 

Turns out I really like the course for this race. It starts at the parking lot of the stadium at the U. You run a couple miles flat and slightly uphill through the avenues, and then have a three-mile descent down to downtown Salt Lake. This part was SO fast. We had ridden TRAX up to the race and only had 12 minutes to go to get to the start. So we dropped our gear bags off and then went straight to the start. We didn't have time to make a bathroom stop. I decided to take a quick stop at mile three, but Katie kept running. I spent the next two miles chasing her down. I really wanted to run with her for the race. We've run several races together and never been able to actually stay together the whole time, so that was one thing I wanted to try to do. Since the course was so downhill through this section, it took me a while, but I did catch up to her at about mile five. Those mile splits are so fast, lololol. 

Mile six was a total slog. It's east up South Temple and after the steep downhill is just so hard. Katie glued herself to the 1:55 pacer, but it felt a bit too fast for me. I wouldn't say he was the best pacer I've seen. His technique seemed to be go as fast as you can the first half and slow way down the second. So I dropped back a bit on this mile. My friend and running coach Andy taught me you don't always have to keep the same pace in a race. Sounds obvious, but I have tended to try to keep going as fast as I can throughout whatever race I'm doing. Instead, I dropped back on mile six, knowing I actually could speed back up when it felt better. Once we turned on 9th East, I was able to pick the pace back up. There was a beast of a hill at 800S. Just a couple blocks long, but SO steep. That did not feel good. 

I kept Katie in my sights the whole time, but it took a good long while to catch back up. I think I caught up finally at about mile nine. Those last few miles are all flat, which is very welcome after the several hills from six to nine. As we turned onto the final stretch, she was like, let's go! We both picked up the pace to "sprint" to the finish. It's not really a sprint when you've run 13 miles, lol. But we did run faster for that last .1. She out kicked me by a couple strides, which was fine. Last month when we did the Riverton Half she was a bit sick and I'd had more in my tank to finish first that one. Didn't actually bother me at all when she had more to give in that final bit.  

I knew we had run a fantastic pace the whole race. I'd been watching the mile splits, but not so much the overall time until the last few miles. We absolutely flew up to mile five. But turns out we'd never really let up and that came through on our times. I finished in 1:52! Eight minutes ahead of my goal! Six minutes faster than Riverton. So amazing. I'm quite comfortable running anywhere from a 9-11 minute pace on any given group run. Sometimes I go as fast as an 8:45. But in no thought I'd had did I think I'd have sub 8-minute miles and a solid chunk of 8:30 miles. Turns out we had a lot more in us than we thought when we put our minds to it! It felt SO good. 

I'm incredibly sore today. Yesterday I was muscle tired sore. Today I'm you ran a chunk of your downhill race super fast, so don't even try to walk up stairs for a while sore. Hahaha! It's the way it goes. I'm so satisfied with the whole thing. I love that Katie and I persevered through snowy runs and ice and cold. I'm glad we set some big goals and then when we hit them, set another one. I'm thrilled to have achieved it. 

I'm planning to run the Revel Half, which is down Big Cottonwood Canyon, in September. I haven't signed up yet and I decided last week to make a to do item to sign up for it next week, not this weekend, because I wasn't sure I'd feel like doing another half while sore after this one. Haha! Turns out I'm so pleased with how this one went, I'm ready to sign up for the next. It's so satisfying to have an outlet to set and reach hard goals. So much of the rest of my life is filling others' needs. I very much enjoy helping my kids achieve awesome things. I enjoy my work. And it turns out there's still a place that feels super good to make and achieve goals just because I want to and I can. Feels great!

Another room painted, kid art, and a new instrument

Spencer and Genevieve’s latest art projects from their class they take together every week. I love the skills they’re learning there. Spencer signed up for an art class in seventh grade next year, so I’m super excited about that. This is the last session they want to take, but next fall I’m going to sign Chloe up to take it. It’s been a great experience. 

I painted me and Bill’s office this last week! I did the white vertical pieces last Saturday. Then I painted the purple throughout the week in ten-minute increments here and there, or half an hour or an hour. Friday night I cut in the top inch from the ceiling. I had been leaving that for last. It’s my least favorite part of painting. And then yesterday I painted the horizontal cap board for the board and batten and attached it and filled the holes, finished the painting, etc. Of course I had to make one last trip to Home Depot because I needed three more feet of trim. That ALWAYS happens!

I love how it turned out. That purple is a huge favorite in our family. 😍

And last but not least, Spencer is going to play the trumpet in band next year! We bought him his trumpet this week. We’re not very good at buying standard instruments. His guitar is teal colored, hahahahha. I love everything about this trumpet. The keys are abalone. I love the designs in it. It’s so beautiful. Spencer already loves it. I’m excited for him to get to do band. Bill and I both played in band when we were in middle school. Bill played all through high school too. I didn’t but kind of wished I had. 

 

Snow, Easter, painting, and art

Last Monday it snowed five feet in the mountains and a foot on our house. In April! It was something else. Today it was 84 degrees. It’s like whiplash. 

Katie and I ran on Monday despite the weather. Worst weather run of the year, lol. This picture does no justice to how awful it was, but we did it anyway! Five miles in the driving snow. 

Saturday I started the morning with a 12-mile run. I got home just in time to take about a two-second shower and got the three youngest to the ward Easter egg hunt. Spencer and Bill rushed home from f3 and also took two-second showers and squeaked in just in time for Spencer to sprint over as the hunt started. It was as close to being late as possible. But we weren’t late! 

We dyed some eggs Sunday right before going to grandma’s house for a family Easter dinner. It was lovely.

And I also started my last bedroom painting project. This one is a white board and batten with the top in process of being painted dark purple. I finished the white vertical slats over the weekend and am working on the purple here and there in my few free moments this week. Then I’ll cap the vertical pieces with a horizontal piece. I love it already, even only partly done. 

I almost had a throw the whole project away moment when I realized I’d accidentally bought. 11/16” thick trim instead of 1/2” thick. Bill came up with the idea to cut an angle on the pieces. Worked like a charm! Now the bottom trim and vertical trim doesn’t look mismatched. 

Just the beginning of the purple. It’s all splotchy and obviously barely started, but I already love how it’s going to come together. 

Genevieve and Spencer finished their latest art project from their art class. They have learned so much and made some seriously cool art projects. The last one this spring is a metal art project. Can’t wait for that. 

 

Worst Spring Break ever

I was under the impression that Spring Break was a time of blossoms and sunshine and warmer weather and life and health. Not this year! Nope, nope, nope. This year it included cold, snow, the flu, more snow. Hahaha! What a week! 

I ran a fantastic half marathon Saturday. It was so great. Sunday, I got the flu! Monday Spencer got it too. We were quite the miserable pair. Nobody else got sick all week, but then Saturday down went Aaron throwing up. And Bill got it too. He and I didn’t throw up, but we got feverish and a cough and a runny nose. It was not that fun. He’s still moving through his bout. Aaron stayed home from school today because his stomach was uncertain, but he didn’t throw up at all! Huzzah! 

So what did I do all week while I was sick? I painted a couple rooms! I did an accent wall in my bedroom that I’ve wanted to do for ages. And I painted a stripe in my wash room. I have an idea to paint white hexagons on the stripe, but I dunno if I’m going to do it or not. We’ll see. I do like the stripe. I haven’t gotten around to doing final touch ups on it, though I did 100% finish my bedroom accent wall and I love it so much. 

Before Spencer got sick, he had big plans to do an epic bake sale and make tons of money over the break. He did get the baking part done. We froze it all. On the next sunny day he still plans to sell. He made lemon sugar cookies, sprinkle covered sugar cookies, mint brownies, and cinnamon rolls. We ate the rolls, but the rest will keep for a while. 

The kids spent the entire week watching Gravity Falls and playing Roblox and Minecraft. Can’t say it’s how I wanted Spring Break to go, but sometimes life is like that. It was memorable, that’s for sure. 😂