Finally! A race report!!!!!

I've been training for a half-marathon, sort of... What that means is that I've done some of the workouts, but I've sat on my butt for a fair share of them, too. I just haven't been able to get motivated! I've done some of my speedwork sessions, with the hope that this was the year for speed. Like I said, I did "some" of them...

So I was completely wishy-washy on whether to spend the money to do the Cherry Creek Sneak. In the end, paying the race day registration fee ($5 more!) I ended up doing it. And... I set a PR!!!!!!!!!!!! I felt really, really good running today. Constantly checking myself and wondering if I should try to push a little harder. I do wish I had kicked it in the end a bit more, but we rounded the corner and the finish line was right there. Had I known, I would have kicked it in sooner. I still felt pretty good at the finish line.

Nonetheless, this is what I'm most proud of:

Cherry Creek Sneak 5 mile runs:
2004 - 10:52/mile
2005 - 10:36/mile
2006 - 10:19/mile
2008 - 9:49/mile!!!!!!!!

While to many it's nothing to brag about, it's a Personal Record in my book. And that makes me very happy today! Good race. Great weather. And great swag too! I'm thinking that if I can do under 10 minute miles for today's five mile race, there's no reason I shouldn't be able to do sub 10:00 miles at the Bolder Boulder 10K in a month! Here's to another PR soon! (I may actually be motivated to run the next couple of weeks, too!)

Joke Day

Q - How do you know it's spring time in Moab, Utah?

A - All the license plates start turning green!

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Q - How do you know the two teachers on your team are total morons?

A - They tell everybody at a baby shower Friday night that you're taking a three day weekend to go to Moab to go biking... Including the Assistant Principal...

I worked really hard to wear enough sunscreen to be sure to hide any tan lines from that trip!!!!!!! Grrr....

The White Rim Trail

So a co-worker scored two campsites along the White Rim Trail in Moab. (You have to book those at least six months in advance.) Her nephew is planning to rent a Hummer to help sag water and camping supplies. (Cars can't get in there.) It will take three days to cover the 100 miles on bike. She's looking for fun people that might enjoy a trip like this. She knew that I went to Moab for Spring Break and liked the place. Can you really turn an opportunity like this down?????????

The quick synopsis...

Pre-trip: How fun! I can't wait to do this!
The initial ride down: Um, wait a second... I thought this wasn't supposed to be very technical... OhhHhh MyyYyyY...... bump... bump... What did I get myself into?

25 miles in: Fun, beautiful scenery, good, but the wind sure is blowing.
50 miles in: Will the wind ever stop blowing? Ugh, I'm getting really tired!
60 miles in: My butt hurts. Why does no one else have as many scrapes and bruises as I do??? After this trip, I never want to ride my mountain bike again! ARGH!!!!!!
75 miles in: The wind has stopped. The trail isn't as technical. I've rubbed a couple of spots on my bum completely raw. Not cool. My bruises really hurt. I'm pretty tired, but this sure beats being at work. Overall, I guess this is kind of nice.
Post-trip: It's over? Really? Aw, man. I don't want it to end. I can't wait to do this again next year. :) Who else can we invite?



The trail


The love of my life.


Linda, our lovely host and mountain biker extraordinaire.


The group- Don't you just love it when you get a group together that can't shower or use a real toilet for three days... Everybody smells. Everybody is tired... and you still absolutely love the entire group!? I love trips like that!


I can think of worse things.



Gotta love Moab.





We did it. I must admit that I didn't end up pedaling the entire 100 miles. That's the beauty of a sag vehicle on days with relentless wind and hills that you just aren't trained for. I was a little upset that I have too much fear to really be able to handle a mountain bike well. Nonetheless, I can't wait to give it a shot next year. Maybe I'll even practice up on the mountain bike a little bit more before I go! Thanks for organizing Linda! It was a great trip!

Congrats dad!

Spent the day on and off the computer all day Sunday as I tracked the father of two of my students. He completed Ironman Arizona!!! Apparently the mom and kids didn't attend because it was too expensive. I made the kids PROMISE me that they would make huge banner for dad when he got home. I sure hope they understand what their dad did. I could tell that they didn't really comprehend it when I talked to the kids last week. I talked to one of the kids yesterday and he said that his dad was crying when they talked to him Sunday night. Pretty powerful stuff. I hope they get it now.

Not much else going on in post-ironman life here. Keep up that training Tea!!!

Random Thoughts

Random Thought #1 - I remember doing one of my last long training rides before Ironman last fall. It was cold and windy, and I did NOT want to be out there, but I had to. I remember seeing other people and thinking "I have to be out here riding right now. Why are you out here?"
I'm now reading blogs of people that are preparing for Ironman Arizona and some preparing for IMCDA. hee hee... I read about one person doing a 6 hour ride on her trainer last week... hee hee. And lots of other people complaining about riding in the cold right now.

While feeling like a fat pig isn't the most pleasant feeling... Being inside and warm and only riding my bike when I feel like it... I'm eating that up... (I'm kind of hoping that next Spring I'll have to be out there training, but I'm going to enjoy this year!)

Random Thought #2 - The same can be said for the initial cold shock you feel when you first get in the pool.... Not if I don't have to right now!

Random Thought #3 - I saw the best bumper sticker the other day... Might just be Colorado humor, but it was funny!
"Cheney skis in jeans."

Random Thought #4 - Because I won't have my other job this summer (y'know, the 2o hour a week Ironman training) I've been entertaining the notion of getting a part time job this summer. We were in Home Depot on Saturday and I saw a sign that said they were hiring part-time seasonal help. That sounded perfect!!!! Then I found out that Home Depot doesn't give an employee discount. Huh? Really? Well that just shot that idea.

Spring Break 2008! Moab!!!!!!!!!!!

Guess what this week is!?

It's Spring Break baby!

So I realize that a good blog has a focus. A good blog shouldn't just be willy nilly thoughts and writings. My focus was doing an Ironman. I did that. And now I'm kind of lost. I have a few small events this summer, and we're planning a road trip to sign up for another Ironman... But until then... You're stuck with vacation photos... If nothing else, because my mom reads my blog... She loved Moab when I took her there.

So... Moab! Four days worth of absolute fun! If you're not familiar with Moab, it's a small southeastern Utah town kind of in the middle of nowhere. It's about six hours from Denver. It has two BEAUTIFUL national parks in the vacinity (Canyonlands, and Arches National Park). It is plastered with hidden hiking trails, 4X4 trails, and of extreme importance... Mountain bike trails. Now since I'm a triathlete, mountain biking hasn't really been my thing as of late... So we also bring our roadbikes and have taken part in the Moab Skinny Tire Festival, too. For this reason, Greg really wanted to take our bikes on this trip. I objected because the weather wasn't supposed to be that good. It's a desert town, so it's very hot in the summer, and very cold in the winter. Spring and Fall are the ideal times to visit, but we hit it on a weekend where winter wasn't quite over yet. Darn!

I persuaded the hubby to leave the bikes behind, and pursue some of the hiking that I always want to do... It seems we're always in town for a volleyball tourney, a bike festival, or some other event. I was really excited to just go and hang out. Poor man's Spring Break! Here I come!

We spend the first night camping in town. The next morning I talk him into driving an hour and a half south of Moab to the southern part of Canyonlands National Park. It's called the Needles district.

I've been there once before, loved it, and always wanted to go back. We pitched our tent, and spent the rest of the afternoon hiking. AWESOME stuff! We had perfect hiking weather, too. Not too hot, not too cold.

I think my favorite part of hiking here is that you actually get to hike up to the top of the rock formations and hike above the land. It's so cool!

hee hee. Greg has antlers!

More Canyonlands

After hiking all day, we came back to our campsite. I don't think I've ever camped somewhere so quiet. Because it was still a little chilly, we were lucky to have our pick of campsites. I don't think that would ever happen once it gets warmer. We made a fire and relaxed until the winds kicked up later in the evening and it started to snow on us.

The following morning we weren't really ready to leave the Needles area, so we spent some time at the Visitor's Center and decided which trails we'd like to come back and try. We also made our way to a short 2.4 mile trail called the Slickrock trail. It was kind of like hiking on the moon! You're hiking on high rocks almost the entire time.

We were tempted to stay in the Needles area one more night because we were having so much fun, but we really didn't have any food left, so we headed back up to Moab. I know most people only stay in the Moab area (for good reason!) but I highly recommend some hiking or camping in the Needles area of Canyonlands. It's absolutely beautiful down there, with hardly any crowds.
There is a little tiny white speck on this rock. The photo just doesn't do it justice. It's a little rock climber dude up there! Climb! Climb! Nice job rock climbing dude!

Moab's Annual Jeep Safari

You always know you're going to find some fun in Moab. It just so happened that the annual Jeep Safari was in town. When we first arrived we asked one of the locals where we could find a good spot to watch people acting stupid and she recommended Potato Salad Hill. We immediately went to explore. People actually drive up this stuff??????? Nobody was there at the time, but we knew they did because there were oil spills and tire marks all over the rocks. Pretty hard to imagine though.

After finishing our two nights of camping in the cold, we decided it was time to head into town to get some warm food and debate about the third night of camping or getting a motel. Hungry and cold... Around 3:30 on Sunday, we thought we'd just take a spin by ol' potato salad hill. Boy! Did we get lucky! Half the town was out in force! Most there to watch, but a few crazy fellas had to prove how big they were by taking on tater salad hill!

Some of the Jeeps and special built 4X4's took it like it was nothing. They were fun to watch, but nothing like the redneck farm boys that somehow found their way from the deep bowels of america to Moab. One pickup after another gunned it from the bottom of the hill. Naturally they'd get stuck, fish tail from this side to that side, slide backwards and slam the bumper into a rock... All the while some drunk fat girl was hollaring at the bottom of the hill, and the cigarette never waivered from the driver's wife beater wearin' tattooed arms hanging out the window. It was awesome! Truly the stuff that makes you stand tall laughing, and then look at your toes while kicking your feet when you admit you are 100% American... Giggling all the while.

Rock Art

As an art teacher, I'm fascinated by ancient petroglyphs and pictographs. Luckily, southeast Utah has tons of it. Naturally my brain is full of little art project ideas I can take back to school. The trick is to get the kids as excited about it as I am.
The Newspaper Rock is on a pull-off on the way to the Needles district of Canyonlands.


While I've hunted down many of the rock art sites in and around Moab, I always seem to read up on more. While leaving we discovered a beautiful hike in a canyon called Courthouse Wash. Couldn't find the rock art there, but my wonderful husband let me dictate some off the beaten path roads up off I-70 well outside of Moab as we headed out of town. We discovered a place called Sego Canyon and the rock art up there was amazing!
This lifesize art is supposedly called the Barrier Canyon style. These are also some of the paintings that cause people to think aliens once inhabited the earth! Scientists guess the panel to be dated from 500 B.C. to around 500 A.D.! Unfortunately someone decided to take bullet practice on it at some point in time... It's still very cool to be driving up in this forgotten land on dirt roads and see rock art panels spanning three different periods of time!

Sego Canyon

Okay, this was really cool. As we're driving up to see the petroglyphs and stopped at some traintracks, an old mountain bearded guy comes walking up to our truck. He tells us about a ghost town a little farther up the road. Apparently it was a coal mining town in the 1950's that supported about 500 people. On all the sites I've read on Sego Canyon, it tells of a boarding house built next to the market. The old guy told us it was actually a brothel. He also said the town dried up when they put all the freeways in. I haven't read that anywhere else. It was pretty cool to explore!

The market












The brothel









The other side of the brothel











You could find the foundations to several houses, but these were the only two large foundations still standing. Cool stuff! I went to Europe to find old ruins! It was kind of fun to find historical ruins here in the United States. Too bad it's so far off the beaten path and not being preserved.