Catching up

In July we discovered that Torrie was having a problem with her heart rhythm. After a visit with a specialist it was decided she needed to have a procedure done to fix what we learned was Wolff Parkinson- White Syndrome. Even though we were told this was a common procedure it was still surgery on her heart and I was freaked out!

 

Yep that is her little body on that table. We had an amazing surgeon who fixed her all up! What a blessing modern medicine is. Looking back on it, she has been dealing with this for a long time, essentially her heart was racing most of the time at 170 plus beats per minute and had we not diagnosed it eventually it would have started to give out. She hasn't had her heart race since the surgery!

School started shortly after this and I am still in shock that I sent my baby into her Senior year!

 

And then Fall with Homecoming, Football and Volleyball in full swing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life got a little crazy as we opened a new store (Arby's) in Hurricane right when school was starting. So my running and activities really have taken a back seat. But that is ok , life happens, and we make adjustments and focus on what needs to be the priority at the time. I am grateful for all the "last" memories I am getting to experience with Hurricane High this year.

~This is living!

Plot Twist!

I am a creature of habit, I like consistency and order.
I like to know:

what is going to happen
when it is going to happen
what I need to do to make it happen
and pretty much everything in between!

So this funny saying really struck a cord with me

 

If you are truly living there will be "Plot Twists" some good, some bad.

 

I really think this should say

 

"Plot Twist"

Learn from it! then Move one.

 

**more about my recent Plot Twists soon

Friday Fun day!

 

Who new my middle name was FUN!?

Well I had forgotten, so when I bought me a healthy (Herbalife)  shake at "On the Mark Nutrition" today and Sue reminded my with this

                                      I had to laugh..

I have not been living up to my middle name lately, maybe taking things to serious, not laughing as much as usual.  Just this morning I was feeling the pressures of being a working mom, wife, friend, and not feeling like I am living up to all the worldly expectations that I feel are placed upon me.

I have just simply lost some of my "Fun'ness" (if that's even a word? according to spell check its not, but I like it so its staying :)

Its ironic when the universe puts things in front of you at just the moment you need them.

Hope you have a FUN weekend!

Drop 13

I had this run in my sites for months, who wouldn't want to run in this beautiful country?

The Drop 13 Half Marathon was down Big Cottonwood Canyon, this was the first year for this event which can make a runner nervous. It did not disappoint! They were offering 3 different medals, one for finishing, one if you took 13 minutes or more off your best half marathon time, and one if you lost 13 pounds from signing up to race day. All I had to do was tell Melanie there was a chance for more than one medal (I promised 2 because she would disappear if she lost 13 pounds)  and she was in hook line and sinker! well and promise her pancakes afterwards.

Her enthusiasm started with the 4 am alarm, as she stumbled to the bathroom in the hotel room mumbling something about me not being her friend, I laughed out loud and said she would thank me later. (little did I know I would deliver on that promise)

We enjoyed this adventure with my our friend Alicia who I have the pleasure of running with in St George, it is SO nice to have a running buddy. This was to be her second half marathon.

 

           This is my "Its cold, dark and early. What are we doing face"

On the bus ride up we made a new friend with the girl pacing 2:10, she was adorable we asked a ton of questions, she gave us advice, and wished us good luck. I never talk about my race times or paces, but I knew that I wouldn't be seeing any of her, my pr half had been Cedar City last Sept at 2:27 and I was starting to believe I am just not capable of doing much better.

The porta potties were small in number, but so was this race capped at only 500 runners. I am starting to think my theory of catching the later buses up these canyons so that you aren't sitting out in the cold longer than necessary is the wrong way to go. Catch the early buses so that you can get a good spot in line at a porta potty! I literally entered the potty with 2 minutes until the race was to start. Whew that was to close, but things worked out (haha) and we found our spots between the 2:10 and 2:20 pacers.

I knew right away sticking close to the 2:10 pacer was not going to happen for me, although oddly enough the 2:20 pacer was only about 200 yards back, ya go figure that one? I stayed in between the two and let myself just enjoy the first few miles to see how I felt, fully expecting to end up being pushed by the 2:30 pacer. This was an extremely downhill course at times, I believe now that this is not always to your advantage and can hurt just as bad as a hill, if fact I was praying for a small hill to take the pressure of the quads that were on fire.

 

This little switch back came at about mile 7. By mile 8 I knew I had hit some pretty good time goals and I was feeling really good I couldn't see the 2:10 pacer but looking back couldn't see the 2:20 either. I decided by mile 9 it was time to give it all I had. I felt like I was on auto pilot I kept looking at my watch and knew if I kept it at a 10 mpm pace or under I would definitely PR. I was doing better than that averaging about a 9:45-50 That's insane for me!! especially because by this point the course had flattened out. A few thoughts ran through my head:

*Phazes Boot Camp is paying off! especially the speed work I complain about
*Why do I tell myself I will never be better than a 2:30 half marathoner
*This feels Good
*This hurts!
*I felt like a real runner for the first time (crazy I know)
*I can do Hard Things

As we winded through some trails and took a slight uphill road I glanced up and saw the 2:20 pacers about 200 yards ahead of me, Dangit! When did they pass me. I almost let it take the wind out of my sail, but didn't and pushed on finishing with the clock reading

 2:17:31!!!!! I did it, I really did it :)

 I think all 3 of us did things we didn't think we could do that day. I have had years of my inner voice telling myself all the reason's why I shouldn't run, why I don't fit in, your to slow, the fact I probably only did well cause it was downhill, I am tired of telling my own self that "I cant." I am adamant about teaching my girls they can do anything, and its time I live up to those teachings. I pushed those thoughts out and took it all in, what I accomplished, it was mine, that day I did that!  No one else's legs carried me 13.1 miles in 2:17:31.

PS: Ya, now you know which pacer was off the whole time , NOT the 2:10 girl lol.

To top off the amazing day Melanie took 3rd place in her age division, and Alicia took an insane amount of time off her first race. I had a 16 minute improvement from Ogden only 4 weeks earlier.

 

This was definitely a race I would do again, well organized, perfect time of the year.

 

I looked at Melanie as she received 3 medals! (finishing, pr'ing 13 minutes, and taking 3rd place) and said "Uh YA want to Thank me now!?" She laughed and said I was still her friend, we then went to have pancakes as our promised reward.

                         The best pancakes EVER are at the Black Bear Diner.

~~ This is Living!

This is Living!

One morning on a cold bus ride up the canyon in Logan, having gotten only a few hours of sleep the night before with a 4 am wake up call, I noticed Melanie looking out the dark window I assume thinking to herself "What have we gotten ourselves into?" I was tired and questioning my training, was I really ready to run 13.1 miles back down to the finish line? A strong thought came to me, none of that mattered because we were "in the arena" "playing the game" I was done being a bystander in life. I tapped Melanie on the shoulder and said

"This is living!!"

She smiled and instantly agreed. From then on my running, my activities, my family time, my experiences all took on a new meaning to me, one I had been searching for, for a long time. Year's of therapy and it came to me on a bus lol (more on that later.)

I have re-named my blog appropriately. We are still "Team Gardner" this is a place for me to share our experiences, but also to celebrate our living!

There have been countless times since that bus ride I have stopped and taken the moment in and thought to myself "This is Living". It has become my motto,  one I love to share. I challenge you to take in those moments in life, the good , the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, and the hard and cherish everyone one of them because that is what living is!

Bad Ass Dash / Vegas

Every year my boss takes our supervisor team to Las Vegas for a long weekend, its always a much needed break and a great time. I am extremely lucky to work with people that I enjoy spending a weekend with. We always try to break up the trip with some sort of "active" event, I wont go into all of the things we have done but I wont deny that a Pole Dancing class has been on the list, for fitness of course :)

Sometime in March: The first thing Melanie and I did was search for any events happening that weekend , which happened to be Memorial Day, the only thing we found was a mud run called "Bad Ass Dash", Uh NO Thank you. We decided to pass, my only other experience with a mud run was fun but just not cup of tea. Out of our group of about 10 only about half have ever participated in our adventures. This year has been different with all of us getting older and all concerned and worried about our health and fitness more have joined, including our boss.

Forward a month later: The email comes in from Boss saying
"I have found our event for Vegas The Bad Ass Dash"

He really thinks I am funny

 

And here we are Team Mud Warriors, a little hard to miss us....in the orange

 

 

My Stud husband actually took 4th in his age group! and 58th overall out of over 2000 people.

 

 

That water was freezing

My boss Troy, he had so much fun.

ya this wasn't that fun. Allergies and hay bails don't mix well

 

My upper body work in boot camp paid off here

 

ok ok this part was fun :) I think I was even squealing

 

 

 

 

Troy and I climbing over a semi truck

 

 

One of my fav's I worked for Morris for years and have never seen him throw a fit like this lol

 

 

Up and over a few vehicles to the finish

 

The Premier Team

 

 

 

Ogden Half Marathon

We Gardner's like to see how many things we can squeeze in one month and May seems to be the big one every year.

I did the Ogden Half Marathon this year and it did not disappoint. However the weather did, it started to rain the night before and I went into a panic. I have never intentionally ran in the rain and I believed if I prayed hard enough I could will it away.........Uh ya.....NO I didn't.

This was a run I will never forget, it taught me so many things. For those that run you know that a run can be the best therapy session ever, and boy did I get my money's worth. On any run longer than an hour I am amazed at the emotional roller coaster your mind can take, I was in awe of the beauty one minute and in desperation the next to just crawl under a tree away from the constant rain drops that felt like Chinese water torture to me, ok a little dramatic but you get the point. I was bummed I didn't get any pictures but "Only in Ogden" did and I am sharing (photo credit to them)

YES that's me in the trash bag :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was one of the prettiest race courses, and as much as I hated being wet the rain and clouds made the views amazing.

 

 

My amazing and inspiring race buddy, I have loved all of our adventures.

 

 

What I learned-

I can do hard things

My mind is a powerful thing

Being wet is not the end of the world

Stop... and take it all in

Having soaked feet and socks wasn't the end of the world

There is only one way through things

I am stronger than I think

Keep running!

 

 

 

 

May Update #2

Kyndall had an amazing track season this year, when she started track as a freshman and decided to hurdle I secretly hoped she would do something else. Torrie had hurdled in track and done very well at it, but its so nerve racking to watch, I always say "cant they just run and not jump over things".

In the beginning I saw this insecure little girl who never thought she would be in the same league as others just come alive. With every track meet she did better and better and PR'd almost every time, she started to pass others, and there was a spark in her before we knew it she was at the region track meet taking 2nd in Region 9 and qualifying for State not only by region place but by time, she ran a 16.70 Then on to the State Meet where she finished with a HUGE personal record of 16.20.

Side Story: Brad is very superstitious when it comes to sports I wont even tell you the rituals he or the other coaches have had with football, I do believe a whole season was passed in the same socks and I am pretty sure that involved not washing them :) So I missed Kyndall race when she took 2nd at Desert Hills in April, I made sure to be more aware and on time the next track meet and she didn't do well at all you might see where this is going! She requested that I not watch she did better with me not there, so you got it I didn't watch a single (Hurdle) race after that I was conveniently late the rest of them (I did watch the 300 hurdles, and some relays I am not that bad of a mom lol.)  Brads words to me as we drove to Cedar for region "you mean to tell me we drove to Cedar to NOT watch her run!" So I dropped him off  saying "DONT let her see you!" and circled the parking lot until I knew it was over then she would call and say "I DID it , you weren't here were you?" I played along with this, because what wouldn't we do for our kids right? until State and then told her this ritual is over! I will not miss your Senior Year of track.

 

This is the first one I missed Desert Hills 2nd place overall

 

 

Kyndall at State Track Meet. (far left) She went into meet ranked in 11th by time and placed 9th in the semi finals to go onto finals were she placed 6th overall in 3A.

 

Photo by : Alex Santiago (I am amazed by his work!)

 

That confident, TALL, girl proved to herself that if you believe, put in the work and dedication anything is possible!

 

I just cant get over this one, that smile :) Far right. It was just the cherry on top to end up on the podium. She earned every bit of that SO proud of you girl.

 

 

 

May Update #1

What you can you accomplish with Hard Work, Dedication, and a little Believing in yourself?
Answer: A LOT!

 

This cute girl had worked with Dr Davis in St George as an Oral Surgeon Assistant for a year, she decided she wanted to get out of Southern Utah to spread her wings a bit. Having such a good job and Boss this made her decision somewhat of a hard one, but when she did decide and put her mind to it she moved up to Provo in March and found herself a job with a dentist in Highland and is doing so well! She got a great raise in just about 8 weeks of starting. I miss her like crazy but with all our activities it seems we are actually seeing her about 2 -3 times a month.  She knew exactly what she wanted to do out of High School, she made a plan and did it we are so proud of her.

 

She came back for a visit and Dr. Davis did a procedure on her jaw, according to him "She has the jaw of an 80 year old!" (good thing she has an "in" now that can help her :) Everyone in the office was so excited to see her, Dr. Davis told me “She doesn’t even need to call, she can come back whenever, just have her show up one morning in scrubs!” they have even kept her picture up on the wall. It’s nice to know she was so loved and cared for in that job.

 

Brad did the St George Ironman 70.3 (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 run) on May 4^th. His hope was to better his half split from the full last year which would have been roughly 7 hours 38 minutes. He crushed that with a time of 6 hours 12 minutes! He put so much time into training it was so fun to watch him do so well that day. Next up another full in December!

 

The lake conditions were perfect this year!

 

 

                                                      

                   A little nervous going into the water, hoping it wouldn't be a repeat of last year.

 

 

 

He was so fast on the bike I almost missed him a 2:58 for 56 (VERY hilly miles) 19.50 mph

 

 

Only 13.1 miles left. It was a warm day pushing 90 degrees he started running right around noon.

 

The official time was 6:12 they did a wave start which made the finish line clock off.