175 Miles?...Please!

Wowser, we DID it!! The Wasatch Back Relay is in the record books for team "I Pity the Fool!": Finn, Darby, Brooke, Erin, Laurel, Jez, KaeCee, Michele, Annalee, Kallie, Tara, and Dallin! What an amazing experience! I really do "pity the fools" who never get to encounter such a remarkable undertaking. Limits are pushed, bodies are racked, blisters form, skin gets sunburned, your body is dehydrated, you're exhausted from no sleep, and in the end, it is all worth it when you see the rest of your team cheering you across the finish line. I cannot even describe in words the experience and the emotions I felt while participating in this race.

Some of the best moments or events of the race for me were:

-Running my first leg from Eden to Huntsville in the death heat, but coming around that bend to the beautiful song "Holly Holy" by Neil Diamond. Tara knows what will keep me going, "oh you know what I like!"

-Watching KaeCee totally conquer her second leg after no sleep. She freakin' hauled up those hills!

-A HUGE shout out to my cousin Kallie for filling in at the very last minute and running the race's hardest leg: RAGNAR! What a beast and she did it with a smile. THANK YOU KALLIE! She saved our butts.

-Watching Tara dance to the music on her second leg and having a good time...What it was all about!

-Watching Annalee run up by Echo reservoir and afterward commenting that she was so glad it was flat! It looked pretty hilly to me.

-Michele fighting through her last leg and her brother Hal running alongside her to keep her going. This was one of the most inspirational moments I have ever seen in a sporting event. The world just seemed right watching Hal run with Michele in his croc sandals pushing her to keep going.

-Papa Bawden spraying Michele with the hose.

-Seeing Tara come down the hill on her last leg to give me the wristband for the final leg.

-The mohawk on top of our van was killer! Mr. T would be proud, Sucka!

-Seeing my dad Jim at the top of Avon Pass under his umbrella in his usual "Weekend at Bernie's" look and at the end of my first leg in Huntsville where he gave me a big hug.

-Annalee conquering the leg before Ragnar and her fiancee Jake running with her! They are so M-F-E-O! They're gonna make it!

-Listening to Michele's Mr. T impersonations: "Shut up Foo!", "Sucka!", "I pity the foo!", T-Fu, etc.

-Robyn driving by the runners, rolling down the window, and giving them a woot woot each time.

-Michele running with an umbrella on Tara's last leg and Tara telling her to stop! "Michele I don't want you to run with me" is what she said I think, to which Michele replies, "I was bored!" "And that's a fact!"

-Robyn's brother's house in Midway--so NICE!

-Papa Bawden's comment: "I was told not to come over here because you all would be tired and bitchy!" To which Tara replied: "what did my dad just say?!"

-Talking on the phone to Erin...wait, actually that was me listening to Erin tell me how much she hated me at that moment because of her race legs. Spreading the Cowles family love around, booyeah.

-Tara and Michele dedicating their first legs to their cousin Brittany.

-KaeCee's hair on Saturday morning, Classic! I actually missed it but "word got back from those" who saw and apparently it was awesome!

-Car window paint with such sayings as: "Outta my way, Sucka!", "I'm pullin' some T-Fu on you runnin' fools!", "Mr. T is for tough you foo!" Kallie's awesome drawing of the big man himself, it almost looked life-like.

-Coming into Rockport and doing my football player move just before handing the wristband off to Finn. It was pretty sweet!

-Yelling to truck 1 that I had to go to the bathroom, which saved me on that second leg from having to do something in the lake and killing my awesome pace and time!

-Tara and Michele's magic fingers giving me the best stretch/massage ever!! THANK YOU!

-Our van being late to start our last legs in Heber. "Are you guys coming?"

-Missing the turns, once, twice, no three times on KaeCee's last leg.

-The van's backseat...what backseat? Where is it? (Darby wants credit for this one...it was pretty funny!)

For van 1 happenings, check out Brooke's Blog

What a rush! It was fun to lead the team to the finish line in our costumes, SO HOT RIGHT NOW! 12 girls running their hearts out and loving it, that's what makes life worth living!
I think this is one of the hardest, yet greatest things I have ever done in my life, but I am so glad that I can say "I did it! and I pity the fool who doesn't!"

The Wasatch Back is Tomorrow! AAaahhhhh!

"I Pity the Fool who doesn't run the Wasatch Back Relay!" What? I pity the fools that do run the Wasatch Back Relay!
Oh my heck! The WBR is tomorrow! I think we are ready. I sure hope so. I'm so ready to make a fool of myself...I think.
Oh well, I think it will be a cool experience. But I will be glad when Sunday rolls around and it is over!
Go Team! I Pity the Fool

Booyeah!

So, I've been sitting here and I've decided that my favorite word for the day is...Booyeah! Brooke says it all the time and every time I read it, I can hear Brooke's voice in my head saying it. It just makes me laugh.

Booyeah: an exclamatory statement, often said when someone is extremely overjoyed. Often people do a hand movement simultaneously as they say 'Booyeah' (clinching fist and thrusting their elbow downward vertically)
Example: "I got an A on my chem final. Booyeah!"

I Fall A LOT!

So, I was just reading my previous post and was thinking of all the times that I have fallen in just the last little while:
1-Skiing at Alta--summersault in powder
2-Snowshoeing--faceplant and slide into home at Donut Falls
3-Trying to field a hit on the softball field--twice! No three times! I totally fell my senior year at practice while playing shortstop. Megan Zito thought it was soooo funny and couldn't stop laughing.
4-Bonking heads with Darby on Mother's Day and falling to the ground my head throbbing in pain!
5-Falling down the hill at school--6th North is so steep! Darby and I used to watch people coming down the hill through our bedroom window! It was the best lunch-time entertainment ever.
6-I totally fell on some ice going over to Nottingham apartments.
7-This one isn't mine: Darby trying to chase Tara and falling at the starting blocks--and then Tara turning around and falling!
8-This one isn't mine either: Tara snowshoeing, flexing her muscles, and then flat on her back!
(7 & 8 are courtesy of the Cabin Trip of Great Prizes)

If I think of any more...

Softball, Balance, Intertia...whatever!

I have a treat for you today!! Of course it's about me falling!

Instance 1:
So, last night I'm playing some softball and you know, everything was going pretty good and then the very last play of the friggin' game! So, I'm playing third (which by the way is my home base...no pun intended). I'm pretty comfortable there. We have two outs and a runner on first. The batter cranks it out to left field and I instinctively go to the bag to cover. Courtney throws a rocket to me on the money. However, I was not on the money. The runner kind of swerved around me...needless to say, I missed the tag and then...on the ground! When I went to tag the runner and missed all of my momentum sent me right to the ground! I lay there thinking to myself, "Junk, now I'm going to have to hear about this the whole way home!" The outfield got a pretty good view of it all and of course, Lyndsey had to be on the bench (in the third base dugout) so she had an awesome scope of the spectacle that I provided.

Instance 2:
Believe it or not, I have a another fall that tops the previous! Last year (same team) we were playing and there is a slow roller hit between me and the pitcher. It is the unwritten rule that the pitcher is not to field hits unless hit right to him. It is the pitcher's job to pitch. So, I charge the ball...one problem, I was so low that as I picked up the ball I didn't set myself up straight to get a good throw. Instead, I tripped over my own feet (my knees and feet were tangled up together!). I attempted to throw the ball anyway and afterward rolled across the infield! Of course the runner was safe. I think the ball went a whopping three feet...back to the pitcher! I think I rolled farther than the ball was thrown! There was a big dust cloud and I just sat there and laughed not knowing what else to do.

I normally consider myself a pretty stable person, and athletic. But these instances remind me that even people with skills have their days ;)

Why does no one have a camera at these inglorious moments!?!?

BORED!!

With the exception of one file, I have had absolutely nothing to do today!! Eight hours of nothingness! Oh my goodness, my head hurts from doing nothing. I guess I have done something today...I've thought, a lot. I have a race next Friday (the Wasatch Back Relay), and to be quite honest, I think I might die! (Not really, but I have come to the realization that I am NOT a runner!) True, I am athletic, but that is in certain spheres. For instance, I am a decent softball player, basketball player and volleyball player, but a runner I am not. It just isn't in me to be a runner--granted I have run races and finished, but distances are not my forte. I am a sprinter--I sprint to first base, I sprint down the court on a fast break, I sprint to the volleyball--I am a sprinter.
Oh gosh, next Friday will be interesting. I'm just going to pace myself and it will all work out.
Over and out!

Busy weekend!

Erin and I awoke at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning to participate in the Salt Lake City Marathon, Half Marathon, Bike Tour and 5K. Of course, we ran the latter and it was pretty fun. Probably the best 5K I have run since the Rex Lee run in March. We ran in 32 minutes (not stellar but typical for our pace). There was tons of energy and it was a cool experience. After we finished our race, I went back down to the finish line to see Tara and Michele finish their half marathon. I think they finished in 2:09:24. I was super excited when I saw them coming down the final stretch and yelled with everything I had. (I love being a camel.) It was awesome!

I also had a funeral on Saturday and that was interesting. I had the opportunity to be a pallbearer. While this is traditionally reserved for males, that is one gender that we are lacking in our family. My great-grandfather had two girls, one grand-daughter (my mom), and four great-granddaughters (my sisters and I) and two great-great-granddaughters. So, my aunt Selma had no children and only my mom as a relative. So, my sisters, dad and I were the pallbearers. It was a pretty cool experience and I was actually glad to have had the opportunity to help Selma.

A pretty good weekend...

Oreos

So, I am sitting at the front desk of the Registrar's Office at the U and I am bored!! I had so much to do at my desk and now I have to sit here and do nothing. It's okay though, I worked for the US government for three summers, I think I know how to do nothing ;)
I have caught up on Brooke's blog and decided to write my own. So I am reading this book, Three Weeks with My Brother by Nicholas Sparks. Oh my heck! I read a funny part last night and was crying I was laughing so hard! Here is the background (it won't be too long, "I've read books with shorter introductions!"): this family is super poor and never get any treats. Their dad hides a package of Oreos in his office and the kids snoop them out and eat the entire package. The dad comes home to find the empty package and exclaims, "Vultures! My kids are G-D-N vultures!"
The only reason this was so funny to me, was because it was the exact same at my house growing up. Mama Sue hardly ever bought treats, sugar cereals or otherwise. If we wanted cookies, they were homemade and were not baked very often. This story hit close to home and it took me about ten minutes to stop laughing. If you want to read a good book, I would recommend this one. It was recommended to me and Darb by none other than Tarbear, and I seem to like the books she recommends (i.e., The Kite Runner, Ishmael, etc.).
Anyway, just wanted to do something for a few minutes.