Merry Christmas and Happy Solstice!

 Merry Christmas everyone!!!!  

Donna O and Jennie in about 1978.

Carpe Diem

My journey to the grave won't be with a well preserved body. I'll skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand & wine in the other, totally worn out & screaming, "WOOHOO! WHAT A RIDE!"

This is the quote on my friend Alyssa's Facebook page.  She died on Thursday in a car accident leaving three kids without their mom.  She was a rock climber, Search and Rescue volunteer, ultrarunner, super mom and friend to so many.  I never actually met Alyssa face to face but had an extensive email friendship with Alyssa a couple of years ago.  I have a Facebook message in my inbox right now from her that I didn't get a chance to reply to.  She was always willing to help others and give solid advice when asked. 

Alyssa's untimely death at age 40 has made me think.  I wonder if I am doing enough, am I trying hard enough, do I spend enough time with my son, husband and friends, do I keep my house too clean and miss out on other more important things?  Do I exercise too much, not enough?  Spend too much time on my forum or not enough?

It's time to plan 2011.  Races, goals, work, things that need to be accomplished.  I will look at this planning differently this year.  Thank you Alyssa for making me want to do more and be a better person.  You will be missed by so many, especially your kids.  Thank you for touching my life.

Seize the day.  Do something for someone else.  Be a good person.  Set your goals high.  Laugh.  Skip.  Play.  Make someone smile.  

Antelope Island & State Your Intentions

Sunrise on the west shore of Antelope Island

Scroll down if you just want to look at pictures.

The first weekend of November I spent the last warm day of the fall on Antelope Island. It was an awesome, well run, low key race. 41 of us started out at 6 am, it was so warm that I only wore short sleeves and a skirt. No jacket! 33 of us did two laps around the island. I finished second to last, just within the time limits. I didn't get nauseous until 40 miles and felt great right up until 40 miles. The last 22 miles were a little bit of a struggle but I did it. No puking. Running on the island at night was magic! I was swooped by an owl, heard coyotes and ran past a heard of buffalo. I could hear the buffalo moving in the grass when I turned my headlamp to the sound, I could see their eyes shining. Very cool!

Last weekend, I did State Your Intentions 24 hour (see post below for details). I did a 50 K over the course of the day. I mostly walked. Dolly, my dog, did 2 laps with me, my husband did 2 laps with me, Milissa did one lap with me. I only did one lap entirely by myself. In other parts of the country, Texas, Colorado and North Dakota, Z, Linda and Jason each did some miles (35 total). I'm donating $100 to our local food bank, one dollar for every mile we all did.

What now? Two weeks off running for me. I need to regroup and create a program that makes me faster during training. I'm so, pathetically slow. Because I'm tired of making my workout routines, I've started doing yoga and I'm making a commitment to start doing cross fit (free, yay!!!) at the local high school. I'm at day 282 of my one mile a day streak.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Mountains reflecting off the water in the Great Salt Lake right after sunrise

Old 4wd rode on the west side of the island

Looking back from the top of the hill

Oh, that wasn't the top of the hill, it keeps going up!

My favorite picture from the ones I took