The Deaners: October 2009

Monday, October 12, 2009

Chilln' with the kids 10-11-09

Last week Caitlyn called and invited us to go to parents weekend up at Utah State. Dean arranged his schedule so we could spend a couple hours up in Logan. As we were making final plans with Caitlyn, one of her roommates mentioned that parents weekend was moved to February. Since we already had made the arrangements, we decied to go up anyway. We had dinner with these guys, and made it back in time for Dean's evening appoinments....and for Braden and his roommates and dates to come up for dinner. We made a deal with Braden that he no longer can come up for Sunday dinner unless he has a girl with him. He had a really cute girl with him, and it would have been just a little awkward if I pulled out the camera, since this was their first date. Anyway, we got to have dinner with Caitlyn and Braden.

Marci, Erica, and Caitlyn

Erika and Caitlyn in their matching coats

Thursday, October 8, 2009

today's adventure....10-7-2009

Horseback Riding!
This time I finally remembered to bring my camera. We rode on the trails in the mountains above the Draper Temple. It was Maureen riding Striker, Dean riding Digger, and I was on Jenny.

Jenny, Maureen and Dean

Dean and Maureen and Digger

Looking down on the Draper temple

Maureen and Ej

Ej and Dean

The views up here were amazing.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

St George Marathon 10-3-2009

October 3, 2009
Started at 4:00 am

Braden, Erika and Dean leaving Hurricane to drop Caitlyn off at the Perry's hotel, then to the park to catch the bus up to the freezing cold start line in Central, Utah.

...and did I mention it was freezing cold. Dean and EJ all bundled up. This was the last time we saw Braden, somehow we lost him in the thousands of runners in the starting area.

A marathon is 26.2 miles. Braden hoped to finish at 3:30. Dean hoped to finish at 3:35. If both had a good run, both had a good chance at accomplishing their goals.
None of us ever saw each other during the run. We all started at different times because we were being timed electronically from the time we crossed the start line to the time we crossed the finish line. Dean ran into trouble at about mile 14 - muscle cramps. Made it almost impossible to run. He was on track up till this point. Meanwhile....Braden was doing great until mile 17 and had to start walking. He started getting muscle cramps at about mile 22. Both had to walk most of the second half. Neither had ever experienced muscle cramps during training runs or previous races. Neither knew the other was going through the same thing. Both were excited for the other for having a good run. They met up after the finish, only to find out they both experienced the same thing. When they got their official times, they learned that they had finished within 11 seconds of the same time. Both got a 4:19. Both were able to finish the race!

I was still plugging along miles behind. I left the start area 15 minutes after the gun went off. My goal was to finish the race, and it would be nice if it was under 5 hours, but I would be happy with just finishing. I had some knee issues 2 days before, so was a little unsure of how this was going to go. As soon as I started running, my knee started to hurt. Just as I was going up to the start line, a friend said.."the pain, it's all in your head." I kept thinking that through the whole race, I can handle it if it is just in my head. Then at about mile 17 the other knee started to have a sharp pain....at least at this point I didn't need to favor one or the other, they both stung. Luckily for me, I was getting a blister on one of my toes that was so painful it took my mind off my knees. I was able to stick with my run/walk plan through the whole race! Didn't need any extra walk breaks. I crossed the finish line at 4:44!

This is after our first marathon. I say "first" because we are already signed up for a spot in next year's marathon through the runners series. It's been great preparing, training, and anticipating this with these guys! Being together at the finish line was great too.

This is my favorite blister I've ever had! The pain from it, which I knew was pain, not injury, made it so I could run the rest of the Marathon trying not to put pressure on it, instead of concentrating on my knees.

Caitlyn thought this would be a lovely photo with the light behind it. Caitlyn was awesome, she came down and took pictures of us, and after the race gave us massages, and took such great care of us....THANK YOU CAITLYN!

We stayed at Rob and Connie's home. They are so fun and encouraging. After the race, Connie had lunch ready for us, loaded with protein, just what we needed. Then they took us to a hot tub to soak these tired muscles. They are awesome.

A quick shower, and loaded up, jumped in the car to head to Kanab for my niece Savanah's baptism. Such a great family. Jaxon gave the opening prayer, one I was so glad to hear...talks by Cristian and Brandon, musical number by Derek, and closing prayer, another thing everyone should expereience, by Jacob. Jeff did the baptizing, and confirmation, and Braden and Cristian were the witnesses. What a great meeting!