That's right....no more hotel life for us! Today marked an important day of celebration. Our first long run in our home town since the fire. Bla and I are currently training for the Memorial Marathon. We each have different goals in mind. His primary goal is to qualify for Boston 2014. My focus is to train for the Memorial without injury and continue training for a 50 mile race this Summer. Each of us are currently sticking to the Landrunner training plan for the marathon which calls for a 10 mile long run this week.
We missed the Landrunner group run while we were moving back home on Saturday, so Bla and I decided to do our own long run on Sunday. Bla decided to run his 10 miles on Frisco Road. For those of you who are not familiar with the Yukon area, this road is just west of Yukon and runs North and South. Although Frisco is relatively flat, it presents a challenge with the gravel. Since I am taking a break from the trails to give my ITB a break, I decided to run an easy 10 on the pavement....well sort of. I planned to run two 5 mile loops around Yukon.
The gear:
My new Saucony shoes. I'm still not 100% sure these are for me, but they look nice!
Run to Remember Shirt: I bought this while visiting the OKC Memorial Museum last week. While training for the marathon this is a must! If you have not been to the museum....GO! It is a huge part of our OKC history. It will also remind you how precious life is and how lucky we are to be happy and healthy.
Mizuno Breath Activated Arm Warmers: I LOVE these....but too hot for today!
Nike Element Shield Tights: These are wonderful while running in rain, cold, or strong wind. Not too great for a warm day like today.
This run started like any other run. I took off heading west. Within the first mile I decided that I had dressed too warm for the occasion. If you live in Oklahoma always....ALWAYS check the weather before you start your run!! I also decided against the monotonous loop that I always run, and chose to run to each and every house that I have ever lived in. I decided that it would be great....revisiting memories from the past while checking in on the homes which I used to live!! I was now faced with trying to figure out the best route. I was already heading west, so I ran to the 3rd house that I lived in with my parents.
House #3
This house brought back many memories from elementary and middle school. This house is in the first neighborhood that I remember running around! I was clumsy back in these days too. Today I remembered twisting my ankle and having to crawl back to this house! :) Run if you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must....right?? Well, that's what Karno says! I also remembered knocking the glass out of the front door....SORRY Ma! Other random memories with some of my best friends at the time came back to me. I started thinking about all of the softball and basketball girls: Kaci, Kaci, Jordan, Julie (AWTY). These are just a few of the girls that I thought about while on the run. OK....so at this point I had ran approximately 2 miles and felt great!
Next I had to start thinking about making it to the next house without getting injured. The only problem with living in Yukon is that we do not have sidewalks on the majority of the roads. I decided the best bet was running to house #4. Approximately half of this leg of the run was on pavement while the other half was on grass or gravel. It was still enjoyable. I reminisced about my favorite basketball, softball and track memories while heading to the next house. At mile 4 I reached the 4th house that I lived in.
House #4
So....I'm pretty sure that the owner of this house was not thrilled that I wanted to take a picture. I asked permission and I received a grunt that sounded like "do not get the garage in the picture...it's a mess." Oops....I took the pic garage and all! This house was where I lived while in high school. I have many fond memories of this house. Ma and Pa selected this house together. I remember my Dad blaming my feet for a horrible smell coming from the closet....but it was really a DEAD MOUSE!! :) I remember staying up laughing all night with one of my best friends, April. We were some goofy teenagers while I lived in this home. I also ran around and around and around this neighborhood while trying to be in the best shape possible for high school and college softball. At this point I had made it 4 miles and was just now getting into my groove for running. On to house #1! This part of the run was tricky. I had to run on a bridge over I-40 without any sidewalks. This mile was quite a bit faster that those before and after it. At this point Bla drove by, honked, then cheered me on. I continued into the neighborhood and saw one of my brother's friends's (Nick Bergman) old house. At mile 5.75 I made it to house #1!
House #1
That big window was the window to Nicholas' room. We lived here from as young as I can remember until I reached 3rd grade. I do not have many memories from here, so my mind drifted to my brother. I cannot believe how CRAZY it is that my brother is happily married with a baby. Shoot, I cannot believe that I have been married for 7 years! Our family has definitely grown! Now that I had visited my first house as a child it was time to head to my first house while married to Bla. There were not sidewalks for most of this portion of the run, so all I could think about was keeping myself safe. My thoughts included "Oh crap...that car is probably texting," and "is this sand or quick sand?" and "don't turn an ankle, don't turn an ankle!" Below is a picture of what I saw while I ran into the neighborhood. That entry could be gorgeous if anyone would trim the trees. By anyone....I mean anyone but me! :) By mile 8 I had made it to house #5.
Entry to the neighborhood
House #5
By this time I was out of water due to the heat and being WAYYYYY overdressed. I'm pretty sure it was at least 60 degrees out. I know, I know....I'm whining and it will be 100+ this summer! This gave me an excuse to stop and see my old neighbors and best friends! It is always good to see Ted and Kelli, especially when I get to see their children Ry and Easton! Easton played shy with me. Ry was looking at me inquisitively. I don't believe that she has ever seen me in running gear. I'm sure that I am quite a site with my waterbelt, huge watch, arm warmers folded down, huge ankle brace, etc. I stayed for a short while at the Briscoe's house while discussing current issues. I was able to see some of the new homes that they are thinking about buying. They were beautiful!! After a few minutes Rylee came out of her room with her hair in a high ponytail, pink running shirt (same color as mine), and tennis shoes. She told her momma that she wanted to go for a run! This made my day!!! :) I decided that I better go so Ry could get her run in.The next part of the run would be the most difficult. It is tough getting your legs going again after a break. The majority of the run to the next house would be off road, on a hill, or against the wind. I was able to keep a steady pace, but it was more difficult than the rest of the run. While climbing a hill I forced my brain to start thinking of something....anything other than the hill! Before the run I was thinking about how I could talk to Bla about moving to OKC. It was so much closer to work for both of us. It takes less time to get to organized runs. We enjoyed the city life for a short time. By this point in the run I realized how deep my roots are in Yukon. I truly love the small town feel and the ability to run without carrying pepper spray. It was around mile 10 that I realized that I would probably never move away from this town. These thoughts made the last few miles fly by. Before I new it I was in front of house #2 at mile 11!
House #2
We were only in this house for one year, so I do not have too many memories here. I currently run in this neighborhood at least twice a week. This house is approximately 1 mile away from my current home, so at this point I decided that I was going to push the next mile and see how fast I could finish my run. Mile 12 was my fastest by far at 8:03 pace. I attribute this to the fact that I have not been able to function/live at my house for the past 4 months, so I was more than anxious to get back and put things back in order!!
House #6
Today was a new and exciting run. I will definitely run this course again. I cannot believe that I am able to run to each house that I have lived in during a 12 mile run! I am so happy to be back home and running in my hometown! I cannot wait to see what the future holds. We may have had a difficult past 4 months with the fire and being displaced from our home, but at least we are back and have our health!!!
Goals for 2013:
No fractures!!!!
No fires!!!!
Boston Qualifying for Bla
50 miler for Ali
Have you set your 2013 goals??
