Race for the Cure 5K

I DID IT!!!!!!

Here we are, the Brinley Bruins Team who particpated in the Race for the Cure Breast Cancer 5K run. It was an amazing event, very well planned and executed. This is my first time being team captain and Jackie helped me through it. It was downtown at the Freemont Street experience. Starting from left to right we have Raja (science), Wendi (sister), Jan (mother), Jackie (trainer), Dave (father), Me, Cindy (math), Alyx (Cindy's daughter), Zach (Alyx's boyfriend), Will (Jackie's sone), Lindsay (English) and Jen (math). And Kristine (graphic artist) is taking the picture.


Amazingly enough, we met up with everyone before and after the race. There were so many people there out to support the cause; it is such a good thing to be a part of. I was there with a purpose and that was to run the entire distance with no walking and to beat my previous time. I am pleased to say that I accomplished both of my goals. My time was under 37 minutes and the first 2 miles were 11 minute miles. I am grateful for the love and support that many people have shown me and that has helped a lot. A couple of times I thought it would be so easy to just stop running and walk a little bit, but I knew I needed to meet this goal. I had told everyone about it and I promised myself to do this. Somehow I dug deep and finished. I gave it my all and that felt good.

Dad, Jan and Wendi came down to support me. Dad has been training with me and we have been talking a lot about this race. It has been fun to have discussions with him about health and nutrition as we both try to improve our health. He hadn't really prepared as much as he would have liked and had a sore calf muscle. So Wendi took his place in the timed event. She ran with me and it was nice to know she was there. Dad and Jan signed up for the 1 mile fun run and walked together with Jen, Cindy's group and cute, pregnant Lindsay.

What's next you might ask?? Well, Jackie made sure that this wasn't the end. I obviously still have more weight to lose (see above pics) and a life of healthy living ahead of me. So, Jackie found this race tailor made for me. It is the extra-terrestial 10K run out at Area 51 (the top secret place where all the UFO's are kept). I'm almost tempted to wear my Spock ears to this event. :) It is in August and I've got to really focus this summer on running twice the distance in half the preparation time as I had for my 5K. However this time I won't be starting at point zero (or actually in the negatives in my case). August you might wonder . . . in Las Vegas . . . am I crazy? Yes I think I am, but the run will be at midnight, so I'm hoping the temperature will come down to a cool 80 degrees if I'm lucky.

Zions National Park

In case you were wondering if I haven't done enough hiking, you're right; I haven't. I am really falling in love with hiking and am grateful that I am living in a place that has so much wonderful hiking all around and the weather that makes it all possible to hike a lot more during than year.

I have been thinking I need to do more single stuff in the church and this was the week I started to act. I went to an institute class on Wed night and then Saturday was an all day hike in Zion's NP. So just to give you a small tasting of how tired I am right now I'll briefly describe my weekend to you. Friday after school I went out with some work friends for dinner, left them to join another friend at the temple for the 8 pm session. Arrived home around 10:30 and got everything ready for the hike. Woke up at 4:30 am and rendezvouxed at the speedway to carpool up to Zions at 6 am. Hiked all day and drove home, arriving at 9 pm. And it just happened to be welfare meeting at 7:30 am on Sunday with presidency meeting after that, then choir, church and then visits. It's now 6 pm and I'm wiped out, so much that I don't even want to cook dinner, I just want to go to bed and sleep.

Anyways. . . My hike was amazing. The whole time going up I was so excited to be doing this hike. I'be been wanting to do this hike for a long time. Jackie told me that I would be able to do this hike after doing so well in Sedona the previous week. I was hesitant, but decided I would try. The people I went with were very nice and there was no pressure to get up quickly. I hung out with a sister who it was her first time also, and we hiked up together. She did very well. The picture on the right is from the top and you can see how far away down really is.

Angel's Landing is a very steep hike with drop offs on both sides. There are 21 short but very steep switchbacks that are called Walter's Wiggles. At the end, chains are provided to help you climb the dificult inclines and help you to stay clear of drop offs. The view from the top is well worth the possible fear of falling to your death and the feeling of accomplishment is amazing. As I was hiking I had to sometimes put up my hands to act as blinders so my peripheral vision wouldn't scare me so much. But once I stopped moving I could look around and see how far up we actually were. On the way down it is much easier to run because it is so steep. You can see on the picture to the left that we had to walk out and across to reach the top.

Afterwards, we went to see Weeping Rock which was amazing and literally very cool. I'm sure once the summer comes and the plants are grown, it is an amazing sight. Apparantly water travels from the top of the mountain, through to the sandstone which is very pourous, moves horizontally until it seeps out and drips down. They said it takes 4000 years for the water to run its course. All in all it was a wonderful trip and hopefully the first of many more to come.

This guy Chris arranged monthly hikes and I think I'll start going to them. He has been doing these hikes for over a year, but I haven't gone because they have coincided with my Bruin Trailblazer group. But I haven't really done that since the Christmas break, so I'll start going with the SA group instead. He organizes everything, so that's one less thing for me to organize. :)

Spring Break - part III

After my trip to Sedona, AZ, I took Wed to recoup and have dinner and a movie with a dear friend, Michelle. But I had some research to do since I was off to Death Valley National Park in CA on Thursday. I tried to get some friends to come with me, but each one declined - so you know me, I went by myself. I left Thursday morning at 10 am and arrived back home half past 10 pm.

I went north to Scotty's Castle and toured that area, hiked up to his gravesight and walked around the guest shop/visitors center. It was a little chilly so I bought a Death Valley long sleeve shirt and of course my obligatory key chain. Death Valley is an interesting place with its unique beauty. There were a few wildflowers out; the tiniest yellow, white, purple, orange, and pink flowers I've ever seen. I contined south and stopped at Stovepipe Wells Village and Furnance Creek. I ate my linner at a yummy place in Furnance Creek and my waiter was from Dallas area. I recognized that he was from Texas because his "yes ma'am" came way too naturally. By then the sun was getting lower and I finished Artists Palette and Badwater with just enough sunlight left in the day. I headed south through Pahrump to get home to Las Vegas.

All in all it was a very fine and rewarding day trip. I am glad I went and can go again since I didn't get to see it all.

Spring Break - part II

After returning from St. George on Sunday, I had to hurry and pack for Sedona because I was leaving at 7 am the next morning. Jackie, my friend who is helping me run, and I have a 2-day trip to Sedona, AZ. Everyone I've spoken to says that it is beautiful and that they love it there. Everyone is right. It is beautiful!! Even though Sedona is only 5 hour away, it took us just under 12. We stopped in Williams for a few hours and had lunch. Then we stopped in Flagstaff for a few more hours. Let's just say that I am doing my fair share (if not more) to support our suffering economy. There are so many cute and fun stores in these places it was hard to not buy everything I saw.

When we finally arrived in Sedona, we got our room and then met up with Jackie's brother, Bill, for dinner at the Cowboy Club. Then we drove out near Montezuma's well; the stars were brilliant.

Our next day was full of hiking. We hiked up Devil's Bridge and saw some firemen from El Paso, TX training on the bridge. They were learning rock climbing and were all in Hawaiian shirts, quite the sight. Next we headed to Cathedral Rock and enjoyed the river running through Oak Canyon. We stopped and dipped our feet in the refreshing river. Grabbed some lunch in town then off to Brins Mesa for our afternoon hike. We finished a little earlier than planned so back to town for some more shopping. Finally our drive back to Vegas.

It was such a fun trip and there is definitely reason for me to return. So much to see and do. I bought this book that highlights Sedona's Top 10 Hikes and I would like to complete them all. On this trip, I was able to do 3 of them, so 7 more left. Anyone up for a trip to Sedona with me???

Below are some pics from my trip. If you want to see the captions and/or stop the slide, put your mouse on the picture.

Spring Break - part I

Spring break started wonderfully with General Conference. Friday I drove up to St. George to stay with Kirk & Vanessa. It also turned out that Uncle Frank and family were down there celebrating his 60th birthday. I was able to visit with his family, which is something that I rarely have the opportunity to do. It was so much fun to see and talk with Cam and Carston and their families. Brooke & Tessa and Grandpa & Dottie came to be with us as well. And it also turned out that Dad and Jan came down as well. So Friday we had a BBQ at Uncle Frank's new home in St. George.

Saturday I woke up and put in my run before conference. It was wonderful to run in St. George; however it was a bit chilly in the morning. For the first time I ran with a sweatshirt and my face was really, really cold; something I haven't experienced in Las Vegas. I did my 3 miles and got my shoes really dirty from the back roads, but it was beautiful.

Dad, Jan and Grandpa came over for the afternoon session on Saturday and watched with us all day Sunday. Conference was really good and I feel a newness and am recommitted to living a better life. I hope you enjoyed conference too!!!

Waylan was very well behaved for our many hours of "church-on-tv". I brought up my Qwirkle game and we had a fun time mixing the shapes and colors.

I drove home Sunday after conference, unpacked, then packed again for my Sedona trip the next day (see Spring Break - part II).

Mom's Visit

After our day at the Springs Preserve, we went to Uncle Don's office to visit with everyone there. We got to see Uncle Don after his luncheon with the Over 50 club, Linda on her way out to Oceanside with her family, Brent, and Bruce. It was nice to have some time to visit with them; I don't get to see them that often which is a little weird seeing as I live in the same city, but life is busy for everyone. After our visit to Tingey & Tingey we drove home to rest for a little bit and to get ready for our Vegas show. I got these tickets for free for donating blood; yes they really want your blood here.

Steve Wyrick is an excellent magician and a great show if you ever get the opportunity to see it. It is in Planet Hollywood/Miracle Mile Shopping area. We went to the 7 pm show and it was so much fun. He did big and small tricks, but each one was impressive. He has a good stage presence and uses the audience a lot. That night was extra special because his mother was sitting a few rows behind us.

Springs Preserve

It is so good when Mom and Bob come down to visit me. It is so nice to see them and to just be around them. They came down and stayed with me 2 night and I took a day off from school to play. We had a delicious breakfast of pancakes and fruit with homemade syrup and blueberry jam. There is a relatively new Springs Preserve that I've been hearing about and I drive on the 95 and see the big roadrunner and iguana on the freeway wall enticing me to go.

So we went and enjoyed the afternoon walking around and learning about this wonderful oasis in the middle of the dessert. It is a wonderful place to take children and I hope to take my nephews if and when they come to visit me again. I loved it and would definitely go back. Locals even get a $4 discount.

You can see the interactive fun that we had at the Springs Preserve.