I'm Officially A Runner!

When you get back from your weekly long run looking like this, I think you can officially call yourself a runner:

Not sure if you remember, but a couple months ago I announced here I would be running the SLC Marathon in April, and without going into all the detail again, let's just say I've never really thought of myself as a runner, and I DEFINITELY don't have a runner's body, but I've been training since October, and with each long run, I'm getting a little better (meaning a little less miserable) at this. From the beginning, my intention was to blog about training with hopes of getting some inspiration from friends reading this blog to push me through my rough patches, but with working full time, taking care of a baby, and training, the last thing I want to do at night after Sam goes to sleep is get on the computer, so hopefully this holiday break will get me back into blogging mode, and I can keep you more up to date on my training successes and woes (mostly woes I'm sure), and you can leave positive, motivating comments, deal?

My long run this weekend actually wasn't so long because it was a taper week in my training (a week of shorter runs to give your body a break). I did 4.4 miles in 50 minutes, which is a bit slower than my goal race pace of just over 10 minutes per mile, but I was running mostly on ice with my eyelashes pretty much frozen shut, so I'd say that pace is not too shabby!!

For the first half of the run I was full of rage. I was mad at the freezing cold temperature, the fog that kept me from seeing more that about 20 feet ahead, and the fact that I was running blind (cuz eyelashes frozen shut), but after I reached the turn around point I was a new person. I could smell the barn and I wanted to get there fast! I started feeling pretty good, and I picked up the pace a bit, and actually almost enjoyed the second half of my run. I say almost because I definitely would have rather been at home eating, but maybe I'll get to the point where I would actually choose my run. Who knows, we'll see. At that point I thought, wow, it's kind of cool that my eyelashes are frozen shut, so I called Mike as I approached the house and asked him to get his camera ready because I wanted proof of this hard core run before the ice melted off! He snapped my picture as I entered the door, and there you have it, proof, I am officially a runner.

The Girl Effect

Saw this on Oprah today, and while I'm not usually one to pass these things around, this one really seems like something we can/should be able to change, so I'm sharing it:

You can help make a difference for free by sharing this video. For instructions on how to share this video and/or how to make a monetary donation go here: http://www.girleffect.org/

Better Late Than Never...

This year was Sam's first Halloween, and he was a construction cone! His costume was AWESOME!! It was made with love by his Grandma and Mom. Really though, it's the most ghetto costume ever made. We took felt and rolled it into a cone and sewed a seem down the back, then we ran out of fabric for the base, so it's just a bunch of random, glued together pieces of fabric. Next, we tortured the poor kid by sticking the cone over his head without a face hole so we could try and measure where the face hole should be. Then we tortured him again to try and figure out where the arm holes needed to go! I'm sure he thought it was all worth it though because he ended up with a cool costume that didn't allow him to sit or move, just stand, which he doesn't know how to do yet.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

The Annual Blommer Family Zion Trip, but in Moab

This year we decided to change it up a bit, and instead of going to Zion for the Annual Blommer Family Zion Photography Trip (which we've done every year since I can remember), we headed to Moab.

The group seems to get larger every year, which is great! We had 13 people this year. The weather was beautiful, and aside from Mike's grandma trying to climb an arch and falling and breaking her foot, we had a blast! Yes, you heard right, Mike's 70 something year old grandma was climbing an arch. She is awesome, and in great shape, but I can't say I condone anyone climbing a sheer rock face without ropes, and she paid the price, unfortunately on the first day. She'll be in a cast for the next 6 weeks, but the good news is she's recovering nicely at this point.

This was Sammy's second trip to Moab, and he LOVED it, as you'll see from the pictures below:

Can't Wait!

I'm so excited for this tomorrow:

http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/2009/10/oh-what-year-makes.html

Randoms of Sammy

Why My Husband Is Cooler Than Your Husband: Installment 2

Because he can grow a sweet beard:

1st Annual Buddy 5K

The 1st Annual Buddy 5k & Pancake Breakfast was a raging success!



The official finishing times are as follows:

The run was followed by a very official awards ceremony.

There was dancing:

And bacon:

The ecstasy of accomplishment:

And the entertainment of an elf:

And a medal for the youngest finisher:

There was a t-shirt raffle:

A shout-out to the support crew:

Afterwards, there was some swimming:

See you next year, buddy.

An Important Announcement

Oatmeal vs. Squash

Why My Husband Is Cooler Than Your Husband - Installment #1

For some background info on this new blog series go here: http://mikeandkaty.blogspot.com/2009/06/precursor-to-my-new-blog-series.html

My husband is cool because he climbed Denali (a.k.a. Mt. McKinley) last year, but he's cooler than your husband because in preparation for the trip (mostly because he was so excited about his new mountain climbing marshmallow suit) he took these self portraits in our basement:









Who does this? Aren't these the best self portraits ever!! Well, actually they're not, because he has some even better ones coming up in future installments of this series, but I thought these were some good ones to get you all warmed up for what's to come!

I do think it's pretty amazing that he climbed this mountain though. At 20,320 feet, it's the highest mountain in North America. It took his group 14 days to get to the top, which is really fast because the fastest the guided groups will allow you to do it is 13 days.

He said that overall the trip was beautiful, but mostly miserable. The highlights included terrible food, catching a cold on day 2 of the trip, waking up in the night not being able to breathe due to the high altitude, and 12 guys pooping in the same coffee can the entire trip. Sounds awesome huh!

I couldn't let Mike take a trip to Alaska without me, so I flew out with him for the first week, and we hung out to see the beautiful mountains before he headed up to start his trip. Denali National Park is incredible, and I highly recommend it to anyone going to Alaska. We saw lots of Grizzly Bears, and so much other wildlife that it was like a safari! Here are some pics from the trip:




This is Mike's climbing partner, Todd.

Here we are looking awesome!

This is a lynx! The driver said he only sees one or two of these a year, so we were really lucky!

This bear actually touched our bus!