Vacation

We made it home from California. The beach was fabulous! My big boys taught me how to boogie board. Well, they tried to teach them, then my husband started just throwing me onto the waves - saved everyone a lot of time, very fun for me, and a great workout for him!
I hope you're all having a wonderful summer! Are you doing any big trips or just happy to relax at home for a minute?

Daydreaming through the half-marathon

I survived Not Yo Mama's half-marathon last weekend. So glad to be done, but it really was a great experience. I did 1:53 which I was pretty proud of as the beastly race is straight up Smithfield Canyon. I kept telling myself that I was the beast (term borrowed from 13yo) not the canyon but the pep talk wasn't 100% effective. I had to shoot a GU halfway through, further evidence that I am getting old and don't have the energy I used to!
I was able to lose myself in a daydream about my latest novel for a few miles so that helped immensely. When I was exhausted at mile 12 and Cassidy (heroine from Dead Running) wasn't showing me any other scenes from her sequel, I actually thought, "Come on Cassidy, give me something!" She said back, "Leave me alone, I'm kissing Jesse." I laughed out loud as I ran, then realized I'm a bit of an oddball to be conversing with fictional characters as I run!

What do you do to keep your mind off the pain when you're pushing yourself?

Smithfield half-marathon is tomorrow and I am so nervous! Why am I nervous. It's just one foot in front of the other, right? I think part of my worry is I did this course last year and it was awful. Worst race of my life. Why did I sign up for it again? Because I'm an idiot. Honestly, it's a beautiful course up Smithfield Canyon, the hills are just killer.
Speaking of being an idiot I'm toying with the idea of run/walking 38 miles on my 38th bday (two months away). Is that just nuts or would it be kind of cool to do?
Tomorrow is going to be a crazy day as I have my race, a wedding in Salt Lake for a dear friend's daughter, and a book signing. If you live in Cache Valley, come see me at the signing. It's always such a relief to see somebody who likes me! Here are the details:
I  will be signing books at The Book Table in Logan, Saturday, July 14th from ten a.m. to noon with Daniel Coleman, author of Gifts and Consequences, Bretton Hadfield, author of Max the Mouse Goes to the Moon, William Jensen, author of Adder in the Path, and Michelle L. King author of Mr. Percy’s Mysterious Glasses and Barrett’s Unusual Ice Cream Party.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Win Dead Running

Wanted to share some exciting news. What to Expect While You're Expecting has donated two full sets of their books for me to giveaway on my book blog. There are very few entries so even if you don't need the books yourself, you could give them away as baby presents. Click here to enter.

I am also giving away an autographed copy of Dead Running here. There are 178 blogs giving away books or other prizes so it's great fun to sign up for others on the list.

If you would like a Kindle version of Dead Running, I dropped the price to $.99 through the end of the week.

Dead Running is also finally available on Nook and a bunch of other versions here.

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

Running in the Mud

Have any of you tried the mud obstacle courses? I just signed myself and my oldest boys up for Stomp the Mud out of Child Abuse (100% of the proceeds go to CFSC. If you live in Cache Valley you need to sign up).
So excited to try it out but nervous that my boys will beat me! How dirty am I going to get? Should I be a dork and wear goggles?

I Am a Runner

I signed my 13yo up for football yesterday. He told me, "I play football but I am a lacrosse player." I guess his lacrosse coaches explained that he should give any sport he plays his all but he was always in his heart a lacrosse player.
This morning I finally decided that I am a runner. I ran 14 miles up Smithfield Canyon with a broken toe after not running for 2 1/2 weeks. I also need to mention that it was hot, windy, I drank from a stream that will probably give me giardia, and at mile two I had to remove my toe wrappings because they were rubbing and my sock was full of blood.
Blood, sweat, and dirty creek water. Yeah, man. I am a runner!
It's funny that I've done two marathons and numerous other races but when people ask me if I am a runner I always say, "No, I'm a weight-lifter who runs."
Today, I am a runner.

Can eating late at night make you gain weight?

I read an article from Health Magazine at the gym this morning about the issue of if you can stay up late and still lose weight. Basically the theory was that if you don't eat after 8 p.m. pm your body will use up its glycogen stores and start burning fat while you sleep. I've always heard that it doesn't matter when you eat it's the total number of calories in and out that matter. But this theory of a night-time fast to allow your body to use up the stored glycogen and then start burning fat does make sense. I also found an article from getfitwithkevin that explained our bodies start to slow down after five pm to prepare us for a good night's rest so if we're eating after 7 or 8 p.m. that food won't be used as energy but stored as fat to use later. This theory also makes sense to me; that food we eat late at night is being processed and then stored instead of utilized. If you add that theory to the earlier one of using a nighttime fast to store fat, it presents a pretty strong argument to not eat late at night.
What do you think?