We Did It!

Friday night, my friend Beth Hansen and I ran the Moonlight Half Marathon in Mapleton, Utah. It was an interesting experience, but definitely worth it. As of three or four days before, Beth didn't think she was going to run it, but I begged her to come do it with me, because what would be a fun adventure with a friend would not be nearly so exciting alone. Luckily, I'm a persuasive person. We had started out training together for this about a month ago, and did really well. And then like two weeks ago, we kinda just...faltered. Ran maybe twice a week. Kept making excuses

like, "I had curry for dinner." So we both came into this skeptical of our ability to actually finish the 13.1 miles with any kind of life left in us at the end. But we were going to run it anyway.

Getting ready was fun. At packet pick up, we got to choose a light up flashy thing and four glow sticks. And I happened also to have a tube of glow sticks that I'd bought a year or two ago. Beth's

boyfriend Ryan also bought us glow stick earrings to wear. I think I ended up with at least twenty glow sticks plus the bright flashy one on my wrist. Combined with the required reflective vests, and we were pretty well lit. The pictures are kinda blurry and/or dark, but you get the idea.

It was a very interesting race because everyone chooses when to start, with the goal of being the first person to cross the line after midnight. We chose to start at 9:40. That means a pace of 10 min miles with ten extra minutes for walking or a bathroom stop. It was really trippy for the first couple of miles of the run, because you had to get used to seeing discombobulated and/or floating flashing lights running ahead of you or passing in the opposite direction. It was fun though - as long as you weren't near a really bright flashing light for very long, because that just got really annoying. Great motivation to pass people, though.

I really loved the setting of the run. Hobble Creek Canyon is slightly up and down, but not much. For about half of the run we were on an asphalt bike/run trail just off the road, which was really nice. It was nice and cool without being chilly - absolutely the perfect temperature. The full moon was super bright, so seeing the road wasn't really a problem after it came up. Beth and I found a comfortable, slightly-fast-for-us pace and just churned out the miles. I honestly was so surprised to watch the mile posts come up so quickly and without much pain. I think half of it was the whole running in the dark thing. And every time we passed a mile marker, Beth would punch my arm. Usually more than once. It hurt! Haha.

We stopped once for a bathroom break around mile 8, but were able to keep running at a pretty good pace after that. Maybe slightly slower. Around mile 10 it was getting to seem a bit long, but neither of us could believe how good we were running, and we only had like a 5K left, so we kept running. And all of the sudden we could see the finish, and I sprinted through at...

11:57 PM. Just a little bit too fast. But this was ok with us, because it means we did better than our goal. I honestly felt great. A bit tired, but it was midnight and 13.1 miles later. Beth did not feel so great after - we think she kinda went into shock and was feeling very nauseated. All in all, however, we both feel that we did great - WAYYY better than either of us thought we could. Here's us at the finish line:

Yeah, so that was one goal accomplished, and it was way fun and much more successful than we thought it would be. I kinda wish I was going to be around to do it again next year. Oh well. I'll find some fun races out in Atlanta.

Floodwaters

So, my life finally got exciting. Kind of. We had a huge monsoonal storm on Wednesday wherein it poured heavy rain for more than an hour. For Utah, that's crazy. We normally get maybe ten or fifteen minutes of heavy rain. No, this was a storm the likes of which Utah never sees. Honestly, I really enjoyed it. Watching the lightning and shivering at the thunder claps, marveling that hail could be hitting both windows on opposite sides of the apartment (I still haven't figured that one out), and dancing in the rain and puddles. Even as the water started to build up outside my door and I knew it was inevitably coming inside. I was on my way out to dinner, and there was not much I could do except put some towels down inside of the door ways. As I frolicked along the rivery road in my white rain coat and no shoes, I was laughing and very happy.

It wasn't until I got home and took a step inside my waterlogged apartment that I started to sober up a bit. Every step was marshy, all the way through the living room to the hall. What the heck was I supposed to do about this? It's not like I can use towels to soak it all up. I did apply this method to the large standing puddle in 1/3 of the kitchen, but it just wasn't effective on the carpet. I called my landlord with no answer, and figured there was actually nothing to be done at all and went to bed.

I called the management office at 8:05 the next morning and told Cathy what had happened and she promised to send some people out. I thought this was probably a good choice as the water still pooled every time you took a step on the carpet. They came out, decided that the carpet needed to be taken out to let the cement dry, and now all of our furniture is piled in the kitchen and bedrooms. Luckily, we don't have anything in the living room except couches and coffee tables, so nothing got damaged. The carpet will be replaced tomorrow (hopefully), and all will be well. It hasn't been that hard to deal with, but at least it's a little bit of excitement. Woohoo!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150237386911511.310756.651171510&type=1

It's good to have a goal

This past April I ran the Moab Marathon. Quite slowly and very painfully (great scenery though!). And I hadn't been on one run since then. However, in the last two weeks, I've added two new running goals to my life. Events to work up to. 

     The first to come up is the Moonlight Half Marathon...in four weeks. Though the training for this will be intense and quite frankly stupid, I'm really excited. The idea is that the runners choose when to start the race, with the goal of being the first person to cross the finish line after midnight. I love running at night and this will just be fun. I'm training and running the race with my friend Beth from work. Goal: 2 h 5 m, on Aug 12.

     Next up is probably more insane, but I'll have more time to train. Ragnar Relay Race: Lake Mead to Las Vegas. I'll be in a team with 12 runners, and we'll rotate three rounds of taking turns running. The total distance is 195 miles, but I'll probably only be running 15 or 16 of that. "It will be fun." So far the team is my friend Kalie, her mom and sister, some of their cousins, maybe my boss Max and his wife, and some other people I don't know yet. I'm excited for this because it's not just a race, it's an experience! And probably also because I'm kinda insane. Either way, I have until October to get ready. Goal: survive and help team, on Oct 21-22.

     I have started training, and hopefully I'll keep training enough such that I don't die in either of these endeavors. That would be not so good. Also, any good training tips are welcomed. I need help. 

Planet SCD

As some of you know, I went to Chicago last week with a big group from my Landscape Management major. We went to participate in the Professional Landcare Network Student Career Days (more familiarly known as Planet SCD). It's basically a convention for college students in the green industry, where they compete against fellow students in their areas of expertise and connect with companies and people in the industry. 

Like last year, I competed in Arboriculture Technical Skills and Woody Ornamental Plant ID. My preparation was not exactly ideal, but I also have a year more experience now plus the added advantage of having studied this before.

Not so pretty Chicago.

Chicago was...kinda ugly. Granted, it's March and there's nothing green there except the river, I still didn't think the city itself was that cool. We ended up driving a lot in the city and surrounding areas, and it just looked small and cramped and dirty, and rather unsafe.

Networking: Me and Roger Phelps from Stihl

The first really exciting part about this trip for me is the networking - meeting the people in the industry. Because I've gone on several trips like this, I know a lot of these people already. It was so fun seeing Roger and Lara and Noel and all the Davey guys again! Since I'm graduating in December, I was talking to them about full time employment in January. Several companies have offices across the country, like Davey, Bartlett, and Valley Crest; while some are in specific areas, like Lambert's (Dallas), High Grove (Atlanta), or Del Conte (San Jose). Tree care and plant health care is a strongly growing portion of the industry, so I'm a "hot commodity" in the market (according to Dr. Allen, my main professor). Essentially, I now just have to decide where to go and what to do. Not so easy.

Getting ready to climb, with Andrew on belay.

My primary competition is Arboriculture, and then Woody plant ID. Arboriculture is a team event with me and Andrew Hollingshead. A competition climb always makes me a bit nervous before I start. This year I climbed right after lunch, and about 25 people from my school were there to watch me. Joyous. When I was just starting my climb everyone was standing down there, staring at me silently, so I stopped for a second and called, "How bout a little cheering?!" It actually helped lessen the pressure. I don't know how to describe the climb other than it went really well. I felt strong and smooth, very confident in what I was doing, and trusted in the ropes a lot. When I was done, the judges - all guys from Davey Tree Co, said I'd done really, really well. So I felt pretty good. I knew that Kevin from Penn State and the BYU-Idaho team had also done really well, and there were a couple of other teams that would be competitive, so I wasn't sure of what the results would be. Andrew and I got 3rd place! I was so excited and happy about this! This is what Kalie and I did last year, and it is definitely respectable. Hooray!

Station 4: I had to take throw the branches in the bucket and toss them into a target circle on the ground.

The woody ID competition was much boringer - I looked at plants. Some of them I knew right away, some of them I figured out by looking at them, and some I had no idea whatsoever. I did better than last year, and it turns out I got 9th place (quite an improvement from last year's 48th place).

The awards ceremony on Sunday morning was exciting. Andrew and I got 3rd place, and amongst our team mates there were two first places, a second place, and quite a few third places. Actually not as many as we were expecting. So when they finally got around to the top 10 schools, it was kind of nerve racking to keep not seeing our name. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4... (oh man, if Kansas state got 4th, and they had a lot more top 3 finishers than we did, are we not even in the top 10?) 3 - BYU Idaho. 2. ...1 = Brigham Young University Provo! It was amazing! We got the big traveling trophy and a big check of $5,000!

Brigham Young University - Provo; 2011 Winning Team!!!

In and around Chicago, my favorite thing was the Garfield Park Conservatory. We spent several hours there on Monday morning, and it was amazing. My favorite was the show room, because it was so full of flower color from azaleas, daisies, camellias, and so many more!

Garfield Park Conservatory Show Room. Flowers!!!

It's really fun being part of this very cohesive group of people that was on this trip with me. I love my major!

PS. The random fun parts:
 - Eating pizza at Piece (Brewery and Pizzeria): a pub in Chicago on St. Patrick's day.
 - Shopping at H&M on Monday, and Filene's Basement, where I got a big pink hat.
 - Getting a $1000 scholarship.
 - Running with Kimber, Phil, Tek, and Amber.

Lost and Found

Yesterday, I lost my wallet.
This morning, I realized that I had lost my wallet.
Before I left for class I searched my backpack, my purse, my various coats, my bed, my chair, and my floor. Nada. Luckily, I had some cash stashed away that I could use to mail in my scholarship application. It actually turns out to be a good story, because after I finished classes I simply went to the place where I last remember having it - a computer lab where I had printed out said application. I described it briefly, and voila! I got it back. Good story, right?
I realized that I've used the same wallet since I was about...ten. I've tried one or two different versions, but it's never long before I come back to this one.

When I looked inside my wallet, I was reminded of a conversation I'd had with Alyna a couple of months ago. How would people judge you based on what they find in your purse/backpack/wallet?

It's a curious thought. And since I've been meaning to write a blog post to keep up with my bloggy siblings, I figured I'd write one about the contents of my wallet. But you guys will have to tell me what the judgement is.

In my wallet (in order from the different pockets):
 -Two driver's licenses, old and new
 -Various driver's cards for BYU and The Care of Trees
 -Blood Type card (A+)
 -Wells Fargo Debit card
 -American Express card
 -AAA card
 -American Red Cross Donor ID card
 -Stamp booklet
 -Winger's Gift Card
 -Kohl's temporary charge receipt
 -Ticket stub from Burlesque
 -Two walmart gift cards
 -Macey's gift card
 -Provo City Library Card
 -State of Virginia DOT Flagging Certification
 -Yozone punchcard with 7 stamps
 -Free Movie rental coupon
 -Business card for Mark Noark, Davey Tree Expert Company
 -Be The Match Donor ID Card
 -$5
 -Receipt from Wendy's (Spicy chicken sandwich)
 -Receipt from BYU Creamery (Milk, cookies)
 -Two quarters, a dime, a nickel, and a penny

Yep. I think it's quite a typically random assortment of junk. All that stuff and only $5.66. That's sad.

It's always more fun to share with everyone

I'm in such a sharing mood lately.  Or more specifically, I love sharing some of our family's favorite movies with people unfortunate enough not to know about them already.  Example, Oscar.  To my friend Ryan and my roommate Kalie.  This classic move contains some of our favorite lines, but too often I find that people have no idea what I'm quoting, and just give me really weird looks.
     "A husband, a husband, but where will we FIND a husband?"
     "Feel this, this nice!  Like a baby's behind."
     "And here's a nice, crisp, twenty dollar bill!"
     "We don't have a daughter that's not Lisa!"
     "Dr. Poole was right!  You're an ox, AND a moron!"
     "Put that away, I'M YOUR FATHER!"
etc, etc, and so forth.
My point is, I like to share these movies with people, so that they too can enjoy the hilarity in their lives.  And stop giving me weird looks quite so often.  Also, Scarlet Pimpernel.  Somehow, these two movies are so well known in our family, but not so much to others.  I'm doing my part to counter this. Are you?

Looking forward

I have gone to two weeks of classes already, and I'm pretty excited for this semester. I am taking:
 - Joseph Smith and the Restoration, from Susan Easton Black
 - Intermediate Latin Ballroom Dance (Dance 285)
 - Turf Science (boring, required)
 - Agribusiness 1
 - Floral Design
 - Classical Civilizations 1, Antiquity to the Renaissance
 - Advanced First Aid

There were some classes I wasn't really looking forward to, Civ and First Aid, which are now two of my favorite classes.  In Civ we're doing a lot of reading from the Greeks and some Romans, which I now remember I really like learning about.  First Aid will be awesome if I can stomach the graphic images of mutated limbs or whatever.
I'm also working on the Tree Crew for BYU Grounds again this semester. I'll be putting in about 15-20 hours a week.
I've decided it's going to be a good semester.  I'm enjoying my non-major classes, have friends in just about every class, get along well with my roommates, run 3-4 mornings a week, and the homework load isn't too heavy, just a lot of reading.  Yeah, i'm definitely looking forward to the year.