Tag, I'm it.

One of my running idols and intellectual idols, Shelah, tagged me a week ago (at least), with this running meme. I've been waiting for life to settle down from Primary Activity Day, Father's Day DVD editing (with my interviews of all of the Primary children), trips to the ASU library to read some of the books that they won't let me check out (grrr), and an extended weekend camping trip. Life still hasn't settled down (just took a break to make kids share the basketball), but I'm giving this a shot regardless:

1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago? Ten years ago I was done with running and was into aerobics at the Gold's Gym in Provo. I had run the Moab 5-miler with a group of great friends from the Riv (everyone but my roommate Hillary and I had ran the half-marathon). I could hardly move the last mile and had to stop and walk because my knee hurt so badly. It was a miserable experience, so I gave up running forever, I thought. But, you know what they say, necessity is the motherhood of most everything, including my return to running when we moved to Massachusetts and I was gym-less for the first time since my sophomore year of college.

2. What is your best and worst run/race experience? Worst: That Moab 5-miler. Best: Maybe the half marathon I ran with my friend MaryAnn last October--reaching one of my goals. Or maybe running at 5am at the Jerusalem Center for Near-Eastern Studies with my pal and roommate Elise. But probably the time MaryAnn and I ran around her neighborhood one Saturday morning. It was rainy so we didn't run our usual route. We stayed relatively close to her house in case it poured and we ran the same circle 5 times. We thought we were running 4 or 5 miles, but when we got in, we had been running for over an hour, so we drove it and realized we had run over 7 miles. At the time, I was running post-baby and thought I couldn't run more than 4 or 5 miles without dying. This run was mind-blowing and exhilarating for me to realize that I could do more than I thought I could. I realized with that run how much of running is mental. It sounds silly, but it was kind of a break-through that allowed me to have faith in my ability to run longer.

3. Why do you run? A few reasons. I'm not really competitive with my running. I have too much going on in my life right now. So I run first for companionship. I love the conversations I have with my running friend(s). I run second to balance out my love for chocolate. I run third because it is one thing I do in my life for me, not for my kids, not for my husband, not for the Primary. For me. And I run fourth because afterwards I usually feel for a while like I am on top of the world. I feel strong and capable and powerful. I love that feeling.

4. What is the best or worst piece of advice you've been given about running? Well, I'm no font of running wisdom. I guess the best is probably to hydrate the day before running and to take the time to stretch afterwards. I have a hard time with this because I'm so impatient and because I multi-task so much. But I have hip or knee problems when I don't.

5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know. Hmmm, I don't know. I'm pretty boring. That and I don't know that I want to reveal my wildest moments to the general blogging public. Sorry. How about . . . I'm scared to death of needles. At the sight of one, I sweat profusely. One of my earliest memories is running from my dad when he brought home a hepititus vaccine after my little neighbor friend's mom came down with it. Another random tidbit for you is that, although I love to bake and cook, I can't make rice crispy treats to save my life. I'm lousy at it.

Runners I'm tagging:
Elise
MaryAnn
Christy