June 12 - Bridal Veil 10k and Palestinian Feast

I decided I better run the 6.2 miles that are requisite for an olympic tri.  Until the 12th of June, I had not run more than 4 miles without stopping.  So I found a local race... The Bridal Veil 10k.  We were taken by bus to some obscure point up the canyon.  They dropped us off, and we soon began our run.   A couple things made this race unique.  

1. The route was gorgeous!  We ran on a river trail through a tunnel of trees and passing a beautiful waterfall.
2. The T-shirt!  James Christiansen had some affiliation with the sponsor of this race, so our free T's had artwork by a famous artist!
3. The weather was unusually cold that morning, which was a total blessing for me, as I hate the heat! 
4. This was the most disorganized race I've done. I won't use this space to complain, but  the pre and post run were a little chaotic.
5. We were on the same route as a marathon, sponsored by another organization!  This was just indicative of the disorganization.  It did make the run unique though because we passed big crowds cheering for the marathoners.  It also provided motivation!  If all these guys can run 26.2 miles, surely I can run 6.2!

Dawn & I
I met Dawn at a 5k in May.  We ended up at this race, and laughed through all the chaos!
She's talked me into doing a half-marathon.

The run was easier than I thought, and I kept my 5k pace! 

That night, I had one of Alan's amazing Palestinian dinners.  He lived in Israel for 3 years and mastered some great dishes.  A typical meal includes a lentil dish, hummus, pita bread, kefir, tomato salad and fresh olives!  The food was delicious, fresh and vegetarian!!

June 5, 2010 Little Red Riding Hood

She's hardcore...

... and I'm hardcore.
You can't tell, but I'm stepping on a wolf. ;)

Little Red is a woman only bike ride through Cache Valley in Northern Utah and raises money for cancer research.  I was actually interviewed by a local paper to be a featured rider because I'm a cancer survivor.  However, I couldn't make their photo shoot (middle of the day in SLC... does anyone have jobs?), so they didn't run my story.  If you go HERE, you can read the gist of the article.

Andi, Casey, Katy and I in slurpee heaven! 

This ride was a prep ride for my upcoming Olympic triathlon.  It was the longest I had ridden to date.  Katy and I drove up to Northern Utah the night before and met up with some of her friends Casey and Andi.  Casey is a cute mom who tells it like it is.  I loved her taboo-free spirit.  Andi works for the Foreign Service and has lived in crazy places like Afghanistan... she's basically a G-man (or G-woman?).  My new friends somehow talked me into getting a slurpee that night.  BAD IDEA! I hadn't had a slurpee in years... it's basically a few liters of liquid sugar. Liz the insomniac was totally wired and probably got 3 hours of sleep! We woke up early and headed to the starting line.

The beginning... 

There were 3000 participants in this ride!  

You can choose from a variety of distances in this race - 15 to 100 miles.  The four of us chose the 58 mi course. I kind of wish I would have chosen the 80 mi, but it was more important to ride with friends.  

The scenery was so gorgeous!  The weather was perfect!  The fact that it was non-competitive was great!  I am totally hooked on road biking!  

World's best photo!
Katy took this over her head, while clipped in!

Can you see me? This was the ride... 
blue skies and green fields.

Katy was fun to ride with because she is an ornithologist.  The whole day she was spotting cool birds. The ride was mostly beautiful farmland. We passed a few ponds and reservoirs.  The land was very green and quiet. I totally get why people are attractive to the rural life.  My least favorite stretch was a dairy farm.  It simply reeked!  

Liz, Shelly, Lindsay, Paige, Amy... The Tingeys!  
Check out the mom/daughter matching jerseys!

Although there were a few hills here and there, there was one major climb worth mentioning.  It was a few miles long, and I am proud to say that I powered through it and passed a lot of struggling cyclist.  I am admittedly a wimp going down. I rode my break on the the steepest descent because Shelly told me about the major crash last year on that stretch of rode.  I had a lot of sister friends doing this ride.  Besides my posse, I met Julia Ashworth, my cycling guru, at the finish line.  She did the 80 mi. I also ran into my Aunt and cousins during our lunch break.  They were doing the full century ride, which I am totally doing next year... watch out Mr. B.B. Wolf!

Casey, Katy, Liz & Andi

Liz, The Big Bad Wolf, Julia, & Katy

That night I attended Lena's annual "World Peace through Dessert" Party.  I felt totally justified in sampling the plethora of cakes, pies, cookies, etc.  It's remarkable how sugar makes everything feel a bit more Utopian. 

Death Shmeath... Summer of 2010 begins!

JUNE
Mine is the Month of Roses; yes, and mine
  The Month of Marriages!  All pleasant sights
And scents, the fragrance of the blossoming vine,
  The foliage of the valleys and the heights.
Mine are the longest days, the loveliest nights;
  The mower's scythe makes music to my ear;
I am the mother of all dear delights;
  I am the fairest daughter of the year. 
                                                         ~H.W. Longfellow

My spring 2010 ended with death - death of my dear friend Drew as well as the death of a relationship with someone I deeply loved.  I don't think I need to spell out the irony. There were no roses, marriages, pleasant sights or lovely nights in my upcoming June... The mother of all delights... ha! Yeah right!   Normally I travel in the summer. Traveling always rejuvenates me, but I postponed planning a trip because... well because I anticipated a much different summer. 


I'm reminded of my favorite musical, Elisabeth.  The operetta is a historical fiction is about the Austrian Empress Elisabeth who has a love-hate relationship with a the character 'Death'. The story begins when she is young and has a fatal accident.  Death comes to take her and falls in love.  He chooses to let her live but keeps visiting her throughout her life, struggling with his desire to take her with him and letting her live a full life. It's kind of like the movie Meet Joe Black except much, much better.  I reference this story because Elisabeth, is the perfect heroin.  She feels a great responsibility in her role as Empress. Although she can see the appeal in leaving her difficult life, she continually overcomes Death's attempts to woo her.  She is so strong!  I should mention that character of death is incredibly hot... Brad Pitt has nothing on him because this Death can sing and dance! 


Elisabeth inspires me. Instead of wallowing in self pity of my missed adventures in Africa and instead of spending a month mourning the loss of Drew and the ex, I packed my summer with local adventure.  I decided to make my June the freakin' mother of all delights.  That will show death! 


Although my summer didn't begin on a high note, I'm sad that it is coming to an end. Fall will officially arrive in a couple of days, and I would be remiss if I didn't document this great summer!

This is the scene when Death first sees Elisabeth and sings the most beautiful love song!