R.I.P. Michael Jackson

As everyone in the world knows, Michael Jackson is dead. We have been watching the tributes all weekend and David is ready to see and hear about something else. His death came as quite a shock. It wasn't until Saturday when I went on my long run that I realized how much Michael was a part of my life. As I ran down the parkway listening to my MJ collection, it hit me, the world really did lose a musical genius.

As a child my sister and I LOVED the Jackson 5. We wanted to be them. We and our neighbors, Jackie and Dee Dee would sing their songs and dance around the front yard. We even decided to save our change in a KFC bucket to we could buy some outfits just like the J5! Every Saturday Morning we were glued to the TV for the J5 cartoon.


In middle school "Off the Wall" came out. I bet we played that record a million times! "Rock With You" was (and is) such a great song. We used to listen to "She's Out of My Life" and get all emotional (the way young girls do) when Michael's voice would crack like he was crying at the end of the song. AWWWWWW!

I was in High School when "Thriller" came out. WOW! There was not one bad song on that record. I remember my junior year trying out for drill team to "Beat It". I rocked it and made the squad!

Off later albums I loved "Bad", "Black and White" and "Man in the Mirror", all of which had strong, positive, social messages.

So I guess the old saying is true, you don't miss something (or someone) till it's (they're) gone. No matter what Michael's sins or strange behavior was, he will be judged by one higher than we. I choose to remember him as someone who's music brought GREAT joy to my life.

God be with you my old friend.

If you ever for a second doubted Michael's talent check out this old J5 clip. It's absolutely INCREDIBLE!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ane6VJGlIMs

We Kicked RAGNAR's Bootay!!!

Running With Altitude!

This weekend me and 11 friends piled into 2 vans to run 188 miles in the Ragnar Wasatch Back. All of us first time relay folks tried to get ready by asking others who have done this before for advice. We got some great advice, but nothing could have prepared us for the adventure we had!

Cheech!

Chong!

Our team (van 1) started at 6:45am on Friday. I was in van 2. One of the girls in our group had a cabin near the exchange where we took over from van 1, so we stayed there Thursday night and got to sleep in a little before we had to meet van 1. If I would have known how little sleep I would get during the race, I would have slept in a little more!By the time our van took over, it was mid-afternoon and HOT. My first leg was 3.4 miles and it felt like mile 24 of the marathon because of the heat!

Our van took over again about midnight. My leg was 7.0 miles. I was a little scared about running in the middle of nowhere at night, but this turned out to be my best leg. It was pitch black. I had a headlamp, reflective vest and my ipod and I was off. There were a million stars in the sky and the weather had cooled down. I could see a little flashing light from the runner way in front of me and a headlamp of the runner way behind me, but that was it. It was way cool! Our van had the longest mileage at this point so we did not hand off to van 1 again until around 6:00am.

At this point having NO sleep was getting to me and I was getting a little irritable. We went and got breakfast and headed to the last major exchange point, where I laid my sleeping bag on the grass and crawled inside. Then it started to rain. I tucked my head in and tried to not get wet. I laid there for 30 minutes then had to get out of the rain GRRRR!

Absolutely exhausted, I started my final 6.1 mile leg. My legs felt like lead and my right hamstring started cramping. I slowed down and did everything I could to finish. When I saw that exchange, with my team holding our disco ball and music blasting, I got a little misty. I was so glad to be done!! We had 4 more runners to go and we would be finished! As our last runner headed out we headed for the finish line where we would be there to greet her and out whole team could run across the line together. It started to rain pretty hard. We were not allowed to park at the finish so we had to leave our vans at the last exchange and be shuttled to the finish line.

By the time we got there, there was FREEZING rain and wind. The tents were getting blown up and Ragnar had to close a couple down. We stood waiting for our last runner freezing to death. When we saw her we ran across the line, got our medals and everyone just ran to find a shuttle back. My DH was at the finish and we ran under the gear tent so he could get me a sweatshirt as by this time, I was in serious danger of hypothermia. I was so cold, I passed out for a second right there. My DH hurried me over to the food tent and asked where the medical tent was, when a Ragnar worker saw my state, he put me and my DH in his truck and cranked the heat! He then offered us a ride back to our car. VERY COOL!! THANK YOU DAVID FROM RAGNAR!!!

It was a horrible ending to a great time.The running was not hard per se, the running after being awake for 30 hours with NO sleep was the hard part. I can't wait to do it again next year!!

Our awesome team captain, Stacie and here equally awesome dad, Fred, took some great photos. Check them out!!

http://portal.mxlogic.com/redir/?2DtMQsLELfc3zqtXTpv73zpjDjVmaNVv5ytpRFB9XimN-hK_nhhpouKO--rKrS6QDJ9rQvB3gkmQDmLbCQrIIL6QkS7T3hOqerFLCQSjo2XjpS9Cy0pSNkQgh-SHoJaR3s_3VUIvIE6QjqpJeXb3b1EVphodX_ru

Ragnar Relay- Wasatch Back In 2 Days!!!

Starting Friday at 6:45am, me and 11 of my closest friends (or soon to be) will run 188 miles from Logan, UT to Park City, UT in the grueling, unforgettable experience that is the RAGNAR RELAY!! Check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUE2n56Xqv0

This video was made in 2006 when there was 180 teams. This year there are close to 800 teams running!

In Case You Haven't Seen Enough...

More San Diego Marathon Photos!!

The Marathon Start

The Running Elvi pose at the starting line!

On the course.

The Finish!

Me and my bling!

Got Bodyglide?

Classic Office Fun Run!!

I Just Got In To The NYC Marathon!!!

On November 1, 2009, I will be back in NYC to run 26.2!!! Get ready biaches! I'm coming home!!

San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon! Elvis Was In The Building!

This weekend I ran the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon! This marathon for the past 12 years has had the tradition of the Running Elvi. I joined them this year and had a blast!

Thank you, thank you very much

I won the award for the Best Dressed Queen! This came with a gold record and a gift certificate for dinner for two at the House of Blues, which david and I used after the race. It was great!

We met Dawne and her husband Mike this weekend. They are friends a couple in my running club and when they found out that Dawne was going to be a Running Elvi, they hooked us up with them. Great people!

Running Elvi parade through the expo.

Some of the Running Elvi!

Between mile 6 &7. I still have the energy to pose!

Still looking strong at mile 22! Note that I am still holding that blow up guitar!

Where's Elvis?

Crossing the finish line!

Still sporting the wig and the guitar! I am happy to be done!!

My sweet David at the House of Blues where we used my winnings to eat a great dinner! Special shout out to David! He lets me do all this crazy stuff with only a small amount of complaining! I could not have done this without his help and support! Thanks Sweetie!