5K race

I'm lying here in bed thinking about this day and how lucky I feel to have a body that allows me to push myself and accomplish a goal. Even a moment ago as I was looking at a picture on fb that Darlene had posted of me, her, Sharon, and Bri having just finished the race, I got teary-eyed. Did we just really do that? Yep, we did.

..................................

I woke up at 6am this morning, after having woke up a few times during the night to see what time it was, and how many more hours i had left to sleep. First 2am, then 5:40am.

I showered, dried my hair a little and pulled it back in a pony tail with a pink ribbon. I then put makeup on - because who doesn't want to look good for a race, right?

I put my running clothes on; my compression capri's (love those things), pink shirt and my compression black jacket. Then came my cute gray and pink striped leg warmer socks, followed by my gym sock and running shoes.

I was ready.

I hurry and made myself a blueberry smoothie for energy, greeted Brea Millward and Violeta Jensen into my home for a little bit before we got Ashley Sorensen and Bri and headed to Pleasant Grove for The Pink Series 5k race.

It was a cold morning. Like really cold. I think it was around 36 degrees.

Ryan so lovingly pulled the car out of the garage, and we hopped in and left by 7:30-ish.

As I was driving I asked if someone could say a prayer for us. Brea volunteered Violeta, and she happily obliged. In her prayer she prayed for us to have strength, determination and courage to finish the race. She also prayed for those who were suffering from cancer, and started to get choked up - then I started to get choked up, and then Brea. It was a beautiful prayer.

Upon arriving and parking on Main Street in PG we walked to the area where everyone was waiting for the shuttle to take them up to the starting point at Grove Creek, up against the mountain. We boarded the school bus, which thankfully had it's heater going full blast.

We got to the area, got loaded off the bus and began stretching a bit while some made their way to the port-a-potties for a pit stop.

It was now 8:20. We still had 40 more minutes before the race and it was cold.

We walked to where the sun met the pavement, and where Sharon gave us some good advice and a pep talk.


"With it being downhill you're automatically going to want to stomp on the pavement while you run...don't do that, you'll be hurting in no time." 


"Step lightly on the middle of your feet, not your heels, or toes."


"whatever you do...DON'T GIVE UP! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!"

Excellent advice!! Boy are we lucky to have a runner in the family. Thanks Sharon!

8:45 came and Bri and I had to make a last minute pit stop.

Some photographers were there, and noticed our cool socks and my bright pink scarf/boa thing that I wore. I like to be festive, ok? He said he liked the boa, and needed a really animated picture of us. Of course we were all for it.

8:55 came and the people in charge gave us some last minute words via a bull horn.

9:00: RACE TIME

That first mile, even though the first part of it was down hill, was the hardest. My lungs don't like the cold air and they struggled to give me enough breath. I ran as much as I could but then walked on the uphills.

Towards the end of the first mile I spotted Darlene in front of me, called her name, and caught up with her. Mile 1 was now over. "What? we've already finished mile 1?" I said to her as I caught up. I looked at my ipod, 9:16. It took me 16 minutes to finish that first mile. I felt a little hopeless that I wasn't going to beat my goal of coming in under 45 minutes.

Mile 2 started off downhill. "Let's run all the way down this hill until we get to the end where the road turns and then we'll walk a little," Darlene said. So we did.

My laces were now coming un-done on that hill, but I kept going until the end of said hill where I stopped to tie them.

We then walked a little, and ran more, walked a little, and ran even more. The photographer was there so we put our best face on while he snapped a few of us.

I kept running until mile 2 was over, and even past that. I stopped for a few seconds and realized it hurt worse to walk then it did to run. Wow! That has never happened! So, I kept running, albeit slowly.

We turned a corner and saw a stop sign at the end of the road by the high school. "Let's run to the stop sign and then we'll walk a little," I said to Dar.

We walked for a little bit and realized the end was near, so we ran again....all the way to the end.

We saw my brother Quinn up ahead at the street light, waved to him, and he waved back after realizing it was us. He had his iphone out and took pictures and video of us.

We were really close.

We ran faster.

As we got even closer Sharon came back and ran with us the rest of the way...

"Shannon, you're doing it! You're doing it! Keep going! Ryan is waiting for you!"

She grabbed my arm to try and help me keep going. I was so ready to puke by now. I honestly didn't know if I could make it to the finish line, even though it was so close!

"I'm going to puke, I'm going to puke!"

My face couldn't hide the pain I was feeling in my left foot due to the uneven roads and running on an angle for that last 1/2 mile. I was in pain and I felt like I was going to die.

"You're not going to puke, take deep breathes your almost there! Ryan is waiting for you!" Sharon exclaimed.

I saw Ryan out of the corner of my eye standing there taking pictures of me and with family and friends supporting and cheering for me.

I wanted to cry!!

Even my nephew Owen ran a little with me. But I couldn't look at them, I had to keep looking at that finish line and focus all my energy into finishing.

I could feel my throat starting to close up, as it does when I get choked up. But I couldn't cry or else I really wouldn't be able to breathe...and I needed those last few breathes to get me to the finish line.

"Shannon Hadden - here she comes!" I heard the announcer say in the microphone for all to hear.

I was doing it! I was just about to cross that finish line.

42.35 minutes I saw on the clock as I crossed that line into the arms of Sharon, Darlene, Quinn, Ryan, Sean, Brianna and Ashley.  Now I really wanted to cry!!

"Good job, you did it! You beat your goal!" I could hear them cheering.

But I wasn't celebrating - yet. At this point I couldn't breathe. I struggled to get my breath and really felt as if I was going to pass out. My throat was closing - it was scaring me and I felt nervous for a moment there which made it even harder for me to breathe.

"Relax and hold your arms up, " Quinn so gently said me. Ryan came over to hold me up while I kept struggling to relax and ultimately to breathe.

After a minute or so I finally was able to relax and breathe again.

Now I could really celebrate!

We took some pictures of all of us (minus Ashley - she had to get to work).

4 minutes after I finish I hear them announce Violeta and Brea's name. WOW! They were worried they weren't going to be able to run it at all...but they did...and they made excellent timing.

We finished. All of us. We finished that 5K race.

I am in awe of these awesome Women. I am in awe of the Women who have or had breast cancer. They're strength to keep going is awe-inspiring. I'm proud to have participated in something that has a great cause behind it. Very proud!

It was so cool to see Women from all walks of life participating, cheering each other on - a lot of them breast cancer survivors.

Now, it's time to rest, put my feet up, ice them, take a hot bath, and relax the day away, and check that 5k off my list of goals for the year.

I did it! Will I do it again? Absolutely!

I calculated my pace, and I averaged a 13 minute mile. Not too shabby. After each mile I looked at my ipod to see the time. The first mile was 16 minutes, 2nd was 14 minutes, and the last 1.2 miles was 12 minutes. I'm pleased with that.

Oh, and a HUGE shout out to Sharon for finishing in 23 minutes, and Bri who finished in 30 minutes, and Ashley who finished in...I think it was 34 minutes? And Darlene was just a few seconds before me. Talk about amazing!

-Enjoy the pictures!

Bri and I on the bus heading to the starting point.

Me and Bri, with Dar and Sharon behind us - and Violeta and Brea behind them...

and Ashley behind B & V.

Waiting for the race to begin: Brea, Me, Ashley, and Violeta

A sea of pink waiting for the race to start. 

Darlene and I heading towards Quinn. We're almost done!! I'm actually smiling here. I think I was telling the Police Office "thank you" for directing traffic so we could keep running and not stop.

Yep, so ready to die! My face says it all.

And we're done and feeling AWESOME!
Sharon, Bri, Darlene, and me.

Our awesome team - just missing Ashley. 

Dar, Bri, Me, Violeta, Brea, and Sharon. 

Nerves

Nervousness is upon me.

You see back in January I signed up for my first real 5k to be done on April 28th. I've done a few with XANGO in the past but this one is more real to me, hence the nervousness.

The 5k I'm doing with my sisters (minus Caiti - boo) and friends is The Pink Series 5k. It's a race for breast cancer. Now, I've never had it and no one in my family has had it, but I have friends whose mothers have had/still have it. It's a good cause and I'm excited to be a part of it.

After I signed up I started the C25K (Couch to 5k) training program. I loved it!

However on my 6th week the bone spur on my heels started hurting quite a bit. So I cooled it down a little with the running, to let it try and heal.

Then I got another respiratory infection. Not a fan of those.

I started running again with my friend Ashley - but I wasn't running as many minutes as I had been before.  I felt like I had to start all over again. Blasted!

So, to make a long story short, and the reason why I am nervous is because I don't feel all that prepared.

It is a downhill course so that'll help, I hope.

I'm excited, I'm nervous, I'm anxious, I'm everything!! I know it'll be fun, and that's what I'm looking forward to.

I'm not racing to beat a time or anything (although I would like to be under 40 minutes). I'm doing this for fun, and because I need my activities to be just that ACTIV-ities.

Saturday here I come!!! Wish us all luck!

Pictures to follow.

Life

Life sure is interesting, isn't it?

This past week has been really incredible. Nothing has really happened, we didn't win the jackpot or anything.

But it's been a great week.

I think it all started last week when I found out some news in my family. News that to some may be something wonderful, and to others is a huge stress/worry.

In the past when things would come up, and stir frustration and anger up in the family, the way I handled it was to get angry too. To let it consume me, and stress me out. I would get bitter, very bitter. I carried those feelings with me for a long time (at times I feel they are still there).

This time was different.

Although I still feel a sense of worry for this person, and for others, I feel at ease.

There are things that we can't change. There are people we can't change, all though we try our darnedest to change them, we can't.

Ryan has taught me that getting angry, wanting to chew someone out, and being bitter towards someone is not going to make anything better. Oh there have been a handful of times I've wanted to do that to some people, but he's taught me to 'be the better person' when these things happen, and Heavenly Father will take care of the rest.

This past Sunday was a great day. For the first time in...honestly I don't know how long...I was on time to church. And by on time I mean I arrived 10 minutes before it was to start. Talk about amazing!

I sat next to a friend on the comfy chairs and we chatted a bit before Sacrament started. Ryan was sick that day so my friend and I were both husband-less.

Testimony meeting was wonderful! A friend bore his testimony about how even though Joseph Smith was imperfect, Heavenly Father worked miracles through him. He then said that even though we are imperfect He works through us as well to bring about great things. It hit me really hard. I thought about these stresses in my family. We're not perfect, and we've got a lot of problems, but Heavenly Father can still bring about miracles if we try.

What a comforting thought, yes?!

I gave my lesson in YW, a lesson that I had planned a few weeks ago to give, a lesson that wasn't from the Manual, and a lesson that I felt needed to be shared.

It was a lesson on Hope. "The Infinite Power of Hope" - by Elder Deiter F. Uchtdorff

Little did I know how much this lesson would touch me, and help me to have hope. But I was happy to hear from some of my Laurels that it was something they were struggling with and needed the lesson. Wow!

See! Heavenly Father works through imperfect people to bring about something great for others.

I am so thankful to know that in life we don't have to carry these burdens on our shoulders. Christ will take care of that for us if we give them to him. He has our back. He's there for us.

We need to turn every frustration, every bit of anger, every heartache over to the Lord. And in turn we need to do things that will bring joy, happiness, peace. Focus on the good. I don't want to give Satan one more ounce of satisfaction he feels when he sees us at odds with others, or angry, stressed, not happy.

I love my family, my brothers and sisters and my parents.

I love my little family with Ryan - gosh I love that man! He has taught me so much.

Hope is a good thing, peeps. A really good thing.

March in Instagram pictures (beware of picture overload)

I realize these are all mixed up and out of order, oh well. I don't really feel like putting them the right way. Ha!

St. Paddy's Day with my cutie pie neice, Elizabeth or Bubsy (as we call her)

Ryan likes to show Max videos of other dogs on youtube. Very entertaining for him.

Max does this with his lip sometimes, but we can never catch it on camera. He reminds me here of the black wolf thing on the Never Ending Story.

Got up early Saturday morning to see the Hunger Games, the sunrise was amazing!

Blue skies and clouds in Lehi. Love it!

I love living in Lehi!

We finally got a good snow storm. So pretty!

Pretending to be the girls from different Hunger Games tributes.

Me, Sadie Wing, and Violeta Jensen.

Max saying goodbye to Ryan before he goes to work.

St. Paddy's Day with my cute nephew Kai.

HUNGER GAMES! Ok, so I saw it twice. Friday and then Saturday.

Same sunrise on that early Saturday morning. Seriously, it was so pretty!

Self portrait. It was a good hair day.

Leaving work for the weekend. I noticed the reflection of the sky on my car.

Had to document it. It was a beautiful day.

Saturday morning General Conference. Max slept through it.

I love Kneaders bread!

Not sure what this is...but it's cool.

How do I work out at work? Wall squats. hold for 60 seconds, 3 reps.

I love blossoms!

Max sure loves his daddy.

Cutest picture ever! Bubsy giving Uncle Seanie a kiss on St. Paddy's Day.

Although he's French, Max got into the spirit of St. Paddy's Day with his,

"Bark if you're Irish" bandana.

The game 'Draw Something' can be very addicting. Just ask my boss and co-workers.

Yep, we work hard.

HUNGER GAMES bow and arrow game at work. Try to knock down the other tributes.

Kiss me I'm Irish!

Me and my crazy nephew Aidan on St. Paddy's Day.

Got this baby this month. No more editing pictures on my laptop. Hallelujah!

Ryan had his 38th birthday. Made him some breakfast and a candy bar gram.

Max is terrified of the broom that stands on it's own. (Ryan wasn't holding it up)

Baking cookies with the YW. Love these girls!

In March we got rid of our Lincoln (on the left) and traded it in for the zippy Mazda.