Emma's Run 2010 in Athem, Arizona

While I was in Arizona in March, I participated in a 5K called Emma's Run, which is named for a little girl name Emma who was tragically killed 5 years ago. My daughter in law Kortnei use to baby sit Emma and her brothers up to the time of her death. Emma's Run was started in her memory and the funds that are raised are given to help sick or injured children and their families. Josh and Kortnei have participated every year but this was the first time that me and Jill came along too.

We had to get up really early, on a saturday to arrive in Athem on time as its an hour drive from Gilbert. And we picked up Jill in Paradise Valley.

This is picture of a bunch of participates lining up, no one I know, but just to show how cool it looks out there in Athem (which is north of Phoenix) with hills and cactus, it's really quite pretty and very arizonan looking, which I especially appreciate.

Kortnei took all of these pictures. She liked this cactus. I think she takes good pictures.

Speaking of Kortnei, here she is with one of Emma's brothers, I don't remember his name but he was a little camera shy.

Jill, Janey, Josh and Kortnei when we first signed in and waiting to start our run...um, or should I say our walk....none of us are runners.

I wanted a picture of my chip thingy that will keep track of my time. I never had one before and it kind of made me want to compete with everyone. Very un-Janey like as I am not the least bit competitive.

Jill trying to look tough.

We're lining up here, again this is a bunch of people we don't know, but look how pretty and arizonany it looks. Love it!

And we're off! That's me on the left....I took off like a speeding bullet and left the others in the dust...ok, I was jogging, doing what my brother Dennis calls "the old man shuffle." I would say I was doing the old lady shuffle though. But hey, I passed every person that was walking, little kids, moms with strollers, and the elderly....

Josh running ahead of Kortnei and Jill for awhile. I believe only for this picture opportunity. See the nice hills ahead? They were green and there were wild flowers everywhere. It was a very pretty morning.

Jill, Janey and Kortnei after we were finished. Note that we no longer wanted our hoodies on cause we were sweating. Well, except for Jill. You can't tell but it was windy and kind of chilly that morning....yes, it gets chilly in Az!

Finally, all four of us again, Jill, Janey, Kortnei, and Josh after the race (by the way, it may interest all to know that I came in a good 10 minutes ahead of these youngsters, ha! Like I care, remember, I'm not competitive....) We had alot of fun at Emma's run and I personally want to do it again next year. I know Josh and Kortnei will always go.

We were so proud of ourselves that we went to Ihop for breakfast afterwards.

I Know it's April of 2010 and I'm just now finally blogging...

And I can't think of a single reason why I haven't posted anything other then not much is going on in my life it seems. I just go about my days doing the same-o same-o.

I did go to Arizona at the beginning of March and spent several weeks there. That trip so far has been the highlight of my year, seeing my kids, grandkids and getting a brand new grandson!

Here I am with Sam, Carly and Jill in Sam's play room. Sam was showing us all his toys. Jill doesn't look it, but she was having fun and was very glad to be with us. See Carly is still pregnant.


My grandkids love to play at San Tan Mall so its always a meeting place for us to go whenever I'm down there. Here is Kortnei, Josh (talking on cell phone) Jill (checking text messages I'm sure), Jared (don't know whats shining on his shoes...) and me. I'm sure I'm watching the kids play. Carly is sitting on a flower just in front of me. She is large with child and not so comfortable at this moment.
I know it doesn't look like we're having fun but we really were!



Donovan, Cozette and Sam trying to sit on the same flower or bug or mushroom, not sure what.
Grandma Janey with her three sweet grandkids! How I love these kids!

Cozette and Donovan

Cozette and Donovan with grandpa and grandma.

Here we are with all of our grandkids....until

Charlie came! I fell immediately in love with this little guy.


Proud grandma Janey with new baby Charlie and big brother Sam.

Three generations of Nichols men....Jack, our son Jordan, and Jordan's sons Sam and Charlie. Now thats a great picture!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday Janey

 Happy Birthday to my

sweetheart Janey!

Visit to Utah

Cozette and Donovan having fun in

Utah

November, 2009

Playing in the Snow Saturday morning.

Off to BYU Life Science Museum.  But first, a stop to eat at Wendy's.

 

African Turtle

 

Petting a snake!

Having fun at the museum

Walking back to the car in the snow.

5 K in St. George

Dennis and Lynda invited Jack and I plus LaRee and Gary to come to St. George for the weekend to do the "Save a Sister 5 K" and to stay at their home for a mini vacation.  Jack and I drove down with LaRee and Gary on Friday night and met Dennis and Lynda there, in fact we beat them there.

   Here we all are early Saturday morning,  ready for our races....don't we bright eyed and bushy tailed?

  As many of you know, my brother Dennis has ran many marathons in the past 10 years, so he registered for the 10 K, which is 6.13 miles.  Lynda has participated in several 5 Ks, which is 3.13 miles.   But for the rest of us, none of us have participated in one, ( I walked in one for breast cancer in Phoenix at the beginning of the month.  It hardly counts, there are so many people walking that one can hardly move, very crowded.)  This was my first race where your time is posted.

I walked a 5 K every morning with Lynda so I wasn't worried.

Gary, LaRee, me and Lynda just before the start of our race.

I had ABBA on my ipod (I finally got tired of the soundtrack from "Momma Mia") and was in my personal best walking mode....Lynda was right there close by and Gary and LaRee were pulling up the rear.  We each walked our personal best, keep in mind that we all are in 4 different age catagories.  For example, I was in the 50 to 54 age group.

Here I am, hamming it up for my picture as I cross the finish line.  See how serious I take this race?  I was having fun and happy to be done.  You can't see Lynda but she wasn't far behind me. 

Here's my time....I finished in 100th place overall, and 6th in my age group.  My time was 42:08.4 which meant I walked 13.33 minutes a mile.  There were nine people in my age group and the best time in my age level was like 29 or 30 minutes.  It's nice to know that I have room for improvement (I'm rolling my eyes)

 

Me with my walking buddy, my sister in law Lynda.  I wanted to beat her but she just kept right there with me!  Don't get me wrong, we both did really well, our personal best, but because of our age difference, we weren't in the same group, so while our times were the same, I was 6th place for my age group, Lynda was in 2 in her's!  And she was to win an award!!!!

Lynda excepting her 2 place award, the coveted acrylic cancer awareness ribbon.

 My sister LaRee won the 3rd place award for her age group, well, actually they put her in the wrong age group, made her a year younger, but that's ok, she still would have been in 3rd place and did very well.

I won nothing, but the personal satisfaction of doing my best and the determination to continue to take the opportunites to participate in future 5 Ks, maybe even venturing to 10 Ks and beyond...as I grow older to where my time will eventually be the fastest for my age group!

My brother Dennis did his personal best in his 10K, I believe he was a few minutes after us and he did 6.13 miles almost the same time as we did our 3.13!  But then remember, he's a seasoned runner and I wish I could be like that.  Right now, I'm still sticking to the 5Ks, and walking.

I think this picture is really cute of LaRee, Lynda and Dennis (and a bit of my profile), I believe we were giggling about the find awards they were giving out....the acrylic cut out in the shape of the breast awareness ribbon.  Lynda was hoping for the pink socks.

After the races, we showered, then the guys went golfing while us girls went shopping.  Then we went to Pancho Lefty's for a good mexican dinner then back to the house to watch BYU lose.   During the game, Lynda baked us some pumpkin cookies that were excellent, but after the game we still had to go to Neilson's, one of our St. George traditions, to buy our super yummy custards!  Sooooo good!

We had so much fun on our little mini vacation!  Thanks Lynda and Dennis! 

Watch for us in the next 5K....we can only get better!!!

Hiking Mt. Timp

I never have been very athletic, in fact, when it comes to sports, I'm a complete dork...I was the kid that almost always got chosen last for a team since I was so bad. I never have been able to hit a baseball with a bat, I can serve pretty good in volleyball, but I'm scared to death of a volleyball hurling towards me... and I duck. I can't run fast or long. I can shoot baskets, but only in a game of "horse" not in a usual basketball game. I can't hit a tennis ball to save my life, although it seems I was okay in badminton. I can swim, but only for my recreation.

I use to jog in the 70's when jogging first became a big thing, but I never got over my shins hurting so I gave it up. I do enjoy the occasional aerobic workout and I absolutely love working out on an elliptical machine. I also enjoy walking, but other then that, I'm not into sports.

Recently, I have discovered that I enjoy hiking. It all started last May when my friend Chris invited me and Cheri to hike up to the Timpanoga Cave. We had so much fun but quickly realized we needed to build up our endurance, so we went a couple of times, each time it became easier and we were faster. But this wasn't just for fun....we had a goal...to hike up to the top of Mt. Timpanogas! (dun dun DUN!)

So, one week we hiked up to Stewart Falls which is above Sundance. Another week we hiked up to Battlecreek Falls, and yet another week we hiked up to Scout Falls. All were easy hikes, maybe 3 to 5 miles round trip, not bad at all.

Sept. 19th, the long awaited day started at 6:00 am, we wanted to get an early start so that we could be up at the top we figured by noon to 1:00pm. We had a slight delay waiting for a turn to use the public bathroom because of a group of giggling college girls, but we started on the trail probably by 6:45, it was just starting to get light.

We knew that we wanted to take our time, knowing that we weren't a fast group of hikers, which is one of the reason I enjoy hiking with my hiking buddies, they aren't fast. Both Cheri and Chris are excellent photographers, so they would stop to take pictures frequently, which also makes a good resting moment for us.

This is me and my friend Chris posing not long after we have started our hike. We just rolled out of bed, doesn't it look it? The morning was so fresh and clear, slighty cool, absolutely beautiful!

This is a cool wooden bridge that we cross not long after we have passed the turn off for Scout Falls, which is about 2 1/2 miles into our hike. We all really like this bridge, thought it looked really cool....I always think "trip, trap, trip, trap..." Come on, remember the story for Billy Goat Gruff?


We're still in the valley a bit here, looking up on the hill side to where we will be eventually climbing. There were only a few fall leaves, not as much as we had hoped, but still very pretty just the same. As we started to climb, we needed to take more frequent breaks to catch our breaths. Even though we've been working out all summer, and our legs were strong, it still didn't quite prepare us for the thinner air as we climbed higher, so the stops weren't for tired legs but just to get air into our lungs. I have to say, I was feeling pretty good still at this point and totally enjoying this hike.

Since it was a saturday, the trail was full of other hikers, passing us each way. We met many nice people along the way, all had very encouraging things to say to us. Some would let us know that we were "getting close to the meadow..." which meant we were almost to an area that would flatten out for awhile to give us a break from climbing before we had to really climb.

Here is the meadow! And that is my friend Cheri, who decided she needed to rest awhile. Chris and I are sitting nearby. This is where we ate our lunch and tried to get our second wind to continue on up to the top of Mt. Timp. I believe that the meadow is about 5 miles from the beginning of the hike or so. The group of trees was our toilet area....the only thing I do not enjoy about hikes by the way...

It was at this point that Chris pointed out to us how if you looked at the top of the hill, you could see these itty bitty tiny people moving around...and thats where were heading. "Oh," I thought to myself, "that looks impossibly high, and steep!" What I said out loud was, "Oh, cool." You know, we kept passing older people so even though it looks high, it much not be that hard, right?

I decided that my friends we're going too slow, so I went on ahead of them. Once we started to climb up the trail, I really didn't want to stop because I felt the longer I hiked, the less closer that mountain was getting. In other words, it was taking forever! The last 2 miles were quite a climb with switch backs like crazy....and rocky! The kind of rocks that you step on and some go sliding on down the hill. Its a mountain goat trail. Last time I looked, I was not a mountain goat. Oh, and about 2 miles ago, my right shoe broke, so I was dealing with a slight handicap.

I love this picture! This is a typical trail that you see over and over again as you're hiking on up. Even though the climb was getting rough, I was still enjoying the beauty of the whole mountain. We were high enough that you could see down to where we had been earlier, and the surrounding mountains and thick, fluffy clouds in a blue sky. It was amazingly pretty.

As I was climbing up the last few switch backs, which had become even more steep, I stopped to catch my breath and realized that the itty bitty tiny people that I had seen down in the meadow, were now normal size people and if I looked down to the meadow, people down there were quite tiny. I was amazed just how high I was and how close I was finally to the top of Mt. Timp. I could see my friends still down the trail from me so I knew they were still coming and I went on up and reached the top first! (and I'm the oldest, ha!)

And here is the view from the Saddle, which is the top of Mt. Timp....not the highest point, which is the Summit, but at this point, I was pretty impressed with myself that I had made it to this point, and a bit freaked out when I looked up to the Summit, which would have been another mile, almost straight up, and I could see how itty bitty the people looked going up there...well, I decided I didn't want that adventure. The wind was blowing so strong, it was rocky and so steep...I really couldn't see how it could possibly be safe to go on up to the Summit. The trails were incredibly small, and did I mention, steep?! While I sat and waited for my friends to reach the Saddle, I decided I wasn't going to make the climb on up to the Summit and no one was going to talk me into it.

I had almost 20 minutes to myself on the Saddle waiting for my friends to join me so I looked at the view, and watched people going back down, and it hit me how it was really great that I made it up here and all, but soon, I'll have to go back down....Watching everyone else, I realized with a sense of dread, that it didn't look easy.

Here is me and Cheri at the top of the Saddle....see how rocky and steep it looks? And look at my hair and body language....I'm braced against a very hard wind!

Cheri arrived and she told me her legs felt like jelly and how very, very tired she was, and by the way, she has a fear of heights! I thought, good, she won't want to go on up to the Summit. She called her husband to tell him we made it to the top, and after awhile (we're still waiting for Chris), Cheri handed me her back pack and said "I'll never do this again, I'm going on up!" And just like that, she left me and started up the Summit! I yelled, "don't you want to wait to see if Chris wants to go too?" But she went on ahead. I had told Cheri I wasn't going on up, so I guess she thought it'd be cool if I stayed there and waited. It was already after 3 in the afternoon by this time.

Chris arrive maybe 10 minutes later. We were trying to see if we could tell where our neighborhood is from our view up there on the Saddle. We're at 11,000 ft or more so its almost like looking down from an airplane. Chris called one of her sons and he went to our church parking lot and flashed a mirror, then we could see that flash and see where we live. It was awesome that we could see that so far away.

We could also see storm clouds gathering in the west, almost eye level to us since we were up so high. It really made us nervous when we saw lighting, and we could see all these little dots, which were boats, on Utah Lake coming into shore, most likely because they too could see the gathering storm clouds and lighting. We needed to start down the mountain, and soon! But we needed to wait for Cheri.

We were getting a bit concern, but then I noticed that I could see what looked like to be Cheri slowly making her way back down the trail. Happily for us, Cheri wasn't able to keep climbing up to the Summit, and so within minutes, we were making our way back down the trail. Some nice people passed us and Chris thought to ask them to take our picture right then since we never did get a chance to ask anyone to take one of the three of us at the top.

So this is us just as we were starting back down from the Saddle. Even though our goal was the Summit, we agreed that we had done quite a feat to make it to the Saddle. I have to brag here that physically, I was still feeling pretty good, no tired legs or muscles....but mentally, I was a bit freaked out. This was so high and I couldn't see how so many people hike this all the time without any deaths. It's scarey up there! Pretty, but scarey! I was definitely ready to get back down. Call me chicken, I don't care.

Going down seemed to take forever! It was harder in that you really had to watch how you stepped down, some steps were very steep and so it was jarring to my feet. When we reached the meadows (remember about 5 more miles left still) I could feel I was getting blisters on the big toe and the bottom of my feet were getting very sore. Chris and Cheri said their legs were tired and they still made frequent stops. I was afraid if I stopped and sat down to rest, I'd never get up again! I would stop and wait for them to catch up simply because everyone else seemed to be gone. All those other hikers were already finished! It was getting evening and it was too quiet, so I'd wait till I could hear my friends getting close so I wouldn't be alone.

By time we got within the last maybe mile and a half, it finally hit me how incredibly exhausted I felt, how much my feet hurt, and yes, now my legs were tired too. It was dark by now and lucky for us, Chris is practically a Boy Scout (always prepared) and she had a flashlight, so we walk (stumbled) close together while Chris shined the light on the trail. We made it back to the parking lot where a Ranger was waiting to make sure we got down okay (we were impressed by that) and dragged our extremely worn out bodies to the car. It had taken us 13 1/2 hrs. to do our hike!

At one point, on our way down, I said something about feeling pretty good for a 7 mile hike and Chris pointed out its more like 15 round trip...(!) No wonder we were so tired and yay us! We did it and if we hadn't have been so tired, we would have patted ourselves on the back. Instead, we discussed hot showers, ibprofin and bed. All of which we couldn't wait to do.

Getting out of the car was hard, I could hardly move when my friends dropped me off at the house. Somehow I made it though and got a nice, hot shower. Sadly, my all terrain shoes didn't make it, I had to toss them. I felt better after a shower and a meal, although going up or down the stairs was a new experience in pain. I remember in the middle of the night, I needed to get up to go to the bathroom and I couldn't move and I wondered, "what's wrong with me? Everything hurts!" Then it all came back to me, the walking and walking and walking, etc. (brings to mind a primary song....)

At church the next day, I saw my hiking buddies. We whined about how sore we were but still so happy that we accomplished the goal. We all agreed we were definitely interested in more hiking. Chris handed me a book called, "Utah's Favorite Hiking Trails." She assigned me to look through it and decide where we should possibly hike in the future. Okay, I'll do that after church....

I open the book, and what do I read..."WARNING: HIKING INVOLVES RISK!" Now they tell me I think to myself. But then I read, "Hiking is a sport, not a pastime..." I'm thrilled! I finally found a sport I can do!!! And by Monday, I wasn't hardly sore anymore at all. Again, yay me!!!!


My hiking Buddies: Cheri and Chris