On Pioneer Day I ran the Deseret News Marathon. Except for the two weeks right before the race, I trained pretty hard in preparation for it (dang school work seems to get in the way of all the important life events). Despite all my training I only cut about two and a half minutes off my previous time and finished in 5 hours 5 minutes, and 46.3 seconds. I was a little bit disappointed at first, but then I started thinking about the fact that in about 3 months time I changed my running form and my running shoes in a radical way. In April I wore conventional running shoes, but on Pioneer Day I wore my Vibram FiveFingers shoes. As you can see from the pictures, I wore the same red shirt and silky shorts. Seeing the picture with a higher resolution I can better understand why people are always making fun of my silky shorts. Even though they feel great, they don't leave much to the imagination.

Go Team Shorty Shorts!

On Wednesday, April 14th I was reading the Salt Lake Tribune wherin I saw a map of the Salt Lake City Marathon. A gentle thought came into my head and said "I should run in the marathon". Well...it grew like a tumor until it became irresistible. Thursday after my classes I went and signed up, not for the 5k or the Half Marathon or the bike marathon (25 pansy miles) but for the full 26.2 miles.

I hadn't been training for a marathon, but I have been running about 3-5 miles twice a week for a few months, so I figured that even though I wouldn't be well prepared, at least I wouldn't be totally unprepared. Besides, if there's anything that I learned in the Marines, it is that running is all in the mind. I'm not going to let a little pain in my feet or legs or back keep me from being awesome!

I woke up early Saturday morning, put on some anti-chafing stick and my Marine Corps Silkies and ran the marathon. I finished in 5 hours 7 minutes and 55 seconds. I was sore for a few days, but it was worth it. I remember vividly telling myself many times between miles 18 and 25 that "I'm never going to do this again!", but I am...and I'm going to shave off at least 30 minutes, I mean...5 hours? I can totally beat that.

Nice Tomatoes!

My roommate Darron and I have been planting a garden for the last few years and once again, it's time to start the garden. We've always been pleased with our tomatoes because they are the best. Last year we decided that we were going to get a really early start on growing our tomatoes and then we decided to see if we could grow some tomatoes in our living room over the winter. Here is a picture of our living room tomatoes (there are 8 plants).


So far, it hasn't produced very many tomatoes. Three red tomatoes fell off the vine a little bit early (Darron ate one and he said that it was "ok") Considering the cost of running a light (to supplement the light from the window), these are some expensive tomatoes. There are some more tomatoes on the vine and when it warms up outside we're going to transplant the vines outside in the garden, so hopefully it won't have been a total waste. We're looking forward to a delicious gardening season this year!

I'm a University Student!

Back in January, I started classes at the University of Utah. I'm majoring in Behavioral Science and Health. I plan on graduating next spring, but I'll have to take a few summer classes if I don't want to have to take 18 credits at once. I am super excited to be at the University! I enjoy going to classes more now that I've finished at the Community College. After years of going to school off and on and sometimes without success, it's nice to finally feel like I'm making some progress.

The Old Tee-Pee

I found this old picture and I thought a few of you might get a kick out of it. When I was a kid, we had this play Tee-Pee and we loved that thing. It was ripped and I think one of the poles was broken, but it was always fun to play with. In this picture is (l to r) Jeremy, John David Curry (I think?), Carrie, and Me (check out those awesome blue shorts I was wearing). This picture was taken at "The Yellow House" in Aberdeen. As a bonus you can even see the headlight of the old Chevette that our family had growing up. We had this car when my youngest sister Lillia was born and for a short time we fit our whole family in the car (Three kids in the back seat, each with another kid on a lap and Mom (with a car seat on her lap) and Dad in the front seat. Some have likened going to church in the chevette as sort of a clown car routine.

The Lowder Family...minus two

For Labor Day weekend I went to Aberdeen to spend some time with Grandma & Grandpa and I was fortunate enough to be able to go to Aunt Peggy and Uncle Ronnie's house for Ronnie's birthday. In this picture is Chelsey, Ronnie, Peggy, and Celest (Cindrie and Chantae weren't born yet). I'm not sure exactly how long ago this photo was taken, but it has to be somewhere between two and three decades. That sure was a long time ago.

For Cammie

My cousin Cammie just moved to Texas to go to school and so this one is for her. We miss you Cammie and hope you are doing well. These pictures were taken when Lillia was being blessed so this is around September of 1987 in Aberdeen Idaho. The first one is of Cammie and the second one is of Cammie and Kimberly.