4 posts from April 2008

School Play

IMG_1615
IMG_1615
Alysen and Jennica getting ready for their school play. They were in Suissical, the Musical as baby bird (Alysen) and a member of the Who Community (Jennica). They enjoyed it alot.
Post a comment Tags: kids, school play, dr. suiss

2008 Salt Lake Marathon Bike Tour

IMG_1671
IMG_1682
IMG_1683
IMG_1687
IMG_1681
So this year, rather than run, I was planning to ride in the Bike Tour for the annual Salt Lake City Marathon. I even volunteered to be a Ride Marshall. This means I rode along and tried to help anyone that needed mechanical repair along the ride. It also meant that I had to stop and ask if anyone needed assistance if they were stopped along side of the road.

Rich rode along with me, to keep me company and to have someone to talk to as we looked for people to help along the way. We stopped for a guy with a broken chain, a teenager with a flat tire, and an overweight woman to crashed, but luckily fell onto a lawn so she wasn't really hurt, just a little grass stained. When you are a bike marshall you end up at the back of the ride, encouraging people to hurry up and get off the course as the runners are coming behind us. By the time we finished, we were riding (with the stragglers) in the middle of the 5k runners. It was fun.

Riding along sure brought back memories. As I passed the 16 mile marker, I remembered the race last year and how this was where I started to cramp up as I was running. I distinctly remember the  port-a-potties, as that is where the girl (I met her that day at mile 10, we both had about the same stride so we would chat as we ran on together) left me behind cause I couldn't keep up. After this I would run for a couple of minutes, then go back to walking for a while.

After the ride (this year) I went home and grabbed my kids in preparation to go on a hike. We signed up for a class that will take us on various hiking trails in the Centerville area. The first hike we started is only 2 blocks away from our house (I have ridden my bike on this trail before) The trail is called the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. In theory it goes all along the Wasatch Front from Sandy to Salt Lake to Bountiful to Brigham City. There are some gaps where you are no longer on foot trails, but riding through neighborhoods and busy city streets. But it was a fun hike for my kids. The weather is warm, but windy. We are planning to keep doing these hikes for the next 4 weeks.
Post a comment

Feeling Better

Wow, it has been a while. I have to look around and try to remember how to blog and everything. 


I feel a lot better since the accident. I am pretty much back to normal. Can touch my toes and everything.

This weekend we planted some new trees around our house. We put a peach tree in the front and two cherry trees in the back. Sadly my neighbor from across the street just torn down his cherry trees. I might need to put a third one in that would act as a pollinator for the two I just planted.

I have also been working in the garden. Planted a couple rows of peas, some tomatoes, broccoli, red onions and some flowers for the front of our house. Now I hope they will survive, we had a spring snow storm hit us yesterday.

This Saturday is the Salt Lake Marathon. I am not running this year, and this was before I got injured. I had planned to ride my bike in the bike tour that rides the course before they start the race. I have volunteered to be a bike course marshall - which means I ride along and if I see anyone stopped at the side of the road with a problem, I stop and help. It should be fun.

After the bike ride, I promised my kids that we would go hiking. There are a lot of little valleys around Centerville, and I would like to go explore them and see what trails are around. I hope it warms up for the weekend and the snow melts away. It might be a muddy hike.

1 comment

Snowboarding Accident

BackInjury
BackInjury

I will have to write more about this later, cause I don't have the time or patience today. I went snowboarding last Wednesday night up at Brighton, and tried an obstacle. A rail, a barrier if you will. Any way, I didn't check my speed and went way too fast up it, flew off the end and landed on my back. Probably a drop of about 6-8 feet. On icy snow pack. I immediately felt a pain in my lower back and waited for the ski patrol to come haul me off the slopes. After some aspirin and an agonizing ride down the canyon, I went to the hospital where they X-rayed my back, then did a CAT scan, then X-rayed my neck and pelvis. I got my fair share of radiation that day. The emergency staff said I had fractured 6 vertebrae on the left side (where the little wings are). But luckily it didn't do anything to the cylindrical protective bone around the spinal cord. I have been laid up for the past 4 days and am now just getting back to work.

I spent four days in pretty much, sleep and rest mode - but am getting pretty tired of just sitting around any more. Because the fractures are small and not a threat to the spinal cord, the doctors don't think I need surgery or even a brace. Just take it easy and let my bones heal - in about 6 weeks. They are not displaced or anything. But no lifting weight over 5 pounds, no bending or stretching, I can't do anything active and I have to have help to get dressed. I can't wait till I am a big boy and can put my own shoes on again.

All in all, I consider myself pretty lucky, it could have been worse. If I would have hit a few inches more to the right, it could have crushed the vertebrae, spinal cord included. I will write more later, sleepy...

1 comment