2012 ...

2012 just flew right by! So, here is a brief recap of what I've been doing the last few months...

Look! I have a boyfriend! He has kept me very busy this year.

He even survived a week in Lake Powell with my family... daily trips to the marina for ice cream were essential to surviving the heat!

Scott had never experienced Disneyland, so I dragged him there for the Happiest Race on Earth... the Disneyland Half. I love this race...even though I ran by myself this year and didn't dress in costume, I wore my TinkerBell running shirt and made sure I got a picture with Captain Hook.

Captain Hook & Smee & me...

Scott was up super early to hang out at the start line.

I am still riding my bike. Dixie talked me into LOTOJA this year and it was the first (and hopefully the only) race I didn't finish. I will do another Ironman before I do LOTOJA again...it was the most difficult race I have ever done. And it was a long lonely day, so not only physically exhausting for me, but emotionally as well. Thankfully, Scott had installed a GPS tracker on my phone so he knew when I was stopped for way too long. He picked me up after about 175 miles... I was having some cramping issues and throwing up and decided to call it a day after nearly 11 hours of riding. My throat was so raw afterwards that I couldn't eat solid foods for a couple of days... I HAD to drink raspberry shakes to recover.  Thanks for the memories, Dixie... let's stick to the fun rides from here on out, okay? Like the Wildflower Pedalfest...where this picture was taken at the top of the mountain. I loved that ride!

I am still running races, even though I don't have any big ones planned. I'm thinking half marathons are the perfect distance right now. I love the Pink Series Half in Park City... it was a cold wet day on a tough course, but Amber and I still had fun... and she won!

Scott didn't know what he was getting into when he said I could decorate his house for Halloween...and he didn't realize he would be dressing up... I've waited so long to do couples costumes!

In November, Scott had to go to London for work... and I tagged along. We had a great trip and saw Les Miserables, the Tower of London, and did the Jack the Ripper walk. We also enjoyed fish n chips, meat pies, and I had the best cheese toasty in the world. Somehow, we also managed to stumble upon the UK Premier of the Twilight movie...lucky us!

November's craziness continued with the Festival of Trees. Mom's tree was amazing and decorating day is always a highlight of the year for me. And I had a lot of fun working on my gingerbread pub...

I'm finally learning to sew... I made some Christmas stockings!

And Troy the Elf paid a surprise visit on Christmas morning...

I hope your year was full of wonderful people and places as mine has been. I have been so blessed to have family and friends, health and happiness in abundance this year and hope the same for you and yours and an even better year in 2013!

A Cautionary Tale of Internet Dating

Perhaps you remember this post about some of my adventures with internet dating. Let this be a warning to all of you who are participating in online dating... you never know who you might be going out with...

Appearing on LDSPlanet

My friend Stacy emailed this guy for me, and it turns out that I knew him from my BYU days. If you are living in Utah, you might recognize him from his recent appearances on the news...and in court.

Appearing in court

While there are many wonderful people out there, there are some not-so-wonderful people, and some who are just evil. This isn't exclusively an internet dating problem... this could (and does) happen anywhere...online, singles' wards, the grocery store. 

With that said, I met one of the wonderful people, and I'm so glad I did. But knowing that this kind of guy is out there, too, totally freaks me out. In so many ways, I am so lucky that I was never in a dangerous situation. I was in many many weird situations, but I never felt like I was ever in a situation where I was afraid for my personal safety. If you are out there dating, please be careful... listen to your gut and if it tells you that something is weird, get out of the situation as quickly as you can. Make sure that a friend or family member knows where you are going, who you are meeting, and then let them know when you are safely home.

Don't take chances with your personal safety, but don't let fear keep you from meeting new people. Just use a little common sense and your modern dating life can be all you hoped it would be...a little weird, a little fun, and hopefully something wonderful, too.

Lake Powell...Bunting Style

We Buntings know how to vacation...and Lake Powell is our favorite. Go ahead...browse through the photos and feel jealous of all the fun...

Who wears short shorts?  Um, my brothers... 

Troy demonstrating his life-saving skills... and his love of all things pink.

Giant water fights are a great way for families to bond

My alarm clock was the boat engine starting...

Dad and Mom trying to escape...they didn't get too far.

 Thanks for the amazing trip Mom and Dad! We can't wait to do it again!

AF Canyon Half Marathon

Usually I am smiling when I see my picture being taken during a race. This picture proves that I really was running hard, because this is as much smile as I could manage. 

I love the AF Canyon Half Marathon for many reasons... the course is really pretty coming down the canyon, all the registration fees go to supporting people with cancer and their families, you get a great Nike tech shirt that I actually wear, the volunteers and race support is great, and there is Kneader's French toast at the finish line! The only downside is getting up freaking early to get to a race with a 6am start time, but when the day starts heating up, I was very happy to start early (and on time!). And this year I added another reason to love this race... I had a new personal best for a half marathon... 1:42! That averages out to 7:45 per mile, which is very fast for me. 

Although the course has quite a bit of downhill, I still had to work for that time, and I cut 5 minutes from my time last year on the same course. Chad also set a PR with 1:35...way to go Chaddie! This is a great local race that sells out...if you want to do a half marathon in June, I highly recommend this race.

Utah Valley Marathon Report

After I decided that my stress fracture was healed, and I ran two half-marathons and a full marathon on it, I felt like I was finally going to be able to run. Not so fast, my leg said. I had already signed up for the Utah Valley Marathon because it is a fast course and really pretty. So, with my leg not cooperating totally, I had to drop the speed workouts that were causing me pain, and just focus on getting my miles in as painlessly as possible. This meant that I was running my training runs at a much slower pace that I had planned. I had really been hoping to PR at Utah Valley this year, but realized that it was not going to happen, and I should just do what I could to run the 26 miles. 

I didn't really know what to expect with my time... I was hoping to finish under 4 (fingers crossed), but realistically I knew it could be up to 4:15-4:20 if the leg was acting up, or even longer if I encountered other problems like IT band issues or GI issues that I have had at other races.

I woke up at 2:30am to get to the buses early because I usually freak out before a race and I only start to feel calm when I am actually sitting on the bus or standing at the start line. Luckily for my anxiety, I was on one of the first buses to the start line up in Wallsburg. The course was a little different than the last time I ran it, but I was excited that the weather looked nice and we were starting early enough that it wouldn't be too hot by the time we finished. 

Once we started, the slight downhill felt really good. As we ran down Provo Canyon, I was a little ahead of my anticipated race pace, but I felt so good, that I just tried to go with it. I passed a couple of friends, but slowed down to chat a little. I met some really nice people and we all seemed to be having a good race...until the winds hit. Usually, the wind blows down the canyon, but for some reason, we were getting a pretty strong headwind. I figured with that and the uphill sections of the course that I would probably finish behind my 4-hour goal. My quads were angry with me at mile 17, which did not bode well for the rest of my race.

About mile 20, I was done. I did not want to run anymore. Nothing really felt awful, but I was just mentally done. I checked my watch and realized that if I could gut it out for 6 more miles, I could be close to a PR. This perked me up, and I tried to pick up my pace. It wasn't speedy by any stretch of the imagination, but it was steady. It was a straight shot to the finish line, and I could see it, but it looked like it kept moving farther and farther away from me. The last two miles seemed like the longest ever...but eventually I made it... in 3:54. 

And Scott was there. He got up early to be there to support my crazy running hobby. It meant so much to me to see him there, cheering with a bright pink poster, just when I needed it for a final kick to the finish line.

Salem Spring Triathlon

I love doing this triathlon! It's a fun sprint distance and this year came with an added bonus... I took first place in my age division! That means a bonus medal for me...and we all know how much I like medals. Chad did a great job on his new ride, Diana Ross, and Jenae took 2nd place in her first ever triathlon... sheesh... it took me 5 years until I made it to the podium! It was a great day to be out racing!

Goldilocks!

I love doing the Goldilocks ride. Dixie and I have participated from the first year and we always enjoy the camaraderie of riding with a lot of women, the darling t-shirts and necklaces, and turkey sandwiches for lunch! This year we had an awesome group of 8 girls and we had so much fun riding together! Everyone was great... and we all learned to be better flat-fixers as our group had 5 flats on the day (2 of them were mine)! Even with the flats, we had a great day of riding!

Of course Dixie and I planned our outfits in advance...

Jordan and I, just waiting to start, taking photos, hitting helmets...

At the first rest stop, my friend Kristen from the gym just had to get in the photo of Stacy and  me...

Anna, Jordan, Stacy, Me, Dixie, Michelle, Monique, Heather

Changing the first flat with stylish latex gloves, courtesy of Dixie
(we hate getting our bar tape dirty)