From the Horse's Mouth

Before you hear it from anyone else... here's how it went down. If the details start boring you, skip to the last three paragraphs titled "SUMMARY".

I decided to stay up late with some friends that were camping out on University Avenue for the 4th of July parade. It was games, food, fun, etc... I got into bed at around 2 am (hey at least I didn't pull an all-nighter like my friends), and set my alarm for the 7 am 10K run.

I didn't hear my alarm go off at 6:15 (and every 10 minutes after that -- snooze feature), nor did I hear Callie call me at 6:37 am to see where I was.

Luckily my body naturally woke me up at 7:09 am. My heart sunk. I got myself over to Kiwanis Park as quickly as I could and started running at the 10K start line. I didn't get my mark for starting time because they had already moved the electronic pad, so I knew my time was already botched. I thought I could at least finish the race for my own sake. Fortunately I had seen the route on the internet and knew where to go (generally).

Pretty soon I met hundreds of 5K runners going the opposite direction. Some of their comments indicated that they thought I had already finished the race and was going backwards for fun. I found a couple of people that I knew who said hello. If the fact that I wasn't going the same direction as the 5K-ers wasn't obvious enough, I finally reached Center Street and confirmed the true direction for the 10K (I saw a 10K runner going toward Seven Peaks).

At this point I decided to NOT run the rest of the 10K backwards (meaning my friends on University Avenue would be looking for me in vain), so I turned around and headed toward the finish line. Before I reached Kiwanis Park again, I decided to turn around and look for Callie. After 1 or 2 laps going up and down 9th East, I found her and yelled out to her, but she didn't hear me as she was listening to an iPod.

I ran a half a block more, then turned around to catch up to her. When she saw me, you should have seen her face. I caught her walking, and she immediately started running again. We ran the last half-mile together and this time I actually crossed the finish line. Some people realized I was a 10K runner by my number and shouted out praises for finishing so quickly (...oops).

I learned later that Callie wondered if I had actually caught up to her, and I'd like to think that this inspired her to run faster at the end of the race. This, of course, is far from the truth. I would have had to run a 4-minute mile to be able to catch her, twice my current pace.

SUMMARY:
I didn't wake up on time and started running 22 minutes late, ran BACKWARDS, DIDN'T run past my friends on University Avenue, FALSELY inspired Callie and other runners, ran only 2 miles of the total 6.4 miles, STILL got the shirt, water bottle, and fruit at the end (YES!).

Having run only one-third of the race, I consider myself only a partial failure. The only good thing that came of starting late was being able to run with Callie the last little bit and past the finish line. I am so proud of her! I don't have her exact time, but she finished in about 35 minutes. VERY good for your first 5K!

I heard there's another 5K next Saturday somewhere nearby that is free. I feel obligated to run it, and I think Callie might do it with me as well, so we'll see.

Freedom Run

After completing my first running event last August (Hobble Creek Half Marathon), I thought my running days were over... Based off of my exercising habits, you would have thought the same. Several weeks ago, however, I was feeling very spontaneous and had a sudden urge to join this year's Freedom Run on the 4th of July, and started training for the 10K. While I am not as fit as I was during the half marathon, I have surprised myself at how quickly I am still able to run.

I got Callie on board for support (she's doing the 5K), and so here I am announcing my second running event ever, the Provo Freedom Run!




Click the picture if you'd like to join us in the running fun... it's not too late. You can do a 10K, a 5K or a 1-mile run.

Education Week

I just found out tonight that we are performing Joseph at the De Jong Concert Hall at BYU for Education week, so you can see me there Aug 18 - 21st if you want as well. Tickets go on sale June 29th. More info click here.

Fuzzy Face

Why am I trying to grow a goatee??

Reason #1: No more BYU!


This means no more more Honor Code :) -- don't worry Mom and Dad, I won't break the Law of Chastity or anything. I am officially DONE with all my classes at BYU. I have applied for graduation (August), but I don't know yet if I'm going to "walk"... I'm not one for paying $40+ just to wear some thin robes I don't get to keep and stand in a long line. Maybe I'll regret it some day. Who knows?

So what am I doing with all my newfound free time?!? This leads to reason #2 for my new grooming habits: I am doing my second theatrical show ever!


I have been cast as Dan in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Our choreographer has us doing the most intense dance moves... I think I've lost 5 pounds in the last 2 weeks. In addition to the health benefits, I am having a BLAST! Theater has proven to provide a release for all the "special" energy that I tend to have on occasion.

The show runs at the Scera Shell Theater July 31 - August 15th.
Click here if you'd like to come and see me make a fool of myself.

Candace

Candace and I had our first date in March 2008. It was the best first date I have ever had. Conversation was excellent, laughter was abundant, and everything was very relaxed. We had Border's hot chocolate and walked around having random conversations about books that we saw, etc...

Q: So why did it take 1 year to have the second date?!?
A: I'm a dating idiot :). Really at the time I wasn't very focused on dating, and my priorities were not set as they should have been.

Repentant of my past, here I am 2 months into an amazing relationship, and we are taking the concept of long-distance to the extreme. Here she is in Egypt:

Though we only dated 1 month before she left for the Jerusalem Center, it has been very difficult to be without her. We communicate by phone, gchat, and gmail.

I have never found anyone who I have felt so comfortable around, who complements me so well, nor who inspires me to become my best self more than Candace. I am so lucky to have met her.

First Interview Invite!

A pleasant surprise arrived in my inbox yesterday. Here's a paraphrase for those interested:

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Dear Kyle,

Congratulations. You have been selected for an interview at Southern College of Optometry...

The interview day includes an academic counseling session, a meeting with financial aid counselors, a student-led tour of the College, a housing session and your individual interview...

We look forward to meet to meeting you soon. If we can do anything to make your trip to Memphis more enjoyable, don't hesitate to let us know.

Sincerely,
Michael N. Robertson
Director of Admissions & Enrollment Services
Southern College of Optometry
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In short I will be having a mini-vacation to Memphis Tennessee on the weekend of October 3rd and I am both scared and excited at the same time.

For those of you who don't know, I also applied to 3 other optometry schools and expect to make three more mini-vacations this semester to Columbus, OH, Los Angeles, CA, and Big Rapids, MI.

Half Marathon Results

Well, I did it!!! On August 29th after 1hr and 50 minutes, I developed asthma for the first time in my entire life! Go me. Better yet, I finished my first half marathon. I received an official email with my stats:

"Congratulations on finishing the Hobble Creek Half Marathon 2008 on August 23, 2008. For your records, the weather that day was warm and sunny. There were 30 finishers in the 19 to 24 age group and 1038 finishers in the race. Your overall finish place was 378 and your age group finish place was 12. Your overall finish percentile was 36 while your age group percentile was 40. Your time of 1:50:12.9 gave you a 8:25 pace per mile. Complete Results can be found online at www.SRCevents.com/hobblecreek. If you did not receive your award, they will be available at Runners Corner in Orem for the next week, as well as any lost clothing items.We hope to see you again next year."



Here I am .05 miles away from the finish line (Mom took these pics).















Apparently I smile when I'm exhausted. Who knew?














What a sweet feeling it was to earn the title of "finisher". I couldn't have earned it without my awesome sister-in-law! She invited me to do the run in the first place, then kept me motivated all through our training program. Thanks Stace!