My Life Without Hostess

Hostess. Has. Gone. Out. Of. Business.

This is a post I never thought I would have to write. The realization that Hostess will never again be a part of my life is hard to swallow. (Even harder to swallow than all those Hostess-wanna-be products.)

Saying we will no longer have Hostess is like saying we will no longer have rainbows. Or grandmas. Or air.

Hostess reminds me of my childhood when our family would sit around the fireplace laughing, hugging, and talking about how awesome MC Hammer was. Okay. All of that is a lie. My parents never brought Hostess home to us. Something about not wanting to rot our teeth….or our blood stream turning into frosting. Blah, blah, blah. But still, Hostess has been part of my life ever since I was old enough to ride my bike to the grocery store with a pocket full of dust bunnies and allowance money.

There is the selfish part of me that is trying to talk myself down from the edge of the cliff. I can’t imagine a cold, dark world without Hostess Cupcakes. But even more gripping is the sad realization that my grandchildren will never be able to taste heaven. And by “heaven” I mean “Hostess Raspberry Filled Powdered Donuts”.

I still can’t believe this is real. I’m waiting for a press release from Hostess saying “Ha ha America! You’re on Candid Camera!” I’m fully expecting Ashton Kutcher to pop out of a closet to tell me I’ve been punked.

I will miss you Hostess. I will never forget you. You will always be a part of me. (Literally, thanks to all your preservatives.)

In the words of the wise philosopher Whitney Houston, “IIIIIeeeeeIIIIIII will always love you!” (Side note: I’d be willing to bet that this was the first time the words “wise” or “philosopher” have ever been used in the same sentence as “Whitney Houston”.) RIP Hostess.

Last Week's 44 Mile Run

What do you do when you have a whole day from sunrise to sunset free? (No, the answer is not "Sit on the couch in your sweat pants, eat countless bowls of Fruity Pebbles, and watch The Price Is Right and Judge Judy reruns all day.") (Although that does sound kind of fun. Except that I get sick of all the commercials for motorized scooters on The Price Is Right.)

So what do you do when you have the whole day free? Yep. You run. (I planned to go sunrise to sunset or 50 miles, whichever came first. I ended up going 44 miles.)

The day before Thanksgiving I had one of those days. I had the pleasure of running the first 20 miles with Matt Gunn. Matt is the race director for the Zion 100 and the Bryce 100. He is fast and recently finished 9th place at the grueling Bear 100. And he is one of the nicest people you could hope to know.

We ran around Sand Hill in southern Utah to check out an alternate course for the Zion 100 in case there is rain. I'll show you lots of pictures of the Plan B course on another post. But let me summarize by saying that it was awesome.

We reached the edge of this cliff that gave one of the most incredible views I've ever seen. I can't wait to go back here during the afternoon or evening when these red mountains really light up.

Not only is Matt a good runner, but he also has some serious hops.

Our route alternated between sand and slick rock and I kept thinking how fortunate I felt to be surrounded by places like this. People travel from all over the world to see areas like this in southern Utah, and I have it right in my back yard. I am very, very blessed.

After my 20 miles with Matt I explored some other dirt roads and trails. Every once in a while I'd go through some stretches where my legs felt tired and heavy but after a while I'd catch a second wind and feel good again. Some preservatives and food dye sprinkled with coconut may have helped.

I stopped a few times along the way to empty out my shoes which apparently have a built in sand magnet. And there was plenty of sand to attract.

I stopped back at my car every 10-14 miles to refill my hydration pack and get a few snacks. I didn't really eat too much during the day. It was one of those times when my stomach was growling but nothing really sounded too good to eat. I didn't have a sick stomach at all (thank goodness!), I just wasn't interested in eating. Candy corns instead of Gu packets? Don't mind if I do!

Aside from a few rabbits, the only wildlife I saw during the 44 miles was this critter:

I figured I better get in a jumping picture later in the day before the sun went down.

For me, time is a much more manageable concept than distance. Saying to myself "Okay self, let's go run 44 miles.".......sounds hard. To me that distance sounds difficult. But if I say "Okay self, you get to go run as far as you want and spend ten or eleven hours out on the trail."......that sounds fun. My mind deals with time much better than distance. I started the run before sunrise, and was about to finish the run as the sun went down.

Mother Nature had one last gift for me before I finished up. I think it was her way of saying "Hey, thanks for coming to hang out for eleven hours! We should do it again sometime. And thanks for those candy corns you accidentally dropped on the ground." I saw this beautiful sunset as I finished up.

"Heaven is under our feet as well as over our head." ~ Thoreau

Awesome 1/2 Marathon Medal for Baker's Dozen

If you haven't already, you ought to check out the Baker's Dozen Facebook page - there is some funny stuff going on over there.

I'm very excited to show you the medal for the Baker's Dozen Half Marathon coming up December 15th. Remember - to earn the medal you need to run the half marathon, not the 5k. And these suckers are going to be BIG! If you earned a medal at last year's race - there are going to be that big. Only a week to register before fees go up! See you there.

Turkey Jive Half Marathon Review

This past Saturday I ran the Turkey Jive Half Marathon. My friends Jason Smith and Lyle Anderson created an organization called Underground Runner which will be hosting low-key, no-frills races. That's just my style! Here they are providing some pre-race instructions. (It's hard to take anything they say seriously when they're looking like this.)

Being a first time event, there was a small group of around 30 runners that showed up to jive. 70's costumes were encouraged and there was enough afro hair to cover the state of Michigan.

The thing I liked best about the race was that it was less like a race and more like a group of friends getting together to go run. I ran the whole time with my friends Karrie, Michelle, and Cherie. (This was BEFORE those dark storm clouds dumped on us.)

The course was an out-and-back and they jumped for joy when we reached the turnaround.

Me and my afro/polyester got in a little bit of jumping too.

We picked up one more runner, Melanie on our return. These guys were a blast to run with. I would take a casual race like this over one of the 40,000 runner marathons any day.

There was an awesome medal waiting for us at the end of the race. (The same company that made this medal is also making the medals for the Baker's Dozen Half Marathon. They. Will. Be. Sweet!)

A Trail Date With The Wife

Last week I spiraled into a state of deep depression and emotional turmoil when I found out that Hostess had gone out of business. (Kidding. Mostly.) Thankfully some fun running took my mind off of the despair.

On Monday November 12th I ran 6.5 miles with Mel and her sister Rach. Good times.
On Wednesday, November 14th I ran the 8.5 mile Grafton Mesa loop with Mel.
Saturday, November17th was the Turkey Jive Half Marathon. I'll give you a full race report tomorrow.

But I'd like to tell you more about my date with Mel running the Grafton Mesa loop. The first little bit of the trail is pretty mellow.

That mellow trail doesn't last too long though. Before she knew it, our climb up the mesa began.

Mel hasn't done too much trail running lately so I was worried that this trail might smack her around a little bit, but she handled it like a champ!

I took a little detour to scramble up a rock.

Mel told me I should do a jumping picture while I was up there. It was admittedly a little bit scary.

We made it to the top of the mesa and were provided with absolutely amazing views of Zion National Park. Runners are going to love this new section of the Zion 100 course.

Half way through the loop, the steep technical trail turns into a sometimes gradual but often steep downhill dirt road. I haven't confirmed this, but someone told me this section is called "Crybaby Hill". That name would not surprise me.

The end of the loop led us back toward Grafton ghost town.

We had so much fun together. If I could plan the perfect date, this would be it.

Our trail date ended with a trip to Oscar's Cafe in Springdale. Their "Murder Burger" was awarded Best Hamburger in North America by the Cory Reese Institute of North American Hamburger Research. Add the sweet potato fries and you'll be convinced that you have gone to heaven.

A Murder Burger a day keeps the Hostess depression away.