Bike: ULCER (Utah Lake Century Epic Ride)

For the third time I have signed up to ride the ULCER. This is a killer ride for a couple of reasons. First of all it's in the beginning of August... in Utah. It can be super hot. It's not a super hilly ride but it's around a lake so wind can be all sorts of crazy. It's not a race per se, just a ride. It's still a 112 mile ride, that's hard no matter what.
The first time I did this ride was the summer that I got my bike and had a buddy to ride with. I trained pretty hard for a month and did the 67 mile version. I finished the ride and felt great. In fact I thought I could have done the whole thing but I thought I'd start slow because this was the longest ride I'd ever done. The night of that first ride I was playing soccer with a youth single adult group and almost got compartment syndrome playing soccer. That halted my enthusiasm and training for a log time. That's also when I got the nickname Lexi-hop-along.

The next year I did the 112 mile version of the ULCER. I didn't train as well, didn't stretch the week or day of the race. I attribute the fact that I finished the race that to a group that I latched onto in the last 40 miles of the race. However, I didn't really walk for the next week or so because I really injured my left IT band.

This year I plan to repeat the good things and leave out the bad from my previous experiences. On August 6th I will be giving this ride a third go-round so can't really slack off now. I've already started training and I'm implementing lots of stretching in the workout. The first few training rides were a little rough and I felt really out of shape - mainly because I was. The most recent rides have been much more encouraging and my endurance and speed have increased. I've included a couple of pictures from my rides this year. I will continue to update here and there about my progress and how the race goes. Wish me luck!

So much more: Lily Hokanson

I know a lot of people have been anxiously waiting to hear news of this little one. She’s finally here! Lily Hokanson was born at 8:27 pm on June 30th. She weighed 8 pounds 14 ounces and was 21 inches long. Both she and mom are doing fantastic. The doctor checked her out this morning and said, "She sucks better than a Hoover vacuum.” That’s a good sign if you ask me.

Because Lily decided to stay comfy instead of coming on her due date (June 21st) we decided with the doctor to have Serena induced. We came in to the hospital about 8:00 am. Serena was started on Pitocin at about 9:30. The doctor broke her water between 12:15 and 12:30 pm. After that it took a while for things to get started. At about 3:15 or so Serena got an epidural. Lily was quite the stinker and she dodged all the monitors. The nurse and doctor finally put internal monitors on to make sure she was doing okay. Before shift change at 6 pm our nurse checked Serena and she was only dilated to 4.5 cm or so. When the next nurse came to check her about 45 minutes later she announced Serena was complete and she’d go notified the doctor. That surprised us a lot but I was happy because I really wanted a June baby. Serena started pushing about 7:10ish pm. She was a star pusher even though she couldn’t really feel anything. Lily came out very lively. I got to cut the cord and watch as the nurse cleaned and weighed her. Mom and baby had some quiet time together before I took Lily down to the nursery. Both mom and baby are doing very well. We’re so excited that Lily is here to teach us and to bless our lives. We’re so grateful for all of the wonderful medical staff and all of the support from family and friends.

Lily is such a beautiful baby. She has gorgeous long eyelashes (thanks to yours truly), elegant fingernails and lots of silky soft strawberry blond hair. We decided she waited so long to come so she would be beautiful when she got here. Serena and I are so in love with our little child already. We’re so happy!