Is This Weird?

Rich and I have our own separate bathroom items. Things like toothpaste, floss, and contact solution. When I run out of toothpaste, for example, I can borrow Rich's for a little bit, but I still feel like I need to buy my own. I guess it kind of makes sense for when Rich goes on trips. He has his own stuff that he can take with him, and I have some at home with me.

But when we're both home, we make no effort to combine our items. I have my own drawer, and Rich has his own drawer. Some of our items go into our medicine cabinet, but even in there we have our own shelves. Our items just don't mix.

Maybe we do it because we're used to this from having roommates. I don't know.

Are we odd?

Last Track Update

Well, the last one for a while, anway.

As you probably know, Rich raced at USA Nationals last week. It was a really good opportunity for him to be racing with all sorts of professionals. He placed 16th overall in the semifinals, only 2 spots away from qualifying for finals!

Two of Rich's former teammates were in the final round, Josh McAdams and Kyle Perry, both running for New Balance. Josh placed 1st, making him a two-time National Champion in the steeplechase. Kyle placed 4th, which is pretty amazing for someone who just finished winning the NCAA National Championship. Josh will be competing for the USA in Berlin at the World Competition in August, so that's going to be pretty awesome.

And now, Rich's track season is officially over. It has been a long one, going from January until last week. I will be very glad to have my husband home with me for more than two weekends in a row! Next up is cross country season, starting in the fall.

This is Rich jumping a hurdle at USA Nationals.

Here is Rich with Kyle, Josh, and coach Ed Eyestone.

USA Nationals

Here's a little more info about Rich's running to add to the blog, maybe to Rich's dismay.

I just wanted to let people know he is running at USA Nationals tonight. The race will be broadcast online. Here's a link to the race. The first heat of the steeplechase is at 7:25; Rich is in the second heat.

http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/USAOutdoorTFChampionships/streaming.asp

Rich's Update

Ok, so I guess I'm supposed to give an update of what I am up to. Though I think that everyone is a little Riched-out because it seems this whole blog has been about my running so far...which is pretty much all I've been up to! This long track season that started in January is just about over. I will be relieved at the end of the week when my season is officially done, but also excited for cross country that is just round the corner. Running keeps my busy 360 days a year!

I'm also taking independent study courses for BYU which has turned out to be a real bummer. If there is anything I hate more than homework, it is homework in the summertime! But fun is on the way because I get to work the BYU track and cross country camps in July and then Shara and I are going to Washington for a little bit in August.

Sidenote: I went into the MTC 5 years ago today...time really flies.

Rich's Article

Last week, Rich got a call from this man who wanted to write an article about him for The Latter-day Sentinel, an online magazine for the Spokane Temple district. He talked to Rich for about an hour and half in all, plus all of Rich's coaches since high school and his parents. Here's a link to the article. Some of the information is a little off, but it's a pretty good article.

http://spokane.latterdaysentinel.com/archiveEmail.asp?theEmail=6

Shara's Update

Rich has been teasing me that this blog has pretty much become devoted to his running. True... but that's what's interesting in our life right now. However, I guess it's time we updated a little on other parts of our lives. Here's what's going on in my life right now. (I'll see if I can get Rich to do his update; I don't want to mess anything up.)

For those of you who don't know, I am studying history teaching, with a minor in psychology teaching. Someday, when I'm finally out of school, I want to teach high school, preferably European history or psychology. Right now, I am taking a break from classes, which has been really nice. I had a busy winter semester and a crazy class schedule for the first block, so I wanted some time to just relax.

Instead of classes, I am working full-time (well, sort of) for BYU Housing. I say sort of because I am yet to work 40 hours in one week. I'm what's called a student coordinator. During fall and winter semesters, I work with the Residence Halls Association, or RHA. Basically what I do it advise the student RHA council in Heritage Halls as they plan activites like dances and talent shows for their fellow residents. It's a different kind of job: I buy 20 cans of insulation foam to use to make a tree for a homecoming float, I supervise Mr. Heritage pageants, I rent dunk tanks and popcorn machines from Partyland, I use acronyms like NRHH (National Residence Hall Honorary) and IACURH (Intermountain Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls) daily, and so on.... I really enjoy it.

During the summer, though I techinically hold the same position, I do much different work because there is no RHA council. Instead, my fellow coordinators and I basically do whatever the housing managers need us to do. Currently, we are working on doing apartment inventories in Wyview Park, which is pretty tedious work that we've been doing since the beginning of May, but it can be fun because I work with great people. I get to choose my own hours, which made it easy to take time off to go to Arkansas with Rich. However, sometimes it can be difficult to stay at work because my hours are not set in stone.

Since I am not taking classes, I am excited that I can read what I want with no due date. I enjoy always having a book to read, which is kind of a Fredrickson trait (Grandpa Max, my dad Craiggers, Carrie, etc.) Rich makes fun of me because I can pick up my current book and read only a paragraph at the time (while brushing my teeth, for instance). I am currentrly re-reading Harry Potter because I knew it would keep me busy for a while. I'm on the 5th book right now. My goal is to finish the 6th one before the movie comes out.

Rich and I are looking forward to the Nelson Family Reunion at the end of July and going to Spokane in early August. He wants to show me Spokane when in the summer, when there aren't 6-foot snow piles on either side of the road (like the Spokane I saw for our open house last winter). We are looking forward to spending some time with his parents, Cami, and Andrea while we're there. Another plus about going to Spokane - we are going to get a new car! Our '91 Blazer will finally be put out of its misery (a little overdue).

So, this is my life right now. Nothing too exciting. Oh, except for the fact that my husband is an All-American steeplechaser and is heading to USA Nationals this week! I guess I can have some excitement in my life right now, via Rich.

Duck Pond

Rich and I often go for Sunday walks, and one of our favorite places to go is the Duck Pond just south of campus. It's fun in the spring and early summer because there are so many new ducklings swimming with their moms, and there are so many little kids who are so fascinated with all of the ducks.

Today, we went for our walk, and we saw the funniest (and cutest) thing. First of all, when we got there, all of the ducks were all cuddled up taking naps on the shore of the pond. We've never seen so many of them out of the water at once. Then, we got a closer look at the pond and saw this:

In the middle of the pond on this log were these ducklings and turtles taking a nap together. Not only that, some of the ducks were sleeping right on top of the turtles!

These were our favorite ducks. So funny! And then, one of these two ducks fell off of the log and tried to scoot in with the three on the other side, and that started a fight because there was not room for four.

Oh, the duck pond. The water may look gross, but the ducks sure are entertaining.

All-American

Well, it was a long trip to Arkansas. We had a lot of fun, but we're glad to be back home.

Rich raced Friday night, and he placed 10th. He ran a time of 8:50.08. He put a lot into semifinals, and he didn't have much time to recover before the finals. He ran a really good race and put everything that he had into it. His 10th place finish means he received all-American honors, which has been one of his collegiate running goals. He is excited about the next track season because he will be one of the top returning steeplechasers.

Rich's teammate, Kyle, won the race with his new PR of 8:29 and became BYU's newest national champion. That was really exciting, although I have to admit I wasn't paying that much attention to Kyle during the race because I was focusing on Rich. It was a strong finish for BYU!

In two weeks, Rich will be running at USA Nationals in Eugene, Oregon. He's really excited for this because he's going to run as fast as he can in the prelims and try for a new PR. He and Kyle will both be there, so it will be fun for them! We're excited to see how things go!

This picture is from the prelims. Rich saved it on his computer as "nicehurdle." I thought that was funny.

Race Time Change

There has been another rain delay, so my race is going to be a little later tonight. It will be at 7:45 PM CT if you want to watch it!

Good News from Arkansas

It was a wet day here in Fayetteville, Arkansas, at the NCAA Track and Field Nationals, but it was well worth it. Rich had an amazing race in the semifinals of the steeplechase, after a rather long wait.

The steeplechase was originially supposed to start at 8:30 PM, but there was a long rain delay. First there was rain, then thunder, then lightning, and finally a tornado sighting (not near us, but near enough to move everyone inside). Eventually, after a three-hour wait, the meet resumed. Rich's race didn't take place until 11:30 PM.

There were two heats of the steeplechase. Rich ran in the second one. He needed to be in the top 5 of his heat to qualify for the finals, or have one of the top 4 times overall after the top 5 of each heat (sorry if that's confusing). Rich knew he could qualify for finals somehow, but he didn't know just how well he would do. 

He was around 5th and 6th place for most of the race. Then, he started to pick it up in the last few laps. He pulled into first, backed off a little, then pulled back again around the last lap and a half. He stayed up there and finished first in his heat, with a new PR of 8:41.85, about 3 seconds ahead of the guy behind him. This means that he is advancing onto finals on Friday, and he has also qualified for USA Nationals in a couple of weeks (which is where you try out for the world team). Way to go, Nelly!

Rich's mom and I were yelling so loud for him, and I probably looked a little ridiculous with how excited I was. But I don't care! I was so nervous, and he was running so fast! The home stretch was amazing. Rich turned to look at his mom and me and gave us a thumbs up! I started to cry when he crossed the finish line. He was so nervous for this race, and it all paid off!

Rich's teammate Kyle won the first heat of the steeplechase, so BYU definitely stood out in this race! It will be a good race at finals with Rich and Kyle running together.

If anyone wants to watch the finals, they take place at 6:40 PM CT. They will be broadcast on the CBS College Sports Channel and online, too. This website has a link to the video feed if you can't get the race on TV:

http://www.ncaa.com/loc/ncaa-c-otrack-loc.html

Hopefully there won't be a three-hour delay this time.

Nationals

Rich and I are really excited for Nationals this week! We leave tomorrow and will be traveling pretty much all day to get to Fayetteville, Arkansas, home of the University of Arkansas and the 2009 NCAA Track and Field Nationals.

The semifinals of the steeplechase will take place on Wednesday at 8:15 PM (central time). We're going to be cheering for Rich to have a second race, the finals, on Friday at 6:40 PM. The Friday race is going to be broadcast on CBS College Sports, but no one really has that channel. We've heard a rumor that the race is going to be on ESPN360.com as well, but that may not be true. Hopefully if you want to watch it, you'll be able to find some way!

Rich is going to have quite a bit of family support at this race, which is great. I am flying to Arkansas with Rich and the rest of the team. Grandma Nelson and Aunt Marj live about half an hour away in Rogers, Arkansas, so they're going to be there. Rich's mom is also flying out on Tuesday and staying with Grandma Nelson, so she'll be able to be there, too. If Rich makes it to finals, then his dad is going to come down for the race on Friday. Rich will have a pretty good cheering section, and we're excited to see some family! This is going to be a pretty fun week for the Provo Nelsons!

Pictures from Regionals

Running.

Home stretch.

Victory.

Celebration.

Tired.

1st Place.