Our little MIracle

Two weeks ago today Katelyn and I welcomes little John J into our family. He is absolutely perfect. I can not begin to describe the amount of love I have for him, and the enormous amount of love I see in Katelyn. He is our most precious treasure. I have constant desire to do good and provide a quality life for him. I cherish the middle of the night when I get to hold him and calm him down. He is starting to notice things around him, its so cool to see him try and figure out the world.

4th of July and Holidays

The past couple of weeks have been busy. I started a new training plan with hopes to set a half marathon PR in October at the Salt Lake Halloween half., Katelyn and I continue to get things ready for the baby, and we celebrating 4th of July.

I decided after Ragnar that I wanted to continue to see what I can do fitness wise, however I did not want to rush into anything and try to squeeze in a race before the baby is born. As such I decided to start a training plan and shoot for a late October half marathon, and I have already started the training program on MyAsics. I have been watching the Olympic trials and continue to be inspired, needless to say I am also very excited for the Olympics.

As far as baby stuff is going, its getting real, we have the crib set-up, bought a car seat and stroller, and Katelyn is having me paint a dresser for the baby's room. I cannot believe we will have little baby Vidmar within 2 months! We start a birthing class tomorrow, I have a feeling it will start wo feel even more real after that.

This last weekend we had some friends over and Emma and Blaine came up from Provo. We grilled up some sausages and had a blast. We went to the park and watched everyone in the neighborhoods set of fireworks. Its amazing how many large fireworks are legal in Utah for personal use, It was quite the show. The scripture I chose to ponder this week was appropriately themed around our responsibilities toward government. "We believe that governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man; and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them, both in making laws and administering them, for the good and safety of society." (Doctrine and Covenants 134:1). As we gear up for another election season I am reminded that we as a society are accountable towards God as we make and administer laws. Currently my voice is heard through the voting process, and it is important that I note only vote in local and national elections, but that I consider the issues and vote according to my conscience and my god.

Ragnar 2016

Wow what a couple of weeks!! Last week was my birthday and in keeping up with tradition I participated in the Utah Valley Marathon race series. This year I decided to run the 10k and trained to try and set a new personal best. When I was a freshman at BYU I ran a 10k in 46:57, that was over 10 years ago. My training went alright and i felt like I was in good shape, however the race didn't go accordingly to plan and I finished about 4 minutes off in 50:43. I was pretty disappointed however I knew I pushed myself hard and did my best. We met up for lunch with Linda, Jamie, and Jadzia Kreyling who all ran the half marathon, and always try and invite us to do more races with them.

I used my birthday money to get a Fitbit and Katelyn and I are enjoying having daily step challenges, and are finding its helping us move around and stay active throughout the day.

Now for the main event....RAGNAR WASATCH BACK 2016!!! About a month ago my cousin Sean Popa asked me if I would like to join his Ragnar team as they had a last minute spot open up. Well joined team "Not Fast Just Furious" and had a blast. I was in Van 2 with a two couples and a crazy man (Ben and Chelise, Rena and Jared, and Paul).  Ben, Chelise and Paul are all from the Logan area where Sean lives. Rena (Julie Popa's niece) and Jared came up from Vegas. I would elaborate on the fun times we had, however in the spirit of Ragnar - what happens in the Van stays in the Van.

LEG 1 (3.0 mi)
My first leg in the middle of the afternoon heat. I ran a nice conservative pace (9:00 / mi), it was hot and I almost threw up at the start. While Rena (who was the runner before me on each leg) was out on her 6 miler I though i had a little bit of time, Paul said "Hey you should have a banana", I though that was a good idea as I had about a 1/2 hour left before my run, as soon as I finished the banana, Jared came over and informed me that he got a text and Rena was going to be finishing in 10 minutes. OOPS.

LEG 2 (6.1 mi + a little extra to make it a personal 10k)
Prior to our second set of runs, Van 1 informed us that they were upset that we were running to fast and not allowing them enough rest. (Each set of runs our Van took an hour of the estimated finish time). At exchange 18 Sean told us to run slow and turned to me and said "Don't to anything stupid like try and set a 10k PR". Well that got the wheels turning and when it came time for my run just past midnight I had a lot of energy (I don't know why as I hadn't slept all day) and I decided it let fly. I took off with a lot of adrenaline, about a half mile in I settled down and just tried to keep a solid pace, I tried not to look at my watch and focused on kills (Ragnar term for passing other teams). As I neared the last exchange I picked up the pace considerably, which made things quite interesting as they had my make a U turn, then I missed Chelise's arm with the slap bracelet, and kept on running, I turned around got the slap bracelet transferred, turned around the other way ran to get out of the way and at that moment the sprinklers at the exchange site turned on. (all of this happened in less than a minute). Final time for the personal ragnar 10k, 46:30!!!. I think its time to start running races with no sleep in the middle of the night, or at least look for races that have cooler race day temperatures.

LEG 3 (4.4 Miles)
I was determined to get prove to myself (and to my team) that the pace in Leg 2 was no fluke. I decided to push the pace for the first 3.1 miles and then use the last mile to cool down and get ready to sit in the van. (There is not a lot of time at Ragnar to cool down as you are constantly driving to get runners to the next exchange point). It didn't start out all the great as we were rushed to get to the exchange point after Ben conquered Ragnar Hill (2700 elevation gain up Guardsman pass) and Rena took off at a very fast pace. My fuel belt wasn't tight, my shoes were still tied really loose, and I still had my phone in my pocket, after I ran back to the van and got everything situated, I restarted the leg and ran the first 3 miles at a good 7:40 clip. It was the middle of the afternoon and the road was very hot, my feet were on fire it felt like i was walking on the beach on hot day. I cooled down into the exchange and was glad to be done with all my runs.

Overall I had a blast and enjoyed making new friends, and pushing my body to the limits. We had a lot of fun supporting each other and having a good time (especially as we got more and more sleep deprived). Total stats for the weekend... 1 PR, 2 times "killed", 3 hours of sleep, 5 new friends, 13 miles, 48 "kills", 2 really sore legs, and 1 heck of a time.

Resting up at Park city between legs

Right after Paul ran up to Snowbasin resort, I don't know what I was laughing at.

Van 2 photo while we wait for Ben to run up Guardsman Pass.

Taking it all in 

Hanging out at the Canyons with Sean and Paul

Team photo at the finish line

Relaxing at the finish line.

I'm Back

Its been a while since i have blogged or written in my journal. Over the last couple of weeks I have been thinking about the importance of sharing my feelings and providing a record for my posterity. Today with the young men we asked them what they would do if they only had 8 months to live. Natural with a baby on the way my thoughts turned to how i would want to be remembered and what I would want my family and son to know. I then thought, why wait. I have brought back the blog and plan on blogging at a minimum one a week.

These last couple of months have been a whirlwind of emotions Grandpa Vidmar and Grandma Burton passed away within 3 weeks of each other. Both peacefully surrounded by family. Emma got married in the new Provo City Center (Tabernacle) Temple, and in the midst of all that we got to go up to Oregon and visit with Katelyn's family and be there for Spencer's baptism. One of the biggest blessings from this crazy time was the time I got to spend with my family. I especially cherished walking around El Segundo with my brothers and sister 20 years after we moved up to Washington.

This last week I finished my last hard week prior to my taper for the Utah Valley 10k / Ragnar Wasatch Back. That's right I am super excited to be joining my cousin Sean Popa's Ragnar team the week after the Utah Valley.

Here are a couple of tributes to the major events of the last couple of months.

April 10th, 2016: Today Grandpa was reunited with his sweetheart and two of his beloved children. He was a great man who taught me how to love, live righteously, work hard and of course the importance of compound interest. I had the privilege of living with him during the summer of 2013. I will always cherish the time we spent watching Dodger games, playing Mexican trains, listening to life stories and taking his advice. I look forward to seeing him again on the other side RIP John Redd Vidmar.

May 3rd, 2016: Grandma Burton was one of the best, today she was reunited with two of her daughters. She was the kindest woman I have ever known. She lived a life of service and humility. I remember she always had the freezer stocked with Popsicle's and ice cream when ever we came to visit. I also remember playing golf with her and grandpa as a teenager where she would brag that she once got a "birdie" after hitting a bird with her ball. Love you Grandma, you will be missed.

May 26th, 2016: Congrats Emma and Blaine. I am blessed to have such a great sister and new brother. I am so happy for you guys and glad to see you so happy Emma.