Executive Council - San Antonio

The 2009 Executive Council for New York Life was held in San Antonio this year. Shanda and I were fortunate to leave the kids behind and have our first vacation sans kids in a very long time.

Shanda enjoyed waking up by "her" clock, while only having the responsibility of having to get herself ready for the day. I enjoyed having uninterrupted time with her while we walked the city and enjoyed the sights.

It was a lot of fun visiting the Alamo and different parts of San Antonio. We did a fair amount of walking through the city. We were also able to spend time with Craig, Ben and Sam at various times in the trip.

The meetings were excellent, and I felt like I got a lot of really good ideas to help me expand what I'm doing for and with my clients. It was nice to hear such encouraging things from the guys at the top of the company. As always, New York Life put on an amazing spread and treated the agents with such amazing class.

We bumped into a few friends from around the country. It is always good to renew the acquaintences with these guys and find out what's going on in their worlds. This is one of the parts about Council that I look forward to most, is seeing friend and visiting with them.

We were also able to meet and shake hands with the Council President. Tim has had a big impact on my business and ability to cope with the enormous stress it is to getting started. His "one day at a time" system has really helped me focus on things that are in my control without having to stress about everything that "could" go wrong.

The highlight of the trip was the final evening at La Villita. The entire section of town was designated for New York Life agents and their families. We ate tons of great Southwest food, and yummy desserts. In addition, we got to ride a mechanical bull several times, did some dancing, and enjoyed the live music.

Another highlight was spending time with my brothers with all three of us qualifying for the council. It was fun to get our picture taken together at the honor dinner.

On the trip home I started feeling a bit ill. With the swine flu scare I was afraid that's what I may have contracted... though never confirmed it took me about 3 days to get back on my feet and working again.

Top of Utah Marathon

My 2nd marathon was an improvement as for time over my 1st. It was easier in some ways and extremely difficult in others. With the Deseret News I felt great until about the 1/2 marathon mark when my IT Band started to flair. For the Top of Utah, I was dealing with IT Band pains from the beginning. Not wanting to drop out I began taking ibuprofen from the beginning of the race and probably consumed 1800 mg over the course of the race. I paid dearly for that over the remainder of the day with extreme stomach pains, and then over the next few days as my leg ached like it did the very first time I over worked it.

Never-the-less, I was very happy to have completed in 4:29:26. A slight improvement over the previous race.

I was really excited to see my family several times along the course. It really surprised me how seeing them cheer me along really helped motivate me and helped me along. The first 1/2 of this marathon was a great run despite the IT Band pain. I couldn't believe how pretty it was, with perfect temperatures. Later in the run it really got warm and made it difficult.

Also, the day before I met Dane Raushenberg who wrote a book 52 marathons in 52 weeks. He was promoting his book in the race packet pick-up section. Anyway, somewhere along the "wall" portion of the marathon I look over and see him cheering us runners on. I don't know if he ran the race and was walking back along the course to cheer us on, or if he just stuck around the following day to watch. But something about his energetic and enthusiastic cheering really struck a chord with me. He truly understood better any other spectator what each of us runner was going through and knew how to motivate us along.

Deseret News Marathon!

Yesterday I competed in the Deseret News Marathon in Salt Lake City, Utah... my first marathon! The night before I tried to get to sleep at about 8pm but probably didn't drift off until 9pm. I had to wake up at 2:20am in order to make it to SLC in time to board the buses. All day prior to the race every time I thought about anything running/marathon related I experienced butterflies like no other! I was a little surprised to wake up refreshed and excited for the run. Usually I dream about missing the bus or showing up without my running shoes or something along those lines, but I slept very well and felt very ready to go.

My training has included the Ogden half marathon, the Ragnar relay, and a bunch of my own personal long runs. I originally was planning my first marathon in September up in Logan. However, the more I thought about it, the more I couldn't wait to run... so I signed up about two weeks ago for the Deseret News. A little more than a week ago I decided to do a 16 mile run to see how well I felt, and learned I needed better socks, and that my legs could definitely handle at least that distance.

I'm not sure how this marathon relates to others, but the course takes you down a 3,200 foot elevation drop. I knew the drop would be difficult but I had no idea how hard it would be on my knees. Before I even started running I had these goals in mind; be patient... don't get caught up in the fast downhill, drink a lot of water, and try and have fun. I really wanted this to be a good experience without the pressures of pace, time, etc. I estimated 4 hours but wasn't going to get too excited about beating 4 hours or coming in behind 4 hours.

After 1 mile of running I was surprised to see that my pace was right on at 9 minutes. This surprised me because even though I was telling myself to be patient and go slow, I didn't think I'd be that slow. Regardless I tried not to get too excited about that and pushed on. By mile 6 the brutal downhill came to a temporary halt as the course moved from East Canyon to Emigration Canyon. The next 1.5 to 2 miles were a pretty decent climb. I am finding that uphill runs aren't too bad for me... I mean aside from the greater cardio strain, I feel pretty good going up. All too soon the uphill ended and again the downhill drop for about another 6 to 8 miles. This is where I was surprised by some really strong aching in my knees. It seems like here around 13 to 14 miles I was forced to walk a bunch and try to stretch more. I didn't expect that this soon into the race that my legs would break down, so I really hoped and prayed that it would just go away. The next mile or so uphill seemed to do the trick in terms of helping my knee feel better.

As I came through the Bonneville Golf Course, I met up with a lady that I later learned was running her 75th marathon. Our pace was good and we were able to talk a little bit. Just having someone to talk to made a huge difference in my mind frame. I was able to take my mind off minor irritations and pains in my body and the next mile or so passed very quickly. I found a pace that felt very comfortable and I cruised along.

As I approached mile 20 I fully expected to hit "the wall." I tried to prepare myself mentally by thinking of the 6 mile runs that I'd done in my training. Oddly enough, and perhaps thanks to my very slow start, I felt great at 20, 21 and 22. Unfortunately I didn't miss the wall entirely as it was waiting to pound me at mile 23.

With the wall firmly on my back I turned off the ipod as it was getting so difficult to continue. It was all I could do to force myself to keep the legs going. I was in the city now and the sun was up and killing me. The heat, combined with the distance caused me to become overwhelmed with nausea. My feet ached and the hot pavement seemed to burn with every step. I tried to remember the course map but couldn't. All I could think was "don't stop" so that I could finish sooner and be done with this insanity. I would repeat in my mind, "the faster you run, the quicker you're done."

The other thing that really stood out to me, was how long it took to run a block. On South Temple, I noticed as I crossed 700 East and then was shocked as I came up on 600 East, and thought, I only ran 1 block!?!



The final length was surreal as I forced myself to finish. I mustered up whatever strength I could and pushed to the finish line. My family was to the right and I was glad to see them cheering me on. As I finished and was given a medal of completion, I slowly walked into the recovery area. Normally when I stop running from a long run, I immediately feel relief to my legs. This time however, I was amazed the my legs didn't stop hurting. I had a very hard time catching my breath, and couldn't get enough ice/water/power aide.



The concern on Shanda's face was obvious, so I can only imagine how terrible I looked. She kept repeating, "You did a marathon! Are you ok?... you did a marathon, are you ok?" As I looked at the family and thought about what I just did, I was overwhelmed with emotion, mixed with pain throughout my entire body!



I finished the race in 4 hours 30 minutes and 7 seconds. I was 318 out of 492 runners, 37 of 51 in my age group, and 231 of 327 among males.

Today as I sit here in pain, I wonder if I'll be able to do another. I'm signed up for the Top of Utah Marathon, but my right knee is very sore. The prospect of running even 1 mile right now is overwhelming. I have a hard enough time even moving from a sitting to standing position!

For now I'll not worry about the future or the past, but be content with the knowledge that I am a marathon runner!

Mutton Bustin' Matthew

Monday July 20th, on the opening night of the Pioneer Days Rodeo in Ogden, Matthew competed in the Mutton Busin' Competition. With the competition age/weight limits of 8 years old, 50 lbs. Matthew being 8 yrs old and exactly 50 lbs., held an advantage over his younger and slighter competitors. However, it was his grit and determination that really impacted his advantage.



Matthew was the 2nd to last rider to go, and who knows if he had butterflies or even knew what he was getting in too? I think he was excited to do this but he didn't really seem too emotional one way or the other.

Prior to his ride the best score previous was an 81 posted by a High School buddy Jim Wilson's son. I had some success taking pictures of the rides, but for some reason had a hard time locking onto Matthew's ride. His sheep came out faster than I expected and turned a few times to throw me.



In the end, Matthew rode for approximately 20 seconds and scored an 83. The score would stand the final rider and Matthew went on to win 1st place in the competition. I couldn't believe how well he did. Some of the pictures really focus on how hard he held on and how well he did to stay on so long.



Great job Matthew!



After the rodeo we were treated to the Ogio Freestyle Motocross Riders. It was pretty amazing to watch them go, but almost more entertaining to watch the kid's reactions...

Winward Reunion

We spent the weekend in Paradise, Utah. The Little Bear River camp ground was a perfect host for the group of this size. It was nice to get reacquainted with the different family members. The reunion was very well organized and aside from Joseph getting heat exhaustion and feeling sick for about half the reunion everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

There was a talent show two of the nights. Joseph and Matthew did their own version of the Abbott and Costello routine, "Who's on First." They only required a few prompts and did very well. The second night I played my Sax with my sister Joanne accompanying me. I received a ton of compliments and was lucky to have such a talented sister play with me. She had only received the music 3 days previous to the reunion and we played it through together only a few times before.

We enjoyed softball, races, games, great food, visiting, enjoying of talents, fishing, swings, swimming and much more...

Ragnar Recap

29 hours 40 minutes and 59 seconds previously, Van 1 was standing in Logan as Mike Ekstrom lead the group of 12 High School friends in the Ragnar Relay. I was runner #3 in the group and already had butterflies. Not having previously competed in this type of event I didn't know what to expect, nor did I know how well my body would react to such a thing. Little did I know the next day would be filled with emotional highs and some of the most difficult endurance tests I'd ever faced previous to this.

We had in our van; Mike Ekstrom, Andy Meikle, Ken Richey, Troy Haun, Jon Allred, and Gerald Hodgkinson. Each of us with different experience levels and training regimes, but all tied together for the next day to run, support and laugh.

My first leg (5.6 miles from Hyrum to Paradise) was surprisingly the most difficult of the three. I hadn't done any training runs in the heat of the day, and I was amazed at how much the hot sun zapped me. I projected running at 8:30 minute pace but ended up running at 8:41 pace. As I passed the wrist band over to Troy Haun I remember thinking, "dude, I'm so sorry you're going to have to take this." Glad to be done, but no time for stretching we were back in the van driving up to support Troy. That was the amazing thing, you didn't have a lot of time to warm up, and really no time to warm down or stretch. The highlight of the run however, was having my family there to support and watch me. They would shoot ahead of me, get out of the car and give me high fives as I passed. Several times they would run along side me and encourage me as I ran. Very cool and very memorable.
My second run at night went much better. It was cool and the darkness and cooler temperatures provided the environment I'm used to running in. I pegged my projected time very well and this time when I made the exchange I felt on top of the world.

My final leg turned out to be my best but was preceeded by a very difficult period for me. After just a couple of hours of sleep, it seems as if my body didn't want to wake up. I was shaking like crazy as I forced myself to eat a bagel and drink poweraide. The nausea and discomfort in my core was so severe I honestly didn't know if I'd be able to run at all. When I finally did come around it was as if switch were flipped and I immediately felt better. I couldn't believe the difference and honestly believe that there was some divine help there.

The 7.9 mile final leg was a difficult uphill climb along Jordanelle Reservoir. I projected 1 hour and 15 minutes and ended up running 1 hour and 8 minutes. Needless to say I was extremely pleased to finish strong, and also to be done with running.



After our van completed our runs, we enjoyed a pizza lunch and then decided to go watch a movie while waiting for van #2. I didn't last long in the movie before I was nodding off more due to exhaustion not so much the movie. Every time the Romulans blew something up I woke up only to drift off again later on.

The completion of the race was overshadowed by very cold temperatures and lots and lots of rain. After the team crossed the line we posed for a quick photo and then quickly dispursed to our respective homes.

Overall a great expereince that I would probably do again.

2nd Annual Richey Canoe/Camping Trip

We originally planned on taking this trip last week, but a family conflict had us push this back one week. All the Richey boys were happy to set off on our annual tradition of canoeing and camping. Shanda was a great help in getting us ready, by purchasing the food and helping the boys get the gear packed and loaded. When I got home, I helped with the finishing touches of packing, loaded up the canoe and fishing gear, and set off with Joseph, Matthew and Andrew.

We left Taylor Avenue at about 3pm and drove to Causey Reservoir.  Arriving at Causey, we unloaded the canoe and our gear from the van, and set off on our adventure.

We camped at the same place we did last year. I was surprised to see so many other canoes and kayaks in the water. I thought there was a chance we wouldn't get our same camp site, but perhaps because it is tucked away and a little less known spot, we were able to get our same camp site.


After setting up camp, we decided to go for a little canoe ride and some fishing. The weather was warm, but the water extremely cold. All three boys thought it would be fun to go swimming despite my warnings of the extreme cold temperature. We got to a point where I dropped all three boys on the shore while I cast a line in the water. I really didn't think they would jump in the frigid water. As I sat with my back to the rocks, all of a sudden I hear, splash! I turned around and saw Andrew bob to the top with his life jacket on, breathing in and out as fast as he could. Memories of various scout camps came flooding into my mind as I watched him doggy paddle to the shore. I was a little surprised to see Matthew follow suit after witnessing his little brother's reaction and shrieks that the water is ice cold!  But I suppose not wanting to be out done by his younger brother, Matthew promptly jumped in the cold water with a very similar hyper-ventilation reaction. Next up Joseph; displaying maturity beyond his years, he decided to learn from his brother's experience and just climb into the boat, sans the swim. Wimpy or wise, I guess that is up for debate, and because I had no intentions of getting in that cold stuff, I'm going to argue vehemently, wise.


Returning to our camp, Joseph went to work on building a fire and preparing the "gourmet" hot dog meal. We all ate a bunch, and while Joseph was cooking the dogs, Andrew realizing there was no mom around, decided it would be a good time to cook up a s'more. Encourage by his youthful exuberance, I indulged on a few cooked marshmallows as well. At some point, Andrew took to calling everyone "partna" (said with a silent r), too cute, you really have to hear him say it!

Matthew withdrew a few times off by himself. I asked him if he was okay and encouraged him to join the group a few times. Usually just telling him I needed a famous Matthew hug was sufficient to get him back with the group.  We decided to call the large rock in front of the tent door, "Matthew's Perch."


I love that the boys continued to pester me with "tell us another story." I told quite a few hunting stories about their Uncle Craig and me. I was really surprised at how many times I'd say, "did I tell you about when Uncle Craig and I were hunting and..." I guess that is okay, as we spent a lot of time hunting those parts. A particularly silly story about a mischievous wildcat caused raucous laughter from all and was probably the most memorable story of the night.

Nightfall came, and soon the fire started to shrink. Wanting to conserve firewood and with the late hour we moved the evening story telling, etc. in to the tent. Joseph had brought a few books with him, and I began reading to the boys until all but Joseph and I had drifted off to sleep. At about 10pm, both Joseph and I decided to call it a night.


By morning, I was surprised by the fact that I had a pretty good nights sleep. I seem to remember sleeping very poorly last year.  Somehow this year it was perfect! Nobody had to get up and use the bathroom, I only had to help Andrew once with his rescue inhaler. Joseph claims to have been a little cold, perhaps maybe making a second case for "wimpy"?

We got up around 7am and decided to go try and do some additional fishing. The lake was perfectly calm, and we had a great time just enjoying the peace and surroundings. It was fun to run into Matt Gunn who actually had some success with the fishing pole. Matt has a dog very similar to our Ginger. When Andrew was telling his mother about meeting the dog he said something to effect, "Maybe Matt Gunn's dog is Ginger's ancestor... or maybe anbrother."

After about 2 hours of getting skunked, we returned to the camp to cook up some good ole fashion flapjacks. I gotta tell you, hot pancakes in that camp setting was just what we needed. Who needs fish when you have steaming hot pancakes coming off the griddle with syrup and chocolate milk. Even roughing it isn't roughing it whenever I can help it!


After breakfast, we set off on a little hike around the hills. The kids did well on the hike, and we were rewarded by getting to see a doe bound off only about 20 yards in front of us. We hiked up a ways and were able to shoot a few rounds out of my .22 pistol. Each of the boys took a turn and got to learn a little bit of gun safety.


We got home just after 2pm and the kids helped put things away so they could run up to Rolling Hills Pool to cool off. I was really impressed with how well all the boys worked together to take camp down and get the canoe loaded. Joseph was especially a star when it came to helping out. He takes initiative often, and I have to try and remind myself when he does something without being asked, though not the way I would do it, to complement not critique him. Matthew seemed a bit distant at times during the trip, I had to work a little harder to try and bring him in. In some ways I like that he is thoughtful and deliberate, but it also makes me fearful that he is trying to withdraw. Andrew was the camp "partna." He was generally very cheerful and kept us all laughing with his antics. Overall, I count myself lucky and blessed to be associated with these three young men.