I did it!

SLC 1/2 marathon results: 2 hours 10 minutes 7 seconds- 13.1 miles at 9:56 each mile. My running partner Abbi and I ran together the whole time. Every 2 miles we saw Bryan on his bike where he took pictures and cheered. We felt good physically the whole time. Mile 11-12 was the toughest. We sprinted the last 1/2 mile to the finish line and felt like we finished strong. The rest of the day was pretty low key- nap, reading to the kids, went on a date, and talked to family. Bryan was the best cheerleader during the race and afterwards he cooked all weekend and even gave me a massage on my sore muscles. Shout-out to my sweetie!
A correction on my previous post, the Moab 1/2 marathon I did in 2007 was 2 hours 27 minutes.

Countdown to 1/2 marathon

It's coming this Saturday- 13.1 miles. It will be the SLC marathon and the race begins at 7am. Actually we'll be getting up at 5 am to get ready, drive to the shuttles, get to the race start and go to the bathroom. The runners will be me, my running partner/ neighbor Abbi Cox, my uncle Bill, Abbi's husband Chad and three of her in-laws- 7 runners in all. Already I am getting excited and nervous. Today we ran our last pre-race run. There is a small chance of rain this weekend so if you could just all cross your fingers we'll not be dumped on, that would be great! The cheerleaders will be Bryan and my aunt Amy. The girls will be home asleep with my cousin Hannah during most of the race. My previous 1/2 marathon was in March 2007 and my time was 2 hours and 22 minutes. It would awesome if I could get under 2 hours, but my goal really is just to cross the finish line. My left toe pain is under control with a special get foot pad my doctor recommended. I am pretty sure this will be my last race, but that's what I thought last time too. I won't ever do a full marathon as I think it's not good on your body and consumes too much time for training.

VACATION!

We planned and talked about it for 6 months and it came and went so fast. We had a great trip! Surprisingly it was me and not Bryan that had the hardest time letting go of home and routine. We had Bryan's mom Barbara here taking care of the girls and all went well. The girls will miss her. We definitely felt relaxed and appreciated the chance to go. We were gone 7 days: 3 1/2 on the cruise and 3 1/2 in Zions National Park/ southern Utah.
Thursday we left at noon and drove south on I-15. We stopped in Las Vegas and had dinner with my college roommate Jana. Big points for Bryan to let me chat for a couple hours! We stayed the night in Primm, Nevada at a wanna-be-Vegas white-trash hotel. It was good quality and an awesome deal- we got a top floor suite with a jacuzzi for $75!
Friday we drove into CA and maneuvered into San Pedro around 1pm. We found World Cruise Pier and started off our journey finding out we got upgraded on our room for free! We got moved to 10th deck-the only one with a balcony. They said that never happens on a full ship and it was similar to winning the lotto. Then we made our way to deck 11 with the food- the eat all day and all night awesome food as much as you want place. And boy did we eat. We ate dessert after breakfast, lunch and the 5 course dinner. And pizza at midnight. We took the stairs lots and went running once so we didn't feel one bit of guilt either!
Saturday- Ensenada, Mexico and our shore excursion! We booked ourselves on a Rhino tour (no there are not wild rhinoceroses in Mexico, it's a small jeep). It was an amazing experience to go into the rural countryside of this city. I hope I can retain what I saw for a long time. Most of these people had no running water, no flushing toilets, no vehicles, no good roads, no good tools and they were the friendliest people. We walked along the streets after our tour and bought chiclets (gum), pork tacos, 2 bright pink guitars and Bryan got necklaces. We loved practicing Spanish again and loved mingling with the people. We left feeling so grateful and appreciative of our blessings. We felt some shame too coming from such luxury to such poverty. Very grateful for the experience.

Sunday Bryan, uncle Bill and I participated in a rock climbing contest. We had a 30 foot high outside climbing wall on the 12th floor of our ship. The winner was the fastest up. I took 2nd place in the women's group with 22 seconds, the girl in 1st place 20 secs. Bryan got 6th place with 14 seconds and uncle Bill took 1st with 7 seconds. We tried to go swing dancing but I got a little seasick. I took some meds and got feeling lots better. This was the night Bryan and I ate escargot (snails) at dinner.Monday we ate one last huge breakfast, left the boat and drove to Zions. Our hopes for a warm get-a-way were completely dashed with our arrival. We didn't get into our swimsuits once on the cruise because it was too windy and we show into Zions to some SNOW. :( This was the day I slept 8 hours the night before, took a 2 hour nap, then a 1 hour nap and went to bed and slept 10 hours. True vacation.
Tuesday we hiked Angel's Landing. I didn't know beforehand, but when you say that to someone who knows what that is, this should elicit a "WOW" response. It's a strenuous, intense hike that is for sure memorable. It was 2.5 miles up and you climb to the top at 1,500 feet with a little ledge you sit on with sheer cliffs down on all sides. To hike the last 1/2 mile, you hold onto chains they have bolted into the rock. Bryan said it was scarier this time hiking it because he was worried about my safety- he's a cutie!

Wednesday we took two more smaller hikes around Zions. We got some plant books and became educated about trees and plants. We're basically arborists now. We encountered hail at the end of our last hike. We drove to Nephi, Utah and finally pulled out our swimsuits to use the indoor hot tub. We woke up with 2 inches of snow on our car. The grand finale to our cold vacation.

Thursday we bought a bass guitar for me from the classified ads. I am officially the bass player in the new band EPP (EastPointe Project). We got home at noon and found our car we left had a dead battery, the fish tank was disgusting, laundry, bills, etc. So long vacation- I already miss you.