My Half Marathon

For the past year or so I've been preparing to run a half marathon.  Apparently, when I spoke to the girls about it, I would tell them about how I was going to run "my half marathon."  Kirsten picked up on how I always said "my" and started telling people this week that on Saturday Mommy was going to run "my" half marathon.  I think it's really cute that she was so proud of me.

On Thursday my sister Emily came to town to run a half marathon with me, my brother Brian, and his wife Norma.  The girls and I drove to the airport to pick her up, and then we stopped in Draper to have lunch with Matt before heading back to Springville.  We stuffed ourselves at Goodwood Barbecue.  It was yummy food.

After we got to Springville, my sister went for a run to help her get used to the altitude change.  Then we all walked over to Kirsten's preschool to look at the animals.  We particularly loved the kangaroo.

Porter and the kangaroo sniffing each other out

Kirsten and me petting the kangaroo

That evening we had dinner at Brian and Norma's house in Provo.  It was a grand old time.  Emily spent the night there, and then the girls and I went to pick her up Friday morning to drive down to Zions.  Matt, Brian, and Norma all had to work.  So, they drove down a bit later, but we were ladies of leisure.

When we got to Zions, we went to the race expo to get our shirts and race bibs.  This was my first road race ever.  So, I was glad to have my sister there to kind of lead the way.  Then we met up with Brian, Norma, and Matt.

Kirsten on a rock

Reagan getting ready to run

Reagan found some ants that she called her "ant friends"

I was hard pressed to get her to leave her "ant friends" behind.

 After we met up with Matt, we explored our hotel lobby and gift shop.  There was a little natural history museum attached to the lobby, and we enjoyed walking through.

Reagan and Kirsten both liked the arctic foxes the best.  They called them "baby polar bears."

Both poses in front of the baby polar bears make me laugh.  Such silly girls!

Matt's favorite was the moose being attacked by the wolves.

My favorite was the buffalo

 After looking at the animals, we met up with everyone else to eat dinner at Blondie's Diner.  All the runners ate big burgers to give us plenty of energy for the race.  I suppose a big pasta dinner would have been more ideal, but pasta didn't seem as readily available as bison burgers in Springdale, Utah.
That night I slept in a hotel room with my sister.  It was fun to have a little sleepover with her.  Matt and the girls had another hotel room not far from us, and I was glad not to have to worry about them the night before the race.  Brian and Norma also stayed at the hotel.

In the morning the runners got up bright and early.  It was raining, which was kind of lame.  On the bright side, I was chomping at the bit to start the race, and I'm pretty sure I started at a faster pace than I otherwise would have because I was so intent on warming up.  At mile ten I passed our hotel, and Matt and the girls cheered me on.  Their cheers gave me a burst of energy that stuck with me for the last three miles.  I finished the race in 2:16:51, and I was very proud of myself.  I ran an average pace of 10:27 per mile, which I thought was really quite good.

Immediately after I was done with the race, all I could think about was water.  I was very thirsty.  Then the cold started sinking in--and the hunger.  Finally, the sore muscles.  It was a blast!

Showing off our medals

 We ate lunch together at the hotel and got burgers again.  I was amazed by how quickly I ate my burger and salad, and I wasn't even stuffed to the brim like I usually would have been.

Emily and I showing off our medals at lunch

 After lunch, my little family went home.  Emily, Brian, and Norma stayed at Zions to explore the park a bit, but I was not interested in hiking.  I was interested in resting and sleeping.

On Sunday we woke up at nine o'clock because we had forgotten about the time change.  We rushed to get ready for church at ten and managed to arrive on time.  I was pretty stiff every time I stood to lead the music in Sacrament Meeting, but I managed to hide it--I think.

After Church, Matt's dad and brother Jake came to spend the day with us.  Marc had been in Idaho visiting his sister, who is sick, and even though an unfortunate reason brought him to our side of the country, it was still nice to see him.  We had a picnic at the duck pond park, and he gave the girls some awesome presents.  They each got a set of headbands with bows, ribbons, and gems to decorate them.  Kirsten got a set of mosaic art, and Reagan got some button art.  I could tell that Beth had been reading our blog to help Marc pick out the presents for the girls.  They love doing art and creating things.

Waiting to open their presents

Excited about their presents

Kirsten wearing one of her new headbands

Reagan and Papa reading together

Kirsten and Daddy doing mosaic art together

 Marc left to go back to Georgia just after the girls went to bed, and Emily came back from her trip in Southern Utah on Monday evening.  We ate dinner together at our house with Brian, Norma, William, and Sierra.  Then we stayed up and talked about our pets.  Dogs provide endless conversation.

Silly Reagan.  She's such a goof ball.