Top of Utah Marathon

Running a Marathon is kinda like having a baby.  You forget how hard it is, and only remember the good parts—like how amazing you feel when you cross the finish line.  Your mind blocks out the months and months of training, and how incredibly sore you are for days after the marathon is over.  So, naturally, only remembering the good parts made me want to do another one.  7 of us signed up to run Top of Utah.  Only 3 of us made it to the starting line.  Boo for injuries and sickness! 

I didn’t feel as prepared for this race as I was for CIM.  I had trained in NYC, but not with the intensity that I train in CO.  It was just to darn hot (Even at 5 in the morning it was 78-85 degrees).  But once I got back to CO I ramped up my training and was confident I could run the distance.  The race was 17 miles down Blacksmith Fork Canyon, and then the remaining miles ran through Providence and Logan.  I started the race feeling great—miles were flying by and my marathon pace felt easy.  Then at mile 8 my stomach started giving me some grief.  Mile 8 is WAY to early to have anything go wrong.  Stopped at a port a potty and hoped that would be the end of it.  NOPE.  I struggled with cramps and nausea among other things that aren’t polite to mention from miles 8-23.  Lovely.  THEN, at mile 16 my $#&*$ Garmin battery died.  Stomach issues and no Garmin make for a pretty miserable race.  I stayed on pace until mile 18, and wasn’t too far off by 20.  But my body was not going to cooperate.  Which was too bad, because my legs felt fine. 

Rusty met me at Mile 23 and ran with me until the finish line.  I was so glad to have him there, and he just chatted with me the whole time.  It made the miles go by much more quickly.  25-26.2 actually felt great.  I crossed the finish line on my feet, so I’ll consider it a victory even though I didn’t get the time I had trained for.  Oh well….there’s always next time :)

My Mom and Dad also came with the kiddos and it was really fun to see them all cheering at the finish line.  I’m so glad they came!

 
Night before the race hanging out with my running buddies Amber and Kayla.

Blake’s first day of Preschool

My friends and I are doing co-op preschool again this year.  It is so much fun to be a part of Blake’s preschool experience and get to teach him and see him interact with his little friends.  Plus….it saves me a ton of money.  This year, as some of us have other kids who are in preschool or kindergarten in the afternoon, we decided to try afternoon preschool.  It’s been a pretty rough transition for Blake.  He was so excited to go the first time, then the second time he was tired and wanted a nap, so he was a ROYAL pain all through preschool at Carrie’s house.  Then, at Kimberlie’s house, he just sat on the couch the entire time and refused to participate.  After that, things looked up a bit.  It was my turn to teach last week, and he was pretty happy to be there, and participated in the crafts and circle time.  Hopefully he just needed a little transition time and he won’t be the Preschool Grinch the entire year.