Our Family: Junior Olympics + State BC Meet + Half Marathon = One Busy Weekend!

Because with my parents leaving and Kenzie's wedding all in March wasn't quite crazy enough, we had to throw in my first half marathon along with the kid's state swim meets... all on the same weekend. The swim meet was in Bountiful on March 18, 19 and 20th and my half was on the 20th in Moab. I was able to go to all of the meet on Thursday and some of the meet on Friday. We had to be up there each day by 7 so I did not get too much sleep for three days. (I had a 2 1/2 nap on Sunday... felt so good!) On Friday afternoon, Gina, Hayes and I headed down to Moab. Gina was so nice to come and watch Hayes (Carl) for me. On Friday night we got there and got all my race gear. We ate at an Italian place and they rigged the patio with heaters so that people could eat outside. They sat us right under a heat vent and we thought our hair was going to melt. After we moved, it was a great dinner. I did the race with two friends from my neighborhood - I couldn't have done it without them - they were so inspirational to me! Sean sent me a text right before we left and told me to enjoy the journey - I did. We met bright and early Saturday morning and they bussed us up the canyon. We didn't know that you should wait and be bussed up as late as possible. It was FREEZING, literally, at the top of the canyon (30 degrees). We were up there for 2 hours before the race started. I was not prepared for how cold it would be (hence my high-tech, ultra performance denim jacket), so I just threw on whatever clothes I could find, including my pajama pants. Once we started running, I was grateful for the cooler weather but it wasn't too fun at first. We didn't plan on staying together and we lost Cynthia right at first (she was in a zone!) Stacy and I stayed together and I'm so glad we did. Around mile 4, I started getting the worst pain in my right side, just under my rib cage. It hurt so bad I wanted to stop and walk but I knew I would be mad at myself if I did. I just tried to keep up with Stacy and eventually it eased up enough that it wasn't too bad. The scenery was beautiful! Red rocks everywhere you looked and running right next to the Colorado River. People that had done the race before had told me that the first 11 miles were great because you are coming down the canyon, the river is right there and it's shady and that the last 2 miles are the worst because you are on the street, it's flat or up hill and the sun is shining. I'm glad that they made the last 2 miles sound so bad because I built it up in my mind as a huge challenge and once I started running the last 2, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I knew I probably couldn't do the half in 2 hours or less but I at least wanted to do it in less than 2:10. My official time was 2:09:16 so I met my goal. I gave it my all land had no regrets. When I saw the finish line, I thought I could pick up my pace a little but no, I could not move any faster. Sean said that was good because it meant I left it all out on the course. Cynthia recorded Cy, Sayer and Ava's voices giving me encouraging messages. Sean loaded them on my i-pod and I listened to them with about .5 to go. The messages and "Little Wonders" kept me going. Then to see cute Gina and Hayes at the finish line, wow!, I just couldn't hold it in. I gave my R.S. lesson the very next day on the creation and it was so fitting to run down that beautiful canyon, with my able body, to see one of the best creations I'll ever make in my life. So grateful!

Heading to the finish line

I copied these from the race's website. That gives you an idea of the scenery and then they have these drummers at mile 10. They were awesome - they made me feel like a rock star!

I have more pictures coming from Stacy and Gina so I'll post those when I get them. Great experience! Team "More Cow Bell" rocks!

The twins did so good at their meet! Sayer did great. She didn't make it into the finals for any of her three events but she was just so happy to be there. I think she took anywhere from 18th to 22nd in the entire state! That's not bad. The two relays she swam were great. Her team took 8th in both of the relays. It was so cute when she was getting ready to swim her relays. First of all, her whole team is a good head and shoulders taller than her. Her state swim cap said, "P-nut" on it and it was really fitting. But the girls were getting her really pumped up because she swam first, and she was shaking out her arms and her legs, jumping up and down, circling her arms - it was so cute! Cy tore up the B-C meet! I am so proud of him. Of the 5 events he swam, he took 1st or 2nd in four of them and was DQ'd in his IM because of a flip turn. He was dropping his time left and right! So proud of my swimming twinners!