She thinks she wants to start a family. Sheesh.
Maybe my other running buddy will do one with me. It's no fun to run if no one is there to get early with ya, hang out at the start, train (kind of), finish with ya. My family hasn't been to the last three which is totally okay at this point in the game. I really liked having them there for my first, cheering me on at the end. Everyone needs that on their first. The second was fun to have them there. But now that it's become a hobby, I'm okay not having someone cheer me on at the end, but I do kind of like having SOMEONE to celebrate with. Thirteen miles is a big accomplishment.
And that's where my sisters come in, my running friends.
My first half this summer was Bryce Canyon. I'd never been to Bryce despite living so close my entire life. It turned into a mini-vacation. We rented a hotel room where the race route ran right by it. All my kids had to do was walk a 100 yards to watch me run by. I told them this would be a faster race and that I expected to be there in about an hour and 15 minutes. The only one waiting for me was Jacob who snapped a photo and Nate who ran the remainder with me.
I loved that he would do that. One of his summer goals was to run a 10k. We never did find a race that worked with our schedules but I definitely count this. It might not have been his race, but it was still a race.
The first two miles of this race was a steep 8% grade. I decided to just let myself go and not hold back. It was a relief when it finally leveled out. I got my personal record on his course . . . 2:14. I give credit to that first two miles. And Katie tells me I was only four minutes behind her. Now that is impressive. I'm never even close to what she runs.
My second half was Mt. Nebo in Payson. Several weeks ago I was talking to some new neighbors who are runners and they let me know that it was a killer course. Mostly downhill and fast. They both PR'd on this course.
Uh oh! They were so right. It was fast and I hurt way more today than I have with any other races. Our stake conference was today in the Conference Center and I wasn't sure I could make the walk from the car to the building. Here's proof I made it.
I was rockin' and rollin' until about mile 10. I remember hitting mile 6 and then being surprised that I was at mile 7 and then was even more surprised at mile 8. It seems I flew down the mountain. I caught up with Katie at around mile 12 and hooped and hollered and danced around (don't know where that energy came from) that I had caught up to her. It was so much fun to run in together. Although I kept stopping to walk and she kept pushing me. We couldn't let the 2:05 pacers beat us. Can you see the pain on my face.
And then I thought here's my chance to finally beat Katie. It's never happened before. I tried holding her back at the finish line . . .
Yep. She beat me by one second. Maybe even a half a second.
It's so hard to push yourself when there's nothing let to give. It's been a summer for personal records. I smashed my Bryce Canyon PR by 9 minutes, coming in at 2:05. I've shaved off 20 minutes from my Little Grand last September.
I've now run a half marathon for each of my five kids. I'm not sure what next year will bring, but I sure hope I can keep doing one a year at least.
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