13.1 Beautiful Miles

Well, I did it!  I actually completed another half marathon.  I even beat my goal.  I wanted to finish it in two hours or less, and I ended up finishing it in 1 hour and 57 minutes.  Yay!

We had to wake up a smidge early . . . okay, it was 3:45am.  I suppose that's MORE than a smidge . . . of which I haven't had to do that since Evie was 3 weeks old.  I met up with my darling sisters and friends at 4:30am to load the busses.

Those busses hauled us all the way up American Fork Canyon to our starting destination at Tibble Fork Reservoir.

Here we are just outside of the "Honey Buckets" as we all make our last efforts to empty our
bladders.  I love these beautiful girls.  From left to right:  Amber, Me, Jen, & Becca.

This is also at the starting line.  I had to snap a picture with my good friend, Jen.  We had a similar training schedule as we were both plagued with some challenges (me = newborn and Jen = travel and international moving).  We even hooked up and ran a couple long runs together before race day.  We haven't run in a race together for YEARS (like at least ten) so I cannot tell you how happy I was to be at the starting line with this fine woman!  

Jen and myself.  Besides that I love that we're together, I love seeing the canyon behind us too.

The run went well.  I actually paced with Jen and Becca for the first 6 miles (they are fast runners) and then had to pull back a little on my pace to ensure that I would make it to the end without wanting to die.  That was a good thing, because it was pretty tough to finish when I did.  I love this run because I love American Fork Canyon and it always makes me happy to run while surrounded by such beautiful scenery.

This is an event where every person who finishes, gets a medal.  I think that's only appropriate.

Jen, Me, Becca.  We all met up at the finish line. 

Amber and I at the finish line.
This was the 2nd year in a row that we both conquered this amazing event! Go us!  

I was SO happy to see my little training buddy at the finish line too.  Beau and Evie came to see me finish and I might have to say this was one of the highlights of my day.  Evie deserved to be there as much as I did.  She logged A LOT of my training miles right there with me.  Maybe one day she'll actually be running with me, instead of rolling with me.  Either way . . . I'll take her!

When I found Beau & Evie a random runner looked at me and in amazement asked, "Is that your baby!?"  I proudly responded, "YES!"  She then asked, "And you just ran that race with her being so new?"  I could tell that she had assumed I had carried & delivered Evie (I mean, why wouldn't she?), but I played along and took the compliments of how incredible I was to finish.  However, I broke down & told her that Evie was adopted.  That being said, I still deserved some extra credit.  After all, training on a newborn's schedule is hard and not very convenient.  So, I am VERY happy to have finished so well.  (That being said, I would like to go on the record and say that I would give up running for my baby girl if that was what was needed or required.  She is SO worth it.)

These two are my support & cheer group!  It's probably not the easiest to be married to a runner and I thank Beau for supporting me, working around my training runs when he could, sacrificing some of his Saturday mornings so I could go on long runs, and for coming to see me finish!  I love my family!!

I love these two SOOOO much!

I love how much Beau loves & adores little Evie too!

Beau took me out to breakfast to celebrate my victory.  Evie & I then relaxed by the pool for a few hours.  I figured I deserved to do next-to-nothing after putting in all those miles.  Really, I don't deserve anything.  I'm just SUPER grateful to be healthy and fit enough to accomplish such things.

Here's the proof that I made it (this is my GPS watch that I wore during the race).  The top number is my overall mileage pace.  Man, I barely stayed in the 8-minute miles. . . ha, ha!  The bottom, left number is my total time which was 1 hour, 57 minutes.  The bottom, right number is the distance I ran of 13.1 miles.

I'm so gonna beat that next year!