Mile High Cougar Run 5K

Memorial Day Weekend was such a dream. The mister had an extra day off of work, which truly makes all the difference, so we planned to pack in a lot of extra fun activities. We kicked it all off by participating in the annual Mile High Cougar Run 5K hosted by the Denver Chapter of the BYU Alumni Association. And by participate, I ran and my husband cheered me on. That old boy and his darn flat feet!

Anyways, the unusual Colorado rain clouds parted for a few hours making the weather blissful for the first time in days. We loved seeing all the families participate together and it sure made me anxious for next summer when Baby T can join me (via jogger) in a half marathon or two! Man, did it melt my heart to see those mamas and daddys pushing their kiddos right along with them Anyways, I somehow, at 20ish weeks pregnant, managed to walk away the award for my age group. However, I am still trying to decide of my award medal or the 5 pieces of juicy watermelon I devoured at the finish line were more rewarding. #pregnancycravingsarerea But most of all I am just extremely proud of my miraculous pregnant body for being able to run mile after mile despite having to work so hard to grow a baby. 

And a shout out to my sweet husband for being my own personal cheerleader! And to sweet Baby T for putting up with the constant bouncing and jiggling.

ElectroDash

My co-workers and I are more like a family than anything else, so  occasionally I let them talk me into doing something crazy. Cue signing up for the EletroDash 5K. Just as the name implies, it was a giant dance party in downtown provo complete with girls in neon tutus, endless techno music, and glow sticks for days.  Since getting married, I have to admit I am a little rusty on the dance party skills, but that didn't stop me from dancing more than I ran. Hopefully I didn't embarrass our group too badly... 

Happy ElectroDashing!

Oh Happy Life.

Ragnar

I don't know how to begin describing a Ragnar. It was 36 hours of straight insanity consisting of 197 miles of running, 2 hours of sleep, never ending cow bell, temporary tattoos, and some serious team bonding. 

My first leg was a gorgeous trail run through the Wasatch mountains. I hardly noticed the miles fly by because I was so distracted by the beautiful forest, waterfalls, and wildlife. After that leg, we traveled to our next location where we got approximately 30 minuets of sleep in the car... Our team then ran through the night ending with me, beginning my leg right at the crack of dawn. I ran along the mountain highways just as the sun was rising. Somehow I got a second wind during this leg and kept around an 8 minuet pace. It was fun to kill (pass) tons of people and hear all the locals cheer me on. After this leg, we were really feely the lack of sleep. The girls and rolled out our sleeping bags in the shade of a giant pine tree and got some (like 1 hour...) of shut eye to in preparation for leg 3. This was the leg I was most excited about because I had been told it was an easy run along the highway that finished up with a lap at the Park City high school track. Easy, right? Imagine my surprise when I realized the course had been changed since the previous year and instead I would be scaling a mountain, running back down the other side, and then finishing up with another mile to the finish line. It was nearing dusk at this point, so I was one of the only people on the track--it's a miracle I didn't get lost with just little orange strips of cloth to mark the trail! I was so happy to be down that mountain that I sprinted out my last mile in about 7 minuets (a new record for me). My team met me just before the finish line and we all crossed together. I was so happy to get that giant orange medal and have an excuse to eat as many peanut M&Ms as I wanted on the ride home.

Thanks doTERRA for sponsoring such a fun weekend! How did I get so lucky to work for such a wonderful company?  

The 5 fabulous member's of van 2 gearing for the road trip to the starting line.

Ready for leg 1.

Resting after a long second leg.

The team "dad" dominating his leg. Can you believe this guy ran 37 miles in 36 hours?

Sleeping under a pine tree trying to get energy for leg 3.

So proud to finally get our medals (and car stickers...)!

Team Slim & Sassy!

Happy Wasatch Back 2014! 

Oh Happy Life.

Hobbler Half

A goal I have had for a long time is to complete a half marathon. Little did I know that training for such a race would get me absolutely addicted to running! For 4 months a good friend and I trained together, running multiple times per week. At first, I was sure we would never make it. My lungs could hardly stand 3 miles without catching fire, not to mention the IT band pain in my knee and side aches. But we persevered. I figured out the joys of rolling out my IT band with a tennis ball, changed my diet, increased by water intake, and low and behold my body adapted! Before too long, we were running 10 miles with no problems.

Race day was so much fun! We had to catch a bus to the starting line at 4:45am, which made for a very early wake up call. Luckily, I had some amazing friends by my side who made the whole thing a giant, running party. We all ran together for the first 5 miles, but then slowly separated to keep our own pace. I realized about mile 9 that I could finish the race in under 2 hours if I kept my pace (a surprise even to me as we had been training at a much slower pace). It was exciting to push my body to the limits and never stop. I can't tell you the joy I experienced passing the 2 hour pacer just minuets before crossing the finish line! My "official" was 1:57:51.

Justin was there cheering me on as I rounded the final corner to the home stretch. It was such a relief to see his face and know that I survived. I got my medal and shoved my face with bananas gatorade before hobbling over to my husband (my muscles were no longer cooperating by this point). It was a lot of fun to cheer for the other girls as they crossed the finish line--all of them hobbling by the end. This half marathon certainly has an appropriate name. Then the boys ate our free french toast breakfast (because honestly, who can eat that after running 13.1 miles?) and headed home for a long nap. The boys may or may not have had to carry us to the car...

On the bus.

Starting line party

My beautiful best friend Koryl even came to support me. I am so blessed!

The finishers (minus Alicia)!

They are so good to us!

My husband is such a hunk! Look at those muscles. 

So, when is the next one? I'm thinking October.

Happy Running! Oh Happy Life!