Summer Running!

This summer was an excellent summer for running. The main highlights included the Salt Lake Half Marathon, the Mapleton Moonlight Half Marathon, and the Top of Utah Marathon.

Salt Lake Half Marathon
This run was in April and was a blast! Cameron and I trained and did it together. We loved it. It was really fun to accomplish a goal like that together.



Mapleton Moonlight Half Marathon
This was a fun night race at the end of August where you wear glow in the dark things and try to cross the finish line at midnight. However, it actually ended up being a bit of a disaster. I got lost on the course and was scared out of my mind for about 5 miles. Because I got lost, it messed up some plans to meet Christine and Ben at the finish line, who were going to take pictures, run some more with me (I needed to run 7 more miles to stay on my training plan for my marathon), etc. So--I don't have any pictures aside from this one from after our the long night of running. Thanks again to Ben and Christine for dealing with my crazy emotions that night and for running with me til 2 AM!
Christine told me to look tough for the picture.

Top of Utah Marathon
This race was Sept. 18 up in Logan. I'd always heard everyone say, "If you can run a half, you can run a full," so I thought I'd try it. It was a good summer to train for it because I had lots of free time in California. But...it was SO HARD! WAY harder than I was expecting. I'm really glad I did it though. I was happy because I met my two goals: don't stop running (no walking) and under 4 hours. I don't know if I'll be doing another one anytime soon (I think I'll stick to halves), but it was a great experience. My parents were sweet enough to drive up for the race and biked next to me off and on between miles 18-24...the miles when I thought I'd die. It was great to have them cheering me on. Cameron and I made a fun weekend of it and spent the night with my darling high school friend Bonnie and her little family. It was so fun to see her, her cute house, and her adorable little boy.
Pre-race. Cameron always makes fun of my bandanas...he says I look like I'm in the crips. I guess this is me trying to make some kind of gang sign?



Relief!

My pro biker parents!

This post wouldn't be complete without paying tribute to my feet for all they've gone through. This disgusting picture shows how battered they are. I've got 4 black toenails still waiting to fall off.


I'm excited for the Halloween Half this next weekend...then I'm ready to turn the mileage down a bit til next year.