Big Cottonwood Half

Last Saturday I completed my third half marathon! Never in my life did I think I could run more than a mile so three half marathons is HUGE for me even though it's not a big deal for most runners! This was by far my funnest half! For one - this was the half that made me want to do a half! Last year I saw the sign for it at the mouth of the canyon and I knew that I wanted to do it but I didn't feel ready for it and I did this one instead. So this year I knew that I had to do it and I'm so glad I did!

I had run down Big Cottonwood twice last fall and they were my favorite runs. So this year I ran down it 3 times to train, and again - LOVED it. It is just a fun, downhill, fast run that is so beautiful. I could run 12 miles down it every Saturday if I had time! 

I signed up for the half totally alone, didn't even know anyone who had signed up. But the day before I found out that my friend Suzy was also running it so we met at the top the morning of the race and ran together. Suzy is a huge marathoner and way fast, but luckily for me she had taken almost 2 months off of running this summer so she took this half easy (for her, fast for me!). It was so fun just chatting and running and I was super happy with my time. 

Such a fun half and I felt great, probably should have and could have pushed it harder but I had a blast and can't wait to do it again next year!

More Summer Runs

I'm sure everyone out there is so sick of looking at sunrise pictures, but the beautiful morning sky really is what gets me out of bed each morning to run and I don't want to forget the beauty I see every morning!

One morning the sunrise shining on the temple was so gorgeous!

Love running around the lake

I seriously can't believe that this is my neighborhood!

The weekend before my half I ran 12.5 miles down Big Cottonwood to prepare and the sun shining on the mountains was so pretty - gorgeous scenery makes running so much fun!

I ran the Wastach Stake 5k and apparently I won winner for 1st Female and 1st in my age division - it was pretty easy since everyone running was about 50 years old :)

Last the best - 80's run for Kylee's bday! So funny, lots of honks and stares, but so worth it! 

Summer Saturday x 2

As you can tell, Saturdays are my FAV days, especially in the summer.  I like to pack in all the fun stuff that I don't have time for on week days and be able to actually enjoy summer. 

One Saturday morn I somehow convinced my mom and Meg to run down Big Cottonwood with me since I was training for my half marathon. It was such a fun, pretty run and I am so glad they were with me! And they both did so awesome!

Lots of beautiful views

Our mountains are SO gorgeous I can't get over it

Our next stop, of course with it being Saturday and all, was Saturday's Waffles!

We like waffles, so sue us!

Double-wide! = YUM = sick all day long!

Then we spent the day swimming at my parents

The day couldn't have been better!

Timp Half!

A few weeks ago I ran my second half marathon, the Timpanogos Half down American Fork Canyon to Lone Peak High School! I wish I had trained a little more but I still had a lot of fun and was happy with my time. 

EARLY morning on the bus!  We had to wake up at 3am to be the busses by 4:30!  The early morning and stupid bus rides to the start are the worst part about races!

Sara, Brittney, Eryn and me

So glad I had these girls to train and run with - I couldn't have done it without them!

Kylee, Keri, me and Linds

Loved running into friends at the finish! 

Man was I glad for the race to be over! At mile 10 I got THE WORST side ache and literally had to force myself to keep running for the last 3 miles.  Stupid cramp! If that hadn't happened I would've gotten a better time! Grrrrrr.

Eric, Tara, Me

Two of Al's cousin also ran the half and it was so fun seeing them at the finish! Cousins who run together, stay together!

We did it! 13.1 done and done!

I signed up for my next half solo and I am SUPER nervous.  I wouldn't have made it through this half if I didn't run next to Britt the entire time so wish me luck on having to run 13 miles totally alone {eeek}, unless someone out there wants to do the Big Cottonwood half with me in Sept?!

Summer Runs

So there's this thing I like to do that I call Summer Running, cleaver name right?!  Pretty much I only run in the summer and then I stop working out the rest of the year!  In the winter it's just way too cold to get out of my car and walk inside the gym or to put on workout clothes.  But there is just something about early morning runs in the summer that help me stay sane, relax me even {what?!}.  And I have been lucky enough to have friends in my neighborhood who love it too so it works out perfect to run with buddies!

Since I only run half of the year I'm not amazingly fast or have any big time goals, I just run to get outside and enjoy the weather!  I don't care about my pace or my mileage, I just like to get out of a stuffy office or house and enjoy the summer.

My two running buddies this year - Sara and Eryn!  I wouldn't get up in the wee hours of the morning if it weren't for them!

I also really owe a lot of my running to living in Daybreak - it seriously is the perfect and most beautiful place to run.  The lake is a perfect, mostly flattish route with such pretty scenery.  If I lived most anywhere else I'm sure I wouldn't stick to running very well!  The beauty of my neighborhood gets me out of bed!

The most beautiful sunrise one morning!  Definitely worth the 6am alarm clock. 

Some of the girls signed up for the Utah Valley 10k in June.  I didn't sign up or plan on doing it because it didn't seem worth the time or money just to run 6 miles.  But one of my friends ended up not being able to do it so I ran in her place and it was so much fun! 

Halloween Half!

A half marathon has always been a goal of mine even though I had never run more than 2 miles in my life. So this summer when I start running I knew I had to do a half and I am so glad I did! 

The half that I did was the Halloween Half Marathon from Sundance down to the Shops at Riverwoods in Orem.  The atmosphere was so fun with everyone dressed up.  We wanted to dress up but also didn't want anything too annoying to deal with while running so these skeleton sweatshirts that Priscila found were perfect.  And then we made tutu's to make our outfits a little cuter and wore black eye-shadow and lipstick! :)

The whole experience was so much fun, and I was so nervous the night before.  I took advantage of the whole "carbo loading" thing and went to Pizzaria Limone (my fav) for dinner, went to bed early and woke up at the crack of dawn to meet my friends and drive to Provo.  We got on the buses and took the long ride up the canyon to Sundance.  It was FREEZING because it had snowed the day before so we just snuggled up and listened to music to get pumped up.  Once we got to the top we went into a huge tent with everyone else and literally huddled together until the race started. 

Care, me and Linds

Me and Pris
Loved being able to train with my friends who I don't see as often anymore!

The fab 5 who did it together! Sooo grateful for these girls, we had a blast!

Me, Caroline, Priscila, Lindsay and Sarah

On to the race details....

I read online that this race was a lot of downhill, etc.  But since it had snowed the day before we had to start the race at the bottom on Sundance instead of the top, cutting off miles from the downhill part of the race route.  Because of that they added an uphill switch back that was soo hard, I was dying!! I was planning on a down-hill race and then they make us go uphill for who knows how many miles, 3-4ish? It was so hard! All 5 of us started together but Caroline is an awesome runner and left us in the dust.  Sarah slowed down from the beginning to pace herself, and me, Pris and Linds stayed together until the switch-back.  That is when Linds needed to slow down to make sure she could finish and me and Pris kept going. 

We had a lot of fun chatting for a bit, but the race got sooo hard after that uphill so we mainly just listened to our music and motivated each-other to not stop! I truly would have given up if it weren't for Pris! At about mile 11 we were sooo tired and wanted to die - like I said we were planning on an easy, downhill race but there were so many more hills then we were expecting. 

The last mile was soo hard for me, I started getting this crap in my lung area that hurt soo bad.  But luckily Pris's mom was waiting for us at mile 12 to run the last mile with us and she saved me! I had to slow down but I did not want to stop so she talked me through breathing, etc. I was so grateful she was there! Seeing the finish line was the best sight I had ever seen, I was so excited to finish!! As I was running up I saw Al and Katie I got a little teary haha! I had run almost 13 miles in training so I wasn't emotional about the mileage or anything, my cramp just hurt sooo bad, the last mile seemed to go on FOREVER, I could barely breath and thought that my lung was going to explode, so I was just so happy to stop running! 

After I finished and walked it out and drank a little water I was totally fine and felt great! It was so much fun and I am so proud of myself for accomplishing this goal!

Martinah is in the middle - so glad she was there!

Thanks to my hubby for being there to support me

I was so happy that Katie took time out of her day to come see me finish! It meant to much to me and I was so happy to have her there!

My first medal! So proud! I really can't believe I ran a half marathon! I ran it in 1:54 which I was totally proud of.  Had it been more downhill I would have wanted a better time, but considering the uphill course change, the frigid temps and all the other hills I was extremely happy with my time!

I haven't been much of a runner (like at all) this winter, I went a few times but I just can't do the cold winter mornings. But I 100% want to do the Big Cottonwood Half next September so I am planning on starting running again in a few months when its warmer! 

me....a runner?!

Well not really - I am not a runner at all, but this summer I have found out that I actually like to run! Who would have thought?! NOT ME! 

It all started in April when I really wanted to run the Color Me Rad 5k - not because of the RUN, but because of the colored chalk you throw all over! So I did that and it was hard! Could not even run a mile without being super winded.  So on into May I ran 1.5 miles in California, but it was downhill almost the entire time.  When I got back I ran 2 miles with my friend and I was so proud of myself! But it was way hard.  So then two of my friends in Daybreak told me that they had started running a few miles in the mornings and that I should come.  First off I am NOT a morning person and have a way hard time waking up, second - I had run maybe 3-4 times and was not in good shape.  But somehow I get roped into going with them and the first few times it was super hard, 2 miles killed me - and we were going to slow! But after a few times I was started to build up endurance and actually enjoy it!  The weather was perfect, the sunrises were truly amazing, I fell even more in love with Daybreak running around the gorgeous lake/trails/temple, and I loved getting home from a run and stretching on my front lawn for a few minutes in complete silence with no one outside - it was so peaceful. 

Then once I hit 3 miles, 4 miles and so on I was feeling so proud of myself and wanted to continue!

This was my favorite sunrise of the summer, it was breathtaking - this picture has no filter or edit and it still doesn't do it justice!

After a while we decided to sign up for the Bluffdale 10k! It was a TINY race, like maybe 20 people ran the 10k portion but it was still fun!

 Before the race
I seriously love Kylee and Karina and I owe it to them for getting me into running! If it weren't for them I would never have started.  I truly look forward to waking up at 6am or earlier just because I get to hang out and chit-chat with them for an hour and it is so much fun!  They have seen me at my best and worst, listened to drama, we've learned a lot about each other and they have pushed me along the way. Love you guys!!

After! I had never run 6 miles before so I was proud of myself!

Another gorgeous morning

We ran together on Kylee's bday so I got birthday crowns and a sash to celebrate

My parents stake put on a 5k and I wanted to run it with my mom so we slept over and Al and my dad woke up early to go on a bike ride and then the boys met us at the race.

It was so fun to run with my amazing mama who is my fitness inspiration! And I loved running around the neighborhoods that I grew up in - even though it was a lot hard than my Daybreak runs because of all the hills!

With the changing seasons running is a lot harder since the sun rises later now - but its still gorgeous and I loved the bright moon and star above the temple one morning. 

Footsteps for Fertility 5k!

Thank you to all my friends and family who supported us in this! It meant so much! We didn't win the free IVF that they were raffling off but it was a lot of run and we really appreciated all of you who signed up for us! And it was for such a great cause that we 100% support and believe in. 

Mal was so nice to wake her boys up early and come run it with us! Im so glad she was there along with a bunch of Al's cousins. 

Annie, Lizzie and Heather were SO nice to sign up for us! I loved having them there - I seriously love you girls and that meant so much to me!

After the race we all headed to Einstein's for breakfast

Love my hubby :)

This was the first time I ran 10 miles! I was so proud of myself! I literally never in my life thought I could run that far so I had to document it for proof!!

Then it seemed like over night it was fall and our down-hill canyon runs came at the perfect time! 

Me, Pris, Care and Abs ran down Emigration to the U of U stadium and it was so fun and beautiful!

The next weekend I ran down Big Cottonwood Canyon with Pris, Linds and Kylee and it was the perfect weekend to go. The leaves were amazing! It was probably my easiest run yet because I was so in awe of my surroundings!

Last Saturday we ran down Big Cottonwood again and although a lot of the leaves had fallen off, the sunrise was gorgeous!

On to my next adventure - the Halloween Half marathon! I don't know how I got talked into that one! Its something that's always been on my bucket list but I had no idea I would actually be able to cross it off! I am nervous and excited for it - wish me luck!