Last January, Dirk and I were lucky enough to go on our first cruise. We spent 5 nights off the coast of California and Ensenada. My sister and her family also joined us. My sweet mother so graciously came out to watch the kids. We had a fabulous time.
Hiking
During the summer we went to Utah and had a mini family reunion with my mom and her sisters. "The 3 Sisters" as they came to be known as by Grant. Hiked Mt. Timp. well almost. Dirk and my nephew made it to the top but me, Grant and my sister stayed back and dried out our socks and shoes. Because ,of course, there is still snow on Timp. in June. We had to make our own trails up because the real ones were covered in snow. But it makes for a fun slide on the way down. A few days later we were in Moab enjoying the vastly different landscaping of Southern Utah. You would think you were in a different state. We hiked to the Arches where our children and cousins enjoyed "crushing" the Arch and each other. No snow here. It was over 100 degrees that day. Which really wasn't as bad as it could have been I'm told.
Running
Casually started running a couple of years ago. A friend asked if I'd run a half marathon with her in May. HA! Me, run a half marathon? No, way. I'm not a marathon runner. Nevertheless, started training with my friends in February, even though I doubted my ablitity to do so. So I didn't commit until I think we had acutally run about 8 miles. In May, my friends and I ran the American River Half Marathon. I thought I was going to die! Almost didn't make it because of an injury but got fitted for good shoes and pulled it off. It was an awesome experience. I'm glad I did it. So that opened the door to other races, including a full marathon in October. Same friend registers for the St. George marathon in October. No, way was I ready to sign up for a marathon after just finishing a half. "I'm not running it but, I'll train with you." I said. So I did. It's always easier to train with someone else, especially when you're getting up a 5am to put in a long run. So for 18 long weeks we ran or crosstrained 4 days a week. Besides having a good friend to train with, it wouldn't have happened without the support of my husband and children who consistently encouraged me even when we would be gone for hours on a Saturday morning. So with just a few weeks left. I have to make the decision to let all my training go to waste or actually run 26.2 miles. Besides, I still had my doubts, we only ever ran 20 miles in our training, I still had 6.2 miles to go. There were days that it seemed unreachable. But, I decided to stay committed, which is really unusual for me because I am usually such a quitter. I mapped out a route and on October 4,the day of the St. George Marathon I started out on my own marathon. Did I say that my husband was wonderfully supportive? That day I was reminded why I married this wonderful man. He rode his bike by my side the entire way! My butt gets sore just thinking about it. And he makes a great camel! (He even made us matching shirts!) So while my friend was running the official marathon in St. George I was running my own at home. Before she left, she made sure she gave all our friends my route and all along the way I had my friends and children cheering me on. It was a very emotional experience for me. Even had another friend run the last 5 miles with me. When I felt like I was going to pass out at mile 23 she kept me going while Dirk biked home to get some gatorade.(note to self, good idea to run with water AND gatorade.) At home, there were my friends complete with a finish line and balloons! So great. What an experience!
Casually started running a couple of years ago. A friend asked if I'd run a half marathon with her in May. HA! Me, run a half marathon? No, way. I'm not a marathon runner. Nevertheless, started training with my friends in February, even though I doubted my ablitity to do so. So I didn't commit until I think we had acutally run about 8 miles. In May, my friends and I ran the American River Half Marathon. I thought I was going to die! Almost didn't make it because of an injury but got fitted for good shoes and pulled it off. It was an awesome experience. I'm glad I did it. So that opened the door to other races, including a full marathon in October. Same friend registers for the St. George marathon in October. No, way was I ready to sign up for a marathon after just finishing a half. "I'm not running it but, I'll train with you." I said. So I did. It's always easier to train with someone else, especially when you're getting up a 5am to put in a long run. So for 18 long weeks we ran or crosstrained 4 days a week. Besides having a good friend to train with, it wouldn't have happened without the support of my husband and children who consistently encouraged me even when we would be gone for hours on a Saturday morning. So with just a few weeks left. I have to make the decision to let all my training go to waste or actually run 26.2 miles. Besides, I still had my doubts, we only ever ran 20 miles in our training, I still had 6.2 miles to go. There were days that it seemed unreachable. But, I decided to stay committed, which is really unusual for me because I am usually such a quitter. I mapped out a route and on October 4,the day of the St. George Marathon I started out on my own marathon. Did I say that my husband was wonderfully supportive? That day I was reminded why I married this wonderful man. He rode his bike by my side the entire way! My butt gets sore just thinking about it. And he makes a great camel! (He even made us matching shirts!) So while my friend was running the official marathon in St. George I was running my own at home. Before she left, she made sure she gave all our friends my route and all along the way I had my friends and children cheering me on. It was a very emotional experience for me. Even had another friend run the last 5 miles with me. When I felt like I was going to pass out at mile 23 she kept me going while Dirk biked home to get some gatorade.(note to self, good idea to run with water AND gatorade.) At home, there were my friends complete with a finish line and balloons! So great. What an experience!
If you think you can, you can!
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