My neighbor, Daryl took these first two for me, I grabbed him when I got home from the race because he was outside and asked him to take a picture for me.
Hannah took this picture of me wearing my birthday belt that Lynsee made for me!
Wyatt at the park.
Hannah packed a picnic for the park for my birthday, it was a lot of fun.My birthday was great! I started the day bright and early, waking up at 3:30 and getting ready to run the Utah Valley Half Marathon. I got ready and picked up Lynsee and we headed to the Provo Towne Center Mall where we were bussed up to the start line. Lynsee had made me this awesome belt for my birthday, which I didn't wear during the race because it was SOOO loud and would have slowed me down (maybe that was her plan! :)) Anyway, we hung out at the start line around some fire pits and chatted with some other runners, it was a little chilly at 4:30 a.m., but not too bad. Overall we had a great race! Lyns and I stayed together the whole time and ran faster than we ever do when we are "training." My pace was 8:32 per mile and we finished in 1:51 minutes!! It was awesome! The first 7 miles we flew down the mountain and then once we came out of the canyon I could tell we slowed a little. About 4 miles left I was thinking, holy crap 4 more miles, then 3, then 2, then the last mile and I could see the people lined up at the finish line. I got a burst of adrenaline and took off a little in front of Lynsee. I saw Ryan and started waving and he was caught a little off guard to see me I think. He was holding a birthday sign for me and it was so great to see him there! Rob couldn't come because of work (we had arranged for a babysitter to come stay with the kids) and Ryan was my sole supporter there! Thank you Ry, I love you! I had some chocolate milk and some oranges and felt WAY better than I had after the Halloween Half back in October. Ryan took me back to my car and I headed home to the kids, I asked Daryl to take the pictures, and went into the house to my sweet kids. Hannah had made up a play for me for my birthday, well actually a puppet show, that she and Megan and Maddy performed for me while Julia narrated it. It was SO cute, about baby turtles who had to be rescued by their moms from the monsters and then went home to have a birthday party. I have the sweetest kids, I love them! I showered and rested and then we had a picnic at the park. That night Ryan and Melinda watched our kiddos so Rob and I could go on a date. We went to the Cheesecake Factory and then to a movie. It was great! By the evening though I was tired and my legs were tired and aching and hurt to go down or up stairs or bend in any way really. My feet and legs were swelling too so I was anxious to get home and get them elevated. After a good nights rest they felt much better. I was pretty sore for 3 days about and then the soreness went away and we were back out running 6 days later. This post was very rambly, but it was a busy day! I am grateful for a wonderful and supportive family, it takes a lot of time training for a race and Rob and the kids were so great to support me in my training.
