Mesa Falls Half Marathon

Jacob and I ran the Mesa Falls Half Marathon on Saturday. We finished before our goal time of two hours and thirty minutes but we still ran really slow now that I think about it. I am really glad Jacob was there with me because we kept each other going. I just don't think I could have done that all by myself.

Getting ready to run!
The course started down hill on a gravel trail big enough for an ATV to go through. So there was a lot of running over bushes to pass people. We ran ahead of people and finally found a good spot where people were running on the right and passing on the left. At mile 3 we made it on to pavement and at mile 4 we started up hill for the next 2.8 miles. The rest of the race was rolling hills and the last mile was through the town of Ashton until we ended at a park. We saw an old roommate of mine, who we ran with for the first little bit. She set a pretty good pace for us and was keeping time.

I will explain my emotions mile by mile

Mile 1 - Wheres the mile marker sign?

Mile 2 - We ran 2 miles in 18 minutes. Sweet.

Mile 3 - 27 minutes. Still doing good.

Mile 4 - Headed up hill. Feeling great because we're passing walkers. Lost Serena who started HAULING up the hill. Never saw her again until we spotted her getting a free massage.

Mile 5 & 6 - Just keep swimming (running), just keep swimming (running).

Mile 7 - Half way there!!! We're actually going to do it!

Mile 8 - These rolling hills are making this a whole lot harder.

Mile 9 - We're actually going to do this!

Mile 10 - This should be over now. I took off the iPod and shoved it down my shirt and started running with my hands on my hips for a while. I felt a lot more comfortable like that.

Mile 11- Please stop. Please stop.

Mile 12 - Where is the finish line. At this point we were running on city streets in a lane made with orange traffic cones. It felt like it just kept going and going and going.

Mile 13 - WE MADE IT!!!Once we stopped running our bodies tightened completely. It was painful to walk or move. Someone finished a couple of seconds a head of us and he was on his three hundredth marathon! I don't know how people have the knees for that!

We got free massages to help stretch us out and ate the free food that was provided, went home, got cleaned up and slept.

Sunday we were VERY VERY sore. Our legs and shoulders we stiffer than stiff. We looked pretty ridiculous waddling around on Sunday and today we are feeling much much better.

We felt such a great sense of accomplishment afterward. Believe it or not we are ready for another but all the races are coming to a close at least for Idaho/Utah area this year.

Jacob Did The Laundry

Sometimes we have a hard time finding time to go to the laundry mat. We try to go together because it takes a lot longer to go alone. About a month ago Jacob went alone and this was actually his first time all by himself that I can remember. So I was a little nervous that my whites would come out discolored with splotches of pink.

I usually try to keep my whites looking bright with a scoop of Oxygen Powder, the off brand of Oxy Clean and I usually keep the tub of soap and Oxygen Powder in the laundry basket so I don't have to gather them up when it comes time to go to Magic Suds.

So Jacob was off into the laundry abyss armed with quarters, soap and Oxygen Powder. When he came back, nothing was discolored or ruined and the whites looked amazingly bright. I thought he did a great job. The next time I did the laundry by myself and I didn't find the Oxygen Powder anywhere in our baskets, but I didn't think much of it. That is until last night when we did the laundry again.

We were sitting and talking and I was people watching as usual at the laundry mat. Some ones load had finished and I started to laugh because the guy had accidentally washed and plastic grocery bag. Jacob thought that was funny too, but he definitely topped the grocery bag. He admitted to washing the whole tub of Oxygen Powder on accident and nothing was in it when he found it in the washer after the cycle had finished. No wonder and I couldn't find the Oxygen Powder and no wonder our clothes were so white!

Battle Wounds

There are really gross pictures of my toe at the bottom. I will try to type enough so you can choose to scroll down and look at the pictures or not.

Getting ready for the half marathon has been going good so far except for my toe. My toe just keeps getting worse and worse but I don't want to stop running because we're far too far into training and too close to the race to have a set back for a silly toe! So, on the right side of my big toe, a huge blister has developed, and I mean huge. Yesterday I put a blister band aide on it and ran ten miles. I didn't feel a thing until the last block and it started stinging a little. But when I got home and took off my shoes I could tell through my socks that things had gone very badly with my toe. The blister pretty much doubled in size while I was running and even started oozing all by itself and got all over my sock and made the band aide all slimy. Even Jacob was taken back when he saw it. So I have decided to do some biking for the next two days and try a run again on Thursday.

Other than my nasty toe, not much has been going on. We've enjoyed the break from school and our weekends are busy busy busy. This weekend we will join Jacob's parents in Island Park for a Curtis family reunion and the next weekend is the big run. After that we're going to do a last-weekend-of-summer trip to Jackson, WY again to take a hike and maybe a night of camping. I also want to go to the ice cream shop again that sold guns. They had some yummy ice cream.

Hopefully I have talked enough to have the pictures hidden now at the bottom. Maybe I've talked the blisters up enough so that when you see them, it wont seem so bad.

Peeling off the band aide