My First Half Marathon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

This last weekend 5 of us couples from our ward ventured up to Leavenworth together. About six months ago, my friend Sommer encouraged me to sign up for the Half Marathon in Leavenworth. I decided that I was turning 30 and this had always been something I had wanted to do but hadn't. So, I signed up and the last 6 months I have been running and training for this day. Sommer also sent out a invite to other couples that we were friends with to make a weekend of it without kids and get a house. As this weekend was approaching, I was getting more and more nervous. Running just over 13 miles isn't a easy thing at all. This last week before we left, I came down with head cold. I haven't had a cold in about 8 months and of all weeks to get one, was not this one. I was so nervous all week that I wouldn't be able to run. I did run it though and made it! Here is the low down from our weekend.

Thanks to my mom and dad watching Issy, and Ty getting Friday off, we left in the morning for Leavenworth. We got there around 1:30 in the afternoon and met up with our friends Sommer and Ben Reynolds and Heather and Matt Smith in the downtown Leavenworth area. We walked around the shops for a hour or so. The weather was beautful and it was nice to not have kids to chase around. The 3 guys ventured in the cheese store and they were in there for almost a half hour tasting cheese of every kind. They all came out with bags of different cheeses and beef sticks/salami. They were crazy about their meats and cheeses all weekend. After hanging out at the shops for a bit, Sommer and Ben got the keys to our house we were staying at. We headed to the house and realized that it was a mansion. We were right on the river and it was a 3 story, 6 bedroom, 7 bathroom house. There was a media room as well with 2 plush leather sofas in it as well as a pool table. It was so nice because we all got nice rooms with our own bathrooms. What more could you ask for on a weekend away. Shortly after we got to the house, our other friends Shar and Steve Olsen arrived as well as Chelisa and Tim Tree. Once we were all there the guys hit the pool table and us girls(mostly Sommer and Heather) made a yummy Lasagna for dinner. All of us that were running in the race headed to get our registration and then back for dinner. We ended the night all play the Great Damudi(fun game) and then headed to bed for the big race the next morning.

I woke up Saturday morning feeling horrible. I couldn't breath, and was really congested. Ty gave me a blessing and slowly my nerves kind of settled down. I didn't know if I would be able to run the whole race but I knew that I was going to finish it no matter what. So, Sommer, Matt(Bishop), Steve, Chelisa, Tim and I headed out to run our race. There were about 1500 people there running. Once the race started, we all kind of hung together for the first couple miles(except Sommer and Matt). Sommer is very fast! After a couple of miles we all kind of seperated. As I was running the race, I couldn't believe that my sinuses had opened up and I could breath just fine. It was cold but there was no rain at all. We really couldn't of asked for better weather. The only time I walked was up a big hill and I walked briefly when I stopped at the water stations. After mile 10 I couldn't believe my legs were still going. All I could think about was just keep going, don't quit. Once I reached mile 12 and saw the cars and where the race was going to end, I got tears in my eyes because I couldn't believe I was actually going to finish this race. As I came to the finish line, I could see my sweet hubby standing there with his arms open waiting for me. I collapsed in his arms and couldn't believe what I had done. It was such a life changing experience for me. I set a harder goal and did it. Words can't express what I was feeling at that moment. I finished in just a little over 2 1/2 hours. Sommer blazed in at 1 1/2 hours. Bishop headed in just after 2 hours. Steve was about 10 minutes behind me and about twenty minutes behind him was Chelisa and Tim. At the end we got medals and a awesome zip up sweatshirt as well. My great friend Aubrey flew into town to run the race with her dad so it was great to see her too. We all headed back to the house to shower and we got a nice big sandwhich and settled in to watch afternoon conference in the nice media room. After conference, the guys got ready and headed into Wenatchee for the Priesthood session while all of us ladies headed back to the shops to do some more shopping and get a bite to eat together. The Trees had to leave that night which we were happy to have them for one night but sad they had to leave early. It was nice to sit down at a nice Cafe with Heather, Sommer and Shar and enjoy a quiet dinner. The guys picked up dinner on their way home. That night we all gathered in the media room and watched some comedy videos. We all headed to bed hammered from the busy day.

Sunday we woke up to a nice breakfast curtasy of Bishop and headed downstairs to the media room again for conference. After morning conference, we packed up and made some lunch and then watched afternoon conference. We all commented how nice it was to watch conference without the interuptions from our kids. After that we all headed home.

It was such a great weekend of fun with some great people. Thanks to the Reynold, Smiths, Olsens and Trees for a great weekend. We are already looking forward to next year!:) All of us runners before the raceTy got pictures of us passing our house which was on the running route at about mile 6. Sommer, Matt, Steve and I
All of us finishing the race in order of coming inMy friend Aubrey and I after the race