Showing posts with label running. Show all posts

Baby Got Wasatch Back

The Ragnar Relay: 200 miles split between 12 team members, each running 3 legs of various mileage.

If you had asked me a couple years ago about the Ragnar Relay, I would have thrown the words "crazy" and "never" somewhere into the conversation. Somewhere something changed and I now find myself to be someone who loves running. When Jesster was putting a team together I jumped at the opportunity and recruited some friends to join, too. Training for Ragnar reminded me of the reasons I love running, primarily that it puts me outside in beautiful places and noticing things that I would not notice if I were going by at higher speeds (i.e., driving). I love the familiar feeling of my early alarms going off, pulling on running clothes, and slipping outside to a cool, beautiful morning. I formed habitual routes as well as explored new ones and this became a favorite part of my routine during the last few months.

This is what a 4AM wake-up call looks like.

Jess's very apt caption was: "No one has cried yet."

A couple weeks before the race, I started having problems with my IT band. Long story short, it was incredibly painful and made running a bit of a misery. But I finished! On Friday night after leg 2 of 3, I was a tear-stained mess, completely miserable, and not quite certain that I would make it through my last, longest, most difficult leg the following morning. But rest, ice, a miracle-worker at the first aid booth, 3 hours of quality sleep (due to our exhausted state), and encouraging teammates saw me through it all.
This was the sight I woke up to at 6am on Saturday morning of the race. We crawled into our sleeping bags in the wet field at 3am with a sky of beautiful stars above us. Even with no glasses on, I could see the cloudy milky way above—so incredible.

We ran through some really beautiful parts of Utah and I had a blast with these team members and friends in van 1 (my stomach hurt from laughing so hard all weekend). What an experience it was and I am so grateful.

And a few photos from the Ragnar photographers... (race photos are always so awkward and we had some gems, ha). We used a slap bracelet in place of a baton to pass to our runners and I was taking it off to have in hand to pass off to Vanessa; good thing I am a well-practiced child of the 90s. Below is our entire team after running into the finish together!

glorious summertime


"It was a quiet morning, the town covered over with darkness and at ease in bed. Summer gathered in the weather, the wind had the proper touch, the breathing of the world was long and warm and slow. You had only to rise, lean from your window, and know that this indeed was the first real time of freedom and living, this was the first morning of summer." –Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine, p. 1

Isn't that beautiful? If you have not read this book, I highly recommend it. It is the perfect summer book and I have M to thank for introducing me.

My 6am morning runs (sadly nonexistent this week as I am trying to overcome an overuse injury before Ragnar—please pray for me! I am a little worried but hoping for the best and doing my best to rest and be ready and pain-free) approach this feeling. The first two photos above are from a run last Saturday—what more can I say? This world is so beautiful and my early morning runs have allowed me to better appreciate and savor these moments of quiet and peace alone with my thoughts and the sky above and the mountains on the horizon. It's not the act of running that I love so much as the things that accompany it.

One thing that I love about summer is the potential and feeling of opportunity that it brings. I've been throwing around the word summer for weeks, but this weekend it's official. (Never mind the snow on the mountains.)

 . . . . 

PS - I love this list of best bookstores (though there are so many others that I love! and so by default such a list can never be complete). As I flipped through Dandelion Wine I found a bookmark from the Boulder Bookstore, where I first obtained my copy. I love trips and discovering bookstores along the way and memories that become intertwined with books.

2013

Some things I loved about 2013...

lots of adventures with my sisters. I love love love having them in the same city.

lots of party-throwing and lots of girls' nights. This old insta of Laura's captures both and it is my favorite and I die every time (that's Adrienne's brother).

lots of solo train-riding in Europe. [this is rainy Interlaken—isn't the water the most beautiful color?!]

lots of adventures in Paris with M on a weekend trip. the best.

lots of running and the slow cultivation of a runner's life (with many early mornings with running friends and a handful of races completed).

lots of memories with dear friends... roadtrips, weddings, concerts, and a million heart-to-hearts, grocery store stops, rec center workouts, library visits, evening runs, movie nights, Sunday dinners, and photo club meetings.

lots of great music discoveries.

lots of book-reading. I discovered some new favorites and added some more to my to-read list.

lots of delving into family history work. It's a slow but steady process.

lots of beautiful Provo moments.

lots of Heirloom gatherings and an office routine which I love.

2013 was a good year and a hard year. But it ended on the best of notes, for which I am grateful. I feel happy and hopeful, here's to 2014!

run through the lavender

Last summer I ran this very same 5k—at the time my very first 5k, and to be more precise, my very first running event ever. Running this again one year later, having completed a half marathon in between, feels like I have come full circle.

It was unreal how beautiful it was—even prettier than last year. All morning I was so happy; the beginning of the course took us past a row of beehives (!) and then the rest criss-crossed through the fields. The best way I can think to sum up the morning was that this natural beauty & my conversations with Mackenzie were inspiring and so good for my soul.

half

Until about 8 weeks ago, I had been adamantly opposed to running a half marathon or anything of the sort. But several others at my office had registered for the Utah Valley Half Marathon and after musing on the idea and looking up training plans and giving training a go without telling anyone until I was absolutely sure, I signed up. The race was on Saturday and it went so well! It is still so hard to believe that I, with my own two feet, ran 13.1 miles, from up the canyon past the Sundance turnoff all the way to Center Street.

During my training, I had many good days and then other days when I would get horrible headaches or stitches in my side. While running the half marathon, I started getting a horrible cramp below my ribcage, but this subsided not long after, then at 8.5 miles my hip started hurting. The last 4.5 miles were a little rough, but I had a strong finish and then I was done. There are few things I've ever done that have been as satisfying. I don't know if I can say that I love running, but I love the qualities that I've seen it cultivate in me: discipline, endurance, and hard work. So I guess you could say that I love running by association.

here's to

here's to...

books and reading and book clubs where you pick and choose and sometimes discuss the books in question and sometimes you just talk about other things.

beautiful bungalows with backyard gardens on quiet streets. the setting for my evening runs these days is the loveliest.

seats at the bar and jokes with the chefs.

purchasing plane tickets and impending adventures.

talk of bicycles, summer bike rides, and helmets—safety first!

a sister who sends photos and updates from Paris to the family group text.


and some songs that I love lately – "Firewood" and "Small Town Moon" - Regina Spektor; "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" - Ben Rector, "Submarine" - John Mayer

run through the lavender

I ran a my first 5K this morning with Melissa, Elizabeth, and Mackenzie (two friends in my ward). The weather was perfect, the fields were beautiful and smelled so lovely, and most importantly, we enjoyed ourselves. And the best part? We were given small lavender plants at the finish line to take home!
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