The Amazing Race

Happy Father's Day! The poor father in our family has been sick with a terrible migraine this afternoon. He hasn't had one in a while, but he pukes his guts out and can't handle any noise or light. We did make it to IHOP this morning for a special Father's Day breakfast before it hit in the middle of Sunday School. Anyway- we're supposed to go over to his Dad's house tonight and to be with his brother/sister-in-law who we haven't seen for a year! I might have to just go over with the boys if he can't go.

SO- THE RACE!

(sigh) It was great! It went so well and we had such a great time together! We went up and stayed with the Duerres and had a nice dinner with them. Then we all slept on the floor for probably about 3-4 hours total- before the alarm went off at 2:00am to get up and get ready to go. We changed clothes, grabbed some coffee and hopped in the car. We headed to Stanley (1.5 hours) for the race. It was FREEZING!!!

Travis started our run at 4:30 am. It was dark, cold, and yet so beautiful as the sun peeked over the mountains.

Then our rotations started, my camera wasn't working very well in the dark and was running out of battery, so hopefully Wende will emerge back into the blogging world and post some pics!! :)

We would drive past our runner and then stop at a halfway point and cheer them on, offer water, etc. Then we waited at the exchange station, where the runners had to pass off a bracelet and we had a GPS watch that we were wearing to track our time/distance. I started my run and ......I couldn't BREATHE. It was like not being able to catch your breath, no matter how hard you tried to control your breathing, tried to slow down, or tried to mental talk yourself out of it. The scenery was amazing. But it's hard to enjoy when you're gasping for air! My lungs just ached. The change in elevation/altitude just drastically effected us as we climbed up the mountain.

Then the sun came up and God turned the heat on. I had to shed clothes while I was running.

Despite the obstacles, I still managed to maintain 9 minute miles for a total of 10.5 miles. Everybody did so great. Our team finished 62 miles in 9 hours and 40 minutes. Our goal was 10 hours.

(sigh) And I feel it today. I wish we still owned that hot tub that we left at our last house. but..

It was a great experience and so wonderful to do it with Jer and become closer with friends. Now- what next? It's hard to just let all the training go to waste and stop now. But as I was running on the mountain- I was thinking, "Half marathon?-NO way." But maybe it would just take lots more training and experience. Here are some more pics from the weekend.