St. George Marathon 2019

St. George Marathon,  2019 - marathon number 24 for me, number 12 for Tim, and the first time we have ever finished together.  This isn't quite what we expected when we each decided to run, but it was super fun to be able to run the marathon together.  Over the past few years I have really struggled with my running, and sometimes question why I keep signing up to run this marathon.  But even though I'm not running great, it feels better to just keep at it, no matter how slow. As Jarin reminded me, fast or slow, running a marathon is still an amazing accomplishment and finishing just feels amazing.  Tim retires every couple of years, but this year decided to run.  We did a few training runs together, but his pace is so much faster than mine that it has not ever been realistic for us to run together.  That is, until he got hurt.  Somehow, he pulled a muscle, or tore something in his lower abdominal muscles and it was so painful that he could hardly run.  He was worried about making the injury worse and decided the only way he could get through was to run at a much slower pace.  Luckily for him, he happened to know a slow runner...We ended up having the best time together.  Because we had no real goal, other than to finish, so we walked when we needed to, enjoyed the scenery, and made plenty of new friends along the way.  I'm not quite content to always be so slow, and am working on some new goals for next year, but for this race, the pace was just right.

New photo op at the expo, of course we took advantage!

Not sure if you can tell, but it was cold...and windy,

But we were ready to go.

When you're not in a hurry, there are plenty of opportunities for selfies

Nothing better than seeing our people with about two miles to go. 

Tim and I running the St. George Marathon together this year would literally have been impossible without the support of these amazing people.  When we both decided to run, the biggest question was what to do with Luke and Ruby during the race.  My parents are almost always at the race, but this year I wasn't sure since my mom was still recovering from knee surgery.  When I asked, they said they wanted to be there and would figure out how to make it work - and or course they did and made it fun for everyone.  Then Brycen was able to come which was amazing because he is just the biggest help.  Luke and Ruby are our biggest cheerleaders and it just meant so much to have everyone there as part of our team.  

The kids were all really patient at the race expo even though it is not a lot of fun for them.  So, after finishing at the expo, we had a quick lunch and then headed to the "dinosaur park" per Ruby's request.  My mom and I hung out with the kids while my dad went golfing and Tim left to go show houses to a client.  It was pretty hot this year so we were definitely grateful for the splash pad area.

No trip to St. George would be complete without a few trips to the pool.  Luke and Ruby were a little bummed not to have any cousins to play with on this trip.  But they still somehow figured out how to have a little bit of fun.

Grandpa and Luke returned to the scene of last year's injury and recreated the infamous football throw.  Luckily there were no injuries this year and they had a great time throwing around the ball.

For the past few years we have taken the long way home after the marathon and stopped at Cedar Breaks to enjoy the views.  Every time we have visited, it has been quite cold and super windy.  This year I was prepared with coats, hats and gloves, and made everyone bundle up when we got out of the car.  Oh the irony because there was no wind at all, but instead, plenty blue skies and full sun.  We ended up with a pile of coats, and all enjoyed some extra time in the warm fall sunshine. The kids made friends with several dogs, and a few of their owners, and the rest of just were just content to enjoy being in nature.  Turns out, the views are much more enjoyable when the weather is so nice.