Turquoise Lake Half Marathon

So, at the beginning of this year I set a goal to be more physically active and to loose weight.  Everyone's New Year's resolution, right?  Well, this year I meant it.  After a Christmas season that bordered on pure gluttony, I weighed the same as I did while 7 months pregnant.  NOT GOOD!  So, I started doing what I could.  One day, while on the elliptical at my parent's house I saw an add for Insanity and remembered my friend Jess saying that she had it.  I was sold.  I asked her if I could borrow it, and she excitedly shared it with me.  

It was amazing.  After getting through a full round, I got brave enough to do one with her, after which we got to talking.  I told her that I was going to register to do the Boulder Boulder to give myself something to keep pushing for (since my first round on Insanity was done)... and being Jess she said- ooh, we should do the Turquoise Lake run together!  Well, jumping from 10k to 13.1 miles was a bit of a stretch for me, but I thought- hey, why not?  I've done the Boulder Boulder a handful of times, let's go for the next level! 

And here we are!

Jess was amazing.  We trained together for the next several weeks, and she put up with my slow, whiny self like a saint.  I loved to run and talk with her and the hours seemed to fly by.

Here might also be a good place to explain that all these lovely photos were thanks to my wonderful hubby.  He was so supportive from day 1 all the way through the week of soreness after completing the race!  And all through the race he followed us, like our own personal paparazzi.  He's drive past and then a little way off I'd see him peeking out of the trees or bushes, or climbing up a steep hillside to get a better shot of us :)   

This was about half way.  Jess barely broke a sweat!  And Reagan (her dog) could have run circles around us and still have energy left at the end!

I, on the other hand, was sweating like crazy- but determined to finish!

The second half was all mountain trails with rocks and roots and lots of hidden ways to break your ankle :)  So I decided to be a little more cautious...however, slowing down made REALLY long!

The last 2 miles were along a sandy beach (which, by the way is harder than it looks in the movies!).  It had gotten windy and started raining and lightning- a little scary, but good motivation!

At this point I was exhausted.  My legs felt like Jello, the sand made new muscles ache, and when I saw my hubby taking this picture I was so tempted to just hop in his car and call it good at 10 miles.  This is where I learned a little something about myself and about the Lord.  I learned that I can, do, and will continue to do hard things.  I learned that that is how we become our best selves.  I also began to see why the Lord lets us push through these hard things, and realize that just because he is not changing the situation doesn't mean he's not there cheering for me on the sidelines.  I realized that we both know that the temporary relief of intervention would never mean as much as the lasting satisfaction of success.  I treasure this picture because it reminds me of some of these thoughts I had while running this final patch of the hardest thing I've ever done.

And this is just a nice shot of the actual lake we ran around.  Even though it was at a 2-mile elevation, and mostly up-hill, the run was beautiful!

We did it!  Although I was simply running for completion, I was happy to report that I did not come in very last, which I was fully counting on!  We finished in about 3 hours and 22 minutes, numbers 120 and 121 of 125.  Jeremy met us at the finish line with a bundle of colorful daisies for each of us as well as some gatorade :)  Such a good hubba!  

Thanks again to my dedicated friend Jess, and the most supportive husband ever.  I couldn't have done it without both of you.  I consider completing this race one of the biggest accomplishments yet in my life, and am so glad I did it!