Happy Halloween!

What better way to celebrate Hallow's Eve than with a morning run?  My friend Sarah welcomed me into her running group when I first moved here (one of my many unsuccessful efforts to try and morph into a morning person.) Three times a week we meet at 5:45 am to go running. At first it killed me because where I live it's rather hill-y and mountainous.  And, well, running through our neighborhoods still kill me. But I got into shape pretty fast. Turns out Sarah and her girls were training for the Halloween Half Marathon.  I decided why not?  I mostly agreed because the race is downhill nearly the entire way. Sarah and the girls planned a great running costume -the Cheetah Girls!- Black and orange tutus with leopard print arm, leg and ear warmers.  They were sweethearts and sewed my leopard print warmers as crafty women do (the truest act of love in my book) and I actually managed to make my own tutu. (shocker, I know)

Oops! The race almost didn't happen and had it not been for Kyle mentioning the race while we were on a date with friends last night, I would have totally forgotten to pick up my bib number.  Our friends were patient and didn't mind the detour to the Ken Garff Porche in Orem where I had to pick up my stuff. We spent the remainder of the evening enjoying eachothers company over pottery and paints.

Unexpected blessing. I rolled out of bed this morning to find Savvy snuggled up between Kyle and I. I don't know what time she decided to join us, but it didn't seem to interrupt my sleep. For the first time in my life, I actually felt rested when the alarm went off at 5am.  Weird. I don't anticipate that ever happening again, but it was sure appreciated.

Goals. For my first half marathon I had some funny goals:  try and run the entire race without food or drink, and run the entire time.  This time I decided to try out Goo (that sugary energy paste) and walk through the water stations. And just feel good the entire time

Uh-oh. At about 5:50 am just before my ride picked me up, I realized my Shuffle hadn't charged during the night.  My heart sank. The battery was still totally, utterly dead. I was going to have to make it 13.1 miles without ANY music. No David Archuletta or Cyndi Lauper to pump me up. Not even this guy to help pass the mundane miles through the canyon. Argh.
I was devastated.

Driving up the mountain (or is it technically "through the canyon"?)  to Aspen Grove took forever in the school bus and I was having second thoughts. Once we got to the top and warmed up in the lodge I was feeling better. Mostly due to some very amusing costumes. There were a couple runaway brides in full-on wedding dresses, several eighties costumes, an Adam (as in Adam and Eve), Jane Fonda, Wonder Woman and I think my favorite was this Bill Gates guy. He was in a collared shirt with dockers pants carrying a Microsoft brief case. I wondered if he was really going to run in that costume and carry the brief case with him.  Turns out he did. I came home after the race and saw this picture Kyle took:

He's handing out money to Cade and Savvy on the sidelines. Hilarious!

Tender moment. My absolute favorite part of the entire race was running down the steep mountain and coming around a bend to see my family cheering me on.  Seeing my babies' big grins on their faces and waving their arms happily even though they were probably freezing to death was a tender moment.  It was so cold up there! The race started nearly 45 minutes late, so they had been waiting a long time.  I was ready to shed a layer, so it was nice and convenient getting to toss my shirt to Cade.  He was even holding a thermos of hot chocolate. I should have stopped for a drink. Precious.  Kyle was busily snapping pictures to document the moment. What a man.

Brittany and Sarah were great running companions and passed the time quickly. I was shocked that they didn't turn on their music until mile 10.5. Fortunately it was around that time taht the Goo kicked in and I decided I wanted the race to hurry and be over with so I picked up the pace a little. With one mile to go, the no music thing really got to me. All I could hear was my feet pounding. It got old.

I finished about 3 minutes faster than my last time, which is cool. It wasn't my goal, but I guess that's what happens when you drop about 2,000 feet over 13 miles. You go faster.  My sister would be proud. A few weeks ago she asked me what my goal was. I told her it was to finish feeling good. "Well yeah, but I mean how much do you want to beat your time by?"  I told her I didn't care if I beat my time. I think that kind of suprised her. We're total opposites when it comes to running. So, I did end up beating my time and I walked through most of the water stations, ate two Goo packets.  I suppose all that stuff they say about replenishing your body and giving it rest is true. Huh. I suppose all those runners know what they are talking about after all.

So now I am home and Kyle has taken the kiddies out for a few hours so I can sleep. So sweet. Good night.  Looking forward to making a killing...er...helping the kiddies have lots of fun trick-or-treating.  Here's a sneak peak at what they are wearing tonight:  Cade is a rebellious Dash from the Incredibles (he's wearing a Cape. Remember, Edna said "No capes!") and Savvy is a princess fairy. 

Oh I could just eat these kids up, they are so cute. How did I get so lucky?