Wasatch Back Relay ~ Logan to Park City
188 miles ~ June 18-19
What an incredible experience! I am so glad I was able to be a part of this. Some things I learned:
*Utah is super green after such a rainy spring. The scenery was amazing!
*You shouldn't expect to get a tan on your legs when you haven't had them out in the sun for a few years; instead expect to get burned really bad on the front thighs and calves.
*My body shuts down at 10:30 p.m. - like I felt it all. over. and took it out on my team by hogging the back seat of the suburban for the majority of the race.
*Morgan at midnight is DARK. No street lamps, nothing. I had a 2 ft diameter beam from my head lamp and that's it for my second run. (Also: even when I'm freaked out from darkness I don't run faster than normal)
*A single blister can cover the entire ball of your toe, reaching down towards your foot and can actually form *around* your toenail. (Plus: I have no idea how to use mole skin)
*The aforementioned blister can make the last 6 miles of a run really long (luckily a guy named Andy came along and asked to run with me - I laughed when he said he had been pacing me the entire time because I was alternating running and walking up the freaking huge hill so much.)
*When my body is so tired and I start running up a steep hill I laugh out loud and silently swear (probably Tia's influence) because it hurts so bad.
*Water stations every 2 miles aren't enough - thank heavens for my van who brought me gatorade regardless.
*Hotels that you think are for
those reasons because they are so cheap are really
that crappy inside - but paying $7 for a super painful shower where I thought my aforementioned calves were bleeding whenever water ran down them was super worth it. So was holding my bladder until we got to a toilet that worked.
*I cried twice - once when Lesa got to see her husband and kids, and once when I saw Boualay in Park City and she was going to Cafe Rio and I had 3 more hours until my team came in. So, apparently I love my family and Cafe Rio. (Also: I don't push myself *that* hard)
*Speaking of family, Delena is a wonderful babysitter and Adam is a wonderful Dad. I was gone so long and my kids were very happy the entire time.
*Ragnar is kind of like giving birth. I remember very clearly during the race that I had no idea why I had signed up, and there's no way I would ever do it again because it was so uncomfortable. But now it's over I'm so glad I did it and kind of want to do it again.
My stats: Runner 3 - 18.4 m total
1 - leg 3 - 5.6 m, 61 min, ~10:45 min/ml, start 2 pm (HOT and SUNNY)
2 - leg 15 - 4.9 m, 56 min, ~11:30 min/ml, start 11:45 pm (cold and BLACK)
3 - leg 27 - 7.9 m, 1 hr 48 min, ~13:30 min/ml, start i don't know because i was so nervous and delirious by then. but it was in the middle of the day and hot and windy and the hill climb was a 'beast', or so people told me who got to drive up it.
And here are all of us Rockstars: Trina, Lesa, Tia, Lisa, Kathy, Carla, me / Amanda, Lori, Erin, Celeste, Kristin. Thanks for the good times.
Peanut butter and jam sandwiches. I left the room for a minute - you'd think I would get suspicious of silence a lot faster than I do. But still. This picture kind of embodies for me the fact that my kids can do quite a lot on their own and have fun and play together and are happy without me. It is awesome in a bittersweet way.
Lily started dance classes! So cute. She is getting so big and it's so fun to see her jump around in ballet/tumbling. She starts preschool in a few weeks and we are both so excited! She is going to do awesome as she responds fantastically to other authority figures.
Jackson set up his 'bed' outside one night. We spend most of the afternoon shade every day out front so he probably thought this was the next probable step.
For July 4th we went to Lava Hot Springs and visited Grandpa Ronald and Zelpha with Nate, Mckay, Matt and family, and Terrel. I love love love having family visitors. The boys went on a bike ride in the morning and we had a big breakfast when they got back. Also Matt and Jana moved to West Jordan so we're excited to have more family close!
Cub Scout Camp at Camp Kiesel! Here is "Kong's Fortress" as Scott put it. I finally have a grasp of this calling and I am absolutely loving it. This place was so beautiful and the activities were lots of fun: row boats with lots of water splashing; BB gun shooting (I hit 3 out of 4 targets!); and others. The boys had so much fun and I am now a huge fan of the Venturing program in Scouts.
Here are most of us with our Wolves and Bears.
We finally made it to the zoo. Adam has been wanting to take the kids forever. Unfortunately this Carousel shot shows the last happy moments we had. After it was done Lily threw a major tantrum to go again and ended up screaming all the way out of the park, to the car, and to where we went out for lunch. Wow.
But the kids really loved it and it was a blast seeing them get so excited about the animals.
Ogden Pioneer Day Rodeo! We went with the Cub Scouts this year as we got in free with our uniforms. I can't get enough of those Ogden mountains. Also you can see a bit of Lily's tattoo. The Sunday before she gave her first talk in Primary (with Adam's help - she specifically requested him) and for some reason I can't fathom he put this tattoo on her arm right before. 
Here are a few shots of our Cubs getting ready for the flag ceremony. 
Jackson was pretty happy for the most part - check out those dimples.
But he can pull a pretty good pout as well.
Traveling to St. George - Adam and I were laughing so hard at Jack who was still doing the motions to lick his sucker even though he was beyond exhausted.
