Las Vegas, baby!

I know this is way overdue but I had to at least mention my trip to Vegas last month... One of my best friends is getting married so we did a bachelorette party to celebrate her last days as a single woman :)
The beautiful bride:

Brooke the ladie's man. This group of guys were also doing the bachelor party-thing so we hung out with them for a bit.

Apparently our cat is crazy because this is what goes through her mind all day :) This pretty well sums up what it's like to have a pet cat: the cutest sweetest animal is at the same time some viscious carnivorous fighter. She thinks so, anyway.

Todd spent an afternoon creating this masterpiece, hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Salt Lake Marathon 2010

I ran the Salt Lake Marathon! Again!

And I hope I never do another one for the rest of my life.

It was so hard!!!!!!!!! I really wanted to beat my score from last year, and I wanted to beat it into the ground. So I pushed really hard at the start. That was probablly a mistake, because I hit a wall around mile eleven. ELEVEN!! With fifteen more miles to run! It became markedly harder to continue the pavement pounding, in spite of my best efforts at ignoring all the pain.

Todd met me at mile 14, (more than half way) and he could tell something was wrong.

"Are you hurt?" He asked.

"Yes!" I cried.

"What hurts?"

"My legs!"

Of course my legs hurt. Everything hurt at that point. With 12 more miles to go.

I kept running, and somehow things got a little easier for 4 or 5 miles. I was feeling hopeful of making my goal until around mile 21, where I hit a SERIOUS wall. I could not run. And it was breaking my heart. I walk-ran and saw Todd again at mile 22- he ran through Liberty Park with me and I probablly complained his ear off about how I wanted to stop running and be done.

To say that I struggled is an understatement- I practically clawed my way along and at mile 24 came to an aid station and burst into tears. The lady handing out Powerade put her arm around me, walked with me, and gave me a pep talk. I coughed her powerade all over the road (oops) so she gave me another. She told me that she had walked an entire marathon, and I could walk too. And if she could finish it, so could I! She hugged me and told me she loved me, and sent me on my way. Thank you, powerade lady for the support!

The last mile was awful. My knee hurt like the dickins, and felt ready to rupture with any extra pressure. So I did this limp-run thing where I looked like Forrest Gump when he ran with braced legs. I didn't want to walk- the faster I completed the race, the sooner I could STOP MOVING. So I forced myself along, and saw someone leaping beside me calling my name. It was my dad :) Cheering me on! And then I saw my mom cheering for me too! :D Dad, if you read this I realize you probablly weren't leaping, but that's what it looked like to me, lol.

And eventually the finish line was within view. It's the strangest thing, I thought I had completely used up all my energy but boy did I get a surge of adrenaline when I saw the end. I ran-- full force-- toward that bitter end. (And saw my niece Allison, which was awesome!) And I crossed that finish line without a tear, but filled with anger at the pain and relief at the completion of it all.

I beat my last score by 20 minutes, but didn't make my four hour goal. I guess I'll settle for 4:19, because I'll be darned if I ever try to run a fast marathon again!

Moab!

We visited Moab last weekend to climb, camp, bike, and hike. Natalie and Harrison joined us for the climbing and camping. It was such a fun trip!!

The multi-pitch climb Stolen Chimney on Ancient Art was particularly breathtaking and exciting- the pictures speak for themselves! Let me just say that it was very WINDY and each gust felt like it could sweep any of us off the cliff into the bowels of the earth! (Impossible considering we were tied to the cliff and each other, but still...) We each had to wait for the wind to die down before we could stand at the peak of the climb for the standard "I'm on top of the world" photo.

Here's me almost at the top:

Todd on top of the world!

Natalie repelling off the cliff

The biking was so fun- I was surprised to find myself really enjoying a work out. I've been running way too much for my taste lately, and mostly dread the time I spend pounding pavement or on my treadmill. I'd say that mountain biking and I have a bright future :) My only complaint was that the first day of biking left me with such a bruised bottom that the second biking outing was equally incredibly painful and incredibly exhilarating. I basically rode standing up or "sitting" on my thigh for 13 bumpy miles mostly down hill and was quite relieved to reach the car and get off my bike seat.

Riverton Running

I ran the Riverton half marathon! It was the worst race I've ever run! I had disturbing dreams and slept restlessly the night before-- a bad way to start a race day. The temperature was 34 degrees with freeeeeezing gusts of wind, which made me shiver all morning. While shivering and walking toward the starting line, I threw my neck out! It was so bad I literally couldn't raise or turn my neck at all! I panicked and called Todd crying, "What do I do?!" I had about 40 minutes before the race so I sat and sulked in my car, slowly trying to stretch my neck waiting for a miracle to save the day. A few minutes before the race started I got out of my car and jogged in place to test the waters, which were very painful! One of the volunteers gave me some Advil, and when everyone started running I started running too! Very slowly at first, and by mile 4 my pain was minimal. It was a miracle!

I ran into Jeff Jackson, a friend-ish from high school who was also running the race. We ran together most of the time, laughing about old friends and the dumb things high school kids do. That really helped distract me and pass the time.

I completed the race in 2 hours 7 minutes, my worst time ever (but not far from my best :) celebrated, then went home to take a HOT bath and a nap. Glad I did it, glad it's over!

A Cry for Help

I came home from the gym the other day to frantic "meows" coming from the back yard and a note from our neighbor taped to the front door...

"Your cat has been stuck in your tree all evening, we tried to get it down but it just climbed higher... call us if you need anything!"

Sure enough our brilliant kitty had made her way clear up a tree in our yard- 15 feet or so above our roof. She was pretty antsy and kept walking back and forth along these tiny branches till they bowed beneath her weight. There was no way we could reach her without the serious risk of falling 20 or 30 feet.

Todd and I weren't sure what to do- call the fire department? Leave her there all night? Risk our lives climbing up to rescue her? When all of a sudden, Todd had a brilliant idea.

We harnessed up, and Todd layered on slings, quick draws, climbing shoes, and a backpack, and basically rock climbed up the tree. I was pretty sure we'd get the cat down alive until I looked up at her-- just in time to see a branch snap under the cat's weight. She fell, but caught a branch with one paw and dangled there, crying. It was the kind of thing I thought only happened in movies. Because I was right below her, I prepared to catch her or at least break her fall, but she managed to climb back into the tree.

By the time Todd made it to her level she was so frantic that she practically dove into his chest. He stuffed her head-first into his bag, zipped it shut, and climbed/repelled off the tree.

Boy was that cat happy to be on the ground again! Hopefully she learned a thing or two, because next time she gets stuck up another tree she's on her own. ;)

Happy Anniversary!

It is our four year anniversary! Time flies, especially when you're married to someone like Todd :) We've visited a lot of great places and done some crazy things together. Todd is a great man, and he is my best friend!

We spent our first summer together in Puerto Rico and the windy city Chicago.

We visited Thailand before we were married, and pretty much fell in love there. Sometime during that trip I realized that I wanted to be with this man for the rest of my life.

When I graduated we visited Hawaii, my old stomping grounds. We camped all over the island, and then stayed in a crummy hotel on Waikiki. Camping was so much more fun!

Last year we traveled through a lot of British Columbia. It was amazing and well worth the trip.

Romancing the beach in Spain where we spent a few weeks camping, climbing, driving around, and dodging rainstorms:

On one crazy trip to Yosemite, for the first time in my life I thought that I might die... Obviously, that didn't happen- and I've tried not to take anything for granted since that experience. We've been back to Yosemite since then, and are planning more trips in the future.

Climbing in Mallorca, another destination we hope to revisit some day. Todd picked this vacation destination when he graduated. Anyone want to guess why he'd choose such a place?

Here's to four years, and to eighty-four more!