Races, and more races

This summer I was able to work 3 races in, a half marathon, a 10K and a sprint triathlon. I had the half marathon goal in mind, and thought "hey, I will be in such good shape, I should work in an Olympic triathlon as well". That was a hilarious thought. First of all, the half training just about did me in. I was trying to run ridiculous amounts of miles a week (ridiculous for me, anyway) and really started getting some bad hip pain when I had just turned over a new leaf in my training, so I went to the doctor and had to back of the training to keep in shape so I could finish it. The half was in June, in sunriver, and was the most perfect conditions for a race and a wonderful weekend to boot. I had Adam give me a blessing for my hip to heal, and I doped up on medicine and was able to run the whole thing pain free, and no pain that whole weekend, when I can run 4 miles and be paying for it for 2 days. It was seriously a miracle. Brynne was all set to take off and decided to stick with me because I was able to keep running. That was a huge accomplishment for me and I have the proof of that on my car. We spent time with my brother Chris and sis-in-law Kim and niece Hannah, and that was fun. Also got to see my cousin Marlow and her kids who live in Louisiana because they were visiting my aunt and uncle in Bend. It was such a great time.
Brynne and I after the half marathon.

Me smiling afterwards-(side note- we wanted to shout out to Eugene so we bought these tye-dye tshirts and Brynne had drew wording and a picture on the back that said "Sole Sisters" with a running shoe. Everyone loved them and it was fun to represent Eugene.

I also decided a couple days before a 10K to run it, basically so I could hang out at this cool festival called "the Scandinavian festival". Lots of yummy food. I ran with my friend Stacie and it was a good run. Nice and flat course. Went back to the festival later for food and it was about 100 degrees that day. Yuck! Needless to say, we didn't last long!

Then was the tri in Forest Grove Oregon. Brynne and I convinced out s-i-l Kim to do it with us, and she did! It was one of the hardest races I've ever done! I don't think I was totally in shape to do this, and the course was so hilly. I hate to swim and so the 1/2 mile swim was hard, but I think I beat my last tri swim time. The bike was the hardest part. I wasn't used to steep hills, and just wanted that part to be over, when usually it is my fav part. Kim was on a mountain bike so we felt bad for her. We all finished, Brynne got first in her division, and I got first in my division-the big women division-but there were names under mine! So that was cool and we were so proud of Kim finishing with a big smile on her face!! What a way to end the summer!

Me getting close to the finish line.

This is before the torture, I mean, race started.

# 1 in my division, baby! It is amazing the limits we can push our bodies to and succeed in something that seems to unachievable. It is a great feeling!