SLC Summer

After Newport I stayed in Salt Lake with my family for about 2 weeks. I love having long stretches of time there that don't feel as rushed. I love sinking into a daily life and being around for late nights talking with my sisters or afternoons with my mom, dad, or brother. I think we may have worn out our welcome a little bit with such a long visit but I really loved it. Rosie and Evie are obsessed with their cousins and it just gets more and more fun as all these girls get older together.

We visited and danced with Grandma at the Church History
museum and went to the zoo with our cousins. We got to help set up and attend our aunties Big Top Circus party. Rose and Eve dressed up as a clown and a bunny and stayed up partying till 9:30pm which is unheard of at our house. We went to the Days of 47' parade and saw the floats at the expo center. We went to Wheeler Farm, ate lunch a few times at Sugar house park, went swimming in Park City, and saw lots of wonderful friends. Such a fun filled visit.

I also got a special girls day with my sister and friends up in Park City which was wonderful and much needed. Taking care of the girls without Ben for long periods starts to wear on me after awhile. Thank you to my mom and sister for babysitting for me.

I finished my stay in Salt Lake with my half marathon on Saturday and it was much better than I had anticipated. The first 7.5 miles were downhill down the canyon and that certainly helped my time.  I was ready for that portion to be over since I hadn't done much downhill training and my legs were unbelievably sore for several days after the race. I finished with my best long distance pace ever, averaging 9:19 minute miles and finishing in 2 hours and 47 seconds. I told myself I would be thrilled with 2:15. Not too shabby.

It was a great, empowering experience. By the end I was completely pooped and wanting desperately to walk the last mile and then a song came on (pandora) that Ben and I have sung in the car and our kitchen a million times. For some reason it made me break into tears. I had been missing Ben and it felt like he was there. I think I was overcome with being so tired and so spent but so amazed that I had actually done it and beat all my goals and accomplished something. SO cheesy I know but it was a good moment for me and pushed me through to the end.
My sister signed up for the Provo Half as soon as she got home from the race and I thought that was crazy. But after a week of recovering and feeling kinda lazy...it actually sounds nice. Maybe not immediately, but I definitely want to do it again.