Race Recap: Cedar City Half Marathon

Oh hey! It’s only taken me a month to jump back on the blog and share how our race actually went! My bad! It took me a while to figure out how I would approach this one. Since I was super open and honest in my last post about what it was like running and training my 13 year old son, I figured I’d keep it open and honest here too.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect on race day. I didn’t want to have high expectations of what running a half marathon with my son would be like. I didn’t want to dream of bonding while on the course and such! I just wanted him to finish and most importantly, to enjoy the race. I’ve been running races, mostly half marathons for about 5 years now and my family travels with me pretty often, so they know about packet pick up, early morning start times, banana for breakfast, long lines for port-a-potties, etc. But it was still pretty cool to actually be experiencing these routine and normal pre-race activities with my son and seeing his reaction to them for the first time as a runner. EEK! I just called him a runner :)

We’d been training together all summer, so running alongside him was nothing new, yet it still felt like a completely new experience anyhow. I couldn’t help but smile when I thought that we were finally doing it. After all those months of training together and the ups and downs, we were finally running Cedar City Half Marathon together. It was pretty cool to think about and really made it a special race for me!

I could not have been happier with our experience. Diego pushed hard and enjoyed most of the race. Unfortunately, his phone battery died at about mile 10, so he was pretty bummed out about that since that meant he’d have to run the last 3 miles without his music. When we realized it happened, I braced for impact. I was pretty sure he’d be super upset since he depends on his music so much for running and honestly so do I! So, I was really proud of him for not overreacting and just going with the flow. He was upset, sure, but he took it in stride and moved forward. I took my headphones off too in solidarity and we finished together with big smiles on our faces!

The actual course was great! It was a nice downhill run. The scenery was pretty, the weather was cool, and the aid stations were plenty. Even when we ran outside the canyon and into the town itself, we ran through trails and sidewalks in parks that were nice and even provided some shade as it started to warm up towards the end of the race for us. The race medals and shirts were also excellent and the post-run snacks were great! We especially liked the ice pops they were handing out! I would highly recommend this race to anyone who is looking for a fast downhill half marathon in the fall!

An Open Letter to My Son : Running Your First Half Marathon

At 13 years old, you're just one day away from running your first half marathon.  You've always been an overachiever.  Potty trained before you were 2, skipping the baby babble and going straight to complete sentences.  You can't just solve a rubix's cube, you can solve it in under 30 seconds.  Kendama, guitar, card tricks, algebra, reading, drawing, the list goes on and on.  You've excelled in all you set your mind to do. 

Except running. Because all those other things have come easy to you, but not running. Running has been hard.  It's been slow.  It's been chock full of complaints, struggles, and failures.  Running has beaten you down.  It has irritated you.  Running has made you hurt.  It's frustrated you.  Running has made you feel less than. It's humbled you.  And for this I say, thank you, to running.  I thank running for teaching you that it's not always easy to reach your goals.  Running requires discipline and endurance and grit.  These are all things I hope you've learned through running.  

You complained about waking up early during summer break to run, but you did it anyways.  We argued along the road many mornings, but it never stopped you.  During moments of frustration, you still endured.  So many times you wanted to give up, to turn around, but you never did.  You kept going.  May this be a lesson you take with you always.

I hope that running will always stay with you.  I hope you find a love for running, as I have.  But, if you don't, that's ok too.  But I do hope you never forget the lessons learned during your training.  Because, whether you realize it or not, running has taught you so much about life.  It's taught you to never give up.  Wether you go fast or slow, what matters is that you are moving forward.  Never forget that.  Never forget that although there may be pain and it may be difficult, chasing your dreams is always worth it.  Life won't always be easy, but sticking to your goals and being true to yourself will always be worth it.  Never forget that feeling of accomplishment you get after a long or difficult run.  Let that stay with you and let that guide you. There is power in perseverance.   

Running alongside you all these weeks has not always been easy, but neither has being your mom and I wouldn't trade any of it for the world. I am so proud to be running with you tomorrow and sharing 13.1 miles with you.  Crossing that finish line together will be a moment I never forget. I love you beyond words.   

PS. I can't forget to give a shout of of thanks and appreciation to the hubs for all those early mornings of driving him up to meet us at the mountain so he could get his long runs in.  And to Valerie for all the rides up the mountain and encouraging him and me along the way.  To all our friends and family who've also encouraged him, it doesn't go unnoticed! XO 

Summer Bucket List 2018 | Camping in Utah

Our family enjoys being outdoors.  We like to go hiking and take walks at the park.  Jason and the kids like going on bike rides and as you know, I'm a runner.  However, we just recently started going camping as a family.  I guess you can say we are officially "outdoorsy" now ;) To check out my 5 tips for camping with kids, go HERE! 

Anyhow, we'd been camping twice and both times to the same place, Navajo Lake in Utah, so for this year's camping trip we decided we'd try someplace new.  We made reservations to a campsite in Central Utah called Kents Lake.  We went with 3 other families, all of which had also been with us on our last camping trip.  We arrived on a Thursday afternoon and spent 2 nights sleeping in tents and enjoying the fresh air.  The weather was a bit warmer than our last trips, but we appreciated it at night.  We had one afternoon of showers and hail, which put a slight damper on our lunch and made Elysse freak out, but it cleared up pretty quickly and all was well again! 

The main highlight for our family was Diego catching his first fish on the lake! It was so special to see his face light up! Huge thanks to the family fishing next to them for sharing their secret weapon with us and helping him figure out what to do once he'd caught it.  

The camp site was fine, but I wouldn't recommend it as it didn't have flushing toilets.  Now, I understand we're camping and all, but flushing toilets are a basic necessity for me.  They had vault toilets, which is really just an outhouse.  Also, compared to Navajo Lake, there wasn't too much to do around the campsite or on the lake.   Of course, when you're camping with 13 other people and you are all good friends, you don't need much more than that!  We still had a really good time with lots of laughs and new memories were made.  We can't wait to go camping again together, just not at Kent's Lake this time.  We're thinking of changing it up and doing some beach camping in Southern California next summer. What's your favorite camping spot? Have you been camping at the beach? Let me know in the comments below.