Oregon

My cousin Brecken and the WSU wildcats were playing in The Big Sky Championship in Hillsboro Oregon. I took advantage of the fact that it was close to my sister and my dear friend and took a little trip without the hubs or kids. It's no secret that I love Oregon!!! It is probably one of my most favorite places in the US.
These are all the pictures I took with my phone.  I love that I can blog from my phone.  It's totally awesome. 

I also love my Aunt and Uncle.  They mean the world to me.  

It was lots of fun to get to hang out with them.  

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED running in the morning in Oregon.  So gorgeous and the crisp, clean air was so refreshing.  Running at sea level feels like a piece of cake too.  It was extremely enjoyable.  The picture above is of the road Holly lives on.  So awesome.

My friend Holly and her family moved to Oregon a year or so ago and bought an amazing farm.  I got to stay in their guest house (It was really as fancy as it sounds too) and loved hanging out with her and her adorable family.  

Holly took me to downtown Portland (in a Corvette I might add) and treated me to an amazing dinner.  I love that we can go a long time without seeing or talking to each other and just pick up like no time has passed at all.  She is dear to my heart and I am so blessed to have her in my life.  I can't wait to take my kids out to her farm sometime in the very near future.  

I had the bright idea to run up Multnomah falls the morning of the big game.  I was all alone and have hiked these falls many times.  Last year when we stopped up there on our way to the Eisenbarth Family Vacation, they told his there had been a big mudslide and that the trail was closed.  The trail has since been repaired, but has changed as well.  I ran up these falls in no time and COMPLETELY missed the trail to the lookout.  I kept thinking I would be reaching the top soon but the trail just kept on going and going.  

When I got to this bridge I knew that I had somehow missed the lookout and had definitely gone farther than I had intended.  The scenery was so gorgeous, I just kept on running on the trail, thinking I would turn around at some point.  

Most of the time there wasn't even anyone else on the trail with me (which now seems really stupid of me). I didn't have a water bottle or anything.  Not the best or safest thing I've ever done.  I came across some real hikers and they told me I was crazy and that I was on Larch Mountain and had probably ran about 6 miles.  I decided to turn around and get back down the mountain so I wouldn't miss the game.  It was my most favorite run to date.  Even if my 2 mile run turned into 12.  :)  

Can't wait to go back!!!

Spartan Beast

I am a sucker for the obstacle races.  I love that it's more than just running.  The Spartan Beast is supposed to be one of the hardest of the obstacle races around.  After conquering Tough Mudder last year, I was up for the challenge.  One of the hardest parts of the race is that it is held in HEAT!!!  It was triple digits the day we ran, although Tough Mudder was freezing cold so I guess you just can't have it be good weather for races like these.  I got to run in a team with co-workers who I adore.  We took each obstacle like champs and I am VERY proud to say there were only 2 obstacles I didn't complete (but did 30 burpees instead).  

Almost all the running is trail running up and down mountains.  Tough on the body but great views!  

I did biff it hard coming down the mountain about mile 6 of the race and my tailbone found a rock perfectly.  It hurt like heck (knocked the wind right out of me) but the adrenaline kept me going and I was able to finish the race no problem.  It wasn't until we got home and I had sat in a car for 2 hours that I knew something was wrong.  The pain at that point was unbearable and a quick trip to the doctor revealed I had indeed busted my tailbone.  :(  Sadly there isn't much you can do for that besides sit on a donut pillow and be miserable until it heals.  It was worth it though.  A fun race that pushed me hard.  I love that I can do hard things.  

Thanksgiving Point Half

I like to have a race in the works to keep me motivated to stay active.  It's sad...but unless I have something to look forward to and someone to do it with me, I'm not very good at maintaining my exercise routines.  I was really happy when Curtis said he would do the Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon again with me this year.  We did it last year and it is just such a gorgeous run and a very well organized and challenging run (the hills will kill ya).  Emilee and Tucker said they would do it with us and that made me even more excited.  The furthest either of them had ever ran before was a 5k, so this was exciting and a record setter for sure.

Sadly before the race Curtis's schedule at work changed and he was unable to run the race with me.  Since we had already paid for him I talked my athletic nephew Bailey into suffering with me.  He hadn't trained at all and I'm pretty sure he felt like quitting about half way through but I made him stay with me and he was awesome.  I finished in my BEST TIME YET, taking 20 minutes off my time from last year.

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful run.  

Tough Mudder

About a year ago, I heard about this awesome race that was coming to Utah for the first time.  It's called Tough Mudder.  A couple of co-workers of mine decided they really wanted to do it, and me being the easily persuaded fool that I am, thought it sounded fun.  I love to have races and things to "train" for to keep me motivated to stay fit and in the best shape possible for my lame body.  So I figured a fun mud run would be no biggie.  Then I googled it and realized it was no ordinary fun run.  12 miles - 21 military style obstacles  (including Arctic Enema (ICE cold water), electric shock, Everest, tons of mud walls and other crazy shiz)- and a high of 52 made it a very tough race.  

Check out the race here:

TOUGH MUDDER

But I like a challenge and I like hanging with these tough dudes.

It was definitely the hardest, coldest, toughest, but BEST race I have ever done.  

I am very proud to say I completed the course!!!

The next few days I was sore.  Not my muscles, just my body.  Every day I would find a new huge bruise.  I looked like I was in a horrible fight.  I counted them up and I had 18 all together.  I don't remember getting a single one of them (thank you adrenaline).  

You can't see it very well in this picture but my knee was huge and very bruised as well. 

It was worth every penny and every bruise.  I would get up to an obstacle my first instinct with almost every one was "I can't do this!"  I am so thankful for the amazing teammates who made me feel like I could do anything.  Knowing they had my back gave me much more strength then I would have had on my own.   

It made me think a lot about the gospel.  SO many times in my life I have forgotten that I have an amazing team (Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost) backing me up...and with them...I can do anything.  

It was a great experience and one I will treasure forever. 

I'm A TOUGH MUDDER!!! 

Rivarly Relay

At last minute, a couple of my co-workers needed someone to fill in on their team for the Rivalry Relay.  It starts at the University of Utah and ends in Provo by BYU.  Each person on the team takes turns running a leg of the race, with each leg being a different distance and elevation.  It was AWESOME!!!  I ended up running a total of 10.5 miles and with my longest leg being just shy of 5 miles.  It was a gorgeous run and a ton of fun.  

My team placed 16th out of 80 overall and 7th in the mixed gender category.  Seeing how we had a 12 year-old, a 14 year-old, and then a bunch of old 30+ folks...we did pretty awesome.  

The only pic I got.  I'm running on Highland Drive in the Holladay area. I used to live close to here a long time ago, so it was really fun to think of those memories while I ran.  

It was a great race and one that I highly recommend.  

Last Day in OR

Our last full day in Oregon was the reason we all went out there in the first place.  It was time to run the Ocean's Edge 5k.  I was so proud of so many of my family members who agreed to run in this race this year.  Normally, my family aren't really in to running that much. 
Cody was first to cross the finish line and Bailey was just seconds behind him.  I finished in my best 5k time ever (just over 26 minutes).  It was a gorgeous day (unlike last year) and an incredibly fun run.  

I was especially proud of my nearly 60-year-old dad.  He is awesome and finished in a great time. 
Don and Amberlee pushed themselves to do the race even though they were not very excited about it.  They did awesome and I hope they know how proud I am of them for trying something hard that they normally wouldn't do. 

Em and I were showing off our donkey kicks after the race.  The lady behind us thought we were crazy. 

We pretty much just spent the rest of the day enjoying the beach and each other. 

Don and Amberlee flew their kites like pros.

Don's string broke on his kite and he had to run after it.  He has lost so much weight lately that his pants are getting too big for him.  It was fun to watch him run after his kite while trying to keep his pants from falling down. 

Although we miss the McCuen's when they are not around, we are thankful they live in a beautiful place that we can go visit.  One of my very best friends is moving to Portland (I'm jealous), so it will just give me more reasons to go out and visit now!