Lake-to-Lake 2010

We decided to put another team together and do the lake to lake relay in St. George.  This race is 50 miles long, it is done as a relay with five people who each run two different legs of the race. 

I was a little nervous as it got closer, cuz I really wasn't prepared and thought I should stay home and get caught up from being gone.  But it was a little too late to back out.  So I got what I needed done throughout the week, did laundry, picked up the house, prepared sharing time and packed to head to St. George with Shannon, Heather, Jami and Jenae. 

Once we got there we did a little grocery shopping, made it to the race meeting, enjoyed dinner at Olive Garden then checked into the hotel to get some sleep.  Race started Sat 8 am.  We awoke to good weather which was a relief, there is nothing worse than racing in cold and windy weather. 

We started out all having great first runs.  Shannon started us with a long run and completed it with good time, Jami and I did personal bests of under 8 minute miles for 5 miles each and Heather had a stellar performance with 7:19 min miles.  We were all very happy to have the first one done and to have done so good! 

Around 12:30 during Janaes second run the wind started picking up.  I started my second run and had the wind in my face the whole time.  During my run all I could tell myself was to not stop and keep going and I would survive.  My second run was 4.9 miles, which had a mile long hill and ended with a very, very step uphill on dirt, then a downhill to end it.  I did survive and to my surprise I finished in good time (considering the condition) 8:38 min miles.  I handed off to Jami who starts on dirt and climbes up and down hills with wind blowing in her face, dust flying and finishing on pavement with a steady uphill to end.  She crossed the line line finishing in the top 75 teams so she got a hat for her awesome performance.  Heather ended us with her always amazing performance.  She too had the wind but she didn't let it stop her, she came in with under 8 minute miles to help us finish at just after 3pm. 

As always when it is all over, I am so happy and proud that I went and completed.  It is so fun spending time with friends cheering eachother on and learning more about them and myself.  We finished 41st out of 95 teams and 9th in the womens division which had 30something teams. 

After the race we went to Gabes house showered off, then went to do some shopping but decided to go get pedicures instead since we'd been running all day we decided they needed a little pampering.  After that we went to the banquet they had for the racers, they had yummy food, a slide show of the days events and handed out awards.  It was fun to see pictures of what everyone went through that day and and to see the results.  Janae missed out on the banquet she decided to head back to Spanish early so we missed her in our final picture with our cool bags and she missed winning the drawing but, Jami was nice and collected the prize for her.   

After that we were on the road headed back to Spanish Fork so we could be home for church the next morning.  We always have a fun ride home going over the days events and just talking about life and kids.  Its nice having time with friends cuz it helps you realize you aren't alone in this journey we call life and you aren't the only one dealing with the stuff life throws at you. 

Anway, thanks girls for the push to do it and I can't wait to do it again next year!  Great job!