it really happened: top of utah... and i miss logan

although i have come to love where i live, i still miss logan a whole heckofalot. so, you better believe i jumped at the chance to head north in august to run the top of utah half marathon with some friends and family. not only was it a great training run for my upcoming marathon, but it was in LOGAN with people i love. the perfect combination.

cade and i were late getting into logan on friday night after a busy, busy day helping with a charity event in salt lake. i had been on my feet for fourteen hours and i questioned my judgement as i sank into the car after such a long day. cade told me to zonk while he drove me to logan- and even though i love that drive, i obeyed. it was dark anyway, i guess...

we quietly slipped into our hotel room and fell asleep as quickly as we could. i knew i would only have a few hours of sleep before the long day hit. alarms went off and my mom, heed, and i were up at at 'em- ready for the race. after the buses dropped us off at the top of the mountain, i remembered something about logan that isn't my favorite thing: it was cold! REALLY COLD. so cold that people were huddled into one another and snuggling into trees. the three of us crammed our way onto an overloaded bus who had stayed back to collect runner's items and such. there really wasn't room but we were getting on that bus come hell or high water. we were sardined in there but it was far better than freezing our butts off outside. i still can't believe how cold it was!

i easily forgot this one thing i hated about logan as soon as the race started. logan has a beauty that is unique. you can smell the loveliness there. we took off down the mountain and ran. and ran. and ran. it was a great race! my new favorite thing to do at a race is to take my ear buds out as soon as i am a few miles from the finish. i love to hear people cheering the runners on- and honestly, i sometimes tear up. with my ear buds out, it made it really easy to hear my cheering section going crazy for me as i crossed the finish line. really, i have great support.

after finishing the race, i grabbed violet an ice cream sandwich from the runners corner, rested for a second, and then went back looking for my mom. i really wanted to run in with her at the end. she had been struggling with some injuries and i knew that the end of this race was a tough one. i found my dear mom running her heart out with the biggest smile on her face. she is awesome. we ran it in together at the end and i loved every second. did i mention how much i love my mom?