Aspen Golden Leaf Half Marathon! (Continued)!

I will have to say that this trail really kicked your you-know-what! Holy Cow! It was so hard. Lindsey and I ran/walked the whole way together and at about mile 11 we were dying and by that time it was pretty much flat trail. We started running again around mile 12 or 13 and stopped at a trash can to throw away my GU packet. That is where we met the cutest lady. She was the medic for the run and she ran about a 1/2 a mile with us. She told us we were awesome and to keep going. So we did.

Here is Gary finishing at 2:34:55.


Then Lindsey and I made it with the awesome time of.....3:04:14. Lindsey did beat me by less than 1/10 of second. GO LINDSEY!!!!


At this moment, I am thinking...."Ouch, this hurts, ouch, this hurts, I am tired. I want to go home. There is no freaking way I can go much further. I want to be done soooo bad!!!!

But, right over that hill there we finished. It was awesome. We had such a great feeling of accomplishment and the view was absolutely breath-taking. I think we may even try it again next year. Why not? You wanna come?

Then we waited for Hollie and we waited and waited. Brigham went to see if she was one of the people who fell down. But then all of a sudden, this cute girl with an orange hat and bright green tank comes around the bend. We were so excited. Lindsey, Isabel, Lucy and I ran with her the rest of the way to the finish line. I don't have pictures of that, but somebody does and they better send them to me. Please. Hollie's time was 3:57:05. She was second to last and she loved every minute of it. She was especially excited because being second to last makes it much easier to find your time on the results list. That is what is so great about Hollie. YAY Hollie!! Great Job!!

After the race they had this give-a-way. I won an awesome rain jacket. Hollie won a pair of Chaco Flip Flops, Gary won a Camelback and poor Lindsey didn't win anything, which is why Grandpa paid for her lunch. So sad. Next year, Lindsey, you will totally get that sweet Timex!


Trail running leaves you a little dirty.


Gary's dirty feet.



Lindsey's dirty feet.



More of Lindsey's dirty feet. How great is this? I didn't get many pictures of Hollie's dirty feet, I think she was in the ice bath pullin' a Lorraine.


After the race, we did a lot of this....




Then we hit the town of Aspen for some dinner! Of course I was tired and grumpy because, hello, I just ran thirteen miles in the mountains. Plus, there is no rest for moms, so Lindsey treated me to a Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Thanks, Lindsey, you are the best!




We finally found a place to eat called, "Boogies." The kids liked it because they all got a free pin that said, "I pick Boogies.". What kid wouldn't like that? There is Raquel, as fabulous as ever. I don't know what Brigham is doing and Isabel is pooped.


This is Lindsey trying to make me feel better after this lady in a store we went to said to Lindsey, "You look amazing and refreshed. I can't believe you just ran the half marathon." Then she looks at me and says, "You look great too. You look a little tired." Then turning back to Lindsey saying "But you, YOU look so good!" And of course, she is right. Lindsey always looks great!



Lucy had the time of her life!!




Here we are right before we went home the next day. I think Hollie is nervous, she is biting her nails. John is so sleepy. Lucy is sad because she wants a stuffed animal and we, of course say, "no way". Isabel is happy because she actually got the shirt she wanted. Jack is not in the picture. Where the heck is he? He must be by me. Jack was happy because he was getting a hat and a shirt. But then he was mad because there was only one color and he wanted to pick it out, then he picked out the one I told him to pick out and then he was content for a minute and then he screamed and cried. Don't you all just love vacations?





This is what we saw on our drive home. I could go on for days about the drive home. We were trying to find Kevin Costner's house, but I think we missed it because we kept gawking at the scenery and hoping that Gary wouldn't drive us off the mountain every time we said, "Oh my gosh, look at that!" and then Gary said, "Do you want me to look or drive?" Remember that Gary? That was funny!



What a great weekend! I loved every minute of it. Don't let that grumpy stuff fool you! Thanks to everyone that came out. Thanks to Grandpa for coming out and watching the kids. Thanks to Brigham and Raquel for taking pictures and cheering us on. And especially, thanks to Hollie and Lindsey for running with us. The best part of these things is talking about it afterwards with everyone who participated. You guys are awesome! Once again, Gary rocks for the idea and planning of this event. Go Gary! Way to go on your first 1/2 marathon! You are what?...that is right.....AWESOME!!

Oh man, I sat here too long. I can't move my legs.