Half Marathon

A picture is worth a thousand words.  This photo is no exception.

John and Brooke, just after they finished the Salt Lake City Half Marathon on Saturday.  One of them was "ready" for the 13.1 mile run, the other, well, mmm, not so much.

Can you guess who was ready?  Who was not? (Hint: Who looks happy, refreshed, and ready to run another 13.1?  And who looks like they are fighting with every ounce of remaining energy to muster out a half-smile for the camera?)

I wonder if the "big white spot" in John's vision had started to fade by the time this was taken.
(To quote Brooke, "When I saw dad come over that finish line, well, I've just never, ever seen him look that bad.")

*Side note:  Yes, John's right hip looks really, really big.  That's because it is packed with, like, seven drinkable yogurts and at least 2 chocolate milks (you know, the "free" ones they give out at the race).   He may have come home with a limp to rival Quazimoto's, but hey, he totally took advantage of the free loot.  That's my boy!

daddy-daughter date

"Piece of cake," was Brooke's reply when I asked her how her 13.1 mile run went this morning.

Today she and John ran the Salt Lake City half-marathon together. One year ago this week Brooke ran her first marathon. Apparently, once you've run a marathon everything else is just.....cake.

Oh! I know exactly what she means! I once ran 3 miles (yes, all at once!), and the next time I only ran one mile and it was just SO. MUCH. EASIER!

Whatev.

(So John just read this post of mine...."You didn't say anything about me blowing Brooke away at the end of the race!" he proudly protested. He confindently reminded me that he is 45 and she is 20 and he left her in the dust. Yes, he beat her by a whopping 26 seconds! Woooo. However, I should mention that Brooke finished in the top 10% for her age group! Not bad. Not bad at all.)

like mother, NOT like daughter

This morning I went for my usual Saturday morning run. And as usual, at about 10 minutes into it, I was already wanting to be done. I grumbled to myself the whole time because I was too cold, then I was too hot, then I was too cold. I was tired, I was hungry, and I had a cramp in my side. I pretty much hated every single minute of it. I finally grudgingly finished out my 3 miles and was thrilled to have it behind me.

About 2 hours later, Brooke called me....

"Mom, I went running this morning and I swear I could have run another marathon! I was loving every minute of it. It was nice and cool, perfect weather, and wonderful! After running for over an hour I thought to myself that maybe I should stop, even though I really didn't want to. But I decided it probably wouldn't be that good for me to run for very much longer since I'm not training for anything right now. So I went back home but I really could have just kept going and going and going!"

Whatever.

This, my dear Brooke, is why you run marathons and your mother doesn't.

our marathon girl

(Brooke's picture was in the newspaper! She is getting her medal from Miss Utah Valley.)

Last Saturday was a big day for Brooke. She ran in her first marathon (26.2 miles) and took 2nd place in her age division of 19-24! Her running time was 4:14:37. The race started at Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon and ended out by the Provo airport. She ran the entire way without walking once!

While she was training, she claimed that this would be her only marathon, that she just wanted to do ONE to prove to herself that she could do it. About ten minutes after she crossed the finish line, exhaused and sore, I said to her (sarcastically), "So Brooke, when are you going to run your next marathon?" She hesitated for a second, then said, "Probably not for a little while." Ha! I think she's been bitten by the "marathon bug"! She did fantastic and we are SO proud of her!

We met up with her at about mile 23. We would drive the car a bit ahead of her, then jump out to get some pictures. John joined her for a couple of miles near the end.

(Why is that all underlined?! It won't let me change it - HELP!)

Here is a 4 minute sample of our day...

(The first part is kind of dumb - just me talking as we are waiting for Brooke at the half way point. Apparently we missed her by 3 minutes. We realized this after sitting there on a bench coated with ice for 40 minutes. Luckily we finally caught up with her! I think the video will be worth your time :) You may even feel like you're watching the Olympics!

Well, actually, maybe not...)

a little hint...

This next blog entry is taking me forever (anyone know how to download a home movie onto my computer?!), so I thought I'd just give a little sample of what I am trying to blog about. Here's the hint: