September 2017

September 2017

Aggie Invite Sept. 1
Kinda a big deal for our team.

We had 3 boys make the top times ran in their grade groups.

 Jessica placed top 10 in girls varsity and ran top time in her grade.

 3 boys placing top 10.

 This is a big deal for our team.  It's been a while that our boys team had brought home a first place trophy. And beating a lot of 5/6A schools was also a big deal.

 When MileSplit interviews your team... here's their video

Photos..  Videos..

 We're so proud of all the kids hard work!

Music in the Mountains

My friend Lisa joined me up at Powder Mountain for a free concert.

 It was amazing! These artists were very into their work, and the passion was palpable.  Their body movements and facial expressions were the best!

 I wish I got a video of Ben Russell singing one of his own songs. His voice was very folk-y but oh the emotion he had put into it! I would've bought his music but he only had vinyl records.

 Cows.

 Lisa wanted to go to The Greenery for dinner.  The food was ok other than some cross-contamination from their "Mormon Muffins". I had ate everything besides the bun with the onions on it (the onions were consumed with the burger).  But when I went to eat the bun to see what it tasted like, my mouth started to get the funnies.  It wasn't that bad of a reaction, only minor swelling and a couple of hives.  When we were checking out, they offered us the muffins as an apology for their kitchen staff's unprofessional behavior and the the wait staff making us feel pressured to hurry eat and leave (we arrived at 7:50 and left at 8:30, they close at 10 pm).  I asked what was in the muffin, which includes walnuts, so we turned the offer down and it made sense why my mouth started to have a reaction. The Pickle was amazing though, and they didn't skimp on the bacon or the chips.

Tuesday Sept 5
Mega fire on the mountains by the "U" in Uintah/South Ogden. You couldn't even see the mountains.
This is down in Salt Lake the next day.

 Down 84..

 Few days later on Friday my plane flew over the area..

 The next week even after lots of rain, you can still see the red stain from the fire retardant.
Thankfully no mudslides.

Thursday September 14
Field trip to Bountiful for the constitution fair.

Same Thursday.. Torch Run

Saturday September 16
Went to Elise's second soccer game (first time for us to watch though)

 We became "That Neighbor"...

 Jordan and I basically hung out eating all night and watching the RSL game. Madi & Elise were at the state fair with my parents; JeNae, James, and Jaxson were at the RSL game.

Sunday naps and forced snuggles.

Sept 18
Took my Science class to the Weber River trail to do some service for Shauna's college class.

My Vacation Races hat finally came and wearing it makes me look like a teenager.

We got a super cold week where we got snow on the mountains and we all thought Utah forgot how to do "Fall".

 But Ragnar was enjoying the extra snuggles.

Jordan being Jordan.

While checking out the SLC cemetery for a possible Halloween activity...

"My Girls"

Ran out of eggs (surprisingly) for some bread, so chia seeds it is! 
Other than a different texture it was still really good. 

GSM Half part 2

Saturday September 9th

Race day!

This photo is from the race company but it shows the "smoky" of it all since none of our pictures picked it up.  The fog hung low for almost the entire race.  There were at times that runners 75 meters ahead of me basically Disappeared into the fog! It was the coolest experience ever!

These photos are from someone on facebook who started/finished after me but the fog was still hanging around for his photos.

First 3 miles by farmers fields. 

Running along the old highway next to the river.  The fog was more dense when I was running that you couldn't see most of the runners ahead of you like in this photo. 

Last 3 miles towards the finish line.

The race ran next to a river where there were some cabins for rent and campsite. I swear everyone was up cooking bacon! 

Mile 9.5 eating honey

  Everyone who ran the race..

 This guy.. I passed him on the course and he let me pet his dogs for Jessica since she was getting married that day.

 The medal.. a lot different than the others I have but I really like this better.

 My hips were hurting the most during the run.. I never had any issues on any of my 11 - 15 mile training runs.. but I had a structure massage 2 weeks pior which I think is what did it.

Me with my cheer squad.

 Having an elevation advantage was amazing.  All the turns were banked- which sucked. I only had chest pain issues at mile 8.5, 11, and 12.5, which was amazing compared to some of my other longer runs. You couldn't even tell that it was an uphill race. The race went down the Old Walland Highway

 After stopping at a market for some breakfast type foods, it was post-hiking time! We ended up going 5 miles.

 Heather, Shaun, Geri, and Ralph.

These blue butterflies were all over the place!

 There was this row of cabins from the 1920's the the National Park just took over to renovate.

 I told Ralph to smile so I could immortalize him in this photo and he said it'd only work if my photos get backed up to the cloud!

The Smokies.

Miles 1-9 of the race. 

After a drive through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge (while stretching in the back of the truck for everyone's entertainment at the car show, we didn't even go faster than 5 mph the roads were so packed) and lunch at 5 guys because every place we passed they said was gross.  We arrived back at the house around 3pm, just in time to watch The Mask, Liar Liar (Shaun's movie was a Jim Carey 4 movie deal, and we've been wanting to watch The Mask for weeks!), Dinner from Full Service, and this applesauce cookie dough that Heather made for us.  It was just a nice relaxing evening hanging with my Tennessee family.  Just what my body was needing. 

Sunday September 10.

After sleeping in and church, we went to check out a swing bridge I notice during the race, and which they didn't know was there.

 You can't really tell, but there are christmas lights strung along the bridge which would look so cool in the evening.

 The Little River.

 People have started making this a love lock bridge.

Lunch at Smokin' Joes.

Sweet potato fries with cinnamon on them.  The dip was a mixture of marshmallow fluff and cream cheese that basically tasted like frosting. 

Then back to the airport where they have these rocking chairs everywhere. 

And a mini art gallery. 

I did make some friends with some UT Nuclear Engineer students en route to San Francisco for a conference.  They were fun to chat with during the flight and although they offered me to join them for lunch on the UT tab, I had to literally run to my connecting flight (however not as much as a hurry as when I was flying in). 

Back to Chicago.. 

When I got home, I noticed that my medal was warping and becoming unglued.  So the race sent me a new medal which was far worse than my original.  So they sent me another one wrapped up tight and I'm not going to unwrap it. 
Original on left, replacement on right. 

And they forgot to spell check before printing thousands of these. 

So beautiful. No humidity. Great memories with my Tennessee family.
(Hurricane Irma was scheduled to hit Monday after I left, but they only got heavy rains and winds, nothing too horrid.)