The Hobble Creek 1/2 marathon and why I love/hate running

Bridal Veil Falls the afternoon after the race.

Izzy playing in the water at the falls

My boys, they also have a love/hate relationship

We always tell the boys that their is a troll under bridges and so as we crossed this bridge to get to the falls, Soyer yelled "MOM! ITS THE TROLL!!!"

My tired blistered feet after the race, it felt GREAT to soak them in that ice cold water at the falls.

Me , im not sure when this was, if its right before the finish or right after

This one is me definitely tired and done.

Me and my kids celebrating after and chilling on the grass. {So I got my eyebrows waxed and dyed and the lady went too dark. My kids call them my "mean eyes"}

Me and my mean eyes

It was 5:15 a.m. when I arrived at the bus stop and still dark. I got on the bus with all of the other runners and waited with anticipation to get to the top where I would jump in line immediately for the porta potty and have plenty of time to spare to gather my thoughts. I was nervous bc I've never done this alone. Ive always had a partner in crime with me. It was interesting. Intresting bc I could hear all the chatter of the other runners and I realized they all had the exact same thoughts and feelings that I had. Usually when im with another person, we share our thoughts with each other but we for some reason I think that we are the only ones that feel that way. That every other runner there is far more advanced and is probably barely nervous. You assume that they have all done this a million times and are pro's. We finally arrived at the top where we would be dropped off and then we were to walk 3/4 of a mile to the start line. The sun was just barely starting to show itself and I walked fast up the hill. I thought to myself, "if this were a walking fast race, I would for sure win." But as I passed all the other runners in groups of 2 or more, I listened to the chatter. "I barely got any sleep last night." or "I hope I dont have to pee during the race." Or "When are you going to take your first gu?" I heard things like "I ran the provo river 1/2 two weeks ago and got my PR so this one im just going to try and relax." Or "im so nervous, I feel sick..." But my favorite thing I heard, and Im not sure if I thought it first or if I heard someone else say it was "I cant believe im doing this by choice..." I smiled to myself as I passed each group of people, I realized that they are all exactly like me.. That for some crazy reason, we all decided by our own free will and choice to not only train for months but to wake up at 4:30 in the morning, leaving our families snuggled up cozy in their beds and go out into the dark, cool, morning and run 13.1 miles....Why on earth would anyone do that??! I will tell you why... its the emotions of strength, failure, laughter, tears, pain, peace, exhiliration, beauty, clarity, frustration, alone time, weakness, freedom, the feeling of wanting to quit but persevering through it anyway, the true test of yourself, the knowlege of your own body and mind and spirit, All those reasons and more are why each one of us chose to get up morning after morning and just run. And so when its all said and done, you take what you learned, you try to improve and you get yourself out and do it all over again because nothing in the world compares to it. I truly Love/Hate it.