Easter 2014: The Golden Egg

I was in Boston this year for Easter, so we had "pretend Easter" on Saturday morning.  The girls woke up to their Easter baskets and then we joined the neighborhood for a fun easter egg hunt before heading out for a soccer game.

We were told that there were two "special" easter eggs - one was a silver egg for the bigger kids and the other one was a gold egg for the little kids.  They had separate areas for easter egg hunting.  The girls became pretty obsessed with finding that gold egg.  They hunted a little bit harder and a little bit longer and it paid off for Josie.  She found the gold egg which had a gold dollar coin inside.  Lucky girl!

I guess this is Josh's tough guy Easter Egg hunt pose?

On real Easter, when I was in Boston getting ready for the marathon, Nate, Emery, and my parents came over and the girls had another basket and some time to play with their cousin.

Boston Marathon - Part 2

Monday, April 21, Patriot's Day in New England, came quickly and it was finally race day.  We dressed in our race outfits, then covered up with warm throwaway clothes.  We weren't able to bring our drop bags to athletes village, so everyone wore things that were going to be thrown away.  The outfits were actually quite humorous.  Think old flannel jammy pants and ratty old bathrobes.  People were serious about not wanting to part with their good stuff.  We rode the bus up, chatting all the way with the other nervous runners.  When we got to Hopkinton, we took the obligatory photo right outside the "village".

 Here's Brynn ready to go.  Athlete's Village was so much more crowded than I remember it from 2012.  There were 36,000 runners this year - four waves of 9,000.  This is a full 9,000 more than they've had in past years.  They allowed everyone who did not cross the finish line last year to come back this year, then the expanded the field to allow for more people who wanted to run.

 We made our way over to get our photo near the "Welcome to Hopkinton" sign as well.  Still dressed in our awesome sweats.

 This gives you an idea of how many people are packed into this tiny space.  The weather was perfect - beautiful sunny day, blue skies.  Always makes you a little nervous to start a marathon when you're not a little chilly.

 Then we lined up in our corrals.  We were in the 2nd wave and the first corral, which means we started at the very front of our wave.  Before we crossed the start line, we passed these nice gentlemen passing out beer, donuts and cigarettes. :)

 The city was full of signs like the ones on this house.  So much love and encouragement everywhere we went.  The city truly loves this marathon.

 A few last shots before we started running.

I could write paragraphs about the actual experience of running the 2014 Boston Marathon.  The energy was amazing.  The hills were tough. The weather was a little warm.  The volunteers and runners were awesome. And the spectators were absolutely incredible.  Here's what I wrote for the MYNT blog:

Love wins. This was the reoccurring theme last Monday (Patriots’ Day) as I lined up at the start of the Boston Marathon. After a winter of training, I found myself back in Boston. Back after completing the race for the first time in 2012 in 90 degree heat. Back after a heinous act in 2013 left three people dead and over 260 wounded. Back this time to run side-by-side with my sister. To sum it up, I was back for redemption.

I had not planned on running Boston this year. Training for a marathon all winter definitely has its challenges. I traded some phenomenal Utah skiing for cold, icy long runs. All because I felt a magnetic pull to get back to Boston in 2014. The horrible acts last year were a direct attack on the sport and the people I love. Two years ago, my mom, husband and twin daughters had stood where the fatal bombs had exploded.

Running is more than just a hobby to me. It feeds my soul; it’s in my blood. I started running after watching my mom finish her first marathon when I was 12 years old. She can no longer run, so my sister Brynn and I run for her.

This year, we were two of the 36,000 privileged runners (second only to the 1996 race in number of entries) who set out to write a new story. Together we ran from Hopkinton to Boston as we soaked in the spirit of this incredible, historic event. When the running got tough (through the Newton Hills and finally up Heartbreak Hill), the crowds pulled me along. The final stretch down Boylston Street was so loud, I felt like I could have been winning the race.

From the hundreds of volunteers to the thousands of screaming spectators and other runners pouring their hearts onto the course, we were all in it together. We were determined to let love win, and we did.

Brynn and I separated sometime when we were running through the Newton Hills at around mile 16.  You think you are going to stay together, but you can't predict how you're each going to react when things get tough, when you're hurting.  Brynn told me to go on ahead, which I did, finally, and then finished a whole two minutes ahead of her.  3:29 and 3:27 to the finish.  Definitely a bit slower than we wanted, but we really didn't care when all was said and done.  The final turn onto Boylston was unbelievable...it's that moment alone that will bring you back to Boston again and again.  

We got a picture together in the tent in Copley Square before we changed out of our clothes.

 Changed into dry clothes and getting ready to head to our hotel.  We took off our shoes and immediately examined the state of our toes - swollen toes and blisters all over.  They were a hot mess.

We got dressed and headed out for an evening in Boston before flying out the next morning.  We headed over to the Boston Marathon after party at Fenway Park.  This is open only to runners and was pretty cool to see.  You'll notice we are wearing our medals...any other marathon in the world and I would think it is highly dorky to wear your medal, but Boston is different.  You walk the streets with that medal on and perfect strangers come up and congratulate you, give you high five, and thank you for running their marathon.  It's one of the most incredible things about this experience.

 The experience was capped off by the fact that, for the first time since 1983, an American won the Boston Marathon.  38-year-old Meb Keflezighi, in a stacked field, managed to pull off a victory that everyone wanted so badly after last year.  Runner's World said it best:

"Meb Keflezighi gave Boston and America the victory the whole country longed for, but scarcely dared hope for, in the most emotional and significant of all 118Boston Marathons. He did it with a courage and determination that the whole nation can be proud of. If Boston and America were to find healing from last year's horrific finish-line attack, there could be no better resolution than by an American winning this Boston Marathon (in 2:08:37), and in such a way. Boston today was a field of dreams. "

 I'll be back Boston, I'll be back.

2014 Boston Marathon - Part 1

There is a lot to say about the 2014 Boston Marathon and what an honor it was to be a part of this amazing event, so this will have to be a two-part post.   Brynn and I qualified for Boston last fall at the Big Cottonwood Marathon and came home and immediately registered that day.  The race is popular on any regular year, but after last year's bombings, everyone wanted to be there ... for a little redemption, to "take back" the course.

It was a very quick trip for us.  We flew in on Saturday night, and flew home on Tuesday morning.  The race is on Monday, Patriot's Day.

As soon as we woke up Sunday morning, we headed over to our other hotel (we had one night in an airport hotel), threw on some running clothes and went for a shakeout run along the Charles River.  There were lots of other runners out and some great energy.  It was also Easter Sunday and I felt bad about missing the holiday, but we were so excited, we didn't dwell on it.

It was a beautiful, sunny day in Boston and we saw one of the American elite runners, Desiree Davila out running her own shakeout run.

We headed over to the expo next.  We were told it was a short walk across the bridge, but it ended up being a very long walk, then a trip on the "T".  Not exactly what our legs needed the day before the race.  Definitely more excitement at the expo and its impossible not to spend a lot of time on your feet in that environment.

 This wall was full of signatures from runners.

We had lunch at the Forum Restaurant, which was basically blown up during the bombing last year.  We did not realize it until we googled it - the name had sounded familiar - and then I remembered they reported from right in front of it quite a bit last year.  They had just reopened a few months before.

There were tributes like this all over the city.  I wish we could have made it to the amazing public display they had at the Boston library, but it was Sunday and close.

 One shot of the finish line - we didn't cross it though...bad luck.

 After a long day of walking all around, we headed back to our hotel for dinner and an early bedtime.  This is a fuzzy picture, but this is our pre-race prep.  Lots of things to set up - clothes to wear on the bus and ditch at athletes village, gels, sunscreen, body glide, timing chips, ponchos, etc.  Because of security restrictions, we were not allowed to check a bag at Athlete's Village, so we needed to prepare a little differently.

Part 2 to come...

Moab: Spring 2014

We headed down to Moab in March for the Canyonlands Half Marathon.  I ran a very poor race and struggled with shin splints and other ailments, but luckily we were in Moab and still had a great time!

Friday afternoon, we had fun playing at the park and hanging out in town after we arrived.

Jen and Jess ran the race too!  It was so fun to meet them before, ride the bus up with them, and hang out with their families afterwards.  We didn't get any pictures, but we all met for dinner at Eddie McStiff's the evening after the race and it was so much fun to catch up.  Josie and Piper LOVED all the attention from their kids.

We always go into Arches, but we had never really explored around Canyonlands National Park, so we decided to head there for a few hours on Saturday.  It was windy, but we enjoyed the views and got some good shots.

 

 Sunday afternoon we hiked Negro Bill Canyon.  I was so proud of my girls.  We were out there hiking for around 4 hours and they didn't complain at all.  They hunted for rocks, threw them in the stream, hid underneath little cliffs, said hello to people, and were little troopers.  We wore them out for our drive home.

Life Lately

 I've been so behind on this blog, so here is my typical lazy wrap-up of some things we've been up to lately.

In early January, I went to Vegas for the CES show for the week.  This was the longest trip I've been on and daddy did a great job solo.  They did some painting.

 Also, here's how he did their hair.  He was very proud and sent these pictures to me.

One morning, the girls got up a little early, so they enjoyed a book or two with daddy.  Love the bedhead.

The other afternoon, Piper was tired and this is where we found her.  She put herself right to bed in Blue boy's kennel.

Josie has been loving art lately.  She's perfectly happy to sit up at the counter and color away.  She asked me to take this picture and send it to Bubba and Grandpa.

Looking pretty cute after school at Jamba Juice.

This is a crappy picture, but I had to document one of our rare evenings out.  For Valentine's Day, Josh and I went out to eat at Mazza and saw the Pixie's in concert at Saltair.  Josie and Piper had a blast at my parents making valentine's, eating treats, and being spoiled.

 Green smoothie mustache in the car.

 And to balance it out, ice cream cones at IKEA.  :)

Ski School and Skiing Fun

We've had so much fun skiing this year.  Thanks to a series of lessons at ski school, the girls are really picking it up quickly.  They did five afternoon lessons up at Brighton this year and by the last day, they were skiing without any tip clamps, making turns, and they even did a little "race" where each kid in their class skied down the little race course set up by the Brighton ski team.

I tried to get some pictures one day before lessons, but putting on their ski clothes is like giving them espresso shots.  They would not hold still.

This is the morning before their last lesson, the day they did their "race".  It was pretty cute, Josie and Piper went down the course together (they had side-by-side courses set up).  In the middle of her run, Josie fell down and instead of getting up, she just laid there waiting for someone to pick her up.  Piper looked over and saw that she was down, so she stopped in the middle of her run to wait for her sister.  The announcer lady commented on the excellent sportsmanship. :)

As usual, Josh and I have had some really fun days skiing together.  

I've also been lucky enough to have a couple of girls ski days, which has been awesome.  Mindy, Krisha and I enjoyed a beautiful powder day at Snowbasin.  

 Then last weekend, our little group spent the weekend up at Krisha's condo.  We skied a little bit, ate a lot, and talked a lot.  Here's lunch in the lodge at Snowbasin.

 The skiing was crappy that day, but we really didn't care.

 We ended the day with a nice dinner.  Love these friends.