St. George and a goal... a very big goal.

Our next door neighbors and good friends invited us to go with them on a trip to St. George this weekend.  They have a townhouse there.  We thought about it for about, oh, 5 seconds, and decided to go.  Besides, it snowed that day, and I we were beyond ready for some sun, water and heat!  We were not disappointed.

 

I have only been to St. George once, and it was to run my very first full marathon in 2001.  We drove there, ate dinner, and went to bed.  I ran the next day, and we drove home that night because I had to be back to BYU-I the next day for school.

 

The only sight-seeing I did on that trip was the running course, which was awesome, but it didn't leave much as far as memories of the actual town.  We were all curious to see what St. George was all about this time.

 

We ended up LOVING it.  It was so much fun!  The townhome was right by a pool and a big park.  The kids would have been fine staying there the entire time.  They swam and swam and swam.  Believe it or not, I do not have one picture of them swimming.  I just became such a common thing for them to do, that it didn't seem camera worthy. oops!

 

We also checked out Brigham Young's house.  I wish I could have taken that yard with it's big shade trees, wrap around porch, and endless flowers home with me.  No to mention the amazing antiques in the house.  The kids thought it was ok, Mary was the most interested, but for me, it was so cool!

 

 

 

We also checked out the temple and the visitors center.  Again, I forgot to take pictures.  I can justify it all by saying I was living in the moment, instead of focusing on taking the pictures for later moments, but in reality, I just forgot.

 

The temple is a favorite of ours now, and I think I have Mary convinced that it is the one she should get married in.  :)  The history of it is really neat, and the temple itself is just so pretty.  It also held some symbolism to me, because it was the sight of the finish line of the marathon I ran.  Lots of symbolism there if you think about the race of life, and the finish line.

 

We did a hike in Snow Canyon.  Luke and William were asleep, so I stayed in the car for this adventure, but the crew came back filthy and smiling, so I think it was a hike well done.

Mary

 

Ben

 

 

We also went to the finish line of the 1/2 Iron Man that was taking place.  The weather was warm, and the splash park couldn't have been at a better place!

 

Luke was fighting Strep throat and a bad fever for most of the trip, but by the last day, that penicillin was kicking in, and he was loving the splash park!

 

 Watching these people do this amazing thing, and accomplish something so awesome, was VERY inspiring.  I even found myself tearing up for these people as they crossed the finish line.  I could just feel how much work went into this moment for them.

It was so inspiring in fact, that Ben and I now have a very serious goal of doing this very thing within the next two years.  It is a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and a 13.2 mile run (a half marathon).  I am not worried about the run or the bike, but the thought of the swim makes me want to pee my pants, then run and hide.  That is a LONG way to swim.  At the peak of my marathon training, when I was running between 15-19 miles each Saturday, I would swim to cross-train, and be completely dead after about 15 minutes.  Not kidding! Ben and I plan on getting a coach to help us get started with that part of the training.  I don't think it would be right to doggy paddle for 1.2 miles.

We would start now, and do the 1/2 Iron Man next year in St. George, but we have other plans in mind, and things we would like to do this year before we begin that journey.  Ben and I are doing the Ragnar here in a month, and that will be enough for me this year.  I may do a few half marathons or something as well, but no fulls.

So, the goal is for two years from now.  I can't wait to start this madness with Ben and to participate in such an amazing event with him.

I have had plans on doing one more marathon, in St. George, (kind of ending where I started thing), but I am pretty burnt out of marathons, and have known deep down that I may just not have the drive for that kind of training anymore.  My fire for marathon running, isn't really burning anymore.  I finally hit my goal time with this last marathon, and I have no regrets. 

But oh, it would be so amazing to, instead, go back to the place that started my endurance event journey, and do something like this!  



OK, back to our trip.  Aside from what I mentioned, we ate yummy food, played Sequence one the kids were asleep, Ben and I did some morning runs,  we chatted with our friends, I had a wild goose chase trying to find a place with wifi so I could get my work done (that was a crazy mess),  played at the park, and we soaked in the sun and warm weather.  It was a wonderful break.  Oh, and did I mention how much I enjoyed the speed limit!

Oh yeah!

 The kids swam, ran, climbed, hiked, played, and played and played.  This was the scene every night, after their final pleas and begs to do more.  I am sure the parents looked similar when we finally crashed for the night as well. 

 So now we know why everyone likes to go to St. George...because it is rockin' awesome!  That's why.