Back in September, Noel and I did a Rim to Rim to Rim run of the Grand Canyon broken up into two days. It was a couples getaway for masochists. My parents (who are now retired) came and watched the kids so we could do this madness. Honestly, my parents carry a lot of blame for this whole thing. They instilled a deep love in me for the Grand Canyon. I’ve been there several times and it was the location…
Noel and I ran our first (and likely last) ultra marathon this last Saturday. It was kind of a big deal for us and I’ve also gotten a few questions about it, so I’m going to give the race it’s own post and address a few things.
At the beginning of April, Noel and I dropped the kids off at school and went for what was supposed to be a quick trail run. As we ran, I got caught up in doing one of my favorite things with one of my favorite people and didn’t pay as much attention to my feet as I should have. About a mile in, I tripped and fell to the ground. I screamed out and Noel who was in the lead,…
We’ve been thinking about our 10th anniversary since our 9th. We wanted to do something big and had narrowed it down to either a trip to Costa Rica or river guide school. When Glenna got diagnosed and came to live with us, planning became infinitely more difficult. (Maybe we should have known Costa Rica was bad luck, that was also the plan for our 5th anniversary and that didn’t turn out either.) Even if we’d logistically worked something out with family…
When Noel turned 30, we ran the Dirty 30 race at Golden Gate Canyon State Park. (Just to be clear, we did the 12 mile, not the 50K.) Logically, when I turned 30 we had to do it again. Because my brother-in-law, Joe, also recently turned 30, he and my sister, Hope, also joined us. And because we had three kids that needed watching, my dear mother came out as well to spend some quality time with the grandkids and…
In high school I could run a sub six minute mile. In college, I ran two Boston qualifying marathons.* I have a box in my basement full of ribbons, medals, and trophies, but as proud as I am of those accomplishments, the miles I’m proudest of these days are much slower. They’re long lasting miles fueled by patience and full of silliness, lack of focus, and creative endeavors at motivation. They’re the miles I do with my children. These miles require…
I read through countless bios of OBGYNs when I found out I was pregnant with Ellen. I wanted to make a choice that would be a good fit the second time around, but wading through academic histories, detailed resumes, and generic healthcare philosophies didn’t bring me any closer to knowing who to choose. In the end, my decision wasn’t based on shared viewpoints or prestigious degrees (although she has those too), but because she “start[s] every day with a thirty minute…
Danielle (Noel’s sister) joined us for Thanksgiving this year. The kids were so excited and it wasn’t just because she works for a chocolate factory. We decided to treat her to a beautiful tour of the Colorado outdoors and took her on a very windy snowshoeing trip. The pictures make it look still, but Ellen seriously got picked up by the wind at one point. Thanksgiving morning we went to our church’s Turkey Trot. Noel and I took the coveted…
My birthday and Thanksgiving have always been synonymous to some degree and this year they fell on the same day. The last time my birthday was on Thanksgiving, a family fun run went awry when we took a wrong turn. We ran miles further than planned and found ourselves trespassing in a construction zone as we deliriously tried to shortcut to our car. I remember miserably singing “happy birthday to me” under my breath while everyone argued about whose fault…
When Noel turned thirty, I wanted to give him the perfect birthday gift. After much contemplation I logically concluded the best gift would be registration for the two of us in a local trail race, the Golden Gate Dirty Thirty. At first we toyed with the idea of running the 50K (30 miles), but quickly came to our senses and decided we lacked the time and motivation to train for a race of that magnitude. We did our best to…