Park City Vacation

The week that Faith and I have both been looking forward too. We spent a week up in Park City staying at the Mountainside Marriott. We left Friday afternoon and checked in our room around 4pm. I ran the marathon the next morning. It was great to have family come up and cheer me on. Later on in the evening Faith's sister Charity and her family came up and we had dinner together. A couple hours later Faith's family came up to see us and they all congratulated me on a great race that I ran. Monday we went up to the Olympic Park and got a tour of place. We went to the very top and saw the different winter sports events. We learned that the skeleton is the number one safest winter sport and the luge is number one dangerous sport. Tuesday we traveled up to Heber Valley and rode the train to Provo Canyon. Aine enjoyed the ride up, but coming back it was a different story. Wednesday we hung out around Park City and went swimming and walked around. Thursday we went hiking. Friday after checking out we went to Deer Valley and caught ride up to Bald Mtn. and what a beautiful view it was. You could see MT Timpanogas. The Jordan lake and saw a lot of mountains. We then traveled up to Midway for the Swiss Days. We walked around the different tents and looked a lot of fun stuff. We came home. Overall it was a fun week to be together as a family and enjoy each others company. Sorry we did not take any pictures of our vacation. Yes we are that bad. We hope you will forgive us.

MARATHON #10 Goal Accomplished

On August 23, 2008, I ran my 10th marathon in Park City, Utah. The race started at 6:30am. I started out running with the lead pack for the first five miles. Slowly but surely the front runners started pulling away and I was by myself at about the 8 mile mark. I looked to see how many people were behind me and there were no runners in sight. I concentrated on my pace. I kept right on trucking. The race route was mostly on dirt or paved trails. The only time I was running on the road was going up to Deer Valley which was the highest point of the race. 7400 ft elevation that is. It was fun running through all the little shops in downtown Park City and running on the ski bridge too. The last 5 miles of the race were the toughest. I ended up finishing 6th overall with a time of 3hrs 2min 42sec (6:58 mile pace). I placed first in my age group. Out of all ten marathons I have ran, this is the toughest one of them all. This marathon in my opinion should be listed as a Cross Country Marathon due to all the trails you run on.

The following is a recap of the 10 marathons that I have run.

1) St. George Marathon (1990)

2) Deseret News Marathon (1991)

3) St. George Marathon (1991)

4) Deseret News Marathon (1992)

5) St. George Marathon (1992)

6) St. George Marathon (1998) 2hrs 59min 26sec

7) Logan Marathon (2004) 3hrs 3min 10sec

8) Boston Marathon (2005) 2hrs 59min 59sec (My favorite)

9) Deseret News Marathon (2008) 2hrs 53min 53sec

10) Park City Marathon (2008) 3hrs 2min 42sec

I'm done running marathons with school on the horizon. My main focus is to put all of that hard work and dedication towards school. Somewhere down the road I do plan on adding to my list above. Thank you all for your love and support.

Family Pictures Continue

More pictures to enjoy.

Family Pictures

Here are some family pictures that were taken by one of the members in our ward. We hope you will enjoy them.

Help!

Last Saturday Aine hit another big milestone, not only is she now 5 months but also she is done breastfeeding. A few weeks before, Aine's reflux medicine had finally helped her to eat better and she hit a growing spurt at the same time. It seemed like almost overnight her appetite doubled and though I tried I had no way of keeping up. So, I decided to feed her as much as I could and then give her a bottle to give her the rest that she needed. Unfortunately, because of our situation she has become very accustomed to the ease of eating out of a bottle and I would have to fight her to breastfeed when I was home. So, although it wasn't ideal, I made the executive decision that 5 months was a good enough age to stop breastfeeding Aine.

Now for the real reason I'm posting this, to all those who have gone through this before... Is it normal for me to be going through an emotional roller coaster right now because of this? Or am I just crazy? Because this last week has been intense emotionally. I have cried, or felt the need to cry about absolutely nothing. Heck, I feel like crying even as I'm writing this. And I feel a deep guilt. I feel it for not providing for Aine's needs or being able to spend time with her. I can see how that would be normal, but I also feel guilty about absolutely anything that I could possibly feel guilty for... anything!

I apologize to all those who have read this and have no interest in this topic. I guess I'm just looking for insight on the unreasonable and unexplainable sadness and self doubt I've been feeling this week. I couldn't think of a better way to find the insight I need then to post this question to all the beautiful and wise mothers who I know read our blog.

Here's a reward for faithfully checking up on us, some pictures of the ones I love:

Marathon #9 continue

More pictures of the race. Enjoy!

MARATHON #9

What a great morning it was to run. I got up to the starting line around 4am. Sat and visited with other runners. The view on top of Big Mountain was really neat. You could see all the city lights down below and the stars in the sky were spectacular. It's amazing what you can miss so early in the morning. This marathon is one that I have had my focus on throughout my training. In fact I ran the course a week and half before, so I knew what to expect with no surprises. It was a great run and my training really paid off. I set a new PR (personal record) for myself 2hrs 53min 52sec. That is a 6:38 mile pace. I took 13th overall and 4th place in my age group which is competitive. The top two runners in the age group were the winners of the marathon. The winning time was 2hrs 18min. I am proud of my accomplishment. I have always wanted to run faster than a 3 hour marathon and I knew I could do it. I got the job done. I have one more goal to achieve and look forward to accomplishing it next month in Park City.

Thanks to Dad in taking these pictures. I hope you enjoy them.