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Dear journal (and friends reading my journal :)!

Pat and I finished the race Saturday and it proved to be a fantastic experience. Sedona is BEAUTIFUL! Here's the overview of the experience:

We left Friday after work around 3pm and drove just under 2 hours to get there (why are we not there every other weekend??). Sedona has a way of sneaking up on you, it's very charming in this way. The drive there from Phoenix is the typical lone cactus spotted beige hill until you turn off the road at the first "Sedona this way" sign. Peaking behind beige, you see the red rock in all it's glory. It is always a sight to see. Very welcoming. We checked into the race and got our numbers and goody bags. As always, we had the typical comments and stares in line because we had our 3 children in tote. "When do you find the time to run?", "boy, you have your hands full". If there's one thing I've learned since I started training is that "3 kids" is no excuse for not becoming or doing what is best for me. Pat and I train at nights after kids are down by 8 or first thing before Pat leaves for work at 8. Having each other's back in this is what matters most and has helped our relationship! Anyway (major tangent), we went out to dinner with our friends, the Greers, before heading up to our lodge. On the way to the lodge I thought I was going to throw up. My stomach hurt so bad. I usually have little gastro issues after longer car rides and bigger issues when I'm nervous. A combo of the two with pepperoni pizza and crying/ sometimes screaming kids, and the anticipation of a long night all in one room together, oh, and the altitude... threw off my gastro groove. I was bent in half...in my own world. Fortunately, laying down in a quiet room did the trick. Camden and Ellie slept through the night. Autrey woke up a few times crying but by morning I got enough hours of sleep to not feel nervous, only excited about the race. at 6:30 our friends Barb and Mike and their daughter Melonie, came (all the way from Phoenix!) to watch the kids while we ran. It was sub 30 degrees. Pat and I sat in the car for 45 minutes before we got out to join the rest of the crowds in the port-o-potty lines. We met up with my friend Kellie Greer and headed to the back of the line. Pat and I planned to run together as long as he could keep up with me :). The course was super hilly. Big hills. Big, steep, long hills. Pat and I ran together the first 6 miles before a hill tired Pat out a bit and I got ahead a bit. After the 1/2 point the hills were bigger but the duration of the long stretches were gradual down hills so that was rewarding. I pulled out my ipod (should have had the earplugs ready before the race) and fiddled with it on a down hill stretch when Pat caught up to me. He asked me to be his Valentine and I proposed to him at that point (that's as romantic as we get), then he told me I could take off and I turned up the music and got in the zone. The music really helps me. I was feeling great, got my second wind around mile 9. I started passing people that I never thought I would which made me feel great for 20 minutes until they past me in the last 1/4 mile of the run. haha, jokes on me! There was one hill that Pat and I will always remember that killed (maybe it wouldn't have if we had trained anywhere but flat Phoenix streets). I had to run on my toes and just looked down to stop from feeling sick to my stomach. The last stretch was so cool, I still felt great if I remembered to paced myself. I sprinted the last 15 yards and across the finish line. I got the camera out to take Pat's picture coming through the line too. We did it! Marathon, here I come. 1/2 iron man, here Pat comes!

We didn't make our goal of under 2 hours but I was still super proud of my time. If I reached my goal I would have come in 2nd or third place with my time (in my class)! I know I can do better and know how to train better. I look forward to beating (killing) my time in the next 1/2.

After the race we went to lunch with the kids and our friends before leaving the red rock paradise for home. Great experience. I recommend it.

Anndalyn: Overall rank: 183 of 523 Class Rank: 11 of 43 Pace: 09:37 Final: 02:06:02

Pat: Overall rank: 207 of 523 Class Rank 16 of 30 Pace: 09:52 Final 02:09: 17

Ann Bib #1089 F PHOENIX , AZ

Our first 1/2

So Tomorrow Pat and I are racing our first 1/2 Marathon in Sedona, AZ. My good friend Kellie Greer and I have been training together for a few months and Pat has been training for the last few weeks (crazy boy!). I feel very ready and excited! Kellie and I ran a 13 miler the beginning of January so I already know I can do it, I now want to finish under 2 hours and feel good.

I never thought I would want to run marathons, maybe a half "someday", but after training for a 12K in December I got the itch. I will be running a marathon this year too. If Biggest Loser contestants can do it with only 4-6 weeks training and over weight, I can do it!! I heart Biggest Loser, for those of you who didn't know.

Running has been a life changer for me. It's my release and escape. I love everything about it. I also want to get better at cycling and swimming. Pat is competing in a 1/2 iron man in San Diego in April. GO PAT! I'm not strong enough to do something like that yet but I do want to accomplish an olympic triathlon this year too (I did a sprint tri in 2009: 1/4 mile swim, 13 mile ride, 3 mile run. But the swim was cancelled because of wind on the open lake so we doubled the run). An olympic is double the sprint.

Pat started doing triathlon when we moved here to AZ and he got into Mountain Biking. He raced with work buddies and I went to watch him. I was 8 months preggers with Ellie and pushing Camden in the stroller from transition point to transition point. I was inspired! I loved the atmosphere, I loved the competition, I loved the pride I felt for Pat every time I saw him. It also felt good saying "Look Camden, there's Daddy! He's doing so great!". I could hear a little voice in my heart saying over and over "you can do that!", "I want Pat to be this proud of me too!", "you could do rock a race like this!". So now that I'm not pregnant for the first time in forever, I am getting more and more into this racing stuff and I love that I can do it WITH Pat. We are going to try running together at a 9min/mile pace to secure our goal of under 2 hours.

The altitude is higher and there will be more hills than we trained for but it will be a fantastic challenge! Wish us luck!

Ellison will be 3 in May. She is planning her "Tangled" party already. She is very good with names and birth dates. She's always asking me the names of others from picture of random people in magazines to kids at the park...and their parents. And she doesn't forget them. She loves to color, pick out her own clothes and dresses herself and always wants to eat. She is super bossy. ha ha ha...my mom says she just knows what she wants (ie she just pulled a huge rug up stairs by herself). She still has very little volume control. She's looking forward to swim lessons in the spring/summer and ballet next fall. Ellie has a contageous laugh and is a very good helper to me. She and Camden have a love/hate relationship. One minute they are best friends, playing so well, looking out for one another. The next ten they are teasing each other and chasing each other around the house. I'm hoping they grow to "love" more than "hate" but I think when they struggle they are both just looking for mommy's attention. I'm told they play great together all the time when I'm not around. She wants to be big just like Camden and truthfully she is in many ways. They are much like twin I would assume. Ellison is doing this weird baby voice these days, I'm not sure why. Maybe because Autrey is starting to make sounds and we all love it so much. She actually sleeps great in the night but for the last week Camden has been sharing her room with her so when he get's up I think it wakes her (3am ish). I do have to admit, I love it when she comes in around 6:00 am and snuggles with me and falls back to sleep. She has just started doing that over the past few months. The only problem is trying to get out of bed myself with out waking her. I love my Ellie with all my heart :)

Camden turned 4 Nov

ember 1st. He has grown up sooooo much since that very day. It's amazing! 2 days ago he started drawing faces and last night he discovered coloring in the lines. Huge difference from the colorful scribbles the week before. He can sound out simple words and spell them too. He loves school and is doing great. Camden doesn't really like to get sticky but his flexibility has increased. Examples: This morning he washed his hands 4 times while eating waffles with syrup, but when we went to the movies and soda was spilt on him He said "that's ok Dad, it will dry" with out taking

his eyes off the movie. Crazy! Love it! He says super cute things all the time. At the beginning of the year he moved up to a different class at church (Sunbeams to CTR). His Sunbeam teachers were amazing and loved him so much so this was a hard transition for him. After the first day on the way home from church, he told me Sister Hardcastle and Sister Hiedi didn't like him any more, that they didn't want him. This broke my heart, I almost cried (ok, I did a little to myself). I explained to Him that they absolutely loved him but he was getting so big it was just time and that he would change teachers every year. We went to Sister Hardcastle's house for Family Home Evening the next night and they explained it to him too. He's been fine ever since and loves his new teachers! Last night he said he had a good dream and that's what kept him in his bed all night (YES! Last night was the first night in I don't know how long that we all slept through the night! Even me! It's a miracle!). He said his dream was about his class at church. So cool. Camden is a very cool kid. I look forward to watching him grow and finding out more about him. He has always had a little mystery personality to me. Cam is a great big brother. He cherishes Autrey, would give up his chocolate milk for him I'm sure :).I am really excited to see how he does in swimming this summer. He rocked it last year. He is also a fast runner and can't wait for him to get big enough to do some little races with me and Pat. I adore Camden!!!

Just to stay in the habit of blogging, and to give Ellie the one on one time she needs right now, I'm going to save a post about Pat and I for tomorrow. Ta ta.

I didn't have time to proof read this so please excuse the typos etc. :)