Cali. and The Vegas

Of course we had to visit the beach while in Cali!!! MY FAVORITE! We also built that sand octupus next to us. :) haha. I could hardly walk the day after my half, it was pretty pathetic, but oh so worth it!!Connor layed under his towel with some food near by and scared all the seagulls when they got closer. So funny. The Vegas

The next morning we woke up really early and drove to Vegas!! I love walking the strip and looking at all the amazing hotels, especially at night with all the lights! :)
We went to the M&M factory and watched a 3D movie, "I lost my M in Vegas" Just to get a break from the sun really, and to sit for a minute.
The Luxor
We stayed at The Mirage, it was beautiful!
We walked past lots of the shops until we found the most amazing H&M, two stories!! hallelujah!! Brad went birthday shopping. :)
The Bellagio
SO PRETTY and magical, we stayed for 5 songs.
L-O, L-O, L-O, V-E!
Of course one with Connie.
Slept hard that night, but had to wake up again early to drive to utah for the day, and then up to Idaho the next day... Whoo what a trip! Once we got to Idaho we got Connor settled in and got to chill with momma. We took her to the taco bus...
and five guys...
and Bed, Bath, and Beyond....
and the Temple... :)
It was a very busy few days travelling and was nice to be back. It was great to come home to our apartment, which Nellie and Noelle had kept safe for us. :) Thanks guys! Then we got ready for school... Which has been so busy, but so awesome!! :)

Disneyland Half Marathon

Our trip to California couldn't have been more perfect!! We left the day after Brad's birthday to California for my race, where my parents were meeting up with us. We left early in the morning so we could get to Disneyland and pick up my racing packet. (Number and shirt basically) Here we are at the Disneyland sign between the 2 parks.

Picked up my racing number!! (Tori and Naomi would not like this number... haha ;) I was set to start in Corral A!Then we walked around the racing Expo, which has a bunch of vendors selling you anything to improve your physical fitness like; racing gear, or energy bars/drinks, energy band things, and lots of free samples! (my favorite) We also picked up my shirt, then headed home to get some dinner at Bucca di Beppo; only after our star picture, "Be A star!"

Then we slept cause I had to get up at 4:30 the next morning to get to the racing start by 5 ish, and the race would start at 6! My mom came with me to take my pants and chill with me by the starting line since we had a lot of time once we got there. Here I am at the starting area!! I was so nervous!! I didn't realize that Corral A meant I was in the FIRST pack of the race!! Everyone was so intense there and focused on the race ahead. I was glad to be there though, it meant less people to run by who were walking.

These pictures came from the photographers at the race, hence the logo. This was right after we ran through the castle. For some reason the start of the race seemed really humid, at least I was sweating a lot more at the beginning than during the middle/end. Weird.

The race brought us throughout the 2 parks and around the city of Anaheim. Past the Angels "A" and THROUGH Anaheim stadium. SO AWESOME! The whole race had tons of people lined all over the place. Lots of school cheerleaders, bands, dancers, just tons and tons of people. But going through the stadium was probably one of my favorite parts. They lined the first 13 rows and kids leaned out to high five you as you ran by, plus who wouldn't want to run past home plate?

This was the 12th mile! I was so anxious for the finish line. The last mile was more curvy it felt. I saw my dad at the start of mile 12, he gave me the encouragement to keep pushing through and cleared my mind that I was on the LAST mile, for some reason I felt like I had 2 more at that point. So I had double the energy! Just 1/4 mile further, after my dad, I ran past Brad and Connor!! They said I had about 1/2 a mile to go, so I kept pushing through the burn!! Maybe another 1/4 mile further along, out of the right side of my eye I saw somebody jump over some pushes and totally biff it on the concrete. Behind the boy that biffed it, I saw Brad. haha then it clicked that Connor and Brad had ran from their last spot to see me again and Connor had fallen in the rush! :) What a brother!!! Finally I could see the finish line, hallelujah!! As I came in across the finish line the announcer read my name (all names were read as you finished) and the bleachers full of people were cheering.

I looked up at the clock and I had finished in 1:47:02!!!!! To me this was a miracle!! I was/am ecstatic about my time, I couldn't believe it!! My last long run in training of 10 miles had taken me 1:35. I thought there was NO way I could even try for my goal of 1:45, but by some miracle I did it! I had my family receiving texts for every 3rd mile marker, so looking back at the times I had actually been speeding up the entire race.

• 
  
  5k in 25:34. Pace 8:14


• 
  
  10k in 50:52. Pace 8:11


• 
  
  15k in 1:16:15. Pace 8:11


• 
  
  Finish time 1:47:02. Pace 8:10

It was such a great feeling to know I had worked so hard, and done so well. Then I got to go pick up my medal and post-race food, and see my family. That was probably the best feeling ever, giving everyone sweaty hugs!!! :) haha, I am so glad they were there to support me. They even lined up at various mile areas to cheer me on, getting their own work out too. :) Here we are at the meeting area; Connor with his boo boo.Oh I just love him so much, he is such a great supporter of anything I want to do!! THE BEST!Of course my papi and I!! He got me into running from the beginning and he continues to be such a great example of a great runner.Me mudda, couldn't have done it without her! Run Mama Run!! Some last statistics about the race:

• Drew Carey was running, also in Coral A, I was about 30 ft away from him!! Never actually saw him in the race, just on the big screen, and he is SkInNy!!



• About 15,000 were there to run over the weekend



• My overall place was 554/13000



• Gender place was 127/8367



• Division place was 12/760



• As much as it may have burned my legs, and cripled me for the next 4 days I LOVED it, and would do it all over!! Running a half marathon is so invigorating and a great feeling of accomplishment!!