Timp Half and Other Adventures in Friendship

A couple of weekends ago was the Timp Half Marathon. It was a fun race because I had so many friends running it. I had my main running partners all in- Michelle and Steph from the neighborhood, my sisters Amber and Em, my Philippine connection Jen, and several other delightful neighbors.  Bruce was absent only because he was running/swimming/cycling the Spudman that very same day.

A second reason that this was a fun race was that I wasn't gunning for a PR- instead it was a training run for me, and I was pacing Jen.  The race experience is sure different when you don't feel like you are about to die every second!  It was actually really enjoyable to run with someone the whole time, and I think Jen enjoyed beating her PR by about 20 minutes.  I do have one small confession about pacing:

Dear Jen,
Remember that mile and a half between the elementary school and the silos when I told you to relax because we were going to take a slower mile and catch our breath?  That WAS relaxing...except that we didn't slow down...not for one single second.
Love, Me

Jen, Em, Me, and Steph

Amber and Em- flush with victory!

After the race Jen and I took our kids to Thanksgiving Point.  It was such a fun reunion- Kate loves Zander and is so cute with him.  She cried and cried when we had to say good-bye.

Last week I was able to reunite with a couple of my best friends from high school- Rachel and Stacie.  Rachel lives in North Carolina, but we have long felt that our daughters were soul mates, and they proved us right.  Lucy and Kiki held quite the horse show for us- there were several heats and the scoring was ultra-competitive.

Stacie, Rachel, and I

 Back to the Spudman:  Bruce took THIRD in his category and was rewarded with a very creepy looking ceramic potato.  His race buddy took first in the same category so they too enjoyed a fun and friendly race.