Canyonlands Half Marathon

I returned this weekend from the Canyonlands Half Marathon in Moab, UT with my good friend, Kelly. We had a GREAT weekend of running and getting some time away without the kids.
Kelly has a big story so I have to share...

Eric and Maddie first met Kelly and her husband Toti at the neighborhood park when I was at home with a newborn Elise. They are from the midwest :) so we hit it off. Toti and Eric did a marathon together in Albuquerque in 2006 and we've enjoyed their friendship as our families have grown. Kelly was born with a heart defect -- a narrowing value -- and although she had regular check-ups growing up, it didn't seem to affect her daily living. While Kelly was pregnant with their second son in 2006, her cardiologist gave her the bad news that her value needed to be replaced. So in January of last year, Kelly had major open heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic to replace her bad value with an artificial one. She was out of commission for a long time, but returned to Los Alamos and just kept moving. She completed the local Jemez Trail Run at the end of May in amazement to everyone around her. We began regular morning runs together last summer and talked about the possibilities of running half marathons and full marathons together.

So here it is...she did it! 13.1 miles...and I got to be with her!
Congratulations Kelly!

We drove 6 hours to Moab Friday, got our race bags, pigged out on pasta, and didn't have to put any kids to bed. Saturday morning we rode a school bus ~11 miles up the Colorado River to the start of the race, then we braved the frigid temperatures and waited around at the race start for over an hour. As we ran, we peeled off our layers and enjoyed the sunshine and red rock. We both finished with happy results and tired bodies. We made the most of our rejuvenating weekend -- getting pampered with massages and pedicures, eating a ridiculous amount of food, and sleeping almost 11 hours that night. We both felt great after a short hike in Arch's National Park and we road-tripped home.

I am so thankful that Eric made this happen. I returned to "Surprise!" with lots of hugs and a few great homemade gifts including this chain from Maddie that says, "Mom Rocks" :)