My sister got the big idea to recruit family for another trail half marathon this summer. So after training for a few months in the wee hours of the morning Michael and I headed north to get a personal look at the wilds of Portland. (With all that running I got Heidi to where she would stay precisely at my right thigh when I patted it. How incredibly satisfying to run with a nice dog!) My old ankle injury would rear its ugly head after about mile seven during training and race but, let's face it, lots of things hurt after mile seven! My bros Pietr, Matt and Dave R. ran it with us, and Miriam and Liz ran the 10K. Check out the pictures!
XX--Oh wait. Somebunny hasn't emailed them yet!
Then I got busy training for another triathlon six weeks later. I am thinking this is my favorite kind of race of all time. The fun in this particular race was that I was competing with seven other friends, all of whom were doing the first tri of their lives. What a pleasure and inspiration it was to see them make this goal and nail it!
Waiting for my heat.
Michael and feisty Audrey. This boy was the best during this whole thing. What would I do without him?
Getting ready for the whistle with good friend Laura Harvey.
Oh yeah! That's yours truly.
Madly getting my biking gear on.
After tossing my bike on the rack, I headed off for the first few jelloey steps of the run.
Crossing the line was like the triumphal entry through the Champs Elysees! I was looking a little purple but feeling pretty good.
My favorite part was coming up to the end of the run. My family spotted me and started screaming, "Go MOOMMM!!" I was the only one coming in at that moment, so a bunch of other spectators started cheering "go mom" too. I had to laugh in spite of myself and it gave me a little extra kick to see my kids cheering. Thanks, fam!
Laura, Gabrielle, me and Clara enjoying some post-event victuals.
Team Fearless, the conquering heroines! What a blast, ladies. Let's do it again next year....
