Three Halfs..... (Three Halves? One and a Half?)

This weekend will mark the third year in a row my family has trucked down to Bend so I can run the Dirty Half Trail Marathon. Thank you, honey, for not only letting me take on this commitment, but giving me support and cheers all the way through. I feel very fortunate to have a husband who doesn't even bat an eye when I ask to do stuff like this. This race is always around his birthday every year!

So, three is usually my lucky number. I've trained harder this year and feel excited and ready. All I'm hoping to do is beat my previous times.

The first year: Noella was almost 6 months old. Traveling with an infant was still a novelty, and so that added a bit of complexity. However, it felt so freeing to do this after being attached (literally and figuratively) for so long.

The second year: The Bleckmans (Matt, Maggie and Lucy) join us for a weekend in Bend prior to the race. Good times were had by all (kids and grown ups)!

Third time's a charm! 

We will also be checking in on the house --- there should be some fun new photos to show some more details next week! Adam will be exploring the trails on his mountain bike (as will Noella and I, but in a different capacity). We may even see a few friends while we're there. Hooray for mini impromptu vacation! 

2010 - Race time: 1:54:52
2011 - Race time: 1:58:30. [Surprisingly, this race went much slower for me. I had a 5K (22:23) and a   10K (48:32) personal record prior to this race and was feeling faster. Some unwanted distractions (not the Bleckmans :) may have something to do with that, but c'est la vie (such is life).] Like I said earlier, third time's a charm!