My third half marathon. I Never Would Have Predicted That. Ever.

On Saturday morning, I got up at 4am to get ready to run my third half marathon. I decided that lipstick was necessary since there would be so many pictures. (Right, Emily?) Here I am in my parent's house, showing you all how excited I was to be up after only about 4 hours of sleep and 3 hours away from beginning the race.

Here's a picture that I stole from the internets so you can see the view from the starting line. Seriously beautiful. I do miss the mountains living here in San Francisco - I admit it.

During the race, I kept looking at the clocks every mile and thinking "There's no way I'm running 10 minute miles." My last two races, I've come in at a 14 minute mile average, so I was thinking that a 12 minute mile would be awesome. Well, turns out, I was kicking some major butt. I struggled up the last hill and finally averaged out at a 12:06 minute mile. For me, that is an amazing improvement - in fact, it knocked 30 minutes off of my personal half marathon record.

30 minutes!

Matt met me at mile 11 and due to my significant increase in speed, my family missed me cross the finish line completely. So we got pictures at the Bag Pickup instead. Plan for next time - be optimistic about my finishing time. Also, here is my major shout-out to Matt who literally pulled and pushed me to the finish line. Daddy Long Legs, I couldn't have done it without you.

After a nap, a shower, and a nice foot rub from my mom, I went to see Brandi Carlile with Kristy up in Salt Lake. For some reason, Kristy hadn't ever seen her perform live, so it was a real treat for us to be there together. Here are some of my favorite shots from the concert:

Oh Tim & Phil - you are so hot!

And Sunday afternoon, my mom and I went to visit my Grandma. A good portion of my readers are my cousins, so rest assured that Grandma is doing well. in case you aren't related to us, you can see where I get my awesome skinny wrists and yellow skin from. :)

Here is a great video from a Brandi Carlile concert last summer - I think it shows how amazing her voice is live. Do enjoy. I've decided that if I had a voice like hers, I'd be taking this show on the road. Kristephanie Zundelac - the musical? Any takers?