2 weeks in review

The last two weeks of solitude flew by. 

14 day synopsis: 

Monday: Two hours of The Bachelorette. Love that show.

Tuesday: Kristi and Trey came in town for her brother's wedding and had a sleep over with me. 

Wednesday: Got a text from Jess (my fellow pregnant athletic trainer) at 6:30am letting me know she was unable to come in to work because she was at the hospital with an epidural. Jess had her baby at 9:30am. 

baby tanner. 8lbs 3oz.

That evening my Mom arrived with the young men/young women of our ward. Their super activity this summer was coming to Utah for a few days. I joined them that evening as they hiked the Y. It was a blast.

Sunset from the Y parking lot. 

 Y trail head.

 Mom and me.

 On the Y.

 After the hike we hit up the Creamery on 9th. My favorite.

Had another sleep over with Kristi and Trey. 

Thursday: During lunch I walked over to the main hospital to visit Jess and baby Tanner. 

After work Brady and I met up with Mom in Manti to watch the Manti Pageant. The Manti temple is absolutely beautiful and the pageant was well done.

Friday: TGIF. I only had to work a half day with one doctor in the office. I went on a run and went to the park to lay in the sun.

Saturday: I completed my last long run before the half marathon. Went to lunch with Kristi and I introduced her to Tai Pan. We spent 2 hours in that store looking at everything. After shopping I went up to my grandparents to spend the night. 

Sunday: Happy Fathers Day! Grandpa grilled steaks.

Monday: Two hours of The Bachelorette. Love that show.

Tuesday: Intermountain Medical Group race team meeting after work.

Wednesday: Watched a chick flick and ate a burrito.

Thursday: Watched a movie and made banana bread with Brady.

Friday: Picked up my race packet and went to bed at 8:30pm so I could wake up at 3:30am.

af canyon half marathon

I ran my first half marathon this morning. I did things a little out of order, running a marathon before even running a half. I loved it. Running in a race is always an awesome experience. I was a little nervous for it (not nearly as many nerves for the marathon) because i was not sure of my race plan. Race plan for a marathon is: keep. your. legs. moving! But for a half you have to keep pushing the pace because of the shorter distance. I didn't figure out my race plan till mile 4: run fast down the canyon and keep the legs moving until the finish.

race gear

Race day:

I woke up at 3:30am, got ready and left the house at 4:00am. I arrived at American Fork High School at 4:20. Met up with Matt P (friend from the MTC) and his family and we were on the buses by 4:45. The bus ride is the worst part of the whole thing, it seems to last forever. The entire time I'm thinking, "You can just drop me off here." We arrived at the start line up Tibble Fork Canyon at 5:20. Stood in line to use a poty for 15 min (it was not nearly as bad as my marathon experience). I mingled with Matt and his family and my colleagues on the race team. At 5:50 I stripped my sweatpants and sweatshirt to send down the canyon in the clothing van. The sun had not come up yet so it was a cool, in the low 50's, perfect running weather. I positioned myself between the 1:45 and 1:55 pace runners. My goal was to finish under 2 hours. At 6:00am the starting gun went off. Crossed the start line and started my watch. The sound of feet all around you, exercising before the sun has risen is somehow magical. The canyon was beautiful. A narrow road surrounded by tall green trees and the river paralleling the road. Somewhere in mile 2 the water flooded the road where we all had to find our way across. My left foot stayed mostly dry and my right foot was only half unfortunate. Everything dried out pretty quickly and never caused any problems. Mile 3 came with the first aid station and I realized I was running a 8min/mile pace, a whole minute faster than training. Made me nervous but I felt good so I kept going. Mile 4, still going strong and that's when I decided my game plan: keep running fast while I have my downhill advantage and that will give me wiggle room with time the last 6 miles out of the canyon. Mile 7 I came out of the canyon, ate my gel (yum), and saw the sun for the first time. We ran along a paved running path that curved through the golf course and continued in the shade. By mile 9 I was tired! Negative thoughts kept coming, "Not sure If i can run 4 more miles." "I should just stop and walk." That's when I gave myself a pep talk, seriously. "Brit! You can do this!" I focused on the miles, one at time, I can finish. Soon enough I passed mile marker 12 and I picked up the pace. I just wanted it to be all over. I turned the corner and could see the balloon arch of the finish line in the distance. Picked it up, passed people and finally....finished! I heard them say my name as I crossed the finish line, what a good feeling. 

other people on the intermountain race team. 

cancer sucks

 the finish

My official finish time was 1:47. I averaged out to a 8:12 mile.

my name is in the middle

I am pleased with my finishing time. Having never raced this distance my goal was under 2 hours. 

At the finish I had some chocolate milk, water and bananas. A few of the girls from the office ran the 5K and I was able to hang and chat with them. When loading the bus early this morning i asked, "Why do I do this to myself!?" But the second it is all over I want to do it again. Psycho. 

I have my eye on another half in august. Want to run with me?

saturday

Yesterday was a busy day. 

My to do list included:

1. Run 13 miles

2. Volunteer in the medical tent at the Utah Valley marathon

3. Hang with Grandma and Grandpa Jensen

It wasn't a long list but I wanted to spend most of my time with my Grandparents. Because I wanted to get up to Layton as quickly as I could, I decided my run had to happen before I reported to the medical tent at 8:00am. This meant my alarm was set for 5:20am, on a Saturday. Sleepy. I drove down to Provo and parked my car on Center Street, where the finish line was, so I could start and end my run there and walk right over to the medical tent. I began my run at 6:00 and was able to complete the 13 miles before I had to be there at 8:00. It was a perfect day in Provo for everyone out running. I bought some gel to start using in training. I've tried all the fruity flavors but chocolate is the winner. Its like eating fudge topping in the middle of your run. Yum.

When the opportunity came to volunteer at the marathon I was very excited about it. I have always been on the running end of things and I wanted to see what it was like to be the one helping the runners. Our tent was set up just off to the side of the finish line. We had doctors, nurses and athletic trainers all there to help. The first 2 hours I stood at the finish line as a "catcher", basically there to catch anyone attempting to collapse at the finish line and help steer then toward the medical tent. 

The next 2 hours my job was to triage runners. Anything less serious (cramps, blisters, etc) stayed outside the tent and anything more serious was taken care of inside the tent. It seemed the first 1/3 of the runners were just fine, they know what they were doing. The last 1/3 was also fine cause they took it nice and easy. It was the middle 1/3 of the pack that produced the most customers. We only had a few serious cases that were sent to the hospital but the rest were able to walk out of there. 

After the marathon I headed up to my grandparents and helped them with a few jobs in the backyard. We went to dinner and then watched a movie. It was a relaxing evening after a busy morning.

It's fun to sit and listen to Grandma and Grandpa's stories.

My first Saturday without a husband was a successful one.

Today Tristan is flying to Orlando, Florida for a week of training with all the KPMG interns. He flew out of San Diego this morning and will arrive in Orlando this evening. I will keep you updated on his activities and movements this week.

communication

This is how we talk. Every night before bedtime it's a treat to see his face. Thank goodness for modern technology. It's keeping me sane.

bad and good

Kelsey, Shawn, and I received news the lottery did not pick us to run the St. George marathon. Boo! It was a rough couple of days after finding out. It even came down to me de-friending the STGM on facebook. I felt much better after that.

Moving on. We began researching other marathon options.

Necessary marathon criteria included:

1. Marathon around September/October.

2. Preferably on a Saturday

3. Not too far away.

We had a few good options to choose from. The Vegas marathon, the Long Beach marathon and a few Utah marathons. 

We decided on the Layton, UT marathon. It's perfect. It is October 8th, the Saturday after the St. George, so our training schedule will remain basically the same. My grandparents live in Layton making travel easy, stress free, and cheap. 

Kels and I are excited to add another marathon to our list, broaden our horizons. 

Layton, here we come!

day two

Day 2 of solitude began at 6 AM with my morning run. It was a beautiful morning and the perfect way to start my day. I put in a full 9 hours at the clinic where today boasted needier-than-usual patients and a few weirdies.

After work I went to Sushi with 3 friends from work. We ate a ton and it was delish! Tristan isn't a sushi guy so I jumped on the opportunity.

After dinner Megan and I went to Seven Peaks to get our picture taken for our pass of all passes card. I am so excited for this pass. It gets me unlimited admission to:

-Seven Peaks waterpark

-Trafalga in Orem and Lehi (which incudes batting cages, laser tag, go-karts, mini-golf and much more)

-Orem Owlz games (baseball)

-Utah Flash glames (basketball)

And it was only $45! Like I said, I am going to have a lot to do while Tristan is away. 

Story time: Last Sunday Tristan and I spoke in church and while introducing us I said, "We have been married almost four years and don't have any children. And that is by choice." (Let's be for real, after four years of marriage and no kids people start to think there might be something wrong with you and I wanted to set the record straight). Later that night while telling Kelly (my mother-in-law) the story of our introduction i said, "Well, it's true. If you know me, you know I hate messes and love sleep and kids ruin both of those." Kelly goes on to tell me, "You might be underestimating how much you will love the child." I recognize she had a valid point but after telling me a story of Tristan taking off his poopy diaper and sliding down the stairs on his bum leaving poop marks on every stair I felt OK about my current decision. Children someday.

When I got home I found this jewel in the mail, sent from my fabulous mother-in-law.

Heather knows whats up. Thank you Kelly, for finding this card just days after our conversation and sending it my way to make my day.

Two days down, 67 to go.

day one

Today is day number one of my new life in solitude. Tristan packed up his car this morning to drive to San Diego for two months. It looked like he was literally moving out after packing basically his entire closet, the Wii and one of our TV's. Mmmmkay.

Tristan starts his internship with KPMG on Thursday but has a party to attend Tuesday night to welcome all the interns. It was apparent he was very excited to be on the road to start this new journey of his. 

My first day of solitude entailed working 10 1/2 hours, arriving home at 7:30 to make a dinner of spaghetti and veggies, and getting a head start on cleaning up the house, which will remain immaculate the 2 months my husband is away. I am very excited about it.

Tristan and I plan on video chatting basically every night. This will be an upgrade from the last time we were forced to spend our summer apart, seeing his adorable face will make my day. 

Surprisingly, I have a busy month planned, so don't worry about me. When forced, I can be very independent.

Yesterday, Tris and I picnicked in the park. A fun way to share our last meal together. It was a beautiful Sunday evening in Orem.

 Cooking hotdogs.

 Bustin' out the picnic set.

I'll miss having my honey with me every night but I am so excited for his awesome opportunity. 

Go get 'em babe!  

emery, ut

Last weekend Tristan and I had the opportunity to attend a family reunion in Emery, Utah. Population 308 people, located in the middle of nowhere, I just adore this little town. A lot of my relatives are buried in the Emery cemetery, and I have plenty of family still living there, so I have a deep connection to this place. Growing up we would go every summer to visit my great-grandma and grandpa Jensen (my Mom's grandparent's). I absolutely loved this trip. We would spend the whole time outside riding the horses, watching the cows, hiking in the mountains, and playing in the dirt.

Before the reunion started we walked over to great-grandma and grandpa's house. They have now passed but their memory and hard work lives on. They lived at the very end of West lane in a house backed by a large pasture and green mountains. 

 My great-grandpa's branding mark was this V.

It is beautiful here. Structures build by my great-grandfather still stand today. 

 As kids we would climb this tree and hang out in it all day.

We walked through the pasture.

 My cousins, Aaron and Jacob.

 Pet the horses.

At the reunion we ate some good dutch oven food and heard stories from real-life cowboys and cowgirls. Its fun to escape the real world for a day and breath the fresh mountain air.