This Summer/Running

I just realized I have not blogged much this year compared to last year.  Here is a look at our summer:

May 30th-Bolder Boulder-A big 10K in Colorado, very popular, if I'm lucky, James will brave the traffic and be there when I finish!
May 30th PM or May 31st AM-Leave for Ohio, perhaps stop in Iowa to pick up James' Uncle John
May 31st-June 10th-Spend time with James' family in Ohio, see James' younger brother Rob graduate, probably visit Cedar Point, a theme park
June 10th-Head back towards Colorado, stop in Nauvoo on the way back
June 15th-18th-GIRL'S CAMP
June 23rd-June 27th-I'm flying to Seattle with my Mom to see my sister and her family and to run the Rock n Roll Half-Marathon with my sister Marie!
July 18th-22nd-Bateman Family "Camping" trip at James' family's cabin in Conifer, CO
Aug 20th-Park City Half-Marathon
Sep 5th-American Discovery Trail Marathon in Colorado Springs

A couple of days ago James and I did a 5K here in Aurora, it was the first time I have really trained for a competitive pace.  I thought running fast for 3.1 miles would have been easy no matter what because it's a short distance.  It was weird how I knew there couldn't be more than a mile left, I was almost done, but running faster than I was used to made me want to quit and walk a couple times.  Part of it was the course was kind of winding and they changed the route this year so it was hard to tell if I was really close or still really far away.  As soon as I saw the finish line I passed the lady I had been lagging behind for most of the race, and another dude.  I ended up at 23:27, which was better than my less-than-24 minutes goal. It's hard to tell if you used all you had in a race.  I don't think I could've run it any faster.  I felt like I had given it everything when they made me stop and stand there right as I finished so they could cut my timer tag off my shoe.  I remember saying, "I think I'm going to barf," to no one in particular, but the feeling left me as soon as I could start walking.  I got a bottle of water and started walking the race backwards to find James, and finish the race with him, per tradition.  I coaxed James into jogging a few times, then as soon as he saw the finish, he started running at a pace that I will never be able to run at (He is freakishly fast when he wants to be!).  The announcer guy says, "Whoa, this guy still has some gas in his tank!!"  I was just laughing.   

Chatfield Wetlands Loop

Another hike from my favorite hiking book. This is number 7 out of 35 hikes near Denver that I hope to be able to do.  This was more of a nature walk than a hike, but it was beautiful, still a little brown, I guess.  This was a couple weeks ago.  Apparently it's a good place to go for birdwatching.  Or a good place to go if your husband doesn't actually like "hiking," per se. 

"I just learned how to dress myself!"

The token picture of James and Cooper from behind.