st. george

I am SO blessed to have a kind and generous husband...who not only encourages me to run, but has given me the opportunity to do something so fantastic as TRAVEL to go running.

This is my very first (of hopefully many) trips to run a race away from home.

I flew into Las Vegas so I could run the St. George half marathon.

I flew into Las Vegas because it's the closest airport to St. George, Utah.

It also happens to be a destination that Hawaiian Airlines flies to so flying was no problem at all.  :)

My first stop in Sin City was visiting with an old High School friend I hadn't seen since BEFORE high school graduation!  Through Facebook, Shana and I were able to reconnect and had a great chat before my long (ok, it's only 2 hours, but that's long for a girl that lives on a tiny island) drive up to Utah.

We both decided that we look the same as we did back in high school (over 17 years ago) 

And since we both agree....it must be so. :)

This is a picture of the middle of nowhere...some point between the northern most Nevada city and the southern most Utah city.  

I will admit to getting a bit sleepy here...though you can't really fault me.

I was coming off a red-eye flight from Honolulu to Vegas and lets be real here...there isn't much to tease the eye in these parts!

Thankfully, I made it to St. George in one piece and without falling asleep.

My very first stop in Utah was to visit the St. George temple.  

It was BEAUTIFUL!  I felt like I was visiting a piece of church history!  Which technically, I was, since apparently this temple was the very first temple built (finished) in Utah!

There was a lot of history and reverence on the grounds and inside.  And though I will admit to dozing more than a few times during the session (hey, red-eye flight + 2 hour drive, remember!) I am grateful that I was able to visit this most beautiful building.  

After checking into my shady hotel room (and believe me...it was SO creepy!  I had them change my room because the first room looked like it could have been used as a crime scene in CSI!  No joke!), I got my race packet and gear at the health expo.  There was a super nice physical therapist there taping people up.  He done taped me up good!  :)  Now I'm all ready to run!

But first...to get a good nights rest. 

 I can't recall the exact time I woke up...but here I am all dressed and ready to go.

I know, not the most flattering of running gear-but I wasn't running to impress anybody by my looks.

And I forgot to mention that while St. George is typically known as the warmest part of Utah...it IS still Utah.  And it IS the middle of winter.  As luck would have it...it also happened to be one of the COLDEST winters St. George has seen in years.

The temperature?  24°F.

Awesome!

Here I am warming up in my car before the race because I can't get myself to leave the car.

Did I mention it's 24° outside?   

Oh, and I forgot to also mention that I was coming off one of the WORST colds I have ever had.

Runny nose, coughing, sinus pressure, the works.

I medicated myself before the run, but still.  Not feeling fantastic + freezing cold weather?  Not my ideal condition for running 13.1 miles.

But what can you do, right?  

While I HATE pictures of myself running...I'll post these pics anyway.  

Who knows if I'll ever run another race in St. George, Utah! 

So, here I am in my FREEZING cold glory.  I wasn't feeling great, I was freezing cold, and I had lots of layers on...but might as well document the thing properly, right?

 And here I am post-run.

I finished in 1:52.  A new personal record for me...2 minutes less is still a PR, right?

And don't let the sunny blue sky fool you. It was still a freezing cold 25° out.

Besides visiting the St. George temple, I really wanted to check out some famous sites in the area.

After a short nap after the run, I headed out to Zion National Park.

It was less than an hour drive out of the city so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do some exploring.

The first place I checked out was the Emerald Pools trail.  Unfortunately, part of the path was blocked off due to some precariously melting icicles overhead.  I had to stop and turn around. :(

 But...not to be deterred, I decided to spend the last few minutes of daylight hiking the Watchman Trail.

It's one of the safer, easier trails so I figured I'd give it a go.

It was SO BEAUTIFUL!  And while I found myself huffing a bit towards the top (hey, I just ran 13.1 miles a earlier that day!), it was SO worth the effort!  The weather was perfect (cold, but perfect) and I got to see some sights I had never seen before.  Like a huge deer crossing less than 10 feet in front of me! 

And lastly, before heading back home to Hawaii, I got to see my good friend Gini.  She was supposed to run the half marathon with me, but couldn't because of her daughter's soccer tournament..  We didn't get to run together, but it was great catching up with her and meeting her lovely family in Las Vegas before catching my flight home.

It was a whirlwind 3 day trip for me...with lots of new adventures and yummy food...all by myself.

My first solo trip since I was in college in Japan!  I was a tad nervous but ended up loving every minute of it!

I'm so grateful for an awesome husband who let me take this trip by myself.  And for his awesome company that allowed me to fly for free!  And awesome friends I got to meet up with while on my trip.

Whew!  I'm already looking forward to my next running trip!  :)