Birthdays & Races!

Last weekend was spent in Monterey celebrating Dad's birthday and finishing my second half marathon. It was a fabulous weekend!


Eric & I flew in early Friday morning and had the greatest welcoming party. Dad, Jeni & Ellie picked us up - coffee in hand! We drove to Monterey and had a quick bite to eat before seeing "Breaking Dawn". However, our quick bite included one of the best salads I've ever had!

Saturday we spent at the Aquarium - meeting penguins and watching the jellyfish. 

Then we went to Carmel for the afternoon - had lunch and did some shopping. 

Eric got some awesome sunglasses

The half marathon was on Sunday. After much deliberation, Eric decided not to run so that his foot could heal. But he was definitely supportive of me. :) He & Jeni took me to the race and watched me start. 

 I started the race at a pretty good pace and felt really good. Thankfully, even though the forecast showed rain, it held off for the race. There were a few hills in the first couple miles, but nothing too terrible. Around mile 6 we were running along the beach.... and it continued on to mile 8... then, we got to turn around. It felt really long. The people who were ahead of you were running past the other way and I just wanted to be on the other side! At mile 11, I got pretty tired. The last 2 miles were challenging. But the training paid off.... I finished at 1 hour 57 minutes! Not only did I get under 2 hours, but I beat my previous time by 6 minutes. I was really happy! I even managed to keep all but 2 of the miles under a 9-minute mile.


Everyone was there to see me cross the finish line. 

We went to Sushi to celebrate Dad's birthday. It was delicious! They brought a great dessert and sang to him too. 

Eric & I stayed a Hilton near the airport on Sunday night. The fam dropped us off and we spent the rest of the day hanging out in the room, watching movies and eating pizza. :) It was a nice recovery. 


Happy Birthday Dad! More to come!