big springs 8k

 i got an email last wednesday about a trail run on saturday.  i have never run on trails before, in the mountains...i normally just do paved trails.  but it was only an 8k, so i thought no sweat!  i can do this!  i signed up and we loaded the boys up early saturday morning, and i hit the trails!  

i took this walking up to the starting line.  it was a beautiful morning for a run--nice and cool, beautiful scenery.  

david warned me that this would be the longest 5 miles of my life.  thanks, husband, but it was pretty easy!!...i met my goal of walking only when it was a 100% grade (...ha ha)  i even placed 3rd in my age group!  i was originally in 4th place, but the person who was in 3rd ended up being a male mistakenly placed in the female category.  they were about to move me over to the male category, too, when they saw my name, but i set them straight.  i would have to say the last mile of a half marathon is the longest mile of my life, but this whole run i felt very comfortable and great.  

david kept the boys entertained by making them hike around the trails until they got too tired to meet me at the finish line.  they were eating doughnuts and watching a show on david's phone when i walked up to the jeep.  you can see a little bit of pace's "aventure soup-case" behind him--he packs this thing full of whatever he thinks we might need on any given adventure.  he is very thoughtful and puts lots of consideration into what he wants to pack.  he happened to pack a medal for me.  so sweet!

we instituted a new coombs family birthday tradition: the birthday penny ride.  you pick a number between 10-20, flip a penny that number of times, and heads is turn right, tails turn left, and you go for a drive and see where you end up.  my birthday was the first birthday we did it, and it was really, really fun!  we packed a cooler with my ice cream birthday cake and drove through farmlands, got on i-15, and ended up at the top of a hill on a trail on the other side of spanish fork.  we watched the sunset and pace pulled out his rolling "aventure soup-case".  we lost the photos from that night, but i can still picture him proudly opening the suitcase with things he packed.  he pulled out some silverware in case we needed it to eat, his owl nightlight in case it got dark, some stuffed animals for protection, and a few other things.