What's all the hype?

Seriously, I just don't get why people love running. I feel good after and I feel like I am doing my body good, but I just don't get "in the zone" like people, especially my friend Bri, who has run like 8 marathons says. I think it's also beacuse I always seem to get side aches. No matter long I wait after I eat or drink or do breathing exercises or whatever, I still get them a little, and it makes it harder to quiet the voice in my head that says (in a whiney voice) "I'm tired and my legs hurt and I don't like running." But every once in a while I actually like it.

I think it was 6 years ago, I decided to run the Moab half marathon super last minute. I had run 5 miles twice and 7 once, then just ran it. Angela and I weren't registered and we snuck on the one of the last buses. So, I'm not sure exactly what my time was since I didn't have a chip, but the clock said 1:58 when I went under it. I'm pretty sure that that was faster than I'd ever really run.

So this year when my roommates decided they were going to run it, I gave it some thought, and decided against it, becasue I just wasn't liking running (the one time I had run in the last 3 months I got a bad side-ache). But we went down to try to register the night before and I remembered they do a 5 mile race, and decided I could run 5 miles. We all got in the race, and slept in the trailers. I really do love that place. I will only been down there for two weeks this summer, and I know I have out grown that place and Moab in general, but I will always have fond memories of the trailers.

We ran our seperate races in the morning. I finished my 5 miler in 49 minutes and I have no idea how I ran almost 3 times that far faster than that pace. I can't believe it. Anwyay, everyone did really well and it was a great morning.

After some hanging and showering at the trailers, Some of our other friends came and met us and we all went in to the San Rafeal Swell. I love that place. I love it that there's no signs and it's easy to get lost. It keeps it feeling like the desert and not a tourist place. We did get a little lost, but had a good time riding on top of Jeremy and Jake's sweet Westfalia. Some of the dudes had some "man time" and shot guns and the rest of us found a sweet camp spot. As we were getting set up, the sun set was amazing! It is so great to be in the desert. We turned the Westfalia into a kitchen, made some dinner, then made a huge bonfire. Probably made it a little bigger than we should have. We turned up some music and got prettty roudy and had a dance party. The sunrise in the morning, when I got up to use the "bathroom" was another great testament of why I love the desert. It turned out to be such a great trip for most of the time.

I don't think I'm quite ready to be done skiing but the nice weather we've been having really makes me want to go camping and do things on the weekends. So, if anyone is interested, let me know, and we'll get a trip together to Zion or the Swell or one of the other amazing places that Utah has to offer!