Little Grand Canyon Half Marathon

We did it! We ran a half marathon, that's 13.1 miles. The longest we have ever run at one time! It makes me feel so good to cross off one of my "do before I die" items on my list! And to do it with Jake was so fun. When we first started training back in New York, I was pushing him a bit, but once we got home he had to drag me out of be and push me to go the full distance, he had so much drive and energy. And during the race it was the same thing. I would slow down almost start walking and then coach Jake would chime in, "We can do it, come on." We held hands across the finish (how romantic) at a satisfying 2:28:06.

It felt so much shorter though. The view, I'm sure, had something to do with that. It was the most exhilarating view I have ever seen. Especially when experiencing it in person, outside the car at a jogging pace, where you can really soak it all in. The red rocks are so majestic. The different era's of the Jurassic, Triassic and Cretaceous Era’s are evident in it's horizontal layers.
We ran right by this huge ancient Native American pictograph panel (The BuckHorn Panel see below) and saw many petroglyphs along the rock walls along the way.

It was one of those awesome life experiences that was worth the pain and one days waking at 3:45. Maybe a full marathon next time?