197 miles! Hah! That's Nothin' ;)

This past weekend, August 24-25, I ran the Hood to Coast relay with my family from my Mom's side, the Holt's. Our team name was "Incredible Holts." It is a 197 mile relay race in Oregon, from Mount Hood to Seaside, Oregon. There are twelve members of your team and you each run three legs. I was leg #6. First I ran 7.42 at noon on Friday, then 4.17 at midnight Friday night, then my final run was 5.35 miles at about 10am the next morning. I got about 3 hours of sleep during that night. Wow! It was quite the event. There are two vans and each van trades off resting while the other van is running. So you run and then you get back in the van and cheer everyone else in your van on as they run. I had to make sure to get out and stretch a lot in between so my muscles wouldn't get too sore. My favorite part about it was seriously getting to hang with my family in such tight quarters and getting to know everyone so much more! Loved it! Enjoy the pics below of the fun-filled event.

This picture was taken by a man who actually posted it on an Oregon Newspaper blog, I think. It was at the starting line and he said he couldn't help but notice the huge Hulk hands I was wearing . . . if you didn't catch it by now, Hulk was our theme :) So now I'm famous on some random website. hehe!

The starting Line!
Uncle Bri's motto for the race ;)

I know I felt like I could have been a little more prepared.

Our Amazing van (suburban) and the decorators . . . the master decorator is in the middle :)
"You mess with me . . . you mess with my whole van!"
The Goonies house!!! Yea!! We were able to visit it after the first van finished. We ate in Astoria and went on a mini Goonies tour! I loved it.

Me and Amy at the finish line!

We all met up at the finish line wearing our Hulk garb, that Marie had made us, to watch Marie run the last leg in and finish with her. They announced our name "Incredible Holts" as we ran across the finish line. Don't we look "Hulkified" in the pic! Wow - I love that I really said that :)

Just like to say that this was surprisingly amazing and inspiring. I didn't think I would be so affected by this weekend, but it really was such a tough thing to do and it was so fun to "bond" with the family that I rarely get to see. What a great experience. If you ever get the chance to do Hood to Coast or anything like it - I say do it!

Lake Powell . . . so good

It is my opinion that Lake Powell is one of the best vacation's ever to be taken. What is better than hanging out in your swimsuit all day on a houseboat, eating food, cliff jumping and being able to jump on a speed boat at any minute to go tubing or wakeboarding? I love Lake Powell!

Kind of a shaky pic . . . it was taken on the boat ride to Rainbow Bridge. Me and Maryann!

Dorky pic of my toes :) Look at the scenery! So Beautiful!
Rainbow Bridge!
For some reason I didn't take any other pictures, but we had so much fun. MaryAnn invited me to Lake Powell with her company. I guess since everyone else brought their family - she got to bring her roommate. :) We stayed on S&S's houseboat up Navajo Canyon. They had two boats, three waverunner's and a jet ski. Hello! I had a blast! Thanks Maryann!

I gotta work out . . .

"I gotta work out. I keep saying it all the time. I keep saying I gotta start working out. It's been about two months since I've worked out. And I just don't have the time. Which uh..is odd. Because I have the time to go out to dinner. And uh..and watch tv. And get a bone density test. And uh.. try to figure out what my phone number spells in words." - Ellen DeGeneres

I saw this quote by Ellen and thought it was so funny!

Side note: I think Ellen is actually funny. I first realized this when she hosted whatever awards show she hosted - I think it was the Oscars - I don't keep track - but she was really funny in that and now I really like her.

I posted this quote because it is so true for so many of us and not necessarily referring to working out, it could be anything. We put off what we want, and what we have been wanting to do for so long, for silly things like figuring out what our phone number spells or writing posts about this very subject. :)

Ironically right now, in my life I have been working out dillgently, which I am very happy to say! Yea! But I think I owe that to HTC! Mostly just a funny, applicable quote to everyone at one time or another.

"It's the end of an era"

"Later that day I got to thinking about relationships. There are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back. But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you find someone to love the 'you' you love, well, that's just fabulous." -Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City

I watched the final episode of the Sex and the City dvds last night. It is officially over, so sad. Sniffle! Sniffle! The quote above is the last thing Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) says. I realize it is kind of obsessive to have two posts about the same tv show, but what can I say, I really loved it. And I love that quote! So just bask in the wisdom of the quote with me! :)

Sloth

Sloth: (off of dictionary.com)

1. habitual disinclination to exertion; indolence; laziness.
2. any of several slow-moving, arboreal, tropical American edentates of the family Bradypodidae, having a long, coarse, grayish-brown coat often of a greenish cast caused by algae, and long, hooklike claws used in gripping tree branches while hanging or moving along in a habitual upside-down position.
3. a pack or group of bears.

I believe the definition that applies to me when it comes to my blog and a few other things in my life would be definition #1.

The one thing I have been doing well at is training for the HTC relay that I am running in on Aug. 24-25. Whoo-hoo! Although I could probably be doing a little better at that too. I think it is the lazy days of summer getting to me. :) I will work on getting some real pictures up on the blog of the stuff I have been up to. I just hope I don't end up looking like the Sloth pictured below. (haha, I am so funny) I better get motivated!