Family Photo

OK - Felt badly about not posting for over two years and then adding in more marathon split times. So, here's an updated family picture to lead the blog.

We took this in September 2012 at Heather Farms in Walnut Creek.

St. George Marathon 2012

Splits for the day:

Mile 1 - 7:35

Mile 2 - 7:37

Mile 3 - 7:08

Mile 4 - 6:58

Mile 5 - 7:03

Mile 6 - 6:55

Mile 7 - 6:56

Mile 8 - 8:06

Mile 9 - 7:37

Mile 10 - 7:33

Mile 11 - 7:47

Mile 12 - 7:28

Mile 13 - 7:07

Mile 14 - 7:18

Mile 15 - 6:45

Mile 16 - 6:42

Mile 17 - 6:56

Mile 18 - 7:12

Mile 19 - 7:39

Mile 20 - 7:12

Mile 21 - 6:56

Mile 22 - 7:26

Mile 23 - 7:10

Mile 24 - 7:14

Mile 25 - 7:26

Mile 26 - 7:28

Final 0.2 - 6:58

Overall 3:10:36 - 7:17 pace

Saint George Marathon

I ran my 6th marathon this weekend - 3rd in St. George. It's been my goal the past two years to run fast enough to qualify for the Boston marathon and I finally did. It was warmer than ideal and a lot of people there seemed to really struggle with the heat but I was able to make my time goal and finish in 3:14:51. The St. George course has nearly all of the harder/uphill miles in the first half so I ran somewhat conservatively until about mile 20. This was the first time in a marathon that I felt I had plenty of legs left at the end and was able to make up several minutes over the final 10k. I finished 343rd of the 5700 that finished the race.

My splits:
Mile 1 - 7:26
Mile 2 - 7:35
Mile 3 - 7:20
Mile 4 - 7:08
Mile 5 - 7:21
Mile 6 - 7:04
Mile 7 - 7:09
Mile 8 - 8:24
Mile 9 - 7:58
Mile 10 - 7:55
Mile 11 - 8:11
Mile 12 - 7:39
Mile 13 - 7:19
Mile 14 - 7:25
Mile 15 - 7:07
Mile 16 - 7:06
Mile 17 - 7:15
Mile 18 - 7:44
Mile 19 - 7:41
Mile 20 - 7:34
Mile 21 - 6:58
Mile 22 - 7:24
Mile 23 - 7:15
Mile 24 - 6:59
Mile 25 - 7:16
Mile 26 - 7:08
Final 0.2 miles - 6:05 pace





Pam with friends Julie and Amy that we met up with in St. George.

Thanks to all who made it a great weekend.

Cute Kate

Kate keeps getting cuter and cuter - not that I'm biased.

Backpacking with Blake

Blake and I tried something new and exciting and went on a backpacking trip to the Inyo National Forest. My uncle Larry organized the trip with the goal of fishing for Golden Trout in the high Sierras.

Blake and I drove through Yosemite and down past Bishop with Allen, Michael, and JD to the trailhead. We slept at, and started hiking the next morning, at about 10,000 ft. The altitude was fairly unforgiving for several in the group.

The first day we went about 5 miles in the heat and sun up to close to 11,000 ft. It was a tough day for everyone and we arrived at the lakes pretty well spent. After some late lunch, Blake had recovered enough that we climbed a smaller peak surrounding the lakes we were camping out and I took this next photo of him. Mount Langley is above his head in background.



The next day we woke up to frost and several in the group were still feeling the effects of the altitude and thought there would be no way they'd be able to traverse the 12,000 ft pass to the next campsite. We put our heads together and scrapped the loop plan for the trip and decided to stay where we were for the day.

Since we had a open day a few decided it would be great fun to summit nearby Mount Langley. Langley peaks at 14,042 feet and is just south of Mount Whitney, which at 14,500 ft is the tallest in the lower 48 states. We had a long climb up - none of it technical - and eventually summited late in the afternoon. Blake was dragging for portions of it but definitely got a bump from the single GU I had brought as we approached the final ascent. On the way back down he commented that he had, "really built some character" that day by making it all the way to the top. For me, it was the highlight of the trip, and really, the summer.



On the summit with Mt. Whitney in the background

Our summit group - Me, Blake, JD, Jon, Rob, and Abbie

We finished the next two days with a bit of hiking and fishing. Blake enjoyed reading in camp, looking at stars and exploring. In all, it was a great trip and something that I'm very happy that Blake and I could do together.

Summer Family Fun

We enjoyed a fun end of the summer with several more family get-togethers. My mom celebrated her 60th birthday and all the kids surprised her by sneaking into town and we met her and my dad for an early morning hot air balloon ride. She was completely caught off guard and we enjoyed a fun day and also had a new family picture taken.



The first week of August we went to the Oregon coast with Pam's family. Our kids love the beach and ocean and they spent lots of time collecting shells and building castles. The cousin and family time was super. Also while in Oregon Pam met up with my grandparents and Severson cousins

Family reunion time

We just enjoyed our bi-annual family reunion near Mount Hood in Oregon. The theme was generations and all four present had the spotlight on them. The weather was cool but nice. A few less people were able to make it this year but was fun even so. A few highlights were zip line, soccer, and game show night. Charlotte put together a compilation video which was also super and a great walk through the years since Grandma and Grandpa were kids. Of course, the best part is chatting and catching up with everyone.

Kate with cousins Grace and Brooke

Our happy baby Kate

The week before our reunion was Blake's first scout camp. No photos of him there but here he is trying out his pack before leaving. He had a great camp and reported enjoying the merit badges and getting to know some of the older boys.