Iowa!

Mike and I successfully traveled to Iowa Friday night. . . just barely. Our first flight was delayed by 70 minutes, leaving us with 20 minutes to catch our second flight. Of course, the second flight was in a different terminal and we got there with less than 2 minutes to spare. Mike's bladder was on the verge of bursting, so he had to stop to pee while I ran to the gate. The woman at the gate told him, "You better burst next time!". Amazingly, our luggage made it through the short layover! We had a race Saturday morning and would have been very very very disappointed to not have our bags.

We took advantage of the delayed flight by heading to the park to play. Selah loves swinging, slides, grass, rocks, and playing in general.

Mike and I ran the country's largest cross country race on Saturday morning, the Living History Farms Race. He ran it several times in and after college and actually won it about 10 years ago. The race has now grown to 7500 runners!! We had so much fun! It is all on the LHF, literally through multiple shin to thigh-deep creeks (I think there were 6 or 7 crossings), up mud walls so steep you need ropes to get up them, through corn fields for 7.25 miles. Many dressed up in silly costumes--we saw a pack of Crayons, Santa and his reindeer all tied together, lots of prom dresses on men, men with not nearly enough clothing on, etc etc.

Here we are after the race.

I felt pretty good despite the chill and was happy when I got to mile 2 in 17:30. I didn't have a watch and asked another runner for the time at 4 miles. He said "40:00" and I couldn't believe I had slowed down so much! He must have given me the wrong time because I crossed the finish line at 57:56, about 7:58 pace. That was good enough for 12th in my age group and the 54th woman of 3200 overall! The race gave me a confidence boost for the upcoming Vegas marathon (my goal is 8:25 pace to qualify for Boston). I figure if I can do 7:58 pace through the woods and over logs and through creeks, there's a decent chance I can do 8:25 pace on the flats. Mike ran it in about 45 minutes, good for 8th in his age group and 72nd man.

Selah got to hang out with Grandma while we ran--a treat for everyone involved! Marge is coming to Vegas with us as well.

We're in Monticello now for a few days before driving South to Missouri for the 16th annual AGRA, Annual Great Rieken Adventure. Marge's family has been meeting at her brother Tom's place for Thanksgiving and fun and this will be our first year going. We are so excited!