February 2018

Valentines Couples 10K: This year Jed and I participated in our third and final Valentines Day Couple 10k in Memphis. The last two years we have placed second at this race and second place gets nothing so we've always left having fun but a little disappointed. We have sincerely been talking about this race since our last disappointment and have been determined all year to win. Jed and I worked so hard the last few months keeping one another accountable and getting in our miles, healthy eating (minus desserts!), and keeping positive about what we can do. We were feeling so good going into race week, as we both had great Saturday runs. Then, Thursday before the race, Jed and Porter got very sick. Jed didn't run the rest of the week in hopes of recovery. The night before we ate a fun pre race meal, went to bed early and Jed hoped his medicine would help him recover . The morning of the race we still weren't sure how things were going to go. We dropped Porter off at one of Jed's classmates house and hoped for the best. Luckily Jed was feeling a little better but the weather that day was heavy rain but high 50's (which was nice for a February race). We picked up our packets and warmed up. In years past we had decided to run together but this year we thought we had a better chance if we each ran our race. We had to trust each other to know that each of us were doing our part. I crossed the line 5th place overall and the second girl with a time of 44 minutes. I was satisfied with that time because I averaged a 6:59 pace and that is way faster than I have run since having Porter. I waited for Jed to make his way to the finish line and to my delight he was only three minutes behind me at 47 minutes. I was so proud of him. Despite being sick, he worked so hard and even Pr'd in the 10k. We ended up winning our individual age groups and the sweethearts division. We were so happy to end our tradition on the top. For winning we got beanies, 50 dollars to outback, a plaque, and two yeti mugs.

We often get together on the weekends with out good friends the Hills and Roberts. One Sunday the Lifferths joined us and we had a fondue night. It was so fun cooking foods in broth and trying out different sauces. Though we hang out all the time with them we don't have any pictures together so I made everyone take a picture so we have proof that we have close friends in Memphis!

For Jed's spring break this year we decided to go down to Dallas to visit Josh and Kayla Hagen. It was only for the weekend but we had such a fun time seeing Dallas and spending some quality time with great friends. We visited the Perot Museum, we did a scavenger hunt downtown, we ate incredible fried chicken and tacos, and enjoyed a beautiful day at the park. On our down time we watched the Olympics. We had such a fun weekend and it was so great getting out and exploring a new place. On our way home, we stopped at Little Rock to do a quick hike and stretch our legs.  It was short but pretty difficult. It was Porter's first "summit" and we look forward to many more in the future.