We Ran, We Swam (jet skied), We Biked! Our 4th of July Triathlon

Our 4th of July was perfect! We had so much fun the entire time going from one thing to the next all day long!

We started out bright and early to be up and ready for our 5k at 7. We biked over to Wade and Karly's to meet up with them and Wade's parents before the race. (Wade and his dad were going to run the 5k with us.) The four of us runners biked over together to the starting line and right when we got there they said for the runners to be on their marks.... Ah! We ditched our bikes and bags without second guessing and jumped into the mass of runners. We didn't even have time to be nervous and then the gun went off signaling the start of the race. Here goes everything! Time to beat our goals and do this thing.

Nathan of course took right off leaving me in his dust. (He is so much faster than me. He's awesome!) It was really kind of cool being a slower runner because I got to see the mass of runners in front of me. There were so many people running. Over 1,000! It was an impressive sight to see. I ran my first mile in 9 and a half minutes. I was so shocked because I was planning on trying to keep a 10 minute pace for all three of the miles. I did slow down a little bit after that because I knew I would die if I kept that up. I just listened to my music and enjoyed the atmosphere.

As I got closer to the finish line Karly and Wade's mom cheered me on! I was almost done! I could do this. I sprinted in the last stretch and came in at 30:58!!! I was so happy! I wanted to be under 32 minutes and I had cut off a whole minute! I was feeling great. Nathan found me at the finish line and told me he finished in 23:49! Awesome!!! He beat his goal of under 25 minutes! We were both pretty happy with ourselves. (Maybe we'll train for a 10k next? haha maybe...)

After the race we just chilled on the side and waited for the parade eating delicious muffins, bagels, and grapes. The parade was fun, but kind of long to be sitting in the hot sun.

For lunch we grilled kabobs along side the river with a bunch of friends. We had a nice big shady tree and everything was so perfect and delicious! (I was super glad I was allowed a cheat day on the 4th so I could fully celebrate the holiday with grilling!) While there we jet skied and kayaked in the river! Nathan and I only tipped the jet ski once... oops!.... and got splashed a lot when we took the kayak out! (Haha thanks Wade and Scott) Taking a jet ski all the way up to the falls is seriously so cool! We had so much fun with all of our friends! (Shout out to Scott and Nicole, Keegan and Hailey, Wade and Karly! You guys are the best!)

Later in the evening we biked to the Greenbelt with Karly and Wade. We got some yummy ice cream and pizza, because I could, for dinner! Once we had checked out all of the vendors we headed over to where we were going to watch the fireworks. We ran into some friends from the ward who said we could sit with them at the place they staked out, and we were definitely glad we did. They were pretty much as close as you can get to the fireworks. It was totally awesome! Our friends Scott and Kylee met up with us there.

We had a lot of fun just relaxing and waiting for the fireworks, and I even made a new friend! (A girl going into sixth grade... haha I think children get a friendly teacher vibe from me or something!) The fireworks were incredible! We seriously had the best spot for watching them.

Biking home was the best! We were cruising past all of the people walking and especially all the cars. It was way packed, but we just squeezed through all of the cracks on our bikes. It's totally the way to travel on the 4th.

The rest of the weekend was fun and relaxing! We caught up on the Bachelorette, played games with our friends, Landon and Rebecca, golfed in the rain/hail, and even started a project! I wish life could always be a 4th of July weekend!