Description: rain, mud, flat tires, broken chains, more rain, more mud, three LONG laps, and more mud. 
Brad and Brent joined in on the shinanigans and did the Cat 2 coarse together. Brad had technical problems so Brent waited up for him. Here’s how they came in together…dorks.
I came in after 2 hours and 7 minutes. It was hot!
Here is an awesome shot of Mike coming in.
I love this picture. This was right before the race.
Mike on the day of the race, getting ready to leave for the big day. Little did he know he was going to place first!
It was a HUGE hill climb. I could see the whole thing going down between Mike and the other racers because we all were climbing so slow up the hill.
Going down the trail afterwards.
As I said, this was Mike’s first ever FIRST PLACE. He rocked it. I was the only girl, so I had to race the other boys, which was fun. We would definitely come back to visit, but hated the coarse!
After I finally realized Jessica was taking pictures.
I was trying to get all the Cat 2 girls pumped!
I got second overall and first in my category. Mike got fourth place..so we did alright!
He kept sprinting to keep up with Mike. That tongue was out!
Then he got a little tired and would go back and check on me.
As soon as I took that pic of Mike, Barney and I took off in a different direction. The storm clouds started to roll in and all of a sudden some major lightning started striking. Barney and I took off for the main road, but we were five miles out. I rode my bike while Barney ran along side me for four miles. It was pouring rain!
The next couple days he was limping around and could barely walk. But he was a trooper!
Brad making one of his first jumps.
Abe and Kimball hanging out on the front of the boat.
Sporting the new bathing suit.
The keychain they were making fun of.
I love this pic. The boys decided to go cliff diving and I love the view. Kimball went first with a back flip, then Abe with a scary jump, and then Mike.
It was nice to get a boat trip in by the end of the summer.
We got a really nice condo for a pretty good deal. Here is Mike posing with his air pump.
Mike got second place both days! He rocked it!
On top of Frazier Mountain…over 12,000 feet up in the air!
The view of the Taos Ski Valley behind Mike.
We made it! (It was getting cold because it was about to rain and we were all sweaty!)
Taking time to enjoy the scenery over 3000 feet above where we started!
Mike and I playing around on our way down after the race!
P.S. Our good friend Alan Rishel fell during the race and was airlifted to Santa Fe and is in stable condition. He has gone through two surgeries and is fighting hard after puncturing his lung, breaking his ribs and clavicle, and having an irregular heartbeat. Our prayers go out to him and his wife Karen.
So I have a dog that is addicted to running, so now its gotten me to go for a short run every morning, just to get him off my back! I really enjoy it, once I get out there, and I’m excited that I started this routine with him. He comes back all tired and leaves me alone, and I feel awake and rejuvenated.
So seeing that I have the running bug again, I am thinking about running a couple races coming up. Next stop: Labor Day weekend. I think I am going to go up to Roswell and do the half marathon. A lady in our ward told me about it and she is going to do it. I thought it would be fun to run with her since she and I both did the Las Cruces Half Marathon last December. That brings me to the second big race. The Schramms (who are big runners) are coming down the first weekend in December to run the half with me again. This one is so easy because there are no hills and its extremely flat and it ends in a stadium with people standing around cheering for you. (Not to mention, it was just a walk back to my house, since its right next to my neighborhood!) Last year I did it in 2 hours and 6 minutes. This year’s goal is to get under two hours!
We will see!
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