My first 5K...

On Saturday, July 11th, I headed down to Mona with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law to participate in Young Living's 2009 5K Run/Walk Through the Lavender. Mandi and I had first seen the sign on I-15 South on our way to Page and knew we just had to do it when we saw the sign next to such beautiful lavender fields. We arrived in Mona about 6:30am, signed in, got our shirts and waited for the race to start at 7am. We were a little nervous, having never run in a 5K before, and though there were clearly the 'serious' runners who were participating, it was immediately clear that this was just a laid-back, super-family-friendly event with lots of young families and jogging strollers. Too bad I left Felicity at home with Derrick, but she's definitely coming with me next year!

The race started just as the sun began to peek out above the mountains, the weather was perfect and the trail looping around the lavender fields was amazing. I honestly can't emphasize how gorgeous it was, never mind how good it smelled!
I actually never did find out my time, but I finished a few minutes behind Mandi and I did much, much better than I thought I would. It was such an awesome experience and they had so many fun things planned for after the race. For a small fee you could walk out in the fields and cut big bouquets of lavender, they had a "lavender tea party" for the kids and breakfast for everyone. It was one of those things that even while you're in the middle of it, you've decided you're definitely going to do this again. It was also great to have something to motivate me to get back in shape; we're already looking at other 5K/10Ks so we can keep it up! Thanks Young Living for such a fun day!