Fall is Here!

I love Fall! It is by far my favorite season of the year. This year, Utah sure showed off and gave me a beautiful Fall. The colors were spectacular and so was the weather. John and I spent a lot of time outside and going on walks. I am trying to soak it all in before the snow hits. This month was filled with a lot of good days. I love months where I look back and can think of several happy memories that were made.

One of which was going to my good friend's baby blessing. Some friends are only your friends for a time and others are life-long friends and she is definitely going to be a life long friend. She now was two cute boys and John is right between them in age.

Another friend and I took advantage of the nice weather and hiked to Stewart Falls. I had never been and it was so beautiful! There is something about nature and hiking that just does the soul good.

I love watching John discover new things. He played in the leaves for the first time and also found my flower pots. He has a love for dirt. Haha. I guess next summer I need to put in a sand box. :)

Zac ran his first marathon this month too! He ran the St. George marathon and got under 4 hours which was his goal. It is inspiring to see him set his goals and complete them. Aunt Linda and her family were so nice to let us stay with them for the weekend. It definitely made it easier than trying to get a hotel and figure out transportation.

Drop 13 Half

In June, Lindsey and I ran the Drop 13 Half Marathon down Big Cottonwood Canyon! This was my sixth half marathon and my worst. Haha. I finished just under 2hr 30min. which is super slow for me. But I am happy with my race. I told myself that this one was all about just doing it and nothing about my time.
It has been a lot harder to get back into shape after having John than I thought it would be. My whole body has changed which means my running form and everything has changed with it. I am not complaining, it is just something new.
I love to run so it was great to get back into it. And it was so much fun to run with Lindsey! We chatted a lot throughout the first half of the race, then towards the end, Lindsey took off and left me in the dust. haha.

Halloween 2016

October was a busy but fun month for us. We had something almost every weekend. This year for Halloween, we decided to retire our tradition "Jack and Jill after they fell down the hill" costume. We figured five years with the same costume was long enough. Haha. We themed our costumes off of the newest member of our family, John. We were Robinhood, Maid Marien and Little John. Haha. I think our costumes turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself.
At the beginning of the month, we traveled to Idaho for my cousin's wedding. It was so beautiful! And John did wonderful. I am not nearly as scared to travel home for Christmas as I was before. haha.
I officially quit my job to be a full time stay at home mom. But they invited me to the Halloween party so John and I went had such a good time seeing old co-workers and friends. It was definitely bittersweet saying goodbye to my job. It was a good a one. But being a stay at home mom has been wonderful so far! I love spending so much time with my cute baby.
Zac ran the Haunted Half the week before Halloween so John dressed up as a pumpkin (Thanks Krisitin) and we headed downtown to watch him finish the race.
After that, we went out to Daybreak to watch the Giant Pumpkin Races! It was quite hillarious. Everyone racing pumpkins was dressed up so it was pretty fun to watch. The largest pumpkin weighed over 800lbs! It is crazy to think that pumpkins grow that big!
As for actual Halloween, it was pretty low key. After a weekend full of Halloween parties and pumpkin carving, I was ready just to hang out and hand out candy to the Trick-or-Treaters. We actually had quite a few.
It is so much fun have a baby to dress up for Halloween! I think this holiday is growing on me. ;)

Left: Ward Halloween Party. Right: Work Halloween Party

Kyla's Wedding in Idaho

Picking pumpkins with my little pumpkin

The finishline at the Haunted Half. You can't see my whole sign but it says "On a scale of 1 to 10 you are a 13.1" haha. 

Hillary, Trump and the Little Mermaid battle it out at the Giant Pumpkin Races 

Our carved pumpkins. I think our carving skills get better every year. ;) 

The Haunted Half & Halloween

I ran my fifth half marathon in five years on Halloween morning! It was the same half marathon that I ran for my first. I would have loved to write a post about how I did really well and it was fun...but sadly, that is not the case. This is probably the last long race I will get to do for quite awhile so naturally, I wanted to do my best. I was aiming to beat my best time of 1:54:51.
I was doing really well for the majority of the race. I was on track to beat my time. With less than a half a mile left, I came to the last major intersection and was stopped, along with the other runners, by a police office directing traffic. I couldn't believe it. Were they really stopping me in the middle of a race?! I knew as soon as they stopped me that there was no way I was going to be able to make up the lost time let alone run very fast after they just iced my legs! Have you ever tried to start running again after running 12.7 miles as fast as possible? It is pretty much impossible. I was stopped at that light for over a minute. I broke down in tears at that light and cried all the way to the finish line.
I have never pushed myself that hard physically as I did during that race. Then to have my goal trampled on like that was a pretty hard pill to swallow.
I tend to tie my ability to complete physically challenging things to my ability to overcome hard things in life. And this race was very much tied to infertility and my ability to go through IVF. I was running this race not only to beat my best time but to prove to myself that I can do hard things and to get one last race in before running is taken away from me. I can't adequately describe the crushed feeling I felt after that race.
I am feeling slightly better about the race now, but when I think about it I still get worked up. Haha. Anyways, on to better topics......

Halloween was pretty fun this year! Zac and I were Jack and Jill after they fell down the hill....again. Haha. I think this is the fourth year in a row that we have used this costume. Elise threw an awesome Halloween party. So we went to their beautiful new home and had fun with them and the Enghs.

Our amazing BYU Pumpkin! This is definitely the most advanced we have ever gotten with our pumpkin craving.....

We had a really fun Halloween party at work. They had all kinds of competitions. This is my entry into the Styrofoam tombstone competition. I won a $50 gift card for 2nd place. I kinda have an awesome job. :)

Halloween has never been my favorite holiday, but I think it is growing on me. I have always loved holidays, mainly because I like parties and an excuse to do something out of the ordinary. So I definitely can't wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

The Dirty Dash 2015

Sometimes I have to pinch myself when I am at work because I really really love my job and I am not sure if it is reality or a dream. For work yesterday I ran the Dirty Dash up in Midway. SUPER FUN! If you know me at all you know I love running, mix in a couple mud pits and obstacles and you have a happy Katelyn.

I could not have asked for more perfect weather. It was the perfect fall day.Thanks to awesome co-workers who ran the 10k with me. Now for pictures because only pictures can do this race justice. 

AF Canyon Half Marathon

Every year I set the goal to run a race either a half, Ragnar, etc. This year we chose to run the American Fork Canyon Fight Against Cancer Half Marathon. It was a pretty awesome race. The sponsors of the race paid for the actually event then all of the proceeds from registration fees went directly to cancer support/research. I love running races that also support good causes. It was a pretty big downhill course and because it started up in the canyon, it was absolutely beautiful! Nothing quite beats the feeling of a race start. Everyone is excited and the air is full of energy. Call me crazy, but it was a really fun 13 miles. My goal was to do under 2 hours and I came in at 1:55:31! Afterwards I realized that I was only 40 seconds off of my PR. So I am really happy with my time. I have decided I need to sign up for another one soon so I can actually beat my PR. Poor Zac tripped over a cone at mile 3 then started cramping up a few miles later. Not his best race. However, I do have to take a moment and enjoy the fact that this is the first race I have ever beat him in and probably my last. :) Just another reason why we need to run another one soon. 

If you look closely, you can see me in the back. This was right before I passed Zac. 

Then this was right after I passed Zac! Ha! Proof that I really did pass him. 

I had to include this one. Best photobomb ever. 

It is true that a picture is worth a 1000 words. You can tell just by our finishing photos who had the the better race and who was in the most pain. 

Happy Birthday to Zac!

Zac turned 28 last week! Zac and I are quite different when it comes to birthdays. I love to have parties, eat cake and open presents. Zac would be much more happy watching a sports game and eating pizza. I have been trying extra hard this year to listen to what Zac really wanted for his birthday instead of assuming that he would want a cake, party, etc. I think I did a pretty good job.
My work offers a discount to employees to run the Utah Valley Marathon each year. At the last minute, someone from work dropped out of the half marathon and because I am in the wellness dept. Zac was able to run it. I am pretty sure that was the best gift I could have given him. Zac's birthday was on a Friday and the race was the next day. So we had dinner with Aunt Linda, Uncle Jamie, Jadzia and Cassie at a park then slept on my friend, Megan's, floor all for him to get up at 3 the next morning to run. It wasn't what I would have chosen for my birthday but I think he loved it! Wife for the win. This was pretty much just an extra fun training run for our half this Saturday, so it was pretty low stress for him. It was great to cheer on Linda, Jamie and Zac at the finish line. And to see him doing something he loves for his birthday. Happy Birthday Zac! I love you to the moon and back!

Race the Reserve

Each year, I set a goal to accomplish at least one hard physical feat which is usually a half marathon or other road race. I met that goal! Two weeks ago I ran the Race the Reserve Half Marathon on Whidbey Island. It was absolutely beautiful and perfect racing weather. My goal was under two hours, I missed it by one second according to my watch. SO CLOSE! I am still really happy with my time considering that I took two weeks off of running right in the middle of my peak training.

To make a good weekend even better, Kristin, Alan and Spencer came up from Portland so Alan could race as well. He was way too speedy for me to beat him. :) It was a lot of fun to have them up here. I am loving having a sister close by. 

Running has been a source of strength for me. It helps me relief stress and to deal with tough situations. It reminds me that I can accomplish my goals, that I can do hard things.   

Ragnar 2013

This past weekend I ran my first Ragnar Trail relay race. What is the Ragnar Trail Relay race? 3 trails, 8 friends and 130 miles.  It was awesome! Also, if you are wondering what Ragnar means..."Ragnar was a Norse Viking in the 9th century...because he was an adventure seeking, conquering, tough guy." And believe me, I definitely feel like a tough guy. 
I ran a total of 16.5 miles and Zac even got to run too. The other team was short a runner so Zac stepped in at the last minute and ran two of their legs. He did awesome! My team finished just under 24 hours and none of us had ever run a Ragnar before. 
I am really proud of all of my runs. I ran at 5:30pm, 12:30am and 8:30am all on about 4 hours of sleep. It was absolutely beautiful. And reminded me why I love to run. It was a full moon so even on my night run I hardly used my headlamp. Special thanks to my sister-in-law for inviting me to do it. I am already planning the next one... 

My Three Legs 

Zac's Two Awesome Legs

Top: Team How the West was Trail Run
Bottom: Team Shenanigoats

The Whole Group