I really don’t know what it is about this place, but it just makes my running self more alive than ever. I was planning on waking up early to meet friends, but we got back way too late the night before, so I slept in, started my watch without really looking at it, and ran—15 miles @ 7:09 average.
I could be in the biggest running slump of my life and then go run in St. George and fall in love with it all over again. Maybe it’s the scenery, maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s all of the memories I have of this place… My earliest memory of this trail is biking next to my brother (the pilot) as he was running and training for cross-country. We have a 9-year age gap, so I was always his little buddy, and I’m pretty sure he took me to Dairy Queen after each run (bike for me) that I went on with him.
I couldn’t open my gel, but the lovely woman at the gas station let me use her scissors to do so. I was very grateful.
One thing I saw on my run that I absolutely loved–> A high school cross-country team. I ended up seeing them twice over the miles, and there was a teenage girl up ahead, leading a pack of about 15 boys. They were all working hard and she looked so strong. Wasn’t it only 52 years ago that women were ALLOWED to even run in the Boston Marathon?! The future is so bright for female athletes, and seeing that teenager out there crushing the run just made me so happy.
One thing I saw on my run that I absolutely hated–> this van scared the living daylights out of me.
Came back to everyone watching Is It Cake before packing up and heading to the pool again.
Andrew got in all of his biking dreams. We decided to stop giving gifts for our birthdays and choose experiences instead:
We spent many many hours in the pool.
And had 10 different cousins from both sides join us over the time we were there.
My brother had us over for his famous steak sandwiches.
We went out to dinner with my brother and SIL to celebrate Andrew’s birthday. I may have completely burned the roof of my mouth with this bread pudding but it was worth it.
Finished up with a walk around the botanical gardens.
And now we are back home to the cold!
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Tell me a highlight or a few of them from your weekend?
Did anyone run the LA Marathon yesterday? Details, please!
Anything on a run that you’ve seen lately that you liked or didn’t like?
If you have siblings, what is the age gap?
31 comments
Loribeth
Hope Andrew had a great birthday! I see the Tennessee River daily on my runs and it makes me so happy to just stare at it. I saw a backpack out of the corner of my eye the other day, and although I knew it could not be one (because they don’t live here) I jumped bc I thought it was an alligator! Heart rate def shot up for a second!!
I have 7 younger siblings………there’s 5 years between me and the next oldest, and there’s 16 years between me & the youngest.
The Hungry Runner Girl
Thank you Loribeth! Oh I bet that makes you happy, I would love to see that on my runs too! Ummm that would have freaked me out too. A lot. I bet it was a constant party at your house! Have a wonderful day!
Corey
Weekend highlights: my nephew texted me out of the blue to say he was running a half marathon and it made him think of me :) I reminded him that he and I did an 8k twilight run when he was about 9 (he’s 30 now)…he crushed his half. And I spent 4 hours on facetime with my daughter and son-in-law just catching up as they ran errands, LOL!
Something that scared me on my run yesterday: I saw a shopping cart full of someone’s possessions blocking most of the sidewalk, then saw the person lying on the grass, with leaves all tangled in her hair and clothes. I stopped and went back to check on her and saw that she was breathing (my first concern), then a car pulled over, which must have awakened her–she leaped up and started hollering and waving a plastic stick around. I took off so fast–my Garmin data shows a pretty crazy story!
Happy birthday (belated) to Andrew!
The Hungry Runner Girl
Corey, I LOVE that your nephew ran a half and that it made him think of you! Love a 4 hour facetime date! Okay, that would have been absolutely terrifying! Your fastest 800m ever after that! Thanks friend, have the best day!
Molly S
It looks so beautiful there! We are set to road trip from Las Vegas to Page AZ next month which will take us through St George! I’m used to driving through corn and cow pastures. This will be different!
I LOVE bread pudding!! It is so underrated! A crispy top with caramel sauce is heaven.
Weekend highlight: all the Tadej/cycling coverage for Milano San Remo. Tadej got third amongst sprinters (!!!). They released his final 30 seconds stats after already riding 177 miles. 730 average watts and max watts of 1040. I’m pretty sure that he would snap a Peloton in half. And maybe more impressive is the aftermath. He was congratulating 1st and 2nd place (who are his friends on another team), telling them how proud he is of them, and taking selfies with them and one of their young daughters.
Oh wait. And! There’s a clip of him during the race when the camera spotted him eating chocolate. He looked over at the camera, rubbed his belly, gave the classic Italian hand gesture and ate a second piece of chocolate while smiling.
This will keep me entertained for the rest of the week for sure.
John
Molly – what channel/service are you using to watch cycling?
Molly S
I scoured Instagram and the rest of the internet after the race. I wish I could have spent 6 hours watching the entire thing 🍫🤌🏼
Michelle
John, we watched it on MAX and lots of the bigger races are on Peacock (The Tour, Vuelta, Giro)
John
Thanks Michelle. I think I have both of those through Xfinity. I watched the Tour and Giro on Peacock last year. The Max thing you need to pay extra for the cycling content I think? I’ll look into all that. Thanks again!
The Hungry Runner Girl
You are going to have the time of your life on that road trip! Don’t blink. So underrated. I think I need to start having it for breakfast. Tadej! Bahaha the Peloton could not handle 5 seconds with him on there. He sounds like an amazing human being. Off to find that clip with the chocolate..
Keep enjoying, Molly!
Katie A
Our weekend was pretty low-key, which I was happy about – the nature center play area (mud kitchen, sticks, a couple wood structures, and rocks) was about as adventurous as we got. We’re back to the cold here too with highs in the 30s, so your St. George getaway with the sunshine looks amazing! I have to remind myself it’s only March.
My siblings just have a 4 year max gap (me & my littlest brother).. my kids have a larger gap, and so far it seems to work well – my oldest is almost 7 years older than my youngest. The oldest is SO helpful (well, most of the time).
The lady at the gas station with the scissors reminds me of my mom – she always has a little scissors in her purse! I hope I never see a scary face in a car window on a run – yikes, that looks terrifying!!
The Hungry Runner Girl
Hey Katie! Low-key weekends are really needed sometimes. We need a nature center play area, how fun. Summer cannot come soon enough. My sister is 7 years older than me so I really love that you have that age gap. Your mom sounds amazing. Yep, it startled me big time. Have a beautiful day!
Alyssa
I ran a Shamrock run 8k this weekend! Question to answer only if you want because it applies to my race: what do you do about racing with friends of different experiences/skill levels/paces? Do you put your own wishes aside and run with them for the sake of the friendship? Do you maybe start together but run your own races and meet up afterwards? Do you just avoid the situation all together and only run with like-paced friends? hahah. Just curious
So glad you could enjoy St George and all the birthday fun between the two of you! I hope it’s a good week! We had some wonderful sunshine around Portland this weekend :D
The Hungry Runner Girl
Alyssa, congrats! I have never run an 8k before, you are inspiring me to try it. That is a great question! We all definitely race with the people that are at our same pace/level. There are plenty of different levels/prs between us all but we all understand that on race day, we go for our own personal goals. Many times when I start with a friend that is my same pace, one of us pulls ahead at some point during the race and we totally understand. So yep, we run our races and meet up afterward. Did you run this one with friends? So happy that Portland had sunshine, it is healing!
John
Janae – a few weeks ago while cycling on a trail I happened across a male hiker who had just passed away from cardiac arrest. Luckily, a female equestrian had gotten there a minute or two before me and had 911 on the line. She had already checked for his pulse and breathing and told me the body felt cold already. I was thinking of checking again myself, but I heard the dispatcher saying there was a fire station 2 blocks away. The paramedics were there in just a few minutes. I went down the hill and waved the paramedics down, then turned around the way I came and rode back home. That was definitely a first and hopefully a last.
The Hungry Runner Girl
Oh John. I cannot even imagine. I am so sorry that you experienced that and I really hope it was a last for you too! His poor family!
Colleen
This post makes me even MORE excited about St George Marathon. I did the Canyonlands Half this past weekend in Moab and promised to you that I would report back. I HIGHLY recommend it, despite the fact that I had terrible weather. It was so well executed! I am mentally prepping for registering for St George. Knowing you are the queen of recommendations, where do you recommend I stay for race weekend in October?! I may or may not have my family – 13 yr old girl, 12 yr old girl and 9 yr old boy… Thank you!!!
The Hungry Runner Girl
Colleen, thank you thank you thank you for letting me know how it went. Congratulations! It sounds absolutely amazing, meet me there next March:). St. George is going to be great this year… I better meet you there. My friends have talked me into doing it again haha. Great question… we have done everything. Stayed with family, airbnb, and hotel… We loved staying in the TownPlace Suites by Marriot because it is such a short drive to where you are picked up in the morning–> Just 4 minutes! It’s easy to get back to after the race too. Let me know what you end up doing and I hope you have a beautiful day!
Colleen
Hello and sorry for my delay!! I will totally do the race again next March and meet you there. And, I am counting down the days until Race Registration for St George! I am excited to meet you in October in St George!
Heather
What are Andrew’s favorite mountain bike trails near St George? We are thinking about taking a trip there this spring and would love trail recommendations.
The Hungry Runner Girl
Oh I hope you get to go to St. George! I’m sending your comment to him to reply to! Have a beautiful day, Heather!
Baili
We just got back from Spring Break in Costa Rica… it was beautiful, and running on the hills was sooo hard (and too good!). We tried to recover this weekend… but work was rough this weekend.
I’m 7 years old than my middle sister, and 11 years older than the baby…. they were definitely my little buddies. My early memories on runs were biking with my dad, and having my kids bike with me now = such a dream!
Dare I say… you are making me want to try the Adizero Pro for Boston… so tempted to order them + Vaporflys (normal racer) just in case … I need a shoe sponsor ;)
Happy Monday!
The Hungry Runner Girl
Costa Rica! I bet that was incredible. I am so happy you got to get away, I’m dying to go there someday. I bet your siblings looked up to you so much and I totally agree, having your kids bike with you during a run is the best. Remember the good ol’ days of shoes being $100. I’m sorry to make you want them but I truly have become an adidas obsessed runner. If you do try them, let me know what you think. Thanks, Baili, you too!
Tess
I was in Arizona over the weekend and was looking forward to some warm/low elevation running but the morning of my long run I woke up and it was crazy foggy! (Of course it was bright and sunny as we were leaving, haha!) Oh well, it was still enjoyable on the treadmill ;). My sister and I are 1 year and 10 months apart (I always say not quite two years, even though I know it’s closer, haha), and I feel like as we’ve gotten older there really is no age gap – we are just the same age!
So glad you had a great weekend in St. G!
The Hungry Runner Girl
FOG! That is just not fair. Dang it. Okay, you and your sister are so close, I love that. I feel like me and my sister’s 7 year gap has disappeared with age too. Have a beautiful day, Tess!
Kristine
Sounds like a great trip!
There is a 2 year age gap between sis and I.
This weekend, I ran 14 miles solo, we celebrated my uncles 80th bday, took River hiking played in countless dog parks ate Gelato and I think everyone is wiped now lol. Also Saturday was 9 years since our first date.
Happy Monday Janae!
Courtney Lane
We had a great weekend celebrated the end of high school basketball for our youngest son. I shed all my tears last week so it was a happy night. And surprised him by sharing that we are taking him and his girlfriend on a trip to Honduras in July.
AMRunnerGirl
I saw a car in the Trader Joe’s parking lot a few weeks ago that had a face mask like Jason wore in Friday the 13th – on the back of the seat just like the one you saw! Freaked me out for sure! I also noticed the car had an Uber sticker – can you imagine your driver picking you up with that in the car?! The picture of Brooke and Beck is SO sweet – but how does she look like a teen already?!
Kathy McElhaney
Yes to experiences over gifts! We do that too.
I ran my favorite 10 mile Hawaii loop this morning and saw all the tropical beauty.
I am the youngest of four. My sister is the oldest and she is 5 years and 4 days older than me. My parents were busy!
Michelle
I have 7 siblings and all 8 of us are within 6 years (Brady Bunch style and includes triplets). The teen years were crazy. loud, messy and fun! That spooky car is a HARD NO!!! But so glad you got in some sunshine and a run in your happy place!
Danielle
My sisters and I are all fairly close in age…older sis 2.5 years older than me, younger sis 20 months younger. I must admit that it makes me feel better that you have a larger age gap with your brother and you still had/have a great bond. Going through a divorce over here with a 2-year-old and I feel guilty that I may not be able to give him a sibling to share life experiences. Maybe a larger gap and a second child will be in the cards for me someday! Much love <3