Talia on Fire: Big Cottonwood Half

On September 9th, Talia Lily completed her second half marathon, the Big Cottonwood Half.  Can you tell this gal loves to run?

Training is always hard.  Training in the mountains requires an extra dose of pluck and grit.  Here we are running the six mile loop that goes from our house down to Memory Grove, up City Creek, back through along 11th, past the cemetery, and finally home.


Hill-training up above Shriners.

Logging some miles while on vacation at Brian Head.

Pausing for a photo with the deer at Lake Zorinsky.

And my favorite long run with Talia.  Our eleven mile route took us from our house through the Avenues to the Capitol...

...up City Creek for a few miles

...down Memory Grove to Temple Square

...along Main Street to the Gallivan Center


...and to the City Library where we ran down the roof and ended at Jason's work.

Well-done, Talia!  Running with you is just as fun as the last time we trained for a race together.  

In other ways, this race was completely different because Talia trained with the Launch Team.  This fantastic program connected her with great coaches and other youth who were all preparing to run the Big Cottownwood Half together.  For just a few dollars more than the cost of the race entry, she received coaching, a training program, organized runs twice a week, a great tech shirt, and even a pair of demo running shoes.  The program is positive and non-competitive, supporting runners of all abilities.  As a parent, it was such a relief to share the responsibility of training.  Tackling a half-marathon with a ten year-old can feel pretty daunting.  Launch Team kept me sane, particularly since I was balancing triathlon training with Brooklyn at the same time.

This gorgeous gal Tara is our angel.

As one of the coaches, Tara took Talia under her wing and ran with her throughout the entire program, plus during the actual race.  It was pretty nerve-wracking to send my baby down the mountain without me, but I knew she was in the best of hands.  Plus, Tara's tons of fun.  (I've got pictures to prove it.)

Moving ahead to race eve, here's Talia posing at packet pick-up.

She decided to calm her pre-race jitters by throwing herself in one of the giant inflatable balls they had rolling around.

Her siblings had a pretty wild time rolling around as well.  (The legs are Eli's.)

4:30 am race day: Talia and Tara get ready to board the bus.

So how did the race go?  I'll let the pictures tell the story.  

Told you Tara was fun!  These two blondies had a blast together.  I hopped in and joined them for the final three miles, shocked by their quick pace.  Here they are darting down the final chute.

Victory!

Before the race, Tara told me that she thought they could break two hours.  I cocked an eyebrow and felt skeptical, knowing how quick the pace.  Sure enough, they crossed the line at 1:59:13.  Congrats, Reddi-wip!

You ladies are amazing.


Aunt Christy's tattoo must have really rubbed off.

Besides, it's worth it for the pizza.

As we left, Tara gifted Talia this super cute sweatshirt.  Talia loves it, and wears it all the time.  Thank you!

And special thanks to all the family who came down to support Talia.  Grandma Susie and Grandpa Charles drove down from Hyde Park (again!) to cheer her on.  We sure feel loved.  Afterward, we met up with Brianna, Justin, and Ruby to stroll the Avenues Street Fair.

With beautiful canyons to run, great neighborhoods to stroll, and supportive family to love, life is sweet.