this past weekend was probably the best weekend in a really, really long time. The work i have been putting into my running the last two and a half years of college has finally paid off and i am completely and utterly happy. :) i know it might be hard for people to understand why this makes me so happy. i guess i just look back on all the illnesses and injuries i have had to go through, early practices, getting out of bed early on a saturday morning to go run in a snow storm...... all that great stuff, and i just realize.... this is why i did it. for this feeling i have right now, for the smile that i can't wipe off of my face. :)

i am so very proud of my team. we finished 2nd in the conference which has never been done since we joined the WAC. they all worked so hard and it was amazing to come together at this meet and put everything we had into it.

i love running with a passion. it is something in my life that i feel like i have control over. whatever i accomplish in it.... no one can take that away from me, because it was my decisions and my hard work that got me there. it has blessed my life in so many ways, the friends i have, the places i get to go, the education i am receiving. my life would be a completely different story without it. i am so grateful for the people in my life that are always so supportive of me (especially the ones that come to practice at 7:15am, and push me through workouts where i am on the verge of tears because i didn't get any sleep the night before and can't hit the paces!).

i am grateful to the amazing artist that sent these to me when they knew i was stressing out about my races.

notice how i am doing the asian peace sign. the explanation behind the girl trying to pick up the quarter is that one of my new favorite pastimes is super gluing quarters to the ground and watching people try to pick them up. :)