After running in a race this past weekend and with the pending doom of the St. George Marathon just weeks away, I've been asked by many of you, and thus been asking myself, "Why do I run?" My soul searching has lead me to the following conclusions, which I am now publishing in this short essay.
(BEWARE: My answers are Cheesy, but True!)
Why I Run
by Brittany JonesBecause I Can! This is the biggest reason that I run. There have been times in my life (all three pregnancies) that I have not been able to do any physical activity. I've been laid up on bed rest and unable to use my body. Those times have been miserable. During those times, I've promised myself that when I am able to use my body again, I will make sure that I am using my body and not taking it for granted.
There are many people that are not able to run. People who are limited by physical disabilities. One of those people, is my Mom. She has MS and can barely walk, let alone run, but everyday she uses her body to its full capacity. Every step she takes is hard work, but she does it with ease and never complains. I run for her. I run because she can't, but I can. I want to use my body to it's full capacity. I want to see how far I can push my body and do it as long as I CAN! I do it because there may come a time when I am limited by my own physical capacities and I won't be able to run anymore, but until that time I will keep on running.
It makes me Happy! I often refer to running as my anti-depressant. When I don't exercise I start getting really ornery, irritable, mean and unhappy. I have to exercise to feel good about myself; to be happy.
Building Friendships. I have made so many good friends because of running. I started running over 6 years ago with one of my neighbors, who I would now consider a lifelong friend. We spent many early morning hours talking and running. We built a strong friendship that also started the foundation for my love of running. We both moved and have barely kept in touch, but she will be one of my dearest friends forever. After moving, I made new running friends, who have also become lifelong friends. I have been able to build amazing friendships from my countless hours of running with friends. My running partners have come and gone and changed over the years, but I have a bond with each one of them that will never change. I've also met many people that I wouldn't have met in any other context. I've run with perfect strangers who quickly became good friends. I have met so many amazing people because of running.
Sense of Accomplishment. This past year I have loved the sense of accomplishment I feel after running. I just finished my 4th race in the past 4 months and I'm amazed at the overwhelming accomplishment that I feel at the end. I've set small goals for myself with each race. It's incredible what you can do when you put your mind to it.
Self Improvement. After running four races, it's been a fun challenge to work on improving myself each time. My first race I ran in 2:08, my second race I finished in 1:59 and this last race I ran in 1:53. I never thought that I could run a half marathon, break 2 hours or run under a 9 minute mile, but now I've done all three. I've learned that self improvement is possible if we are willing to try.
I love Being Outdoors. My favorite place to run is outside. I love to run in the early morning hours when the sun is rising or at night when the sun is setting. I love to breathe in the air. I love looking at the world around me and appreciating the amazing beauty. I love to see other people running, walking or riding bikes. I love to see my neighbors who smile and wave. I love to watch people playing in their yards, doing yardwork or driving here and there. I love soaking it all in and watching the world carry on as I run by.
Weight control. Okay, let's be honest. This has moved way done to the bottom of my list, but I have to exercise to keep my weight under control. I love to eat, which means that I need a way to burn calories. I'm happy to report that this was probably one of my top priorities when I started running, but now it is the last on this list.
It's Fun! Because of all the reasons stated above running is fun. I have plenty of times when I dread running and when running is sooo not fun, but luckily on those days I remember one of the above mentioned reasons why I run and I can get through that run. And when I finish, usually, I always concur that it was fun.
I Enjoy it...and that, my friends, is why I run!
Today was a sick day at our house. Payton and Parker spent all night throwing up. Cooper did the same thing the previous night. After the throwing up subsided a little, the boys enjoyed the rest of the day laying around on the couches watching movies, eating saltine crackers and drinking sprite. The biggest bummer is that Parker had to miss his first day of preschool. 
After the dedication we picked up our boys, packed up the car and headed to Mountain View, WY to visit the Wright family. It's about a two hour drive from Salt Lake. It was fun to visit with Andi & Jdub. We also loved holding baby Corbin. We barely saw Payton, Parker & Ashton. They had so much fun playing in Ashton's room the whole time. The weather was really nice so we played outside for awhile.
Jdub, Tim, Ashton, Payton & Vader (the dog) had fun playing soccer together. Actually, I'm pretty sure that Vader had the most fun stealing the ball from the boys. Ashton had the least fun and told Vader many times (verbally and physically) how much he hated him. Of course, he did the same to Tim too. I think he's feeling the pressure of being the oldest of THREE kids now. He was having a rough afternoon.
This is Payton trying to get the ball away from Vader. This dog actually sent Payton and Ashton into the air and flat on their backs. Luckily, they didn't get hurt, because we were laughing too hard to help them. Payton still keeps talking about how Vader sent him flying in the air!
We had a great time with the Wrights. It was fun to see where they live, have dinner together and visit. It was a super Sunday!
Tim was in the family room with the boys watching tv and I was in the kitchen making dinner. A commercial for Disneyland came on tv and the commercial mentioned that Disneyland was, "the happiest place on earth."
We are all in love with the new addition to our family. Jdub & Andi had a little baby boy today. He was so little weighing only 6 pounds and 18 1/2 inches long.
Payton was also excited to hold the new baby and NEVER wanted to let him go. Seriously, we had to pry this little newborn out of his hands. He kept asking if he could please just hold him a little longer. As we were leaving the hospital, Payton asked me if we could please have another baby...right now! I felt bad telling him...not right now!
Instead of having our own baby right now, we will have fun enjoying this sweet little baby boy!
Of course, Parker chose to ride this instead of a horse!
This is a very random picture of our family with all sorts of crazy shadows, but you can see Brandon (Michelle's husband) getting the horse ready for us in the background.
A picture of the Chilcote's (with more random shadows...sorry). I wish I got pictures of all my friends families.
This is Michelle's little girl, Taytum, showing us how it's done!
Brett & Camille's little girl, Makenna, LOVED horseback riding.
Payton looks like a natural with his cowboy boots and western shirt.
The highlight of the night for Cooper was the FIRE. More specifically, putting this roasting stick in the fire until it caught fire and then pulling it out and waving it all around. Dangerous? Check. Cooper's there!
We had such a fun time watching our kids play, enjoying the nice cool weather, eating yummy food and having a fun time with friends!
I don't have much experience with racing, but you don't need much experience to know that this race is seriously disorganized. Our e-mails told us that the race time was 6:00 am. After waking up at 4:20 am and getting to the shuttles, we had to wait until 7:00 am to start the race, which totally threw off our eating, stretching and preparation schedule. In addition to the disorganization, it was FREEZING cold due to record low temperatures. However, once we actually started running, the course was incredible. I loved the downhill course, I loved the cool weather and I loved this race!
I was so happy to break two hours and set my personal record (which isn't hard since this is only my second half marathon). My time was 1:59:25. One of my running partners, Carrie, also did amazing even though she was super sick the whole race. She also beat her time. 
Our other running partner, Danielle, came in just after us (because she had to take a COUPLE bathroom breaks). We were so proud of her. This was her first half marathon and she did awesome! Also, it was so fun to have our own personal cheerleader. Courtney was so sweet to drive us around, book a hotel and come to the race in her cheer outfit with a poster and towels for us at the end.
I feel so blessed to have a healthy body so that I can run, great friends to run with and amazing support from friends and family. Can't wait to do it again!
