She Came, She Conquered

Loving wife. Devoted mother of 4. Dedicated student. Daughter. Amazing sister. Friend. Neighbor. Teacher. Inspiration. Role model. Hard worker. Amazing booty shaker. Belter of music. Exercise junkie. World's best pizza maker (hand in hand with her hubby). I could go on, but i'm just excited to get to the most recent development: MARATHONER*.

(* Marathoner (n) - One who vigorously trains month after month; enduring early mornings, beating sunshine and heat, exhausted limbs, stress fractured legs, shin splints, heavy water belts, hills, wind, rain, dehydration, tarantulas in the road, creepy stalker neighbors, schedule conflicts, etc in order to participate in a bomb awesome and extremely intense 26.2 mile race through crazy weather.)

Yep, i'd say that definition (obviously taken verbatim from the dictionary) fits her perfectly. Kirstin flew to Utah this last weekend to run her very first 26.2 miles at the Top of Utah Marathon. Because she did it here, Rob, Diane and I drove up to Logan to be her cheerleaders through the last few miles of the race. Ready to run, I met up with her just before mile 21 and tagged along for the last 5 or so miles. Though the day's conditions had not gone according to her desires, she was AWESOME. I'm telling you, it was one of the most inspiring things in the world to see her push through the pain and exhaustion that tried to overcome every inch of her body as she kept running, putting one foot in front of the other. She never stopped. She never walked. She endured, and she finished strong. Nothing has ever made me want to be more like my big sister. Running this race takes dedication, commitment, hard work, sweat, tears, pain, endless mental energy, more hard work, time, a LOT of running, devotion, appreciation for the entire body, and more HARD WORK. I say if you can do this, you can do anything. Yeah, my sister can do anything. Because she is truly that cool.

I am so proud of you Gee! I am so glad you did it here so that I could see your beautiful face and be there to witness your incredible accomplishment. You inspire me more and more everyday!

Next time, we cross that finish line together.