Keep it Simple Thursday: THE Hard Things.

"I love life. I think it's fantastic. Sometimes it deals hard things, and when it deals great things, you have to seize them." Sam Taylor 

THURSDAY with the girls.
This morning we ran Holdridge, the East Loop for 11 miles.

I was so excited to put on shorts and compression socks on.
It was full sun and 55' degrees out when we started running.

We were full of conversation, chatty and in full spirit.

I rarely take the lead when running trails but the girls let me lead when we run Holdridge.
This is good training for me. It helps me pace better and locate obstacles on the trail.
In full "ANITA" mode I was having fun yelling "ROOT, ROCK ROCK ROCK!"
Being in the lead also helps me to learn the trail better. Because I am usually at least 2 people back on the trail, I never pay attention to anything but the persons feet ahead of me.

Holdridge is full of switchbacks, this makes it both difficult and entertaining. I love the adventure in it.
We didn't push the pace but we enjoyed running the downhills with a lighthearted squeal and our hands in the air.
We took a few minutes for some pictures. The sun was coming up over the trees as we were climbing up a incline. It was so beautiful.

We did run into a Asian man with a large gun wearing a ORANGE hat. He was smiling and pointing at us as we giggled down a hill towards him. I have NO idea what he was saying to us but I am pretty sure he was getting a kick out of watching us having so much fun.

We made it out of the trails with our water bottles drained but we conquered the HARD THINGS.
Poor Rachel got peer pressured into jumping off a stump and having her knee pop out of place. WHO would pressure someone to do something so juvenile?? Kris and I quickly came to her side in prayer. God is SOO good. She was able to run the next 4 miles out of there with little pain. She is a tough cookie. BUT that girl made me run the hard things reminding me of her little leap of faith she took for me. It was the perfect motivation.

We finished with Girl Scout cookies waiting in my truck to share. I had filled a Stanley Thermos full of Chicken Noodle soup. I was excited to sit at the picnic table and eat with them...EXCEPT..
I FORGOT THEY ARE BOTH VEGETARIANS!
I shared my cookies and water with them!

I was about 15 feet in the air, "Hey, don't get any shots of my booty!"

Racehl..."NITA, you should climb up that tree..." I am such a sucker for climbing!

RUNDOWN:
Distance:11ish
Pace: 12:10
Nutrition: Breakfast, Honey Stingers Vanilla waffle.
Honey Stingers chews ,water w/ Nuun electrolytes.  

I felt great when we finished. Love these girls.

"I don't know what the future holds, but I know that God holds tomorrow, so it is exciting. Even when I have hard things happen, He loves me so big, so much. I come through it and I grow from it, because He has got me." Barbara Mandrel

Anita~~