Birthday and Dirty Dash

For some reason, I've always wanted to spend the weekend up in Park City, relaxing, hanging out, and having a dang good time with friends. I decided that I was going to make this happen, once and for all! And what better time to do this than for my birthday! I got a killer deal through my work for the Newpark Hotel. I would say the only downside to the hotel was that it was 6 whole miles away from Main Street. And maybe the fridge wasn't stocked. It was SO nice! We got a townhome for the weekend. It came with 2 bedrooms and a pull out couch, 3 full bathrooms, a private hot tub, fully stocked kitchen (minus food in the fridge), a GARAGE, and just good vibes. Seriously, the good vibes were listed as an accomodation in the brochure.. okay, maybe not.

Master bedroom. The bed was a little more
firm than I like. I loved the deck outside.



Private Hot Tub! So nice!!! It definitely was
only a two person tub.







Lovely living room

Perfect Fall View



 I got out of work early that Friday and made a stop over at the Driver's License department (because my license expired on my birthday, sad). I have to say though, I totally won the driver's license picture contest. Ask me if you see me. I'll proudly show it to you! It only took me an hour and then we were on our way to Park City. 

Friday night was spent eating really good food at Redrock and relaxing in the hot tub. We went to bed early so that we could be ready for the fun that was and isThe Dirty Dash. I signed up for the DD a few months ago, thinking that it would be a great birthday present to me to show to myself the progress that I have made.

So cold!!! We were anxious for the run to begin!

I was originally scheduled to race at 11, but KC was scheduled to race at 9, so I tagged along with him. By tag along, I mean we started at the same time. I knew I would be running this thing by myself. I was set for 5 miles. I could run 5 miles and with the obstacles in between, that made less amount of running. BUT, the distance wasn't accurate. You had a 5K or a 10K option. So it was 6.2 miles including obstacles, so you were basically running the full 5 miles, and it was mostly uphill. Not cool. My goal was to complete the 10K. I wasn't concerned with running the whole thing (especially with some serious plantar fasciitis), but I was going to complete the course.

The crazy people behind me were going under the pipes. Crazy people!!!

I stayed on the side to make sure I wasable to keep my balance

The final mud trudge

The final damage (I showered 3 times)

The first 500 meters I kept thinking WHAT HAVE I DONE!! WHY DID I DO THIS?? THERE'S NO WAY I'M GOING TO BE ABLE TO FINISH. And then reality kicked in, I was here for a reason, I could do however much I could. I didn't have to do ALL of the obstacles, but I was going to make it to the end. When I got to the half way point a little voice inside me told me that was enough, I could quit and be proud of myself for going this far. Although I was proud of myself for getting that far, I knew I wouldn't be satisfied until I completed the whole thing, so I trudged on. Up more hills, through more mud pits, over hay bails, through tires, crawling through pipe tunnels. I finally made it to the glorious water slide. Such sweet relief!! I thought that was the finish, but low and behold, they make you trudge through another mud pit, guaranteeing a final, thoroughly muddy finish. And that was it! I finished in 1 hour 40 minutes. And I'm pretty proud of myself for that. Registration for 2013 is January 2nd. You know where I'll be :)

KC and I went back to the hotel to recover from the race (me for than him). Emily and Jake came up and we all went to dinner at at Oishu Sushi and Grill, right off of Main Street. It was so good! So fresh and flavorful. It was a great dinner for sure! Afterwards we walked up to No Name Bar and Grill and waited for Cassidy met up with us and then until the appropriate time to hit the club. I will say, you meet some seriously entertaining people when you're out on the town. We ended the night at Downstairs and got our dance on. Perfect ending to a perfect day! I have the best friends!

Thirty was indeed a great year for me. I made a lot of changes in my life, changes that will hopefully extend said life. Here's hoping that 31 will be even more eventful (for the better).