What Sports Have You Participated In? ~ Day 16

The sport I currently participate in is:
Drum roll please...

RUNNING!

As if you didn't know that....

My first full marathon. ↑ The Top of Utah in 2010

My second full marathon.  ↓ Ogden in 2013 (in a rainstorm!)

To date I have been running about 7 years.

So far I have ran:
 Two full marathons (26.2 miles)
11 half marathons (13.1 miles)
One 30 K (18.6 miles)
At least six or seven 10 K's (6.2 miles)
Four or so 4.7 to 5 milers
Four or five 4 milers and
 MANY 5 K's (3.1 miles) - lost count, but probably somewhere around 40?
And probably a few more I can't remember.

I have a lot of medals and a lot of race t-shirts as proof.  But the real proof is in how running has changed me. I have learned many life lessons from this sport.  It has made me a better person in every way.  I have learned to dig deep when I thought there was nothing left to give and I have learned to keep pushing even when it's so hard all I want to do is quit.

I ran out of room on my medal display and so the extra's are hanging on my door knobs until I can get another one. I have some pretty cool looking medals though.  

I run on an average of 5-6 days per week.  And an average of 30 miles a week depending on what I am currently training for. If it's for a full marathon, then about 40-50 miles a week at some point.  I do not own a treadmill or a current gym membership and so all of my running (even in the bitter winter temps) is done outdoors.  Running outside is one of the reasons I love to run.  There is something about being outdoors that does something for my soul.  


I am also currently playing PICKLEBALL.  It's a relatively new sport and touted as the fastest growing sport right now.  I would describe it as a mixture between ping pong, tennis, and badminton.  Dave thinks it more like Ping Pong on steroids.   We just got some new courts in our city and it's been really fun to play.  Dave is really good at it and I just do my best...but I am learning!  He is a natural and his Ping Pong skills come in very handy as well as his long arms and height.  He is signed up for his first tournament this December and wanted me to play doubles with him but I told him I need a little more practice first. I am really excited to go watch him play though!

I also participate in the sport of FISHING!

I have done a lot of fishing throughout my life.  My Dad used to take us every weekend when I was growing up and so I have done a lot of it.  I do not like to worm the hooks or touch the fish and I really don't like to eat them, but I still enjoy fishing if I am taken along with Dave and the boys.  I have been to Alaska twice and done some river fishing and salmon fishing as well as some deep sea fishing.
(the two bottom photos are not the same- you will have to enlarge to see why-haha)

This was our Christmas card last year:

A few of the other sports (there's more if I had time to think about it) I have participated in are:

Water sports 
Snorkeling
Wave Running
Water Skiing
Boating

High Adventure Sports 
White Water Rafting
Skydiving

Winter Sports
Ice Skating
Snowmobiling
Skiing (do not like it)

Spectator Sports

Baseball
Football

Basketball

Hockey

Track
Soccer
etc.

And of course the greatest sport of all..

being a 

DANCING QUEEN!  hehe

But seriously, I spent a LOT of my time as a youth and as a newly married in the sport of Baton Twirling (as well as Dance). It was a great sport and it taught me many life lessons as well.  It also helped me earn an income when I began to teach it to help support our family at time when we really needed it.

There is actually a sport called Extreme Ironing that I used to participate in occasionally but have since resigned now that I have a steamer to get the wrinkles out. haha

Serious...there is. Check out this link here! =)