Half Marathon!

Although my legs still remember, I am starting to forget some of the details of the marathon. Let’s see, where were we? Oh yes, the morning of, when a 90% chance of rain didn’t sound too bad to my dad.

So, crack of dawn (on a Sunday), we’re out the door, and it is raining. We had to park kindof far from the start line and walk, which was concerning to me, because I needed to save all of my energy for the actual race (13.1 miles!).

We put on our ponchos (some that we’d bought for Disney and never used), found our way to the back of the line and started.

We were a few minutes in, when my dad said, don’t worry the first mile is the hardest. I felt encouraged until we got to about mile 3 and he said, the first three are the hardest, then at mile 7 or 8 when he said, oh we’re almost done, I flat out quit listening to him! Dang optimist…

Speaking of Dad, he was doing just fine! He walks 7 to 10 miles regularly. And I must say, when I think about it, I have been impressed with my Dad for a LONG time. He’s always walked really fast, like I would be running holding his hand fast. He used to play tennis for HOURS in the blazing sun (and hardly even drink any water), and he’s been walking vigorously and for long distances now for many years, basically since he stopped playing tennis.

He and Mom are actually pretty well known in their neighborhood for walking like fools all the time. Doing this thing with him makes me realize what a huge accomplishment it was for him to do this three years ago by himself for the first time! Awesome!

Believe me, there is nothing and no one I would have gone out there for except for him (and Nick, of course)!

We had heard about the balloon lady during Dad’s first year, and he had not seen her the past two years, but this year (thanks to me), she caught up with us, then she passed us… Turns out she sets the pace for the full marathon, but you can actually finish and get a medal if you finish after her in the half. She is actually a really awesome chick, who has run 100 marathons, and has set the pace for the Mercedes for years! She’s basically a walking metronome.

Our strategy was this: Walk up all hills and at all times, unless you are passing a camera or a cheering section, then you must run, also run down the hills. Did I mention the hills? Good Lord, the hills! They were not alive, NOT alive….

Somewhere in the span of approximately 3 hours, we crossed the finish line, hallelujah!

So happy to finish with my guys!

It was hard, like I couldn’t walk for three days hard, but I am so thankful to have this memory I can share with my Dad and Nick. Probably would’ve taken me all day if they hadn’t been pushing me.

And a very special shout out to my Mom who stayed with the babes so this could all be possible and for her ridiculous amount of cheerfulness at such an early hour. She’s the best cheerleader.