My Half Marathon!!

Well, the dreaded day finally arrived. On Friday, we loaded up in the car and drove down to Umatilla, OR for my half Marathon ( we did stop at the Olive Garden in Yakima along the way to "carb up"). I headed to bed pretty early, since the race started at 8am. Luckily, I slept really well. Considering in we were staying in a hotel room, the kids did really well. Jake was really sweet and got up with the kids during the night. He apparently was a really light sleeper that night because I slept like a rock despite both kids getting up at least twice. Then, morning dawned, and I got dressed with an awful knot in my stomach. My friend/training partner Abbey and I got checked in, stretched out. . .and then. . the pain started. The course was pretty cool - we got to run over the McNary Dam,and we could see fish jumping. It was a little "rustic" at times- nothing like the smell of cows on mile 6- but it was fun. There were a few times when I had to talk myself into keeping going, a few times on hard hills I walked a little bit, but then, all of a sudden, there I was at mile 12 with only 1.1 miles to go! My body started tingling and I got what I guess you could call my second wind. I picked up the pace, and then. . .

Rounded the final turn - and it was over!
The girls I ran the race with- Carly and Abbey- at the blessed finish line.


And my sweet family, waiting for me at the finish line. Connor told us that he was "too shy" to be in the picture, and didn't like us trying to bring him out of his shell. Don't you think that I should be the one crying?!?

It's nice to have it over and know that I did it. I ended up finishing middle of the pack, which I was pretty happy with considering it's my first race. Am I glad I did it? Absolutely. Will I do another one? Absolutely - sometime. Now, I'm off to take a hot bath to help ease some of this stiffness I seem to have in my entire lower half. . . .

Oh, and Jake- thanks for the endless encouragement and being so willing to help me train by watching our kids. I know this was a big commitment for you too and I really appreciate you helping me get through it. I love you!