Half Marathon

at mile 7 these cute faces greeted me with smiles!

They had fun while they waited for me to finish. I hear they bounced and played and got to pet a live alligator and boa constrictor! Landon was anxious to be the alligator's mid morning snack and he kept trying to pry the electrical tape off with all his might!

I finally participated in my first half marathon (hopefully) of many. Honestly...I really enjoyed it. There was a time around mile 10 that I bonked and I was hating myself that lasted until about mile 12 when a lady ran up next to me and said, "don't stop now! I've been following you for the last 10 miles and you've been keeping me going!" I started up with her again and we discussed our aches and pains and how my iPod died around the time I bonked (probably could have contributed to that). Then she said she had to walk again and I thanked her profusely for the extra boost that I NEEDED desperately at that moment. I ran in strong the rest of the way and finished with a time of 2:21. I met my goal of finishing under 2:30 and felt pretty good. This race was really special. They created it in memory of a sweet little girl named London who passed away after a long battle with Leukemia. All the proceeds from the race go to children that are currently battling cancer. The route is strewn with pictures of children who have either passed or are currently fighting cancer. They have sayings on the signs from the children, to motivate you and many that just say, "do it for her..." above a picture of London. It brought me to tears many times but made me think how trivial and insignificant my aches or pains at that moment truly were compared to the real pain and sorrow these children and their families have gone through and are still going through in many cases. It was very special. It was even more special because one of the two beneficiaries this year was a YW in our stake who is currently undergoing treatment for her battle with cancer. It was definitely a very extraordinary and rewarding experience that I hope to participate in again.

Next race on my schedule is my second go at Pat's Run in April. Next up for Kyle is the Spartan 8 mile race. His race is an urbanathlon type of thing. It sounds like it'll be fun. For those who aren't familiar with urbanathlons, it's a city course set up with obstacles and such. You run climb, slide, and army crawl through mud and other obstacles and in the Spartan race there are volunteers that hit you and trip you with those big gladiator sticks as your running through the course. Well at least I hear they're fun. Not my cup of tea, but definitely something I think Kyle will enjoy. I don't do mud.