Marathon Man

Did anyone else know I married a crazy man? Did anyone else know I married a determined and goal oriented man? Well I did, and this weekend he proved it to me again.

I'm so proud of John. He ran his first marathon, 26.2 miles, in St. George Utah this weekend, 10-3-09.

Being John's first marathon, second race (since middle school I think), and that he just started running this spring, he wasn't expecting to run fast. And he didn't. He ran the marathon in 5 hours 39 minutes. He is sore, but already claiming that he'll do this again he enjoyed it so much.

As for the details, I should let him tell them....but he'll never actually sit down to write it here. He sat on the bus in the morning with an experienced St. George Marathon Runner. He told John all about what to expect on the course. So, John ran everything except part of mile 8, up hill to conserve his energy, and a bit of walking with his pacing team after mile 20. He tells me he could never have done it without the super nice woman who was pacing the first time marathoners trying to run it in 5:30. John swears the last 2 miles were really 4. When he passed me and Jacob just before the finish line he was pretty tired, but he saw me cheering him on, it seemed to give him a burst of energy to cross the finish line.

Good Job John!

As for our weekend...here's the scoop.

We brought Jacob along. We had a nice family trip with several adventures.

We stayed in Hurricane, and a lovely place. We'll stay there again if we get a chance. St George is so beautiful. Honestly I've only passed through there a couple of times, and don't remember it well. The LDS temple is amazing and white next to the RED cliffs. It is wonderful to think of the pioneers who built something so lovely in such a harsh desert.

The morning of the race Jacob and I walked the last 2 miles of the race course at sunrise. We were there when the first Wheelchair racer finished in 1:07 minutes. Yikes! That is FAST!

Here is my little "racer" at 6:30 am getting ready for our 2 mile walk.

We were there for the first male and female racers. They were fast as well. Jacob did so well, waiting around, playing at my feet until the last hour. But the sacrifice to be there for John was so worth it. Jacob will never remember the melt down, nor the mean stares I was getting for being the bad BAD mother with the crying child. What they didn't know was that I was John's only supporter and he needed me there!

Saturday evening, we drove back to Las Vegas for the night. We were the hillbilly family that spilled juice and then who's kid vomited all over the booth in Whole Foods. Yup, we were the ones apologizing our heads of as we backed out of the store as quickly as possible with a child ONLY in a diaper, leaving a disgusting mess. Yup we were the ones who had no clean clothing for their kid at the end of the weekend. Who knew 2 year olds could get dirty so fast! By-The-Way, our poor kiddo only had on a shirt and a diaper on by the time we pulled into our garage. I'm going to have to re-think my packing technique next time ;)

We were the family who couldn't seem to get to the Car Rental place, nor the airport on time thus missing the flight home. We were the family who decided to rent a one way vehicle from Avis, and make a 9.5 hour drive a 12 hour drive. Hey, a pregnant lady, a toddler, and a gimpy sore runner....give us a break!

We are home. YES! Home Sweet Home! Now we can just add that this is the home of a very determined and courageous person....John.

Good Job John!!!

yes, you are seeing this correctly. During his melt down, sweet Jacob ripped his shoes and socks off. They didn't make it back on his feet until much later that day. This parenting thing is FUN! Lots to learn, lots to laugh!