1/2 Marathon Update (and photos)

Well, we did it.

When Stephanie told me sometime in early April that she was thinking about running a half-marathon this year, I thought she had good intentions, but I figured she probably didn’t realize what was involved.

Then she ran a couple of short runs and her knees were killing her, so I figured it was definitely out of the question.

But the girl was persistent!

We went to some running experts and got some new shoes that helped her knees a lot. I told her that if she was really serious about this, she should probably do a lot of walking for a couple of weeks to get her body adjusted

So she started walking.

And she went online, found a half-marathon training schedule, put it on the calendar, and when the day came to get back on the running horse, she did it.

And she stuck with it.

For 13 weeks.

13 weeks of getting up early or eating dinner and going to bed late so we could run together.

13 weeks of long Saturday runs that required a babysitter and that often took a toll on our dating (yes, we are most definitely still dating!)

13 weeks of constantly wondering if she would be able to finish the race.

And she pushed her goal up twice in the process.

First the goal was just to finish.

Then the goal was to finish without walking.

Then the goal was to finish in 3 hours.

Well, this past Sunday, with our parents and Steph’s grandparents for company, we ran that puppy in 3 hours and 5 minutes.

My hat’s off to you honey.

You’re my hero!

(There are a bunch of pics after the jump. Go ahead. Click. I dare you.)

Josiah was in a great mood all weekend

We found this very cool (and super pricey) doggy boutique. There was a big mirror, so…

Josiah got to hang out with his grandparents on both sides, and his great-grandparents!

He was trying to figure everything out

And he loves spending time with his grandpa

The whole gang, minus the photographer…

We had to go to the Va Beach Convention Center the day before the race to register. There was *crazy* traffic trying to get through the only tunnel that gets you there….

After we registered, we had fun taking random pictures. Who are these short people?

I thought this was a cool frame for a picture…

Steph always take a better shot though…

I took a picture of the porta-potties because it always cracks me up how 20,000 runners all try to use the bathroom right before the race. The next morning, there was a 30-minute wait to use one of these puppies.

There’s the starting line!

And this was just a half mile or so before we crossed the finish!

Tags: marathon, running, virginia beach