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!

For those of you who don’t know…Zack and I are training for the 1/2 marathon in Virginia Beach on September the 6th. That’s 13.1 miles! I know it’s crazy. Right before Zack and I got engaged he ran the 1/2 marathon in 2006. I just kept thinking, wow.. I can totally do this.  Everything in your head always seems more logical than when you’re actually doing it. So about 9 weeks ago I told Zack that I wanted to do the half marathon. I had “talked about it” numerous times. He is such a sweet and encouraging husband because he said “I’ll totally run it with you” (love him!) So I began running hard for the first couple of days, which wasn’t really a good idea because my knees started to really bother me. I didn’t have the right shoes so we ventured to 9th street to get some Brooks, which I hope will take me all the way to the race.

Training. There’s nothing more difficult for me than running outside. I’m so used to getting in the gym and knocking out an hour on the eliptical trainer… but running outside is a whole different ball of wax. The other thing is in our neighborhood it’s not flat like it will be in Virginia beach, it’s has lots and lots of hills. That’s what’s killing me. The distance perception of mine is way off too. I’m like ok this has to be like 4 miles and ends up being 2. So today I ran all the way up this hill and then I walked a little and ran. I just want to be able to finish the race.

The thing that has really hit home to me is when Paul talks about running the race. For me running is not easy in the least, but Paul knew what he was talking about. Taking the mentality of an athlete is to be conditioned and have a heart to really run the race. You have to have heart and you have to have a will to keep going. That’s one thing that I have a new appreciation for….to run the race! I’ll keep you posted each week as to how I’m doing.

One more thing. If there’s any music selection that you run to or helps get you motivated I would love to hear what you listen to. And, for all of you seasoned runners I could use all of the advice you can muster :0).