::our race::

The half marathon started at 5:30AM on saturday. We'd only arrived on thursday afternoon, so we definitely weren't acclimated to the time difference. So 5:30 really felt like 3:30, yikes.
Worse than that, in order to get to the starting gates on time, we had to catch the bus at 3:30AM. SUPER yikes. It was kind of like not sleeping at all. Crazy.
So Kris and I slept out in living room where we wouldn't bother the sleeping family, got up and 3 and headed out for the bus.
The weather was so perfect. It was chilly but not freezing, not a hint of wind or rain and not unusually humid.

We had to wait around a pretty long time before everybody started walking up to the starting corrals. And when I say everybody, I mean EVERYBODY. There were supposed to be about 27,000 people running this race. It was kind of like a sea of humanity.

Kris and I split up to go to our respective corrals, me in the next to slowest and Kris faster. It was kind of a bummer not to have him to chat with, but I talked with the girls standing nearby and got to know a few people whom I never had any chance of seeing again.

I felt a little goofed up with the early wake time and the time change, but I was excited and ready to go.

They set off fireworks at the starting line every time a corral got to leave--this was pretty fun since we could all see them. It was exciting.

When I started running I felt like I could go forever. The low altitude and the wet air combined to make me feel strong. I had to slow myself down after a while so that I could save some energy for later.

Kris did awesome. He didn't walk at all and he kept up a nice strong pace for him.

I ran and walked and walked and ran again.
There were people on stilts at one point cheering us on. There were characters that people were waiting in line to take pictures with. There were high school bands by the side of the road playing tunes and cheering. There was one guy with a big boombox and huge mickey hands cheering us on. There was a hot air balloon in the median at one point.
Then of course we got to run through the Magic Kingdom and right through the castle. It was really fun.

And the sheer number and variety of people kept it interesting too. So many different kinds of people--colors, shapes, sizes, outfits.
At one point I had to stop for a portapotty (ICK) and people just kept streaming by as I waited. It seemed kind of like I just jumped back on the train when I was done, people going by everywhere.


This doesn't even give you a good feel for how many people there were.

We ended in Epcot. I saved just enough energy to run the last mile. I knew Kris was going to be waiting and I wanted him to see me finish with a little gusto!


I was exhausted and sore when I got done, but I felt really proud of myself for doing it. I worked hard to get ready and I was able to do better than I every thought I would've!
And it was fun to have Kris there with me, I knew he was proud of me and impressed.
This is not my favorite picture, but it's the only one I have at the finish, so here you go.


And here are our medals as we rode back to the hotel on the bus to see our boys!

So cool, right?

It was only about 9:30 or so when we got back, but it felt like the middle of the afternoon. Kris and I got to nap later in the day while Kathy took Max out to have fun. Then we limped off on our broken sore legs to meet them.

It was really a great first race. I'd love to do it again sometime!

::::

This is my run from last saturday--9.5 miles and on the treadmill no less! (Weather was really bad that morning, so I was glad to have a treadmill to use.)
I'm pretty proud of myself and my running training. Though like I said before I use the word running loosely. I'm definitely running, though not all the time during my runs. Plenty of walking happens.
Though today I ran a whole mile on the treadmill without stopping at a relatively fast pace for me. I was very proud. I'm making a lot of progress.

Can't wait for the half marathon in January! And I'm really excited to be actually seeing some improvement in fitness after my weeks and weeks of hard work.
So I'm bragging on myself a bit I guess. Yay me.

::morning buddies::

Kris and I have been trying to train ourselves into runners. It's not that easy. We're training for DisneyWorld's marathon weekend in early Jan. I'm going to do the half marathon and Kris will do the full. We're hoping that next Sept we'll get to do the Berlin Marathon with Kris's Uncle Richard, if all goes well. (I'm still not committing to ever really running a marathon, but I can at least train for it!)

So this entails running (or run/walking in my case) at least three times a week. Most times Kris and I end up switching off days and going out first thing in the morning--about 6:15 is when we have to go in order to get kids to school and people to work on time.

The other morning Max happened to be awake when Kris was getting ready to go. This is so very unusual, most of the time we're dragging him kicking and screaming (figuratively--usually) out of bed at seven or later.

But he was awake, and he begged Kris to let him ride along on his bike. Kris is already a good dad and has been taking Sultan along. Poor Sultan is just dying for exercise and fun and loves to go. It makes things way too complicated for me, but Kris is sweet and takes him along.
So there he was, with a boy on a bike and a dog on a leash, both ready for fun and adventure. And he was supposed to be actually getting a workout in.

It went alright, so I hear. It's happened three times since I think. Today Max had a rough time getting up, but he still did it. And Kris took some documentary style pictures as they trundled along.

(It's cold and dark in the morning!!)

(Fabulous cactus flowers.)

I think they make look a bit speedier than they truly are in this photo. They look like they're just zooming along the trails.

Kris says he's not really getting too good of a work out, but the guys are way too excited and enthused about it and he would feel terrible just sneaking out without them.
Isn't he a sweet dad?
I love that Max is excited to go with him and work hard, and I love that he's seeing how we're working and trying hard to be fit and have fun. Hopefully it'll all rub off well on him and he'll be able to see that anything (well, almost anything) is possible if you work hard enough!

::fun run::

(Max is on the very far right in this photo.)
Today was Max's school's biggest fund raiser, the "Fun Run."
They have a 5k race at 8AM then a 1 mile run at 9AM.
Last year we sponsored the race and it was really fun to do, so we did it again.

Last year we came in dead last in the 1 mile run. Cammon & Lorri were visiting us, which was awesome. But we were late in getting there and as we were running up there the main field took off, way too far away for us to have a hope of catching up. So we walked and Max wimped out and we were the very last. Well, except little Scooter who decided to run the whole way. But the rest of us were pretty slow. No big deal.

But this year, we wanted to be faster.

I've been running a bunch, working towards doing a half marathon in January 2012. This is amazing for me because I've always hated to run. I've always been the slowest worst runner. So working on this is hugely tough and challenging for me. But as of today I've run (and when I say run I mean a combo of running and walking) 70 miles! That's in about the last month and a half to two months. So I'm feeling pretty good about myself. Though I'm slow slow slow, I'm at least getting some miles in and I have to be getting better, however slightly.

So I did the 5K. It was my first official race and it was tough. Some fat ladies passed me and stayed ahead and I couldn't keep up with some kids--BUT I finished and I wasn't last. There were slower people than me, somehow. And I didn't wimp out. It got kind of warm and I got tired on the hills, but I made it.

Now for Max.

(There he goes, tongue out of his mouth as usual and feet not even touching the ground! This picture was taken by my friend Mandy, thanks Mandy!!)
We've been trying to get Max into getting more active and having more fun with it. Running and biking have been the things we've been encouraging. So we've been talking up the Fun Run here. He was ready to try hard because one of the prizes was a toy store gift certificate.

He took off pretty quickly and Kris says he definitely walked a bunch, but he did it. He didn't wimp out and he was running when he started and running when they came up to the finish! I'm really pleased with the progress since last year. We're both quite improved. And our attitudes are better.

Max didn't win anything of course, but I did take him to the store and get him a prize. As far as I'm concerned he was awesome.

Judy from the office came and joined us and did super well. It was fun to have her there! I was excited when I saw her at the finish line cheering me on when I was done.

IT's pretty fun that we have a great event like this we can sponsor and get involved in right down the street from our house!
And we're pretty proud of ourselves--and tired tonight.