The Half

The journey began in July... Jason committed to train and run the Half Marathon. That's right, 13.1 miles! He began training with a fabulous local group and built up his endurance each week. Training consisted of 3-4 week day runs and a long run every Saturday morning at about 5am. Jason got the fancy shoes, watch, a fuel belt and even learned that GU is not for him. A million bottles of Gatorade later the big day was here and we were all so excited.

Saturday he tried on his race outfit and we took a few pics with the boys. The boys gave him pins for his shoes - one R, one J and one K. That way when he was running he could look down at his feet and get a little boost from his loving family.
Sunday morning we left our house at 4:45am to meet with the caravan to downtown. There were literally thousands of runners and spectators already there when we arrived at 5:45am. Jason got with his group and did all of his stretches, a team cheer (which was really cute) and then I gave him a good luck kiss. I met with with Scott, Annelise, Taylor and Trevor to go watch our runner family members. We stood near the back at the starting line...it was a sea of faces!

Then we drove to mile 8 - the turnaround for the half marathoners. We got to see Holly, Heather, Darren and Catherine. Jason is in the middle of this photo waving at us. Seeing our friends running was SUCH a thrill! I screamed so loud that I scared the teens that were with us! I bet they think I'm crazy..they are probably right! haha
More of Jason running...

After we saw everyone at the 8 mile marker we drove back to the finish line. Unfortunately we missed seeing Jason cross by about 2 minutes. But, it was thrilling to see Heather cross right after we arrived.

Here are the 2 big feet that had just completed 13.1 miles - plantar ficitias and all!!!!!
After the race Jason got his bling and a cool tech shirt. I cannot put into words how proud I am of my sweet husband. I must confess, I was not completely "on board" with the running lifestyle at first, but as the months went on I started warming up to it all. Now, I am fully committed to it. Jason ran at all times of the day and night to prepare. He changed the way he ate and rested. I am so proud of him making a commitment and sticking it through to the end. We are both looking forward to more races and hopefully doing one together one day.
WAY TO GO DADDY!!!! We are sooooooooo proud of you!!!!!!!
And yes, these are only a fraction of all the port-a-cans that we saw at the race! Thought you would all like to be as grossed out as we were!!! HAHA