One Incredible Guy

My Husband. One pretty incredible guy. Awhile back, a good friend of ours told us she was going to run a half-marathon. Simple enough, or so it would seem, but she had just had a baby less than six months before, and this got Jay to thinking...if she just had a baby and is out there running like that, why aren't I? So... he started running the very next week, and the rest is history. A training plan was decided upon, the first race was registered for, and the training runs were fit into the schedule and completed.

His first race was the "Beach to Chowder Half-Marathon," last June in Long Beach, WA. We booked a hotel room, and made a family weekend of it. The drive down along the coast and through the evergreen forests was beautiful. We stayed at a hotel on the beach, ate a ridiculously huge and delicious pizza at a restaurant on the broad walk,  and took the girls to play at an arcade afterwards. We also drove out to a bluff overlooking the ocean which happened to be the turnaround spot for the race. The view was breath-taking, nothing short of spectacular.    

The morning of the race dawned the way many mornings in Washington do...gray and overcast. We drove Jay down to the race start and wished him well. I think I may have been feeling as nervous as he was. Then the girls and I headed back to the hotel. It was nice, because the race course happened to go right by our hotel. So when it was time, we got to go right out our hotel door to cheer him on as he ran by. We kept our eyes peeled for the first runner with a yellow cap and fluorescent green compression socks. Good thing he was the only one. It was a lot of fun. And even though it was a cool and drizzly morning, it seemed perfect for the occasion.

"Go, Daddy, Go!!!"

Cheering for Jay as he runs by...

Heading for the finish line

The final stretch

Mission accomplished - 1st half-marathon completed!

Official Half-Marathon Finisher!

 We're more proud of him than he knows!

Watching and cheering for Jay proved to be an inspiration. We've been doing an awful lot of running and cheering since then, so I guess you could say...the rest is history.