We FINISHED

This week Brandon and I geared up for our 1/2 Marathon that we were running in Malibu. I had two sisters come out from NC to run with us and then my mom and my other sister that lives in California walked while the rest of us ran it. It was great. The first eight miles I was pacing off of a lady and we were cruising doing about 8:30 to 9 minute miles. Brandon ran with me most of the first mile and then he dropped back after that. The first eight miles were great but then we hit a hill and it was a 6% grade. Most of you are thinking..."oh that's nothing..." I would love to see you say that when you have just ran 8 MILES. IT WAS BRUTAL. So at the top of that hil my hip flexors just locked up. They just decided they were not going to be doing any more flexing or moving. So I started to walk/run. I would walk for 5 or so minutes and then run for 10 or so because it just hurt so stinking bad and there were 6 miles of "rolling hills" which felt like the we were running in the Rocky Mountains. I am not sure what Brandon was doing but he said he was just going slow and steady and just trying to enjoy the scenery. It was beautiful but it was HOT. I guess that is a plus about running in Malibu in November. I have never gotten a sunburn in November before! So we finished and I just about cried when I got to the end. I tried to watch Brandon finish but I lost him in the crowd and we met up with him later to watch my mom, who has parkinsons and a brain cyst, and who nobody thought could do it let alone finish the race, finish. I got to wrap my arm around her and help her across the finish line. I AM SO PROUD OF HER! She is a champ and shows me that just because life gives us lemon's that we can't make lemonade! I was crying just at the pure joy that I had that she was strong enough and wanted to fight through all the pain just to finish a goal she had set. I think we can all learn a lesson from that. I am so proud of Brandon too. He didn't have any time to train working so much and it was so hard and he finished in around 3 hours. With both of us working full time it was hard for either of us to be able to train but we did it! We finished and that is all that matters! plus it was so cool to get a big honkin' medal and beach towel for participating.

Love you all!