St. Jude Half Marathon.

Here are some photos from our trip to Memphis for the St. Jude Marathon event. A fun time was had by all! My mom flew in for the weekend to spend it with us and to see Ben. Ben had such a fun time with his Lola, and I felt like I had two kids! ;) Joking aside, my mom is very good with Ben, and he loves to have fun with her, and have fun with her, and have fun with her. He has a hard time knowing when to quit. And Lola has a hard time telling him when it is time to quit! My mom is so very helpful with Ben, and she always has. She is the only person that has ever said to me, quite earnestly, "Ben's poopy, can I change his diaper?" Seriously.

We left Friday afternoon for the 2 and half hour drive to Memphis with the first things on our agenda of picking up race packets and picking up my mom at the airport. As Ben slept in the car, Rob and I were able to catch up with each other. I had also noticed that my frame of mind toward this race had changed quickly and drastically for the better. The reasons are twofold. One: racing (and not running for just fun anymore) is a paradox for me. When I first trained for a half marathon last year, I found myself not loving running as much anymore, because it was training and I *had* to do it. (I think it is a challenge to do the thing you love and get paid for at the same time, because it changes your love and your job completely. I have often wondered if Rob gets sick of flying because it is now tainted with paperwork, regs, etc and it isn't just flying anymore.) But once the race was over, I found myself missing the training and it was then hard for me just to go out and "run for the fun of it". I still don't understand why it is like this, but now that I can expect those feelings, I can better manage and control it. Two: this race was always a little bittersweet, because I had made the choice to run this after the miscarriage as a way to not focus on things and for necessary time to pass before getting pregnant again.

But as we drove up, I experienced the exact feelings and adrenaline I needed for this race. I was *solely* excited for it and thought of *nothing* else. Nothing. Now I know and am jealous at the fact that sometimes it seems easier for men to execute this, but for women it doesn't always seem as easy. Needless to say, this boost is exactly what I had been needing. I had higher expectations this time around versus last year's race in Waco. I had sped up a good bit in my running from my PR, and I really wanted my race time this year to reflect that. And the results I was very pleased with. Last year I finished in 2:00:11 and this year I finished in 1:47:42, which breaks down to an 8:14 min/mile.

Running has become such a big part in my life. I hate to sound so mushy, but it is a spiritual thing for me. It makes me push through the hard times and try to believe in the hindsight that I know will follow after. I know that we all have different things that motivate us, and I firmly believe that is the way it is supposed to be. I guess what surprises me most about finding the thing you love, is that a lot of times it finds you in an unlikely way. It makes me wonder what I loved before, and I suppose these are all things you grow in to and it couldn't have happened until your perspective matured more.

ramble ramble ramble....maybe it is running I choose, because I spare my loved ones and friends all of my ramble ramble ramble.....

Start and Finish!

ben always is first.

those emergency blanket things really work!

the one guy that knows me most. he found me at the 3 mile mark, but knew he would miss me at the 4.5 mile mark. at the finish, he said to my mom, "alright she's going to be here in the next five minutes." it makes me smile that he not only knows what I love, but he knows how I perform in the thing I love.

Michelle, Liz, me. This was just part of a much larger group. In our Sunday school, there were 3 girls who participated in the 5K, and 5 girls who participated in the half marathon.

the rest of the gang (L to R): me, Rachel, Heather, Shannon, Liz, Michelle and *kids*!
Shannon, me.

fellow Michiganders....we won't discuss the yellow shirt he's wearing...Michelle and Andy.
Michelle, Rachel.

Lola, Ben.

I hope you enjoy these photos.