Monday, May 17, 2010

J, the half marathoner ...

As you know, J became a half marathoner yesterday. It was amazing and I am so very proud of him. His official finishing time was 2:57:10. And like I said, I was by his side every step of the way (we even held hands across the finish line). Here's how it went down ...

J and I woke up at 4:30. We got out of bed, gathered our things and got dressed in our coordinated lime, white and black outfits. This is us right before walking out the door (I did get a shot of J smiling, but I think this is funnier) ...
We hopped in the car and drove the hour to Fredericksburg. Well, kind of. We had to stop. Mother Nature was not J's friend yesterday. In fact, she would torture him for the first four miles of the race. NOT.FUN. Anyway, once we arrived, we met up with JBR (our friend and another first time half marathoner). After yet another bathroom break, we rushed over to the start corral.

And before we knew it, we were off. The first four miles of the race were good (other than that whole Mother Nature thing). We were holding a comfortable pace for J and JBR. Every once in a while, I would speed up and act as race photographer. Here they are at mile 3.

And here I am. I took this while running. And JBR snuck in the shot too.

At mile 4, J had to stop and end the fight with Mother Nature. He ran into a church and JBR continued on without us. (JBR finished in 2:39:25.) After six minutes, J returned and we ventured on. Despite the added time, we were still holding a decent pace. But somewhere around 6 or 7 miles, J's hip and knee started acting up. His hip kept him from running at all in the last two weeks. We hoped the time off would help it, but the constant downhills of the first 10 miles of the course took a pounding on it. And he was in pain (even though he smiled every time I busted out the camera).
At mile 10, the uphill climb began. And the next two miles were basically straight up. We gained over 300 feet of elevation in those two miles. J started to feel it. And we took some walk breaks. I did my best to "push" him on. I knew that he really wanted to break three hours and if we could hold our pace we could. We alternated walk/run for the remainder of the course. As we entered the finish chute, we knew we were going to go sub-three. J asked to hold my hand as we finished. And we crossed the line together. It was awesome.

J was tired and sore. And I was convinced that he would never want to do another half again. But you know what? I was wrong. He's caught the bug. He's talking to JBR about doing it again. He even told me this morning that he might just do Richmond in November. How sweet is that?

As for me, the race was awesome. Here's why:

1. It was really nice to run without pressure.
2. I got to take it easy (my average heart rate was 130 compared to last week's half where it was 180).
3. I was able to support J 100%, which I loved.
4. The race helped me set a new weekly mileage PR. I finished the week with 41.89 miles.
5. I also broke 500 miles for the year during the race. I am currently at 511.16 miles.
6. And I became eligible for Half Fanatic status. Sweet!

44 comments:

Jesser said...

I was counting on him wearing kneesocks. ;) Too bad! Looks like a great time.

Anonymous said...

Way to go!! Congrats to your hubby and congrats to you on half fanatic status! :)

gba_gf said...

AWESOME! I'm so proud of J!

Jen said...

Great recap... Love it. So sweet... I almost cried!

Unknown said...

Awesome job, J! And great for you, being so supportive :)

Amy said...

This makes me so happy. Way to go!

Shellyrm ~ just a country runner said...

"As we entered the finish chute, we knew we were going to go sub-three. J asked to hold my hand as we finished." ~ that was the sweetest thing ever! I loved that he asked to hold your hand.

I have never finished a race with my hubbs. We usually start together and then he tells me to go get my pace. Once in a marathon I hit "THE WALL" and he caught up to me and got me across the finish line but I was so bonked that I didn't get to enjoy that fact that we finished together.

Congrats on your Fanatics status! and being a great supporter of your hubbs.

Katye said...

1) I agree with Shelly. The part about him asking to hold your hand...SOOOO sweet
2) where are J's socks?
3) I love how J dwarfs all the people around him in the running pics haha
4) Congrats you Fanatic you! I will be joining you next week =)
5) Richmond sounds fun =) ...

Unknown said...

Way to go J and great job supporting him!!
I think its so wonderful that you two have this common love of running now!

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

Love this! And the matching gear is priceless.. Congrats on the Half Fanatics!

Katie A. said...

How cool youg to pace the hubbs and he got bit by the racing bug! Very sweet!
Congrats on the mileage PR, passing 500 AND your fanatic status! Whoo hoo!!!

Carly said...

Way to go J! That's awesome!

Monica said...

I love happy endings!!! :)

Pining for Pinterest said...

That is sooo cool!!! I love that you held hands across the finish line. That is too sweet!! Have a wonderful day!

Steel Springs said...

Congratulations to your husband on his first half marathon! It sounds like he had some tough issues to deal with, but he powered through! It's great that he's already planning his next half.

Congratulations on the weekly mileage PR and Half Fanatic status!

Emz said...

Yay for you guys!!! So awesome. I wish I could get my hubby to do this!! excellent!

wendy said...

How sweet! Congrats, J!

Anne said...

Loved reading this! Great job J...hope the knee is feeling better. You guys look adorable...love the pics :)

Yay you for your fanatic status eligibility!!

Anonymous said...

this is so great especially how you guys supported eachother! yay JJ!

S Club Mama said...

awesome! this makes me excited to run the couple of races I'm running with my husband this summer!

Claudia said...

Congrats!! awesome you finished together holding hands... very cute.

Megan said...

That's so nice that y'all got to run together. I hope one day to convince my hubs to run one with me.

I didn't know there was a half maniacs. I'll have to look into it.

Heidi said...

Congrats to your hubby. Tummy troubles - grrrr, my nemesis!

That's awesome that he went from "one and only" to "next time".

And congrats on hitting 500 miles already. I bow to you!

Nicole Joy said...

So special that you ran together and crossed holding hands! <3

Marlene said...

Congrats on your Half Fanatic status and new weekly mileage PR and big congrats to J on his first half! Sounds like he had a tough day - awesome that he wants to do it again!

Zoë said...

Congrats to J on his first half! Woot!
And congrats to you on your eligibility for Half Fanatic status! Double woot!

Lindsay said...

Great race report!!! Awesome job :)

dawn @ running the dawn said...

Awesome! Way to be! What a fun day for you.

Sarah K said...

It's so great that you guys got to run together. Congrats to you both!

The Mommy said...

There is no way I could EVER get my husband to wear running clothes that match with mine! I can't even get him into a sweat-wicking t-shirt (seriously, battling over cotton on a regular basis).

Congrats all around!

KC (my 140 point 6 mile journey) said...

You both look awesome out on the race course. My favorite marathons and half marathons were the one's I did with my J. How cool that your J is already talking about another half...great job to both of you this weekend!

Shannon said...

What a special race! I'm so glad you got to share it together. And even better...you both accomplished your goals!

ajh said...

I love that you paced your husband. Congrats on all of it.

Anabela (Bela) Neves said...

That is amazing, go J go and you are amazing too!

Trish said...

Awesome!! J you have gained hero status with Tonia!! Woot Woot!

Congrats!

Julie said...

I think that it is really great that you were able to run with J! I really enjoyed your pictures:) Congrats to both of you! I love the fact that you held hands when crossing the finish line:) How romantic:)

Tara said...

Congrats to your hubby! HUGE accomplishment and you are such a great support for him!

I keep trying to get my husband to do a half; we'll see. :)

Unknown said...

Nice recap!! J did a great job on the race!

ihaverun said...

Sounds like a great race! It is SO nice to run a race without pressure. It is a totally different experience!

Congrats on the Half Fanatics status. And the mileage stats!!

Anonymous said...

yay congrats! when my hubby and I ran our first half we ran together and held hands across the finish and I cried!!! it was the best moment!
good job both of you!

MCM Mama said...

What? You didn't make him wear pink?

Great job, J! I hate the hills in the last mile of that race. Hate them.

Woohoo for Half Fanatic status! Some day we need to do back to backs together so we can move up a couple of levels.

Unknown said...

Way to go, you two. You're so good to support your husband right to the end; I foresee myself doing that in the fall. Yes, I have created a monster!

Cute outfits. Now if our race shirts were that shade of green, they'd be cute; ours were oversized, cotton and just plain ugly. Next race....

N.D. said...

yay! congrats to J!

Aimee said...

Hooray for J!! He did awesome for his first half! It must have been so fun to run it with him. I think it's awesome that he wants to do another one...woohoo! :)