Kalamazoo Marathon

Now, our crazy week/weekend wasn't over yet! My amazing husband had been out all weekend watching kids and doing my event, and he had to wake up early the next morning and run A MARATHON! I still don't know how he did it, training and everything but he's a boss and he killed it. Lucky for us, our friend Grace was running the half so she was able to drive them early in the morning to the start, which meant I didn't have to get the kiddos up way early to take them. The kiddos got up at a decent time, which allowed me to get breakfast in them, pack up everything we needed and get to a good cheering spot for Papa. Ever since my marathon, we have gone to the same spot and cheered Papa on. It's just a great location, which is easy to get too... and its about half way, which is an optimal spot I think. I would love to go to a different location too, but I just don't think that the kiddos could pack up and move that quickly. We like this spot also because its by a corner and if we hurry up we can catch him in two places :) But, not this year. Norah insisted that she wanted to pull the wagon and there was no way that that was going to be fast enough... so, sorry honey, we missed you on the other side but it wasn't worth the melt down.

After we saw him around mile 14 we went home and grabbed some lunch. Then, we drove to the finish to catch up with Gracie, who had finished her half and to cheer Papa on. I always get a little stressed out when I'm with all the kiddos in a crowded event, but Kalamazoo's marathon is so nice that it is a little easier. We found a nice place to wait for him at the finishers chute... but unfortunately, right around the time he should've been coming through Norah pooped. I was afraid that if I left to go to the porta pottys which weren't close that I would miss him, and I wasn't sure how I was going to herd the other two along... so I stealthy ninja mom changed her without the guy next to us knowing what was going on. And... I got it done before he came through! Now, the original plan was just to have Dude run in with him because he would be able to keep up but Lucy was so excited when Papa came around the corner that she went too. And, with that, I had to let Norah go... so here goes Papa after running almost 26.2 miles, carrying a kid and holding the other twos hand. It was a sight to behold... very endearing! You better believe the tears were flowing... we are so proud of everything that he does and how much you can see how much he loves his family. Being exhausted at the end of that race I couldn't imagine carrying more than I had too!

After he finished there were some inflatables for the kiddos to play on while he rested and walked off all that hurt. I found out that his phone, which had his book on tape he was listening to, locked him about around the half way mark so he was running half the race with nothing! Ugh! He, also took advantage of all the goodies that spectators were handing out. He got girl scout cookies, bacon, oberon complete with orange slice and a bunch of other things! I still have no idea how he eats and runs but he loves it and it obviously treats him well! He said that he hit the wall this time... the one he never hit last race, but he did PR so that might have something to do with it! He still says he loves doing this distance (crazy man) and we are excited to be able to cheer him on again! Next time I won't be marathon training at the same time so I think that will be easier on us :) We are planning on running a half together in the fall, which I think will be fun!

Again, this week/weekend has just proved how amazing and awesome you are! And no matter what endeavours you are doing, we know, as your family that you put us first. Lucky for us you can prioritize us well and you still excel in what you are doing! Way to go babe! You're a rockstar!

JVG