This morning Glenn and I ran a half marathon. We did. We ran 13.1 miles. It was really cool. I don't have pictures of us but our good friend took some and hopefully she'll send them to me and then I'll post some later.I had all these irrational fears of bad things that could happen during the race: bodily functions gone very wrong, tripping fellow runners, injuries and such. None of them happened. So that's good. Glenn signed up for the race with me months ago but then decided he probably shouldn't run it because he has patellar tendonitis and some other stuff that makes running really painful but he went to a doctor last week and the doc told him to wear some bands and that he would be fine. So he ran it with me. It was nice not to be alone out there.
Janelle Cluff, our friend from Austin, is from Houston area and she was going to be down here for Thanksgiving week so she offered to watch Tate while we ran. We stayed at her parents house last night in Clear Lake to be closer to the race this morning for us, and then she took care of Tate all morning while we were running. She got him ready and brought him down to see us at the finish. It was wonderful. So wonderful to have her help. Really, the only alternative if she hadn't offered, and since Glenn was running with me, was to push him in our jogging stroller. Tate would have been going crazy stuck in the stroller for that long! So a big shout out to Janelle and her parents for all their help. We are so grateful.
Glenn and I woke up at 5:15 to head down to Galveston. I was feeling nervous and having a conversation with myself that went something like this:
- "Why did I think this was a good idea?"
- "You must be really stupid, I guess."
- "You're right. This was a dumb idea. Seriously, who does this? Look at all these people who are in amazing shape and do this all the time and then there's me. Just decided to train for something with my sister because I was feeling stuck about my situation and needed a goal. That doesn't make me a runner."
- "I know. Like I said, not real smart."
It was exciting and scary and about 10 other emotions at the same time. Glenn was his normal social, jovial self, making jokes with people in line for the bus and packets and chatting with everyone in BYU or Boston Red Sox gear. I think it would take a lot to make Glenn feel any pressure.
We picked up our shirts and bibs and got on a bus to take us to the race start at a beach on the other side of the island. It was beautiful. Just beautiful. It started at the beach that we went to a couple months ago and wound around a little loop before turning beside the sea wall for about 8 miles. I could not imagine better conditions for my first long race. The sun was coming up but it wasn't too hot or too cool, the ocean view for miles and miles, sea breeze, the course was flat flat flat, and there were water tables every 1.5 miles. Seriously, hours of looking at this:
It was beautiful.
I realized when I got there and as I was running that there is so much more about running and running races that I don't know. The only race strategy advice I was given was not to start too fast because you will run out of steam and have a hard time finishing strong. So I spent the first 5 miles making myself slow down and watching my pace to keep myself at the pace I wanted to maintain. Then about mile 7-8 is started to get hard to speed up and maintain the pace I was aiming for. It was discouraging to look down and see myself going slower than I wanted and try to speed up...then look down again and realize I hadn't sped up at all. I just couldn't get myself to go any faster. Glenn did great. It seemed, and actually was, pretty easy for him. He didn't hurt or get too tired. He stayed with me and could have gone faster than me most of the time too. That made me mad. I'm over it now but it was frustrating that it comes so much easier to Glenn. He's not too sore or tired now. He's basically just a natural athlete. Impressive, and impossible to compete with...so I'll stop trying.
I was a little disappointed with my time even though I made really generous goals and I actually made it under my really generous goal time. I'm fine now though. I'm realizing how amazing of a thing I did today. I'm proud that I was able to train and get through it fairly easily. I never had to walk. I never felt like I had to stop. And the miles seemed to pass pretty quickly. It was a great run and certainly the most beautiful I've had. Never ever in my life before a few months ago would I have imagined running a half marathon. I just started running after Tate was born and it's been huge for me, someone who has never regularly exercised before to have this as my thing. I'm not fast or good but I'm happy with it and I actually enjoy it. I never thought I would, but I do. I'm so glad I ran this race and now I have a time to try to beat for the next time!
So...anyone wanna run it with me next year?
I walked around the museum a couple days last summer with little man in a front pack and really enjoyed it. It was a different story this time. He was busy, and while he loved the pictures of "castles" and finding all the animals and pictures of Jesus, he was a bit too noisy and got bored quickly. But we made it work for a short time with the help of some fruit snacks. 
We sat in the very back row. We watched the train tracks go past. We waved at the ducks in the ponds. We pointed out bikes, trees, fountains, big rocks, squirrels and castles (every big building is called a castle). We even went through a tunnel. He's big into tunnels right now.
Little man couldn't sit still. There was so much to see from every angle. He kept touching every screw, pole, board, everything he could get his hands on. It was a fun morning exploring a couple things our city has to offer and spending some quality time with Tate-o.
He has new favorite animals all the time but right now his favorites are definitely the fish. He loves all the fish exhibits. We've tried to convince him to crawl in this tunnel underneath the fish several times but this time he agreed...as long as Glenn went first to make sure it was okay, and then I had to go through with him.
He also loves the sting rays and the jelly fish. It's nice to have an excuse to just stare at these creatures. They are pretty incredible.
Saturday the 30th was really our Halloween and we had a full day. I got up early to go for my longest training jog. 10 miles. I found a few ladies from a different ward who jog every Saturday and met up with them. One lady is training for a marathon so she had to do 20 miles. I ran 10 with her then she kept going. It was great. It was the first long run where I felt like, "That wasn't so bad. I could totally do another three miles" afterward. It was a huge confidence booster.
They had pony rides at the festival which was a must for our little cowboy. He loved having a chance to ride "bullseye" just like Woody.
Then of course there was the petting zoo which he loved. I think he could just chase and snuggle smelly animals all day if I let him.
After that we headed to the ward Trunk or Treat. It was a good time. There were so many darling costumes on tiny little people. Glenn and I took turns walking around with Tate, sharing a root beer float, chatting with ward members, and trying to get rid of all our candy. I think Tate got the "trick or treat" thing by the end but he was really content just to carry around a couple candies in his fists until they melted and got all squishy inside. He had moments of giggling and being sweet and happy but if anything went wrong he would just melt down. Silly kid. All in all though, I think we had a pretty great day.