Photo of the day: half marathon medals

Today is the day! We've trained, sweated and worked very hard to be ready for the St. Louis Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon! Yesterday we went to the health expo to pick up our packets, t shirt's and to get some general information about the race. When we got home, we got our clothes and shoes all ready and after a very exciting Cardinals game, we went to bed.

I set four alarms to wake up at around 4:15 am to give us plenty of time to get up, dressed and ready. I also set an alarm at 5 am so we could leave in plenty of time (they were going to begin shutting down the roads at about 6 am).  Unfortunately, I have developed a habit to snooze my alarms quickly,so Alex doesn't wake up....today was no exception. When the 5 o'clock "leave" alarm went off, we both sat up straight and began racing around to get ready to leave.

We made it downtown just fine, parked and walked to our corral to stand in the cold until race time.

When the race started,  it was crowded....I don't know why I thought it wouldn't be, but it was very congested. In an effort to get around the walkers and slowpokes, we set our pace quick....too quick to sustain for 13.1 miles. We ran the first 9 miles at about a 9:30 ish (I know it's not fast to everyone but it is for Alex and I). Somewhere between 9 and 10 miles my calves turned into rocks and Alex hit a wall. The last few miles were slower than we were anticipating, but we've learned our lesson for next time.

 We I had a great time and I can't wait to register for our next race. Alex is currently looking into the expense of a scooter, he's a bit sore to say the least. But, we made it across the finish line together in 2 hours and 35 minutes. I'm very proud of the Birthday Boy! He did great and stuck with me the whole way. Running was never something that Alex would describe as fun, but he trained hard, was determined and rocked the Rock 'n Roll!

We did it and have the medals to prove it!