Endurance . . .

Saturday morning, we all got up about 5:00 am, got ready and out the door by 6:00 am to head to High Point, NC for Jeff's 4th Marathon.  

I brought Cocoas for everyone (but Jeff, he's been eating strictly white, staying away from fruits and veggies, and all that, I know it sounds backwards, but it's only for race week), and once they had cooled we sipped them as Jeff tried to catch a few extra winks of sleep on the way. 

This was the first race that we brought the kids with us, and I think they enjoyed it. 

Here's Lil, helping her Daddy warm up, and the warm up was definitely necessary, I think it was about 29 degrees outside at this point . . . 

 Here's my marathon man just before the start . . . he's been working on that look ALL of November . . .

 The kids and I walked for about thirty minutes after the start, to catch him in between miles 4 and 5, he was definitely toward the front of the pack, and it was fun to cheer him on and send him on his way, I think he liked seeing us too . . .

 As we were walking back for the kids to get a snack and check out the kids's zone for a few minutes, we had to take a minute in front of this gem:  LOVE the socks, but only because those drawers are not in my house.  Behind this large chest of drawers there was a building attached . . . I think, it was pretty unique to say the least.

 The kids made posters, and then we hiked back to the car and decided to try driving to about mile 20 in hopes of giving a morale boost . . . the racers were really spread out at this point, but Jeff was still very much at the front of the pack . . . 

I think we picked a good spot to catch him, and then quickly got back in the car, and even found our parking spot again, and found a sunny spot near the finish to watch the clock . . . and wait . . . 

Jeff had a goal of finishing between 3:00 hours, and 3:10 minutes . . . 

The lead Marathon-er came in about 2:48 . . . 

We kept checking that corner . . . 3:00

3:05 

. . . 

3:08

. . . .

We were starting to get worried, and then he rounded the corner and Benjamin snapped some pics as the girls and I cheered him on, and encouraged him to push it.  I thought the kids might want to run in with him, but they weren't sure, and it probably would have thrown him off a bit, so it's good they didn't . . . 

He crossed the finish at:  3:09:48, cutting 6 minutes off of his previous time, and re-qualifying for Boston if he can get in for 2013!  

He worked so hard in training, and I'm really glad the kids got to see their Daddy reach his goal!!!!

He even finished fast enough that he could get a massage, something he thoroughly enjoyed.  He did manage to have blood on the back of his shirt, not entirely sure how he managed that one, but nothing really seemed to bother him with it, just a cool battle story I guess?

He finished 11th over-all, and 2nd in his age category, so COOL!!!!!!!

And if you're wondering why I didn't at least do the half:

I've been working on my own little Marathon for a bit, hoping to be finished around the 24th of May . . .