Des Moines 1/2 Marathon

Last Sunday Jen Parker and I ran the Des Moines 1/2 Marathon together and had a great time! Jen and I have been training for a while and both will admit we didn't train as much as we really should have - but when you have toddlers and husbands who are incredibly busy, it's hard to find the time. Despite the challenges we made the best of it and tackled the race with smiles on our faces! One of my challenges before the race was that my pelvis went out (again) on Friday which certainly caused a lot of pain. Thankfully the chiropractor was able to adjust me on Saturday before we headed to Des Moines. It didn't bother me at all during the race - praise the Lord! From the photos you can see we ran with smiles on our faces and had a blast! We're ready to run!

Running thru Waterworks Park would have been pretty boring if you were by yourself - but we had each other to talk to and our awesome hubbies and boys there to cheer us on!


Seeing the guys coming out of WaterWorks Park

Lookin' good, Jen!

Nathan said, "I want to run with you, Mommy!" Oh, I wish you could buddy! Chad and I really look forward to the day when Lord willing we all can run together!

I'd say the most challenging part of the race was running across Grey's Lake bridge. Not that it was difficult - it was just the spot where it hit me that we've been running a long time and the knees were beginning to get sore and tight.

We were excited to have crossed the bridge!

It was so great to finally get into downtown! I was feeling really good at this point and was ready to get to that finish line. I loved rounding the bend to the finish!

The end is in sight!

Jen finishing strong!

Waving at our awesome cheering section!

I'm done!! It felt so great to have accomplished another race and do it with an amazing friend!

Nathan was so excited to see his Mommy and was so proud of me!

Jarrett was so proud of his Mommy too!

The boys with their running Mommies!

Good lookin' family!

It was a great day for a race and the last nice day of the fall I'd have to say. I want to shout out a huge THANK YOU to Chad and Nathan and Justin and Jarrett for coming up so early to cheer us on! We loved those moments of seeing them and were always scanning the crowd to see if they were there. Another big thank you to Heather and Seth for letting us crash at your place on Saturday night! I think it has become tradition to watch The Office the night before a race - I love it! And Thank You to Brent and Doreen for coming out to cheer us on as well! You make an awesome cheering section!
I've hung up the running shoes for the season and I admit that it's not easy! I'm quite tempted to run the Living History Farms race in November but am going to sit this one out. Jen, Chad and I ran the 1 mile race (that's utterly hilarious to me now) in 2003 I believe. Might as well leave a race yet unconquered to entice me back!