Happy Late Valentine's Day!

Happy late Valentine's Day! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, despite the cold temperatures. When the "ideal" way to spend Valentine's day is described, I don't know that our past Sunday would have come to mind.

Kyle (Luke's brother), Luke, and I spent the morning running the Mercedes half marathon (13.1 miles) in Birmingham. Last January Luke and I started running (I literally started at 1 mile) and worked our way up to 3 miles. This fall, the three of us began a 12 week training schedule for a half marathon.

• First of all, none of us had any idea how many people participated in this race. It was amazing to see that many people shoved in together - apparently the crowd extended for blocks past the starting line.

• Second of all, I don't think we could have completed the race without our amazing cheering section - Mrs. Beth, Mr. Gary, Toria, Mom, David, Austin, and Dad all came out to stand in the cold weather for over 2 hours to cheer us on. I sincerely don't know if I could have made it without them - seeing familiar faces encouraging you really makes a huge difference! We love you guys so much and are so appreciative of your support!
  

• Third of all, I am SO glad Kyle ran with us. Each week we'd talk about our runs, discuss the next week's schedule, and plan out our general course of action. Although we didn't actually run the race at the same pace (he was ahead of us, completely dominating the time), it was so much fun all working toward a goal at the same time.

Speaking of goals, here are our goals going into the race:

• Kyle's goal: finish in less than 2 hours
• Luke's goal: "not die" (as he told pastor Danny Wood)
• Kristen's goal: run (not walk) the entire race and finish
  

I had made a lifetime goal to do a half marathon, but I'm not a "runner" and didn't know if it was really possible. So, I can't tell you how amazing it was to cross that finish line. Through all of the training I learned that so much of it is a mental battle - putting one foot in front of the next, despite how badly you may feel, and finishing the goal you've set. I couldn't be more grateful to the Lord for the opportunity and ability to complete one of my dreams and goals, especially with such fantastic people running with me and cheering me on.
Luke stayed right with me the entire time. Despite the fact that during training and the actual race, he could have run faster and left me behind. But he stayed there and encouraged me to keep moving. And it was a great time for the two of us to get away from all distractions in the house and from school/work and just talk for hours at a time on a weekly basis. So while my Valentine's day might not have been "ideal" it was an amazing experience that I will never forget.

All of us after the race
Luke and Kristen: 2:08hrs (9:47 pace)
Kyle: 1:54hrs (8:45 pace)