Training...Shmaining

A few months ago my sister-in-law, Allison, called to ask if Pikachu and I would like to run this race with them. I asked Pika and he said he WOULD like to try running a half-marathon so I called back and said we were committed. Now I say WE because Pika had not run before and I thought I could train with him. It was obvious what we needed to do next if we were going to do this right. We called my faster-than-lightening sister-in-law, Missy. She truly is my go-to person when it comes to running. Missy loves running and she's dedicated to breaking her PR's (personal records) all over the place. She came up with a nice little schedule for us beginning in May and going all the way to the Park City Half...August 23rd. Our goal (initially) was to run just under a 2 hour marathon. My last half had been run in 2:08, so I thought it was totally worth a try. Needless to say, we trained pretty good for the first couple of weeks after receiving the schedule and then after that it was mostly hit and miss (mostly miss). The farthest I had run was 4 miles!

So here's what happened. Allison had barely trained; being gone all summer with her family traveling around the nation. What was cool about her was that she felt pretty good about the race since according to her she HAD trained the last few days. She also went on to tell me that in her family if someone believes they can do something they really can. I was doubtful, but then I reminded myself of how mental these events can be. Well, Allison came in before any of us and I still don't know her time because of a lot of confusion. Apparently when she came in she was being announced the winner of the entire marathon! We all thought this was so cool...people were yelling things like "Great job! I love your outfit!" They were about to award her with a big bouquet of flowers when they realized their mistake. Who cares if whe didn't win the entire marathon she did awesome even with her minimal training! IF YOU CAN BELIEVE, YOU CAN ACHIEVE! Way to go Allie! I love your outfit!
Here is the story on this guy. Hardly any training AND I had assured him that I would be by his side the whole time. I had worn my fuel belt (I wouldn't usually wear this for a half-marathon)with 4 water bottles, packed elecrtolyte pills, energy beans, crackers...you name it! I was prepared to stay with this kid no matter what! Also, he had gotten injured earlier in the week on a boating trip where he had jumped in (or out of) the boat and hit his hip pretty hard on the propellor. He was complaining of this pain for the first 5 miles and finally he had to walk. I slowed down to walk with him and then a few minutes later he took off running. I tried to keep up with the boy but holy crap he was running fast! HE CAME IN 30 MINUTES BEFORE ME!!!
Here's me all stiff and being greeted by my precious youngins. I was praying the whole time that I wouldn't die in this race and leave my poor kids without a mom. I was so grateful to have this hellish race over with!
Here is cousin Sam....again no training, but running like a little champ! AND he was the youngest racer at age 12. he got a bunch of fun stuff for being the youngest. Nice job Sam!

Ok, why we don't have a picture of Aaron (Sweets' brother and husband to Allison) is beyond me. This guy didn't even know he was going to run the race until he started running it! He was NOT signed up, but like years past, thought he would just see how it goes for a while. Yeah, so like 31/2 hours later he finishes this race that he didn't even plan on running with car keys, wallet and Blackberry all in his pocket! CRAZY! Kudos Aaron!
here are the onlookers, Emma and Chookie...very cute cousins indeed.
I am SOOOOO proud of you Pika Pika! I know who MY hero is! Well done runners!