a runner is born

josh and i ran the salt lake city half marathon on saturday. i finished in 1:53:12. not my best time, but i'm pretty happy about, not thrilled since i really wanted to break 1:50 this time. then again, that still means i ran about 8 and 1/2 minute miles, in a skirt no less, which isn't bad for 13.1 of them. for some reason, it was harder than i thought it would be. but still awesome. i think half marathons are the perfect racing distance--it's a great challenge, you have to train for it, but it's not unnaturally painful and time consuming like a full marathon. don't you think? i finished in the top 13% of my age division (women age 25-29), top 24% overall. so i think that's pretty sweet. josh finished a BIT behind me. we'll leave it at that...

the real excitement of the day came at 10 o'clock, when joshua ran the first race of his running career. at his insistence, we signed him up for the "kids marathon," a 1K. they all got t-shirts, bib numbers (#378), goodie bags at the expo, and a finishers medal at the end. joshua was SO excited. he's grown up around races. i ran my first half marathon when he was 17 months old, a marathon shortly after he turned two. of course he's been there at them all, cheering me on and running around taking pictures with josh, grandpa jay, todd, grandma juna...in fact just yesterday he was saying..."mom remember that one race--you didn't run with katie or with daddy, just by yourself?" he remembers these things, the specific races.

now, at the ripe age of 5, he's thrilled to have joined the runners ranks. he told josh "daddy, you have to tell all the guys at work that i'm running my first race!" in his goodie bag there was some runners dry-mouth gum, as well as a sports drink mix. as soon as we got home from the expo he had me mix up the drink. i assumed he wanted to drink it. but no. he put it right in the fridge and said "that's for my race tomorrow." sure enough, he brought his drink. little did i know, he had also stashed the gum in his pocket, and pulled it out to chew shortly before the race began. afterwards he was saying "i need to find another race to run soon, maybe this summer..." and everyday since, the first thing in the morning, we have the same conversation...

mom! is today show and tell day?

no joshua, what day is show and tell day?

thursdays

what day is today?

wednesday.

so when is show and tell?

tomorrow!

you guessed it...for show and tell he's wearing his running shirt, and bringing his bib and finishers medal.

"mom, i think i'm the only kid in my class that's ever run a marathon..."

pretty cool if you ask me.

check him out...

pre-race, getting in the zone.

his first runner's high.

check out that stride! (not to mention the focus)

coming in strong!

looks like a runner to me...