If pigs can fly...

Wyatt asleep trying to hold Myles' hand... so sweet!

... than we can finish a half-marathon, right? We signed up for the Flying Pig half marathon again this year. It is in Cincinnati on May 1. This is Jonathan's 5th half, and my 3rd. We started about 8 months after Henry was born. That was our first, May 2007. No big deal. One kid in a jogging stroller, Jonathan was still teaching, life was simpler. Then I had Wyatt in January 2008. My next half was in May 2009. Still fairly simple, Jonathan was still teaching, bought the double jogging stroller. Smooth sailing. I knew this was the year for my third. I had run one after every kid, but I really didn't want to do it this year. It felt overwhelming to think of trying to train with our schedule, and having 3 kids made it a bit more complicated b/c now we couldn't run together if our mileage was over 3 or 4 miles. However, Jonathan kept trying to convince me it would be good for us, and he swore that he would keep us on a training schedule as much as possible. Then there was Beth... my relentless sister-in-law, who, despite entering her 40's this year, is as insane as ever when it comes to taking on challenges. She kept saying, "You can do it. We'll do it together. C'mon, you can do it." Between the two of them, it was hard to pass up. So, we are two weeks away from race day. We ran 11 miles on Monday night, and it was painful, but we both felt confident we will finish. Yes, finish. No PR's this year.... just F.I.N.I.S.H. alive, still breathing, with all of our limbs attached (and my GI system still in order).

We have always loved running together. It's something we've done since our first year of marriage. Jonathan brought the passion for running into marriage. His dad always ran for as long as he could remember. And Jonathan ran track and cross country in HS. He signed us up for our first 5K - the VanBuren Popcorn Festival in Indiana. The summer of our first year of marriage. It was hot, hot, hot and we were basically running on country roads in the middle of corn fields. I ran it in 24:12, which isn't even that impressive, but I'm sure I'll never do it again. I was wearing a pink shirt that day. I still remember this high school girl trying to beat me near the finish line... the guy cheering for her kept saying, "Pass the girl in the pink shirt, Joyce!! You can take her! Beat her to the finish line!" It completely ticked me off... honestly, I've never been that ticked - I beat her, but I was barfing in the trash can after the race. Oh well, it was good while it lasted. Jonathan NEVER told me you could throw up if you ran too hard. I was so naive!

Anyways.... Jonathan actually enjoys running together... I just enjoy being together while we run :) But running is good. This has been the hardest half to train for. I honestly didn't think I could do it with 3 kids. And b/c of 3 kids, it required a lot more running on my own (which I really don't prefer), and a lot less running together. I depend a lot on Jonathan's encouragement and mental strength to help me finish long runs. I ran 8 miles a few weeks ago on my own. But I had my music... and it was actually a really special time with hearing God's Word through music.

For my own notes: Henry is 5 1/2, and he can easily ride his bike 3-4 miles, he would ride longer but his helmet starts to drive him nuts, and we can't blame him. But it was great on some of our shorter runs. He could go with us and we'd put the two little ones in the stroller. It was a very fun family outing and everyone enjoyed. Or, if one of us was running we'd just take Henry. He loved it, and he would talk, talk, talk the entire time. It was so, so cute!