Race Recap

What a weekend! These past few days have been so much fun and I have so many great memories that I'll never forget. We kicked off the weekend by celebrating my 26th birthday. My mom joined Ryan and I for lunch that day and later that evening Ryan and I went out to eat to celebrate at one of our favorite local restaurants. It was nice to have an evening just the two of us and I always cherish our date nights. I also want to note how it always amazes by that amount of calls, texts, facebook messages I get on my birthday and it truly made my day. Thanks to everyone!

On Saturday we met up with Aaron, Nicole, Alison and Mark and headed to the expo to pick up our race packets. We picked up our bibs, running chips and t-shirts and mapped out the details for the next day. Alison, Mark, Nicole and I were running our first half marathon and all of our families were cheering us on. We spent that afternoon discussing where we would see them while running, where to meet up afterwards, etc. Later that day we all went home and relaxed to get ready for next morning.

All the runners at the expo

I put out all of my clothes Saturday afternoon to get ready for the race. I knew Sunday morning would come early and I wanted to have everything out and ready. Of course I woke up at the crack of dawn so it wasn't really an issue but at least I was extra prepared.

Hmmm maybe Nike will sponsor me considering the amount of clothes I wear from them...

Sunday morning everyone met over at our house bright and early. Aaron had spent his Saturday night making everyone a sign and we loved them!! Thanks A! Most of them are inside jokes but I loved that he put the time and effort into them. We had to snap a pic with them before we left. Don't we look good considering it's only 5:30 am??

And we're off! Nicole and I are at mile 4.5 and we just saw our fan base. It was such an awesome feeling to see all our families and it really helped keep us going.

Our cute moms with the signs they made us! Loved it :)

We were so lucky to be able to see our friends and families throughout the race. It helps even more when your future sister-in-law is holding up such an awesome sign. Thanks Ryan & Courtney!!

Almost done! Nicole and I are on the home stretch and about to cross the finish line.

And we're done! I'm feeling pretty good and I had to get a pic with the best cheerleader of all :)

I also had to take a pic with the best running partner ever. We trained together and ran the 13.1 miles together. She really kept me going and pushed me through today. Thanks Nicky T - you're the best!!

Group shot of all the runners. We all finished strong and I'm so proud of all four of us for accomplishing this together.

After the race we all headed to Cyclones for brunch. It was definitely nice to sit down and enjoy some time with our families. We also had a few mimosas as well but we deserved it, right?? :)

Thanks Mom, Dad, Ryan, Ryan & Court for coming out to watch!

Alison & Mark with Ali's mom and sisters.

And lastly, Nicole with her fam.

The rest of the afternoon Ryan and I have been relaxing/sleeping on the couch. It's been a great weekend and such a fun way to celebrate and remember my 26th birthday.

Oh, and did I mention that Nicole and I finished the half in 2 hours, 2 min and 40 seconds??? I'm so proud of our time and still can't believe we were able to keep that pace up the whole time. Next year, maybe we can try to break 2 hours. What do you think Nicole??