Parades Parades! [Part 2]

Welcome back for Part 2!

So as some/most of you may know, Chrissy has been diligently training to run a Half Marathon. A Half Marathon = 13.1 miles [that's crazy]! I personally don't know why anyone would want to put their body through that but I am very happy for her and completely support her ridiculous decision. She is a better person that I am :)

For the last 2 1/2 months sh has been training hard 5 days a week. Beginning with a "light" 4 mile run, she began working her way up week by week until she eventually ran a 13 miles mock marathon. I remember the day that she did this when she came back and collapsed on the ground. Her face had a look that said "Just Shoot Me" and "I'm going to throw up". A couple weeks later she was then fully trained and ready for the real race.

It was an early morning (5:15am to be exact). Competitor #20684 was primed and ready for action. The Tukwila starting line was packed full of eager and anxious participants. This scene can better be described by the song "Going The Distance" by Cake.

Reluctantly crouched at the starting line,
Engines pumping and thumping in time.
The green light flashes, the flags goes up,
Churning and burning, they yern for the cup.

The scene was set as the streets of Seattle were filled with 25,000 Runners. Some were running the Marathon some were running the Half Marathon. Some were prepped to hand out waters or precious electrolytes. Some were suited in full race gear while others donned costumes more suited for Halloween. Some were sitting on a grassy knoll awaiting for support with a camera in their hand, myself being the latter of those.

Chrissy ran the marathon with Kristin. She said that it was nice to have another person to talk with along the way. I suppose it would get a little boring running for 2+ hours without nothing to do [maybe I should have gave her my Gameboy]. After taking pictures and cheering her on at the 6 mile marker, I rushed downtown to Qwest Field (home of the Seahawks and Sounders) to watch her make the last 1/10th mile. She did so with a smile on her face. I'm so proud of her!

She was able to maintain a constant 10:00 minute mile pace throughout the entire race without slowing down once! She finished with a time of 2:12:34. And she didn't even look like death afterwards. She was treated to a free lettuce wrap from P.F. Changs as well as a gaggle of gifts for running. This concludes part 2 of our saga.

On a side note [or more importantly] I found the biggest box of Captian Crunch ever (with Crunch Berries of course)! It was like two of the biggest size boxes you can buy put together. And the best part was that it was only $3.79. It's been about a month and I still have some left. Awesome