Woohooo! I have successfully completed my first half marathon! The race was put on by Lululemon in Vancouver, Canada. Since the girls don't have passports they had to stay here with our friends the VanDerbeken's! From what Kenley has said (that I understand) it sounds like they had a blast! 

Brian and I had a great time on our little getaway too! It was far from a romantic vacation but when you have 2 little kids any alone time is special. 

The area by the water in Vancouver was gorgeous! Vancouver is a weird city because the street that our hotel was on was SUPER shady, but just one street over and it was super nice with super expensive shops and fine dining restaurants. I didn't expect it to feel like we were in a foreign county but it kinda did. It was basically like a more liberal Seattle if you can believe that. 

The race route... Stanley Park was gorgeous!

 I almost bought this for my sister because I think it's hilarious, but it was like $12 for a tiny bag so I didn't. 

 I feel like Lululemon chose to do lots of things differently than most races do. For example we had wrist bands instead of race bibs. Which kind of makes sense that so many people wearing Lululemon wouldn't want to put holes in their expensive shirts! They also sent out shorts instead of race shirts. I thought the the shorts were ugly so I sold them on ebay and planned to buy something at the SeaWheeze showcase store but sadly by the time we got to the showcase everything was super picked over. 

I know it is petty but I really wanted something that said "Seawheeze half marathon" on it and they just didn't have that available. Even our finisher medals just said "Sweat once a day". I was pretty disappointed. For the expensive price of this race I don't think it was worth it. I don't think that I will run this race again instead I will try to find a more serious race to run next summer. I do think this race was a great first time race though because the focus was more on the events of the whole weekend rather than just the race. 

 I wasn't expecting much from my performance in this race. I still had lingering cold symptoms, I still had horrible hives all over my body, and I slept horribly the night before the race. Needless to say I was not feeling my best. 

Here I am waiting in my corral. It felt like forever but I think it was only half an hour. 

 Since we didn't want to get tons of roaming charges we turned our phones to airplane mode the whole time we were in Canada. The downside was that I couldn't run with my phone and we didn't bring Brian's garmin so I had no idea how I was pacing. About 3 miles in I passed the 2 hr 30 min pace "beaver" and my goal became just to stay in front of him. I knew if I stayed in front of him I would do well with my goal to finish in under 2 hrs 30 mins. 

 The race was a little bit frustrating because it seemed like there were tons of people walking. I have nothing against walking, but if you are going to walk then pull to the right and do not stop in the middle of the lane and talk to your friends. I felt like I had to bob and weave the whole race and there were quite a few times were I almost ran directly into people. I also felt like the pace corrals should have been followed better. If you are stopping to walk within the first 2 miles of the race then why would you put yourself in a sub 2 hour pace group?!? Okay end of rant! :) 

In the end I finished in 2 hours 22 minutes and 8 seconds! I beat my goal! 

After the race there were 2 concerts that we had planned to stay for but instead we decided to head home early because we were both tired and ready to be home! 

I have finished a half marathon! Yay! Now I just need to figure out what is next for me fitness wise! P90X? Start training for a Triathlon? Start training for the Seattle to Portland? Get my spin class certification? Get into yoga? Start a workout group with my friends? 

I want to do it all!


***Update: this blogger did a post about the SeaWheeze and she took pictures along the route of all the entertaining things that they had for us to look at. My favorite was the mermaids.. obviously! :) 

Adoption Run 10k Race Recap!

June 9th, Brian, Brenda, the girls, and I ran The Adoption Run 10k on Centennial Trail in Snohomish. Proceeds from the adoption run go to Antioch Adoptions whose goal is to provide no fee adoptions for local Christian families. 

Pre-race snuggles with my CLo... 

Kenley hamming it up before the race...

Stretching with Granny Brenda... 

The run went great! Brian pushed the girls in the stroller and ran at his own pace while Brenda and I stuck together. We finished in 1 hour and 1 minute. We were hoping for under an hour but we were both pretty pleased that we ran the whole thing and that we completed our first 10k race!

Here are some screenshots that I snagged from the website... 

In the following picture you will see that at the end Brenda decided to sprint it out. I could not keep up with her. I would however like the record to note the difference in our leg lengths :) 

After the race our sweaty group picture! 

Wounded Warrior Memorial Day 5k

Last year Brian and I walked the Wounded Warrior 5k together and during the walk I told him that next year I would run it with him. That was really the turning point where I started exercising regularly and trying to live healthier overall. I am proud to say that a year later I was able to run it with my man! Wowza he made me run too... That boy has a MUCH faster pace than I do, even when he is the one pushing the stroller! 

 It was a bit chilly and windy so Kenley used her blanket to block the wind. It make me laugh so I had to snap a picture! 

My running company...

 How cute are CLo's little Nike's?

 I can't get over the cuteness! 

 Afterward Kenley and Claire threw some rocks in the water with Daddy. We are very thankful for this day that we got to spend with our Marine! 

I keep all my race bibs and write the date and my time on them. One day when we have a workout/treadmill room I want to fill a wall with all of my race bibs! 

Next year I will spread the word about this race so that all of you can join us! It is a little race put on by the Marines of the UW ROTC Program and the proceeds go to the Wounded Warrior Fund. Who is game to join us next year on Memorial Day to sweat and support a great cause?