Detroit Half Marathon with my Pops!

Happy Sunday Readers!

Sorry for being so MIA, but this past week has been crazy between starting my new 'real' job as well as working my part time gig, running, and trying to maintain sanity.

Butttt.....I wanted to write a post celebrating my Poppy!  Today he completed his first half marathon and I am proud to say that I had the opportunity to run with him.  It was a great day in Detroit!

Me and Pop early morning pre-race (thanks for getting up to take a pic mom!)

The day began bright and early - 4:30am!  Pops and I headed downtown early to beat the traffic, donned our old sweats and garbage bags and snuck illegally into the people-mover shelter to stay warm pre-race.  It was so dark out, even as we made our way into our "C" corral.  Suddenly (15 minutes before I expected!) the race began and we were off!  My pop gave me the game plan ahead of time - to maintain 8:15 miles as long as we could.  I had my Garmin and was in charge of the pace.  The pace groups and corrals worked great, it was so easy to get a good position and the pace felt great with everyone around running around the same pace.  2 miles in, we made our way up the Ambassador Bridge which was gorgeous and one of my favorite parts of the race.  The sun was rising and freighter was driving under us "tooting" its horn- so pretty!  Down the bridge into Canada and along the waterfront.  Pops was holding up well and we were hitting just over 8 minute miles, so I knew we were ahead of pace.  Suddenly, it was already time to go back to the US via the tunnel so down we went!  It got HOT in the tunnel as we got timed for our "underwater" mile.  The breeze was very welcomed coming up and out of the tunnel.  Pops was feeling good, despite some sock/orthodic rubbing issues.  Our pace wasn't dropping too much and I knew we were on target to go sub 1:50 (Pops' goal was sub 2, but I, being the running genius that I am, knew he was in shape for sub-1:50).  Suddenly we were back downtown and the finish line was in sight!  Seeing the finish and running along side my dad was my favorite part of the race.  I felt so priveledged to be a part of this experience with him.  I race so often that I forget how great a triumph it really is each time.  So many people do not have parents who could do such a thing- run a half marathon!  I am so lucky to be able to have two parents who I share running with.  Crossing the line in 1:48:48 - the race was perfect.  Pops recovered easily and we grabbed some bananas and attempted to find the expo (with no success, although I had carried my credit card with me the whole race!)  Once we were thoroughly freezing, we headed back to the car.

Pops, post race with sweet blanket and medal

Me post-race with my bad ass pink jacket.

Yikes!  Super - close self portrait!

The morning was complete with a post-race breakfast of spinach omlette and hashbrowns at a local diner!

Then the afternoon was spent doing a second 'workout' - shopping with my mom for work clothes!  So. fun.  That + frozen yogurt.  Basically my life is complete.

Buttt...where did weekend go?  Between working my part time gig yesterday morning, driving to the parents, the race, and prepping for the week I cannot believe it's back to the grind tomorrow!  Its all good though.  Today was one of those days I just feel so blessed and satisfied.  Hope y'all had a good one too!

Let's embrace the week, k?