We just got back from a really cool weekend in DC where I got see the sights, eat at some cool restaurants, watch the Browns win for the second straight game for the first time in four years, watch the Red Sox win their second World Series in four years (more on that soon), and oh, by the way, watched Lauren rip up the field in the 32nd Marine Corps Marathon!
Lauren absolutely kicked it in the race, and despite some pretty serious leg cramps, gutted out a time of 3 hours, 53 minutes and 28 seconds. Runners will tell you that coming in under 4 hours is pretty much what separates the "runners" from those just trying to finish a marathon, so this is a pretty huge deal. Lots of hard work and training, plus fighting through some physical issues on race day.
I'm going to brag a little because I know Lauren never will... But a quick look at her results tells us that her time puts her at:
- 126th out of 1350 Women age 35-39 (top 9%)
- 748th out of 8061 Total Women (top 9%)
- 3626th out of 20674 Total Finishers (top 17% OVERALL)
All of that despite really having some tough physical issues to overcome. Think about that... she was faster than 17048 other entrants... Imagine what she might have done if her day had gone perfectly!
Now, I won't pretend to understand the appeal of running 26.2 miles, and especially not at that pace... :-) But I will tell you that I am crazy proud today and had a great time being the support crew for Team Lauren. Getting ready for a race like this takes a level of commitment that I'm not sure I have (and I suspect that few do), and she did a great job balancing a job, two kids, volunteer responsibilities, etc. Awesome effort and obviously some very impressive results.
Congratulations, Lauren!
September 30, 2007... Amazingly, another year has passed and Ally and Ty celebrated their fourth birthdays last weekend. This will probably end up reading a lot like last year's birthday post, but it is really crazy that four years could have passed by so quickly. It's been an awesome ride so far, and despite the occasional stress points, Lauren and I really have enjoyed every minute. This birthday was a wonderful reminder of many things... how much fun it is to watch them develop from infants to kids who can think and speak and express their individuality, to how lucky and blessed we are to have two such perfectly healthy kids (evidenced in many ways, but particularly on the grow board!) and to what a wonderful supporting cast we have with friends and family. As usual, the generosity and thoughtfulness of our circle was overwhelming.
We kept the celebration to immediate family this year, and it really was a nice day. This was the first year that the kids have woken up in the morning with a real sense of what day it was (I'm REALLY looking forward to Christmas this year) and the excitement was really cool to see. The big gifts this year were new beds/bedding and two new bikes. Probably both well overdue, as they'd really outgrown the predecessors in each category. Pretty much all the gifts were done by 9am, and we spent the rest of the day playing outside (Mom and Dad had a race) and trekking the Stowe Bike Path on the new rides.
Ally helped us to pick out a very cute (and very *little girl*) bedding set:
And Tyler chose a very cool (and very *little boy*) Tractor Bed setup:
So, another year passed, several more inches grown and an increasingly happy family. Thanks to everyone who remembered Ally and Ty's big day with cards, gifts and phone calls -- it was really special to hear from everyone. We look forward to seeing everyone soon!
