Marathon weekend! The accumulation of weeks of training, the anticipation of finishing, goals accomplished, commraderie with friends and training partners, unity among family members cheering on father and husband, agony of injury, and support of many. These are all emotions that one can feel on marathon weekend. We are so EXTREMELY proud of Boomer this weekend. We are proud of his accomplishment, of what he taught us, and the things that we learned. We are grateful to a Heavenly Father that kept him safe and mobile, when he could have been in pretty bad shape. We are grateful that he listened to his body, but never quit. He is an example to us all of being victorious in a situation when he could have felt defeated. We love him and are grateful for his health and ambitions.
This marathon was one of highs and lows. His time wasn't his fastest, in fact it was his slowest. He began with 2 injuries and ended with 3. He started with a pulled groin and a strained ankle from a previous injury, but was determined that he would still run the marathon. He felt great and did great up until about mile 14. His pace til then was averaging about a 8 minute mile and he was on track to qualify for Boston, which was his goal this year. After mile 14, is a down hill that is quite steep and was reaking havoc on his pulled groin. He started to feel pain now instead of discomfort, but kept going. About mile 20, he had the worst calf cramping he has ever felt. So much that they locked up and he almost fell on his face. A nice man grabbed him before he did. From then on, he tried running on and off but it was too painful. Instead of quitting he walked the remaining 6 miles.
When his expected time of 3:30 passed and so did 4 hours, I was extremely worried. I wasn't leaving my spot until he came in. All of his running friends had crossed the finish line, but no Boomer. My mind wandered and I had such anxiety that he had injured himself to the point of going to the hospital. I waited......then in the distance I saw him. I was grateful he was walking and so very proud of him that he didn't quit. I will never forget the look on his face when he saw me in the crowd, he looked defeated and I knew what he was thinking. I waved so he knew that I was waiting and that I was so proud of him. I felt the tears sting my eyes as I realized that I loved him more today than yesterday and that he was my heroe.
Jensen's swim team held its annual 5K on Saturday morning. Jensen, Kim Taylor and I participated in the fun event to help raise money for the Cavemen Swim Team. This was Jensen's first 5K race and he did great! They had over a hundred runners there to support the Swim Team.
Jensen approaching the finish line. He only stopped once to tie his shoe and ran the whole way. He was nervous, as usual, about running because he hadn't ever ran before, but he did great and pushed it hard at the end.
Jensen finished in 28:18. I was very proud of him that he chose to run the 5K instead of running just the mile, which was an option. It did take me coaxing him a bit.
Kim and I ran as well. She is my faithful running partner and I don't think I would exercise half as much if I didn't know she would be there eaiting for me. Thanks for all her support and being there to run with me on Saturday. It was a fun way to start our Saturday morning.
We finished in 29:50. We wanted to finish under 30 minutes...so go us!
