My Marathon Man

Last year Tyler and I ran the Rock n' Roll Half Marathon in Seattle - my second time with that race, his first. The night before the race we went to the Expo to pick up our packets and perused the many vendors.  We were kid-less for the night so we took our time.  We came across an area where you could sign up for next year's race on a little kiosk thing.  The price was dramatically reduced and so I encouraged Ty to sign up (I was planning on having a small babe so I was a no-go).  He saw that the full marathon price was even cheaper than you would normally pay for the half marathon.  I'm not sure what got into him, but the man was inspired and signed up to run the full marathon!  Maybe because we strive for equality in our marriage and he didn't want to be outdone.  Ha! :)

Well, in January and February he was on a pretty good training course.  Then his pregnant wife got PUPPPs and needed him a lot more than she normally does at the end of a pregnancy.  He was also studying to take the PE (professional engineer) Exam, which is a big deal.  Then his wife had a baby.  Then he took the hugely consuming and extensive test.  Then he tried to get back into serious training mode...but by this time he was just a month and a half away from Marathon Day.  I knew he could do it, though.  And do it, he did. He's amazing.

I knew that with 4 kids and walking onto the ferry (meaning I would be car-less on the other side of the water) I wouldn't be able to be along the course to cheer him on, so we made a bunch of posters, took some pictures, and I wrote him a love/I-think-you-rock note and put them in an envelope for him to read and look at on his way to the race.  As Ty was leaving the kid's room the night before the race, Max said, "Dad!  Dig deep on your race."  Max had gone on a run earlier in the week with his Dad and Ty told Max what it meant to "dig deep". It was very cute. Ty said that brought tears to his eyes during the race when he thought about it.

So...race day.

Marathon morning Ty drove to the ferry at 4:30 a.m. to start the race at 7:00 a.m.  The kids and I caught the 9:30 ferry to meet him at the finish line.  We got off of the ferry and I got the text alert that he was already at Mile 20!  I was freaking out a little because I had 1 3/4 miles to trek with 4 kids in tow and a HUGE crowd to work my way through before he finished.  I was totally sweating pushing 3 kids in a stroller up the hills in Seattle with a babe strapped to my chest and I lamented out loud about how hard it was to push them.  Max said, "But you would do anything for Dad, right Mom?  Even if it's hard.  Because you reallllly love him."

We made it to the finish about 5 minutes before I saw him coming down the stretch.  I couldn't help but cry.  I KNOW how hard it is to run a marathon.  I also know that it would have been easier for him to do the marathon if he hadn't been such a good, attentive husband and bagged the runs he had planned to take when I was suffering from PUPPP.  I feel honored to be this man's wife.  I am so proud of him.  

We sure love our marathon man!!!