Quad Cities Half Marathon 2016

Yet another race is in the books! This past Sunday I ran in the Quad Cities half marathon. This was my 4th half marathon and I was able to post yet another PR time finishing in 2:19:28 which is more than 10 minutes faster then my previous PR.

It was a beautiful day to run a race and I was lucky enough to do it running beside the most beautiful woman that I know, my wife! This was her first ever half marathon and I feel so blessed and lucky to have been able to run it with her. Early this year she started showing interest in running a half marathon. After a couple of months I went ahead and signed her up for the Quad Cities half, because in our house, if you bring up running a race, then you had better do it.

First Half Marathon!

She asked me to coach her and requested that I run it with her. I put a training plan together for her that included running the Bix 7 in late July and got her plenty of miles in before the race. Her determination and willingness to listen to my suggestions was the first thing that impressed me. Don't get me wrong, I had no doubt that she could do it, I was just concerned that she may convince herself otherwise. The more she ran, the more that I saw her self confidence grow. And not to sound too sappy, but it made me fall in love with her even more than I already was. Thinking back over the summer, I can't remember more then 1 or 2 times that she missed a training run.

The race went quite well for both of us. My mother-in-law and our oldest daughter came out to watch us. We first saw them around mile 4 holding up signs and cheering like crazy, then they then greeted us at the finish line. It was a very special moment for all of us. Abigail got to see mommy and daddy accomplishing something great and learned a valuable lesson about hard work paying off. Erin not only became a gorgeous and fit woman, she also learned how to believe in herself.

We finished together

Our Biggest Fan

 I can honestly say that I have never been more proud of anyone, then I am of Erin right now. She truly is beautiful, both inside and out and I am so lucky to be able to call her my wife.

AMAZING!!!

In a few weeks we will have another opportunity to race together as we will be participating on a marathon relay team for the IMT Des Moines marathon. Beyond that, I'm not quite sure what the future holds, but whatever it is, I'm just glad I get to do it with her.