I have been wanting to do a half marathon for a long time. I originally set this goal four years ago, after I had Anderson. Something happened the night before the race and I didn't run. I went through all the training and never got the glory of the race. It has always bothered me. I toyed with the idea of running this same race last year, but was 8 weeks pregnant with Taylor and sick as a dog. So, since I wasn't pregnant, and had no more excuses, I decided this year was it! I would do it, and crossed my fingers that nothing happened to keep me from finishing my goal. As soon as I told Justin that I wanted to do it, he immediately jumped on board so we could do it together. The race is on IE Island (pronounced ee-ay). We left Jack and Anderson with some friends and brought a babysitter to watch Taylor while we ran. We left early and hopped on the ferry.
Emi, our awesome babysitter.
The race was at 2:30 in the afternoon. A TERRIBLE time to start a race. We got there a couple hours early and had some yakisoba for lunch. Then we just hung around and enjoyed people watching.
Okinawan people have a funny style. We were getting a kick out of the stuff they were wearing. Apparently it helps you run faster if you wear...
...a mask
...2 pairs of pants and partial sleeves
...high heel gold tennis shoes and tights
...a man bag (a Japanese essential!! You are not a man, if you don't have a man bag.)
...toe socks
....a crazy, uneven, weird looking beard. And yes, he was totally picking his nose! Nasty. This guy didn't actually run, but he was too weird to leave out.
...and a hat with an airplane on top. These are just a few of the crazy things people were running in. One guy was in hot pink from head, to toe. Another one with a bright yellow spandex outfit, complete with a yellow hat and a rubber duck attached to the top. Or there was the guy in a nacho libre outfit. It was very entertaining.
Here we are...ready to go!
There were only a handful of Americans in the race. Probably less than ten, including us. During the race we passed by lots of Japanese people sitting out on the road cheering everyone on. They were so friendly and excited for everyone. It was a really neat experience. The race went around the majority of the island and we had a beautiful view of the coast most of the way.
Taylor was a champion for Emi while we were running. He had a HUGE blowout before the race and we were so glad that he didn't do it while Emi was watching him. It was definitely a two man job.
Here we are coming in to the finish line! I'll admit, this wasn't my best run. I felt tired and my knees were hurting pretty bad. But I finished, and I never stopped! Justin was nice and stayed with me the whole time cheering me on. I'm so glad we were able to do it together, the race and the training. Now we can check that off of our bucket list!
3 comments:
Seriously so proud of you guys! That is so awesome! Definitely on my bucket list! But it might be a couple more years before it gets checked off mine!! Way to go!
WAAAY to go! ummm, 2:30 start time sounds like the worst idea ever.... well, that and running in the gold heeled shoes. But what an amazing thing to do together and that is some AWESOME people watching! love catching up on your cute family!
Good Job Stacey!!! I remember you weren't able to run in with your second son because of a fluke accident in Cleveland but had done all the prep work. Way to go to still do it a couple years later. What a neat experience to be living abroad with your family, too! :)
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