Running towards the prize...together!!!!

Well folks, here it is: the 2011 VA Beach Half Marathon weekend post I promised ya!

Let's start at the beginning: the car ride down to Fredericksburg, VA to meet up with my family!

Mom and dad and the boys minus Isaac

long car ride down south

We had a GREAT time with them even though it was short. I hadn't seen my family since May so I was very happy to spend a lil time with them. We stayed at a hotel in Fredericksburg and went to dinner at Carrabbas and then went for a little swim in the hotel pool/hot tub! The next morning we had breakfast in the lobby before heading out to the historical downtown area to walk around and take in the sights. It was a really cute little town and I'm so glad we stopped in and hung out with my fam!

But we had to leave eventually so we could continue our trip down south the VA beach and get to the expo to pick up our packets and swag bags! I didn't take a pic but we scored some cool stuff including two t-shirts that were on clearance. I'll try to take some pics of those soon!

Next we met up with Seth's parents! We all walked to the beach once they arrived and it felt so good to get out and stretch for both of us.

cussing is a no-no in VA beach ;)

We went out to dinner at Lone Star after we checked in to the hotel.

No pics, but I loaded up on bread and a southwestern style salad. Not bad!

Our wake up call the next morning of the race was 4 so we headed to bed at a reasonable time and woke up without too much trouble... Although it took Sethy a while to get in his groove ;) We had coffee and and half of a bagel with pb each.

We took the bus ride shuttle to the start of the race and Seth's parents were gracious enough to come with us and be our photographers and cheerleaders :)

still dark out...

my beast of a man- thanks mom for the shirt!

gettin pumped!

loved all the support!

Next thing we knew ( after several potty trips) we were off!

on the boardwalk at the finish!

We finished in 1:59 minutes!!! Our goal was under 2 hours so we met our goal! Seth did GREAT for his first time and it was so amazing to run this race together. It meant so much to both of us....

cooling off in the water afterwards

together and stronger than ever :)

I'm so proud of him!

It was a great experience overall and I think we might be back every year to run this race together...
it was emotional and wonderful in all the right ways... thanks to my in-laws for being there every second to support us!

After a one hour couples massage (which was AMAZING), we ended our trip on a high note at the Cheesecake Factory- as per tradition!

Great weekend and more good things to come... like a 10k this weekend and possibly another half marathon next weekend for me! Hehe.. I'm addicted just a little :)