Half Marathon Half Pregnant

We did it! We finished the Crazy Horse Half Marathon healthy and happy. Several months ago we decided to run a 1/2 marathon. Then we found out we were pregnant. We kept running, and decided to keep up with our plans. The training was so much fun with our friends the Godfreys, and even more fun running the race with them, and also 6 of Abby's siblings and both parents.

There's nothing like working on a goal as a whole family. It was so satisfying and encouraging to be working together as a team, and a blast to ALL be together!

Our trip to the Black Hills, South Dakota started with an enjoyable drive from Omaha to Kadoka, SD. Sarah, Abby's sister flew from Philly to Omaha, so is was a treat to have her along in the car and talk and talk and talk. Andrew especially LOVED having her along!
We stayed in Kadoka the first night at a cute little hotel w/ the Godfreys. James managed to talk our hotel host into a free room, so we all got beds! Wow, that is something else.


The next morning we visited the Badlands National Park. Wow, the west sure is spectacular.

We went biking and hiking and enjoyed some incredible views, and nice warm hugs.

That evening we met up with the rest of my family from Orem. We all ordered all-you-can eat, and all-you -can-take-home-in-one-doggy-bag pasta dinner. Thanks mom and dad!

Andrew and Gabe had a great time cheering eachother on.

We all stayed together in the same lodge up in the mountains. The Cedars smelled SO good, and the colors were just incredible. Race day morning we got up around 4:30am, stuffed ourselves full of oatmeal, and headed for Crazy Horse Monument were our race started. Melissa and I were thankful to have happy boys along for the adventure, but even more glad to have strong husbands to push the strollers the whole 13.1 miles. Thank you!

Andrew had a luxurious ride. A perk with having a big stroller on a big race is that you can bring all the warm clothes you want, and shed them as you go. Hopefully Andrew was okay with that.

Right before the race.

Cute Godfreys getting pumped for the race.

Sisters Hannah and Sarah crossing the finish line. Sarah was lucky enough to get two different finish times, since she crossed twice. We were SOOO proud of Hannah for kicking her knees into shape for this race. She's had two knee surgeries, and has been so tough and determined. We love her, and are going to miss her terribly when she leaves on Dec. 3rd for Prauge, Chezck Repbulic, where she'll share the gospel of Jesus Christ for 18 months. But we are so happy for her.

We had a fun ride back to our lodge from the race finish in a VERY comfy bus.

Mt. Rushmore was breathtaking. Did you know Thomas Jefferson started on the left side of George Washington?
Sarah, Abby's sister



15 comments:

Rob and Marseille said...

Wow good job!!! How far along are you? I can't imagine running pregnant. Fun to do it as a family!

Lant Family said...

Congratulations on the half marathon and half pregnant! You are sure tough to keep at it and finish the goal. Great job.

Jenny said...

wow! way to go. i had a good enough time running mine not pregnant. i'm impressed!

Jenny said...

by the way...congratulations on the pregnancy too!:) that is really exciting.

Amelia said...

Congratulations! You are so awesome. Running a half marathon pregnant. You are the one that could do it, that's for sure.

Amelia said...

Was this the first blog announcement of the pregnancy, or did I miss that?

Hill-Mulford Family said...

Thank you soooooo much for finding this half-marathon for us. It was an amazing experience!

Love,

Mom and Dad Hill

Matthew and Hailey said...

Congrats on doing the half marathon and being pregnant! That is great that you followed through with your plans even after you found out you were pregnant. When are you due??

brittany said...

That is so neat that you ran a half marathon while being pregnant! You're my inspiration, i really should start running!

ditto to all of the questions posted above. :)

Mike J said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amy said...

Did I miss an earlier announcement of this pregnancy? If not, or if so, congratulations!

Ashley DeMille said...

Congratulations on your pregnancy!! and half marathon. Have you had an ultra sound yet? Maybe you'll have twins like Amelia!!! Good luck with your pregnancy and chasing a little boy around! It makes your pregnancy go by so fast.
~Ashley DeMille

Paige said...

Congrats on the pregnancy! & I'm impressed with anyone who can run half a marathon--especially someone who's pregnant! Way to go!

jennybhill said...

Ditto on all the comments of being impressed at running a half marathon half pregnant. Maybe Aaron already told you my comment, but I hope this doesn't mean that you are now training for a full marathon fully pregnant! Labor can be its own marathon anyway :)
You guys are awesome.

Angie said...

Increadible! Running a half a marathon while being pregnant is something, yet it doesn't surprise me to much:) When you are you do?