Someone in my family has run in the Houston Half/Marathon for the past several years. My dad started running last year and agreed with my brothers and their wives to run in 2011. So it seemed only reasonable for me to run too. I got Jessica on board with me and shortly later, Ethan decided he would give it a try too. We all signed up for the lottery and amazingly, we were all chosen (by luck) for the race.

Oma flew into Nashville to stay with the girls and Jessica, Ethan and I flew to Houston. It was a wonderful weekend. I was able to spend time with my parents, introduce Jessica to Houston (I know her life is complete now), welcome a new Fetter into the world, enjoy my family and run another half marathon. It was a lot to accomplish in just 2.5 days.

I am very proud of how we all did. The weather was very sketchy, with the threat of thunderstorms and the possibility of cancellation. But we managed to run with only a little rain. Out of the 8 of us that ran, over half were struggling with an injury. I know Jessica, my running buddy, the one always at my side, pushed through the pain to finish. We ran about 10 miles together when she stopped for a drink. I hung over to the side, slowed down to wait for her, but she never emerged. Her legs had cramped up so bad when she stopped, she took a few minutes to get going again, but I had lost her in the crowd. I ran on to finish the race, as she kept encouraging me to do. My only goal was to get close to my first race time of 2:07. I realized at the 2 hour mark with 1.5 miles to go that I was not going to make that and I finished at 2:15. I really enjoyed this race. I don’t know if it was because I felt healthy and conditioned for it or the family all around, probably just the flat course, but I really enjoyed this experience. I know others struggled through it and I wished we could have all had the same experience. My oldest brother broke his hip last year, so he was fighting through the pain. His wife, tore/pulled her calf muscle a week before the race, so she was fighting. And my dad, who has had multiple retina surgeries that have left him with limited vision, was running awesome with the help of my brother to guide him. He was okay as long as no one snuck up on his blind side. And mom… she was a trooper because she sat out in the rain all by herself waiting for us to finish. She marked her spot and just waited. But unfortunately, she only saw 3 of the 8 of us finish. It is hard to pick people out of a crowd.

I am thankful for my health and that I was able to run this race. I am thankful for my friend who experienced this with me. I am thankful for my family and the time we have together. And I am thankful that Ethan was able to run with me this time and introduce him to the love of the race. He finished in 2:03 and we both decided we need a do-over to try to hit our goals. Maybe we can get another in this March.