Fort Langley Half Marathon February 17th, 2013 Today I ran my first half marathon race of this year. One down, four more to go. What a great run; everything about it was perfect. The weather was nice and sunny, I got to run with my friends and Ron surprised us with a quick visit before the race. What an angel! I woke up at 5am to have my smoothie and went back to bed for one more hour of sleep. Melanie picked me up at 7am and we got to Fort Langley by 7:20. We met Laura there and head straight to the bathroom (you always have to make sure there is nothing in your bladder before a race). The line was 30 minutes long! While we were waiting in line we saw Ron and talked to him. He walked us to the washrooms, held our stuff (water bottles, gloves, etc.) while we went in and then gave us his blessings. We started the race around 8:15am and it took us 2:25 minutes to finish it. Not very fast, but we had all agreed that this race was going to be an easy one for all of us; one of the reasons being my short time training for it (just a month after I recovered from a surgery). The trick to survive the long runs without getting overwhelmed by all the pains that start bugging you after 13-14 kilometers, is talking. You got to talk. You have to tell stories and discuss important topics, you have to argue and fix the world and everyone’s marriages while you run. Today we talked about finances and how each one of us manages our money in our relationships. We talked about our ages (I am the oldest one, 36 years old. Laura and Melanie are 33) and how great we feel now. We all agreed that we would not change who we are now for who we were 10 years ago. We agreed that we love the way we think, our jobs, our bodies, our families, etc. By the time we hit kilometer 19 we decided to pick up the pace, to go a little faster. It is always a great feeling to see that you still have extra energy to push your body harder. We started passing lots of runners that were struggling to finish. When we were almost there, Melanie started slowing down. She was tired (we all were). Laura and I grabbed each one a hand and pull her close to us. We had to finish together. We ran together the whole time and she did her share of talking, so we had to do our share of pushing her at the end. We crossed the line together, holding hands. How cool! Running is not always about being the fastest one. It is about having fun, enjoying the views, enjoying your friends and being there for each other. Running 21 kilometers by yourself is not the same experience as running them with your friends. This makes it completely different. And there is not a greater pleasure than knowing that your friends are there for you and you are there for them. My animal lover note: during this past week I sold scarfs to race funds for PETA. Lots of people joined the cause by buying a scarf. I really appreciate their help. I love you guys!