Erika and I headed out early this morning for my first half marathon. The race started at 7 a.m. and it was incredibly cold and very windy. I felt great the first nine miles. The course was flat, the wind was at our backs and the scenery was gorgeous. At each mile marker Erika would announce our split and we'd give each other knucks and yell "Go Team Grampie." Dedicating this race to our grandfather took the focus off our individual accomplishment and made it greater than our singular effort. Our race was dedicated to a man that never gives up, always keeps pushing ahead no matter how difficult things get. It made it much easier to keep going, knowing that we were running in his honor. And we needed that inspiration after we hit mile nine when we saw our nemesis looming out in front of us. The bridge that would carry us to Manteo, where the race finishes, was very steep and long and there was a fierce cross wind. We decided we needed to HTFU and power that bad boy out. When we reached the top the feeling I had was amazing. We did it. The most difficult part of the entire course and we killed it. Awesome. Of course, I couldn't have predicted that we would run the last several miles with the cold wind blowing against us. That completely sucked. We had committed to finishing the race together and, if it wasn't for Erika's cheerleading the last mile-and-a-half, I think I would have fallen down and cried. Would have been nice if I'd actually trained like I should have! We crossed over the mile 13 (in the pics below) and I couldn't even garner any excitement. I was completely focused on putting one foot in front of the other and finishing this bad boy. We came around the corner...the finish was in sight...even then, no emotion, just focus...step, breathe, step...Erika reached for my hand and we ran holding hands as people cheered "Go Team Grampie" and crossed the finish together. It was an awesome moment and one I'll never forget. My official time was 2:18.41 and Erika took almost a minute off her time from last year. Go Team GRAMPIE!!! Sunday, November 11, 2007
Go Team Grampie! 
Erika and I headed out early this morning for my first half marathon. The race started at 7 a.m. and it was incredibly cold and very windy. I felt great the first nine miles. The course was flat, the wind was at our backs and the scenery was gorgeous. At each mile marker Erika would announce our split and we'd give each other knucks and yell "Go Team Grampie." Dedicating this race to our grandfather took the focus off our individual accomplishment and made it greater than our singular effort. Our race was dedicated to a man that never gives up, always keeps pushing ahead no matter how difficult things get. It made it much easier to keep going, knowing that we were running in his honor. And we needed that inspiration after we hit mile nine when we saw our nemesis looming out in front of us. The bridge that would carry us to Manteo, where the race finishes, was very steep and long and there was a fierce cross wind. We decided we needed to HTFU and power that bad boy out. When we reached the top the feeling I had was amazing. We did it. The most difficult part of the entire course and we killed it. Awesome. Of course, I couldn't have predicted that we would run the last several miles with the cold wind blowing against us. That completely sucked. We had committed to finishing the race together and, if it wasn't for Erika's cheerleading the last mile-and-a-half, I think I would have fallen down and cried. Would have been nice if I'd actually trained like I should have! We crossed over the mile 13 (in the pics below) and I couldn't even garner any excitement. I was completely focused on putting one foot in front of the other and finishing this bad boy. We came around the corner...the finish was in sight...even then, no emotion, just focus...step, breathe, step...Erika reached for my hand and we ran holding hands as people cheered "Go Team Grampie" and crossed the finish together. It was an awesome moment and one I'll never forget. My official time was 2:18.41 and Erika took almost a minute off her time from last year. Go Team GRAMPIE!!!
Erika and I headed out early this morning for my first half marathon. The race started at 7 a.m. and it was incredibly cold and very windy. I felt great the first nine miles. The course was flat, the wind was at our backs and the scenery was gorgeous. At each mile marker Erika would announce our split and we'd give each other knucks and yell "Go Team Grampie." Dedicating this race to our grandfather took the focus off our individual accomplishment and made it greater than our singular effort. Our race was dedicated to a man that never gives up, always keeps pushing ahead no matter how difficult things get. It made it much easier to keep going, knowing that we were running in his honor. And we needed that inspiration after we hit mile nine when we saw our nemesis looming out in front of us. The bridge that would carry us to Manteo, where the race finishes, was very steep and long and there was a fierce cross wind. We decided we needed to HTFU and power that bad boy out. When we reached the top the feeling I had was amazing. We did it. The most difficult part of the entire course and we killed it. Awesome. Of course, I couldn't have predicted that we would run the last several miles with the cold wind blowing against us. That completely sucked. We had committed to finishing the race together and, if it wasn't for Erika's cheerleading the last mile-and-a-half, I think I would have fallen down and cried. Would have been nice if I'd actually trained like I should have! We crossed over the mile 13 (in the pics below) and I couldn't even garner any excitement. I was completely focused on putting one foot in front of the other and finishing this bad boy. We came around the corner...the finish was in sight...even then, no emotion, just focus...step, breathe, step...Erika reached for my hand and we ran holding hands as people cheered "Go Team Grampie" and crossed the finish together. It was an awesome moment and one I'll never forget. My official time was 2:18.41 and Erika took almost a minute off her time from last year. Go Team GRAMPIE!!! 
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Touring OBXOur morning began with a walk along the beach. It was beautiful outside, but oh that water was cold! We met up with Erika's friends for lunch (super yummy fish tacos) and headed over to the expo to pick up our race packets. From there, we went to Manteo to check out the race finish. Now we're hanging out at the hotel resting up for our big run tomorrow. Go Team Grampie!
Team Grampie
North Georgia Runners!!!!
I spotted this little round thing on the beach and noticed that it was moving. I called "biology sis" over to take a look. Turns out it was a little sea cucumber. She threw it back into the sea so it could find its way home.
Shadow Sisters
At the expo
This is the happiest I'm gonna look at mile 13!
Once we checked out the course, we headed into Manteo for a cup of hot cider. Then I relaxed in an oversize aidriondrack chair.
Me with the hot guy I met at the coffee shop.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Sistopher ColumbusOn our way to North Carolina, Erika and I got a little turned around with our directions. Would we find our way? Dun, Dun, Da, Dun...Sistopher Columbus to the rescue! We found a new route and made it to the new world (aka Outer Banks) safely.
We're hear to run the OBX 1/2 Marathon on Sunday. We decided that to keep focused and remain inspired all 13.1 miles, we needed to dedicate the race to someone. So....Team Grampie was born. We both have a tremendous amount of love and respect for our grandfather and it's only fitting that we dedicate a race to him. He's had a rough several months, but his strength of spirit carries him through. We made our 'Team Grampie' shirts tonight. We run Sunday morning at 7 a.m. Go Team!
Monday, November 05, 2007
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Last Run of the Season
Saturday's Regional meet was "do or die" for the guys cross country team. In order to compete in the state meet they had to finish fourth. All seven varsity runners ran tough -- everyone finishing with their best time of the season and Brett and Cameron broke school records. You can't ask for any more than that! Unfortunately, the team placed seventh in the region and won't be competing in the state competition next week. The season is over and I'm sad to see it end. It's been a wonderful experience for Colton and we both look forward to next year! Blogger seems to be having some technical issues and loading more photos is not possible right now. I'll try to get more up later when it's working again.
And they're off! I had an awesome action shot of Colton and mistakenly deleted it when I was trying to load it to the blog. Every time I saw him on the course I yelled "HTFU" (inspired by our cousin, the Ironman, JW) and he really pushed it...he finished with a personal best time of 18:04!
After the race with Kaleigh.
Saturday's Regional meet was "do or die" for the guys cross country team. In order to compete in the state meet they had to finish fourth. All seven varsity runners ran tough -- everyone finishing with their best time of the season and Brett and Cameron broke school records. You can't ask for any more than that! Unfortunately, the team placed seventh in the region and won't be competing in the state competition next week. The season is over and I'm sad to see it end. It's been a wonderful experience for Colton and we both look forward to next year! Blogger seems to be having some technical issues and loading more photos is not possible right now. I'll try to get more up later when it's working again.
And they're off! I had an awesome action shot of Colton and mistakenly deleted it when I was trying to load it to the blog. Every time I saw him on the course I yelled "HTFU" (inspired by our cousin, the Ironman, JW) and he really pushed it...he finished with a personal best time of 18:04!
After the race with Kaleigh.
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