Married to a Marathoner

"Please stop photographing me and let me lie down."

Keegan finished his first marathon today!  His time was 4:43.  He would have liked to run faster, but he wasn't able to finish his whole training program in the weeks before the race, so on the whole he's pretty happy to have made it to the finish line.  I am seriously impressed.

Keegan, Sophie, and I headed down to Virginia Beach before dawn this morning.  (My mom stayed here with Annabelle.)  We dropped Keegan off well before the start and hoped he would find a warm place to wait out of the persistent chilling wind.  Sophie and I went out for breakfast and enjoyed all kinds of breakfast treats.  I had Eggs Benedict, and Sophie had a pancake shaped like Mickey Mouse, which she found absolutely delightful.

After breakfast, we headed to the beach at Lynnhaven.  The only other people enjoying the beach in the frigid wind were dog owners with no choice, but we made the best of it.   Sophie was thrilled to be at the beach and immediately ran to the waves.  She was eager to collect seashells, and she indiscriminately scooped up as many as she could and tossed them into her bucket.  She chased a poor, unsuspecting seagull, and tried unsuccessfully to build a sand castle with too-dry sand.  I can't wait to spend more time at the beach once the weather is nicer.

The poor seagull is trying to just mind his own business.

Sorry, gull, you're going to have to fly to escape this one.

By this time Sophie was eager to say "Go, Daddy, go!" and see Keegan run by, so we drove to the marathon course and watched Keegan go by at around the 15-mile point.  We enjoyed seeing all the zany St. Patrick's Day costumes while we looked for Daddy.  He came by ahead of 4-hour pace, looking tired but strong.

Sophie napped in the car for a while, and finally it was time to go to the finish line and wait for Keegan.  The wind was whipping out on the boardwalk, and Sophie needed to be held so that she could see, and Keegan had slowed considerably, so it was a long wait.  I was proud of Sophie for being so patient and determined to wait to see her dad.  Finally, Keegan shuffled by, looking like a zombie, and totally ignoring our fervent cheering in his single-minded focus on the finish line.  We were all happy to see each other and get back to the warm car.

I'm so proud of Keegan for finishing!  So far, he seems to be feeling ok.  Sore, tired, and suffering from some serious chafing on his sides, but surprisingly cheerful and awake.  Now we are all wondering whether he will be able to get out of bed tomorrow.