My whole Sabbath resolution didn’t work out for me so well this weekend, but that’s alright – the past couple of days were filled with quality time with some of my favorite people, a couple of very satisfying checkmarks on my project list, and most importantly, a morning spent cheering on these rockstar runners at the Mercer Island Half Marathon.
Shane’s couch-to-marathon journey is the stuff of inspirational success stories – when we first got married, that guy couldn’t run a mile without doubling over in sweaty, breathless exhaustion. Â Now, Shane Lightning Schnell is running half marathons at 7:15 a mile. Â That’s right – he ran those whopping 13.1 miles in one hour and 35 minutes, crushing his personal record and finishing 133rd out of over 1500 runners. Â All those lunchtime runs in the cold and rain, all those Saturday mornings spent pounding the pavement, all those blisters and sore muscles, they all paid off. Â It felt so good to see him head toward the finish line with a smile on his face – I was so proud of him, and so happy to watch him experience the joy of meeting a hard-fought goal.
We all gathered at the 8 oz. Burger Bar post-race to toast the runners with beer and mimosas and milkshakes. Â Boy, did these guys ever earn their pints. Â I’m not sure what I did to earn my strawberry milkshake…we’ll call it my cheerleading award.
Shane spent the rest of the afternoon curled up in our bed, took today off to recuperate, and then hit the sack at 8:30 tonight. Â Looks like the speedy Roadrunner is no Spring chicken, but whatever – he’s still 100% stud.