My Marathoner

One of my great joys as a husband is to watch Gayle take on new challenges and conquer them. Her photography business is in full swing, she's an outstanding mother of two, and now ... she's a marathoner! Gayle's training started around March, when she ran the River Run in Jacksonville (finished in top 10% overall). Then she ran the Bolder Boulder (and recieved a top-20 finsiher's medal). Then she ran two half marathons at around a 7:50 or 7:55 pace (the second of which she finished 14th out of 600 or so), and then she geared up for the Denver Marathon. With Barry as her Coach, and me as her supporter, Gayle got in as many workouts as she could. Some she enjoyed, some were painful. But regardless, they prepared her to run the Denver Marathon last Sunday.

Fortunatey, the weather was absolutely perfect. In fact, Denver enjoyed near record highs that day, around 83 degrees. But it was 43 when she started, and in the 60s when she finished. I met our friend Dan Eakin and watched Gayle go by at mile 5. Then I saw her again at Mile 10 and she was just cruising along with, as always, a smile on her face. Then I met our dear friend Lauren McMonagle at Mile 13, where we saw Gayle go by. Then Gayle looped back again and we saw Gayle at Mile 15. There I started running with Gayle, avoiding all the aid stations, and cutting any corner I could. Although she had to stop in the bathroom way more times than she hoped for (at least 3 when I was running with her - all for over 2 minutes), Gayle kept running, and running, and running. At around Mile 17, Dan Eakin, Laura Eakin, and Laura's brother Chris joined us on their bikes and rode alongside of us for several miles. Laura is a seasoned marathon runner, and Gayle cannot thank her enough for her company and encouragement. After the Eakin's left us around Mile 22, fatigue started to set in a bit. But after a brief minute of walking, Gayle was off and running again. Special thanks to Barry Brooks, who provided on-the-fly text message advice in response to my questions. How many people get that? ;)

I ditched Gayle at Mile 25 and told her I'd see her at the finish. I did manage, however, to snap a picture of Gayle running under the 26 mile marker. Then I ran to the finish and, about 100 yards in advance, saw Gayle. I got into the road and gave Gayle a High 5, a moment I will never forget. She crossed the finish line with hands held high, finishing in under 4 hours (3 hours, 57 minutes), an outstanding time for a first marathon.

I'm so proud of her, and know the memories will last both of us a lifetime. Gayle and I both know that we won't be able to run forever. But for as long as God lets us, we're going to enjoy it.

Our Bike Escort Service - terrible picture, but great Company and Support. Thanks Eakins.

GREAT JOB GAYLE - YOU MAKE ME PROUD.

The Boys

Time passes quickly, and the boys don't quit growing up, both to my great delight and sadness. We've gotten into a pretty good routine of me coming home at night with enough time to play a few minutes with Wyatt, then put him to bed at around 7. Then we eat and Austin usually has his second dinner. Then I play with Austin for awhile, then put him to bed. Then .. Gayle and I work! Sweet huh? In more detail, at this moment in time:

Austin: Continues with preschool three times a week. He seems to really enjoy it, and has become very proud of the art projects he brings home. Gayle had the good idea of hanging the projects up on a wall in his room, and he shows them to me when I get home. We talk about what the project is and how he did it. He's always very proud. Austin had a field trip to a fire station with his preschool class, and since then, he's oftentimes donned his own homemade firefighter's outfit. All on his own, he found boots to wear, puts on the fireman's hat he got from the fieldtrip, and wears his orange backpack. It's just adorable.

Lately, Austin and I have played a lot of football, baseball, and soccer together. He's getting so good at all of them. In the last two weeks, his catching skills have really improved thanks to a lot of time he and Gayle have spent on it.

Austin can count to 20, but usually misses 13 (superstitious? We're working on it). He's starting to understand addition, and asked me what "math" means. He's got an unbelievable memory, and can recite the nursery rhymes we read every night. He's got a curious mind, and lately has been very interested in volcanoes. He watches videos of eruptions on You Tube with Gayle.

Wyatt Wyatt's really come into his own. As Gayle describes him, he has higher highs than Austin, but lower lows too. The highs are great. The lows are tough. But he's just adorable. I feel badly that it's oftentimes hard to play with Wyatt when I'm trying to play with Austin. If I try to focus on Wyatt, Austin interferes. But we'll find the balance soon enough. Like all younger brothers, Wyatt will probably do everything even earlier than Austin did. Wyatt can now say many words - over 50 of the 100 in his "First Words" book. My favorite is how he says his bunny's name "Flopsy." He says "Oppy." Melts my heart. He makes sounds like a dog, fire truck, and monkey. He loves to laugh, and really loves to be tickled. I live for the guttural laugh I'll get out of him when I come home at night and tickle him.

I have just one picture from my phone. I took this a few weekends ago when Gayle was doing a photo shoot and I took the boys to the playground. Wyatt ran into a piece of equipmnet intentionally, thus the blood on his mouth.