13.1

  Today I ran in my second half-marathon which was the Via that started in Bethlehem and went to Easton.  I have been training all summer and during the first two weeks of school and felt pretty prepared for it.  I started running in the fall of 2003 while I was student teaching.  My cooperating teacher, Eileen Hower, was training for a marathon and was so inspirational and motivational.  Unfortunately, Eileen is another beautiful, wonderful woman who was taken too early from cancer.  I think of her often and am thankful to have met her and learned from her!!

 I decided several weeks ago I wanted to make a t-shirt to show other runners why I was running in this race.  I don't listen to music while I run and instead like to think about things.  Many of my thoughts focus around my mother and my children.  So -- I wanted to dedicate this race to them!

  I left our house at 6:15 AM and picked up my good friend, Steph.  Since Mike was home with the twinjas, Steph offered to ride over with me.  She truly is a great friend.  I also met up with a few other good friends before the race started...

Another Mama!!

Danielle, our theater director at NAHS!

   And at 7:00 AM, 894 runners began their journey.  I felt really, really good until mile 8.  Then I realized I was pushing myself a little bit too hard.  I backed off a bit, let myself recover, and felt much better around 10 miles.  During the race I thought about my mom, and wondered if Mike was successful in getting the twinjas up, fed, dressed, and to Easton in time to see me finish.

"Where are we??"

"We're here!!  Where's Mama?"

We love shoes!!!

"OK, seriously, where is she?"

"Yeah, I'm bored!"

I love the ends of races as all the fans clap, you can hear music being played, and the announcer reads off the names of those crossing the finish line.  I was also looking forward to seeing Mike, Steph, and the twins.  As I heard the announcer butcher my name, "Here comes Kelly Rote-chi" I spotted Mikey D!  What a nice surprise!  I then saw everyone else and was very glad that my second half-marathon had come to an end.

Can you find me in this picture??

Here I come!

My goal was under 2 hours...almost made it!

Cam says, "It's about time, lady!"

Time to eat!

Simply amazing.

   Another one in the books!