Saturday, April 16, 2011

The best race is the one you don't run...

Um, how do I say this...Mr. Kummerow kicked butt today!
Look who's smiling!  Early this morning we were packed and ready to go.  Yet the weather was unrelenting.  Despite the on and off torrential downpours, Mr. Kummerow was prepared to tackle the longest run of his life.

We were out the door by 6am then swung by the Kosal's to pick them up and were off to Charlotte earlier than I wake-up most days of the week.
The rain let-up just as we arrived, which gave the boys some much needed confidence and allowed for dry start line spectating.  After a quick warm-up they were off.
Bye, honey!  Good luck!
Sandy and I waved the boys off and headed to mile 3 to cheer, scream and root for them.  After we saw them run by we popped into a bagel shop to warm up, dry off and sip some coffee.  My favorite part of the morning (other than watching Mr. Kummerow finish) was this moment:
It's a little blurry, however note the lady in pink.  While we were sitting at our table we watched two runners jump into the bagel shop, check out the merchandise, glance over the menu and then head back out to the race.  Weird, right?

We sat for a while and then it was time to make our way to the finish line.  It was difficult to get back; we kept turning down roads and getting caught in race traffic.  We made a huge circle around the race and finally were back to the finish line.
We only had a few minutes before the two hour mark.  Their goal was to finish under two hours, and though it was a difficult goal, I knew they could do it.  I began to get nervous as the minutes ticked by.  I waited in hopeful anticipation for the big finish.  I looked and clock read 1:59:00 and my stomach lurched.  Then it was 1:59:45 and I felt the pit deepen and widen.  I looked again- 1:59:59.  Argh...where are they?  And that's when I saw them.  Without seconds to lose Mr. Kummerow and Mr. Kosal rounded the corner and ran by us to the finish line!

With a respectable time of 2:00:13 Mr. Kummerow stopped the clock on the Garmin, donned his medal and I ran to meet him.
These expressions say it all!  They gave everything they had and pushed through the weather, the fast pace and finished strong.  I have never been so proud in my entire life.
It didn't take long for the glory to set in and finally we got some smiles out of them!
Several weeks ago, Mr. Kummerow mentioned his half mary goal of running 13.1 miles in two hours.  I was wowed by his goal but encouraged him not to be disappointed if he didn't make it and to lower his expectations for his first half marathon.  WIFE FAIL.  What a terrible person I can be some days.  Luckily I redeemed myself later after when I told him I totally believed he could meet his goal.  And I did.  Mr. Kummerow trained hard for this race.  I'm pretty sure my previous "low expectations" speech gave him a little motivation to run fast.  I could tell this morning that Mr. Kummerow was charged up and ready to run.  He certainly had something to prove.

After the race we settled in at a local diner for a late breakfast.  This restaurant find was meant to be: yummy breakfast carbs with lots of vegan options!
I am now pretty obsessed with the Flying Biscuit Cafe.  I wasn't feeling a 100% so I ordered an amazing sounding vegan BBQ burrito to go (I wanted it for lunch, but wasn't in the mood to eat it then).  It came with home fries so I ate those for breakfast with one of their famous biscuits.  The biscuits were so good, but probably not vegan.  Oh well.

Mr. Kummerow picked out the Scrambled Tofu for breakfast.  Lots of protein, good choice.
Altogether now:
The non-vegan options looked equally satisfying.  The Kosal's ordered an awesome looking omelet and the special, Carrot Cake Pancakes.  This is the perfect restaurant to please veggies and omnis alike! 

The food was delicious.  We haven't tried the burrito yet, but I am sure it is equally amazing!

This was my favorite race to date...even though I didn't run it.  It was way more fun to cheer on Mr. Kummerow.  I am so proud of his awesome accomplishment.  I will never under-estimate him again!  You can tell I was a little excited in this video:

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