BestFriend proves herself

What will get me and my family up at 5am on a Sunday? Not much. But one person can. Even when she says that I don't need to, that it isn't expected, that I am silly, I do it. Mom even came as a surprise. What was the event? BestFriend's first Half Maraton. Oh ya, that is big.

The celebration started yesterday. Well, first backtrack a little. This past year has been probably one of the hardest of her life. She went through a divorce and has had to do a lot of self-valuation. She and I met in Dec 2001 and hit it off right away - though the story is that I hated her at first. She was a complete change from my friend at the time. She supported me from the very beginning in anything I set my mind to.

When she decided to do the 3M Half Marathon I told her that I would not train for it. She was at my second half marathon, the main one. The best part of my race was seeing her on the route in a big green hat cheering me on. We do a lot of 5ks. She is a runner and I am a walker. This means that she is there when I cross the line, but I don't get to cheer her on. And with the 5ks that I have sat out, I have always missed her crossing. So I told her that this one was all about her.

She wanted to be alone yesterday. I would not stand for it. She needed to make today a big deal, she needed to recognize how big this is for her. So I kidnapped her. We picked up her race packet first (OMG when you do a 3M marathon you get SOOO many post it notes). Then we went to the Bazaar to try on wigs. BestFriend bought me a pink wig. We had too much fun. After this we needed a snack, off to Starbucks we go. On the way I put my wig on. When we got out of the car and I left it on, BestFriend was a little surprised. Yep, I wore it all day. After a quick stop a toy store we headed to a day spa for a mani/pedi. BestFriend put on her purple/gold wing on for this. It was so funny and so silly. After our hands were soft and toes pretty, we went to an early dinner at Kerby Lane, with the wigs on, of course. Now this is Austin, people have strange colored hair all over. We got the most looks at KerbyLane where the waiters have piercings all over, tattoos all over, and strange hair - so funny.

This morning began at 5am. At 5:30 I checked on Bug to see how she was. If she was sleeping soundly I would have Sweetie and Bug meet me at the finish. I told BestFriend I would take her to the race. She needed loving support right beforehand. But Bug was awake. She was ready to go. So Mom, Bug, Sweetie, and I all took BestFriend to the start. This turned out to be perfect as the parking was crazy and this way she didn't have to worry about it and we dropped her off near the start.We then went to near the 5k point, 3.1 miles. I wanted to see her early on, to see how she was holding up. Here is Mom and Bug waiting for BestFriend: Here is BestFriend at close to 3.1 point: Then we moved around the 10th mile marker: And last but not least, the finish line, picture courtesy of Sweetie who went to the 3rd level of a parking garage so he could get her crossing the finish line: She was hoping for a time less than 3 hours. She did less than 2.5 hours. She is amazing. I am very proud of her. It was a great weekend. I am so happy to be a part of such an important event for her.