i played the lottery and won

what did i win? a spot in the 2012 houston marathon.

on june 1, registration opened for the marathon and half marathon. terri and i immediately threw down our credit cards and got our name in the pot. we've been talking about houston like it was a given, but in all reality, it wasn't. so when this registration closed last thursday and the word went out that everyone would know by monday, i got anxious and excited. i checked my email and bank account all weekend long, waiting. i felt like i was waiting to hear news on the scale of a new job or something. instead, i was waiting to hear if i get in a 26.2 mile run where it will take me 4 hours and cause me pain. ha!

sunday, terri, me and the mauls lounged at the pool, and i constantly checked my email. nothing. sunday night, working on a final exam for school, nothing. laying in bed trying to sleep, nothing. this morning, i woke up to go teach my spin class, and like i always do, i peer at my phone with one eye barely open. i saw an email. i opened it. and there it was, my receipt for the registration fee. i knew terri would be asleep, so i refrained from texting her at 5:15 a.m. to tell her to check her email immediately. i made it through spin class, and finally felt like 7 a.m. was ok to text her. she texted back about an hour later with one word, IN.



terri and i have been excited about this race for one main reason, the olympic marathon trials. what a great opportunity to see some of our best marathon runners at one venue. i was able to see the 2004 trials in birmingham, and i was thrilled at the thought of seeing them again. the thing that made us nervous was that one of us would get in and the other wouldn't. no one likes traveling to these things alone. so we were relieved and excited all at once. i did the half at this race in 2005, and it is still my PR in the half. that's not saying much because i've only done 3 official halves. i know it's a well done race, so i'm looking forward to an opportunity to PR again there.

this race isn't until january 15, so before i can get to houston, i have to go through tupelo.