I married a phenom. Most of you know this, but for those of you that don't, let me take a moment to explain. His name is Brent…and he is good at EVERYTHING. Now, some of you may be shaking your head and saying "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah…aren't ALL women supposed to gloat and brag about how talented and awesome their husbands are?" But seriously, for real, EVERYTHING. Granted he has put a lot of time into certain endeavors to be great at them, but most things he is above mediocre without even trying.
For example, I remember back in high school when hacky sacks were big. Remember those? Well a couple of guys thought they'd try one out, see if they were any good. Everyone failed pretty miserably, but there was Brent, bouncing the sack all over, even performing some "tricks" he'd seen other people try before.
Last summer my dad and uncle invited him to go biking with them. My dad and Creighton are serious about their biking-- serious enough to own spandex, and for grown men in their 50s, that's pretty serious if you ask me. They were a little concerned that Brent wouldn't be able to just hop on the bike and go with them, as this particular day they were going to bike about 40-50 miles. But when Brent figured out the gear changes and went buzzing past them up a hill at about mile 20, they figured he'd be alright.
This past year Brent decided he wanted to start running more seriously. In my opinion, all running is serious business as it could result in severe pain and discomfort. But for him, this meant setting goals. He raced in his first 1/2 marathon last April. His goal for this one was to just survive. Well, he did awesome, as I presumed he would: First in his age bracket, second over all. Sheesh.
And then he caught the bug.
In October we traveled to Kansas City [shout out to CARRIE for letting us stay at her place! :)], and he ran another 1/2 marathon, this time trying to better his time. He ran it in under 1:35, and finished 17th out of 317 in his age division!
He then did a little 5K Jingle Bell run thing for a charity and took time off until after Christmas. And then he decided…"Hmm, I should probably run a full marathon next year." Because that's what I was thinking as I stuffed my face with Holiday treats too.
So he would put on his layers and head out in the cold. He ran another half in May [and I'll have you know we left the house at 5 to get there on time, I saw him off at the starting line, then crawled in the backseat of the car and slept, woke up an hour later and went and watched him cross the finish line :)].
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| After his race in May. |
At the end of June he started his FOR REAL training for the FULL MARATHON he signed up for in OCTOBER. [And he paid too…can you believe people PAY to put themselves through these things?!] He has been faithfully running every day he is supposed to, for the distance he is supposed to [according to some pre-mapped out training schedule], except two days when he was sick [fair enough].
Three weekends ago, for fun, he decided to do a little mini triathalon in a nearby town. First one ever. He had to swim 200 meters [don't let those Olympic athletes fool you…200 meters is A LOT and it is HARD], then biked 8 miles, then ran 2 miles.
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| Just before he started…cool as a cucumber. |
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| After swim…and he's off on his bike. This picture was snapped very quickly because he took off way faster than we thought he would. |
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| After the swim, Blythe was no longer entertained. |
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| And then he literally SPRINTED to the finish line…and got first in his age group. He was 24th overall out of 199. Blythe woke up in time to make it up to the "podium" with him. She wore her pink, "Just Do It" onesie for the occasion. |
I am so AMAZED by his discipline. He wants to have his evenings with Blythe and me, so he gets up crazy early every morning to get his runs in. He never complains about being sore, though I know he must be sometimes.
Even though he is so talented, he also is very driven. He works extremely hard. He pushes himself. And I am constantly surprised at what he is able to achieve.
Keep up the hard work, Brent. I am so proud of you.
And I'm sure someday soon Blythe will want to go running with her Daddy!
5 comments:
:)
No I totally understand the whole good at EVERYTHING...even before he was taller than me, I couldnt believe raw talent he possessed. Rickdiculous!! But like you said he works hard, so once he decided,"hmm I'll try it"..he would go from good to awesome in like 4 days,,,so dumb;)
But I think it made me more proud than jealous. I dont know he might have told you I'd complain about it, I would never have told him otherwise probably;) haha ..siblings. BUT I'll shout it from the mountain tops, I love my baby brother, you're amazing!
Hey but dont sell yourself short missy, I am so proud of you and your insane writing skills and insane memory like grandma;) um what else? you are gorgeous, hilarious and I am so Proud to call you my sister. Like I said before I am so happy you are in our family and you are with my brother, oh plus good looking babies. I must see all of you soon!
Aunt B
I will be looking for a man like Brent to paddle with me in the 2013MR340. Since he is already fit all we would need to is a few 50 mile river trips in the spring and perhaps a 100 mile trip a couple of weeks before the race.
I married into a whole family of those types. Sigh. In my family, I was the athletic one. Now? Notsomuch.
one day, when all my dreams come true, we will sit on the front porch together, watching our CRAZY men run into the sunset (like that 2nd to last pic (which is INCREDIBLE, by the way).
and then we'll go inside, have some pie (I don't know why it's pie, but it is), and wait for them inside the air conditioning. :)
that is my idea of a "perfect run" - watching someone else while I enjoy dessert. and I think you probably agree. :)
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