He makes it look easy

I ran a 5k once. Wait, let me rephrase...I ran about two-thirds of a 5k once and walked the other third trying to keep the vomit from coming out of my mouth. It was pathetic.

Yeah. I am not a runner.

About 8 months ago Ricky made a spur of the moment decision to run the Austin Marathon. He got an email about joining "Team Ronald" to help raise money for the Ronald McDonald House and on a whim, signed up that night.

Such a great cause! To be a part of Team Ronald for your next race, click here!

I was all "um, isn't that a pretty big commitment to make so quickly, especially since you are not a serious runner?"

And he was all "why yes, yes it is but I already hit send so now I'm in SCREWED!!!!"

In all seriousness, Ricky is a very goal-driven person. And he keeps his word. So there was no turning back.

He set his alarm for 6am several times a week to run before work. He sacrificed many opportunities to sleep in on Saturdays to go train with a group downtown before the boys or I even got out of bed. When he hit a road-block by injuring his calf muscle with just weeks to go, rather than use it as an excuse to give up, he enlisted the help of a physical therapist and followed a revised training schedule to ensure he would be at his best come race day.

Last night, Ricky was a big ball of nerves. He tossed and turned because that's what he does when he thinks too much about needing a really good nights sleep. He slipped out of the house at 4:15 to give himself more than enough time to get downtown amidst the road closures and parking shortages. And because he was probably too antsy to wait around any longer.

The race officially started at 7am just as the boys were coming downstairs to snuggle. Instead, we got dressed, loaded up the car with the wagon, a few hours worth of snacks and a few good friends who wanted to come cheer Ricky on (our neighbor Abbi and her little boy Wyatt). We found a perfect spot where the course weaves through a neighborhood and set up camp on the sidewalk.

The boys had a great time yelling for the runners as they whizzed by us. When daddy approached we all screamed and jumped and hollered. It was such a proud moment as Ricky's wife - and one that I am so glad to have shared with the boys.

Cutest cheering section ever!

They got to see their daddy accomplish something after many months of hard work. Each time he walked out the door after work to run, they noticed. Standing there today, seeing the thousands of athletes pass us by, they finally understood what it was daddy was working towards.

Despite his recent injury, Ricky finished the marathon - all 26.2 miles of it - in 4 hours 35 minutes. A photographer snapped his pic at the finish and told him, "You're going to want to go online and view this one, it doesn't even look like you just ran a marathon!"

I swear, there is nothing that man can't do. And do well. And look good doing.

So proud of you babe!