Day 194 - A big week for my boys.

This week was pretty special for two of the young men in my life. Firstly - my son managed to complete his first ever Ultra marathon yesterday - an achievement that has put him in a very different category as a runner!

I couldn't have been happier as we walked towards the start line of the Two Oceans marathon here in Cape Town at 05:30 yesterday morning. When we got to the t-junction in the road where the half marathon runners turned right and those partaking in the ultra had to head left, my husband and I wished him well and I had to swallow very hard as I watched him disappear amongst the thousands of other competitors.

As for myself, I had started off with all the good intentions in the world when I started 'training' for my own 21 km run a few weeks ago. I had however, I'm afraid to say, once again fallen of the bus as far as my training goes. All my good intentions remained exactly that and the few runs I managed to squeeze in certainly wasn't enough to prepare me for what lay ahead. As always, when I do this to myself, I make a silent promise that it will never happen again!

Anyway, there wasn't much I could do about it and feeling a bit like a lamb being led to the slaughterhouse, I followed my husband to the start. Luckily for me, he is a devoted cyclist and even though he's not really running fit, his commitment to his cycling ensures that he is pretty fit anyway and for the first time ever, he stayed with me for almost the entire race, encouraging me and helping up the hills that seemed never ending!

I finished in 2hrs 38minutes and am glad to say, I was still standing at the end of it all! Thanks to my husband and a generous supply of energy drinks and gels, I can now say that I have completed five half marathons! Who would have thought!

As for my child - he was still standing after a gruelling 56 kilometres on the road! He ran it in 6hrs 26minutes - I am SO proud of him! Despite suffering from severe cramps the entire final 25 kilometres, he finished with a smile and I'm sure if there was a roof over the stadium, it would have blown right off when he came in, we shouted so loud! 

He lives abroad and being part of this truly special event in his life has been something that will make this 2011 Easter memorable for us for many years to come!

As for the other young man in my life - my little grandson went to the movies for the first time ever. My daughter and her friend took their two boys, who happen to be best buddies, to see their first big screen movie, complete with the customary boxes of popcorn!

All went well and they sat through the entire movie, hardly visible behind the massive popcorn boxes!

Another milestone reached. Looking at the expressions on the faces of the two proud mums, I know exactly what they're feeling! After all, it wasn't that long ago that I sat through 'The Little Mermaid' with a certain little girl and a massive box of popcorn myself!

Friends forever!

 (My grandson is on the right here - those boots even have to be put under the blankets with him when he goes to sleep at night!)

As you can see, we are having a blessed Easter indeed! I have all my chicks at home and all's well. I can't help thinking how incredible it would be to one day walk the Camino with all of them in tow!

A happy and peaceful Easter to you all, wherever you may be!