Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon.

On Friday we left in the early evening for Chattanooga, TN. Kristie and I piled into that backseat of my subaru with blankets and pillows while the boys took on the task of driving and controlling the radio. John Mulaney’s newest stand up album kept us entertained until we got too hungry to laugh any more. We stopped at a pizza place somewhere along the way so Nate could load up on his pasta, and then we made our way to the hotel for sleep. The five hour drive seemed to go by pretty fast, but it felt like 3 in the morning when we got there. I swear, the time change is still jerking me around! I’m not sure why the one hour difference feels more like 3 or 4 this year but every night I’m all like, “Why are we still awake at 1am?!” when it’s 10pm. Once in the hotel, we contemplated the reason behind “pop corn” ceilings and went to sleep shortly after.

Jackson drove Nate to the marathon so very, very early in the morning. I woke up to see him off and barely remember being made fun of for my high pitched asleep voice and for saying “good luck” and “I love you” over and over. Next thing I know it’s like 11AM and Kristie and I are on the floor painting signs and googling the word “possimpible” (which is too big of a word for your average size poster). There was some jamming to the newest Taylor Swift album in the car and one stop at Starbucks on the way to the marathon – and then we finally made it. I was starting to get anxious thinking that Nate might crazily exceed his goal of finishing between 4:30-5 hours and that we would be never ever ever ever getting back together and sipping coffee in the car when he crossed the line. Thankfully that didn’t happen! We met up with his mom and two sisters (and baby Jackson) and waited at the finish line.

I am so happy that we were all able to be there for Nate on this day. I think it meant so much more to have his mom and sisters there, knowing that his dad was there in spirit as well. I’m so very proud of my marathoner!