OVER THE RIVER RUN 2013

The Over the River Run was this morning. I ran the 5-mile and James did the 1-mile fun run. I'd been nervous for the past day (I'm ALWAYS nervous before races, just like in high school cross country and track, and youth roller skating), but I had reasonable expectations for myself (running a pace I've hit during tempo runs, or faster) so I knew I could perform well as long as I didn't completely freak out. I'd trained smart over the past week, rested up, and iced/stretched/rolled until my legs felt awesome. I even did a little warm up run around my neighborhood before we left for the race so that my calves would be loose. I felt good! Just nauseated. And my hands were like ice. Once on site, we met up with the Sanchez, Kennedy, and Hall families at the starting line. Jay and Alex graciously volunteered to watch EIGHT kids while the rest of the parents ran (mind you, Alex is sick with bronchitis and has ZERO voice, and with his back issues can't lift kids, while Jay is still a one-legged man for the most part - though his voice works just fine!) Once they called the runners to the starting line, we lined up and took a group photo, got our Garmins to search out the satellites, and awaited the beep (no gun was used). 

Me, Sophie, Christina, (one of Christina's friends - sorry, I don't know her name!), and Emmie

My mile splits were 8:14, 8:29, 8:33, 8:56, 8:40 for a grand total of 42:52 (8:34/mile pace), a finish time that I'm very proud of (my goal was to beat 45:00)! The first mile and a half or so is a nice, barely noticeable downhill slope over the bridge. My start pace didn't scare me because I knew I was using the downhill, even though I had to weave around folks a bit to keep my pace. At 3/4 mile in, Sophie bounced past me with her headphones in and I saw her slow up to chat with Lee for a quick bit (one of the ladies I run with on Thursdays at 5am), so I set my sights on Lee, then passed her. I had no plans to chase Sophie down because I know how much faster her 5K pace is than mine. After that I didn't see anyone I knew until I neared the turnaround, as the fast runners came flying back past me: first Kristi, then Ashley, then Al, then Lori (another 5am runner), then Sophie. Next thing I knew it was my turn, and I saw Christina running with Lee shortly after I made the turn. I also spied JP (another 5am-er) heading to the turn. I watched for Eric (Ashley's husband), Amy and Terry (more 5am-ers that I thought were racing today), and Suzanne (my new coworker), but I never saw them. I cheered loud and proud for all my buddies (and I didn't care if I used "precious" energy doing so - racing is all about the fun for me right now, even with time goals in mind, and I wanted to cheer on my friends). I kept looking at my Garmin every few minutes and was surprised I was holding an 8:30 pace so regularly (I figured I'd be running 9:00 miles). I felt like I was working hard, but not so hard that I was dying. I wanted to be able to keep a consistent pace all the way through the finish. As I got back on the bridge, with just over a mile and a half to go, my pace slowed to 9:00 and I was totally OK with that, since it's a slight UPHILL climb all the way back across the river. I fell in stride with a girl wearing a Pentagon shirt, and we basically paced each other until we hit the final uphill ramp to the finish line. At that point I started sprinting to break away from her, but she stayed right with me and we came in right next to each other. I thanked her later for pushing me all the way to the end. You never know what's going to happen in a race and whether the day will be a good one for you, so I am just so grateful that I had a good day, that my legs are still getting stronger every month, that I enjoyed myself, that my family was there to cheer me on, that I have so many friends here locally that are also runners fighting the personal PR fight with me, and that I am healthy and happy and MOVING FORWARD. It was a great race!

Moms and their boys

 After cheering in the other runners and walkers, we got the boys ready for their 1-mile race.

James did SO WELL. He ran the whole mile (except for a quick water stop walk break at the halfway point), most of it while holding my hand, and with zero tears or worries. He had FUN! He high-fived all the volunteers out on the bridge and thought he was hot potatoes for doing so! I kept asking him if he was ok, if he needed a break, if he wanted to let go of my hand and run by himself, and he just kept telling me "I want to keep doing THIS!" with a big 'ol smile on his face. He rocks. And I'm super proud of him for trying so hard. He finished in 11:43 (official) and was so happy to get his medal. He told me "You have to run the WHOLE TIME to get a medal!" (I explained that it's ok to walk in a race if you need to, but I don't think he was listening. He was looking for his buddies so they could take a victory photo.)

 We can't wait until daddy can "walk on his two legs" again (as the kids say) and get back into running, and we're hopeful that Cora will find a love for the sport as well. It feels SO GOOD to get out there and work your body to its limits, build those muscles (including the HEART!), and enjoy that runner's high. We want our kids to know how important it is to us that they love exercise and keep themselves healthy, their whole lives. Plus, lots of races have discounted family registrations ;-)

Official Times:
Kristi - 34:35 (1st in her age group, 19th out of 450)
Eric - 35:28 (24th out of 450)
Ashley - 36:46 (2nd in her age group, 35th out of 450)
Al - 38:59 (55th out of 450)
Amy - 40:37 (1st in her age group, 76th out of 450)
Sophie - 41:40 (3rd in her age group, 98th out of 450)
Lori - 42:06 (102nd out of 450)
Terry - 42:56 (115th out of 450)
Denise - 43:12 (5th in my age group, 120th out of 450)
Lee - 44:30 (140th out of 450)
Christina - 44:47 (150th out of 450)
JP - 47:48 (193rd out of 450)
James - 11:40 (7th in his age group, 50th out of 68)
Manu - 13:24 (61st out of 68)
Will - 15:33 (63rd out of 68)

3rd TIME'S STILL A FAIL

Yet again, we fail at the school picture day sibling portrait...

(At least James was into it. He did great in his solo photo as well. Cora, all grumpiness, all the way.)

 

Just like spring of 2013 and fall of 2012 (at least those times the fail was due to underpants and half-hearted smiles, not outright angry face). Maybe we'll get lucky next time around and get a repeat of the spring of 2012? (Oh they were so LITTLE back then!)

THE GRASS IS GREENER

Cora enjoys soccer practice with her daddy and big brother so much more than she does with her own team. I can't say I blame her though... her coach is pretty unorganized and none of the 3-year-olds are into it at all, so it's always just chaos combined with a lot of standing around. At least she's learning some skills from Coach Jay though!

HERE COMES HALLOWEEN

Finally cool enough for long-sleeved Halloween shirts today, and the kiddos were SO HAPPY!

MISSING OUR MOUTON

We lost our Mouton this weekend.

He'd been living in the sunroom with Maxine since the end of August (because his naughty behavior was escalating, not just harming household items, but also his sister) and had recently begun spending time outdoors over the past two weeks, while supervised by us (because he was curious, and he always loved laying in the sunshine). We let him out Friday morning as usual, but he refused to come back inside as we were leaving for work. So we let him stay out with Maxine, as he wanted. We were out late that night, and couldn't get him to come when we called him, either when we got home or at bedtime. Same thing Saturday. He wouldn't come for me or Jay or the kids. By this morning we were getting worried because we'd had a large thunderstorm come through in the early hours of the day and we knew he would be hungry and scared. And he'd never been out more than a day and a half before. I looked for him before I went for my run, and again when I got home, and still nothing. Before lunch, once the rain had really cleared and we'd hoped he'd come out of hiding, we tried again.

We found him down the hill near the back of our property. He'd been bitten by a snake, probably back on Friday. We are so upset to have lost our special little guy, and feel so guilty for letting him stay outside unsupervised. Being an indoor cat his whole life, he was unprepared to come across a snake. We came inside to tell the kids immediately. Cora brought me a washcloth for my tears and told me it would be ok, sweet thing. James cried along with us. Jay went back out and took good care of Mouton, laying him to rest beside the big hollow log that he'd sheltered himself in once long ago on another night that he'd gotten out of the house (unexpectedly) and was too scared to come back inside by himself, and I'd had to pull him out, cooing to him the entire time, and carry him in. Jay planted a fern on top of the spot, and we later took the kids out to say our goodbyes and lay a fresh gardenia from the garden.

We've cried off and on today, as has James (and Cora has as well, though we don't think she really understands what's happened - she has the words, and has asked a lot of questions, but I think she's more concerned about seeing her mommy and daddy cry than anything else). James walked up to me at one point this afternoon and said "Mommy, I have to tell you something" and when I said, ok, go ahead, he told me "Mouton isn't going to get to enjoy Halloween with us!", then promptly broke down into sobs. He gets it. Of course, at bedtime as I was tucking Cora in, after she'd see me crying again (I'd just gone out to feed and water Maxine and Jude...), she told me "I'm so sorry Mouton is dead Mommy, I loved him so very much." So maybe she does get it. Breaking my heart.

So our Mouton is gone. The kitty who thought he was a puppy, loved to snuggle, sleep in crazy positions all over the house in any nook or cranny he could squeeze himself into, who never took no for an answer when he wanted to be pet and/or sit in your lap, who howled and talked incessantly and ran around like he was possessed on full moon nights, who had the absolute softest fur of any cat we've ever known, and who was so very loved by all of us. We miss him a lot already. Goodbye Mouton.

MAKING MOMMY SMILE

Spinning the cart in circles at Home Depot while daddy gets blinds cut to size for the kids' rooms. We're taking down the drapes because the kiddos have recently been wrapping them into "vines" and swinging from them...

Showing me how they "keep their monster hands to themselves", a very important lesson...

WHAT'S HARDER?...

...picking up your books and toys, or push-ups?



(James decided that push-ups were easier. Joke's on him though, since we still made him put all his books away after the timer went off. But we helped with the toys, because we're suckers.)

On a side note, check out that form! He's got his mama beat. And he can do more than me too...



SOCCER PICTURE DAY

DR. JANDO

Alex completed his PhD defense and dissertation back in July, and Jay brewed him a Saison in celebration, so this evening we got together for a park picnic BBQ and brew graduation party. After a nap in the car, Cora was ready to run wild for a couple more hours and James was thrilled to get to have a second adventure for the day AND get to play with his best buddy. There was lots of hide-and-seek played.

ALL SMILES!

The kids both had a FULL WEEK of smiley face reports, so we rewarded them with a trip to the Children's Museum (we needed to go to Jackson anyway, to return the Rollabout scooter). They knew this morning what the plan was, and when we picked them up after lunch we heard all about how they were telling all their friends that they got to go on an adventure this afternoon, and that they were SO EXCITED all morning that their teachers couldn't help but smile and just let them go on and on about it.

On the ride to Jackson, neither kid napped. Instead, they plotted their attack on the museum as far as which activities they wanted to do and in what order. Turns out we had the place practically to ourselves, so they were able to do EVERYTHING (even attend a special art class) and we spend a full 3 hours following them around and enjoying their happiness. Happiness is contagious, you know.

Once she found the dress-up clothes, the Sleeping Beauty gown went on, and she refused to take it off until it was time to leave, even though it was huge on her and she had to carry the hem everywhere she went...

As always, the success of an adventure is measured by the exhaustion of the kids afterward.

MILLION MILE WRAP-UP

The Million Mile Run is complete, and participants have collectively run or walked over 204,590 miles! I haven't seen a fundraising total yet, as they are accepting donations until the end of October (and some runners are still logging their miles, manually, so the tally will go up), but I reached my goals of 100 miles (I ran 105 last month!) and $250 in donations thanks to many of you. THANK YOU for helping me reach these goals - they mean a lot to me, and my runs last month felt extra good knowing they served a special purpose.

So far, marathon training is going great. I averaged 26 miles/week over the first 5 weeks of training, and while I've had some shin pain, I've been able to keep it under control with icing (and getting new shoes already - my last pair barely made it through the end of September and were retired with 300 miles on them - minimalist shoes don't have nearly the lifespan of traditional shoes). I'm finally starting to get into speedwork now (I've been quite unmotivated to do it in the heat and humidity, and pre-dawn hours, but with Over the River Run just a week away now I figured I better get moving!) and am really looking forward to more longer (and LONGER) runs with my buddies. I'll be averaging 30+ miles/week within the next few weeks, and I know I haven't done that since high school, so it should be exciting!

OCTOBER STONEHEADS

They've been begging for these jammies for weeks (ever since they arrived in the mail). We've got two happy "stoneheads" in our house now!

Flashback from October 1, 2011. Oh my goodness how they've grown...

DENTIST DAY!

The kids went to the dentist this morning (a couple months late for their 6-month cleaning, since we switched them over from the pediatric dentist in Jackson to our new family dentist here in town - hooray for no driving AND no co-pays!) and it was their best appointment yet. The other place was expensive, and we didn't like them because they didn't let the parents go back to the exam room (one giant room with 5 exam tables...) Our new dentist is awesome (and honest, unlike our last dentist here...) and his dental hygienists are so friendly and gentle. I knew James would do well, but he impressed me with being extra helpful for the hygienist (opening his mouth wide, moving his tongue out of the way, answering her questions, etc.). Having cartoons to watch (after a weekend of TV/movie restriction...), barely 6" from his face, didn't hurt the deal either.

Cora watched James' exam, cleaning, and flouride application with noticeable apprehension and she asked me to leave twice... Then when it was her turn (and she'd seen that James was allowed to pick a prize from the treasure chest), she surprised me and climbed right into the exam chair. Once there though, she got a look of horror on her face...

She is extremely attached to that little kitty cat Beanie Baby these days... It goes everywhere with her, she won't sleep without it, and after just a couple weeks it's already covered in Cora slobber from her chewing on it's face...

After a quick tooth count and some explanation of the different tools and what they were for, she shut down. She didn't want the hygienist's hands anywhere near her mouth and she immediately blocked her with her own hands. We tried to talk her into cooperating (and bribed her with TWO prizes from the treasure chest). Even James sweetly took her hand to try and calm her down (without any prompting from me, mind you - he's just that sweet of a kid), but nothing worked. She cried and scrambled out of the chair, over James, and up into my arms. We were going to give up, but with the promise of sitting on my lap throughout the cleaning, she gave it another shot. And luckily she held herself together just fine after that, through the cleaning and flouride, and letting the dentist check her out.

The final report is that both kids have perfect teeth. No cavities, no issues. The only thing the dentist mentioned is the likelihood of James needing braces someday. We're not at all surprised by that though, since his smile leaves no room for new, bigger, adult teeth, and both his parents had to have braces/retainers when they were kids. Cora, on the other hand, should be just fine without braces - those tooth gaps are going to come in handy!!