Ready to Race

October 10, 2015

Ready to Race

Ready. Set. Race!

We were quite an active family last weekend. In some capacity, all four of us participated in the racing festivities. Some us crawled, some jogged and some attempted to run.

This year Harper upgraded to the half mile run. Mitch was planning on running with her, but Emmett and I somehow got sucked into the starting line. I noticed other strollers, so I figured why not do this all together - right? We were in the last heat and when we heard the "ready, set, GO!" we were off. Harper ran the first .25 without issues, but by the time we made the turn to the finish line she was yelling, "I could really use some water!" After a quick sip, her smile returned and she was off again. I showed her just how close were were to the finish line hoping she wouldn't ask for another water break. She hustled her way across the line and accepted her medal. Harper's first official race was complete and she did great!

After the half mile race, it was Emmett's turn to show us his stuff. Since he still isn't walking, we signed him up for the Diaper Dash so he could show off his expert crawling techniques. The Diaper Dash is more of a photo opportunity for parents. It gives us an excuse to put our kiddos in cute athletic wear, pin a race bib on them and reach for our cameras. Emmett was clearly one of the older kids in the circle which also made him one of the most impatient. He's a mover and groover, so sitting still isn't always an easy task. It only took a few minutes of sitting before he had enough and started crawling - before the "race" actually begun. By the time I heard "GO!" Emmett was halfway across the line. So technically that means he won, right? :) We collected Emmett's medal which he decided was the perfect chew toy.

It was a fun, active day celebrating our two medalists.

I was dreading my 10-mile race Sunday. This year I didn't train, so I knew in the back of my head it wouldn't be pretty. I ran maybe a total of 4 times before the race, 6-miles being the farthest distance. To be honest, I was surprised I even made it 6 miles in my "training" without falling over.

One positive of race day, the weather was beautiful. It was in the high 40's to start, but it truly ended up being perfect running weather. The first 6.5 miles went surprisingly well. I felt great and my pace was pretty consistent. Around mile 7, my left knee started to hurt. Running is 100% a mental game for me, so I did my best not to think of that knee - but by mile 7.5 I couldn't think of anything else. My strides turned into a limp/jog and when I passed mile 8 a shooting pain made it's way to my left hip. I felt like I was 100 years old dealing with knee and hip pains.

Most of mile 8 was spent walking/limping/jogging. I was frustrated knowing I only had two miles left - but the thought of running two miles seemed impossible. I was thankful to see the mile 9 marker knowing I only had 1 more to go. I found a running style that didn't hurt my hip so I stuck with that for the final mile. Let me very clear, I'm using the term "running" loosely - it was more of a shuffle but I was determined to make it to that finish line.

As I came down the hill I saw the finish line I had crossed with Harper the day before. Hallelujah, the end was near! Usually I like to kick it up the last mile and make it my fasted mile - but not this time. I was just happy I wasn't crawling across the finish line like Emmett. I heard Mitch yelling for me and managed to wave and flash a smile. I crossed the finish line in what turned out to be my slowest race to-date, but that's okay because I finished.

After this race I realized a few important things.

1. I'm not as young as I used to be.

2. Procrastination is not a good idea when it comes to training.

3. Next time I do this, I hope to remember how uncomfortable the last 2 miles were. Hopefully I've learned my lesson and I'll actually get my booty out there and run before!

4. I still finished - so I should give myself a little pat on the back. :)

Earlier this month Austin had a very special birthday - he's officially 21! Somehow my baby brother is now old enough to legally go to the bar and order a beer. When the heck did that happen???

We celebrated with a dinner at El Rodeo which is pretty standard for Austin's birthday. Since my Mom insists that we always have cake and ice cream on your birthday - we forced ourselves to eat carrot cake afterwards. Mitch took the kiddos home when we were done while the rest of us went to Duffy's in Osseo for Austin's first legal drink.

I felt like I was in college again, going out on a Thursday night! The only difference between college Tristan and today Tristan was it was 8pm and I could barely contain my yawns and I wished I was in bed wearing sweatpants. I powered through and cheers'd Austin on his new 21 year-old status. Enjoy the next couple years Aust, because then real life starts and you'll be in sweatpants by 8pm! :)

We recently took the kids to their first high school football game of the season. We didn't have very high expectations since asking a 3-year old and 1-year to sit in bleachers for an extended period of time usually isn't successful. Surprisingly, Emmett was quite content sitting on our lap watching the game. Harper was just fine once she got her bag of popcorn. We ended up lasting 2 1/2 quarters, which is about 2 quarters more than we were expecting. Success!