Race Weekend!

Friday night was Lilly's big race. A free race for kids nine and under that hundreds of kids do. She did it last year and was excited to do it again this year. Last year they had the youngest go last, so we spent a lot of time waiting around in the freezing cold for her chance to run her 1/2 K. Friday they had the four and unders go first. Since we were running late, per usual, we arrived as the four year olds were coming out from the field to the starting line. This meant she didn't get a kid-sized t-shirt, but it also meant we didn't have to wait around for ages. Lilly ran the entire race and seemed to have a good time. Her friend Alma was refusing to do the race until she saw Lilly, and then took off like a shot to find her. They finished up the race together, and with their other friend Luke. Here are a few photos:

Running!

Caught up to her day care friend (and first kiss) Lukey

Quite the racing ensemble

An attempt to get a photo of three three-year-olds. Not successful.

Last year I signed up to do the Solstice Training group for the Cruisin' the Corridor 10K. Shortly into the training program I found out I was pregnant, so was limited to just the runs, not the interval work. Then I started puking every day and had hardly any energy. But, I did the slow build up in miles, and ran the race without stopping. This year, I signed up for the group again, without the limitations from last year. So, since the end of July I have been spending my Tuesday evenings running with the training group (most of them, some runs I have done on my own), Thursdays doing intervals (or most often on Saturdays doing the intervals at the track on my own), and Sundays doing the long run. The last few weeks I have been feeling great and running much faster than I normally would while out on my runs. I didn't feel any nerves, I wasn't scared, I was just excited to do the race. The race was simply fun. It also helped that the weather was perfect. A tailwind, temperature started out cold but ended up in the 50s and 60s, sunny, and beautiful fall leaves on the trail (most of the race is on the gravel corridor through the woods).

At the start I met up with one of the women from the training group (the woman who owns the store that sponsors the training group, actually) and we ran the first four miles together, chatting and running at a decent clip. Katie wanted to run the entire race and my pace was pushing her a bit too much to do that, so I ran the last two miles on my own. I felt like I was flying and it felt great. I could have kept running and had no pains, discomfort, anything. I was just ready and the training plan was perfect. It was also fabulous knowing that Lilly, Greta, Nick, and my parents were all going to be waiting for me at the Purple Park and then the finish line. They even made a nice sign for me. As I ran past Lilly, I heard her say to the woman corner marshaling, "That was my momma!". I had enough energy to sprint the finish and finished in a time of 1:07:30, average pace of 10:52 per mile. My GPS watch said my fifth mile was a 9:55 pace!! I have never run that fast in my life, I am really proud of how I did. The few photos from my race:

Waiting to cheer me on

There I go!

My mom also snapped a picture of Lilly and me at the finish but I don't like the way I look in the photo, so just picture me happy and Lilly not really looking at the camera.

After the race on Saturday, my parents watched the girls while we tried to get as much done around the house and outside as possible. Or, they helped with chores as we took care of the girls, depending on their moods. Unfortunately, they had to leave late afternoon on Saturday, so our visit was very brief. We ended with a trip to Prentice Park with them, and then they left town. Here are a few photos from at home and then the park.