In Which We Run for the Roses (Again)

A Facebook friend (whom I adore, BTW) recently commented that we are the fittest family she knows. This after a status update that included a morning 5K, a kids' 50-yard dash, and soccer for Ella. While flattering, this description doesn't accurately depict our family as I see it. For one thing, if we were really that fit, wouldn't I be a whole lot thinner? (See earlier post where Tina Fey calls me fat. Oh, the humanity.)

I mean, I would certainly go so far as to say we are an active family. But every other family I know seems pretty active, so I definitely wouldn't crown us the fittest family ever. At least not until I'm at a point where Tina Fey will not call me fat. (This is mostly a joke, BTW. The Tina Fey thing, not the active family thing.)

One thing is certain though: My girls have spent a lot of time at races. LOTS and LOTS of time. They spent hours at Dean's first triathlon with nothing to entertain them but two Little Mermaid balls hastily purchased from Target (what was I thinking?). They spent hours in the heat and humidity watching the Chicago Marathon and complaining that they had never been so bored in their entire lives. They have cheered me across the finish line of two 10-milers and countless (countless!) 5Ks. So I suppose it's small wonder that they were beside themselves with excitement to participate (yes, actually participate!) in this year's Run for the Roses (check here for a recap of last year's RFR). The plan was for Sadie to ride in the jogger and run as much of the race as she could/wanted to and for Ella to participate as a full-fledged 5K runner. I am not a particularly sentimental person, but it was pretty exciting to cross the start line of a 5K with my girls by my side. And then later (much, much later) to cross the finish line with Ella by my side. Coming through the chute, the volunteer collected our bib slips (this race is not chip timed) and asked who had crossed first. I had crossed before Ella, but I told her to put Ella in before me. I'm selfless like that.

But back to the beginning of the race (because I'm sure you've not yet had your fill of this post). The kids took off at about a six-minute-per-mile pace, which was what I had figured they'd do. They lasted about a block before slowing down. Both girls managed to run/walk the entire first mile of the race. Thereafter, Sadie commenced to jump in and out of the stroller at will and often without warning, which was challenging (my apologies to other runners/walkers at this race because something like that would make me positively batty in a race I was running sans children).  Fortunately, we were well at the back of the pack, so I can't imagine we crushed anyone's PR goals.

I'm not particularly fast even when not running with a five- and seven-year-old, but I gotta say: Hearing a 25-minute split at the mile two marker made me cringe. We got slower from there. Sadie actually ended up crossing the finish line well ahead of us because a neighbor ended up pushing her (long story). Meanwhile, Ella found a friend to chat with and ended up getting progressively slower. So slow, in fact, that I managed to run ahead and stop at home for the camera. Yes, I stopped AT HOME in the middle of a 5K. There is a first time for everything. Later in the day, I proceeded to accidentally delete all the photos from the camera's SD card, thus negating my efforts.

After stopping at home, I still had to wait about five or ten minutes for Dean, Ella, and friends to make it up to where I was waiting. We finished the rest of the race together, with me shouting such gems as "Come on, let's run this in!" to my poor seven-year-old who is probably just too little to run an entire 5K. Really, it was all in good fun. Ella and I crossed the finish line together, with Ella giving a very good sprint effort for the last 100 yards or so. Later, she managed to WIN the kids' race (I really didn't see that coming. It was a pretty exciting race.) and finished up her marathon day by playing all four quarters of her soccer game.

In the end, this was my slowest 5K time ever, but I had a blast and can't wait to run another 5K with the girls. Sadly, this was probably the last 5K I'll ever run with Ella where she'll be slower than I am.

To round out our incredible morning, Ella won one of two kids' raffle prizes and will be getting a fire truck ride to school (!!). Still waiting for the fire department to call and schedule it (and a little worried they will forget and thus crush Ella's spirit). For once I am thinking it is a shame that we live so close to school. I also won a raffle: a $10 gift card to some hot dog place. It was a banner day.

I bet you wish I had photos of it all. I bet you wish I had been able to recover the photos I deleted from the SD card. If that's the case, you're in luck because I was and I did!!

I think this photo is so very unflattering that I wouldn't post it to FB, but since I went to all the trouble of recovering it from the SD card, I figured I should post it SOMEWHERE.

Ditto on this one. Maybe Tina Fey is right.