Pace Setter

Well, a long time ago, back when the weather was warm and the trees were green, there was a holiday called Labor Day. Most like to rest, but we've become habitual self-torturers and decided to run a 5K (you know, because we are fat and out of shape, and that is what you do to convince yourself you aren't THAT out of shape.) Oh, and there is this little thing I like to call peer pressure. We'll get back to that.

So, I did this form of self-torture last  year (three months after a c-section...what was I thinking...), but this year Sydney decided to join me for what we thought would be the 1 mile fun run, followed by my 5K. (Really, FUN run??) Except that they didn't do the event quite the same as they did last year and the 1 mile started AFTER the 5K. Nope, not leaving my little one to run it with someone else, and not giving up my 5K, so she ran the 5K with us, even though she'd trained (ok, training here means that I tested her a few times to make sure I wouldn't end up carrying her the whole way.) Oh, and David's company had extra spots in the race so he ran it to...more about that later.

So, here we are donning our pink "Sole Sisters" "Lil' Sole Sisters" shirts at some early hour...I'm thinking 6 a.m.? We really are late sleepers. 

 

Oh, and remember the peer pressure I mentioned before? It comes in the form of a sea of pink, and is a group of ladies from my ward (church) and a few of their friends.

This year we had some of our girls join us.

Sydney was by far the youngest, but you gotta give her credit for the most spunk. Look at that pose.

And here we are pre-race. I didn't know Elle would be going with us, too or I would've ordered her a pink shirt, too. But, I grabbed what pink we had, and of course she wore her running shoes. I don't know what was wrong with David - he just wasn't interested in a pink shirt. The nerve, eh?

And, we're off. And, we agreed to run it all together. None of us had really trained (I started, then had a month long ordeal with asthma which doesn't really lend to training for a 5K.) David thinks he is superman and doesn't need to train. So, two jogging strollers in hand, (one in case Syd gets tired) and we're off.Oh, and did I mention that I NEVER intended to run this with even one stroller??

The hills on this race are killer for us non-runners. KILLER. And, that is all I will say about that.

This picture is from a little after the 1 mile mark. Sydney will still going strong, and we kept telling her to slow down. She wouldn't stay in the stroller more than a few minutes. Thankfully there were lots of people we knew around us, so it wasn't a big deal if she was a little ahead. I had to stop and take a picture. David made fun of me, but that is ok. It's who I am.


Here is Sydney crossing the finish line. We aren't too far behind...look to the left..SEE! But, yeah, our four-year-old smoked us. And, she ran all but maybe .5 a mile (if that) and that was really due to a scraped knee.

We finished too, but that isn't nearly as exciting. However, I do think we look kind of funny with the empty stroller. Elle was a trooper and didn't fuss or get bored (or even poop in her diaper which I was totally expecting.)

See this guy? His name is Hunter Kemper and he is a "Champion Triathelete." Well, he was there to greet us at the finish line. David and I had gone to a sponsors dinner the night before (with about 30 people) so we had briefly met him. He seemed to remember us (I had him sign something thinking it might be cool for the girls when they are older), so he made a big fuss over Sydney running the 5K instead of just the mile.

She isn't proud at all - (look at that face!)

Elle wasn't as thrilled with her medal. We ate some lunch and played at the bounce house things afterward, waiting around to find out our time (I really can't leave not knowing.) We ran it in 41:46.0 Not great, but for my non-runner self and hubby, not bad. Better than my time last year (when I actually trained AND didn't push a stroller.) I just always get mad and think "what if I actually had trained." So, maybe next year I will remember it.

Our group got mentioned in the paper!!

When it was time to leave Sydney got a little upset, saying no WAY was she tired. However, after two minutes of being home we couldn't find her. I walked into my room and found this:

I'm sure glad she wasn't tired.