Sunday, April 13, 2014

Their First 5K

Today our school hosted a 5K for students and a family fun run. The girls had told me they wanted to run the whole 5K - obviously the most that Evan and I were planning on was the 1 mile fun run/walk. I had my doubts about the girls running 3.1 miles . . . They are pretty young and have never run long distances, but you never know unless you try . . . 

So we strapped on our shoes and got ready.
And flexed a little muscle to get pumped!
Then it was time to get their runner bibs and timing chips on . . . 
They were ready to run the course and told me they were a little nervous because they didn't where to go. I told them to follow the pack and there would be guides along the way . . . To which my overconfident firstborn replied "but what if I am the person in first place and there is no one to follow"! God I love seven year old optimism!!!
And then they said go and I prayed Sam wouldn't get lost or hit by a car and that Marlie wouldn't leave her little sister too far behind . . . 
They passed once at the 2 mile mark and I can't describe my utter shock and surprise when I saw my little Sammie coming all by herself with no one, not even her sister, anywhere around her. That sweet little girl just kept running. A few minutes later Marlie came, a little more paced than her sister. And then there was the sheer joy and pride when coming up with one of her teacher's aides, my little Sammie was running to the finish line . . . 
I screamed, ran over and grabbed her and picked her up . . . I didn't even think she could finish!! Not only did she finish - she smoked her older sister, finished with a huge smile, and all despite what I soon found out was a pretty decent fall that she took that caused a rather large chunk of road rash and scrapes from her ankle all the way to her knee!!! Her official time was 39:23!
I snapped some pictures, gave her another hug, and she chugged some water and then we were off to look for Marlie and cheer her over the finish line!
Evan was yelling "Go Marlie you can do it!"
And she did it too - crossing with an official time of 46:01!
I ran and grabbed her too and she immediately looked at me and said "well that's over and I am never doing that again" hahahaha As someone who has an extreme dislike for running, I couldn't argue . . . But it's not about me, so I just said "next time when I don't have a baby in my tummy I will run with you if you wanna try and beat your time" and naturally she said "okay I will run with you".

We went for slushies after cleaning up Sam's wounds . . . The slushies consoled Evan from his annoyance at not getting to do his race because the girls were wiped out . . . And they also saw the time for the fun run as a chance to go and monopolize the bounce houses while others were doing the 1 mile :)

I still can't believe it . . . I was sure they would stop halfway . . . I was prepared to give an "at least you tried" speech . . . But nope, have I met my daughters?! Because they are just that - my daughters - they got the in utero memo that we don't do shit halfway :) 3.1 miles of up and down real road surface, even if you fall, lies in the category of that shit I guess . . . I am just amazed and proud and find it really easy to tell these ladies there is nothing they can't achieve in life, because they are freaking living proof of it already . . . Truly awesome chics these two!

And Evan wanted to help keep things real - you can't get all wrapped up in this "holy cow my kids are so amazing" mindset, and he needed to bring me back down to earth. So when we stopped by Grandma's to show her the girls' ribbons, Evan took his obsession of peeing outside to a new level and when we were turned around he took his pants off, dropped his underwear, and pooped in the grass in front of Grandma's apartment, which happens to be in the middle of the complex . . . We have hopefully solved it with corrective action and by telling him that the policeman would give him a ticket if he ever did that again (it helps that Mom's neighbor is a cop and his car was there!). Thank you Evan for always being my handsome little dose of reality in the world of parenting :)

2 comments:

Tina. said...

Wow! I am so super impressed! All I remember doing as a little kid was completing a 1 mile fun run with my brother before my dad ran the 5k. That's crazy that they both finished!

Pink Caddy Rocks said...

I see many track meets in your future! I know where you can get some NIKE shoes! You've got to have the best you know.