Family Run Day!

Sunday was a big day of running for me and my family! The hubs ran the Race for Hope 5K in the morning, and then the boys got to run the Kids' Fun Run afterwards.  I couldn't be any prouder of all my boys for doing their best and for enjoying their run!

Waiting for their Daddies to approach the finish line

I was on kid-duty and watched 5 kids during the race (2 of the kids belong to our friend).  The kids were amazingly well behaved during the race, and they helped me cheer the fastest runners to the finish line.  They were very excited about their race and wondered why they can't run the 5K with the adults.  "Well,.."  I explained, "if you run this (5K) race, you don't get a medal."  "Oh, I want a medal.  If I run, I want a medal," said my "I-don't-like-running-that-much" 6 y.o.  LOL!

Go, Daddy, Go!

The kids made signs for their Daddies and people got a kick out of them holding the signs up and chanting, "Go, Daddy, Go!"  They were so happy when their Daddies saw them with their signs.as they ran fast past us.  Love how kids like the littlest things!

Interesting things I saw:  One guy was running while holding the drawstring to his shorts up high! (Ow, um, wedgie, no?)  Poor guy!  It's awful when you have a wardrobe malfunction on race day.  I saw one guy completely barefoot, another guy running backwards, a bag piper, and a group of guys and girls (Army? Marines?) chanting throughout the entire course at a pretty fast pace!  Then there's this guy whom I see on lots of races - he's completely covered, head to toe in a tight/spandex fabric - at this race, he wore an American Flag theme.  What moves me is seeing all the brain tumor/brain cancer survivors running the race and a walker who carried a sign that said, "NEVER GIVE UP."

The hubs

This is the hubs!  Guess what??!!  He got a PR on this race!  I am SO PROUD of him!  His official time is:  21:45.  He's my biggest inspiration!  He had been working hard on getting his 5K PR.  YAY!!!!

After the 5K, the kids rushed to the Kids' Fun Run area.  They had an out-and-back little course and I parked myself midway to take pics.  The hubs and our friend ran with the kids.  The "I-don't-like-running-that-much" 6 y.o. announced that he was just going to walk.  Imagine my surprise and the amount of parent pride gushing out of me when I saw him running with all the kids!  I am SO PROUD of him for trying it anyway, doing his best and having fun!  The 8 y.o. loves to run, so he was in the lead pack running his heart out.  At the finish line, he complained that the course was too short!  He wanted to run some more!  LOL.  The 3 y.o. ran with the hubs.  He likes to run too, but I could tell that he was a little nervous about how crowded it was - there were a lot of kids.  The 3 y.o. tripped on his own shoes, lol!  He's such a funny little man.  Once he rounded that bend though and saw me wave, he took off with more confidence.

At the finish line!

LOVE LOVE LOVE that my kids like to run - even the "I-don't-like-running-that-much" 6 y.o. said he liked the race!  So proud of them!  This was their first Kids Fun Run and now of course they want to run more "races" so they can get medals!  LOL!

With runners' high, the boys feasted on ice pops, chips, and bagels.  You'd think they ran a marathon the way they were eating!  We had such a blast hanging out at the end.  It was weird to be at a race and not run it, but it was ok.  I had a long run planned later that day.

MY WEEKEND LONG RUN.  After digesting a huge lunch, I set out to do my long run of 6 miles later in the afternoon.  It was one of my best runs despite having to pull my running pants up every 1/2 mile which got really annoying (but YAY for getting smaller/losing weight!)!  I had a lot more gas in the tank at the end, though, but I was mindful not to up the miles too much that day.

I was inappropriately cheerful when I got home to post-race tired boys - I couldn't help myself!  So thankful for the great day!  I am pumped to run my 10K race next weekend.  A little nervous about the pressure I have on myself to PR, but I am just going to tell myself that it's another long run and to have fun.