My First 10K

I ran my first 10K on October 17th this year.  My goal was to run the whole thing, and I didn't, I walked, two times, for a short distance, and am still very disappointed that I did.  However, I am happy with the fact that in the ten weeks since the Flat Five, I managed to shave a minute off my pace, so I'll focus on being happy about that.  My dad ran the race with me, and he kicked my butt!  I'm so incredibly proud of him! 

We got ready for the race, ran about the first mile together and then I didn't see him again until after it was over!

Nathan and the girls came to the race to cheer me and dad on along with mom.  This is the first time they were there at the finish line, and I can't tell you how much it meant to me to see them there cheering and clapping, I could feel a huge smile spread on my face, and my eyes stinging with some tears, I love my family, and it meant the world to me to have them there.

Nathan's sister Jessie also ran the race, this was her first race ever!  She did a great job and was immediately ready to do it again!

The finishers:

When I was a kid my dad used to run a lot of races, 5K's and 10K's.  I can remember attending several of them, and in typical "tween" fashion, being utterly bored sitting around waiting for the race to be over.  Never, in a million years, did I ever think that he and I would be running races together, but I so love that we are.

Strong Little Brenna

Our little Brenna is strong, but more than that, she thinks she's strong, and will pretty much try to push or pull anything if she's interested...

How Tall This Fall?

Every year we get this shot with Sammie, and of course added Brenna's last year.  Sammie proudly stood there, Brenna wanted to run!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

This year's trip to the pumpkin patch was great!  The girls had a good time, it was a perfect day, the farm we went to had a lot to offer while not being overly expensive or overcrowded, it was a fantastic trip!  And, because we picked a place close to where we and lots of our friends live, we even ran into some familiar faces!

Lewis & Clark Half Marathon

A few weeks ago, our friends Rachel, Jamie, and Stan did something incredible; they ran the Lewis and Clark Half Marathon.  I'm still in awe!

Sammie and I went down to the finish line to meet up with Erin and Lucas (Stan's family) and Adam and Aiden (Jamie's family) to cheer them on.  It was cold!

But Sammie was a trooper, we wer there for three hours total, and she spent her time picking flowers, leaves, and making a sign for our friends!

We managed to meet up with Erin and Lucas, but neither of us had Adam's number, and with so many people, we didn't just run into each other.  As we waited we thought of all these great ideas that would have helped us be able to pick the runners out of the crowd, but they were only useful had we thought of them the night before the run.  You know, find out what they were wearing, what approximate time they thought they would be in, get Adam's number so we could meet up with him and the kids could play, etc...  Oh well, next time we'll have this down, right?

Aunt Rachel made Sammie's day by giving her a high five as she ran by at mile 13!

And then made it even better by letting her wear her medal for a while!

Erin and I somehow (and very unfortunately) missed both Jamie and Stan running past us, we could be bad specators!  But I'm sticking with the story that we would have been better off having known what they were wearing!

Rachel's brother Vince and Mike both rode along the 13.1 miles to cheer Rachel as she went, they definitely get the best cheerleader award!

And as Adam, Erin, and I all lined up to get pictures of the finishers (at the same time) the photographer in Rachel couldn't help herself - "now who are we supposed to be looking at here?"

But we managed to figure it out:

This was the last Lewis & Clark event, next year it will the the Rock N Roll something or other.  It was incredible to be there, to see all the different families and friends lining the streets to cheer on their loved ones, to see all the different runners each FINISH, and most of all, to see our friends achieve a something incredible, see their pride in themselves, and to get to be there to tell them how wonderful I thought they did.

Congrats to all three of you!!  Amazing job!!

Random Shots - September 2010

That's right, just last month, a couple more posts and I'll be current!

Apple Picking 2010

This September, for the first time, we took the girls to a local orchard and went apple picking.  Sammie loved it, and Brenna was much more into it than I thought she would be!