race day!

yesterday was race day! i saw a flyer for the global orphan project 5k several months ago hanging up at the church where molly's preschool was located. it said it was a family run and that strollers were allowed. i was all for that since i normally have the girls in tow when i run. so, i signed up. i don't do these runs to win (i'm not good enough, anyway) but more for the satisfaction of completion and the t-shirt. matt's thoughts, "so basically you want a $25 t-shirt." yeah, pretty much! but hey, i also like knowing that i participated. i've been running for awhile now...ever since it warmed up. which i guess was like february! i'm really amazed at how far i've come. i started out running approx. 2.5 miles and it took me in the neighborhood of 30 minutes. i can now do it in 24.5 min with the stroller, running hard. my goal for the 5k was 30 minutes (i ran one in october of 2010 and did it in 30). i was super excited when i reached the 2 mile mark and looked at my watch reading 18:47. i knew i could beat my goal. still pacing myself, i realized i was closer to the finish than i thought (i thought i had to go around another part of the park before finishing) so i sped up and sprinted for the last 45 sec or so to cross the finish line in 28:04. i was 115/317 and 8/31 in my age group. needless to say, i was pretty pleased. now, as i'm typing this, it sounds like i'm boasting on myself. not really the point of this, but more that hard work and dedication pay off. i've been running 2.5 miles at least 3 days a week for months and it showed!

the other point of this post is to brag about molly and sophie. they participated in a kids fun run that was about 1/4 of a mile or a little longer. molly ran the whole thing, hard. she didn't stop, once! sophie started out strong (for about 30 seconds) then had to walk...she was sweaty! then she'd run again! we cut across the grass to catch up with molly so i could get pictures. sophie ran a bit more, then i carried her to almost the finish line..so i could get pictures. she was against this and wanted to run herself. the best part of the whole run, the girls received a medal! they were so excited and wore them quite a bit yesterday. molly can't wait to do it again. she's convinced she won! no official time for her...next time matt will have to time her.

 waiting for the race to start

 on your mark, get set, GO!!!

crossing the finish line

 resimulated crossing the finish line since she finished before sophie!

 proud finishers with their medals!

fitness is a big part of our family and i'm glad the girls are learning that at a young age. sophie repeatedly tells me she's going to the choo-choo's (the path where i run has a train track that runs along side so seeing trains is a big deal to sophie) to run with her baby and then takes off through the house.