don't be a chicken...RUN!!!

molly and sophie participated in their first organized run this morning at the Deanna rose farmstead in overland park. I was excited that they were able to do this as it was a perfect starter race. sophie ran 1/8 of a mile and molly ran 1/4.

before the race there were games for the girls to play as well as different vendors handing out free stuff! they decorated a water bottle, picked up a coloring book and beach ball and received candy, notebooks and pencils. of course we had to stop for a photo with the chicken. we have a picture with a cow also but it must not have made it in my download.

 

 



 after the star spangled banner everyone did the chicken dance. it was cute watching the girls try to learn how to do it.

they didn't quite grasp all the moves...we'll have to work on it before next year slowly and work our way to song speed.

miles hung out in his stroller most of the morning. fortunately he didn't seem to mind. look how red his hair looks! and it's a bit eddie munster-ish too....got to remember to fix that. :)






sophie's race was first. she started by the chicken coop and ran the loop by the apple orchard and small playground. I wish I could have seen her run but I hung back to see the finish. matt and molly missed it too because they weren't sure which direction she was running. it was a bit chaotic and lots of camera crazed moms (I was one) trying to capture the moment.

 she was one excited girl finishing 5th in her age group! a 5 place finished guaranteed her a trophy and a medal. really, sophie would have been happy with just the medal because it brought her medal count up to 3 but the trophy did make her extra excited. she kept asking me if I was proud of her and told me she was a fast runner.

 

molly was in a very large group of 5 year old girls. I knew finishing in the top 6 would be tough for her but kept telling her to just do her best, run hard and not think about how tired she was feeling. she did just that. she was tanked at the end of her run. poor girl was hopeful she was number 6 but i had to break the news to her that she wasn't. she did finish in the top 10 which we kept telling her was wonderful. it's always a little harder to swallow when your little sister gets a trophy and you don't.



 **it's really hard to see molly but she's behind the girl with her hand on her head.

after all the races were complete we had the awards ceremony. sophie wasn't shy at all about going up to receive her trophy.

 

both girls with their medals

 

and two tired runners (they'd been up since 6) on the way home.

                       

 

 

 

 

on your mark, get set, go

well, i've taken up running - if you can call it that. i'm pretty slow! i've never been a runner. even in high school when i used to run 2 miles every other day in the summer, i was at the back of the pack. and today, nothing's really changed. i even found out that my dad runs faster than me! now there's some motivation! :)

you may ask why i'm running if i loathe it so. well, it's like this. first, it's great exercise and gets my heart rate up in no time at all. second, it's the fastest way for me to shed these extra baby pounds, and finally, i really want to be a runner, i think!

i do enjoy some aspects of running like the fact that i generally think about nothing as i run and the sense of accomplishment when i'm finished. i do like to push myself to run a bit faster each time too. lately, that's been working. i run anywhere from 2-3.5 miles at a time. saturday, september 11th is my big debut - i'm running my first 5k with a group. my goal is to not come in last. i guess if i do though i must remember my initial words - i just want to run one. i don't care if i get last. i'm thinking i'll be able to do it a bit faster than my daily runs because it's on the high school track (extremely boring, yes) but there aren't any hills. my town is a hilly one, so it's great for practice, but i'm glad my first attempt will be on flat ground. plus, i get a t-shirt out of the deal. the whole reason to run, right?!

who knows, maybe one day i'll run a 1/2 marathon. probably not, but it's fun to think i will. but maybe i will, if i become a runner!