why I ran the entire 5K and some other stuff

Why I ran the entire 5K:

When we were packing for Tulip Festival, I was listing off the things I knew I had packed. "okay, um...toothbrush, underwear, jeans, running clothes...."

"Oh, are you going running with Maria?" It was Steve, and that's when I realized I was listing out loud.

"yes. and for the 5K!"

and then he chuckled.

not because he's an unsupportive jerk, but because I think he really thought I was kidding. so I told him I was serious. and we loaded the car.

We had a very busy first day of TF. My feet were blistered and killing me by the end of the day. And that's when Maria and I decided we had to have one "practice run" before the big day. So we walked to the starting point of the race and just ran really casually to see how far we could make it without keeling over. The mile markers weren't up yet, but we thought we made it about two miles before we decided to stop and walk. And I considered it a success because that was much farther than I had run in my "training." (stop lauging.)

So we were walking, trying to decide how far we would make it on saturday. We didn't really care if we had to walk or not. I told Maria that this was a way bigger deal for me than for her, because when she puts her mind to something, she just does it. She has more will power than the rest of us 4 kids put together I think. So if she decided to run the whole thing, I knew she would. But I wasn't so sure about me. We figured that since I've birthed three kids in the last 4 and a half years, and she JUST birthed a baby 3 months ago, we were allowed to walk and still be proud.

But of course nobody wants to finish the race (or even the practice) by walking across the finish line, so we skipped the "loop" and then started running so that we could finish our practice run actually running. The first few steps of running again were quite slow. I was really hoping there was nobody peeking out thier windows and laughing at the inability of my legs to move faster again. I thought that feeling would go away after about a block of running again. But as I remember, that was about the point where my legs started CURSING loudly at me for thinking I could run again. Or wait...was it my mouth that was cursing? We'll have to check with Maria on that.

Either way, I swore to myself that I would NOT go through that feeling again on Saturday, and vowed to run the entire thing, even if it was embarassingly slow, which it was. :)

So Saturday came, and I told my very supportive husband, who could have slept in for once in his life, but decided to cheer me on (or catch me at the end) instead, that he should be at the "loop" to cheer (and no chuckling allowed). :)

During the race, we had a little adrenaline of course, so we ran easily past the point we stopped to walk before. But once we hit the last mile, we turned to run in direct sunlight, which I thought I would enjoy but very much didn't. I never thought I'd prefer running in the cold and wind, but the nice sunshiney roads made it too easy to concentrate on everything hurting. everything. even things I didn't know could hurt.

But then I saw my hubby. :) He cheered us on at two different spots of the loop, and since we were SO FAST ;) we even beat him to the finish.

we didn't walk. it wasn't an option. I was NOT going to embarrass my legs like that again with a CROWD watching me. :)

so that's why I ran the entire 5K.


And now for the "other stuff":

I have been sort of neglecting my blog the past few weeks and here's why: sitting outside and playing in the sprinkler with my little ones trumps the chilly dark basement ALWAYS. unless, of course, I get too hot outside and need to take a breather in the basement because it's consistently about 16 degrees cooler down here than upstairs. always. Here is some stuff I've been wanting to tell you...

We are down to THREE days til I see WICKED! AAAAAAAaahhhhh! I can't wait. I even have my "outfit" picked out. But that's because I only have one outfit to choose from. it was easy. :)

Brielle has mastered crawling. and waving. she learned how to wave at Tulip Festival. Gotta love riding the floats. :)

We eat a disturbing number of Hilshire Farms grilled cheddar sausage brat things in the summer. but they are so good....

We had to start over with potty training Josiah after Tulip Festival. gggrrrr..... Now I'm thinking maybe taking him the spot-a-pots wouldn't have been as bad as I thought. Because now he just thinks anywhere is fair game for pooping. it's gross.

We planted a garden! I can't wait for the produce in a couple months. mmmm...tomatoes, onions, peppers, zuccini, cucumbers, and cilantro. mmmm......

Some old ladies stole our money bag when Rachel and I did a garage sale. not kidding. and they had conveniently mentioned something about buying stuff for their "bible study" right before they did it. But Rachel ran after them and asked if WE accidently put it in their bag, and could we please check. and there it was. we did NOT put it in there.

The rocket sprinkler we have is the best ever sprinkler. I"m going to take a video of it and show you all, just so you can see it's awesomeness. Thank you Tante Lee and Onkle Rob. :)

Okay, I think you're all caught up now. This weekend, the kids will be in OC, and Steve and I have the weekend to ourselves. We are going to work on all the "paperwork" in our house. We have lots of organizing to do.

what! we are! ;)

and we're going to wicked. and sleeping in. and taking naps. and NOT blogging. I can promise you that. so don't even bother checking. :)

and now, in the words of Paco...
paz afuera.