Young Party of Four

Well, last Saturday we did it again. Almost a full year after our last 10K, we took on our second one. And this one we did with far less training. Last year we were both doing so well in our training, but this year... not as much. I think both of us topped out at 3.5 to 4 miles over the last month or so leading up to this race. That was for a few reasons. One was timing. It felt like with Steven's work schedule and him traveling so much combined with all we had going on as a family and some things I had going on over the last month that we just couldn't find time to run more than that. It's hard to train for longer distances when there are two of you and you have small children that can't stay home alone and are too big (and way too heavy) to push in a double (not even a jogging) stroller for any exceptionally long distances. Also, we have both been dealing with some aches and pains over the last month or so. They aren't enough to sideline us entirely, but they d...

Last weekend Kenzie ran in her first "real" race. She has run a few Kids' Races through Track Shack when we have run races in the past, but this was her first race that she was actually registered for as a participant. It was also far longer than her prior races and required some training rather than just showing up and taking a leisurely run. This race is done by Track Shack, as well. They remain our favorite company that puts on races. They are so well run and we would run a Track Shack race before any others. This race was called the Smile Mile and was open to kids from 5-11 years old. Kenzie was right at the bottom of this age bracket which meant that she ran the half mile race. She was set to run with other 5-year-old girls and was really excited about it. A few months ago we brought up this race as something she may want to do. She wavered a bit at first regarding whether or not she would like to do it. We decided that we would start training with her for the...

So here's the deal... some evenings I put the kids to bed and feel like I should be nominated to win some sort of awesome mom award. Some evenings I run out of their rooms so fast it is like the rooms are on fire. I just need that moment alone so that I can take a breath and have a minute to myself (before I get called back into one room or another for another sip of water, help with covers, another bedtime song, to be told they can't sleep despite counting 100 sheep, or whatever other issue there is at the moment). Some days I feel like I can accomplish anything as a mom. Some days I do everything I can to make it through: dinner in front of the TV, going outside and praying that our neighbors come out as well so their kids can keep mine busy and give me a minute of peace, skipping bath time and promising that we will take 10 extra minutes in the morning to get one (then forgetting come the next day), fixing arguments by using the old standby "just ignore her/him"...