Seeking a better country...

6 am  After dinner last night I fell asleep on the floor till 11:30.  The 4 hour nap meant waking up around 5:30 a.m. came naturally.  Ash was already rattling around the house, so I told her we were going for a run/ride.  Oddly, I was completely wiped out.  We stopped for a break at the creek, and once we made it to freedom hills, I sat on the bench and watched her play for 10 minutes instead of running laps around the park.  We came home a longer way, and by mile 6 I was awake and firing on most cylinders.  Despite the early start, I didn't make it to work until after 9.  Dragging, with a wonderful allergy induced headache and eyes I could rub for hours at a stretch.  Ahhh, spring.

8:30 pm  After 2 kids played and soloed in the choir concert, we drove home in pouring rain.  By the time I got changed, the rain dwindled to a sprinkle.  I wore my crocs for slipsliding around.  The sun was setting, beneath an opaque bowl of dark grey clouds, a magnificent, blaze orange orb.  By the time I reached my turnaround it was down, but as I came home,  the ambient light was greater than before the sun set.  The clouds were breaking up, and light was bounding about.

The birds really picked up the song after the rain ceased.  'Twas a nice frolic. 

7:45 pm    I asked if there were any takers for a run/ride, and my 17 yo daughter surprised me by coming along.  We enjoyed the clouds, sunset and conversation.  I threw in a little tempo at the end to show off.  I guess I'm a sucker for a pretty girl.

7 am  CrAsh came with to drop off bills on a circuitous route.  She's a good sport, and good company.  She pedaled up steep hills to Island View.  We also paid a brief visit to the graveyard.  I miss my garmin, but I found a good website or two detailing battery replacement.  I need to get one ordered and bring it to work where I can use the scopes and soldering irons.  If I could resurrect that thing I would feel a sense of accomplishment, as well as forgoing mapmyrun.com. 8 pm. 5.3 on the tm, just because. Which incidentally is a really good recent janes addiction song. Relatively recent, anyway. I shoulda gone outside.

Picking up the redbox after yard working 7 hours. Those should be x training miles. I ran to ricks creek, jumped in, the came home. Crocs were squeaky and shirt was muddy.

Fund raiser 5k with my girls.

The race started at 8, so I assumed if I got up at 7, we'd be fine.  What I should have done was got their stuff put together on Friday night.  As it was, we frantically ran around the house looking for shoes, socks, suitable shorts, and left around 7:45 for the starting line.  The girls rode their bikes so their legs wouldn't get too tired.  Ash sported an extra small shirt from Hobble 1/2 last year; Anna found something suitable to wear.  Nena also dressed to run.  She's been threatening to train for a half marathon at the end of the summer, but with a challenging academic schedule, she just hasn't found the time.  This race was to be her kick-off.

I lined up with the little ones at the back.  We planned to Galloway the 5k, with 4 minutes of easy running and 1 minute of walking, repeat as necessary.  

Everything went smoothly until Anna tripped on a crack on the sidewalk just before mile two.  Of course she splattered on her hands and knees, scraping them but not drawing any blood.  She cried for a couple minutes, but got right back to work despite her mishap.

With .5 to go, Anna was very tired.  I sent Ash ahead to finish at her desired pace; Anna stuck with me.  By now the run to walk ratio was down to 2:1.  She didn't believe that we were getting closer until we turned the corner and the finish line was in sight.  In a mad sprint, she dashed ahead, finishing in 38:11.  I came in a few seconds later, glad she hadn't tripped in her exuberance.  Ash finished in 36 minutes, Nena in 28.

I had no idea how they would do, but I'm impressed with their effort and determination.   

(recovery chocolate shakes pictured above) 

Both the little ones want to run a Memorial day 5k.  Woods Cross sponsors a free event, with pancakes afterward. Thus begins a dynasty of mid-packery.