Saturday, April 14, 2012

Family Training for 13.1 Miles

Some random training moments that I do not want to forget...
(Side note: this half marathon has been a family goal since January.
Mom is not running it due to her surprise surgery (see here); she is running the 5K instead)


*Jonas racing Dad and really pushing each other hard
(both of them have had personal record times on almost every single run!)

*Jonas running the last laps with Leslie even after he is done

*Micah's smiling strength

*Owen, Troy, and Micah reaching out and holding hands while running across streets

*Owen, Troy, and Micah finding so much joy in running... playing Mario Kart in their minds and jumping on the arrows on the the track

*Leslie's strength and endurance

*Hearing Reuben say "I run, I run!" and seeing him run in circles around our house

*High fives and chants of encouragement as we pass each other

*Cheerleading is hard work (making mounds of pasta the night before long runs & shoving bananas and power energy bites and water and gatorade down runner's throats during runs)

*Recognizing limits and heeding them: Leslie and Troy have had sprained ankles and random hurts, so they have cut some miles off, but still trained hard. Listening to our bodies is so important and a hard lesson to learn!

*Running first thing in the morning is way better than running with the full Texas sun beating down on you

*Charge phones and iPods the night before so that Evelyn and Reuben have entertainment (handheld games) for a couple of hours and the kids can listen to their running playlists.

*Keep sight of the children while running because scary people and dogs come out of the woodwork and approach them!
(One lady waved them over, and proceeded to scare the daylights out of them with scary stories of our neighborhood, and then told me she was just doing her "Christian duty". She was the scariest person we came across in any of the runs)

*The kids collecting things from their runs: tree leaves, a spoon, a tire... random things on the ground that they use to keep the memories from the stuff they collected.
(Unbeknownst to the parents until this blog post...)

*Finishing feels great!


*********TWO MORE WEEKS TILL THE BIG DAY AT THANKSGIVING POINT!************




Evelyn entertains us all with silly faces




Reuben loves to play on the red phone



Gideon waits and waits




Jonas runs into the sunlight




High fives!




Jonas




Leslie smiles at mile..... 5!




Running buddies




The sun is bright for Owen




Running "frenemies" congratulate each other on an awesome hard, fast, long run




Troy




Micah is speedy




Mom and Leslie, 2nd to last lap!



Leslie finishes!
Jonas ran the last lap (again) with her



5 comments:

Carol said...

WOW! I saw this blog just moments after it was posted! I'm so thrilled with the togetherness that I see as you all train and prepare for the big day. I will be there too... behind you all the way (literally, since I'm running the half marathon too!) I love you all!

AmyJune said...

Dresden what kind of surgery did you have?

Bob and Raylene said...

Fantastic! You are all doing so good and seem so determined. We are very proud of all of you. We, unlike Carol (right there behind you) will be cheering you on "from a distance." Be safe and "run like the wind."

Joel (Bob) and Dresden said...

I had a strangulated hernia at the end of January which resulted in an emergency abdominal surgery and 12 inches of my small intestine removed and resectioned. Ouch.

I've been cleared for all exercise and eating, but I have to take it slow! I'm running again (slowly) and introducing food like you do to a baby, one new food a week to see how my body handles it.

It hasn't been fun, but it has taught me a lot of patience and respect for what a body can do to heal. I'm thankful for my dad and Jeanene for getting me to the hospital in time for the surgeon to save my life!

I added a link to that blog post to this one...

Unknown said...

Such a great family bonding experience. You guys are so cool!