Weekend happenings

On Saturday morning, M and I had 10 miles on our schedule and I was going to have a busy day with both kids having their first soccer games of the season (at different times of the day about 3 hours apart, of course).  This was not only the first game of the season, but also my daughter's first sport she's ever participated in.  So it was a big event, and I wanted to be able to focus on that without worrying about getting the run in......so super early morning run it was....


We love photos at 5am (love my extra chins).

 We ran out on the Springwater Trail - which is a really flat (aka better for my foot) and paved trail close to where we live.  We've run here a lot and I have always felt safe - but at 5am it was pitch black and there are no lights since the trail winds through the countryside for the most part.  Plus, there are usually lots of other runners/bikers out there, but apparently not that early in the morning.  We decided to do a 2.5 mile out and back in each direction from the car so we wouldn't get too far away from where we started.  I don't know if that really was any safer, but it made us feel more comfortable while we were running.

The morning was perfect - nice and cool, and we ended with pretty skies looking like this:

And our customary treat afterwards (coffee is pretty essential after a 5am 10 miler!):

Ran home, changed (no time for a shower even -yes, looking good) and ran back out the door with these goofballs to witness their soccer debuts:

 And of course, the first soccer game of the season deserves a special treat (milkshakes! yum!):

my kids will not ever pose normally for a picture...

Between soccer games we shopped for Brian's 39th birthday which is on Monday.   Home around 3pm, showered (thank goodness), threw together a pear crisp (this recipe - soooo not healthy....sooooooo good!) and went to a friend's home for an early dinner party at 5.  Home by 9pm - whew!  Busy day, but really fun.

Sunday morning was marathon day!  As I mentioned, I was volunteering at the marathon with some friends and it was just uh.may.zing.  First off, our shift didn't start until 9am, so I got to sleep until a normal hour!  Yippee!  M and I picked up our friend Been and we headed over to our volunteer spot at Mile 21 where we met up with another friend, Steve.

Right after we got there we saw the lead runners going through.  Obviously I've never seen them while running in a race, so it was pretty cool to witness how fast they were still running at mile 21 of a marathon!  Crazy.   Shortly afterward the throngs of runners started to come through.  So many people - all shapes, sizes, paces and abilities.  It was so inspiring.  Just knowing that every runner had a different journey that lead them to this race, I alternated between tearing up and laughing.  I had the best time. 

Mile 21 volunteers!

Our job was to pass out Ultima to the runners and encourage them as much as possible.  M was lucky to get an extra special job:

Holding the Ultima sign and the Vasaline tub - she was the Ultima luber...

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the runners because we were pretty busy the entire time passing out drinks.  In a way, watching them all made me wish I was running - but it also made me think that I'd like to get involved in the organizing side of races at some level as well...so maybe that's something to look into a little more.

Runners are awesome - so many of them thanked US for being out there, which was super nice but I was more than happy to give back to the sport, and specifically this race, because it really has given me a lot the last few years.  I definitely would encourage anyone to volunteer at a race - it's a very gratifying experience.

Thanks for reading!