YES! We did Bloomsday!! Ben and Nathan and Caleb and I. It was fun! Well, it was nostalgic and memory making ... I am not sure if my kid-running-partner would say it was fun. Some history: I used to run Bloomsday, like back in junior high. It was fun then. Ben has never run a race...can you believe it? How COOL that this was his first race, first race t-shirt, first water station break, first finish line. COOL!! Caleb and Nathan did Bloomsday training at school. Yes, in Spokane (for those of you that are not natives to this crazy running land), they have BD training at the elementary schools for all the little kids to get ready for the big race. It's pretty neat. So every Tuesday and Thursday the boys would stay for BD training (AKA, after school sports...AGGGGHHH, my babies are growing up!!!). Anyway they were all trained up for the big race. I on the other hand had run a few three milers here and there and thought that would be pretty good. Think about it though - 50,000 runners, it's not like I'm going out to win the thing.
So Ben and I decided that with so many people we better pick a kid-partner and stick with that kiddo for the race and not worry as much about the 4 of us staying together. Caleb was my partner and he jogged like a champ for the first mile. Of course at mile marker ONE, I had to get all excited, "Caleb, wow, we did a mile! This is great, you are doing awesome. Woo Hoo!!" And he looks up at me and says, "So, we have like (pause here for a little mental math) SIX miles left to go???" "Yeah honey, isn't this awesome? So many people, beautiful weather, this is so fun, here we GO!" "Uh mom, can we walk?" Sweet boy just couldn't fathom another 6 of those. He complained pretty much constantly until mile 4-ish. Which was fine, he wasn't dying so we kept going. Although he did ask me once, "Mom, are we finishing no matter what?" Honestly, I think I might have ignored that question and asked him if he wanted to stop at the aid station for some sunscreen. DISTRACTION is a great parenting/running tool! :)
Anyway, about mile 4 we caught back up to Nathan and Ben and guess who was with them? Lisa and Isaiah Cantillana! Oh yeah!! Friends! Found in 50,000 people, a HUGE win and a great tool to motivate all the little boys. Lisa and I admitted we were being pushed by our eight year olds, what a great feeling! ha! So we ran and ran and walked and walked and ran through sprinklers and drank some water and after 7.45 miles we FINISHED!!! It took us just under two hours and we were SO proud of the boys! They were stars!! They did it!! And although they said they may not want to do it again next year... I think it might be like having a baby... and maybe a year from now they WILL want a new t-shirt. Maybe they will want to get out there and kick it with mom and dad again. Caleb's ambition about the race showed up in a restaurant just 30 minutes after finishing... we were sitting eating lunch and a nice older lady came up to us, "Wow, did you little guys walk the whole thing?" Caleb looks at her and says, "Well, we jogged and ran and walked." Clarify the effort that went into that 7.45! Here are some picture memories! Enjoy!
 |
| Waiting for the race to start! |
 |
| My hot hubby and proof we found the Cantillanas |
 |
| Almost there!! |
 |
| Finished!!!!!! |
C&N - I love you boys like crazy and I am so proud of you for not giving up!!
Ben - I loved running Bloomsday with you but more so I enjoy running life's race with you daily!
xoxo - C
PS - Thanks mom and dad for watching the littles for us. Couldn't have done this without your help.
No comments:
Post a Comment