MOMS Running for Others Race

As part of my revised plan to run a 5k or 10k road race each month in 2013, I ran the MOMS Running for Others 5k road race in nearby Wamego this morning. This is the third year that this race has been run (money goes to support the education fund of a local family who has suffered a loss) and is my first time running it. I am super excited that I ran a PR!!! The clock said 30:59 when I crossed, and while that isn't official yet, that is definitely a huge improvement over my previous PR in an actual race (32:14, from July 2011) and is one step closer to meeting my original goal of breaking 30 minutes in an actual race this year. 

One of the reasons that this race was really special was that Will and I were able to run together. This was accomplished by the Super Hero Aunt Julie, who not only arrived at 7:30 a.m. to watch our kids, but fed our pets and made the kids both pancakes AND waffles from scratch.

Since Will and the kids picked up our packets yesterday, we were able to arrive right before race time and park in the vast parking lot of the Wamego Rec Center.

However, it was cold. I somewhat regretted my decision to run without a hat, gloves, or jacket, but by the end of the race I was happy to have gone without.

There was a prayer and a few words right before the race (from the husband of the late Renee Clark-Hoelzel's, whose memory the race was in honor). Then we were off! Most of the course was set up as a tour of Wamego. We went by the local elementary school, a cemetery, and a lot of cute houses. It was also surprisingly hilly, but luckily the hills were primarily in the first half of the race.

Will and I had talked before that I should try to keep up with him as long as I could, since I seem to often run slower in races than in training. I realized after about the first half mile that Will was obviously going slower than he could in order to run with me. (Selfishly, this was awesome!). Someone called out splits at what I thought was the one mile point and it was 10:46, which was much slower than I felt. Oh well. Then at the two mile mark, our split was 20:04. Will reminded me that what I thought was the "one mile" was just a random distance, while the two mile is what was actually measured.

In the last mile, I started feeling like I was going to (TMI) vomit. I was planning to kick once I saw the finish, but then was worried I was going to be sick, so I just tried to hang on until the end. Then, once the finish was actually close, I found that I sprinted ahead and passed Will at the end (I am a terrible running partner). Once I was done running, I realized that I no longer felt sick, and that this fear of discomfort is clearly why I run slower than I should. Next time!

Today's fun was not limited to running, though....

Cupcake Games

Annika participated in the 4-H Cupcake Games today! She was in the 7-9 division and they were each given nine cupcakes to decorate and tons of supplies.

The first theme was "holidays" - Easter baskets.

The second theme was "Something You Would Find at the Fair" - cherry pies.

The last theme was Annika's favorite - "Free Choice." She chose to make Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

....And of course, a cat.

All of the participants! Annika won in her age division for the "free choice" theme, and received her very own cake knife as a prize (which you can see her clutching in the picture).

Preschool Picnic

Meanwhile, Daniel and I had our own fun, attending the preschool picnic hosted by his school. It was held at Long's Park, which neither of us had ever been to before. Daniel had a blast. In fact, he requested that we go back to this park on our next date night.

The Fire Department was also there with their truck, which kids could tour.

I think this was Daniel's favorite piece of equipment.

Another highlight - balloon swords. There was a balloon artist there and all of the boys in Daniel's class requested swords, of course. This made for much gleeful running around and doing battle.

The kids also got to visit a police car. Here, Daniel and his good buddy Aiden are steering the car and plotting future mischief, I am sure. :)