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| That's not me on the paddle boards (SUPS), however, this is on my list of things to do this summer! We were out shopping at the Old Mill for my daughter's 10th birthday. Walking with a coffee and seeing this made me so stinking excited for summer!! |
Happy Sunday! Oh, what a much needed Sunday it was! After a busy few weeks for all of us, today was full of everything family, fun, and relaxation. Today we took some time to enjoy Bend like a tourist might...shopping at the Old Mill, strolling the river watching people on their paddle boards, visiting Worthy Brewing Company for the first time (add this to your list when/if you visit Bend), and driving through a few new areas. It was one of those days where we had absolutely no plans other than to be together as a family. Heaven!
Lots Going On--Hard Work and CELEBRATIONS!
The last few weeks have been pretty big ones. As my husband continues to grow his engineering business, he is filling many roles and working countless hours. His current job has been getting a hydropower plant up and running. Hydro Power=turning water into POWER! Pretty cool stuff but most of it is way out of my field of expertise and more often than not, I'm nodding and saying "Wow, honey, this is impressive." even when I don't entirely understand everything he's talking about. This job he's been leading is one that would normally take much longer and require a much bigger support staff but was pulled off in record time. However, it meant sleepless nights, early mornings, late nights and seeing my husband work harder than I have ever seen before. Me going to Boston for the marathon was not an easy trip for him and I'm so thankful that I was able to go despite all we had to juggle to make it happen...I'm not quite sure how he pulled it all off...doing his job AND mine: being there to run around 3 kids in 3 different schools plus soccer practices, early releases from school, and different schedules. Woooweee! It certainly takes a village...we had lots of help. But...drum roll (at least for us).... Friday night, they went on GRID...their power plant was GENERATING. I know, I know, so boring to write about on a running blog but a BIG BIG deal around here!! Saturday was still a full day of work but today, as I said, was a day OFF where we could all BE as a family!!
In addition to work, marathons, and the normal go go go, our sweet firstborn turned 10 this week! Her first decade!! How did this happen?? How am I the mother of a 10 year old when I'm still 24??! Okay, at least that's how I see myself in my head until I look in the mirror. Then I remember where I was emotionally at 24 and I feel much better to be a woman at 36!! To celebrate this decade birthday, we threw her a surprise party with all the girls in her class and I baked my first cake from scratch, which I'm pretty darn proud of since A. I don't really enjoy baking but did it anyway because I knew it would be special and B. it turned out pretty darn good for a first cake! Birthday parties are exhausting to plan and pull off but it makes it all worth it to have seen the smile on her face and the gratitude in her attitude. :)
Run With My Girls
This morning I was scrolling through Facebook on my phone with coffee and saw my friend Tia (Arkansas Runner Mom) post a picture about her and her daughter's 10k. Her daughter is only 10 or 11 but already such a strong runner. All four of her kids are runners. Tia has always inspired me with this!! Running is a huge part of their family life. She does such a good job at making it fun and lets them decide how much of a challenge they want when they are ready. Her oldest daughter clearly takes after her amazing mother with running. She ran her age in miles at 9 and 10 and now runs a 10k in just over 8 min pace.
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| Tia's picture from this morning. With caption: "So incredibly proud of this girl! 50:18 in the Toad Suck 10k this morning! (That's just over an 8 min pace!) Was also able to pick the win for the 10-14 AG. Most importantly she had a great attitude and did her very best." |
My oldest daughter was so inspired by this post and begged me to take her out running today. When we got home from our morning of birthday shopping and exploring Bend, she and my 8 year old daughter headed out for a run with me where our only goal was to have fun and go as far as we wanted. We ran 5 miles. Five miles of running and the best conversations!! We laughed, talked about the future and our goals, and enjoyed our time bonding. While running with my girls, I realized yet AGAIN how much value there is to be found in running with our kids:
- Opportunity for them to stay fit and healthy
- Quality time
- Life Lessons
- So much less expensive (um, it's free!) than some of these sports fees and club sports!
- Sense of accomplishment for kids
- Building muscle and strong bodies will carry over...start now with fitness and your kids will benefit so much when they are older!
- The conversations that come up are priceless
- Being outside together
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| After our 5 miler! Tired and happy! And proud! |
I had originally planned on running 18 to 20 miles today but I ended up only running 10 (5 of my own miles after the miles with them) and will save the long run for Tuesday. I also plan on running the Smith Rock Half Marathon on Sunday, Mother's Day. I'm pretty sure I will run this for a strong fun training run and not race all-out. I will also be continuing to try out my Adidas Smart Run that I agreed to review. This device has been a major technology learning curve for me...Yikes! It is capable of SO much and I use SO little. All I need is time, pace, and distance. This thing has a GPS, Bluetooth for music, Wifi, Online data, specific workouts, Online coaching, and so...much...more!! At this point, I'm overwhelmed but I will continue to test it out as it fits in my life. If anything, I'll review it based on my needs and include all the things it CAN do if you want.
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| The Smith Rock Half Marathon and 10k on May 10th should be a fantastic event put on by Go Beyond Racing. There is even a team option for the 10k...families, businesses, high school teams...check it out! |
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| Adidas Smart Run..talk about SMART!! |
A random picture before I end this post!
We saw a big hairy Harley Davidson guy in Claire's today. He was there to get his ear pierced. Something about him...that big biker dude with his little purple Claire's bag that said "I just got my ears pierced at Clarie's" that was so funny to me. Now, THAT's one self confident dude! Smart! A guy that probably has granddaughters and knows the value of his money. It's probably cheaper to get his ear pierced at Claire's than it is at some of these tattoo shops. Love this! But I still laughed.
That's blog post #2 this week...I'm on a roll! A blog comeback? Nah.
That Claire's picture MADE MY DAY!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post! I really want to get my kids more involved in running. We did a family 5K, but I just want to get them out and running around the neighborhood, even if we have to start with just a couple of miles. 5 miles with one of my kids would be a dream. You've inspired me.
ReplyDeleteI hope this is a "blog comeback"!! I thoroughly enjoy reading your blog; it's inspiring and thoughtful.
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