Monday, June 13, 2011

What A Weekend!

Our fun-filled weekend began early Saturday morning as we travelled to the Pratts community for the Frog Level 5K.  Jimmy, Leah, and I ran this race.  This was Leah's very first 5K!  She was so excited and nervous!  She has been training for a few months now.  It really is hard to run in Mississippi heat and humidity, but Leah was a trooper!

Her finishing time was 37:05, which was way ahead of her goal of beating 40 minutes (I knew she would beat that time!).  We walked about every 1/2 mile, and I carried Gatorade for her to drink at the 1/2 mile and 1 mile point.  I dropped the Gatorade on the side of the road (near a policeman blocking a cross road) for us to pick up on the way back (the 2 mile point of the race).  They had water at the 1.5 mile turn-around point.  When we got back to the 2 mile marker, our Gatorade was squished!  A car had run off the road and flattened it!  I encouraged Leah that we could make it to the finish line without a drink (what choice did we have?), and she did great!  She was hot, but she never complained...she just pushed through and kept on running!

Leah won first place in the under 10 age group!  We are all so proud of her!


Just before the race began

As we were approaching the finish, some of Leah's supporters ran in with her.

Getting close to the finish line

Hot and tired after the race

Leah with her 1st Place trophy!




Jimmy tried again to break 20, and again, go so close!!  20:10 was his time!  That is still so fast, and I know that he will soon reach his goal.

After the race, we went home, packed up and headed to Memphis.  Of course we stopped by Target, and I bought some new plastic baskets/bins for the children's school books.  We call these "work buckets".  I have been using 18 qt. dishpans for work buckets for about 7 years now, but they are starting to crack.  I have looked all over town for some new dishpans, but all I have found are 12 qt. ones.  Those are too small.  At Target I found stackable basket/crate type containers with wheels!  They had pretty colors too!  When I get them loaded with the school books I will take pictures.

We checked in our hotel (what a highlight for Leah and Sam to stay in a hotel!), we went to downtown Memphis for the Gibson Guitar 5K race.  Jimmy ran this race too, along with Olivia, Julie, and Clay.  The race began on Beale Street.  As we were waiting for the 7:00 PM start, all of a sudden a huge storm blew in!  There was lightning, loud thunder, and then the rain.  Buckets of rain!  The race began amid these conditions, and Leah, Sam, and I were left drenched, looking for some shelter.  We found a parking garage near the finish line, so we were able to watch the race there.  Every single person--all 1500 runners and the spectators-- were soaking wet!  In spite of the horrible conditions, my family still ran well.  Olivia and Julie both got a trophy, and Clay was not too far from a personal record!  I will post their times in the Race Results sidebar.

We got back to our hotel around 10:30.  Sunday morning we worshipped at the East Shelby Church of Christ with Jimmy's cousins and their families.  We also ran into a family that used to worship with us in Tupelo...they live in the Memphis area now.  We joined Jimmy's family for lunch (along with about 100 other people from their congregation) at Shelby Farms.  After a delicious BBQ lunch, the children played on the new (and very neat!) playground at Shelby Farms.  I plan to take the children back there when it is not so hot!

We arrived home just in time to unload the van, unpack, start the washer, and head back to town for worship at our local church.  After our church service we joined about 20 of our church family members for a CrossFit workout at the park.  What a workout!!

Last night's CrossFit workout:
Warm-up--Burpee Dodgeball.  If you got hit by the ball, you had to do 10 burpees.  I think I did 60!
The Workout--1/4 mile run followed by 21, 15, and 9 repetitions of dead lifts and thrusters.  The final exercise was 21 burpees.  As we were doing the final burpees, I heard Lynn exclaim, "I just ate grass!"  Tough workout.  We were timed, and I completed my round in 11:19.  I am not sure I had the best form for the dead lifts (I think my total weight was #65), because my lower back is hurting.  At my age, something is always hurting after a workout!

We arrived home from the workout about 10:15, I think, and I got everyone fed, bathed, and in bed by about 11:15.  A late night!

What a weekend!

6 comments:

  1. I just love the way your whole family is involved in running with you and your husband! What an inspiration. And the picture of you and Leah getting close to the finish line is beautiful! What a great Mom!

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  2. Congratulations to Leah! You are a wonderful mom :)

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  3. Way to go, Leah!!! We are so proud of you! From Mrs. Renee, Sarah, Hannah, and Lydia (Roan, I agree that the picture of you and Leah running together is a great photo.)

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  4. Great job Leah! How old is she?
    My oldest is only 4, but she loves running. She did the youth race that was associated with the 1/2 I did back at the end of April. She loved it! She is always putting on her "running watch" and running in a race. :)

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  5. hey Roan....Christianbook.com has Lamplighter books on 20% off right now. I can afford to get one or 2....what titles would you suggest? My girls are 7 and 11.

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  6. What a fun weekend! Congratulations to sweet Leah!

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