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Monday, March 18, 2013

peanuts and pie

despite my best efforts, i'm pretty sure that the teen is going to start refusing to sign up for runs with me.    i suppose they seem like a good idea at the time, but when the time to get up for that 5K run rolls around, she's probably cursing me in her head (or under her breath, or on twitter, what have you).

last sunday morning found us up bright and early, heading down to buena park to do the annual coaster run through knott's berry farm.  it sounded like a really fun course - instead of last year's, which involved a lot of running through the parking lot (yawn), this one actually spent more time winding through the actual park.  this news likely upped its popularity, since it actually sold out well in advance.

after suffering through a good bit of traffic (not on the freeway, but on the streets surrounding knott's), we finally made it to the start line.


i'd been assigned to the first wave, but since the teen was placed a little further back, we trudged through the crowds until we were in the right place.  those markings on the side of my bib seem to stand for "batshit crazy," which is what i apparently am.


does this scream "YAY 5K!" or what?


and in no time, we were off.  the first mile went really well, as we wove around and through the walls of walkers.  it'd been a long time since my last visit to knott's, so it was kind of fun to see what kind of stuff they have to offer.  the half-off coupon we'd gotten in our goody bag was tempting, too.




and then as we hit the first mile marker, the teen's ankles gave out and we slowed to a walk.


i eyed the stands with delicious-sounding food longingly as we scurried past.



finally, we were here:


and here.


just past that last mile marker, we crossed the finish line.


we happily accepted our medals, and the teen made a beeline for this table:


that's right.  every finisher receives a super cute snoopy medal and a piece of fresh boysenberry pie.


by then, the hub and the bean had arrived for the kids' run.  it had a start time two hours later than our run, so i'd asked him to bring her down.  for a while there, it was iffy as to whether she'd make it or not - between that horrible daylight savings time change and sheer exhaustion from a full week of oompa loompa-ing, she was pretty dang tired.  but she's a trooper, that one.  and after i pinned her bib on, she struck her "running" pose for me.


we joined the growing crowd near the start line, where we caught a glimpse of snoopy.


a little pre-race silliness.




they released the kids in several waves, just like the regular race.  and when they fired the gun to start us off, the bean shocked us both as she sprouted freaking wings on her little feet and took off.


she had a 1K course, which translates to roughly 5/8 of a mile.  it was a little longer than the races she's done in the past, and that adrenaline only lasted for so long before she reached for her sister's hand to take a walk break:


...and a water stop.


she did a fantastic job, mimicking her mother's run/walk intervals, and was stoked to receive her own medal at the end.  group shot!


next up for the bean:  a mud run.  this is something she's been practically begging me for, and i was able to find one that offers a kids' version and a longer, grown-up option.  and even more awesome?  i somehow managed to rope the hub into doing the 5K with me.

oh, that's gonna be FUN.

6 comments:

  1. My 12 yo son would love to do a kids mud run- I'll have to look and see if there are any in N. CA that go to that age...any suggestions?

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    Replies
    1. if he can wait until october, the one we're signed up for is coming to sacramento: http://www.downanddirtymudrun.com/event-cities/sacramento/

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  2. Oh I'll have to look into that mid run for my kids! We're in Sacramento. How do you find all the races that's you run? Is there a website that you like to use? I'm looking for a run fun for my daisy Girl Scout troop.

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    Replies
    1. yes - go to active.com or raceplace.com (i'm not sure if the latter covers northern CA as well, but it might). another idea is to go to your nearest sport chalet/big 5/dick's/running store and check out the flyers and things they always have posted somewhere. also check out girlsontherun.org - they are dedicated to inspiring girls in grades 3-8 to be physically active and work towards a celebratory 5K run!

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  3. Love the Bean's running pose. :) You've done so many runs, so many I've never heard of. This looked like fun. You're inspiring me to really start running. Any tips on how to get started?

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    Replies
    1. i was really surprised to find that there's some sort of a run somewhere in southern CA every weekend! the best way to get started IMO is to do the couch to 5K program. that's what i did, and i used an app called "ease into 5K." go for it! it's really fun to do the races, cross finish lines, and rack up medals :)

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