Jeana in Texas Round-up

Jeana ran the Texas Round-up 10k this morning and ran better than she ever has before. The girls and I were waiting at the finish line watching for her. Kate was on my shoulders, and I was helping Audrey balance on the fence. Minutes before we saw Jeana, Kate decided she wanted to fold in half and do a nose-dive toward the sidewalk. Somehow I managed to catch her without Audrey falling off the fence and get back up in time to see Jeana turn the last corner of the race.

Distance	10K
Clock Time	56:04
Chip Time	55:39
Overall Place	392 / 827
Gender Place	119 / 404
Division Place	19 / 58
Total Pace	8:58/

There’s something mysterious about Jeana and Jamie registering for a race. The night before the race is always stormy and some races, or portions of races have been canceled in the past. Last night was no different. We knelt at our closet window watching the rain and thunderstorm because it was chucking buckets outside. The whole sky was constantly lit up by lightning. I was skeptical the race would happen this morning, but of course I didn’t vocalize my skepticism in order to not dampen the pre-race spirits. When we woke up today, the roads and sidewalks were dry, there was no wind, and the temperature was great!

Kate got to participate in her first race with bib 5596. Audrey now has her second bib, number 5597 (she now has as many as me). The family walk/mile started up by the capitol and went down hill for a half-mile, then we turned around and climbed back up the hill. Luckily, I was with Kate, and had her on my shoulders for three-fourths of the mile. She ran the first block by herself – I was so proud. Then the whining began. For an incentive I offered a fruit snack, singular. Bad idea. Not letting her hold the bag of snacks resulted in a meltdown on the side of the road (yes, she’s still two years old), but we recovered when I gave her the bag and put her on my shoulders. The only negative effects of that action were an occasional fruit snack falling down my sweaty back.

Audrey and Kate loved getting their medals. Jeana and I were talking today about how exciting it is to involve the girls in events like races. I hope we’ll have many more days like today – we got to spend the whole day together as a family with no other obligations taking us away from each other. We went up to Firehouse Subs for lunch (a new favorite dining establishment) and went slacklining after Kate’s nap.