chick fil a race

Cailey, Braden and Kinsey (along with Daddy) ran in the Chick Fil A race. They were originally planning on running the 5K (and Kinsey the mile) until they found out there was a 10k and asked if they could run it. After talking to their doctor and finding out it wouldn't ruin their knees for life:) we said yes. They were SO excited and trained by running 3 miles a 2/3 days a week then their "long" run on Sunday mornings before church. They ran 3, 4, 5, 6 on the weekends...so they only trained for a month but their first run out they were already up to 3 miles so it wasn't hard for them to move up.

Braden LOVES running. It's his passion..as in he likes going on training runs, long runs, anything...and does great at it all. He has never cared about time until recently and still doesn't pay attention to it but continues to be faster. There were training runs that he would go out and run so fast that Brian would have to get him to slow down! The most amazing part of it is that even when he runs his fastest he still has conversations...and never breathes hard! Brian just can't get over how he can talk about anything and not be winded even going fast. He has endurance like nobody's business. He is amazing and I can't WAIT to see how God is going to use him.

Kinsey decided she only wanted to do the mile this time instead of the 5K which was great because I was in no condition to run and wouldn't have been able to join her for 3 miles. She went out and did it all by herself for the first time and rocked it! She didn't do much training....maybe four runs total over a month but apparently didn't need it. For the first few she would run the first mile with the other kids then they would finish their run. I told Brian that since it was so easy for her maybe he could try going faster and boy did she! She cut over two minutes off her time then on race day she ran it in 10:14 all by herself!! Girlfriend rocked it!

Cailey LOVES races. And piano recitals. And swim meets. And triathlons. And any kind of competition there is. But she does NOT like to train or practice...for any of it. She got great talent in so many areas but struggles with the desire to practice...which I TOTALLY get. I never would have wanted to do this as a kid and I quit piano SO many times because of practice...but I didn't have the awesome ear and talent she does. Training was not fun for her BUT everyday she'd come home and I'd ask her if she wanted to just not run she wouldn't have it. This was her desire...as we are NOT going to push any of our kids to do something if they don't want to. So the training part was not fun for her but she wanted to keep doing it and couldn't WAIT for race day. She just has a natural ability that amazes me where no matter how training went she thrives on competition. She did it. She put in the training...but just didn't love it. And she was BEYOND excited for race day...counting down with excitement and telling everyone about it. She's so funny! And has so much drive!

making a poster for each other before the race

Race day was rainy and yucky. And both the 5K and 10K courses were SUPER hilly (which we knew ahead of time). Because of the times I was only able to see the older two start and finish with no time to go see them halfway and cheer them on because Kinsey had her race in the middle of theirs. So were off! The plan was for Brian to run with whoever was slower. This is the first race they'd done where there weren't enough adults to stay with each kid so we told them each to run at their own pace.

my excited racers!

Cailey LOVES her knee socks...Kinsey loves her pigtails...and Braden says he just wants to be 'normal' lol!

Kinsey was thrilled to start and did SO great!!

she CRACKED ME UP because when she was done, girlfriend thought she ran a marathon and came back with a bagel, banana, orange, yogurt parfait, sausage biscuit, and bottle of water! and yes...she ate it all! oh...then later she got a slushy:).

crossing the finish line...and Ms. Katherine:)

Knowing that in their training run they ran 6 miles in around 1:04 I was guessing they'd be around there or a little after since it was 6.2. It KILLED me to not know where they were or be able to encourage them along the way but I waited at the finish then saw Braden coming up all by himself with no some other adults coming behind him. I was shocked to see him by himself! I thought for sure that Cailey would have been there or Brian but was SO BEYOND proud of him!! I asked him if he saw them and he told me that Cailey was ahead for the first three and a half miles while he was running with Brian and then they caught up to her and Brian stayed with her. So Braden ran BY HIMSELF UPHILL for THREE miles in the rain. I.was.so.proud. and quite honestly I couldn't believe the endurance he had to be able to keep up his pace up the HILLS! He finished in 1:04. He told me that he just kept praying to get up the mile long hills in the end. Proud mama moment for SURE!! The next day he asked Brian if they could start training for another race, too! He has cut 6 minutes off his 5K time this year but more importantly he has found a sport that he LOVES. We'll only do the 10k thing maybe once a year and stick to smaller races for him but I was just so glad he found something he loves so much. Just praying his body (knees) don't get destroyed in the process! I have a feeling that with his amazing endurance he'll follow in daddy's footsteps by running cross country. Only time will tell!

While Braden was getting food and cooling down I was standing at the finish line so worried about what happened to Cailey and Brian. She has always thrived at races finishing way before we thought she would. As the minutes ticked by my anxiety level increased until I finally saw the best sight EVER when she and Brian came around the corner. I was THRILLED to see them and know they were ok!! She looked beyond spent. That day she learned a valuable lesson that I think she'll remember for a long time.

A lesson that I remember learning on a 12 mile run with Molly and Kelly at 5am on a fall morning. Molly and I were gabbing and I was running much faster than I normally did (not realizing it). Kelly was behind and we were meeting Beth for the last four. When we got to 8 and met Beth I was SPENT (as Kelly kept warning me I would be) and struggled to finish the last 4. I was so excited about our 8 mile time I had no idea the last 4 would be so hard. Thankfully that happened to me on a training run though.

SO...Cailey ran the first 3 1/2 in record time. She was running 8 minute pace or a little above for 3 and a half miles. She did it by herself and then the hills came. She was fine on the first two but Brian and Braden finally caught up to her on the third and Brian said she was doubled over and just 'done'. She NEVER stopped. She wanted to..because it was so hilly and hard and she had already run her heart out but she didn't. She ran SO fast on the first half that the second half seemed impossible to her. But bless her heart she found something inside her that allowed her to finish. And I was SO proud of her for finishing because I've been there and KNOW how hard that had to be for her..only worse because she's only 9. I would always tell both Braden and Cailey that in the end the tortoise wins and the first thing she said to me was that she was the hare and ran out of steam. Then later Braden said that he was the tortoise. I think she gets it now but just felt terrible she learned it on race day. I'm not sure if she'll want to do anymore long distance races or if she'll want to stick with 5K's but I do know that she still loves running and did FINISH. She was so sad and disappointed because she came in at 1:11 and knew that the week before she did it in 1:04 but I reassured her that she was AWESOME as there were many adults who came in after her and that I couldn't even run it! She did great! but she knew she could do better and was sad...until she saw the food:). Silly girl! She still says she wants to run a 1/2 marathon when she's 12....only time will tell!


my wet boy...the oldest three were FREEZING after running in the rain so they shared a jacket. At one point all three of them were sharing it:). ephram was a TROOPER for the whole thing!

i love this picture. they were coming back from getting "FREE!!!!" slushies. sweet cailey just could not believe that they were free! and yes...they were freezing but wouldn't pass up ICE to drink.

we never stay for awards because quite honestly I didn't even know they had awards after races (other than first place). now i'm wondering if they've ever won any before because they both won FIRST place for their age/gender category!! They were SO excited to win a medal because we didn't even know that was a possibility. Oh, and winning a medal made Cailey feel so much better about the race because she realized that even though it wasn't the best she had ever done it was still faster than so many other people. I always tell them that finishing is the most important thing:).

We are SO proud of all three for finishing! Cailey and Braden wore their medals all day...including to the mall later on in the day:).