Volkslauf 2010

Every year down at Ft. Leonard Wood the Marine Detachment puts on a 10K "fun" run through the woods in the area. This year I was finally in a position to run it (not being pregnant or having Tom gone). We got a team of girls together from the Centre here in Rolla where I work out. Here are some pictures from our adventure:

Before the sweat and mud: Our team of 5 (the Dirt Devils) and another team from Rolla who we know from the Centre who came to run it also.

At the starting line (left to right): Lisa Persicke, Michelle DuClos, Christine Thompson, me, and Kari Young.

And we're off (nice ponytail)!

Coming down the bank into the last river crossing (about 6.1 miles into the race).

The final stretch to the finish line. Go Team!

Wet and muddy, but finally finished!

Now that I have experienced the finer parts of trail running (it had just rained during the night), I think I am more of a girly girl runner. By the time we were finished we had run through mud, water, and who knows what else and my shoes were full of little rocks. I think I prefer a little bit cleaner run, but it was fun to experience it at least once in life. We tied for first place coming in at 1 hour and 8 minutes (which isn't really fast for a regular 10K, but great for this 10K with all the mud, hills and river crossings and doing it as a team). The other all girl teams who came after us were well behind us. I ran as fast as I could, but Christine and Lisa could have finished a lot sooner had they had a faster runner as a team mate.

Ellie Laughs

There is hardly anything more pleasant and uplifting in life than the sound of a baby laughing. I thought I'd share a little clip of Reili making Ellie laugh for you all to enjoy. I just love it!

Memorial Day Picnic

For fun on Memorial Day, our friends invited us to go on a picnic at a nearby lake. We stuffed our faces (as you can see) and our kids had fun playing in the water. The Youngs brought their canoe and all the kids got a ride and jumped out to swim in the murky water. They loved it. The day was pretty muggy, but sitting in the shade was nice. We had a fun filled afternoon. We are so thankful to have good friends who invite us to do things. Life would be lonely here without them.

Kari and Scott Young....mmm....mmm....good!

Dave and Brooke Whittekiend....the baby is due in July. She threatened me when I took her picture.

Posers.

Fun in the canoe.

Wesley cried when he found out he wouldn't be the one paddling.

Rolla Fun? Run

This morning we supported the scouts in our ward by running (or walking) the 5K fundraiser they put on. I decided I wanted to try to run my fastest 5K yet, and had my friend Kari to run with to talk me through the rough spots. Tom took the double running stroller to walk the route with our kids. Reili said she wanted to run it and was able to for a short distance. The run was anything but fun, but I did finish it in 26:12 and took second in my age range. Once it was over, I felt great and I'm really glad I did it now. Now there's just work to be done to get faster. I used to feel like a 10 minute mile was about the fastest I would ever be able to run. Then a couple years ago I ran a half marathon at an average 9 minute pace. Now that I am 35 and just 4 1/2 months after the birth of our 4th child, I am finally learning that it is just what you train your body to do and you can really do almost anything you are willing to train for. It is all in what you want and believe you can achieve (barring any serious health issues of course). It makes me think...if I had just thought about this when I was younger, I might have been a little faster by now. On the other hand, I think...how fast do I really want to be?

Pre-race feeling a little angst.

Kari and I standing at the starting line...only a little perspiration...it was muggy!

Post race....Tom had to get a picture of the beads of sweat after I walked back to meet him.

Kari took first and I took second in our age range (30-45).

I won a $10 coupon to a local pharmacy.

Amberly, Reili and Tabitha after the race.

Reili and Amberly both walked the 5K with Tom. I met up with him about a half mile from the end and he said he was never going to do that with 4 kids again. I don't blame him. Amberly and Wes were fighting over the free spot in the double jogger the whole way. Tom took off back to the house with Wes and Ellie from there and I wanted to get the two girls to finish the race (and we needed to get the van). They did it (with a few complaints here and there) and I am so proud of them! Reili says she wants me to help her train to run one sometime. I told her first she will have to train just to run 1 mile and we will work up from there.

Just in Time

Just in time for our anniversary, I finally got my braces off. Yahoo! It is exceptionally satisfying to have perfectly straight teeth. Brushing and flossing are so much easier now. Thanks so much to Rachel, who finally convinced me to get braces while Tom was deployed. Big thanks to Tom, for funding my dream and to Kari, Rachel and Hannah who took care of the kids every time I had one of those blasted appointments. My only regret is that I didn't get it done 15 or 20 years ago.

Up close and personal.

Cheese!

Tom and I had fun going to Sybill's last night for our anniversary. I had to get a couple pictures of us. We do look a bit older than we did 10 years ago. The food was yummy! We were carnivores last night. Tom had Prime Rib and I had a New York Strip steak.

Jane and Mr. Studman.

Luckily someone walked up in time to take our picture.