Girls on the Run is so much FUN!!!...and other running stories

This summer, I was approached by Sara, a good friend of mine (and also Annika's best friend's Mom), about starting a Girls on the Run program at our elementary school. She had been working with another mom who was interested in doing the same. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed right about this time so I wasn't much help in getting the program started. Also, the program didn't get the support of the school the way we all had hoped. Fortunately for all of us and our grade school girls, Sara felt strongly enough to pursue the program and offered her garage as a rainy day location. GOTR agreed and so our GOTR program was born. Thank you Sara, Merry and Tobi for giving our girls the gift of running!!! :)

When I signed Annika up for this program, it was for a few reasons. First and foremost, I LOVE to run and was introduced to it at a very early age. I grew up going to races on the weekends and cheering for my Dad. There were certainly some years (a decade) that I forgot how important it is to take care of my health and looked at his running passion as an obsession. Now, he's 65 and he really inspires me to stay healthy and keep running for my life. I want my daughter to have that in her back pocket. Second, the bottom line is that girls, in general, are NOT nice to each other! I think it's amazing to see a blended group of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders running together and really treating each other with respect. SO important!!  And third, but most importantly, she IS my mini-me so it's only appropriate that she should be a runner :) And her little body is built for speed!  

You've already seen our practice 5k (if you don't remember, feel free to go back to my birthday post :) ) so you know we work hard. I have to say that watching these 12 girls develop over the 10 week program was so amazing. I saw some incredible focus and determination from some of these girls. They practiced twice a week for 10 weeks so it really kept them on track to complete the 5k. I was able to attend about half of these practices so I ran with a lot of the girls individually. Each girl picked a buddy to run with her for the race and of course, I was Annika's buddy. There were definitely times that I thought twice about that decision. I was pretty hard on her...knowing that she was capable of more than what she was doing. It retrospect, I would have handled my 'motivation' a little differently, but the end result is a 5k time that makes her really proud :)  So on November 12, 2011, we joined hundreds of other runners for the GOTR 5k at Town Center! 

Pre-race smiles :)

In the home stretch!

My little gal was getting tired! Thank goodness that was the finish!

So proud of you Annika Bea!!! 

Every single one of our girls finished and each with a smile as wide as the Missouri river :D Congrats girls!! And THANK YOU coaches for making this such a successful program!!
   

The end result for Annika was as surprising to me as it was to her! She finished her first official 5k in 29:07, second out of our group of 12 runners and 19th out of 304 (!!) in her age group. Did I mention that we ran the ENTIRE race holding hands?? My back was sore for a few days, but the pride in my heart far outweighed the aches and pains. Girls on the Run really is SO MUCH FUN! 

Annika on her cheerleading perch  

 After the race, I rewarded Annika with a salted caramel hot chocolate from Starbucks and she rewarded me with lots of hugs and smiles. Josh was with his Dad and Annika decided that she wanted to spend the rest of the day with me at the Pilgrim Pacer marathon, cheering on our friend Chris. He decided last minute to register for his first ever marathon to get it under his belt in preparation for the SilverRush 50mi trail race in Leadville, CO this upcoming summer. Chris has been an unwavering force in my life through my cancer treatment and being there to cheer for him seems to be small peanuts compared to what he's done for me. So, Annika and I headed to a spot on the course that was uninhabited by cheerleaders and climbed the rock wall at the playground there to cheer from up high. We were lucky enough to be joined by our friend Erin whose boyfriend Danny was also running the marathon.

Danny and Brian

When Chris came through, he was smiling but definitely hurting...from the pavement of course...so i decided that on his return trip from the out and back course, I would finish the last 3.5-ish miles with him.  Erin so kindly took Annika to the finish line to cheer Danny and wait for us. Just before Chris came through, I got the funniest text from Erin...It read something like "need permission for ambulance to do soft tissue work"...followed by another one that read "*Annika". What???? I was totally freaked out so I called Erin only to find out that her phone auto-corrected 'Annika' to 'ambulance' and that it was just a text from Annika requesting to get a massage at the finish line. haha!! Apparently that 29:07 5k was pretty rough on her little body ;)

Anyway, full of adrenaline, I picked up Chris and along with Wael, and eventually Danny (who backtracked after his finish to create the first annual Chris Wristen 50k), we made our way to the finish. It was so nice to be by Chris' side as he accomplished such a huge goal. Our favorite photographer, Dick Ross, was there to capture our pacing team after Chris' big finish.

Congrats Chris!!! with Danny, Wael, Chris and me :)

So that was our Saturday... the week that followed was my highest mileage week since chemo started. Is it a surprise that I felt so motivated?? Thanks to my regular running crew...DD, Chris, Debbie, Deb, Coleen, James, Mike, Jim, Julie, Bobbi, Rick...and of course Adam who tore up the full SMP loop with me... I felt amazing all week.   

11/18/11

Running

SMP-orange, violet, red

7.5

690

great

0

11/16/11

Running

Kill Creek Park

3.5

322

good

0

11/15/11

Running

SMP and Ogg Rd repeats

3.5

322

good

1

11/15/11

Yoga

9:15 Lifetime class

0

01:00:00

0

alright

0

11/14/11

Running

Lake Lenexa

4

368

good

0

11/12/11

Running

Pacer at the Pilgrim Pacer

3.5

322

great

0

11/12/11

Running

Girls On The Run @Town Center 5k

3.1

00:29:07

09:23

314

good

So on Saturday, November 19th, it was all I could do to NOT race the Lawrence Trail Hawks  trail 10k, Sanders Saunter. I took first place female in this race last year and I knew that if I ran, I would be too hard on myself and not perform well anyway. There were some super speedy runners out there this year!! So along with Debbie, Deb, Jim, Ringo and Lizzie (canine sweepers), I helped sweep and de-mark the course. Everyone who knows me well knows that I love to volunteer and give back to the running community, but even I had no idea how much I would enjoy this day!

Lizzie, Deb and her amazing handmade flag carrier...brilliant!!

Jim, Debbie and Ringo cheering on the runners

Coleen and her Boobies, Debbie and me 

James modeling some dirt...a trail runners favorite accessory :)

Me and Raven, the race director and dear friend :) Great race, Raven!! 

So I added another 5 miles to my high (comparatively speaking) mileage week and took advantage of a gorgeous Saturday morning with incredible friends :)

I love my running family!!! <3

Thank goodness I ran so much because on Saturday after the race, I had lunch with my BFF and then headed to Adam's for the best pre-Thanksgiving feast EVER.  

Good friends, good food, good times :)

Of course my running adventures haven't ended...nor have my real Thanksgiving and Spanksgiving escapades. But for those stories, you'll need to stay tuned! I've spent way too much time in front of this computer today and I've got a package full of bacon granola and coffee to send to a soldier (Debbie's son Mike) overseas. 

Peace, Love, and Granola

xoxo

Shelley