MS150 and the Blue Bell 5K all in one day!

This year I was not alone in the early morning drop off for the MS150 charity ride.  At 5:00 am we woke all the kids up for the exciting departure.  Not only was this Jacob's first year riding, but also Samantha's third, and I've lost count how many for Scott.  Exciting, but not the reason even Nathan was dragged out of bed.  It just so happened to be the same day as the Blue Bell Fun Run that I and the twins signed up for a few months ago.  That means since January our family has been biking, running and training for TODAY! 

Jacob, Scott, and Samantha

So far these tough bikers are only half way on their ride to Austin.  All three have been raising money for Multiple Sclerosis and have been riding almost every Saturday in preparation for this long ride.  They pulled into the camping spot close to 6 pm tonight.  Tired, but proud that they didn't SAG (not sure what it stands for, but it means give up and flag down the shuttle). 

BEFORE

Anyway after their early drop off.  We headed out on our own adventure for the day.  We were cutting it a little close and barely had time to put on our new tee-shirts and use the potty before we started our race.  Alex stayed back with my sister and her family who were participating but walking.  I strapped Nathan in the stroller and began our 5K (3.2mile) run along with 2,000 people.  It was a little crowded.  I feel bad that the only person I accidently ran over with the stroller was an really nice old man.  He just smiled but I was extra careful after that. 

Joshua

The only way I talked these boys into such torture was the promise of all you can eat ice-cream at the end.  That has been our goal for 3 months.  We put an 5K App on my phone called "Zombie Run."  Its been fun to add a little drama and element into our training.  I think it was hard to envision Zombies running after us today with the mass of people and flowers along the roads, but we have had a great imagination in the past.  Especially when we would run at night on deserted streets.  Nathan is actually really fast for such a little guy and has insisted on running with us, I felt bad I never let him out of the stroller today, but he will get his turn when he is older.  At least he got to wear my shirt and still got a medal for crossing the finish line with me.  I was crying at the finish line hugging my boys.  I'm sure they just wanted to know where the ice-cream was, but I was so proud of them for working so hard and pushing until the end. 

Next year Josh wants to do the 10 K and Matthew thinks he sign up for the 1 mile Family Run.  He loved everything about today except the running.  I have really pushed him when he only wanted to walk.  Opps-- My goal was to finish in 45 minutes.  Our pace was actually slower than that training with Nathan in tow, but Josh finished in 36 minutes and Matthew in 37!! I love how they wanted to wait around for the awards because after all it was a race, and they might have won their age category... Some boy named Nathan won the 10 & under age group and our little Nathan thought that was so cool. 

Joshua and Matthew

 

As for the all you can eat ice- cream.  It was great!!  We had ice-cream sandwiches, popsicles, fruit bars, ice-cream dipped bars... No limit.  After our runs, Matthew always goes to get a cold towel at home, so I thought it would be fun to bring him a cold towel for after his run.  It was a good idea, but that cooler came in handy when Matthew walked up with a box of ice-cream bars that someone said he could have when they were trying to clean up towards the end.  Now we have some of that all you can eat, saved for tomorrow.  :)

Angela and Eric came with their family. Angela walked with her 6 week old baby.  What a trooper!  They also watched Alex while we ran and I got to see Alex cross the finish line. He walked the whole way, so he earned his medal too.  He was so excited that he earned his ice-cream. 

 You would think that with a car full of ice-cream bars we would rush home, but we took our time and enjoyed the flowers.  We actually went back to a spot on the route where I wish I had taken pictures while we were running.  I had the boys change their shirts and then we were ready for a photo shoot.  Granted there wasn't a spare brush found in the car, and it was almost noon so we have some harsh shadows, but the flowers were spectacular. 

Just as Josh was asking if we were done, a guy invited us to come park on his drive way and come take picture in his field.  Way better than just on the side of the road, and safer too.  He really did have some beautiful flowers and Alex and Nathan happily chased butterflies and ran threw his field. 

After some time and some great pictures, a sweet lady came over and invited us to come look at her flowers next door.  The boys were interested so we walked down the dirt road to find her nice and spacious field.  She taught the boys how to look for poison ivy and let Nathan play with her dogs.  How lucky to live in the country. 

As long as I am adding details about the day, I should note that the boys wanted to finish the drive around the block to see where they had run.  We ended up stopping at a park for lunch, where we ate apples, and melted ice-cream (the ones that didn't fit in the cooler).  Then we started our long drive back home.  I just happened to pull in for gas around 2 pm, and right next to our Exxon was a Sonic.  We love Happy Hour!  Everyone was happy with their second lunch/early dinner. It was way past Nathan's nap time by the time we got home, which means he missed it again.  It literally has been a switch this week and he has stopped napping, not sure what that means for my night shifts if I don't have a napping buddy anymore. 

 

I took over 175 pictures in the flowers.  What a wonderful day!