Running (or trying to)

We ran the 8K this past Saturday (me, friend-Kelly, friend-Dusty) and my girls ran the Kids 1-mile Fun Run. The weather was beautiful but almost too warm for a November race. No complaints though, because the route took us through some of the most beautifully lined streets in our state. The leaves had not taken too much of a beating yet (that came Sat. night) and their color was stunning! What fell to the ground made a rainbow effect of color for us to follow to the finish line.

Sweet friend Kelly (aka: professional athlete disguising herself as a stay-at-home mother) was able to start the race with the gun.

Dusty and I were *many* blocks downhill awaiting the arrival of my girls. Not being from "downtown" I certainly took for granted our ability to arrive to the 8K starting line on time. Well, as Dusty and I made it up the final hill, pushing, panting, heaving, (needing to potty), and we rounded the corner....YES we made it!!! To the finish line you ask? Not quite because that was just getting us to the STARTING POINT! As we rounded the corner we slid in with the other swarm of thousands and began our race with a great disadvantage. #1 being that our bladders were not empty and #2 we had just ran uphill for 1/2 mile!

No excuses, right? We did well and we achieved our goal time and passed a lot of high school girls along the way. Basically that is our motivation when we run races. We pick the girls with the high school t-shirts on, the way-too short shorts, the sweet little hair ribbon blowin' in the breeze and with a stealth-like approach we draft for a couple of seconds behind them and grin before we LEAVE'EM IN OUR DUST BABY! Sorry if that sounds wicked or mean. That's not my intent. However, we must do something to combat the fact that there are 70+ year old women who are beating us (thanks dear for reminding me).

Our friend Kelly (the mom with the cape) set a personal record, but we'll see whose bladder holds out better when Kelly delivers a couple of more babies, right??? Dusty and I would have finished together but in the final moments nearing the finish line, her bladder.....with respect to Dusty and her privacy I will just say that her bladder was not her friend. Regardless, she finished within seconds of me, even though I was a lousy friend and I abandoned her in her moment of need. What was I to do? My bladder was working for goodness sakes!

The marathon was the really big race of the day (been there, done that, t-shirt was not worth it). There is always talk about how *fantastic* it is to see this guy sprinting for 2+ hours and how *amazing* he is to be so fast! I agree to some extent but I am starting to think that age categories are not enough for prize allotment. You see, I feel like there should be more of an appreciation for the mom of 4 or more. The mom who is overweight (I'd like to see him run with about 35 pounds strapped to his back) The mom who ran the whole stinkin' marathon but it took way longer than 2 hours. I mean come on, I would like to see that guy from Kenya run for like 5 or more hours. Now that takes endurance, my friend. Maybe if his bladder was failing him and his uterus was trying to come out and he had to run 6 blocks up-hill because he was dedicated to watching his children race then maybe, just maybe he wouldn't have looked so much like a cheetah when he crossed that finish line. Hmmm.... makes ya think doesn't it?

I applaud all runners, but there is a special place in my heart for the mother.... especially the one who is bladder-challenged :)