We made it through the Fourth of July weekend, but what I feared most became a reality. The good news is my wife and I kicked the day off with a bang by placing in our Fourth of July 5k!
The night before the race, we brought Avery up the road in our neighborhood to see the local fireworks. It was past her bedtime before they even started and we were getting eaten by bugs, but I’d say she still had a great time.
Okay, maybe “great” is an exaggeration, but it was officially her first time to see fireworks since last year I don’t think she was too aware. Either shame on us for keeping her up so late when we had to wake her up extra early the next day or….no, never mind, just shame on us.
G-Ma met us at Martin House Brewery, where the race was being hosted, to hang out with Avery as Going Mom and I pushed our legs to the limits in the hot and humid weather. The race started at 8am and it was already sticky with most of the participants sweating from just standing around.
Isn’t my Mom beautiful? I can’t believe she’s turning 60 at this end of this month! Oops, was I not supposed to share that with the blogosphere? Sorry, Mom, I love you!
Before the start, we took turns posing together for pictures with Avery. Any picture with these three lovely ladies is one to cherish forever.
Avery wasn’t sure of what to make with Daddy not having a shirt on, but not like it’s anything new.
By the time we took our family picture, Avery had enough of the posing. She was probably pissed we woke her up so early too.
Kelley snapped a shot of my true fashion sense wearing brown and black. But hey, I was excited to race in my Soft Star Shoes Dash RunAmoc since the last race never panned out. Don’t I look proud?
After a quick warm-up jog, singing the National Anthem alongside 200+ already sweaty runners, and anxious to run, we were finally off. Kelley and I gave each other a good luck kiss and I dashed in the grass to pass slower runners and walkers.
Actually, I had to go off road a few times in order to pass people, and the Dash RunAmocs performed better than expected. With the Bullhide Leather Sole, I was worried traction would be an issue in the grass when I jumped to the side, but I never slipped once. The rest of the race was on a gravel trail, and they felt light with just enough protection from the rocks.
G-Ma was too occupied with an energetic toddler to ask her to take action shots of us racing, so I just have snippets from the Movin’ Pictures. As you can see, they are not paid for, just what you can find online, but I think they’re good enough.
What if, one day, it was cool to buy pictures with the word “Proof” across the entire image? I’d be ahead of the game then!
The shoes were great with their minimal weight and maximum performance. As long as it’s not wet (leather soles and water is like walking on ice), these are awesome. I do have other RunAmocs with a rubber trail sole which feel great when running too, but I like using those for lifting in my garage more.
The race itself was quick but the heat was punishing all of us. But that didn’t stop Going Mom from keeping on course and maintaining composure. I even have “proof” of her solid performance.
Both of us have hardly put enough running training in lately, be we have been rocking intense workouts with the barbell and kettlebells which gave us a great foundation to keep us going strong. And, as a result, our strength training paid off; we both came in 3rd place in our age group!
It may not seem like anything spectacular to some, but I’m proud of the both of us and think it was a great way to kick off the Fourth of July!
Out of 261 runners, we came in 13th (me) and 59th (wife) place overall. I was hoping for a sub-20 minute run, but I’ll take 20:26. Plus, maybe that’s a positive sign that I’m doing better at my ultimate goal of gaining strength/weight.
Our favorite brewery, Martin House, had free beer for all runners. Kelley and I had a few drinks while sharing some much deserved beer with G-Ma while waited for the Awards to get our medals and take a photo. Of course, Avery had to be in there with both of us. Still rockin’ her “no smile” look.
After taking advantage of free craft beer (#winning), and talking with other runners, some who were quite interested in my brown Soft Star running shoes, we took off to G-Ma’s house. This is where we spent the night what I was scared of happening, happened.
Lets just say that sleep was very rare that night. Of course, our sweet angel did take a nap on the way home the next day.
What a stinker. Details of the rest of the day and tiring night are coming soon. Until then, have a great day!
How was your Fourth of July?
Did you run any races or kick back and enjoy the day in relaxation?
