Mud Run June 2009 - Proud Mom Report

Yesterday as a family we participated in a fantastic event called the Mud Run (www.mudrun.ca). Billed as Canada's dirtiest trail run, they build in a 50m mud pit with landscapers dirt and a whole lot of water for the last 50m of the course. My husband who still runs off and on and my son Declan (age 6) did the 5K and my daughter at 4.5 wanted to do the 1.5K race. Both included the mud pit. The 5K also had a stream crossing (up to the waist for Declan) hay bails to climb, a 'cliff' which required a rope to ascend, and many more bridges, hills, trees to jump over. Two other neighbourhood families joined us (the boys all get into trouble together) and we headed out early Sunday morning. It was supposed to rain all day but the clouds cleared at about 10am and bright sun stayed for the rest of the day.

Declan has been a big runner at school, he can't wait until he's old enough for the cross country team next year, and loves to do laps on the school field. He really wanted to do the 5K ("1.5 is for the babies mom"), even though the 1.5 was billed as an event for kids up to age 12. There was a kids category for the 5K so we entered him in it. I think he and his two friends were likely the youngest ones to race that distance. Dec was off like a shot at the starting gun. After the first 2K loop we could hear daddy yelling out "Declan slow down so I can catch up!!" Apparently Dec was stopping for dad on a regular basis during the race. They rounded the corner at the finish to hit the mud and dove right in. The last 50m section took them easily 5-10 minutes, losing shoes, getting stuck etc etc. Declan crossed the line in 49:56. He finished 175/310 finishers (overall) and as I mentioned before could easily have run faster if Dad could have kept up. (as a point of reference the winner ran a 23:55 - so its not a fast race). He was likely one of the fastest kids his age out there. Mommy is very very proud. When asked if he wanted to do the race again next year he shouted out "the 10K!!" I think we'll stick to the 5K for a while I'm not sure I want him running much further until he's older. He hasn't stopped smiling yet, although he did fall asleep while eating dinner last night. He strutted off to kindergarten this morning wearing his race shirt and clutching some photos I'd printed of the race.

Greer and I did the 1.5K which started once all the 5 and 10K finishers were done. She had been crying as soon as she saw all the chaos of the mud pit with the older runners in the 5/10K so I wasn't even sure if we were going to be heading out. When I told her she didn't have to do the mud pit at the end she decided to run. Number proudly pinned on her chest we lined up and watched as the 9-11 crowd left, then the 7-8's and then it was time for 6 and under. Most had a parent accompanying them. We waited for the "GO!" and off we went. She's also much faster than I expected. She hasn't shown us her running skills, other than short bursts on the soccer field, so I was a bit surprised. Mommy tried to keep up, but the lack of running training in the past 4 years showed next to the little speed demon. We rounded the corner to the finish and she promptly sat down to take her shoes and socks off and gingerly step onto the edge of the pit. Quickly she decided that it was not for her and we carefully walked around the edge. At the end she got her legs muddy to the knees and announced that she was done. She proudly wore her participant medal and race shirt off to school today.

There are photos up on facebook - if you're interested and can't see them there, I can send a link.

Thanks for listening...

traveling again

Okay here I sit in Malvern PA. Where is Malvern you may ask? Well fly to Philadelphia and then drive for about 40 minutes out of the city. Its beautiful countryside, horse farms, rolling hills and lovely homes. But its not "home".

I've been traveling a bit lately, I know it comes with the job, but three times in the last 4 weeks is a bit more than I planned for this winter. I have mixed emotions when I travel. On one hand I enjoy having my side of the bed to myself and knowing that it will stay that way all night. No scary dreams courtesy of Bakugan's or the TV promos for Coraline. No lost dolls that require finding at 3am. On the other hand I miss Star Wars stories with Declan, and Greer's insistance that the next story will be the last, "I promise promise promise Mommy".

I'll be home soon - remind me once I'm there that I said I missed this stuff :)

Kids and Sports

Don't take this the wrong way. I want my kids to be active. I want them to participate in sports. Heck I'm hoping that a healthy interest in sports will help me stave off the tween years for my daughter. But as I look around as my kids start to get involved in sports. I wonder if everything there is as good as it should be.

I want my kids to have fun while they play soccer, or do gymnastics, or try a kids triathlon, or anything else that their hearts desire. But, I worry that exposing them to the pressure to "win", even when scores are not kept, might start everything off on the wrong foot. At every event we've been to with our kids, there are parents who are truly supportive; encouraging, sympathetic and overjoyed when things go right. And when the 5 year olds are playing soccer, things going right might just be that they are headed in the correct direction on the field. But there always seem to be those parents that are a bit over the top. Cheering and urging on from the sidelines perhaps a bit more than is needed when the athlete is 4, getting a little too upset when kids stop to notice that the clouds above look like a pony, rather than that a goal was just scored by the opposing team. I want to be the parent who can gently suggest that we look at the clouds later and focus on helping our friends play the game now. But I wonder how easy it is to become the "other" parent. How easy it is to get caught up in the game and wanting to be best, wanting to win?

I know that sports are fabulous for kids. I just want to be sure that in this family we make sure that kids enjoy the sport for the sake of sport and not because its all about winning. Each time we head out the door with equipment in hand I try and remind myself of this because it seems the parental peer pressure can be a bit crazy.

Weekend Walkers

Why is it that seeing someone do something as normal as walking can bring me to tears? Give me a lump in my throat? Over this past weekend three dear friends (that I know of - and possibly more) walked in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer. Its 60km through the streets of Toronto, raising money to fight this and many other cancers. Its an incredible sight...4,757 women and men walking in long lines throughout the city. Together these people raised over $13 million dollars for cancer research. That's almost $3000 each.

As all these people trudged through the rain over the weekend I was reminded of my trek last year. I'm not sure I realized at the time what an amazing experience it was... I was too caught up in blisters and sore feet.

Yay to all of you who were out there. You inspire me. You inspire others.

Farewell to the (rainy) summer....

Wow - its been *forever* since I wrote anything.... wild. But the summer has flown by and I can't believe that Buckaroo is back at school and the littlest munchkin is in Sr Preschool. Wow.

Things are coming along on the house and Ken's job search continues. He's put his portfolio up on line just recently and is now concentrating more on the Graphic Design side. He's had some bites on the design side so now we need to turn one into a job :) Wish us luck.

We accomplished a few things on the house this summer, got ourselves a finished mudroom and some little improvements in the backyard and elsewhere. It never seems like enough gets done... story of my life.

We've been having fun going to the local farmers market for dinner each Thursday evening this summer and are planning to keep going as long as the weather holds. The market will run until into October - but who knows how long it will still feel like picnic weather. With a sweater almost anything is possible.

Dinosaurs and Soccer Balls

Its been a busy busy week around here.  The kids were super tired after the long weekend, as evidenced by Dec's refusal to get out of bed the other.  Those who know him know that he is up and at it as soon as the sun rises every day.  And usually darned happy about it.  That has not been the case this week.  In fact everyone has been feeling a little sluggish and some days it seems like I have three teenagers in residence instead of two pre-schoolers and a husband as I try and get everyone up and out the door in the morning.

Wednesday Declan's kindergarten class had a trip to the museum and I took a day and volunteered.  The morning and afternoon class went together so it was just less than 50 4 and 5 year olds on the TTC and off to the ROM.  Thankfully there were enough parents helping that it was one parent for two kids and we walked up to the subway, rode over the Bloor viaduct (a VERY exciting moment for the munchkins) and even changed lines so we could exit in the Museum station with all its new totem poles and Egyptian hieroglyphics.  The tour leader was an ex-school teacher and wonderful with the kids.  They paid attention almost until right at the end (they were getting pretty hungry for lunch by then) and had some free time to explore the North American exhibit and the interactive areas before we had our bag lunches and left.  By the time we returned to the school they were exhausted.   To compound the issue we headed off to the local police station's Community Picnic that evening.  So by the time the kids hit bed they were DONE.

The next day all Declan could talk about was the dinosaur exhibit and what they saw and did while at the museum.  I guess that means it was a success.

Then yesterday was the first of the 'double duty' days when the kids having swimming followed closely by Declan's soccer practice/game.   He was a trooper and gobbled some dinner in between the two events and had a great time at soccer. There are a couple of kids from his kindergarten class on his team and he made fast friends with several others.  His smile was as wide as possible the entire time and he cried when we had to go home at the end of the evening. Here's hoping that he continues to love it as much as the summer rolls along.  We'll be playing soccer until Labour Day :)   

Long Weekends!!

Well its always nice to have a long weekend and even better when we can schedule it so that we aren't running all over the place seeing multiple sets of grandparents. Due to scheudling we are in Muskoka this weekend and will be making a different trip to Peterborough when MC is there too.

Unfortunately the weather hasn't been too cooperative and there's been intermittent rain and cloud all weekend. Kudos to the kids who have been able to find fun things to do without driving their grandparents completely over the edge.

Saturday evening we went to the Rush cottage to watch fireworks. The Whites had a big stash and Ted had purchased a bunch so we didn't need to bring any along. Dec had a lot of fun playing and watching the festivities with Owen and they have become fast friends. The kids applauded after each firework ended and although completely exhausted they were disappointed it was all over.

Monday I've had to do a little bit of work but the kids are having a late breakfast and being really good.

Back to the grind tomorrow - lots of work to do - but thats life....