Ok so today was the Muddy Monster 5K Cross Country Race. Bill won his age group last year in the same race which was then called the 'Devil Dash' and it was on a different course. Bill has been looking forward to this race for a year because there is a team component that adds together the score of 3 runners signed up on the same team. Bill has dreams of winning not only his age group but the team competition. He enlisted Jeremy and Brian, our running friends, to come and be on our team. They sported matching Vineyard Running Club shirts. It was a Halloween race so I decided to get in the spirit and wear a costume (a regrettable mistake). I decided because it was slightly cold that I would wear this orange convict jumpsuit that I had left over from my Young Life program days.
Here is Bill and I pre race. By the time the race came around, it had warmed up so I lost the hat and the long sleeve shirt under the jumpsuit. (important information for later)
Here are the boys in their matching VRC shirts- logo courtesy of our talented graphic design friend, Jordan.
Don't they look handsome. By race time they lost their hats as well
Ok so it was time for the race. I have been running slower than usual due to half pint and due to a crazy work/travel schedule I have not gotten out for a run more than once a week. I knew it would just be a nice jog for me. The day was sunny, the course was hilly and slick from rain/mud/dew so as I started I knew I wouldn't be winning anything. About 1/2 mile into it, I started getting really hot. The jumpsuit weighs like 5 lbs and is made out of really heavy fabric. What the heck was I thinking? Right after running my slowest mile in over a year, I had to stop to try to get cooler. I rolled up the legs and tried to tie the top around my waist but it was so huge and with so much fabric that it didn't work. I ended up stopping like 50 ft later and just taking the whole thing off; luckily I had appropriate clothes on underneath. I had to move my number and I think the whole ordeal took about 3 minutes. Then back on the course I went. I didn't know what to do with the 5 lbs of orange heavy fabric jumpsuit I was carrying. I should have just left it on the course but I didn't know if you could do that so I carried it the rest of the way. I am already tired and huffing and puffing because half pint is taking all the oxygen I breath in first but now I'm carrying this ridiculous costume. I was so pissed at myself. Bill was waiting for me near the finish and I finally got to drop my burden. I ran that last 200 meters really fast. It was a terrible race. I had to cry afterward. But I, at least, beat the 'freaks' dressed up like ketchup and mustard. That is my only claim to fame. I outran the condiments. Pregnancy has really taken a toll on my running and it makes me kind of mad. I keep telling myself come May 1st half pint can sleep in the jog stroller as I get back in the game. While I was suffering and running freakin' 10 minute + miles, the boys were celebrating at the finish.
They finished 15th, 16th and 17th (Jeremy, Brian and Bill). Brian wiped out on the slippery bridge and got muddy but not seriously hurt which was good. Bill got first in his age group, 40-44. Brian got first in his age group, 30-34 and Jeremy got second in his age group, 25-29. Jeremy ran a marathon last weekend so it is amazing to any of us that he turned in such a great time.
When you got your award, you had to stand up on the hay bales to get your picture taken.
Here's Jeremy
And Brian
And finally Bill
When the team awards were announced, the Vineyard Running Club was sure that it would get top 3. 3rd place a group of teenage cross country girls, 2nd place some team called team tutu wearing tutus and 1st place a team of young cross country high school boys. Seems odd right? No VRC. Fishy as how no girls beat Jeremy, Brian or Bill. They talked with the race director afterward who didn't even have their team listed in Top 10 though he remembers signing them us as a team. He apologized for the oversight and will send them their trophies... official results are up and our boys beat team tutu who got second place by over 3 minutes. I was hoping to finish this blog with a shot of the boys post race with their trophies but alas that is not meant to be. It was, however, a glorious first day at the races for the Vineyard Running Club.
The boys and their award bags.
me finally smiling after catching my breath, changing my clothes and eating a ton of watermelon and oranges.
Life Lesson #4654 -- no dumb Halloween costume when trying to run a race.
Our old front maple is golden yellow
The new maple we had planted last year has its leaves still green with just the tips turning dark red.
It is a magnificent display. I love fall.
Here are the boys in their matching VRC shirts- logo courtesy of our talented graphic design friend, Jordan.
Don't they look handsome. By race time they lost their hats as well
Ok so it was time for the race. I have been running slower than usual due to half pint and due to a crazy work/travel schedule I have not gotten out for a run more than once a week. I knew it would just be a nice jog for me. The day was sunny, the course was hilly and slick from rain/mud/dew so as I started I knew I wouldn't be winning anything. About 1/2 mile into it, I started getting really hot. The jumpsuit weighs like 5 lbs and is made out of really heavy fabric. What the heck was I thinking? Right after running my slowest mile in over a year, I had to stop to try to get cooler. I rolled up the legs and tried to tie the top around my waist but it was so huge and with so much fabric that it didn't work. I ended up stopping like 50 ft later and just taking the whole thing off; luckily I had appropriate clothes on underneath. I had to move my number and I think the whole ordeal took about 3 minutes. Then back on the course I went. I didn't know what to do with the 5 lbs of orange heavy fabric jumpsuit I was carrying. I should have just left it on the course but I didn't know if you could do that so I carried it the rest of the way. I am already tired and huffing and puffing because half pint is taking all the oxygen I breath in first but now I'm carrying this ridiculous costume. I was so pissed at myself. Bill was waiting for me near the finish and I finally got to drop my burden. I ran that last 200 meters really fast. It was a terrible race. I had to cry afterward. But I, at least, beat the 'freaks' dressed up like ketchup and mustard. That is my only claim to fame. I outran the condiments. Pregnancy has really taken a toll on my running and it makes me kind of mad. I keep telling myself come May 1st half pint can sleep in the jog stroller as I get back in the game. While I was suffering and running freakin' 10 minute + miles, the boys were celebrating at the finish.
And Brian
And finally Bill
When the team awards were announced, the Vineyard Running Club was sure that it would get top 3. 3rd place a group of teenage cross country girls, 2nd place some team called team tutu wearing tutus and 1st place a team of young cross country high school boys. Seems odd right? No VRC. Fishy as how no girls beat Jeremy, Brian or Bill. They talked with the race director afterward who didn't even have their team listed in Top 10 though he remembers signing them us as a team. He apologized for the oversight and will send them their trophies... official results are up and our boys beat team tutu who got second place by over 3 minutes. I was hoping to finish this blog with a shot of the boys post race with their trophies but alas that is not meant to be. It was, however, a glorious first day at the races for the Vineyard Running Club.
me finally smiling after catching my breath, changing my clothes and eating a ton of watermelon and oranges.
Life Lesson #4654 -- no dumb Halloween costume when trying to run a race.
I think Gabby was trying to look like her pumpkin.
Iverson children with knives... everyones most scary Halloween moment.
Cleaning out the guts
Bill made some yummy roasted pumpkin seeds which is always the best part of pumpkin carving.
Amanda and I checked into our hotel, took showers and away we went. We took the underground into the city and got tickets to the evening show of Wicked which Amanda has never seen. We then just walked around and ended up in St James park which is just lovely. It was a full day on Thursday, we didn't get back to our hotel until midnight and Amanda didn't sleep at all on her red eye flight so we were exhausted.
After sleeping like 13 hours, we woke up on Friday afternoon and just bummed around the town Lizzie lives in. Later in the afternoon we went to help decorate the hall for the reception. Lizzie's church is much like ours, homeless. They meet in a school hall/cafeteria so we decorated it to look not so cafeteria-ish. After decorations were done, the ladies went to a local pub, the Swan and Bottle, for dinner and drinks. I brought Lizzie some stuff for her honeymoon including this cute tank top which says "I said Yes" in fun bedazzles.
Lizzie and Phil got married in this 16th century church called St John the Baptist. There pastor did most of the service but the offical part was done by the Vicor. It was remarkably beautiful inside. Her mom, Loretta, got into the English mother-of-the-bride spirit and wore this fantastic hat.
Lizzie and her dad
This picture does a little justice to the inside of the church, but not as much as I would like. Phil and Lizzie left the church to 'Ring of Fire' by Johnny Cash... apparently he's huge in England.
Here are the three of us as we walked to the reception site.
I love this picture of me and Lizzie. The sunlight makes us look almost angelic or something like that. Unclear why the bottom of the picture is gray.
Amanda and I had a great time drinking our tea with milk and putting clotted cream and jam on our scones. Jenny, a friend of Lizzie's who is pro American and very helpful, sat next to us helping us not look stupid.
Lizzie and Phil left all smiles to the honeymoon to the Canary Islands.
The flight was long going over, but I slept. The flight was longer coming back due to something about flying into the earth's rotation and I didn't sleep much at all. I was exhausted most of the time I was there. Despite all the money it cost and the sheer fatigue of pulling such a trip off, I wouldn't have missed it for anything. I met Lizzie as a sweet funny freshman at Canastota High who knew not much of God. She is now a sweet funny lover of Jesus who married a man of God and their relationship is a testimony to what God has done in their lives. Lizzie introduced me as the person who introduced her to Jesus and that just made me smile. And now Half Pint is a world traveler, two different countries (Mexico and UK) and not even 14 weeks old yet.
We couldn't get enough of the Herky Darth Vader helmet right near us.
These are our friends the Boelks. They are Hawkeye crazy and named their twin boys, Carver and Kinnick after Iowa's basketball and football stadiums.
My folks broke dress code by not wearing black.
I was able to visit my ailing grandmother after the game and tell her about our baby. She was so excited and the look on her face was priceless when I shared the news. On Sunday morning we ran at 5K on campus called the Dinosaur Dash to benefit MSU's Natural History Museum. It was a beatiful race through campus which is surprisingly really picturesque. Bill had a weird bout of supraventricular tachycardia (which runs in his family) about 1/2 mile into the race and had to stop long enough for his heart to convert back to normal sinus rhythm and even with that he missed placing in his age group by like 6 seconds. Scary- one more episode like that and he is headed to the cardiologist. Me and half pint had a nice slowish run but I still averaged under 10 minute miles. I won't be breaking any land speed records for a while.
Pretending to put it on; none of the girls were brave enough and the boys' mothers ended up helping
