Mother Racer

I didn’t take the bus to the meet this morning… I hung out at the hotel with Corom and the kids and the other coaches’ kids. Our first race wasn’t until 9:30 and the bus had to leave by 7:30 a.m. Of course my kids with the excitement of a hotel… got up at 6:15.

We had fun… Until we had to go clean up the room. I took off to the arena around 9 to watch my runner, run the mile. He did great! He ran the 1st 4 laps (it is a 200 meter track-on wood-so you have to run 8 times around to make it a mile) strong. The next 2 1/2, he ran tired. His posture and breathing changed. But, very impressively, held on to his lap splits. The last lap and a half he pushed and was able to get a great lap split! He matched his PR (personal record). He ran well. A 4:36 mile!

Corom and the girls showed up shortly after his race and right before mine… The “Coaches” Mile. I was out on a 23 minute warmup run (about 3 miles). For some reason, this coaches mile makes me more nervous than any other race. I don’t know if it is because of the peer pressure of all the high school kids watching and expecting a good race or what… The mile is tough for me to race. I am so used to training for the long distance races that running a mile is a sprint race. Oh… It hurt. 🙂

The 1st 400 (2 laps on this track) felt great… Then came the next 6… Oh my goodness… It was tough. 🙂 I knew the mental toughness was going to have to come out. I ended up running a 5:32. And I was happy to finish! I love doing the mile races that the meets have for the coaches because it makes me appreciate all the hard effort the high school kids put in.

Next came the Flag Ceremony and the Olympian recognition… Amazing!

The high school athletes did a “parade” around the track to recognize them and all the different states they are coming from. We were able to grab one of the Olympians for a quick picture!

After the ceremony… Corom and the 2 younger girls left to drive back home and me and my 2 older girls stayed until our runner ran his race. I was able to squeeze in a 31:04 minute run for a cool down and more mileage. I ran a total of 59:42 and about 8 miles.

Then came our next runner’s race… He qualified in the finals for the 2 mile. He was up against the top runners in the Western States! He is a talented runner and he knows what he needs to hit every lap to get the time he wants! Today’s race was a struggle for him…. But before I continue, he ran a 9:37 (a 2 second PR). So a struggle for him doesn’t mean he backs off or quits, it just means he works twice as hard as what he normally does to accomplish his goals. He ran the 2 mile on Thursday to qualify for today and it is hard to race like that again all out with a day in-between. He looked strong going in to the first few laps and maintained his pace and place throughout the race. It was fun to watch.

We loaded up the bus and drove on back home. We had a fun time… My girls loved it and the high school kids are great. My 2 older girls loved the bus ride home… Especially with Coach Thompson’s kids on the bus…

We went to our friend’s the Fullmer’s house (Corom is helping Mike replace his deck)… Then a little bit later, Z (our Foriegn exchange student), the girls and I came home and went to bed. Corom stayed to help… I cleaned my house and then Z and I relaxed. 🙂

We (high school kids, coaches) got up early and went to the meet at the Idaho Holt Arena for the 2nd day of the Simplot Games. We had a little while before our kids had a race…

So I went out for my run. There was a couple of others that joined me on my run… We went for 1:00.28 on a route that ended us on a trail. There were some pretty good climbs but I loved it.

I was hoping that this run would loosen up my legs but that didn’t happen. 🙂 They do feel a little better but are still achy. I loved the run though… Great trail!

At the meet all the kids were in a relay or 2 and ran an open event. They did well. And obviously some ran better than others but they were fun to watch. One of my runners PR’d by 3 seconds in the 800. It was so awesome to see his reaction when I told him his time!!!

We goofed off a lot in the stands in between races (a few kids tried to see how many grapes they could fit on their mouths).

I made myself an amazingly healthy and great sandwich out of a bagel, Doritos, Cheetos, and Sun Chips…

We met some Track Olympians and got their autographs…

And now we are back at the hotel… Swimming, eating pizza, having ping-pong wars and hanging out with the HS kids and my kids and husband! I am so glad they made it up!!!

We tired them out and sent them to bed…

We (Corom, coach Thompson & I) went outside our rooms and played candy Texas Holdem…

Well guess who won… Jack pot for me!

I do have a confession… Corom and I swapped a card and I had a straight. After I won all the candy I did bring out the truth. 🙂 We are dispersing it through all the kids on the bus.

The girls and Corom made Valentine pancakes this morning…

My 2nd child had fun in her class (and so did my oldest but Corom was unable to get a picture… He helped out in that class)…

This was what Corom brought me for Valentines… A monster teddy bear that my oldest is going to sleep on during our hotel stay…

We did bed checks at 10:30 and now I am finishing this up…

After sending my girls off to school, I loaded a bus full of track kids. We are off to Idaho for the big indoor track meet known as the Simplot Games…

It was not a bad drive up… We had our favorite driver, Gary driving the bus. He is our #1 supporter!

Once there we had our top runner compete in the 2 mile. He nailed the time he wanted! He hits his mark every time he races even when it looks like he is struggling. He is a very strong, solid runner and it is fun to watch him race. He ran a 9:42 2 miler and made it into the finals on Saturday. (Only the top 14 runners made it out of 5 heats.)

Next we had the milers… Our top miler ran a PR of 4:36. He also looked strong and kept his form and pace even when he was tired! He qualified for the finals on Saturday. Very strong runner also! We had another runner take 1st in his heat and a few more that ran well and not so well. 🙂 It is good though! I enjoy coming here and watching these races! A lot of talent here from all over…

I am way excited… Corom and the girls are coming out tomorrow. We are all going to hang out at the meet, play in the indoor hotel pool, etc. They were going to come up today but the girls did not want to miss their school Valentine’s party. It is close to 10 p.m. and we are almost done with the meet…

Beth and I met up at 5:15 a.m. It was 37 degrees out. Very nice! We ran a 12 minute warmup (1 1/2 miles) and then began our speed. We ran “controlled” downhill miles and 800’s”. 3 x 1 miles and 3 x 800’s. We used the hill by the canal (not as downhill as the MTC miles but still a nice decline). These miles and 800’s are at a little faster than race pace (there not the all out downhill miles that we usually do).
1st mile: 6:00; 2nd mile: 5:50; 3rd mile: 5:45….

1st 800: 2:51; 2nd 800: 2:48; 3rd 800: 2:43.

We ran the miles first , then the 800’s. After each repeat, we would turn around and run back up. It was our recovery run but it was still a good workout running up. We ran about 9 miles of speed. We ran a 11 minute cool down. About 12 to 12 1/2 miles total. It felt good to make my legs go. I don’t think I would have been able to do the “all-out” miles! This week has been a rough week. I was glad to have someone there with me. On a side note… The ball of my left foot is bothering me. We shall see!

Corom and the girls went rock climbing while I was at a track meet… Good thing he went climbing with our pediatrician (Mike Fullmer)… She did get a few stitches.