Let Freedom Run

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!

Even though my day started waking up to “Another One Bites the Dust” on the radio alarm, we survived our race! Yay!!!!! It was a lot harder than I thought. The stroller was definitely NOT as light as it was for our last long race (Silver Strand Half Marathon November 2010), but what did I expect with two 26 pound toddlers? Come on Kristin.

Well…………………..

My pace was an 8:10 mile and I got 14th out of 112 in my age group (I’m pretty sure none of them were pushing strollers). Not too shabby.

Here’s a little recap of our Coronado Independence Day 15K race.

5:25 am- Everything was packed up. (Only the Macy’s plastic bag is stuff I needed, everything else was for the boys.)

I had my on the go pre-race meal. (Banana with Naturally More and my favorite morning mocha on ice. GU was saved for mile 6.)

We easily transferred the boys from their cribs to the car and they took it like champs!

Oops. Halfway there and a 7:00 am start time (my clock is 12 minutes fast though). We were running a little late. (Hmmm…….. NOT a surprise.)

When we got there luckily Dad was driving so we could just do a quick diaper change (for the boys- not me) on the side of the road and go. Phew.

We got our race number and found the port-a-potty line just in time. We happen to  run into a friend and she watched the boys for me while I used the facilities. Good thing we saw someone we knew because port-a-potties are NOT double stroller friendly. What would I have done? (Mom suggested wearing Depends when we were talking about the possible dilemma the night before. Thanks for the great idea Mom. Eww.)

Um, yeah, you like that? We were so late I didn’t have time to change the boys into their cool “Got Grit” t-shirts for STUFT Fitness or their shorts or their shoes. So, we went with pajamas. I DID put sunscreen on them and made sure they had clean diapers though. (It was EARLY okay.)

The race started while we were still in the port-a-potty line. Well, that’s nice. Pretty much the Kristin standard. (We started about 20 minutes late at the Coronado Bay Bridge Run). Bye Bye runners who were actually ready on time.

We BARELY made it to the start line before they cut the 15k participants off. The guy was just announcing that there were 15 seconds left and we had to sprint for it (not a great way to start a race).

Here are some comments along the way from fellow racers and some of my thoughts. (In my head of course- not out loud. I’m a very polite racer and smile and say “Thank you” most of the time, although Andrew says I race like Forest Gump. I’m not exactly sure what that means.)

• “What the?”
• “Go mama.”
• “Well, that’s humbling.”
• “Are there kids in there?” – Really? Why in God’s name would I run a race with an empty, obnoxious yellow stroller?
• “Those poor babies.” – I know, I know, they’re still in their pajamas, but my boys LOVE the stroller, thank you. How fun for them to experience this with me. Maybe you’re just jealous.
• “I gotta say, you’re pushing that thing pretty fast.”- That’s right. I have some diapers I’m going to have to deal with at the finish line and this race is NOT as fun as I thought it would be. It needs to end ASAP.
• “Whoa twins?”- Yes. Try to keep up.
• “Wow. Good for you. I could never do that.”- It’s the only thing that kept me sane in the early months. I HAD to get out of the house and running with the stroller was my only option. Now we all (boys included) just love the attention. Ha!

The race was HOT and was NOT as much fun as it was in my head the night before (and when I signed up). That stroller was HEAVY and it doesn’t help that I’ve been sick for the past week. Good thing I didn’t indulge in the creamy (yet AMAZING) pasta or any of the 4 desserts last night at Tutu’s birthday party. I would’ve pulled a Michael Scott from the 5k episode of The Office. (Thanks Bern for the reminder.)

Speaking of that episode, Andy wore band aids (I think) to protect his nipples, and I really should’ve done the same for my  belly button. Who knew a belly button could chafe? (I took a picture, but I’ll spare you. Even after my celebratory 2 glasses of wine this evening, I’m still not brave enough to post the picture on here.)

But…..   we finally made it to the finish line.

Talked with a Union Tribune newspaper reporter (while trying to stay upright and catch my breath- gee, I hope I spelled my name right).

Found Dad (Pop Pop).

Texted Andrew. (I’m sure he was just “on edge” waiting to hear from me. Ha!)

Saw my friend Stacy who is an amazing runner (she qualified for Boston this year).

Then finally got the boys out of the stroller, but not out of their pajamas.

Nice Kristin. I did change them into fun outfits shortly afterwards, but by then the camera was packed away.

The next stop was breakfast at Center City Café.

The 15 minute wait went be fast and we were seated and eating our wonderful breakfast in no time. Breakfast is always soooo great after a race.  I love you Belgium waffle (and egg whites and turkey sausage).

Thanks Dad for breakfast and for being our taxi/cheerleader/”pop pop”/etc.

Hope you had a wonderful 4th Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!