Happy Fourth

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I hope my fellow Americans had a wonderful Fourth of July, and everyone emerged from the holiday with a belly packed with watermelon and a driveway full of scorch marks from fireworks!   We sure had a grand day. 

 

Things started off super early with the American Four Miler.  This race has been moved – the name changed – several times, but it’s always a fun time.  My friends Brandi and Jen (and their husbands and kids) joined us.  This year’s course was challenging (lots and lots of hills), but I had a great race.

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The last time I did this race was in 2013 when Henry was just over a year old.  I pushed him in the stroller, and it took me about 40 minutes to finish.

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This year, I went into the race thinking that I wanted to try and beat my 4-mile personal record, which is 32:51, or about a 8:12 pace.  I thought red, white, and blue nails would make me bit faster!

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And if that didn’t help, my star spangled banner socks certainly would speed me along!

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Hahah – well, the outfit didn’t do the trick, but I did run a good race.  I finished in 33:43 (8:26/mile).  It was a HARD course.  The first bit was straight uphill, and then there were hardly any long flat stretches. My plan was to only walk one time, through the water station (I’ve kind of decided it’s worth the few extra seconds to actually get the water IN MY MOUTH as opposed to down the front of my shirt!), but I ended up also walking up a really big hill in mile 3.  I probably came out too fast – my first two miles were 8:45 and 8:00 – but I managed to finish strong and feel really good about my effort.  Maybe next year I’ll beat my PR!

 

After I finished, I met up with the Husband, the kids, and Jen and Jeff, and we cheered on Brandi and Jay as they finished.  Then we cheered for Harriette Thompson, the oldest woman in the WORLD to ever run a marathon!  She’s a local – pretty cool.

 

 

Up next – the kids’ fun run!

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This summer, Henry has definitely gotten the idea of a race.  He loves to run – and I have to say, he’s actually really good at it.  Super serious.  And he trains pretty hard by running around my dining room table non-stop (seriously, I’ve counted him as he did 40 laps around the table).  The one thing he needs to work on is pacing himself – I keep trying to explain this concept, but it sure is hard to convey to a 3 year old that they shouldn’t sprint right out of the gate!  Heck – I’m still trying to learn that myself…

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Kristien ran the one mile fun run with him.  His plan was to carry Henry whenever needed a break.  This is how the race went:  Henry would sprint, Henry would ask Kristien to pick him up, Kristien would happily oblige him, Henry would scream, “RUN FASTER DADDY!,” Kristien would try to sprint while carrying a 30-pound kid, Henry would scream, “LET ME DOWN DADDY!,” Kristien would put him down, and the cycle would repeat itself.  Hahahaha!

 

Kiddo finished strong though – check out that both-feet-off-the-ground action.  He actually crossed the finish line and kept running and we all had to chase him down to make him stop.

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<3

 

Later that night, we met back up with our friends to set off fireworks.  We only had one burnt finger from a sparkler accident, so I consider that a win.

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Hope you had a happy holiday, too!

{ 19 comments }

 

  • Jill July 6, 2015, 7:54 am

    Great form, Henry! Beware – we started our little dude running a few years ago, and now he’s into triathlons as well! He wants to do a 10k (he’s 7…) but we’ve said not for a couple more years. We let him borrow a Garmin for his last couple of races, it really helps him fight the constant urge to sprint 😉 Glad you all had a fun weekend!

  • Erica {Erica@EricaDHouse.com} July 6, 2015, 8:14 am

    Ahh those race photos of Henry are so adorable! I hope my kiddo loves to run as much as I do!

  • Elizabeth Beil July 6, 2015, 9:07 am

    The stride at the end is PERFECT! You need to get that framed! And the determination in his little face in the video is PERFECT!! haha

  • Dennis July 6, 2015, 9:09 am

    Let him be a sprinter! It’s good for the anabolic effects, but he will figure out pacing eventually without being taught. It’s tough as a parent sometimes to let your kids fail, learn and figure it out – but it creates a lot of mental toughness he will need later.

  • Jolene (www.everydayfoodie.ca) July 6, 2015, 9:26 am

    That bowl of fruit is awesome! I love it! Sounds like you had a great 4th 🙂 We celebrated Canada day a few days before, and had a great family dinner.

  • Julia@yogawinehappiness.com July 6, 2015, 9:40 am

    That is so fun that Henry likes racing!

  • Emily B July 6, 2015, 9:51 am

    Oh my gosh, Henry’s little face at the beginning of that video! I. Die. <3

  • Erin @ Her Heartland Soul July 6, 2015, 10:54 am

    I love sparklers! What a fun 4th!

    Her Heartland Soul
    http://herheartlandsoul.com

  • Reenie July 6, 2015, 10:59 am

    Harriette Thompson ~ ~ WOW!!! That’s awesome.

    Henry running…. too cute!

  • Katalina @ Peas and Peonies July 6, 2015, 11:25 am

    He did 40 laps around your dining table? LMAO I am always looking to forward to see what Henry did or does, since I have a boy one year younger, also born in June, so this is kind of a glimpse of what to expect, and 40 laps around the dining table is definitely something to look forward to!

  • Sherilyn July 6, 2015, 11:36 am

    Caitlin,
    I want to applaud your ability to make a healthy lifestyle fun for both yourself and your family. I have worked very hard to change myself from an obese inactive person into a healthy, fit person. I worry that my potential future children will grow up with the same weight struggle I watched my mother deal with and will probably continue to deal with throughout my life. Seeing Henry running is just so incredibly joyous! I hope when I have a family I can be a healthy example to them like you are!

    • Caitlin July 6, 2015, 11:37 am

      This is so awesome! Thank you so much for such a sweet comment and I commend you for your lifestyle changes.

  • Sagan July 6, 2015, 11:59 am

    That second last photo!! <3

    So adorable that he wants to run FAST. Go Henry go!

    Congrats on your run too – adorable outfit!

  • Nicole July 6, 2015, 1:51 pm

    I love that Henry is into racing, too! And those comparison photos are great… he’s getting so big! 😀

  • Amanda July 6, 2015, 2:11 pm

    Sounds like Kristien had to be an extremely patient daddy! 😀

  • Breanne July 6, 2015, 2:44 pm

    Congrats on your race! And oh man how cute is Henry and that finish line sprint! He was definitely working hard!

    How fun that you got to see Harriette run – you should try to get an interview with that local! The SD RNR course used to go right by my apartment, but I moved this year and didn’t spectate at all. She was definitely all over our news after finish though 🙂

  • Erin M. July 6, 2015, 6:08 pm

    Henry is absolutely adorable!!! I love the look of complete determination on his face!

  • Janine July 7, 2015, 1:49 am

    I just have to say, Henry’s little face and that final shot of him finishing along with the fact that he kept running.. teary eyed and laughing out loud (fellow mom of a 2 1/2 yr old so very emo alllll the time about these silly things)

    xoxo

  • Alexis July 7, 2015, 10:44 am

    Oh my gosh! Henry is beyond adorable! Such passion and determination on his face! I hope he continues to love running with such a child like innocence, we all need to run that way!

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