Racing Day

Have you seen the Backyardigans Racing Day episode? This was Andrew's favorite episode for a while. He loved the show and the songs that went with it. Another song from that episode was Go, Go, Go!

Yesterday was Racing Day for Chad. He ran his first Half-Marathon yesterday. It has been interesting to see this transformation. Chad is athletic. He has a competitive spirit. He played soccer, basketball and baseball during high school. He often made fun of me for running track, saying track isn't a real sport. Well, he decided he wanted to be in better shape and contemplated how to achieve this. He would go in spurts of working out at local gyms for a while but then would somehow get out of the routine. (don't we all) So he decided to make a goal of running the half-marathon thinking this would keep him motivated and accountable.

He started training about 12 weeks ago, I think. He followed the Hal Higdon half marathon training schedule. He would occasionally make jokes; saying things like "I need pasta cause I'm a runner now." He even bought the magazine Runner's World last week. And found some energy jelly beans at the local bike shop.

Here are some pictures of the race. The boys and I were able to see him at a few different spots along the 13.1 mile course.

This is probably in the first mile or two. (Chad is in red shirt & black shorts)

A couple pictures of the boys as we were waiting to see him at the next spot. It was a really sunny morning. We had gotten a lot of rain during the night before the race but during the race it was really sunny. Even muggy. So thankful for the sunshine! It then stormed again yesterday afternoon after the race. Carson had a fever yesterday morning, he did well during the race but was ready to head home after Chad finished. He was pretty miserable yesterday afternoon-slept a lot and had many doses of Tylenol and Ibuprofen. Seems good today.

Our shadows.

Andrew watching as Chad runs by. He gave him a high five here.

The race ended on the track, one lap around the track and to....

the finish line!!

The boys with Chad after the race.

Whenever we would talk about the race, Andrew would ask if Chad was going to win or say I hope Dad wins. We would tell him how long the race was and that it is a huge accomplishment to finish the race. But he would still say "I hope Dad wins!" I wonder where he gets that competitiveness? He was excited that Chad got a medal.

Nice run Chad!