Days with the Dorans

We were looking forward to the XC Banquet! We obviously knew that Joey would be getting his second varsity letter, but we also knew that we were going to get some yummy food! I had been thinking about it for days and it didn't disappoint.  Joey wanted to recreate this picture from last year (weird but I figured he may want to see it here again). I loved listening to the coach talk about all the boys. HERE is what he had to say about Joey. Just like last year when we were surprised by the Varsity letter, this year we were surprised to learn Joey was a scholar athlete (I guess I didn't know what Scholar Athlete entailed but super proud of Joey). Now all we have to do is get this kid to train and there's no telling how fast he'll be! So proud of him!!

 While I was doing soccer duty, Jeff did XC. Usually I'm the one who goes to the running stuff (well... because I'm a bit obsessed with the sport) but it made sense to send Dad since this meet was close to the Dorans! Grandma, Uncle Jim, and JD were all able to go out and cheer on Joey! The race was at Northwood in Midland and Joey came in 46th overall and had a new PR of 18:25. I was so excited for him and if I couldn't be there, I love that he had a big fan club cheering him on! Dad doesn't have the best phone and it died and I didn't get pictures right away so it was frustrating but I was actually able to look up times online which was cool. Great job, Joey! We're so proud of you!

 And just like that we're back to XC season! I can't begin to tell you how much I LOVE watching Joey run. I think I have a much greater appreciation for it now that I've started running. Joey ran in the reserve race and there were quite a bit of runners. Of course when we got there, he realized he didn't have his shoes! Before we left, I told him to grab his spikes and he said he had them. When we got there though, he had them but TWO DIFFERENT SHOES! He didn't seem to care and said, "Mom, I'll just run my trainers." Ugh! No you won't!!! Thankfully Nana and Papa hadn't left (and we had to be there early) so they stopped by our house to grab the shoes. They got there just in time. and he put on the shoes and headed to the start. This race is only a 4k so times are tough for me to compare. Joey tends to run better the further he goes which is strange- but true.  He did great though coming in 6th place overall and the team took f...