Days with the Dorans

So proud of him!

I somehow talked Joey (and the Goose) into "Running the D" with me (which was the name of this race). I liked the hoodie that you got so signed up for it~ and the course is the shape of a "D" which I thought was neat.  It was a cold start and we waited a while for our wave. They weren't pace based but I didn't have too much trouble getting around others. Joe ran ahead (but not super fast), next was me and finally was Papa, Goose and Z's friend, Matthew. Zach was feeling kind of out of shape so he walked a bit. Papa was kind of bummed about that but still took first in his age group which was pretty cool! There were 46 people in his age group (70-99 which made us laugh). I felt good and ran pretty well (26:23). Not a PR, but I did get 12th of 670 runners aged 40-44 (so I was on the older end). I ran with my headphones but could still hear some of the buzz from the runners which was cool. I love those headphones. The route was flat too which was...

This year the Turkey Trot was a bit different. Chrissy hurt her knee and couldn't do it so I decided to run the 10k. Joey did too and Papa and Goose ran the 5k. Our race started before Papa and Z. We got there a bit before the race so didn't have to wait too long though we did find a warm place to wait. Joe was pretty happy that we actually paid for parking this year so we didn't risk being towed. He hadn't run in a while but I knew he'd be much faster than I. Since he's run this race before, I knew I'd find him at the end, plus he had his phone.  I got some new gear for this race. I figured why not since I run it each year anyway. When I found the running gear I also found something called virtual races that I'll have to look into. I did a practice run wearing something similar so knew that I'd be OK temp wise. I had on a tank, under-armor long-sleeve shirt, black jacket, t-shirt, leggings and two pair of socks. That cute hat was super w...

 This was kind of a neat race because I did it last year and it was the first time I ever ran in a race. This year Joe didn't want to do it but Z ran with Papa. I ran ahead and did really well for me! My watch had me at 8:30 miles which was good especially since there were some uneven patches and slick spots.  Zach ran really well too! He left Papa and ran the entire time. It was fun to see him come in. For his cross-country team he only had to do a 1 mile race and I felt like he missed a bit because of Mary Poppins. Maybe he'll end up being a runner too! Papa didn't run as well as he wanted to, but still did well. I can only hope to be running like this when I'm his age (he ran a lot further and faster when he was my age). I get nervous with him running on slick and rocky places since he can't see down but he didn't fall! YAY! After we ran we took off to get breakfast. I think that this is Z's real motivation to do the race. When I asked h...

It's been such fun watching Z run! Who am I kidding? I love watching all my kids run and hope that Al and Seany will take it up too! Z has been crazy busy with soccer and the musical but he still made XC practices and meets.  In 6th grade they only run a mile and they run at 4! This made it tough for me to get to meets but I was able to leave at 3:45 and get there to at least see the finish of many races which was nice. Nana and Papa were at them all which is how we got the times! Z and I would leave immediately after he was done and head back to Smart for rehearsals! Zach had a great season! He was sick so missed some meets but each meet he had, he improved his pace which is what running is all about! I feel like at one meet he had like a 9:30 (or something) minute mile but for some reason that wasn't in my phone- my mom was at that meet and said he ran in a ton of clothes and just looked awkward. These were the times of his meets: 9-24= 8:20 10-...

The plan was for Papa to run with his best buddy for the Stride race again this year. Unfortunately Papa fell on a recent run. He was OK but a bit scraped up and asked if I could run with Z instead. So I became Bob and wore his shirt and Bib and laced up my shoes. Jeff drove us and it was so much fun running with the Goose. I didn't let him go too fast out of the gate mostly because I couldn't keep up with him. He had a friend who ran with us too. We were in the first wave which was nice. I couldn't believe how well he did! He walked a little at the second mile and I think he appreciated that I had a watch so could tell him exactly how much further there was to go. He started to get tired and wanted to walk again at 3 miles but I said, "No way! You have only a tenth to go! Dig deep!" and that's exactly what he did. Once he saw how close he was, he put it in gear and finished strong beating his old mama! He averaged 9:13 minute miles WITH walking! ...

 Zach decided to do Stride (a running group) again this spring and I'm so proud of him! I love that we have another runner in the family. He's a sprinter in general but I would love to have another kid to run with (not that I can keep up with Joey). My dad will run again with his Best Buddy and we went to cheer him on with his practice run. He did great and not nearly as much walking as last year! I can't wait to see how this kid does! He's also planning on running cross country next year in middle school! YAY!!!

 So I've mentioned before that I love to walk. I've walked 3 miles every day since I can remember and kept it up when school started (walking before everyone else got up). Well on October 12th, it rained so I decided to jog. To my amazement, I jogged the entire 3 miles. To convince myself that it wasn't a fluke, I ran 3 miles the next day and the next... I've been running 3 miles every weekday morning since October 12th and today (November 11th) I ran my first 5K! I was nervous. Since I started running I've never had to stop- in fact, I think if I did it would be hard to start up again. My dad ran with me and he was feeling good so it was agreed if he needed to, he could go ahead of me. I send him my morning run times each morning and he is such a help to me. I usually average 9:15-9:30 minute miles on my morning runs (my second mile is really hilly- I hate it).  It was cold (29 degrees) but SO much fun! The toes of my right foot were freezing (weird) ...