What a View

The Turtle had quite the view on Friday, April 29 during our late evening run!

He has glasses for the first time:

These are his sports glasses with transition (or transmission, as he first called it :)) lenses and the little thingy that hooks in the back to stay on his head. Our 7:30 pm run was the first time he really used them.

Evan was reading everything:

"Mommy, they are getting hardwood floors in that house."

"Really, Evan, I don't even see where it says that on that white truck."

We pass it.

"Oh, well you were right, it does say hardwood floors."

He read license plates, street signs - it was like he had never seen our neighborhood before! I guess he really hadn't seen it so this made for a really fun run! He is near-sighted so he can't read things far away; hopefully I remembered that correctly (Mommy and Eric still have perfect eyes :)).

"Wow, mommy, your feet look so clear with these glasses."

"That is great, Evan."

He was so excited about seeing everything that he was "jump" running or jumping/skipping periodically as we headed through the neighborhood.

Friday was the perfect night to run too. A slight breeze, sun going down, and upper 70s. We saw several other people running; a family moving out; and lots of people walking or working in their yards.

In between his jumping and sheer excitement, I told him what his soccer coach said  when I mentioned that Evan was going to have glasses. His coach said it would make him run even faster, having something to do with aerodynamics and being able to see "all around him." It seemed to make sense, although I am not sure he completely understood it.

Our stats aren't as exciting, but here they are:

Time: 22:55 
Distance: 1.102 miles
Calories: 66.7
Steps: 2656 
Pace: 2.9


Happy Running!

Energizing Gum

Unlike the rest of the family on Monday, April 25, I had to go to work. When I got home, Evan was mad about something so I suggested we take a run!

Of course that didn't go over well but after some talking, showing off new gum and telling him about new music, he finally decided he was tired of me bugging him. We hit the neighborhood again in 82-degree but breezy weather.

So we did have special "running" gum - Stride Spark Kinetic gum with vitamins B12 and B6, supposedly giving us energy to run. It's not as good as doughnut energy but the fruit flavor was pretty good AND it was orange, my favorite color! Evan seemed to enjoy it. I'm still reviewing it so I will see after another run if it works.

I was able to blow bubbles, as seen here, with still a tired or unhappy Evan:

We were both pretty quiet on this run probably because we were chewing, running and listening - in this case, to my new Glee album - The Warblers. Evan enjoyed Soul Sister and wants it on his iPod.

The run did seem to help release Evan's stress which I never did find out why he was  upset, although I think it was because his dad didn't play with him right when he wanted him to. With that being said, after a steak dinner (fixed by our resident photographer), Evan and dad did play catch and I chased both boys down the road while they rode their bikes.

So by the time bedtime came, I was tired - having done my usual Wii Fit routine early that morning, walking with a coworker at lunch, running with Evan and running after boys on their bikes!

Here are our stats before I fall asleep:
Time: 22:59 
Distance: 1.137 miles
Calories: 69.2
Steps: 2769 
Pace: 3.0


Happy Running!

Star Wars and Songs

Evan and I had to sneak in a run before more rain comes toward the end of the week. So, after much coaxing, we made it to the driveway for stretching on Wednesday, April 20 around 6pm.

He wanted to bounce the ball again but I told him I didn't feel like listening to it plus we were going to multi-task: run and review spelling words.

Since I couldn't remember all the spelling words, we did about five out of 20 and he was good! (I did make him write down all 20 of them later). There was a light breeze, a few folks walking pets and my iPhone softly playing songs in a shuffle, which was entertaining for about two minutes. I personally like the shuffle mode because each song is a surprise and I have to keep running to listen for the next song.

So between Rascal Flatts, Glee and Michael W. Smith songs, I heard Star Wars...

Evan: Why does Luke have a green light saber?

Me: I have no idea.

Evan: Is it true that Luke really cut off Darth Vader's hand?

Me: That sounds correct but again, I'm not sure.

Evan: I really like Star Wars right now.

Me: I did too when I was your age. When we go to Maryland this summer to see our cousins, you need to ask my cousin Gerald all your Star Wars questions. He loves Star Wars.

Evan: Oh yeah, I hope David (Gerald's son) has the Death Star Lego. That is like $300, mom.

Me: Wow! Guess you will have to wait and see.

Evan: Man, that would be cool if he does.

Evan continued on about the characters fighting each other but honestly I don't remember all their names. We probably spent two or three minutes discussing how to spell: Darth Maul, apparently one of the participants in a fight he wanted to watch.

Meanwhile, the run lasted longer than I thought since Evan did not want to go in the first place so I probably could have listened to a lot more Star Wars had it not been for our tummies growling. It was dinner time when we left.

After our silly actions during cool down in the driveway, we headed inside for pork chops, macaroni and cheese and green beans:

Last, not least, our stats:
Time: 25:54 
Distance: 1.849 miles
Calories: 141.3
Steps: 3593 
Pace: 4.3


Happy Running!

Doughnuts ALMOST make it better!

Evan and I woke up to rain, thunder and wind Saturday morning, April 16. I laid in bed wondering if we should go to March for Babies. I kept checking AccuWeather on my cell phone in between preparing my protein shake and Evan's bagel.

With no change in site and after about 45 minutes, I decided I should call the number.

Unfortunately it said the March for Babies walk was cancelled but we could still turn in our money and get a doughnut at the office between 10am and 2pm. Now to break the news to Evan ... already playing on his computer.

Me: Evan, our walk March for Babies is cancelled because of the bad weather.

Evan: Oh, man!

Me: I know but we can still turn in the rest of our money and get a doughnut.

Evan: A doughnut! Oh, that's OK mom. I want to do that.

Me: Sure will, Evan. And I think I already found another walk for us to do in May.

Evan: That sounds good, mom.

After dropping off Eric at a friend's house and a trip to Walmart, I drove me, Evan and Tim to the office on Brookstown. The clouds did look scary and the wind was strong but we parked and walked in to a cluttered office full of doughnut and pizza boxes!

Evan managed to put his doughnut down for his t-shirt picture (he raised $50):

And here we are checking in as part of the Wake Forest Baptist Health/Carpenter Library team:

We left with no rain, an entire pizza, a couple of doughnuts, three stickers and one t-shirt.

Evan: Oh, mom, we could have walked in this; it's just windy.

Me: Uh, I don't think so, Evan, especially since there are tornado warnings everywhere and this wind has got to be at least 30 miles per hour.

Evan: Really? I guess not then.

After picking up Eric we arrived home to eat .... pizza for lunch! Even though Evan did not walk, he ate three pieces of pizza less than an hour after his doughnut. I guess he was mentally prepared to March for Babies!

Happy (sunny) Running!

Curious Evan

Wednesday evening before dinner on April 13 marked mine and Evan's "last" run before our first 5K together on April 16. It was a breezy but nice 70 degrees which is not the weather forecast for race day, so we will not be looking like this:

Since Evan likes to plan and needs to be mentally prepared, I was explaining our schedule for race morning which included pre-race activities, i.e. doughnuts!

After about five minutes into our run, I realized I should have eaten a doughnut...

Me: Well, we will eat a good breakfast, put on our race clothes including our waterproof jackets since it might rain.

Evan: Oh, I like the rain for a race, mommy, because then the water can cool us off.

Me: Well, yeah, it might but we still have to deal with the rain in our eyes and pelting our faces. We will just have to see what happens. But before the race, we have to stand in line to get our walker number and turn in the rest of our money.

Evan: Will we get to keep our walker number?

Me: Yes. After that we can grab a doughnut for energy, warm up with exercise dancing and then the actual race starts at 10.

Evan: Doughnuts, what kind?

Me: Krispy Kreme (of course!) and we can each have one to give us energy to run. We don't want to eat too many and of course, doughnuts aren't good for breakfast anyway.

Evan: Oh, I know, but I like them. Why do they give us energy then?

Me: It's called a sugar rush or burst of energy or quick energy.

Evan: What's all that?

Me: Well doughnuts will give us energy to finish the race but let's say you eat a doughnut before school and then three hours later you have an important test. Unfortunately, you wouldn't have enough brain power or brain energy to concentrate on the test because the burst of energy would be gone.

Evan: Hmm, but what if the energy leaves us before we finish the race?

Me: It won't because our body will be moving and producing more energy.

Evan: Well, what happens after the race when we are out of energy?

Me: They will have more food for us to eat to get more energy.

Evan: What kind?

Me: I think it is pizza but we can check when we get home.

Evan: OK, can we bring water bottles to the race?

Me: No, we can't bring them Saturday, but there are water stations where you grab a small cup and throw it on the ground or in a trash can.

Evan: But why do you litter?

Me: Sometimes people are at a good pace in their running and they don't want to stop, drink and find a trash can so they throw it on the ground?

Evan: Who picks it up?

Me: The volunteers, same people who handle setting up the station, keeping the cups filled.

Evan: Oh.

PAUSE

Evan: What if we have to go to the bathroom while we're running?

Me: Usually there is a Port-A-John so hopefully they will have some along the route.

Evan: Does the route have hills? Because we can run down the hills and then walk up the hills, mommy.

Me: Yes, I think it does have hills, Evan, but we will do kind of like what we are doing now - walking and running.

Evan: Well, mommy, you know I'm the only one in my entire class that is training for a race. My PE teacher, he runs 18 miles.

Me: Yes, Evan, that is cool and I enjoy training with you. Does your PE teacher run marathons?

Evan: Oh yeah, that race, how long are the marathons?

Me: All marathons are 26 miles and then sometimes people run half-marathons or mini-marathons which would be how many miles?

Evan: What?

Me: Well, what is half of 26?

Evan: Oh, PAUSE, that's 13, mommy.

Me: Exactly so does he run half-marathons?

Evan: Who?

PAUSE

Evan: Oh yeah, my PE teacher. No, he runs 18 mile marathons.

Me: Well then he doesn't run a marathon because all marathons are 26 miles.

Evan: How long is our neighborhood?

Me: Hmm, not sure, I think if you run it twice, it is around three miles but that includes all the cul-de-sacs.

Evan: Well, I just want to run down our street and then be done.

Me: OK, that sounds good, because I'm getting hungry now.

Evan: Me too.

For those that are hungry for stats, grab a doughnut and see here:


Time: 26:44
Distance: 1.732 miles
Calories: 123.2
Steps: 3523 
Pace: 3.9


Happy (phew) Running!

Money at Work

Tuesday, April 12 was "bank day" at work - the day to turn in March of Dimes money and, in our case, get a t-shirt with the new name and logo on it if $25 or more was raised for the walk on Saturday.

But the hallway is what I will remember most about this day. I so wished Evan could have seen it - the portable bed with rails and machines. Beneath the blankets and cords, a toddler with no hair. The sight brought tears to our eyes (two coworkers). I said a prayer for the toddler and another prayer of blessing for my two healthy boys.

THAT is our "money at work"  and so is THIS:


Her pacemaker issue (knock on wood) is good. She's been doing fine with it, and you would never know she has one...So needless to say, we still go to the cardiologist every 3 months, but in my eyes, she's perfect!


From a friend, fellow librarian and first-time mom who donated money to me.


So no running today or sadly in the last week since we have been super busy with soccer, Saturday school and funky weather. I will end with this, again from the friend:


With all the birth defects out there, it's amazing that anyone can have a healthy baby - so good luck on your March of Dimes event - the babies need you!


And thank you to all those who have supported me and Evan.

MOD update

Evan remains excited about the March of Dimes walk on Saturday, April 16.

He wanted to know who is "winning," i.e. who has raised the most money, on the Library team. Right now, it is a coworker but Evan is second and I am last :(.

Evan has raised $40, as of today, April 7, and thanks to his assistant principal! I have raised $20 with help from a former intern!

There is still time to donate toward Evan or Dianne.

Here's for healthy babies and Happy Running!