My amazing wife is amazing! I shall toot her horn daily!
Two races ago Ree had to bring her kids in town with her for a race. We left them sleeping while we snuck away to run. After the race I got a text from my wife that all things were great and they were having fun. When I got home I found that she had gone to the bakery and bought them all sorts of donuts and pastries to try. She also had all sorts of milk flavorings. So the kids were able to try and mix and indulge as they please. “That’s okay, right?” she asked sweetly. Yes, of course, they can all have a day of fun – after all Ree and I are!
So when we did the Dirty Girl we arranged again to have my wife keep the kids. Once again they had magical breakfast fun! She had chocolate chips and sprinkles and different berries and let them place pancake orders! This was the picture that she sent! Awesome! lol
I apologize for the lack of “umph” in this post, not only was the race a let down BUT this post has been written and re-written several times due to Internet issues. I just can’t muster the fun and snarky zings that once were…
Fun because: I got to hang out with this chick. We stayed up late, and got up early. We got lost AT THE RACE in the dark. We got to hang and have “girl time” or “mom time without the kids” – which we all need here or there. We dressed up as our true selves (in other words superheros) and we knew how to really go at this race because we have done one before.
Trying out the new all weather camera in the car while we wait for some sort of light in the sky.
A smiling Ree!
Ghost town, and rain…
That was the parking lot minutes before the first wave of runners.
This is the spectator/packet pickup area – nobody!
Following the signs, easy – it was a foreshadowing of the entire race.
We didn’t have much time, but with no crowd we were able to roll around a bit.
Striking some poses before we get muddy!
Before seeing the course I thought all this was cute, you’ll see why I wasn’t happy later!
Getting in the pictures!
Getting to the gate. Uh, not much of a risk.
Under an empty sponsor tent…
Striking a pretty picture!
Trained hard?
Like fifteen people in the wave.
The little MC dude, sad. How do you pump up a crowd that isn’t crowded?
About to start…
No fun because: the obstacles are kind of lame. I thought there would be real drive needed, all you needed was to be a freaking four year old because the place was like an outdoor bouncy park.
This was the hay climb – that’s not hay.
The “mud pit” was sand and would not have been muddy had it not been raining…
This was one of the things that gave me a little rush, it’s an eight foot wall. Climbing it was nothing, but height gets me nervous…
You could see obstacles WAY in advance…
The spider web thing was, like, five ropes…
A dumpster wrapped in pink plastic.
Again, untreated.
We made the best of it.
This was an under/over – no challenge.
It was maybe four feet high and at such a slight angle.
So we took pictures~
The BIG climb.
We had a system worked out so we could get good pictures.
Ree went first while I took pictures.
She’s a rock star.
Then after she was down I went up and she took pictures.
My wife loves this picture. She says it captures ME. lol
Again, heights get me a little freaked, so it was at least fun in that way.
I liked the bell ringing. I’m short so that was the only way that this was a challenge. lol
Another cruddy “mud pit” of sand.
The net made you stay down low.
Ree got sexy with it.
This was the “big” water slide ending. Crumbs.
Ree zipped right up.
Then waited for me.
We took our pictures.
There was seriously NO issue other than the rain made it slightly slippery.
Smiling big!
Then we took the plunge.
I was super upset that water got on my face – long story…
Yet another untreated sandy “mud” pit.
Pretty lame, but the announcer did say we were the only super heros! Fun!
Yeah, yeah, whatever.
When it was over we took our posing to a whole new level. I a few years (or decades) we might forget what the actual race was like and be fooled by our awesome pictures!
The ending banner.
See my muddy cape?
Close up!
Ree’s final pose
Muddy girl.
Wet and muddy – I think that was the point.
THE BIGGEST ISSUE: The course was a 5K, so you know – for participant enjoyment I would think you spread the obstacles out. No, this race was clearly designed with keeping the budget low and the man power minimal. All the obstacles were dumped next to each other in the beginning and then there was a LONG poorly leveled track. Due to the rain and puddles it was HORRIBLY unsafe with broken trees and thick sharp wood left sticking straight up, but under water. Not okay.
This is my favorite pic because it just shows the US that makes it fun to hang out with Ree. We have fun no matter what, and that is what we were doing here! lol
Confession: I have to admit that one of the most fun and unexpected side effects of my weight loss/health journey is the half time performances I have been blessed to be a part of! To date I have done four, three basketball games and a arena football game. They are just such a blast and the excitement is unmatched! I would put them a close second to running races. Races get the edge because they last longer and put more on individual performance…
The view from the middle of the corn maze! Spooky!!!
There is a pumpkin patch about an hour and a half from our cozy little home and it is by far the best one around. Worth the ride. This year when the kids asked if we would be going to the pumpkin patch I must admit I considered looking for a pumpkin patch closer to home. Then I reminded myself that my children are getting older and they wont be asking for pumpkin patch time for too many more years, so I needed to just enjoy the ride.
We wound up getting a fun surprise when we found out that my wife would be on vacation and therefor able to go with us.
Days like this one, and weeks of her being on vacation really make me pray so hard for something magical to happen that would allow us to live on a little patch of land, all of us home and working together – wife included. This little family is such a great team!
In fact my lovelies all worked together to clean the girl’s rooms and remove their carpeting while I was out at the church yard sale this weekend. When I cam home she was all googley over how wonderfully they all worked together. My answer, “I know! I am blessed to have them on my team!” lol I always feel that way! When we do dishes, grocery shop… all of it!
It’s the moments where you stop and really consider what you are doing when you realize how far you’ve come.
Tonight I am race prepping, yet again. Only unlike that nervous girl who walked out the house with none of the things she needed for her first 10K I am completely excited as I scurry around and gather my goodies. AND there is even more prep than normal because this is a MUD run/obstacle course!
Race outfit – I’m not showing it to you, but it’s great!
Gum
Advil
Safety pins
Sport camera
Shoes
Duct tape to keep my shoes on in the mud pits
Heart rate monitor (and plastic bags to keep it safe while in my bra)
Towels
Change of clothes
I am sure that by the end of the night I will have even more – oh, like my ID…
the Trigger-happy housewife 