Alaina's first 5k!

Though we finished with snow flurries, it was a beautiful morning to run!
The sun was peeking through the clouds, it was a little on the chilly side but just barely....perfect day to get out with my girls!

This is what I look like with no makeup and less than 5 hrs of sleep.  Sweet.

There is a local charity in our little community called the Cupcake Charity.  It is behind some local events used to raise money for families in our community who are going through some big struggles.  Last October was the inaugural event, the Cupcake 5k.  That was Malia's first 5k.  I am a lame-o and never blogged it.  (bad mom)  So look-here's a picture from that!

Whew!  Guilt averted.  a little.
Since Aaron was MCing/DJing that event and I was helping out with logistics (and making sure we didn't lose any children), Malia ran it mostly on her own.  There were some friends of ours running a pace close to hers, so she wasn't completely alone, but she did a fabulous job, especially since she'd never run longer than about a mile before.

She was excited to make a comeback today and has run with me a few times to get ready for it.

Her goal was to go faster than her last 5k, which she would have done if some of her friends hadn't shown up.  and then complained that they were too tired and running was too hard.  And then had her carry their camelback pack.  (seriously?!)  Being the kind girl she is she walked with them for a bit or she would have crushed her previous time of just over 36 minutes.  But even all that considered, she came in at almost the exact same time this morning, coming in at 36:17.
It is more impressive when you also factor in that before her friends (I'm so tempted to say "friends" is that mean?) came along with a mile left in the course, she actually took a turn running with the double stroller for a bit while I was helping Alaina along when she was having a hard time.  Since the stroller with two kids in it weighs about what she does, that's pretty impressive!

And of course, as the title mentioned, this morning was Alaina's first 5k.  She was SO excited!  Until about a mile and a half in.  Poor kid.  She really struggled for that middle mile, actually in tears for a bit at mile two.  That's where Malia took over the stroller so I could hold Alaina's hand while she ran.
It was actually kind of a nice break as the girls had taken to holding on to the stroller to keep our pace.  Look at this:

Yeah....running with a stroller can be a challenge.  Running with the stroller and a nine year old and twelve year old PULLING the stroller back in hopes of the stroller pulling them along?  I do not recommend it.

(I take good arial shots while running!)

Alaina's mp3 player had died just a few minutes in to the run, so I gave her my ipod.  Apparently all the girl needs is a distraction.  She was bugged that I had skipped around till I found the song Don't Give Up (Eagle-Eye Cherry) before I handed it to her.  Ha!  Hey, it did go over better than me jogging backward and telling her to "come on!  you can do this!  keep up!  Stop saying 'I can't'!"

Once she had the music in?  She finished at a 9 min/mile pace.

I'm pretty sure I could get a 30min 5k out of that girl at her next one in June.  I'll just have to plug her in I guess.

And since it was for Cupcake Charity, of course we supported the bake sale.

Charli deserved a little treat after being pushed around when it was cold enough that her eyes were watering and her little fingers were frozen even after being under the blankets.

  I am happy to report that my knee was fabulously cooperative this morning.  We'll see if it holds true as I go hit the treadmill here in a few minutes.  Because I'm feeling like a wimp and don't want to run in the snow Aaron is off doing school projects and I don't want to subject my littles to the cold since they've already had a stroller run today.

Gotta love snow and tulips.  Thanks Spring.