Color the Quads 2013

It seems like ages ago that I signed up Nate and I to run the first Color the Quads color run.  Finally today was the day.

I had signed Nate up for the 1 mile race, which was at 9 am.  I went with him, ready to run.  He had asked me before we left if I would run with him.  It turns out that he asked me because Tom told him to, when in reality, he wanted to run alone.

So Nate ran the mile run alone, and he did great!  He ended up running his fastest mile yet, in just over 9 minutes.  I was pretty proud of him, considering the tough hills and the unfamiliar neighborhood.

We ran into a few classmates before the race.

Coming into the finish.  

Some color splatters (it doesn't look nearly as colorful in the photos)

Colorful arms.  They were quite blue.

Before and After

After the race the two of us went to Brueggers to eat bagels.  He had to wash his hands here because when he touched the bagel, it turned blue!

Bagels afterwards 

My race didn't start until 4 pm, so we went home and I headed back to the race later with some friends.

Pre-race.  We got a little punchy with the color packets, so there's no picture of us all clean.

The adults got a lot more colorful.  I blame the sweat - it was a lot warmer at 4 pm, and the sun was out.  When the powder hits moisture, it turns into food coloring/dye, and my arms and face were bright blue.  I have a totally awful self portrait - I won't post it here because it just looks horrible.  Kelley got this photo of a few of us, and you can see how much color we "picked up."

Somehow I got a lot more yellow.

It was a lot of fun, I was a bit apprehensive about a 4 pm start, but it turned out okay.  And all the color came off with a bit of extra exfoliation, so I don't even look like I took a dive in a food coloring factory.

Fall is coming!

Tom took this great picture of Novak at the John Deere 5k Fall Classic. Looks like the corn is turning, and it's time for fall. I love fall, it can't come soon enough!

We had a running morning. Tom and I ran the 5k, and Nate and Nile ran the kid's 1/4 mile run. Tom took 3rd in his age group and I placed 2nd in mine. Not a bad morning!
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NASCAR Chicagoland

On July 9, Tom took Nate up to Joliet to see the qualifying runs for the NASCAR Nextel Cup race, and also to watch part of the Nationwide series race that evening. They met Tom's brother Dan and cousins Julian and Henry up there for the event. Nate absolutely loved it!

Here's the crew tailgating before the races.

Checking out a racing truck.

Nate outside the speedway.

In the stands.

And a few videos...

Faithful Feet

This morning the boys and I went to the Faithful Feet 5k in Geneseo. The race was hosted by the local Catholic church, and the proceeds from the race went to the food pantry. Since Tom was golfing, I didn't run, but I signed up the boys for the kids' race.

Nile decided that he didn't want to run, so Nate had to do the race solo. I was a little nervous, as it was a half-mile race, and it took him around the middle school so I wouldn't be able to see him. I had to stay back with Nile, so I was worried that Nate would tire out, fall, or something, and I wouldn't be there. Yeah, I know, I'm a paranoid parent.

Turns out he ran the whole thing in under 5 minutes, didn't have a single problem, and finished beaming. He also proudly told me "I passed like eight kids, Mom!"

I'm really proud of him.

After the race we went to the park and the farmers' market. It was a good morning.

Here are the boys before the race.

Here is Nile, a moment before this he was looking so pensive, but I didn't catch it.

Nate after the race - showing off his medal as he enjoys a bagel and some juice.

John Deere 5K 2009

This year the whole family went to the John Deere 5K on October 4.

Tom and I ran the 5K, I even had a PR of 27:33! Nile ran the 50 yard dash, and Nate ran the 1/4 mile kids' run. (There was also a 1 mile run for the older kids.) Although we did get photos of Nile's race, they are on my mom's camera, so I don't know when we'll get them posted (if they are even any good). Tom, however, had his phone ready and was able to get some photos of Nate.

After we were done with the 5K race there was a break before the kids' races started. Nate took the opportunity to carb-load.


The starting line for the 1/4 mile run. Nate is front and center, hands in pockets.


Nate proudly showing off his finishers' medal. Immediately after this photo, he took it off and hasn't worn it since. He did, however, take it to show-and-tell today at preschool.


Tom was even able to catch Nate on video finishing the race.

a budding runner

Last night Nate ran his first race of the year - the June Bug Jog. Although he was very nervous at the start (he kept asking me to run with him), he did a great job! I had decided to get the video camera out for the very first time in over a year, so I recorded the whole race (all 2 minutes or so). Therefore I don't have a lot of pictures. And I am pretty sure the video is too big for the blog.

Here is Nate getting ready for the race, just after we put on his race bib. He was pretty proud that he was Number 1. Of course, all the kids were #1. ;)


As we waited for the race we walked out to a deck overlooking the river. Nate proudly informed me that this was the "father of the rivers," the "Mighty Mississippi." Later after the race we came back out here to show Gramma the river.



The race was really cute - all the "under 5" kids ran together down the bike path to an orange cone, and were supposed to turn around and run back. We had a minor confusion at the orange cone...but Nate got turned around and made it back just fine. He was hilarious as he ran past Gramma and swung his arms to show off... As they completed the race each kid got a medal and a goody bag (a reusable WalMart shopping bag - yay for me!) full of prizes.

After the race the kids collected around the race director for door prizes. In the race packet was a coupon for a free scoop of ice cream. As the race director announced that to the kids, Nate turns to me (about 15 feet away) and screams, "Mommy, we get free ice cream! YAY!" (He also won a set of spinning tops, but the ice cream was the big hit). We left immediately to go get ice cream, missing the post-race party.



All in all, it was a great event, and they did a great job for the kids. The race wasn't too big, there were probably 25 kids in Nate's race and another group in the "over 5" category. I wish I could have run the 5K that came up afterward, but this boy needed to get home. Plus, I couldn't exactly leave him alone while I ran!