Eli's First Peachtree

The Peachtree Road Race is a July 10K held on Atlanta's most known street every July 4th. The only two years I've missed it are the year Maddux was born (the day before the race) and the year Ruby was born (estimated to be due the week before). And every year Lehr and the kids come down to watch the race. It's a tradition for us that we all enjoy.

Ever since the kids were little I've been dreaming of the day they would join me...a few years ago I passed a boy and his dad running and asked the boy's age, to see how much longer I'd have to wait. Two years ago, Eli asked to run the following year as we were leaving the race, but never wanted to train, so we opted not to have him run last year. Then, as we were leaving last year, he asked again. I reminded him that he would have to train some, so that it would be an enjoyable experience. He said he was in.

Fast forward to this spring when I had to apply for numbers. Eli assured me he was in (and he ran two 5K races this year, so he had some idea of what it would take). We planned a whole training regimen for the month-ish leading up to it, but that didn't really happen. The week of I decided to just 'let it go' and deal with his misery on the course (even though that was what I was trying to avoid). And then two days before the race, Eli asked to go for a training run with me. We covered four miles and he maintained a pace allowing him to run the entire time. I was so impressed, and I realized that this just might be a good race after all.

The day of the race we all got up early and drove down to Lehr's office together. The girls and Lehr walked to the place they were to watch the race and Eli and I took the train to the start line. We didn't have to wait long before the race started: couldn't have timed it better if I'd tried! The morning's weather was perfect (albeit hot, cuz it's Atlanta in July); while it was hot and humid, I felt like every time I started to notice the heat, we would hit some shade.

Eli ran the race, only stopping to walk two time (both on long hills after the 4mile mark). He kept a great pace that allowed him to sustain his run, and we finished in 67 minutes. Not bad for his first 10k!!

MLK Day

60 degrees. Sun. Midway through January. On a day off from school and work. Awesome.

That pretty much sums it up. I would have to say that our day was perfection. I went to camp (I didn't have the day off) and came home to a lazy morning crew. We made pumpkin pancakes and eggs and rolled through some mandatory laundry folding. Then I went for a training run with the kids (the kids are going to run a 5K with me this spring), followed by Lehr making us smoothies for lunch. I suggested we enjoy them on the front porch because of the sun.

We never came back inside.

We played. And played. And played. At one point, we invited a handful of boys over to play football, and some neighborhood girls came down to play also; we had five boys and four girls and Ruby.

Awesome.

Boosterthon 2012

Eli and Maddux both had the opportunity of participating in Boosterthon this year, and boy were they excited. Eli moved into a new time slot since he's now in 2nd grade...big deal. Maddux and the rest of the Kindergartners and 1st Graders kicked it off first thing in the morning by running up to 35 laps around the Boosterthon track. She had a blast, alternating between running and walking and talking and laughing and smiling. I was able to totally focus on her during that time and then switch to 100% Eli when it was time for his grade....so glad about that! Eli ran the entire time, stopping for water once or twice, but mostly sprinting. When he finished, he was a big sweaty mess, but he completed more laps than he has in the past, so he was super excited.

Triathlete

A little over a month ago, Eli and I saw a sign for a kids' triathlon at the end of August. Eli asked about the event and decided he wanted to participate. For the first week he did great with his training, but, as expected, his passion for training went away quickly. But once a week he would go to the gym with me and do a solid hour training with brick workouts or transition practice. And when the triathlon happened in the Olympics, he watched every second. (1 1/2 hours!)

Yesterday was the event, and it was an early day. We had to be at the aquatic center at 6:!5AM, which meant us pulling out of the driveway at 5 (gasp) 30 in the morning. (When I woke her up, Maddux said, "But it's still dark outside!!") We got to the staging area right away and Eli set up his transition. Parents were not allowed in that area at all, so Eli had to set it up by himself. Then we waited. And waited. Finally they lined the kids up just after 8AM and marched the first group into the pool area. Lehr, Maddux and I waited near the entrance to give him a final send off. Maddux high-fived him and Eli blew a kiss at her. MELT!

The race was aged 6-17years old, so Eli was on the young side. Out of 880 racers, he was number 62. Because I wanted to be outside for the transition and to see some of his bike and run, we did not go inside for the swim. We watched him run through the transition area perfectly, very focused, and get on his bike right after the 'mount line'. He did need a little help steadying himself because he was in such a rush :)

Eli came in from the bike telling me that his shoe was untied. Thankfully one of the coaches he knew was right there and helped him tie it. Then he took off running. I ran along side his course as long as I could before the out and back intersected and I was forced to stop. I caught him again as he came back (he told me he and Drew saw each other over that line as well and high-fived), and he sprinted to the finish.

100m swim, 3mile bike, 1/2 mile run...all in a day's work for Eli. He loved every second of it and already asked if he can do another.

Eli's Tri Training

We're still moving through the training. Eli has not been training throughout the week, but he's hitting it hard on Saturdays when we go to the Tri Clinics. This last week Eli got to practice transitions. He ran into the transition area, wearing a suit and goggles, and practiced drying off, putting on socks, shoes, shirt (with number) and a bike helmet. Then he biked a mile or so and came back into transition to take off his helmet and drop off his bike before heading back out to run about 1/2 mile. A few rounds of that and he was exhausted!

Tri Training with Eli

So we're a week into training, and so far-so good. Eli ran at the YMCA training this weekend - just about 10 minutes worth, broken up with a few rests, but that's most likely the longest he'd have to run during the race anyway. This last week he and I trained together during the day: he swam over 200M a few times (broken up into two sections) and he's biked 15-40 minutes three times. This weekend he even did his first 'brick': ran in the morning and then got on his bike for a half hour when we got home.

Triathlon

Eli is signed up for his first Triathlon. About a week ago I saw a flyer for a kids' Triathlon in the area, and the next day I saw that our YMCA was offering a few 'training' sessions for the event. I offered it up to Eli and he totally jumped on board. The distances are very short and well within the reality of his ability: swim 100M, bike 3 miles, and run 1/2 mile. He could honestly do all of that today, so I'm hoping it is a very enjoyable experience for him.

Ditch The City

Not quite the fun it was last year, unfortunately...

Eli seemed to be excited for this race; he was to run the kids' version of the trail race with obstacles that I signed up for. And Maddux was excited to come cheer us along, for the last time (next year she'll be old enough to participate). Eli talked about the race, excitedly, last night, and he seemed eager in the car on the way over. Once we arrived and got our numbers, he was even leading the stretches and warm-up runs for the family. He still wanted me to run with him (when the kids ran), but he in no way appeared to not look forward to the race. We started and he ran pretty well, moving to the back of the pack early. We were still holding our own though, running and going through pipes and over hay barrels. When we got to the other side of the lake, however, he wasn't as excited. The kids had to walk/run through the water just on the shore of the lake, and then walk through inner tubes in the water. I'm sure it was fear, but Eli turned very sour and angry. I tried to help by letting him know that he would be better off putting his feet in the water (inside of the tubes) because he would most likely slip if he stepped on the tube (and avoided the water). It didn't help: Eli tried to step on a tube and ended up sitting inside of one, getting a little wet and muddy. That was it - he was done.

Eli's been struggling with anger and 'fits' lately, and they are way worse when he's tired. Add to that his fatigue factor for the last week (probably still fighting off whatever virus had him on Sunday and Monday), and this morning's mood should have been expected. He didn't really finish the race because he cried a bit and whined a lot the rest of the course. Maddux was a rockstar and ran the rest of the way back with me; she will own that course next year. (On a sidenote: I LOVED the course this year and had my best race in recent memory. It felt good and I was rewarded with a 3rd Place in age-group finish.)

Eli turned it around and was pleasant during and after my race, and he fell asleep almost instantly when we got back into the car (around 11AM). The kid has some serious growing pain stuff going on!

Boosterthon Video

Here is a quick video from Eli's fun run. The kids are running fast...keep your eye out for Eli...white shirt just like all of the other kids. You can't miss him.

2010 09 Boosterthon from Nicole Eliason on Vimeo.

Ity Bity Ditch The City

What a blast! This morning we all trekked over to Conyers for the Ity Bity Ditch The City Race (and the non-kid version as well). I found this trail race "with a twist" a few months back and discovered they had a kids' leg to it as well. Done and done! You had to be at least 5 years old to participate, which luckily Eli was as of about 10 days before the race. I think this is the 4th race Eli has done, but the first 'adventure' one.

We got the kids up early and drove an hour away for the 830AM start time. Three other families joined us for the kids' race, which meant Eli had some friends to run with. Parents were allowed to run with the kids, but not participate in their obstacles. I got to run with Eli and Lehr snapped as many pictures as he could. The race consisted of a mile of grass running, hay barrel jumping, trail running (the real deal!), slip-n-sliding, wall climbing (with help), potato sacking, tube crawling, and tire running. So so so much fun. Eli did great, only stopping to walk once or twice. He did great on all of the obstacles (except the potato sacking..he wasn't into that today). My favorite part was at the finish line. As the kids crossed, a volunteer handed them a medal and congratulated them. Eli held his hand out for the medal, but never stopped running. A real pro....

The adult race started once the kids were done, so I joined my friends at the start line. Our race ended with the same obstacles the kids' race had, but we had a 3 1/2 mile trail run before that point. This meant all of the kids (at least ours) got to do the obstacles for 20 min or so while they waited for us. Lehr said they had a blast. Then, once our race was done, we all headed back to the slip-n-slide and seriously spent over an hour there, sliding down the big black tarp. Eli ended up in a pair of shorts and no shirt and Maddux got down to underwear and a shirt. (Not really her fault. She just hit a growth spurt in height which has thinned her out a bit. Shorts and pants that fit her fine a month ago now fall off of her hips.) For something we signed up for without much insight, we had a really fun, fun family day. Click here for the full set of pictures Lehr took.

Boosterthon

Yesterday morning, Eli participated in his first solo running event. Many public schools in the area participate in Boosterthon to raise funds for the school. Eli raised just under $10/lap completed, and yesterday was the running of laps. The Boosterthon team set up small 'tracks' for each grade to run, outfitted the kids with cool white t-shirts so teachers could give them hash marks as they completed each lap, and lined them up to enter the course area by class. Music pounded, hands were clapping, and each class ran in, led by one or two kids with signs. Guess who got to hold a sign for his class!!

Ten minutes passed before they started the run; one lap of walking kicked it off, just to get the kids the hang of things. It's a good thing they did that too because once it started, it resembled a Nascar event. The kids were SO fast and none of them had breaks or a sense of how to cut corners and not run into each other. Eli started off so strong, sprinting the first few laps. He stopped for water around lap 10, but that's the only time I saw him do that. Even then, he grabbed some water and barely sipped it before he joined the runners again. And he didn't stick with friends and goof off; he seriously RAN the whole time. Never slowing down (even when we called his name), never complaining (even when I ran along side of him), never stopping. He got in 35 laps just before they blew the whistle, which is great since that was the max amount of laps the kids could get credit for.

Although he didn't nap after school, he told us that he was 'really really tired' when he got back to his classroom yesterday. He snored all night long, and when he woke up this morning, the pain set in. The poor kid limped all the way downstairs and then up the driveway when we walked to the bus. By the time he got to the top of the driveway, he had stopped limping, but even getting off of the bus today, he's still walking 'funny'.