Wow! What an incredible weekend this Vaughn family has had. I don’t even know where to begin……
This is likely to be the lengthiest post that this blog has ever seen!
I’ve mentioned before that our family has been training to run the inaugural Louisiana Marathon!
This was THE weekend!
It began on Saturday morning with the boys running the RocketKidz marathon.
The concept behind this run is that the children log 0.5 mile runs in the weeks leading up the event to total either 25 or 25.5 miles. Then at the main event the run either 1.2 miles or 0.7 mile to reach their total “marathon” of 26.2 miles.
I had registered the boys to run the “half” (0.7 mile) ** ……
and Daddy Buck was running the course with them.
Here they are in the “corral” at the start line!
Big Boom! And they’re off! Game faces on!!!
[VIDEO: start of the RocketKidz marathon]
Oh…..excuse me a second while I take pictures of the scenery. The Louisiana State Capitol building in all her glory on what could not have been a more clear beautiful morning. Cool, crisp, chilly morning; but, beautiful nonetheless……
I no sooner begin to refocus back to the race and see that Buck-a-roo is rounding the corner running solo! That’s right! he broke away from Dad and brother and has pulled out almost a minute ahead. He rounded the corner so fast that I only got pictures of his backside.
He does love this picture though because (do note) his feet, both of them, are mid-air!! He’s taking flight he’s sprinting to the finish line so fast!
[VIDEO: Buck-a-roo’s finish]
About 30 seconds after Buck-a-roo made the turn to the finish line, I look up to see this……..
It’s Frank-o and Dad rounding the corner to the final stretch. Daddy Buck later told me that he told Frank-o that once they made the turn, he needed to let go of his hand and ‘finish strong’!
And that he did!
In true “Rocky” fashion, he raised his arms just as he crossed the finish line!
[VIDEO: Frank-o’s finish]
** remember that I previously mentioned that I had registered them to compete in the “half”……. would you know that my Lil Runners actually grabbed a glass of water at the turn-around and kept going and completed the “FULL”!!
Daddy Buck and I were super proud of them for getting our there, in the cold, running hard, staying focused, and finishing strong!
Maybe the Waffle House breakfast on the way helped……
It was now time to go home and begin our prep for our race on Sunday. Saturday afternoon consisted of lots of stretching and hydrating sandwiched between a Saint’s playoff loss to the 49er’s.
Daddy Buck and I attended the Pasta Dinner on Saturday night where we heard some inspirational words from the one, the only……Jeff Galloway!
Daddy Buck and I were running the Louisiana Marathon Half ….. our first!
And this was the inaugural event of the The Louisiana Marathon event ….. superb event to say the least!
Thanks for our fantastic friends and my mother-in-law that I can’t say enough about, we had cheers, and posters, and noise makers, and high fives along the route and some great photography to showcase our day.
It appears the children had no problems entertaining themselves as they waited for us to pass. Our boys saw us at mile marker 3 and then again at the split-mat at mile 10.5.
Here’s Daddy Buck at the split mats……
and here I am!
Here’s the deal….. once you have high fived your children along the route. And their little hands have clapped and their little voices have said “good job Mom!”, there’s no way you can slow down, give up, or not finish.
It’s time to put one foot in front of another, dig deep, and FINISH!
Because Daddy Buck and I finished an hour apart, our friends were only able to capture my finish.
And, as you can see I had some help. Daddy Buck ran the last half mile with me to the final turn and had he not, I likely wouldn’t have beat my time goal by the 90 seconds that I did!
{stand up straight, do not puke, keep moving, stretch it out, do not puke, breathe, breathe, breathe}
This is likely the very moment when it all seems like it’s worth it.
Exercising as a family, trying to lead healthy lifestyles, running together, supporting one another in competition, never quitting, finishing strong……we were all smiles, all day.
Smiles intermingled with a post race pizza buffett, ice packs to knees and ankles, ibuprofen, and naps!
A family that runs together…….
finishes together!
