Saturday
began when I went outside and worked on the yard all morning. The temperature hovered in the 30’s, but it
was great weather to work in. I was able
to rake the remaining piles of leaves from the various garden areas, as well as
from the other nooks and crannies in and around the house. Afterwards I mowed the front and backyards. It was the beginning of December, and yet I
was fortunate enough to have the time to get the yard ready one last time before
the snow came.
By
2:30 I had cleaned up, packed, and together with my wife, daughter, and dogs, headed
up to my parents house a half hour away.
They would be watching our pups overnight.
After we visited, and got the dogs settled,
we continued on to Waukesha, Wisconsin.
My daughter Jodi drove to get some practice time in while traveling on the
highway. We headed northeast, since Jodi
and I were going to run the “Last Call Half Marathon” the following day. After picking up our race packets; complete
with cool T-shirts and our race numbers, we proceeded to the nearby Marriott
hotel.
We checked in, and then drove to
Albanese’s Roadhouse for some pasta/carbohydrates. I had a plate full of spaghetti with “award
winning” meatballs. It tasted absolutely
awesome; and provided me with the fuel I would need for the 13.1 mile
race. We returned to our hotel, and
hunkered down for the night.
After
a good night’s sleep we arose. Both Jodi
and I ate a little bit of a Cliff Bar and part of bagel, got dressed, and then we
all headed downtown to the EB Shurts Environmental Center along the Fox River for
the start of the race.
 |
| Before the race and snow |
As we warmed up
by jogging a few blocks, a few snowflakes began to fall. Cindy took our picture and watched us begin
with over 300 other people. The snow
steadily increased as we ran. The course
quickly made its way onto the Glacial Drumlin Trail. My son Todd and I had run this race together last
year. It had been a special day to
share. Today would be another special
day, this time with my daughter. Last
year had been cold too, following a night of heavy rain. This year we were being blessed with
snow. The changing of the seasons in
what living in the Midwest is all about, and I love it.
 |
| Todd and I in 2015 |
Jodi
and I made our way through the groups of runners for the first few miles, and
then it thinned out enough to give us ample room. We ran, talked, and enjoyed the
experience. Jodi was the picture of
consistency. Together we settled into
about a nine and a half minute per mile average. We were probably a bit slower than that in
the beginning, and then a bit faster at the end; known as a negative
split. The snow was easily sticking on
the ground before we were too many miles into the run, although the
black-topped pathway simply remained wet and clear; making for easy
running. Within a mile or two of the
turn-a-round, other runners began to pass us going the other way. It was fun to see the top runners, and crowds
of others, but we talked through the fact that we didn’t want to get caught up
in the sudden adrenaline rush, and knew we simply wanted to continue doing the
same thing that had gotten us to that point.
After we ran past the ten mile marker, it was the farthest that Jodi had
ever run before. She commented that she
only had a cross country race left to run.
Around mile eleven she felt a bit achy, but over all still felt great. After the last water stop, we only had a mile
left, and so we locked in and finished strong together. Cindy met us at the end and was able to
capture some pictures of us.
We were not
bound by the watch Jodi wore, but we did check it from time to time; simply to
determine how we were doing. She
accidentally stopped it at one of the first mile markers, so she started it again
at the next one, and then we just added ten minutes from there on out to give
us an estimated time. It turned out to
be within seconds of the actual time we finished (2:05). I grabbed two of the finisher medals, and put
one of them around Jodi’s neck. It was a
culminating gesture after a lot of running; both today and throughout her jr. high
and high school career.
After
taking the pictures, the three of us went into the environmental center. Jodi and I got some fruit and hot cocoa they
had available for runners. By then we
were starting to get chilled, so we went back to the hotel to get cleaned up
and packed up. The snow continued coming
down, the roads were slushy, and so the driving had to be cautious. We stopped in Mukwonago for some lunch, and
then headed to my parents to pick up our dogs while listening to the Green Bay
Packers vs. Houston Texans football game on the radio. After visiting, we loaded everyone up, and
headed home.
I rested for about an hour
or so, and then headed out to clear the driveway. In the heavy, wet snow I used my recently
fixed snow blower. I haven’t used it
since we moved to this house, as it needed to be overhauled. A neighbor, who is a parent of two former
students, fixed it for me about a week ago.
It took care of the snow well enough, although I had to clear out the
auger and chute a few times due to the slush getting clogged in it. Using a shovel, I cleared off the snow nearest
to the road that was extra heavy.
 |
| Home - 4 or 5 inches of snow |
To top
off the night, I took our youngest dog Kora for a walk in the snow. The storm had all but ended by that
time. The walk gave me a chance to
stretch out my leg muscles, while reflecting on the blessings and events from
the last couple of days. It’s been a flurry of activities during the first snowfall of the year.
See you along The Way…
No comments:
Post a Comment