Fall Activities

We've been in school for over 2 months now, and I'm still in denial that Halloween and Thanksgiving are just around the corner. Luckily, we had a blast of chilly air last weekend to open my eyes and remind me that the holidays are approaching... as is my next marathon. Truth be told, I've been in a tizzy about some recent knee pain I've been having and the impact it's going to have on my next running adventure on Nov. 5th. Those who've marathon trained know that the taper is a rough experience in itself. Combined with worries of a knee injury and I've been left wallowing in self pity and fruitless efforts to keep myself from anxiety eating everything in sight! I really have no idea what is going on with my knee, but I suspect it's a result of a 20 mile run out on Siesta Key where the roads are very sloped and likely lead to some tendon strain. (Ah, the pitfalls of training in paradise.) While I don't think it's anything serious, it is enough pain to completely effect my running gait and give me heartburn about whether this marathon will be feasible. Right now, I'm sticking with it will be feasible (slow, but feasible).

The kids have been busy with school activies. Todd had a visit to his school pumpkin patch, complete with storytime with the Pumpkin Fairy. You can tell he was doubting the feats of the pumpkin in this story.He was happy to pickout his very own pumpkin.

But the smile turned to a frown when he thought his buddy Alex had taken his pumpkin. He let Alex know that pumpkin said "T-O-D-D!!"
We had a visit from another one of our slow, prehistoric looking turtle friends.
I'm terribly afraid he was sent as an omen for my upcoming marathon.
Todd has been playing football at the YMCA. And his buddy from school, Bamboo, came to stay with us for a weekend.
We continued our annual, family tradition of the Creaky Bones race. This year Todd got to race!
But not before a quick warm up and some stretching.
This was Hayley's third year to participate in the race. But, the race has grown tremendously since our first year. The picture below is the start of Hayley's race which was for 5 and 6 year olds. The poor kids, like Hayley, who were lined up at the back didn't stand a chance. And, the lack of organization proved to be a major obstacle for Hayley as many of the kids did not follow instructions and were twice the size of Hayley which resulted in Hayley getting knocked down at the turnaround point. She got a minor scrape on her knee and was SO upset about the whole thing. When she calmed down, she let me know that she was most upset that she didn't finish the race... and she didn't think she "earned" her medal. She then told me that she was trying to run the race the way "God wanted her to." She was trying to follow the rules and turnaround at the right spot AND be considerate of the other children racing. I could not be more proud.

More to come as gear up for Halloween festivities!