.: bistan.net :.

This morning, after running a quick 7:30AM 5K, we met some of my colleagues for a trip down the Ocmulgee.  We went with Ocmulgee Expeditions, which is one of the best kept secrets here in town.

They put us in the river at Water Works Park and we paddled/drifted for about 4 miles to the Riverwalk.  The kids loved it.  It was amazing how we were right in the middle of town, but it seemed like we were out in the middle of nowhere.  Even when we passed by the trails, you couldn’t see anyone because we were so low in the river.

I highly recommend taking a trip sometime soon!

Although the season ended weeks ago, T-ball officially ended Tuesday night with a party at Stevie-B’s.  T-ball is a mistake I will never make again.  We originally decided to put Tristan into team sports so that he would learn that you aren’t always a winner.  Of course, we ended up on a disfuctional team that couldn’t ever win.  Unless Tristan specifically asks to do team sports again, that chapter in our lives is over.

And yes, those are Silly Bandz that my kids are sporting in the first photo.

Last week, we wrapped up our third year of swimming lessons with Bragg Swim School.  Tristan took lessons in 2008, both kids took lessons last year, but only Mackenzie took lessons this year.  She did MUCH better this year.

Now, it’s time to get our travel on and find some pools to put those new skills to use!

Somehow, our Saturdays have been consumed with running and t-ball lately.  I fondly remember sleeping in on Saturdays.  This Saturday, we woke up at 5:30 to get ready for the Run4Missions 5K.

The kids participated in the one mile fun-run.  No, I’m not forcing my kids into my sport.  They WANT to do this.  I am happy that they are picking up on positive habits.  We know several kids who sit and play video games all day.

Tristan placed 3rd among boys 10 and under.  He ran the mile in just over 10 minutes.  That’s a lot faster than I was two years ago!

Mackenzie finished 4th among girls 10 and under.  She beat out girls three times her age!  She finished in about 14 minutes.

Here’s a picture with them sporting their finisher’s medals.  I regret that I didn’t get the pictures of them receiving their trophies at the awards ceremonies.  I wish I had brought my video camera so that you can hear the “AWWWWW”s when Mackenzie ran up to the stage to get her trophy.

After the fun run, it was time for my 5K.  I ran the race in 23:48 — a new personal record!  I was pleased.  Since I’m in a tough age group (30-34), I ended up 5th and didn’t get any bling bling.

Next, it was off to t-ball, which no longer has a “tee” as you can see above.  I’m still not sure what’s up with that.  I think maybe the ballpark lost all of the tees.

Here is Tristan getting tagged out on the way to first base.  It turned out to be a pretty good shot.

After lunch and a nice nap, we headed off to Downtown Macon for the Moonlight Miles 5K.  I’ve never raced twice in one day, but it worked out pretty well.  It was my first local night race and the only one I’ve done other than the Tower of Terror 13K at Disney.

Kimberlie isn’t great at getting good night shots, so you won’t see any pictures of me running at night.  My time was about 2 minutes slower because of hills and trying to avoid the Macon potholes at night.

We finally got home about 11:30 after a nice meal at the Waffle House (the only thing open).  Needless to say, we slept in this morning!

Kimberlie and I went to Kindergarten Field Day this morning at Tristan’s school.  It brought back quite a few memories.  Enjoy the pictures and remember your field day as well:

This morning, I drove to Reynolds for the Run for Literacy 5K, part of the Georgia Strawberry Festival.  Lightning was crashing all around and it was raining so I thought for sure it would be cancelled.  I even left the family at home.  The race director, who already had to postpone the last race she directed due to snow, pondered postponing the event.

Somehow, right at 8:00, the clouds parted and the rain stopped.  We started the race.  I had considered trying for a personal record (PR) earlier this week, but my training mileage was literally cut in half this week due to issues that I might discuss later on this blog.  I’ve also skipped speed-work training for three weeks for various reasons. I decided not to worry about the PR and just get the race over with and go home and get back into bed. (I love sleeping during storms and I was convinced that t-ball would be cancelled.)

Somehow, I miraculously pulled off the PR, shaving 36 seconds off of my previous 5K record, set last Halloween.  I also got second place in my age group and brought home a trophy — the nicest trophy I’ve won so far racing.  When I got home and connected the Garmin, the computer showed that I had negative splits — which are awesome. (For the non-runners, that’s where your first mile is the slowest and each additional mile is faster with the final mile being the quickest.  It’s extremely hard to do.)  Needless to say, I was pleased!

I have two races next Saturday: Run 4 Missions at 8:00 AM and Moonlight Miles at 8:00 PM.  Remember, you can always track my Running Saga by clicking the link on the right.

And no, they didn’t cancel T-Ball.

Last night, Tristan and I went “mountain biking” on some vacant land in our neighborhood.  Half of the land is county-owned and the other half is the remnants of a defunct subdivision, thanks to the economic crisis.

We had a great time, until Tristan had a spectacular wipeout, as seen in the video below.  It was his first time on the “hills” on a big bike.

This is one of those things that he will laugh about later.

So after the accident, we finally made it to the bowling alley.  Kimberlie and I have only been bowling together twice before — once on a double date and once with the neighbors.  Bowling just isn’t our thing.  If we feel like bowling, we have a Nintendo Wii to keep us entertained.  Mackenzie didn’t really care for it much either, but as you can see from the pictures below, Tristan LOVES it!

I hope your weekend was enjoyable as well.