Off To Church Camp

Life is quite busy for my big kids these days. Last Wednesday and Thursday they went to Holiday World with my parents, their aunts and cousins. Sounds like they had a great time. My kids have no fear and love all the rides. Then they were home for one day where Alexis was allowed to squeeze in a 4 hour gymnastics practice b/c she has been missing so much. By Sunday, they were off again. Sunday was one of those days where I really needed 3 of me. Clark was on call this past weekend and was very busy. He had to go in twice both Friday and Saturday and had a surgery that took up Sunday morning. Luckily Sunday afternoon things had calmed down on the OB front, and one of his partners was back up for emergencies so he could help out. Nick had his first on ice practice with the Junior Ice team in Fishers. At that same time I had to take all the kids to my partner's 40th surprise B.D. party in Noblesville. We had a great time and I thought her husband did a fabulous job organizing the entire thing. I felt a little bad b/c I was only there a short time b/c then I had to go pick up Nick and drive him and Alexis all the way South to Camp Allendale. Talk about a lot of driving and running around.

Luckily when I picked up Nick from hockey I dropped off the triplets with Clark, and we just chanced it that he would not get called in while I was gone. This turned out to be a great decision b/c I can't imagine how stressed I would have been trying to get Nick and Alexis settled while trying to keep track of my trio. My mom drove with me since originally I was going to have everyone and she was going to try and help. I think drop off went as smooth. I was sort of a frazzled just with the crazy day in general. Then I lost my keys right after I parked which had me in a tizzy. The kids seemed more calm than I was. Basically for check in you go through the nurse line and get their temps taken. Then you drop off any medication in another line. I figured I had better take some allergy meds for Nick given his recent eye issues. Finally you check in and get your snack card and find out what bunk hall you are in.

We started with Alexis. She is staying in the Hawk bunk hall. Luckily as soon as we walked in we saw her good friend, Maddie. This is one of my best friend, Stephanie's, daughter. Alexis picked a bunk next to hers (although Alexis wanted the top and Maddie the bottom). I made Alexis' bed and shoved some money in her bag (just in case she needed it). I barely had any time for goodbyes b/c I was so worried about getting to Nick's cabin before they had to go do their first activity. Alexis seemed happy enough when I left, but I am sure she probably thought my departure was rather abrupt as well. Next we moved to Nick's hall. He is staying in the poolside bunk. Since I had to take Alexis first, he did not really get a choice on beds b/c most of the boys were already there with stuff all ready. Still I think when he walked in the room he was relieved b/c I think he at least recognized some of the boys. I quickly made his bed and once again shoved money in his bag. He met his counselor, and I was thrilled to find out he was a hockey player. I knew this would make Nick very happy. I should back up and mention my Nick really was not to excited about going to camp. I think he was nervous. When we got there he grabbed the map b/c he "wanted to figure out where the entrance was for when he busted out of there." Once he got together with the rest of the boys, he seemed fine. His cabin was already a little crazy with boys jumping all over the beds.  Nick will no doubt be one of the more reserved kids there. Again it was just a quick drop his stuff off, get a hug and move on out b/c they had things to do. Best I could tell they were going for a night swim, pizza and campfire.

I am sure they will both have a great week. I am going crazy not being about to talk to them. We paid money so we could send then bunk mail. Basically you can send one way emails that they will get daily. My mom and I also packed little bags filled with small stuff for each day so they have something to look forward to. For example the Sunday night package had snacks, disposable cameras and whatever my mom put in that bag. They each both had a huge bag filled with lots of different candy. I really never thought it would bother me this much not to talk to them. They can be gone for longer with my parents and I don't feel such an urge to call and see how things are going. To me this feels very different.  I could text my friend Wendy who is in my small group Bible study and running this entire camp week. I just don't want to bother her when I know she is so busy.  I will say that I found Stephanie's voicemail message tonight to be hilarious. She mentioned that I could text Wendy if I really wanted to know about the kids. She also said Wendy had already left her a message b/c Steph's daughter, Maddie, was dressed in long sleeve shirts and jeans and claimed she was hot but did not have any summer clothes packed. Ummmmm.. I can assure you that she has an entire suitcase of summer clothes and only packed one cold weather outfit so not sure what she was thinking there. Very funny!! Okay enough about the big kids. I miss them. I can't wait until Friday (except that is the start of my call weekend so I have mixed feelings about saying that). I really want to know they are having fun and happy!!!

Here is Nick sitting on his bed at camp!

Here is Alexis in her camp bed

Here is a blurry picture of Alexis with Maddie and another friend.

The triplets have busy week planned. Every Monday Clark takes them ice skating to get practice for their upcoming hockey season. Today they actually did stick and puck instead of public skate so they could get used to using a stick and puck (hence the name). Then Clark took them out to dinner and to Orange Leaf for ice cream. Also this week Landon is doing an acting class for a couple hours each day. My mom is responsible for getting him to and from this b/c she is the one who wanted him to do it. In fact to make things easier Landon spent the night with my mom last night since she was already with me and driving home from my house. I don't think Landon has ever slept apart from his brothers, and they were making me laugh b/c I kept hearing them tell each other they loved each other. So cute!! Later in the week my parents are taking the trio to both the regular park and the Carmel Water Park. Basically they feel bad that they do so much with Nick and Alexis and next to nothing with the trio, so they are trying to even it out.

Aside from getting my kids back on Friday, I almost forgot that Clark's 4 siblings are coming in town for 5 days. I haven't seen them in a couple of years. Of course I am on call 4 of the days they are here, and so I won't be able to do hardly anything with them, but I know Clark is super excited to see them. They will also only see my big kids for a few hours b/c while I get them back on Friday, on Saturday (before I even get home from work) they will be gone again traveling to Canada with my parents. WAY TOO BUSY is how I describe life right now.

This post is getting so random but I don't know when I will have another chance to write. As for training.... I am still running. I started another 18 week training program. This time I am running slower but doing more miles per week. Basically I run 5 days a week, cross one day then rest every Tuesday. So far so good. I don't feel so stressed about it this time. My goal has nothing to do with time and everything to do with not walking so much of my next marathon. Aside from training the only other thing I have committed myself to right now is reading the Bible. All of it. I have been saying forever that I was going to do this but didn't know where to start. Stephanie's husband (and leader of our small group) is just telling me what order to go in. So far I have read Mathew, Mark, Luke, John, Genesis, Exodus, Proverbs, and I am in the middle of Acts.

Sorry so much rambling. Not exactly a facebook worthy blog post. Until next time....

From Bad to Worse

This day was positively craptastic!!  Since the big kids are at Holiday World with my parents and their cousins, I was set to have a kid free day. I actually had the same thing yesterday but yesterday was spent busting my butt trying to get house picked up, going grocery shopping and getting ALL the laundry done so that Thursday was all  MINE. I had plans to do my Thursday long run and then scrapbook the day away. Well, that plan fell apart after I picked up the kids from preschool yesterday. They asked if I was planning on volunteering to drive and spend my free day at their field trip to Eagle Creek.  I said "NO." Then I sort of got the impression they were less than happy with that response. It seemed that sense I had 3 children it might have been an issue of enough car space for all of them. I said right then that I would just keep them home since it seemed to be a problem. I had things to do and honestly the thought of entertaining not only my kids but other kids for my free day did not appeal to me. I was then told it would be fine. Since I pay for the preschool they couldn't say I had to volunteer to go on the field trip. Still on the drive home I got this HUGE guilt trip. I knew that if I sent them I would just feel bad all day and not enjoy myself. So I called the school and said I would not be bringing them. I did get a call back from Pastor Zane shortly thereafter once again telling me it would be fine if they came, but it was up to me. In my mind it was already decided, so I did not call back.

Fast forward to morning. I tried really hard to get out of bed at 5am to go for a 10 mile run before Clark got up for work. I think I made it as far as brushing my teeth but then just couldn't do it. It was still dark and I just read on Tuesday about this pregnant mother of 3 who was brutally murdered while running in Kentucky.  Horrible story. She was running with her sister but started to feel bad so told her sister to go on and she turned back. Sometime on her way back she was attacked and killed. Kind of freaked me out so I decided not to go out in the dark. I got back in bed! Once the kids were up and I heard the "mommy" and phrases like, " I am going to tell..." more than I care to count, I knew the only way I was going to change my now sour mood (b/c I didn't get my scrapbook day I was looking forward to) was to go to the gym and get my run in. It really was in the best interests of my kids for me to do this...hahaha!

Things were going well. The triplets were excited b/c now that they are 5 they no longer have to go to the "baby" child watch area and instead get to go with the big kids. I was happy. They were happy. They knew that if they were good at the Y we would come home, eat lunch, go swimming and then go see Madagascar 3 at the theater.  Drop off was easy. Nobody had to peel Ryan off me like normal. I started my run. Things were going well. I was a little bored but was keeping my eye on the prize. If I ran 10 miles, I could eat movie popcorn quilt free (as long as I ate healthy all the rest of the day). I am not kidding...I was visualizing that big bucket of popcorn while I ran. I finally got into a groove and then at 3.5 miles in this Y worker lady was coming up to me and telling me to stop. She said Adam had fallen and was bleeding. I thought oh no big deal I will just run down there reassure everyone that he is a tough boy and get back to my run. I didn't even take my stuff off the treadmill as I had plans to get right back on. I get to the child watch area and see him sitting there with an ice pack. Then the lady there says to me that they are trying to get a director to come there so that person can see if she thinks he needs stitches. Why this offended me I don't know b/c it is not like they have any clue what I do for a living. I simply said, "well I happen to be a pediatrician so I can look and decide if he needs stitches (the part going thru my head that I didn't say out loud was that I could do this much better than a YMCA director). Sure enough his mouth was a mess and yes in fact he needed stitches. His upper teeth were all jammed with bloody gums and they had gone all the way thru this lower gums to chin. Darn if they hadn't gone all the way thru we might have been okay (even if the inside cut was large and wide. I still might have let that ride). No he needed stitches. So we had 2 options. I could go to immediate care or take them to Dr. Dad. I gave Adam the option and he wanted to see daddy!

So we get to Clark's office. I think I have only ever stepped foot into that place on maybe 3 occasions if that and here they are getting to see me in running clothes that are all wet from sweat. Lovely impression. All the ladies in the waiting room gave me quite the look when I come walking in with 3 kids in tow. Luckily I didn't have to wait in the waiting room. We got put in a room and then the waiting game started. Obviously Clark did not plan on this and had a busy day of patients but geez the kids were getting impatient. Finally Clark comes walking in with 4-0 sutures. UMMMM....NO! I told Adam to get up we were leaving and that there was no way he was putting that big of a suture on my child's face. Where was the 6-0?? They didn't have any in the office so his surgery assistant ran down to OR and grabbed some 6-0.  Of all my kids Adam was the only child who cried during KG shots. I knew this was not going to be easy. At first Clark thought somehow the two of us could manage. I said, "you are going to get some help in here." One nurse comes in to start. I was obviously going to have to hold his head b/c that part really needed to be still. The nurse was in charge of the legs. It was not enough people. Adam is tough and he was screaming and fighting and kicking this nurse (which I yelled at him for). No offense b/c in the end this all worked out but I don't think these nurses are used to having to hold down patients. I am used to working on moving targets. My nurses are incredibly skilled at holding down kids:) Clark was having a really hard time just getting the numbing meds in. Adam was hysterical. Screaming, screaming, screaming. Clark was flustered (which is hard to imagine). He kept stopping and letting Adam catch his breath. He even tried picking him up and reasoning with him. Basically my OBGYN husband was breaking rule number 1 of pediatrics. DO NOT TRY AND REASON WITH KIDS WHEN SHOTS ARE INVOLVED. This will only delay things and get you NO WHERE. I know if seems cruel but hold the kid down and just get it done. Finally another person came in to help and eventually after I kept saying the immediate care would have had this kids in a papoose and he would not be moving Clark figured we could do the same with a sheet. Good one honey! It worked. We made a burrito out of Adam and I held his head. It was still hard given where he was trying to get the numbing meds b/c Adam kept screaming. I can only imagine what the other patients must have been thinking. They probably thought they were in the wrong office or that there was no way they wanted Dr. B to touch them. Once the numbing medicine was in, Adam did stop moving so Clark could put two stitches on the outside and two on the inside. Mission accomplished. Way to go daddy. Adam quickly forgave him.

We really had no time to thank anyone in the office b/c I had 15 minutes to get to the dentist (who I called b/c Adam had loose teeth and a mouth trauma) and we were at least 18 minutes away.  Yes mark it on the calendar but I was late for an appointment by 5 minutes. I did call and offer to reschedule but they told me to come anyway b/c Dr. Wells always fits in his mouth trauma cases. I yelled at plenty of cars in front of me trying to get them to move faster but nobody seemed to care and continued driving 15 miles under the speed limit. Dr. Wells brought Adam right back and after one quick look he said he wanted to get Xrays b/c he was sure he had knocked his teeth out of their socket and the top 4 may all need pulled. Whoa What?? Not what I was expecting to here. He took Xrays and then gave me some better news. Yes a few were knocked out of socket and one completely has no root so it will probably fall out soon but we were going to do a watch and wait plan instead of a yank 4 teeth out plan. I liked that much better. He did say he was worried another with much less root would get an abscess and in that case it would have to come out. He must have told me to call him at work or home right away several times if that happened. He also must not realize what I do for a living b/c he kept telling me that Clark could check for an abscess and would know. Then we went home. It was not even 1pm and I was already exhausted!!

I gave Adam some motrin for pain and he managed to even eat a little lunch. Then we went to the movies as planned. It was cute,but I think I actually fell asleep for a little bit. It held my kids attention and that for me is all that matters. I got to have my popcorn and now really hope I can attempt my 10 mile run again once Clark gets home.

And to think I was worried I would not have anything to blog about for a long time..........

Park2Park Relay: Race Report Part 3

So I never got around to writing this post last night. I fell asleep in my work clothes around 8:20 and never got up again!

You might be wondering why my first picture is of the mini van. Well, I didn't have a single  picture of me on my 3rd leg of the race, so I decided I would just post a picture with my name. For my 3rd leg you are just going to have to use your imagination (picture me as someone much skinnier than I really am:) My third leg started in some park. I didn't realize I was going to have any trail running on this leg, and so I was a little surprised when the volunteer told me which direction I was going to be running once Ryan tagged me. The trail part was very short and just lead up to the main street, but I did at one point stop on the trail and make sure I was still going the correct way b/c there were no markings. Someone was running behind me so I figured I must be right or at least won't be lost alone so I kept going. Once on the road it was a straight 3 miles until the next exchange. A straight 3 miles in 90+ degree weather with no shade, no clouds and what, at the time, seemed like never ending hills. I really thought I was going to have to walk on this leg... but I didn't. My overall pace for my 3rd and final leg of this race was 7:48/mile. I was thrilled to be done and be able to just enjoy watching my friends finish there last run. Pressure was off me::))

Here we are on Lisa's final run.

Here Lisa is giving us the thumbs up sign. Doing awesome.

Here she is rounding the corner to her finish where she will tag Jacque. You see that huge smile on her face. She is loving this but totally happy to be done with her run. I guess it was .3miles longer than it said it would be so that last little bit was torture when you look down at your garmin and think you should be done.

Jacque is running and Amy and Jaime are standing in the street screaming for her. Goooo Jacque!!

Here she is looking amazing!

Now before Jaime started her last leg she had asked me to run the last mile of it with her and under NO circumstances let her walk. She was really worried that if she did it alone she would give up and walk. I told her I could do that. Here is a picture of her starting her leg. Jacque...time to stop.

This I think was when we pulled the van up to her and Jacque got out and gave her some water to dump on herself and ran up a hill with her.

Here was where I think I asked Jaime if she wanted me to run with her but she was doing great all on her own and feeling much better than she thought she would. She didn't need me after all.

I will throw in another picture of her near the end just to prove she NEVER walked. She rocked this last leg despite the heat and hills.

Jaime's running for the day was over and Amy was starting her last run. While waiting at this exchange I could hear the volunteers talking about how EMS was called for a runner. I thought..that stinks for that person but then let that thought go.

Here is Amy running down a gravel road with dust flying in her face from all the cars driving along it at the same time. Ryan is giving her the big thumbs up as he is ready to enter McCloud Park finish this relay out. His run was all trail with lots of vertical climbs. No problem!!

Here we are waiting to direct him to the finish line. While there are no pictures our entire team crossed the finish line together. We completed 63 miles in 8:28:40. That was an overall pace of 7:50/mile. We took 4th place for the open division. AWESOME.

Such a cute picture of Jaime

May I present the ROAD RUNNERS!!! Such an incredible group of of people. Such a fun day!!! So proud of this team. 

 Here is a picture of Clark so that alone tells you he was not the runner who went to the hospital during the race. His text to me after his final run was, "7:19 pace on the last leg. Too hot!!!!"  What I learned when we hooked up right before the final exchange was that it was in fact someone on his team who got so dehydrated that he was taken by ambulance to the ER where his blood pressure was scary low and creatinine scary high. He got IV fluids and some other tests for good measure and ended up having to stay overnight. That heat was NO joke!!! His team continued on after taking care of their teammate. They never did catch us (which was our main goal for the day). They finished their race in 8:02:40 for an average pace of 7:26/mile. They were second in the corporate division.  Like a good team should do they all went to the ER after the race and paid their friend a visit and gave him his medal. His teammate is now fine and rehydrated:)

 As for the Ultra man, Keith......here he is finishing his race looking a little like death but still moving! Kind of crazy that we were actually finishing at the same time. I guess that staggered start really worked.

Here his is trying after 56 miles to run it in across the finish line. You can see from the clock in the picture it took him 10:21 to finish. He was FIRST in the ULTRA division (by a LONG shot). So proud of you Keith!! His running and determination to push his limits never cease to amaze me. 

 Here he is again looking a little like death while his children play in the background. I think he said he lost 6 pounds during his run. He could have used an IV at this point but there wasn't one so he settled for Gatorade (at least that is what the picture shows). I know he was in a lot of pain that night but quickly recovered and by the following day was already out running a 2 mile recovery run! INSANE is his middle name.

This will probably go down as one of my all time favorite races EVER. I loved the group of people I got to hang out with all day. I loved having a team and being part of something again. I love to race and loved that this was something different that I had never done. Obviously if I could have changed the weather I would have, but having survived it and doing fairly well in comparison, it gives us bragging rights and stuff to talk about.  If you like to run...do this race. Get your friends together and make a day of it. If you don't have enough... give a complete stranger a chance b/c if they are a runner like yourself, you will likely get along just fine. Amy was a perfect addition to our team. Huge thanks to all the volunteers who helped make this day such a wonderful experience. Huge thanks to Ryan, Jaime, Jacque, Lisa and Amy for allowing me to be part of such a fabulous team and giving me a day I will never forget!!

Park2Park Relay: Part 2

Considering I just sliced my finger on a pizza cutter, I am not sure how great my typing will be, but I will still try and get my part 2 post done today. I have said multiple times, I should never be allowed in the kitchen. I was just cutting microwaved pancakes that ultimately had to be thrown out b/c too hard. Now Clark has taken over (as it should be).

Let's see where did we leave off......  That's right, we dropped Ryan off after our near fatal collision with a moving truck (if you have no clue what I am talking about you should go back and start with Part 1). With Ryan running the 5 of us girls realized we were clueless about directions without him. I knew we needed to get to the Brownsburg soccer fields, but we collectively had a hard time figuring out how to get there. I would say for the most part we had good driving directions or you just followed the runner's path, but Ryan was in the woods and unless I missed it, there were no driving directions for this part. Since I was the next runner, I was starting to act less than calm. That whole...can never be late panic feeling was starting to set in. I was frantically trying to call my husband then when that didn't work, I called Shane (my PT). By that point the girls had figured it out and we got to where we needed to be with enough time to take this photo of me (looking cool as a cucumber). As you can see from the photo, I changed clothes after the first leg. I had enough clothes to change after every run and at the end. This however was the only change I did. Just didn't care as much after that, and it was so hot that we all stopped sweating (you think I am kidding but I am not). For this leg I also borrowed Amy's headphones and Jaime's iPod shuffle (since my brand new shuffle is still lost in Cleveland). Luckily I like Jaime's taste in music.

 So here comes Ryan finishing up his first leg.

 Go Christy go....... This was probably my hardest leg of the race b/c it was just as long as my first run but I no longer had fresh legs and it was hot...very hot! Having said that it was also probably my most enjoyable part of the race b/c it was in my neck of the woods. This leg ended up in the park that is less than 2 minutes from my house and had me running down roads I drive on all the time. This is the "wooden park" that my kids play in quite often.

 Here I am at the very end of my run. I was giving it my all and nearly collapsed when I tagged Lisa. I was so happy that this leg also had a trail part right before this last straight away. I loved getting out of the sun and jumping over branches, etc. As Lisa would say, I had at least 2 road kill on this leg. Might have been more, but I don't remember. My pace for this leg was around 7:45-7:50 per mile. I forgot to turn my garmin off for at least a minute at the end so I had to take that into account.

 I guess I did not have any pictures of Lisa's start to her second leg. We drove to the next exchange which happened to be in the neighborhood attached to mine. The very same neighborhood that I do almost all of my training runs in. I loved that it was part of the course. Here are Amy, Jacque and Jaime waiting for Lisa to come in.

 Here is Lisa sending off Jacque. I would have had more pictures of Lisa but at this point in the day I saw that runner 1 from the team Fantastachicks (which has some of my best Hendrick's girl friends on it) was at the wrong exchange. She made the wrong turn and never went into the trail part leading her through to the park. I felt HORRIBLE for her. I was trying to get my friends on that team to answer their phones so I could tell them she was in the wrong place. They didn't answer, and so she had to run all the way back and follow the correct route. What should have been a 4.34 mile run turned into a 6.34 mile run in 90+ degree heat. She was such a sport to not just quit right there. 

 Here is Jacque on her leg of the run.

 I have a million awesome running pictures of Jacque so here is another one.



Here Jacque has tagged Jaime (our runner #4) and she takes off. Someone should tell Jacque she can stop running now:) 



 It was somewhere around this point that we started going a little ahead of our runners and stopping the van and then handing them cold water to pour over themselves. We were in the open sun with not a cloud to be seen. We all were so hot that we just kept saying we were no longer sweating. I found out later the the pavement temperature was over 104 degrees. 

Jaime is happily done and Amy takes off!  



 Here is Amy completing another hard leg of our race!

I am not sure why I have no pictures of Ryan on his second leg. I just don't. Sorry man!! I know he was once again on the trails for some of his run. He did great!!

We were 2/3rds of the way done and cruising right along. We were all doing so well that we knew we would be done before our predicted time of 4pm. We thought for sure that Clark's team was going to pass us up on this part of the race. It became our goal to try and not let this happen. We would run into them briefly at the exchanges or see them coming to one as we were leaving. So far they had not passed us. Keep in mind they started this relay 45 min later than our team so yes they are faster but still had not made up that 45 minutes. Clark's post after he ran his second leg, "7:14 pace on last leg. Probably 7min the first 2 (he was talking miles), 7:40 the last 2." So he was slowing down...WIMP!!!



As for Ultra man Keith, the texts I got from Shane during this time were, "38 done. Slowing and not feeling great. Walking more but making progress. Leaving Danville." Little later... "Around 10 to go. He is walking a lot more now." The fact that he was still moving forward at all at that point is absolutely incredible. We saw a few of the Ultra men out on the course and they were ALL walking by this point. We gave fluids and gel blocks to one. Keith was still way ahead of all other Ultra runners.

So that is it for the second part of this race. I was still having a wonderful time. I worried the day would seem to drag on but it went so fast. You never waited long at the exchanges. It was fun and exciting the entire way. If I can get these kids in bed I will try and write my third and final post with the conclusion of our race. If not, stay tuned and check back tomorrow night................

Park2Park Relay Race Report: Part 1

This Saturday I participated in the Park2Park relay. It was AWESOME. So awesome that I am going to have to make this a series of posts. Actually I think I am going to have to do that b/c I have way too many pictures. I took over 150 for the day. Don't worry, I won't post them all, but I will show a lot.

The Park2Park Relay is put on by the Parks Foundation of Hendricks County.  In their own words (taken from their online site)..."The Park2Park Relay is a race for ambitious runners looking for a new challenge! Teams of 6 will run approximately 60 miles in a relay style running event that will take runners through communities, across countryside and through challenging park trails. The ultimate reward? Bragging rights! Those who finish this race will have completed a challenge few of your running friends have. You don't need to be an elite runner to compete, from casual runners to serious competitors, all are welcome!"

Doesn't that sound like FUN? Clark did this race last year and made it sound so awesome that it was one of the only weekends I had asked off for a year in advance. So there are 6 runner teams and each runner runs 3 legs of the race. The overall distance each runner runs ranged from just over 9 miles to just over 12 miles (broken into segments ranging from 1.86 miles to 4.65 miles). There were over 44 teams competing this year, and unlike last year, they did staggered start times based on estimated finish times with the goal of getting the teams thru the exchanges and to the finish more together. Of the 44 teams they were broken down into several divisions. For example....corporate, women's, men's, mixed (3 of each), men and women's master (everyone over 40), college, high school, open and ULTRA (yep you read that last one correct there was a division for those truly insane runners who wanted to do a 52.5 mile run all by themselves. My great friend Keith was one of those crazy people who did this along with 5 other crazy runners). Clark was on a team in the corporate division and my team was in the open division.
With the staggered start times, my team was scheduled to start at 7am. I think there were 5-6 teams starting at that same time with us. You are allowed one vehicle per team and Jaime and Ryan were kind of enough to let us trash their mini van for the day. The race started at Sodalis Park in Plainfield. As soon as we all arrived, we took care of the very important detail of decorating our van. Our team name was Road Runners. Nobody was any help picking a name, and I run past a street named Road Runners for a lot of my training runs and for some reason get some inspiration out of it, so I picked it.
Here is a picture of Jaime decorating the van.

 Here is a picture of me and Jaime. Best friends and get running partners.

Below are the other Road Runners. First up (from left to right) we have Amy, who I did not know but found thru facebook as someone looking to join a team. We were having a hard time getting people to commit to doing this race and once Amy posted how fast she was, Jaime and I decided we would forget the people who couldn't even decide if they wanted to do it. Amy was in. She was a PERFECT fit for this group. Fun, positive, encouraging, fast and just overall great person and addition to our team. She was also helpful b/c she was the only one on our team who had done this last year. Next up is Jacque. Jacque has been friends with Jaime since Kindergarten. She was hysterical. Jokes all day long. I was very impressed with how calm and collected she was before every run she did. She made it all look very easy. It takes no time to realize she is a very social person who I imagine gets along great with everyone. In the middle was our speedy man Ryan. Ryan is Jaime's husband and therefore someone I have known and adored for years. He is just Mr. Athletic. He can run fast but he can also bike and swim and pretty much do it all. I think he had fun spending his day with a fun group of girls. Then there's Jaime. She makes my blog often so if you follow me at all, you know her. I LOVE her. She is one of my best friends. She and I did our pediatric residency together and going thru that kind of hell bonds people like you could never imagine. Our daughters are in gymnastics together and the best of friends. Jaime and I do most of our long runs together on the Monon. Her friendship is absolutely priceless to me. She is a terrific runner and as passionate about the sport as I am. Finally we have Lisa. Lisa is Jaime's neighbor and great friend/running companion. I had never met Lisa but felt like I knew her b/c I hear so much about her from Jaime. Lisa is a great runner who can kick my butt when it comes to speed. She was tons of fun to hang with during the day. Again she was positive, encouraging, fast and passionate about the sport. I just can't tell you how well this team blended and how great they all were. So proud to have been a part of this amazing team.

 Okay here is a picture of just the girls (me included). Ryan was taking the photo! You can see from our bibs that our team number was 130 and then the number in red corresponded to the leg you were.

 So I was runner number one. Talk about nerves. My leg was not the hardest by any means but did cover the most distance. In the end I ran just over 12 miles.  At least 4 of us had some trail as part of our legs. I specifically had some trail running on each of my 3 legs of the race. I was also nervous b/c I was the only runner who started with other runners at the exact same time. At the very start there was this little loop that they said they allowed the entire team to run together before sending me off into the woods for the first leg.
Here is a picture of me getting ready to start my garmin. You will quickly see from these pictures I never stand up straight. Slumped shoulders....such bad posture...moving on!

 Everyone who was starting with us should have overall team times that were about the same. So you can imagine my surprise when they said go and I felt like the other runners took off in a dead sprint. I thought crap... this is gonna kill me. This first picture you see me a little ahead of my teammates who were just doing this little lap for fun to get in the spirit of things.

 There I am again getting ready to head into the woods for the little over mile trail part of my first leg. Still smiling at this point. One thing I should have mentioned above is that like the last 2 races Jaime and I have been in together, the weather was going to be unseasonably high. It was hot to start but only got hotter as the day went on. I will write more about that as we continue. So really I was lucky to go first. It was cool to start, and I was the first to be done in the afternoon when from a heat standpoint conditions were getting very bad!!

 Here I am about to end my first leg. Still looking strong (and fat but lets forget that part).

I must have just tagged Lisa who was runner 2 and once again am not standing up straight. I ran 4.63 miles according to my garmin. Clearly I was already a sweaty mess. My average pace for my first leg was 7:42/mile (my individual miles were 7:54, 7:49, 7:29, 7:37 and not sure about the last .63 b/c I screwed it up trying to look but already had my overall average written down). I was pleased with this time especially considering how much I was on trail and b/c of the hills.

 Here we have a couple of photos of Lisa. She is the second girl on the bridge and about to take the girl in front of her (who was on a team that started earlier than our team). When Lisa passes someone she calls it road kill. She had 2 road kills on her leg.

 I know you can barely see Lisa in this photo but I like it b/c she looks like she is flying. Very speedy. When Lisa got done I remember her saying she felt great and it was a beautiful course and one that she had run part of in a previous race I think.

 Here you can see Lisa tagging Jacque and who got to run a paved path thru a park. Last year (the first year this relay was done) they had batons, but the runners did not like this, and so this year it was simply a high 5 to switch off. I think this was great b/c most runners used hand held drinks and didn't want to carry anything else. Go Jacque.

 Here we have Jacque finishing up her leg at the Plainfield Aquatic/Rec center. This is the water park I was at on Thursday. Great rec center and awesome water park if they would just change some of their stupid rules of who needs to be within an arms length of an adult (if you are on my facebook you know how I feel about this). Jaime is ready and waiting in this photo. Jacque actually ran 2 miles with a guy from another team talking the entire way. I think she pulled away from him in the end. Again so social and has this amazing ability to run really fast and talk non stop while doing it.

Tag...Jaime you are it. Go girl!!

 Here is Jaime just finishing up her leg!

 The temperatures at this point were getting really hot and yet she was still smiling. That is great for a girl who HATES to run in the heat. Her ideal running temp is in the 40's.

 Here comes Amy our runner #5. Did I mention she is super fast and makes it look super easy. She had probably the second hardest leg of the race and never once did she complain. Not about the hills, the trails, the heat. Not one complaint. She also impressed me b/c she doesn't run with a garmin. She runs how she feels (which by the way is faster than me) and yet totally rocked each leg. She also looked great in every running picture I took.

 Here is Amy handing off to our wing man Ryan. Ryan was runner #6 who had arguably the hardest runs and most trails. Aside from me (b/c I was usually taking the pictures) I have the fewest photos of him b/c he was the runner right before it got back to me and my nerves were already kicking in. He did great. He is having some issues with his achilles lately but you would have never known that on Saturday. He might have been in pain, but we didn't know b/c he handled it very well.

What is so memorable about Ryan's first leg is that it was the only leg were he had to get tagged by Amy and then jump in our van so we could drive him across Rockville road and drop him at a safe place to start running. Because time was ticking even while he was in our van, we were in a hurry. Ryan still drove and maybe b/c of the excitement of everything or maybe just b/c he is crazy, he decided to totally run a red light and turn left into oncoming traffic going straight. We almost got hit,but we made it. Not one of our better thinking moments, but something about this race we won't forget:) I guess we thought that yellow sign on our car saying RACE IN PROGRESS meant we didn't have to follow basic rules of the road...hahaha.

So that was the end of each of our first of three legs of this race. We were all excited to have one leg down, but the heat was rising quickly, and we still had hours of running to go. It was fun to see so many teams at the exchange points. Each team was responsible for their own food and drinks. Our van was loaded. I was super glad that Amy (who knew better) brought so much extra water b/c we ended up needing almost all of it by the end of the day. The volunteers at the exchange points were great. Keeping track of everyone and cheering us all on as we came through.

Since I have so many pictures I will just update one overall leg per post. Tomorrow I will blog about all our second leg runs. This day was so incredible I don't feel bad at all spending 3 posts on it. As mentioned above Clark was on the Hendrick's Regional hospital sponsored corporate team. His team was all guys and very competitive. They had high hopes of winning the corporate division. His team started at 7:45. They did not catch us on our first legs. You will just have to keep reading over the next couple days to see if they ever caught us (starting 45 minutes later than my team). Like me, Clark was runner number one for his team. I thought it was great that while on different teams we were running the same legs. His text to me at the end of his first leg said, "Just finished. 7:02 pace. The hill before the end killed me."

My Ultra friend Keith started his run at 5am. One of his best friends and my friend and PT, Shane, was his support person for the first 40miles of his run. Shane was kind enough to text me updates on Keith's progress during the day. Before my team was even done with our first legs I got a text from Shane saying Keith was at mile 32 running a pace of around 8:30 and 6 miles ahead of any other Ultra runners. Keith is AMAZING (and a little crazy:)

To be continued...................