Runnin' and kickin'

September 23, 2014

Runnin' and kickin'

We had a pretty big sports weekend around here. I was a part of it which meant I wasn't a part of some of the kids' activities :(. Early Saturday morning, I headed to WPAFB to run the AF marathon. It was my 10th marathon. My time wasn't as good as I was hoping for (although it was my second fastest in the 6th post children era marathons that I've run) and I became sick afterwards due to mild dehydration.

Jacob's soccer team competed in the Midfest soccer tournament in Middletown over the weekend. In an unusual twist, his first game on Saturday wasn't super early. His game was at 10:45 am. Jacob's coach had asked Donnie to do some online "scouting" of the teams we were playing to try to gauge who would be our easy opponents in the tourney, who would be tough to beat, etc. Donnie did some scouting and determined that we would have the best chance of beating the first team that we played. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Our top scorer was not at the game which didn't help our chances at all. We lost 3-2. Jacob scored one of our team's goals! After the game, Jacob and Donnie headed to Clearcreek park where Jacob reffed a rec soccer game. I could have gone to Jacob's second game because it was late enough in the afternoon. But, I was feeling really lousy after the marathon and almost ran (my legs were too tired to actually run) from the shower to my bed to lie down. Jacob's team lost the second game 4-2. His next game was early Sunday morning (8:00 am). I didn't go to it so that the girls didn't have to get up super early. His team lost the third game as well (3-0). Obviously, they didn't make it to the finals. I felt really bad about missing all three of his games. Fortunately, Jacob doesn't seem to mind.

Alyssa's team played the toughest and best team around, CSA Elite at noon on Sunday. Because we had to travel almost an hour away to Milford, OH to play CSA, going to church was not an option. Good thing we are saved by grace and not by works! We'd be in trouble otherwise with all the church we've miss this fall. CSA Elite pretty much does not lose games. In the Mead Cup, we were defeated by a team from MI, 4-1. It was our first loss of the season. CSA Elite easily beat that same MI team in the Mead Cup to win it. CSA Elite easily won the CUSL U9 Division 1 league both last fall and this spring. So, we knew the girls would have to play tough if they hoped to beat this team. Sadly, that didn't happen. The girls didn't play horribly, but to beat CSA, they would have all had to play spectacularly. We lost 4-0. :(. Alyssa played a good deal of time in goal in the second half. She hates playing in goal and is such a good defender on the field that we (and others) were surprised that she played a lot in goal.

So, 0-4 in soccer games, post 4 hour marathon- not necessarily our crowning athletic achievements. But, we are thankful for legs that run and kick, cars that take us to soccer fields and Air Force bases, and the will to do our best no matter what the (probable) outcome.

Why do I run marathons? For the runner's high? For the medal? For the feeling of accomplishment? Yeah, sort of, but really, I run for the 5000 + calories burned during one! I had been super disciplined with my eating for the month preceding the marathon. After Saturday morning, all bets were off!

Finishers medal

Dr. Pepper! So many calories, so not a big deal when you've burned 5000 calories! The girls and I had Penn Station for dinner Saturday night (I felt quite a bit better after lying in bed for about an hour). Jacob and Donnie ate dinner at Rooster's with several of his soccer teammates and their dads.

After dinner, I made Malcolm this red velvet cookie cake for his birthday on Monday. He was over one time when I was looking at the recipe on Pinterest. We both thought it sounded good so I decided to make him one for his birthday...