Thoughts on the Run

1. Bandimere Speedway
Each year the kids’ school does a Race to Read program. If the kids read a certain number of hours they get a ticket for them and an adult to go to Bandimere Speedways’ Night of Fire & Thunder. We went last year and it was a blast! This year was just as much fun with rocket cars, funny cars, and even snowmobiles. Needless to say it is loud. The format is drag strip style which I had not seen before growing up near a NASCAR track. We sat on the starting line so felt every bit of the noise. The kids had big headphones to protect their ears, but even that wasn’t enough. When the rocket cars were running you could feel your internal organs shaking. It was awesome! Not sure if the kids liked the cars or the snacks better. Our friends brought Pringles, Cheetos, soda, and Oreos. Perfect!

The best way to describe a rocket car: it’s like a rocket from NASA with wheels strapped to it. Here’s a photo:

We made it home around 11:30p, which gave me 4 hours to sleep until running the Colfax Marathon.

2. Colfax Marathon
Marathon #9 check and getting closer to the right nutrition on the run. Have the liquid part figured out and have a couple ideas on how to tweak the normal/solid food. It’s fun being a guinea pig to myself! It was a great day for a race, met up with some Team SunRype members, and enjoyed conversations along the way. The post race BBQ and beer hit the spot!

Probably the highlight of the course was running through Mile High Stadium where the Denver Broncos play:

It was amazing to look up and see how many people the place holds. Amazing that players can block out 50,000+ people staring at them! I’m pretty happy with my time and splits as well. The race gave me an opportunity to try out a run/walk strategy for the last 10 miles that turned out how I hoped.

3. Last day of school
Over the past week, our 3 oldest kids have had their last day of school for the year. It is exciting to see how much they have grown academically and socially as kids. School is great to learn the fundamentals, but it’s the education they receive from each other I find even more valuable. The ability to problem solve in a group, deal with different personalities, and navigate the right/wrong on their own. It’s these skills that companies are looking for in people they hire. As they (and us) get older, it can become more difficult to adapt and learn these social skills. As a parent, you can’t hover around them forever. At some point they’ll get a job, go to college, and start work. If they aren’t prepared to learn on their own in a group of diverse people, there could be challenges ahead that will be more difficult to adjust.

So come August we will have a child in preschool, Kindergarten, 2nd Grade, and 4th Grade. Okay, now I’m feeling old.

4. Rome Day
Part of the blessing in disguise I’ve received in the past month is my flexible schedule. This week I was able to spend the morning in my son’s class for their Rome Day. This is when they spend the day going through different activities relating to Rome. I was responsible for the construction center. Each group I had I broke into 2 teams and first they had to answer questions to determine what building or structure I was describing. Then they had 6 minutes to build that structure (Colosseum, aquaduct, arches) and were judged not only on the structure, but also how they worked together as a team.

Trivia question for you (no cheating!): Who ordered the Colosseum to be built?

and sometimes, this explains how much easier I feel life would be: