All About the Boy

Dada and James at the finish line
Cheyenne Mountain 50k

This week was really the week of James! With a bunch of random appointments I had to get creative to get in my runs. Tuesday James had therapy at one Children's location and then a 3 hour break before his ophthalmology appointment at another Children's. During this time I also had to figure out a way to get him a nap. So what else do you do, you making a sweeping drive between the two hospitals for a quick 7 mile run at Bear Creek. The rocking puts James out so he napped the whole run, plus the drive times. Total win-win! I'm not sure the ophthalmologist would have agreed since I know I did not smell like flowers.

Wednesday we met the therapist from the hearing loss program. The director told me about a new program called Baby Beats and set me up to get started. I just got the kit and am so excited to try it with James. He LOVES music! This program is intended to teach communication through music. Each composition is written to mimic the flow of conversation. He also got a drum and maraca with the set so he can play along with the CD. Afterwards I had time to take the boys out for a quick run in the neighborhood. 

Cheyenne Mountain 50k start

My legs were a bit heavy and tired all week which certainly has made me a bit nervous that I'm just not as ready as I would like to be for Quad Rock. My answer was another Falcon double before we headed down to the Springs for Dan's race. At some point if I keep doing these doubles they have got to get easier right? I felt pretty good at the end, but it's still a brutal soul-crushing climb the second time around. After I finished running we headed down to Manitou Springs. And I know Dan will never let me live down missing custard from Matt Carpenter! The mom in me came out and I said we should get dinner before we got ice cream. I knew James was hungry and on the verge of losing it. 

Playing in the park!

Saturday James and I dropped Dan off at the start of the Cheyenne Mountain 50k. We saw him off and then headed back to the hotel. We had a quick breakfast and then went for a little swim. The pool was pretty cold so James started shivering pretty quick, but he loved being in the water. After his initial uncertainty he started kicking and splashing like crazy. We quickly loaded up the room and headed back to the Cheyenne State Park to see Dan at the halfway point. We got there a bit early and got to see the front runners come through which was cool. It took James awhile to catch on to the clapping and cheering, but by the end of the day just after each runner passed James would look at me and start clapping. A bit late, but so cute!

Dan crossing the finish line!

I then took James for a hike so he could take a little nap and then we played in the park. He had so much fun in the park! The best part he walked the length of the park only holding one hand!!!! And then he even "won" a quilt that the amazing RD, Andrea, had made herself! He was so cute picking out which one he wanted. But ultimately the fishies won out over the campers! Such a hard choice! Overall it was such a fun week with my little grommie! Oh and Dan ran a pretty good race too! He summed up his race report on the way home..."I ran, then I ran a bit more, hiked up a hill and then ran." So there you have it on the Cheyenne Mountain 50k. I have to add that the race was run amazingly! The post-race party the James and I got to enjoy more than Dan did was so much fun! Andrea does an amazing job with this race and I have no doubt we'll be back to run again!



Week April 21 - 27

Miles Running: 45.0
Hours Hiking and Running: 9.0