Sac Town 10



We spent this weekend in Sacramento to run the Sac Town 10 mile race (well, Kali and daddy ran the 5k)!  You know we are serious about our running if we're traveling over 500 miles just to run!  Actually, I "won" a trip to this race through my job and of course the family came with me.  I put "won" in quotes because is it really a reward to have to run 10 miles?!?

The 5k went on the course 1st.  There were a couple of hills but more challenging was the fact that it was HOT out!  Up until now, we have been running in overcast/cool weather so this was a challenge, at least it was for me.  The end result was Kalissa finishing in 34 minutes 35 seconds and I finished 10 miles in 2 hours 8 minutes and 32 seconds. It took me a few minutes longer than expected because I had a meltdown mid-course where I almost quit due to it being so hot.  But then I thought about having to tell Kali that quit so I hunkered down, went back on the course and finished!  As I approached the finish line, she came running towards me to help me finish the race (as usual) and I became a crying mess!!! LOL! I love that Kali & daddy crossing the finish line was captured:

 

Since this was our first visit to Sacramento, we also toured the city and took in the gorgeous scenery.  We were amazed by all the huge trees and beautiful flowers everywhere.  I guess that's the result of a city that receives ample rainfall!  We're just so used to seeing brown lawns and rockscapes in San Diego.



 

Hot Chocolate 15k/5k

Finally!  The day we have been training for is here!  Kalissa and daddy ran the Hot Chocolate 5k together while I ran the 15k solo.  The Kizers also ran the 5k with them so it was another party run :)  This course is a difficult one because it is packed full of hills so it definitely requires some training if you want to post a decent time.  Unfortunately, my cell phone was destroyed so all the cute photos I had of them today are gone :(  I still have pictures from yesterday when we went to get our race packets and the girls were still in their Mermaid Dash costumes:

  

The girls still posted a good time despite the hills and wanting to quit.  Daddy had to remind them there's no "quit" it "Whitaker"!  They crossed at 34 min 5 seconds and I finished my 9.3 miles in 1 hour 56 minutes and 11 seconds. : )

Yes, this is San Diego's idea of family fun...and we're starting to believe the hype!

Mermaid Dash

Okay, this is now becoming our 'thing'!  The Hot Chocolate 15k/5k is tomorrow but we found this cute race that we just HAD to sign up the girls for today!  Luckily, it's only a 1.5 mile "dash" so they won't be too tired for their big race tomorrow.  The mermaid theme was just too perfect for us NOT to have them do it so out came the tutus, colored extensions, mermaid press-on nails and of course...blue lipstick!  This race was a 1.5 mile all out sprint that Koko ended up winning!!  Kalissa was pretty disappointed but I had to remind her that she's not a sprinter, she is a distance runner.  And the lesson to this loss is that if she can't win it herself, she should be THRILLED that her friend won!  In addition, they looked awesome and had fun!

 

 

 

A Star is Born

Kalissa's 2nd grade class put on their Spring performance today.  It was an adaptation of Tikki Tikki Tembo.  I'm not quite sure what part she had, but it had solo speaking parts and came with this cute costume!  She did a great job of not messing up her lines! 

She's always been our little performer and I suppose that's not going to change any time soon!

St Patrick's Day 5k

A couple months ago I blogged that we were training to run the Hot Chocolate 5k (I run the 15k) at the end of March.  Since then, we ran the Hip Hop 5k and today we participated in another family fun 5k.  This time it was the St. Patrick's Day Half Marathon and 5k in El Cajon.  We had such a good time getting into the St. Patrick's Day theme and running this 5k as a family!  Kalissa and her bestie, Koko, even made the morning local news tv segment!  Unfortunately it was live and we cannot find a taping of it :(  We did find this cute video put together by the event organizers and she appears a couple of time in it (beginning at the :42 mark and again at the 2:10 mark.  Bonus points if you can spot Al and me in there too!).

After the race, we tried to sell her Girl Scout cookies but were swiftly kicked out by another troop who had actually purchased a booth at the event to sell their cookies.  WHOOPS! LOL!  Cookie selling is a cut throat business let me tell ya!

It was a great event, easy course...pretty much flat, and the weather was overcast which is WONDERFUL for running so we ended up posting good times:  Kalissa & Al (he always runs alongside her) finished in 33 minutes flat and I crossed at 34 minutes 53 seconds.