A Day of Firsts!

We had a day of accomplishments this beautiful Saturday. I'll start with the best news. Maxwell made his first goal in a soccer game! Last year, while playing in Arizona, he went from mostly running alongside the referee, smiling up at him, to actually following the ball. He didn't have many chances to score goals on that team, because his best buddy, Braden, was on the team, and he was about twice the speed of any of the other players, therefore he was the sole scoring machine. However, although Braden is sorely missed, Maxwell's scoring opportunities have definitely increased since moving to Idaho. He stole the ball and had a fast break (at least that's what they call it in basketball) and with several players chasing him down he kicked it in for his first goal. He was very excited and immediately looked over at the sidelines and gave Steve a big smile. Sadly I had to hear this story second hand because I missed it. But I missed it for a good reason; I was off accomplishing a first for me. I ran my first competitive race. You are probably all remembering me in my green swimcap during the triathlon, but let me remind you that I did not swim/run/bike that race in a competitive manner. I just cruised along, not exerting myself too much, and felt just fine at the end of the race. This was my first exhausted finish line. It is the largest 5K women's run in the nation. Over 14,000 women joined in the fun. Only about 1500 of those women run in the competitive heat, while the others do the fun run/walk heat. Myself and 3 other women from my ward registered for the competitive heat. Little did I know that 2 of my 3 friends are amazing runners. One of them even qualified for the Boston Marathon. I really think they should have disclosed that to me before asking me to join them! As we were driving to the race they shared their abilities with me, and there went my hopes of another leisurely race! Within 15 seconds of the starting gun going off I realized I would not be able to run the race with the two gazelle that were running at my sprinting pace, so I decided to push myself more than normal, but to run solo. I actually finished 113th out of 1444 runners, and I even finished 15th in my age group. It was nothing spectacular, but I had to brag a bit and post my standings because I am actually quite proud of myself. There were definitely moments throughout the race that I was not enjoying myself, but life is not always about enjoyment, which is a new concept to me! One more really cool first for me today is that I met Jared the Subway guy after the race. He even signed my race bib. It was quite hilarious because the bib was pinned to my chest, so I had to hold the bib away from my chest a bit while he signed. That was good for a few laughs!