Race report: Lord Hill 5mi

Today was the Lord Hill trail race.  I waffled on doing this one a bit - the race was nearly an hour a way and it's tough justifying being gone for 3+ hours on a weekend when that's my toddler time.  Then again, last night I enjoyed toddler time from 3-6am when Cole decided to start screaming  because he wanted up.  Last night I was 95% certain I wouldn't do the race - I was already mapping out my long run while drifting off to sleep.  I had one of those internal "momologues" where I thought "what's it mean to be a great mom" and "how can I balance"? 

This morning I woke and decided to do the 5mi course instead of the 10mi.  So after getting the boys situated for breakfast and trying desperately to find a pair of running shoes that matched, I bee-lined out of the house and hit the road.  Getting to the event itself was tough - my directions said to take the 520 but as soon as I got to the 520 I found it was closed (!!)  Then I re-routed in a much further direction.  On the road I went through a sunny patch, then rain, then snow.  During one of these weird weather changes the car in front of me had a major blow-out and the tire popped, literally, causing fire.

After the adventure of driving to the race, I made it just in time to park, run down to the check in desk, get my number, and go.  The race was muddy.  That doesn't even do it justice - I got dirtier than when Matt and I did the Rock 'n Run.  The course started through a stream, then up a hill, then another, and then a third.  The hills were tough, but almost worst was the fact I kept sliding backwards down - yikes!  The course cut off into what looked like an Ewok forest on a single track trail through the trees.  Then I was sprinting downhill hoping I wouldn't hit a rock or stick.  When the course flattened out I fell into a giant puddle of mud only to get up and run back through the stream that was at the start - at least I could clean off.

In the end I WON - hurray!  I came in first woman at 42:03.  Not too shabby for not wanting to race this morning.

Kids on the go

Seattle is a great city because even with the rain I feel like people don't really slow down - kids are always outside running, playing soccer in the rain (and snow), climbing trees, and more.  One thing I've noticed recently (and it's my own penchant for shopping that made me notice) is there aren't a lot of choices for kids "workout" or "activity" clothes.  We put our boys in their same jeans and khakis that they wear everywhere else - which means our house is the place toddler clothes come to die.  After a few weeks they all have holes, grass stains, and broken snaps/zippers/etc.

So where are all the kids workout / activity clothes?  I found a few places:

• Amazon has kids workout clothes from most big brands (including Adidas, Under Armour, and more) - some of the sizing is mostly for older "kids" though 
• Gap Kids has a decent Activewear section ... the girls section touts sequenced sweatshirts, though,  which I'm not quite sure make the "active" cut
• Lululemon recently launched iVivva - great clothes for young/tween girls (warning - similar prices to the "grown up" versions)