Backtowork eve

Got the girls to bed later than I wanted to, but still at a - *cough* - somewhat decent hour.

They did so well at the run this morning. R ran on ahead of us and says she did the mile in 15 minutes. The event wasn't formally timed, and I hadn't realized how informal it was until I got to the end and there was no clock, no timer, no nothing. I think S and I did the route in about 20 minutes, but that's just a guess because it started 3:30 min. after the 5k, but the 5k started "sometime" after 9am. At any rate, I'm proud of both girls. R says she didn't walk much, and S ran more than I thought she would. We did most of the route holding hands, except when she did a little sprint now and then. When she did walk, she walked fast, and we only had to stop once, when she insisted on unzipping the legs of her pants to turn them into shorts because she was hot. These pants have a handy design where you can adjust the length by adding or removing zippered sections of them - but since we didn't want to stop as long as it would take to actually pull off her shoes and remove the unneeded sections completely, for the last 1/3 of the mile or so, S had half of her pants fallen around her ankles. The effect was comical, but considering the circumstances (pushing ourselves to finish a run as quickly as we could), S and I cared about how she looked about as much as a woman in labor cares about how she looks.

Both girls ran the last bit of their race all-out. It's hard not to, when the finish has rows of people on both sides cheering you on. S and I were too far back to see R finish, but she said she passed several runners at the end. And S looked so impressive to me (just behind her as I was at the end of the race) pushing her short body for all she was worth, with her little arms and legs pumping. She's become taller and leaner in the last few months, but she still looked something like a determined little bull charging the finish line. (I would never use this description in her presence, and I mean it in the most affectionate way - honest. There's just no other comparison that comes to mind.)


On another note, I got to spend some much-needed time at the Apple Box "writing" mid-day while D took a break from work to watch the girls. I know that technically, talking about writing doesn't count as writing - nor does talking about other things count as writing. But it was still much-needed. I feel like I've had a real weekend.