State Champion

Gavin ran in the USATF Nebraska Association meet this weekend. As many meets as he has won, he has yet to be a USATF state champion. He has done it at AAU - but not USATF. I was sure this would be his weekend - after all he was undefeated on the track coming into this meet.

I wasn't able to see him run Saturday for the 800m as I was in Lincoln with Sam for t-ball and the meet was on the north side of Omaha. I got the text that he came in second and knew immediately who had beat him. There is a kid that runs for Omaha that Gavin has gone up against in regional meets ever since he first started running the 1500. And this kid has beat him every.single.time. Gavin had beat him in preliminary meets this season, but this kid almost always pulls out a PR in the meets that matter.

So come Sunday, Gavin was motivated to win. We hadn't told him that this kid had been beating him since 2012, just that he had a slower PR. Gavin was nervous, but also confident in his abilities in the 1500 - he knows the distance is better suited to him than the 800m. We spent Saturday evening trying to discuss strategies, confusing the poor kid, and in the end just said "you know what you are doing. Run your own race."

Sunday was a beautiful day for running, without the crazy wind we had on Saturday. Gavin warmed up, and then had to rush to check in - they ended up starting the event 12 minutes early! They were running half an hour late the day before. At least he didn't sit around getting cold before his race.

I always stand on the 100m start line and Chad stands at the 1500m start line, halfway around the track from me. The biggest thing we had told him was to not look back - he has improved a lot of things in his running, but this is still a bad habit. I promised him that with the two of us on opposite sides of the track, we would communicate and let him know how close people were to him.

After the race, Gavin shared his strategy - he figured since the kid was a strong 800 runner, that he would go out fast, so Gavin wouldn't push the pace the first lap. When he passed me the first time, 200m into the race, he was right behind this kid, and I shouted at Gavin to just stay on his shoulder and not let him get away. 

About 350m into the race, Gavin must have realized the pace was a little slow, and passed him and started to pull away. He ran a nice steady race, and each time he passed me, I told him to hold his pace and form, that he was putting distance between himself and the kid behind him. When he crossed the line for the final lap, I saw him to pick it up a little more - and was a little worried he was going to burn out. By the time they reached the straightaway on the opposite side of the track, it looked like the kid in second was getting tired - but didn't want to underestimate the power of the final kick - Gavin has a lot of endurance, but less raw speed. I was just hoping he could hold on, and I had no concept of whether or not it was possible for this kid to close the gap if he went into a dead sprint or something. When Gavin passed me a final time, I could see the second place kid was still going to fight for it, so I told him he needed to GO! Just look forward and go. 

He did - running to a first place finish and a time of 5:19.44. In addition to a gold medal, and a spot on the podium, they gave all the first place finishers champion t shirts!

This is the only picture I got at the race. I was close to passing out at the end from all the yelling and not breathing going on for 5 minutes. We celebrated with ice cream on the way home!

T-Ball time

Two posts in one week? You are welcome. Don't expect any more for two months :)

Today we had to divide and conquer with Chad taking Gavin to Omaha for the USATF state meet, and me taking Sam to his first t-ball game of the season. Y sports is really popular here in Lincoln, unlike in Johnston. The t-ball and soccer fields are awesome! The coach was also really good, this was the same format as i-9 league in Iowa with a half hour practice and a 25 minute game. Practice was very focused and they worked on fielding grounders, catching a ball in front of them, and catching a fly ball, then ran the bases, worked on throwing (with proper technique) and hitting.

After practice they played a quick game and got snacks and drinks. We were hoping to make it work to get to Omaha to see Gav race, but Sam's game ran a little over and Chad told us to stay home. Gavin ended up running 2:38.8 for 2nd place, was only about a second behind first place. He is bummed to not be the state champion, but he runs the 1500m tomorrow.

Here are some great pictures from Sam's game today.

We're Busy!

I keep setting goals to update this blog more frequently and time keeps slipping away from me. 

Spring season kept us busy - both kids played soccer with Capital Soccer Association, an awesome club that I am so happy came up first in google search when we moved to town. The coaches care as much about the kids as we did for the kids we coached in track. They really focus on technical skills and the kids have come a long way. Gavin is getting to an age where the soccer games are so intense - they are really fun to watch! Sam had a one hour a week session where they spend most of the time focusing on drills, and then 15-20 minutes scrimmage time. He has one more year (fall and spring) before he moves to a one practice / one game a week format. 



Gavin had one last tournament during Memorial Day weekend. All he needed to do was get through the weekend uninjured before turning our focus to peaking his training for track nationals at the end of July. In his second to last game, he went down funny on his knee trying to keep a ball in bounds. It instantly swelled up so off we went to the urgent care clinic. Fortunately it was just a sprain and he was only down for a week.





In running news, both boys participated in the Mayor's run where Gavin ran the mile twice, breaking 6 minutes for the first time in a road mile. Sam did an awesome job running his second mile race of the year in 11:24.

Gavin has been rocking his track meets. The last one he attended in Omaha he was the clear winner in the 800m (2:38.83) and 1500m (5:19.23). No one close to him. He is starting to get quite the fan club, a little girl came up to me after the 800m and said "was that your boy in front? He's really fast!"

He even got some good words from little brother "wow, Gav is pretty much the boss at running!"







Sam and I had a special project one weekend planting a container garden of veggies and herbs on the back deck. He had fun posing for the camera.



And last weekend Chad and Gavin ran a rainy hometown race. Check out Chad's race recap here. 







Next up - Sam starts t-ball this weekend and it's state track meet time!!

Sellers Boys at the State Farm Run

This morning the boys all ran at the State Farm race here in Lincoln. The little guys ran the mile and Chad ran the 10 mile.

This was Gavin's first race since cross country season; he's been running easy 3-4 times a week but hasn't done any speedwork since indoor training ended. 

Sam ran the 1k at the Iowa Games cross country meet last summer, and trained for this race by running around the block once, a 4 minute treadmill session and a 5 minute treadmill session. 

Despite warming temps this weekend, it was 28 degrees at the start of the race! I was worried about how Sam would hold up running the mile for the first time, and in not so nice conditions. Fortunately we were spared the typical Nebraska wind!

Getting ready - warm under layers are a must!



I mean - I rarely get a good shot of them together and this is too cute for words - in the van before the race

The race was at the State Farm complex in Lincoln and it was awesome that they opened up the cafeteria and restrooms for people to use and stay warm before the race. Sam and I stayed warm while Gav did a little warm up.

We headed to the starting line about 5 minutes before the start. Sam and I hung out in the middle while Gavin slipped in at the front. Sam complained about cold legs a little while we were waiting, but mostly he was a trooper - a lot better than I expected!

We took off and I stayed behind him. For a while this morning he was saying he didn't even want me to run with him, but Chad thought that was a bad idea. I'm glad I did though, as he kept checking to see where I was. For the most part he was able to jog at an easy pace and not go too fast, before we hit a quarter mile we had to take a little walk break. Shortly after that, we saw the bike coming towards us (the course was an out and back) and I kept my eyes peeled for Gavin. He was in the lead pack with two other boys! We also saw Chad cheering him on, and I was able to get his attention and he cheered for Sam too - that gave him a big boost.

Once we hit the turnaround, I told Sam we were half way done - I was a little worried I would hear "ONLY half way??" but he was in good spirits. We had a decent little uphill that we walked part of, and then to motivate him, I said "Sam, I bet you can pass that little kid ahead of us" - that got him back running again.

Gavin had finished the race - coming in 2nd!! 2nd over all out of 266 runners. Wow.

Thanks to Gav's soccer coach for getting this picture for me!

And then he came back to run Sam in. It was so cute when they saw each other, Sam asked him how he did and told him good job and Gavin was so supportive of Sam. I took off for the finish line to snap some pics.

If you extreme zoom in on this pic, the cheering look on Gavin's face is priceless - proud older brother

And if you zoom in on this one, Sam has a hell of a game face heading towards the finish

Check out that form

Clock time says 11:37, but his official chip time was 11:28

Chad taking off for the 10 mile

Chad wasn't happy with his race, but he came in under an hour for ten miles which sounds insane to me!

From there I ran by Panera to get some food in the boys while Chad ran to the soccer fields. Gavin had a soccer game at 11:30 so we had his gear in the car. He was pretty upset that he had to go to a game, but perked up after getting some real food in him. He ended up playing a great game, scoring a goal for his team! They won against Gretna. 

In short, a great start to the racing and soccer season, let's keep the wind away, but I could take some warmer temps!

New Mexico Pics

Soooo....apparently I'm more than a year behind on updates here. 

January in review: after spending almost two weeks in Iowa, it was back into the swing of things. Gavin started basketball through the Y, indoor soccer league, and indoor track at the Devaney center, which is a hydraulic banked indoor track at the University of Nebraska. He's keeping us busy Sunday through Wednesday nights.

Sam took a break from indoor soccer, and we got him signed up for karate. He is going Tues & Thurs nights and is doing SO great! He loves it, and is picking it up so quickly. It's also through the Y (and $18/mo - super cheap for two nights a week!).

Chad went to AZ to the Coldwater Rumble 20 mile trail race and took 4th. 

And here are some way old pictures from our trip to Albuquerque in December 2012 because I have yet to unpack the camera cord and can't unload all the pics I've taken this year!

The flag for the National Anthem was hung from a hot air balloon - it was so beautiful

John Wayne Bday Festival

It has been a LONG time since I posted, and hopefully one of these days I'll have time to catch you (yes you, all three people that read this!) of all that's been going on. The Sellers have been doing well, kids got through the end of the school year, Gavin and Chad are having amazing racing seasons, and we are exploring some exciting opportunities on the career / job fronts. I'm so grateful for our health and all the good things in our lives, because there are others I know that are fighting job loss, cancer, and other life altering events. Count your blessings people!

Sam went to grandma Betsy's for the weekend, so Chad and I went out to Winterset to run a small 5k that was part of a line up of events for the John Wayne celebration. Gavin came with us to cheer us on. The fitness sports website had 9:30 start time listed, so we went out there, registered by 8:30 and thought we had plenty of time to warm up. I went one way to warm up a couple miles and hit the restroom, Chad went another.

I got back to the van at 9:11 and Gavin told me the website was wrong, the race started at 9, and dad had been able to jump in the race. I have to admit I was really, really bummed. I was looking forward to it, my training has been going well, and with a small field I had a chance of taking the win for the women. But then I tried to remember the big picture and that this was not that big of deal. Stuff happens. Gav and I jogged up to watch the finishers come in and yell for Chad.

After the race, Chad was going to cool down with the guy that won, and another guy from Pioneer that came out and ran the race. He told me to join them, and it could at least be a decent tempo (close to race pace) run for me. Ha! Yes, Chad's easy cool down pace is my race pace. I kept up with them a good mile and a half and started fading. So we eased up a little, but still got a couple good faster (for me) miles in. Then we did another couple miles at my cool down pace. So, I didn't race, but I got in some good miles and ran with the Hubs.

Gavin really wanted to stay for the pie tasting, but it didn't start til 12:30 (it was 10 am still!). Our Pioneer friend hopped in our van and we took off to see the covered bridges. Along the way we passed a winery, with the tasting room open at 11, so after seeing a couple bridges, we stopped in the tasting room. Gavin drank a sprite while I sampled all their wines and the guys sampled the beer. Iowa wine has sure come a long way from the sickly sweet stuff they used to be!

Finally we made it back to Winterset for pie time. We also stopped into Mi Pueblito for lunch and it was amazing mexican food! They had this smoky, tasty hot sauce that I am now regretting not asking to buy a big cup of to bring home. If you happen to be in / near / driving through Winterset, you can not go wrong there, especially with their lunch specials ~ $5 a plate for a ton of food.

And now we are relaxing at home, we head to Cedar Rapids for a track meet tomorrow.

Setting His Own Pace

Gavin Sellers has never done anything in his life according to plan. One of the things I love about running is that it is such a metaphor for life in general. There are so many lessons to be found in between the lines of the track, or out in an open field running all alone, or pushing up what seems to be an insurmountable hill.

As anyone that reads this blog knows, Gavin was born three months early, only to beat all the odds initially. Vent tube out after 6 hours. Contracting a scary staph infection at 10 days old, but that was the "only" major setback of his NICU time, which was pretty amazing. Getting to the end of our odds-beating NICU stay to discover his stomach and intestines were malrotated (1 in 5,000 odds), requiring invasive surgery to correct. Being the first baby at our children's hospital to have said surgery performed laparoscopically, reducing the risk, pain, and recovery time.

He came home and we knew the rules of "What To Expect the First Year" did not apply. We expected delays, and regressions, and really had no idea what his full potential was. Would his lungs ever catch up, or would they always put him at risk for illness, would they be a limiting factor in playing sports? Would his motor skills ever truly catch up? Had his brain bleeds affected his development, physically, intellectually, socially?

When you are staring at this sweet child, all you want as a parent is for them to reach their fullest potential. While I have spent most of his life cautiously optimistic that he would be "the same" as any full term kid, I was never really sure when those preemie scars would raise their heads and show me what they had done to him.

I believe there are some character traits that all preemies have. It's either a Darwinian trait that allowed their survival or one they develop from everything they've gone through. One thing I know from all my preemie blog mom friends is that they all have it. A fighting spirit. A determination and focus like no other.

While Gavin has brought that to school, there is one place where this has come to life, and it's on the cross country course.

We started taking Gavin to the track when he was 4 or 5. It certainly wasn't my intention to make a runner out of him - it was just something to do to get out of the house and burn off some steam. Then he participated in some field days at school and a week long track camp in Kindergarten. We started entering him in some kids fun runs. He enjoyed it so we kept doing it.

Spring 2011, he went out for the track club. He was really young, and stuck to shorter distances, and we didn't expect much other than for him to have fun. He did, and he made it to the regional meet at Hamline University - his dad's college. At 6 years old, he competed on his Dad's college track.

Over the fall and winter he would run here and there, but never too much, too often. Spring 2012 came and we were coaching. We encouraged him to try the 1500m. He was terrified, but he did it - and he did it really well. He competed all the way to nationals.

But where we saw the biggest change was the cross country course. After the Iowa Games 4k, he proclaimed he loved the hilly xc course and "I want to run a 5k every weekend!".

Cross country started and he came to life. He connected with the team, he enjoyed (for the most part) the workouts, his confidence built as he ran more and more miles.

The thing I've always noticed, and admired, about Gavin when he runs - is that he has this innate sense of pacing. Most adults are not this astute and yet he knows just how hard he can push. He doesn't let other kids push him out too fast, and he knows which ones he can catch before the end of the race.

Last night the kids competed at the Westside Track Club Invitational. This was an important one because the state meet will be held at the same course. Gavin finally had a chance to compete in a 2k, the race distance for state and nationals. As he had been running 3k's, I didn't know if he would go out fast enough, too fast, or what would happen.

Off the start line, he stumbled, and a girl took off in a dead sprint. He was a couple seconds behind her for a good quarter mile, and I was a little worried! But he slowly overtook her and stretched out a good lead. He ran 2/3 of the race with a strong lead, chasing the gator.

He crossed the finish line in 8:08 minutes, running a 6:06 per min mile pace, and taking the course best down by 32 seconds.

I'm a worrier. I worry I'm pushing too much, or not enough. Am I giving too much instruction, do I need to step back and let him figure it out on his own? I don't want to see people fail, so I turn into this person that needs to control everything.

One of the hardest parts of parenting is having the faith to let go a little. To trust. To know that wherever he goes in life, he is leaving it all out on life's course. Finding his proper place in the pack. Setting his own pace.

Gavin's First 5k! (Johnston Spooktacular)

Gavin and I ran in the Johnston Spooktacular 5k on Saturday. This is my 3rd 5k of the year and Gavin's very first! You can read my whole race recap if interested here.

Let's just say we majorly lucked out with the weather. A major storm ended right in time for the race and it was a nice, cool mid 50's morning for the race.

Gavin's longest race distance to date is a 4k turned 2.75 mile race this summer at the Iowa Games. A year ago, I couldn't imagine him completing this distance, let alone wanting to run this far. I keep thinking back to early track season this year when getting him to run a mile was a struggle and I would literally be walking at a 12 min mile pace along side him as he jogged. He has come so far and worked so hard and I was so proud of him for even wanting to sign up for this race!!

The race started and ended at the high school track and went through some local neighborhoods. Gavin's school principal was one of the organizers, so it was fun to see her and for her to see Gavin in action.

You can read the whole detailed race recap from my perspective if you want, but let's skip to the good stuff: Gavin ran a 23:42!! That is amazing, and a time I was so proud to run in the two 5k's I ran this summer. I saw his finish on the track and he looked so good and strong. An older gentleman watching the race made sure to come tell me how impressed he was, and what perfect form Gavin has and how amazing that is from a little kid. Made my heart absolutely swell with pride.

After the race, there was a kids 100m dash on the track, so Sam was able to get in on the action and run on the track. They all got ribbons, and were so nice to give out extra race shirts to the little kids - who hadn't paid for the kids run! All they had left for Sam was a youth med, to which he replied "It's ok, I'll grow up to it".

There was face painting and hair spraying by a local beauty school, so after much consideration the boys finally decided they wanted in on that action.

Gavin's black eye was very realistic!! After the race we went to Village Inn for brunch with another xc family. They have a really good menu these days! The Farmer's Market Potato Pancake Benedict was amazing.

The rest of the day was spent with more running related activities - spectating at the middle school state meet, and taking Gavin shopping for clothes he could run in. Perfect Saturday, in my opinion.

Iowa Games & Purple Hair

Mid July we participated in some running events that are part of the annual Iowa Games. The Iowa Games are held every summer and include just about every sport you can think of! Frisbee, soccer, baseball, track.....just to name a few.

On the 14th, the entire family signed up for the track meet. Gavin ran the 800m and 1500m events, winning the 1500m in 6:04.31 and getting 2nd in the 800m in 3:02.96.

Sam was signed up for the 100m and 200m dash but decided not to run.

And....Chad and I also signed up for the adult track meet. It is really too bad more people don't come out for it - lots of people representing the 60 - 70 age groups which was so inspiring to see.

Chad won his age group and came in 2nd overall in the 800m with a time of 2:17.58. Bridie won her age group and came in 2nd overall in the 1500m with a time of 5:59.91. That's not saying much since I was the only one in my age group and there were only 5 participants in this race. I was really happy to run it in under 6 minutes though!

Gavin, Chad and I also ran the 4k cross country race the weekend following the track meet. It was Gavin's first race at this distance.

Gavin took 2nd in the 11 & under age group with a time of  22:11 (32nd overall!)

Bridie took 1st in the female 30 - 34 age group with a time of 20:54 (26th overall!)

Chad took 1st in the male 30 - 34 age group with a time of  16:26 (4th overall!)

The night before the xc race the boys dyed their hair purple in anticipation of our trip to Baltimore (Johnston Dragons - represent!).

Bleaching in progress

Photo by Sam at the track meet

Little man wanted a purple mohaw

Proud of his medal finish

Triple medal morning on the ISU xc course

Urbandale 4th of July 5k

We had such a fun 4th of July. It started with the Urbandale races where I ran the 5k, Gavin ran the kids mile, and Sam ran the toddler trot. We also had several other kids from the track team run the kids mile and the 5k.


After the races I took the kids to a (hot) parade where they caught tons of candy and have subsequently forgotten all about it. Dare I say that the candyholics have left the building??


Late afternoon we headed to the house of one of our track kids - we have really enjoyed getting to know some of the track families this season. Just a great group of people! There were tons of kids there, from the track team and the neighborhood. Despite a 10 yr range of ages, the older kids looked after Sam so nicely and let Gavin join in on the play. It was so nice to be able to sit and chat with the adults and just peek in on the kids every so often. And the kids had a blast!


Here are a few pics that a friend took at the races. Gavin finished the mile in 7:15 (not sure how accurate the distance was, the 5k measured a bit long on my watch), was 4th overall, won a trophy for getting 3rd male elementary, a a medal for 2nd place 3rd grader.

Starting to make his move

Going in for the pass

Success!

We're Going to Nationals!!

A full recap with pics will be up soon whenever life slows down.

Gavin competed at the USATF Region 8 competition this past weekend in Oshkosh, WI. We already knew he was going to Nationals, as the top 5 make it, and there were 5 or less in each of his events. We didn't exactly tell him he was a sure bet to nationals, we just talked about running his best race.

He set some goals for himself - to break 6 minutes in the 1500m and to break 3 minutes in the 800m.

The short story is he made his 1500m goal with a time of 5:58.64 and narrowly missed his 800m goal at 3:02.02. He was disappointed, but moved on quickly.

So we are headed to Baltimore at the end of the month and making it our summer vacation. We will spend the first two nights with a family friend, spend a day in DC, hit the track for Gav's events Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, and then have most of the day Sunday, all Monday, and most of Tuesday to explore Maryland. Chad hooked us up with a cute cottage on the beach for our last couple nights there.

AAU State Meet recap & a State Champion

Yesterday was the AAU state meet. It was so much fun! I can't believe how much I have grown to love this sport. I don't think I had a true appreciation for how much effort running is until I started doing it myself a couple years ago. These kids are so inspiring!

It was a hot and windy day. Gavin was slated for the 400m, 1500m, and 800m - but the 400m was first thing in the morning and the other two events weren't until the afternoon. Hanging out in the heat all day didn't sound like a recipe for success, so we pulled him from the 400 - that is his least competitive event any way.

He hung out at home in the morning while I reminded him to drink water every 2.5 seconds. He really loves that part. I ran around frantically making sure we got everything packed, registration cards printed, directions printed, and Sam ready for t-ball.

T-ball is a whole other post, but let's say that it took exactly my predicted 3 games for Sam to warm up. He was out there chasing balls like a champ!

Gavin sat in the van and played his video game with the windows rolled down while Sam had his game. Usually we make Gavin come support Sam's events, but it was so hot out that he got a pass this time.

By the time the game got over, the meet was running behind, so we had time to swing by Planet Sub for sandwiches, and then hit the road for Indianola. Sam, predictably, fell asleep about 15 minutes before we got there. I told Chad to text me when we should head in, and we planned to sit in the air conditioning and relax a bit. But then we saw Gavin's team mate (the other 7 yr old speedster that always beats Gav by a couple seconds!) and Gavin wanted to walk in with him.

Of course, Sam woke up as soon as I opened the door and after a couple minutes wanted to head in to the meet as well. Our team was gathered under/around 3 tents on the end of the track between the 200/100 start lines, so we had a great view of the action. We set up camp and Sam started lap hopping.

It took a good hour and a half before Gavin's event was called and then I got super nervous like I always do before he runs the 1500. It's a long enough race that something could go wrong and end up with a DNF (do not finish). And little kids are so unpredictable. There were two heats of girls to go first, so I put my worries aside and cheered on our girls.

And then an amazing thing happened. See, I'm not terribly religious, but I do think about my loved ones that have passed often, and talk to them in my own private, silent way. With a big open heart, I closed my eyes and thought about my grandparents. A picture popped into my head of them sitting up in some high balcony, watching the meet, and my grandpa had a camcorder in his hand! He always brought a video camera to my dance recitals, so it was perfect. Then my head went blank and I could just feel their love around me and I knew it would be ok. Cheesy, right? But that's how it went down and I was very calm after that moment.

The boys lined up, the gun went off.......and they started too fast but quickly settled back into a good pace. Well, a little slow pace. Gavin is usually a fairly evenly paced runner, and on his first lap he was a little slow. Then he starts talking to his team mate - I can see it happening on the other side of the track! "What are you doing Gavin? You can't talk during a race!" I said out loud, but he wasn't anywhere close to be able to hear it.

As he came around the second time, he started to put some distance between himself and his team mate, which is unusual. He still seemed a little slow too, so I encouraged him to pick it up a bit. He team mate came by and his dad noticed he must have a bad cramp. As they reached the track on the opposite side of us his dad said "oh, and now he's crying". So hard! I don't know what I would do if that were my kid. But he kept running and finished the race!

Gavin passed me a third time and I yelled out that he had one more lap - he looked at me and said "sprint?" and started to take off and I quickly yelled, "no, no, one more lap, but you need to pick up the pace".

As he came around the last time, he definitely tried to pick up the pace the last lap, but couldn't hold it. He had his personal worst time of 6:30. I was hoping he could better his 6:25 time that he had run in similar heat conditions, but there was also wind to factor in yesterday. He still snagged the gold medal - but it was only him and his team mate in that age group. We'll take it.

I had talked to him that morning about how the meet would go down. He is normally VERY grumpy with a huge attitude when he gets done running that 1500m. I told him that he would come to the tent, sit, get iced down, drink some gatorade, and by all means, keep his mouth shut. We didn't have time to deal with him mouthing off. He complied very well!

We had another probably hour at least wait until his next event was called, so he had plenty of time to cool off.

I wasn't expecting a whole lot from his 800m race. By this time Sam was getting tired of the whole thing, and thank goodness for the nice mom that chips in and entertains him! She kept an eye on him for the 1500 for me. For the 800 he was ready to go.home! so I pushed him over to my spot at the 100m start line to cheer on Gavin. The gun went off and one kid distanced himself fairly quickly from the rest of the boys, and Gavin, his teammate, and another kid were bunched together. It turned out to be a really exciting race, as our two boys worked to overtake the third boy. Then Gav and his team mate leap frogged back and forth the rest of the race. As they passed me on the last 100m stretch, his team mate had pulled away, and the other boy was closing in on him. "Sprint, Gavin, he's right behind you!! Go!!"

And Gavin turned around not once but TWICE! That is the kids biggest racing mistake, he can not help himself.

Nevertheless, he finished in record time - we don't have official times yet, but he took about 5 seconds off his personal best. In the heat, and after running the 1500m. He earned a bronze medal for that one.

Later he told me that while running the 1500m, he slowed down to run with his team mate, and that he was asking him if he was ok, and trying to give him a pep talk.

When we got home, I asked him how it felt to win a gold medal, he just kind of shrugged and said "I don't know". I asked him if it felt any different than winning silver or bronze. "Not really", he replied.

That's my kid. He has the biggest heart of gold. He gets excited about winning a medal, but doesn't care what color. He slows down out of concern for a team mate. He is much more competitive when he is working for a team - in soccer, or on a relay, but doesn't put as much stock in his individual accomplishment.

It's a wonderful gift to have a child that has such integrity and character. In parenting there are hard days, good days, better days, and days when you wonder why the heck anyone has kids. And then there are days where they teach you what is truly important in life. He was so proud to tell me that he slowed to check on his friend, eager for a pat on the back for doing what he saw as the right thing to do in that moment. Kindness for the win!

Here are some pictures courtesy of Grandpa Dan from the Hoover meet June 2nd. I have lots of pictures to get posted and caught up on....someday I will find the time!

 

4th of July Race Pics

 There's my big kid, not too far behind a much bigger kid. Go Gavin!

 Such determination!

 Little brother needs a pep talk before his big race

 And he's off! Gavin stayed an appropriate distance behind him, cheering him on

 Sam's showing off his perfect Pose running form.

Mommy also ran the 5k that morning. But the pictures weren't pretty!