Sunshine Coast – The SMO's stories

We took the opportunity last weekend to zip over to the Sunshine Coast for a change of scenery, some training and the April Fools half marathon.

In the days leading up, my motivation was waning, I was tired and the forecast looked dismal. So dismal that I packed the trainer, anticipating a Saturday morning cranking out indoor miles… albeit in a new setting.

Regardless, I loaded up the ‘burb and the boys got to skip an afternoon of school which, right there, made the trip for them. Picked up Lizzie and Henry, drove onto the ferry and we were off.

Because nothing says quality training weekend like 2 moms and 4 kids!

Nothing to see here.

They hate it here.

View. ‘s ok.

Lo and behold, the place we got on Airbnb was awesome (I’d give you the link but that’s like giving away a good babysitter’s number so, no.) and the weather ended up being sunshiny pretty for the entire weekend.

Saturday we left the littles behind to forage for crabs on the beach and rode our bikes for a while…

Lizzie flushing the legs. Photos courtesy Will.

The next morning, we had the best laid plans for the half. You know, healthy breakfast… good sleep… solid warm up.

Instead, we ate nutella, got some broken sleep and showed up with just enough time to win the bathroom locator race (again).

We took off on tired legs, a bit unsure on how it would all go. My goal was to have fun, say thanks to all the volunteers and try not to have a disaster of an outing. Plus, we were wearing matching shirts aka our license to go at whatever pace we feel like.

1:36 and change. Mission accomplished on all fronts!

That guy though…

She got me… this time.

We hunted minnie down.

Lizzie looking for snacks

Backdrop to the finish line!

While I was desperately trying not to pass out from stomach cramps, I fed the kids lots of refined sugar

Lizzie’s wee little trophy

Can’t wait for next time!

P.S.

They didn’t forage for crabs alone. I’m not *that* irresponsible.

We arrived at the start line with plenty of time to warm up and each of us had a good game plan in hand. Unexpectedly, the pack took off quickly and almost immediately splintered. Everyone was feeling strong but we all had different goals and clearly, there were some of us who were better trained than others for this kind of event. After taking an early lead, 2 of the 5 us started to flag and had to take shelter. The finish line seemed further and further away and, personally, my stamina was failing me.

Eventually, our group reformed and we were all able to finish together and compare notes.

Oh wait… that’s not Sunday’s run report… That’s Saturday’s shopping report. Damn it! I always get the 2 mixed up.

Anyway.

April Fools Run. Right. The “real” purpose of this Mom’s Gone Wild getaway! And by wild I mean we went shopping without any kids, had dinner in a adult restaurant, sat in a hot tub without anyone hanging off my neck and I was asleep by 9:21pm. The shopping destroyed me. 5:45am sure comes quickly when you are in a cozy hotel room…

I’ve never run this race before but it’s quickly found itself at the top of my “will do again” race list. It’s a pretty course, it’s hilly, it finishes on the ocean and there were almond croissants at the finish line.

The long and short of my race went something like this: warm up; start. Go up. Go down. Turn right. Go up. Go down. And down some more. Then down really fast. Then up again. And so on and so on until I crossed the line, wheezing, in Sechelt.

I am pleased with my run. 3rd place in my AG secured me some funky mug to bring home for the kids to fight over! (Let’s go ahead and clarify that my time was leagues behind the winner and runner-up in my age group. And that’s ok! Those are some very fast ladies). It didn’t rain and I very nearly PR’d. Guess I shouldn’t have wasted all those precious seconds high-fiving the volunteers.

Oh, who am I kidding. I totally should have. It’s more fun that way.

I have decided that the key to my success is stuffing my face continuously the day before (which also happens to be quite fun). That and running without a watch. And not overheating (no photo evidence available of my translucent legs).

And chasing down some guy dressed as the GingerBread Man. I mean, I’ve been beaten by Minnie Mouse before but the GingerBread Men? Oh hell no.