Re-cap of cross-country

When cross country started this year, Caden surprised us by saying that he wanted to go out for it, too! So he and Kami have BOTH been running their legs off for the last couple of months.  It's been fun to watch!

homecoming, so he had red face and hair!

Cross country isn't something that Caden loved, by any means...in fact, after most meets he was usually down right grouchy!...Even though he was a front of the middle of the pack runner, if you know what I mean, and that didn't seem like anything to be ashamed of, he would be unhappy with the race.  I therefore wondered what had made him decide to run, and he said he was tired of people asking him what sports he played and having to tell them that he didn't play any! Plus he said that he liked to be in shape.  Sports really aren't something that he cares about, and he excels so much in everything else that he does that I think it offended his perfectionist spirit that he didn't also do a perfect job in this. I like him and think he is a neat kid without sports, but I was very proud of him for trying something new, and I think the whole experience was good for him.

What a handsome kid!

Kami runs because she loves it, and she had a great season that ended in a very frustrating way:(    Her fastest 5K time was 21:08 and we can see that she still has potential to get even faster because she was improving by at least fifteen seconds every race.

awards ceremony at one of the meets she placed in- I believe she got 6th place in this one. (The first ten runners that come in place, and if the meet is REALLY huge, it's the first twenty runners)

during a race - she passed this girl!

serious runners have seriously gross feet!

The frustration came for her because her goal for the whole season was to run the race in 21:00, and she was so close to it and we felt like she could even exceed it, but then one week before districts Shawn took her to run hill intervals on Monday because the coach was planning to do some track intervals on Wednesday. The coach changed his mind and ended up doing the intervals on Tuesday.  Kami did those two hard workouts back- to- back, over- trained, and her legs got heavy feeling and wouldn't do anything.  She didn't have enough recovery before the last race and ended up getting one of her worst times ever. She was SO disappointed that she couldn't do her best and didn't reach her goal. She was over it by the next morning, and is making plans for next year, but it is disappointing.  She IS, however, glad to be able to call more of her time her own!