Pancakes in Bed: 5k Mama: Giant Race

Last week was rough around here. I've been really stressed about Henry's sleep apnea and his upcoming sleep endoscopy and Calvin's upcoming hernia surgery.

Small update on Henry and the sleep apnea: We are going to try to get him seen by a specialist at the sleep clinic just to try to get more info/help, and we are also going to request that he be given a CPAP to use for now since the sleep endoscopy is several weeks away.

And about Calvin's surgery: Again, it's a really routine ventral hernia repair (it's right above his belly button). He's had a hernia repair done before, so we know how it works. It's minimally invasive. Tiny cut, tiny stitch, go home the same day, but it is done under general anesthesia. He's healthy enough to undergo the procedure, but he does have a VSD - a teeny tiny hole in the tissue between the chambers of his heart which causes him to have a heart murmur. Don't worry, the VSD isn't causing him any problems and it doesn't need to be repaired any time soon. But, there is a special team of cardio-anesthesiologists who specialize in doing anesthesia for kids with heart defects. So, because Calvin's got the VSD, we're waiting to hear back from the cardio-anesthesiologists to schedule his surgery.

So we had two medical appointments last week, and our usual four therapy appointments, though I canceled one of the therapy visits because on top of everything the boys came down with a cold. Runny noses, coughing, fever, the works. Henry's coughing was making him throw up, but luckily that only happened a couple of times.

So yeah, it was a rough week.

On Sunday, a welcome distraction came in the form of the Giant Race - a race benefitting Project Open Hand with a San Francisco Giants theme, held at Giants' stadium AT&T Park.

In June (or was it May? I think June.) I went for an outdoor run for the first time since before I had Henry and I was proud to discover that I could still run a 5k without killing myself :) I've been running once or twice a week since then and I felt like registering for a race would be a fun way to motivate me to keep it up.

Pre-race selfie in front of the stadium #superflatteringangle #tryingtoblamethecameraangle

Starting line! I'm all set with my pink headphones!

I was in the last pace group for the 5k. Which means I was in the slowest group of the shortest race that day. Which also means that I was in a group with a lot of people who were walking, not running, the race. I'm out of practice when it comes to race running, so I had forgotten about the part where you're heading out from the starting line and you've got to, like, throw some bows or something to get past all the slow people in your way so you can get some space and get your run on! Next time I gotta get there early so I can be at the front. And possibly lie about my running pace so I'm not with all the walkers!

Crossing the finish line on the field at the stadium! Can ya find me? I'm right in the middle of the pic.

I finished in 35:46, which is my usual running time for a 5k. According to my Strava app, it was a PR, but only by a few seconds :) The finish line was right there on the field, and the runners were greeted by Giants mascot Lou Seal! (Calvin kept calling him a dog!)

Sweaty selfie with Lou Seal at the finish line

James and the kids, along with my cousin Pam and her kids, were up in the stands above the finish line waiting to see me cross. So fun to see them right there when I finished the race!