Running With The Nuts (Pecans, Of Course!)

While I'm on the subject of losing weight and getting more fit, I have to include a fun activity I did a couple of weekend ago; I did a family "fun run" with Lorelai! It was part of the Pecan Classic, an annual run held in the large pecan orchards that sit next door to our neighborhood. The run was done in conjunction with the Sahuarita Pecan Festival, a community event held just outside the orchards. Both Lorelai and I had a terrific time, and we can't wait to do it again next year.

The only drawback to the day was that we got to the run too early! The Pecan Classic has two different runs: a 3.7-mile run, and an 8.5-mile run. The "Nut Run" (the family fun run) was only 1.5 miles. However, the two longer runs started at 8 am, so we showed up at 7:45 am to be ready. However, the family run didn't start until 10 am. Oops! Oh well, at least we got free parking out of the deal.

Even though we were there early, we had fun hanging out together and "warming up" for our run in the as-yet-unoccupied parking lot...

 

It was also fun to watch all the runners for the "official" races get warmed up and get started in the cool morning air. Lorelai was very impressed by all the runners; the run became a huge event, seen through her eyes.

When they all started running, everyone (Lorelai and myself included) clapped & cheered loudly. Even though we didn't know anyone running in those two groups, it was still very exciting! Lorelai couldn't wait until the runners got back. I spent much of the waiting time explaining to her what a "realistic" time was for runs of certain distances. When she got bored with my explanations, she spent her time roaming around the orchards, exploring and waiting for the early finishers to arrive.

As the runners came in one by one, we had a lot of fun cheering them on.

We didn't stay to see all the runners finish; we still had an hour to kill before the fun run began, so we decided to head over and check out the Pecan Festival.

There turned out to be some fun stuff to see and do there.  There was a mariachi band loudly playing as we arrived; we saw more than a dozen food stands (we didn't buy anything, though); and several activities for kids and adults alike.

We spent the most time at the "Old Time Engine" exhibit, which featured a lot of antique cars, wagons, and motorized gadgets, like this ice-cream maker:

There were also a few good old-fashioned hand-crank activities, such as this "rope-weaving" machine. Lorelai got to take home the rope she made!

We headed over to the kids' area after that; there were the usual pony rides and jumping castles, as well as a Boy Scout-made elevated walkway/bridge. But there was also a Euro-bungee super-high jump ride, and Lorelai really wanted to try it.

Since we didn't have a lot of time left before the race, that was the only ride I allowed her to do.

 

When she finished bouncing into the stratosphere, Lorelai and I had to hurry over to the starting line for our fun run. There weren't a whole lot of people participating, and it was mostly moms with young-ish kids. When the starting signal went off, we were somewhere in the middle of the pack, but managed to sneak in front of people as we went.

The run was short but sweet; jogging amongst the lush, shady pecan trees on a quiet dusty road was very peaceful and beautiful. Lorelai did get tired out frequently and need to slow down for a walk, but I was happy to comply. It was nice to stretch out the experience. However, after a while, Lorelai for some reason became fixated on a specific mother-daughter pair who were running in the race, and she had to stay in front of them. Every time they started jogging again, Lorelai would shout, "Run!" and take off, with me running just behind her. Whenever this mother & daughter slowed down again, Lorelai would slow down as well.

Here are the keepsakes from our little adventure:

Of course, we got nuts for the Nut Run. Lorelai let me have her pecans; turns out she is not a big fan.

Plus the awesome T-shirts we both got:

 

It wasn't a timed race, so I don't know exactly how well I did...but with this race, that didn't really matter. It was fun just to run with my daughter and share an experience with her! She was pretty tuckered out after the run (I actually had to encourage her to smile for the camera; she was a little out of it for a few minutes!), but she recovered quickly. We went and snacked on a banana and had some water to refresh ourselves. She was a little disappointed we didn't get a "prize" for finishing first, but she got over it pretty quickly. And then when we went out for lunch at McDonald's, she was instantly cured of all that ailed her (naturally).

Hopefully we can convince the whole family to participate next year!