Fernandez Family of Five

My Half Marathon...

On October 16th I ran my 2nd half marathon. I started the race with my friend, Margaret, but she was going out really fast. I stayed with her for about 2 miles and then told her to go on ahead of me. I am glad she did because she ended up averaging a 8:17 pace for the race and I was averaging a 8:47 pace. I felt great the first 6 miles but was going way too fast. I came through my 6 mile split 5 minutes faster than I was supposed to. That would have been Ok if I did not have 7 miles of hills ahead of me. That is right, the last 7 miles were pretty much all hills. Regan had told me before the race, "Don't worry mom for every uphill there is also a downhill." Well, I tried to remember that but every downhill was followed by another uphill so I was having to try and slow down on the downhills so I could catch my breath before climbing the next hill. There was not much reprieve between hills. At about the 10.5 mile mark I was hitting a major wall and did not have anymore water. I had one Gatorade left but I had made it too concentrated so it was making me feel sick. So, I had to run the last 2.5 miles with no fluids. It was very tough and I was wishing Tony was with me to coach me through those last few miles. I was so happy to see the finish line although it was on an uphill too! I finished the race in 1:55:00 and 48th place out of 299 in my age group. So, although it was a much tougher race than my 1st Half Marathon, I was happy to beat my previous time by 3 minutes! I am not sure I will ever run this race again but I do know I want to run more halfs and eventually a marathon.

Feeling good at the 5 mile and waving to my cheering section.

Thanks Mom, Dad, Tony and the girls for cheering me on!

Enjoying my last mile of ease before heading into the hills. This was around the 6 mile mark and I was still smiling. I am glad Tony did not get any photos after the 6th mile because there was no smiling to be had.

This is the view of the hill leading up to the finish...

Yay, finally the finish!!!

We did it!!! Margaret did awesome, this was her first marathon and she ran it in 1:48:36 and finished 19th in our age group. I was so proud of her.

Not feeling so well after the race - faking a smile here.

It was so nice to have my parents there to cheer me on. It reminded me of my cross country days when my parents were always there cheering me on. Thanks Mom and Dad for your support and encouragement!

It was also nice to have my daughters cheering me on. Thanks girls!!

A weekend with Mom and Dad...

My mom and dad came up to visit the weekend of Oct. 14 - 16. On friday, they were able to join Reece at school for lunch. Reece was very excited to have her grandparents eat with her and to see her classroom. On Saturday, Grandma and Grandpa came to Reece's soccer game and Riley's softball game. Reece had quite an audience at her soccer game and we were all cheering her on. At one point, she looked at us and put her finger to her mouth to tell us to be quiet. I think we were embarrassing her. :) Riley did well with her fielding in her softball game and was happy to have an audience.

Watching Reece's soccer game...

Riley playing in the outfield.

Corn Maze Craze....

On Sunday, Oct. 9th we decided to go get lost in a 12 acre corn maze. Not quite sure why we would pay money to go get lost in corn for 2.5 hours, but we did. At the beginning, Reece and I got separated from everyone. She and I wandered around aimlessly for about 45 minutes and the worst part was I did not have my phone with me. Reece asked at one point, "Are we lost? We need a GPS!" She was getting very bored, hot and thirsty so I was really relieved when we ran into Tony and Regan. I told them not to leave our side. We wandered around for another hour or so trying to find all the 8 stations we were supposed to find. We did not find all the stations but we did find all our family and that was good! At that point, we all decided it was time to go home! It was quite an experience but not one I think I want to do again anytime soon.

I love this photo, it pretty much sums it up - "Which way do we go??"

Are we having fun yet?!

The kids getting corn maze crazy!

We finished off our crazy day with some crazy Fernandez rough housing and racing of course. It really was a fun weekend - busy and quick - but always a nice, fun time together.

More Racing....

After a full day in Charlotte, we headed back home and went to a local short track race that night, just in case the men did not get all the racing out of their systems.

The girls joined Tony down on the front row to watch the racing up close.

Belated Father's Day Gift...

For Father's Day this year we surprised Joe, Tony and Doug with a gift to do the Nascar ride along experience at Charlotte Motor Speedway. We finally found a date that worked with everyone and met Doug and Cook down in Charlotte on October 8th. We toured the Rick Hendrick race shop/museum first and then had some wings at the "Quaker Steak and Lube" restaurant. After eating wings, we headed to Charlotte Motor Speedway so our men could test their stomachs going 160+ mph. They had a blast and their stomachs did well too.

Reece trying out a race car seat at the Rick Hendrick Museum.

Regan fit nicely in the seat.

It may look like I fit nicely but I was very cramped and clostrophobic. I was really thinking "get me out of this seat and quick!" I don't know how race car drivers sit in these seats for over 3 hours.

Tony is thinking, "I can't believe I got in this seat and now how do I get out??" He did manage to get out but it was pretty funny watching him.

Joe trying to prove to his big brother that he can get in and out of this seat.

Lizzie getting a turn behind the wheel. Love the tongue sticking out...

Mama Cook is ready to race...

All the Fernandez boys waiting in line to register. Sorry Josh, not old enough yet but your day will come soon enough. He wanted to go super fast too!

Reece and Mama Cook passing the time together. I love Reece's silly face.

Getting a little help...

Riley is not too sure about her Papa Doug, Uncle Joe and Daddy racing. She is very concerned about them. She has watched too many Nascar wrecks on TV.