"I Was Running!"

Said in the best Forrest Gump impersonation.  And yes, I probably resembled Forrest Gump while I was doing it.  


For the past year or so I've been trying to start up running again and convince myself I enjoy it.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.  Which is why I have to periodically sign up for 5K's to help motivate me in this endeavor.  


But, this 5K wasn't too hard to sign up for considering 95% of my family was doing it also.  It's hard to imagine that a family who used to plan their weekends and fun around dinners and restaurants and eating are now planning them around 5K's.  I still can't comprehend it myself.  


The kids and I took a little road trip (with Grandma in tow) to Kansas City to participate in the KC Temple Run 5K.  It was the 2nd annual but my first time at this one.  I was quite impressed with the turn out since I was expecting a low-key event.  It was a great cool & breezy day and the scenery of the KC temple was enjoyable as well.  Funny how "wind" is a good thing when you are sweating but a bad thing when it's pushing against you at the end of a race.  All my family whooped me and got much better times.  However, I was just lucky to shave a minute off of my usual time and doing that on about 3 hours of sleep thanks to a wonky crazy night the night before wherein there was puking, eating, falling off beds, trying to sleep on beds, Dr. Phil marathons, crying children, rotating beds, etc.  In no particular order.  


It was a fun time but lets just say, I still haven't achieved my goal of running a whole 5k (in competition) without stopping.  All the adrenalin in the air gets me starting my first mile so fast that I'm wiped out by my 2nd and 3rd and just grateful to be standing vertical at the end.  


In summary, it was a great run, a great time with a great family, and I have a few ideas as to training approaches to tweak so I can finally accomplish my goal one of these days.

Grandpa Bell & Addison hanging out before the run.  She loves her some Grandpa.

My best friend/cousin Jared and his cute little girly Makayla.  He was a designated "babysitter."  He still belongs to the side of the family that doesn't run. ;-)

Addison and her medal after she completed the kids race w/Grandpa.  She got to borrow my running bib so she could be just like Mommy.

Almost all of the grandkids after they finished the kid race....showing off their medals.

The crazy running adults pre-run.

The crazy running adults post-run and all sweaty.  Don't zoom in, trust me.

Stay tuned to hear the rest of the festivities we enjoyed while playing in KC.