Running

For the first 26 years of my life, running was something that I actively avoided. In college I was forced to run and lift, and I swore that I would never do those things again.

Soon after graduating from college, I realized that my metabolism was not the same. I was no longer participating in two hour practices everyday. I was no longer waking up at 5:30 am in order to take part in a "Hartman" workout three times a week. In other words, I could no longer justify the 10 pm large cheese pizza order. (FYI it took me way too long to make this realization.)

I begrudgingly continued to do cardio and lifting for a couple of years until I became pregnant in 2007. I then spent the next 9 months eating my way through my pregnancy. McDonalds cheeseburgers were my favorite. After I had Lucy, I became motivated to be more active. I then discovered running, and while running had always been there, I now thought about running in a different way.

Running allowed me to do a lot of things:

1. Get out of the house - with or without a small child in a jogging stroller
2. Get my body moving which always made me happier after the run
3. Become competitive again - I started challenging myself to go longer and run faster
4. (Eventually) Have some time to myself

After having both girls, I began to carve time out of each day in order to run. I signed up for road races and have started to (gasp!) think of myself as a runner. Steve has come along with me for the ride, and we often run the same races.

The interesting thing about all of this is that the girls, Lucy in particular, have become very interested in running and races. They come to the races that we run in, they enter "fun runs" for kids, and Lucy even asks to go running with us. The best part about all of this is that it is initiated entirely by the kids. They have an interest in running that I never had.

Why am I rambling about running? Because I went through my Instagram photos and realized that many of them dealt with running and races. So here is what we have been doing for the past 6 months:

4th of July road race

Lucy doing the Meikle Run 

Lucy going for a jog

Caroline doing the Meikle Run

Father's Day road race

Hazelwood 5k

All of these races have been fun to participate in, and they are made even better by having a great group of people there to cheer us on. A special thanks to Cookie and Grumps who were at nearly all of these races.