Running

We are now a family of runners. Jimmy has run off and on since he was young. Olivia, Julie and Clay began running over 2 years ago, and I finally joined them in March 2007. We chose running as our family sport because we can all do it together. Yes, it requires some juggling and planning, especially when I first began. I was still nursing the baby. I had not exercised regularly in 3 years. In the beginning it took as much time to pack the diaper bag with snacks and sippee cups, pack water bottles, get everyone dressed in running clothes, load up the jogging stroller, and drive somewhere to run, than it did to actually run! But we hung in there. Sometimes we ran at 7a.m., sometimes at 7p.m. We planned it day by day based on Jimmy's work schedule. As I got stronger, I began pushing the jogging stroller (with the 1yo and 3yo), and we no longer had to wait for Jimmy to go run. We ran more days each week. We ran more miles each week. And before you knew it......we were a family of runners!

We participate in 10-12 5K and 10K races each year. The children are improving their personal times almost every time they race. They love the goodie bags they get at each race, and we have a lot of cute t shirts!

Sadly, I injured my knee/leg in early March of this year. I ran for a while anyway, hobbling at times, but finally got to the point where it was too painful to run, and my leg and knee hurt all the time. After visiting a physical therapist for a few weeks and seeing an ortho dr., I am following their recommendation of no running or walking (as a form of exercise) for 6 weeks. I have just begun week 2. I missed running a 10K race last Saturday, and I am missing a 10K this morning! It was fun though being a spectator last week. I took pictures of Jimmy and the children as they crossed the finish line, and I plan to do the same in a little while.

I'll let you know how they all did later today.