Recently Running

Where does my time go?!?  Seriously.  I uploaded these photo's a few weeks ago with the intentions of writing out the post the week I did it.  I guess we all see how that worked out for me!  I'm going with that saying: better late than never!  

So a few months ago, I volunteered to run with a group homeschooled teens.  We met twice a week, at 8 am.  Now it was never easy to get my 3 little ones out of the house that early.  I normally grumbled until we were in the van.  But once I got to the park, I was always happy to be there.  

Here's group picture of 90% of our kids at the second annual Run for the Pink 5k.

I ran with a small group that wanted to run a 10k.  A large portion of the group were training for a 5k, which we all ran together.    

Don't let this picture deceive you: Hannah did better this run than every before.  This is after 3 miles and the first part of the run that she got frustrated.  

We struggled; me to keep Hannah positively motivated and Hannah just struggled.  But she finished with a smile on her face and her best time yet (40 minutes).  And despite her grumpy expression, she said she wants to do another one.  Also of note was the course layout, which I was so impressed with.  The run itself was condensed to a small area of hope mills.  But the coordinators did a fantastic job laying out the route.  There wasn't a double back, it was mostly flat and lots of neighborhood running, which is pretty scenic.  

The treadmill continues to serve me well.  To date, I've run 60 hours and 311 miles.  I LOVE my treadmill.  Absolutely love it.  I've also lost a total of 18 pounds.  Because of this new found ease for running, I'm a much more sane person.  Trust me on this one.  

This is the 10k my group of kids ran.  It's a 10k I've wanted to do for a long time: The JSOC Special Operations Trail Run.  

It was my first trail run, and the route was challenging.  Lots of sugar sand.  And it was cold.  I finished right at an hour, which I was pleased.  Having never run a trail run, I was expecting it to take little longer.  The kids did fantastic!  And more importantly, can't wait to do more.  

As of now, my running group is on a little break, because of the cold temps.  And a lack of runs.  We'll meet up again in the beginning of March and tackle some spring/summer/fall runs.  

I have found that I enjoy running with kids so much!  It motivates me, and I love sharing with someone else what running has done for me.