emily runs

so this july 4th, i ran my first 5k.

those of you who have known me for some time will know how adamantly, for many years, i have eschewed personal fitness. but after turning thirty-one and delivering my fourth child and not being able to walk up the stairs without feeling winded, i finally thought, "shoot. it's time to get in shape." 

my weapon of choice has been p90x, which i have loved and followed religiously. but there's also a group of kick-butt ladies around here who are avid runners, and they invited me to run this 5k in carnation, wa on july 4th. 

i decided not to train specifically for the race and instead see what my baseline time might be under race conditions without having prepared (i went out for a run for the first and only other time about two months before this). it was a fascinating experiment, but probably not one i'd recommend outright. 

my friends vickie and joanne (shown running below), who could have schooled me twice over in this race, stuck with me to the end, and i reached my goal of coming in under thirty minutes.

i'm still not sure i hear the siren song of running, but let's just say "the run" and i learned A LOT about each other yesterday, and i can totally see how this stuff gets addicting. now that my first race is in, i'm already raring to see if i can do better. 

vickie, joanne, and me nearing the finish line.

part of the crew after the race: joanne, brittany, erin, me, and vickie.

(why yes, we are the mothers of seventeen children. thanks for noticing :)

and a big shout out to my husband, my kids, and my parents for making it out early in the morning to watch me cross that finish line! mwah!