Memorial Day

Just one year ago today, I ran my first 10K. It was hot. It was humid. It wasn't pretty. It was the American Heroes 10K in Arlington, a very fitting Memorial Day tribute.

Bear with me for a little nostalgia. Here, my mom and sister looped back around to finish with me.

And here I am after I finished, looking quite red in the face...

And here are is our running family...

And here are my parents...

Today, my parents ran the BolderBoulder in Colorado. I watched the finish line live. I missed Mom finishing (but I think that was because they showed these little informational clips right when she would have been crossing the finish line), but I was able to see shots of Dad right after he crossed the finish line. Just a little later, I was able to watch the archived video and see both of their finishes. I am so proud fo them. They both came in under an hour on the 10K. I know Mom was worried about the altitude, but it doesn't look like it slowed her down at all. She was 21st out of 397 in her division (can I just say WOW!). Dad was 102 out of 290 in his division. Pretty cool!

And while I didn't run a 10K today, I did get outside for an almost-5-mile run. One of the kids' cousins stayed over last night, which makes the house kind of like a 3-ring circus at bedtime. Unfortunately, I snuck in a nap yesterday with my daughter. Lucky for me then, not so lucky later. She didn't go to sleep until 12:30! And then my son joined us in bed around 3 a.m. So much for sleep. But as soon as I saw enough daylight, I was up and out of here.

While I was getting ready for the run, I could hear the wind whipping around the house. The local weather guy's Facebook update said the winds would be 30-40 mph with gusts of 50. But that didn't stop me! And in fact, once I got outside, the wind wasn't that bad at all. It started back up while my hubby and I were relaxing outside (read: hiding from the kids). The sky was slightly overcast, so the run was really nice.

One really cool thing during the run was that one neighborhood was putting out flags for Memorial Day. It was really neat to see those guys going yard-to-yard putting them out and to see them all flying in the wind. It totally gave me chills and put a spring in my step.

I took most of the run nice and slow since I missed a couple of runs last week, but that's ok with me. It felt good. I need to foam roll my IT bands though. I'm not sure why they are tightening up again. They were doing so well. I did 4.85 and saw my sister heading out for her walk, so I started my cooldown and walked with her a while.

Still, today's run felt so much stronger than the 10K a year ago. It was nothing big, nothing significant, but it made me feel good today. I came back home and was able to step right back into "mom" mode happily. Granted, that didn't last too long, but at least that feeling was there for a little while.

And exciting stuff for tonight!!! The Las Vegas Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon registration opens at midnight PST! My best friend Chandra and I are counting down! Once we get registered, we'll be able to start making travel plans...and training plans! I'm really excited about this one!