Run, Fletchers, Run!

It all started some time in the beginning of this past summer. I (Cindy) started running with a few lady's in our ward. At first there were about 4-5 of us, then it dwindled to just 2 (Adrienne Pugmire & myself), with the occasional sister joining us (Sister Pei Tang) when she has time off from work. I personally started to get in shape. I mean a better shape, the apple shape I was sporting wasn't really my thing. I figured if I ran with other ladies, I had someone I had to be accountable to. You know, alarm clock rings at 5am and you think, "Oh, maybe I'll start tomorrow." Don't lie, we've all been there. But if there is someone waiting for you at an intersection, you feel more motivated to get up. Now let me make something clear. I SUCKED at running. I mean end-of-the-block-asthma-attack-even-though-I-don't-have-asthma kind of suck. Really, I was horrible. But I kept on keeping on, and what do you know...it worked!! I can now run 3-4 miles without stopping....and without the fake asthma attack! So, Adrienne, the go getter kind of lady she is, suggested early on we train for a 5k. At first I thought, "okay, I'm sure they'll have ambulances handy." But as the day approached I actually got excited about it! Until the 2 days before. You see, I was a chunky child. (I know duh, right?) And in the 6th grade I joined cross country to "lose weight." (Do you see a pattern, hum?) It didn't work that time, but it did give me traumatic memories of coming in DEAD LAST at every race. So, the day before this 5k, I had the most nervous feeling in my stomach all day! It wasn't until we got to the park were the race started that I calmed myself down. Parker & I got some good stretch time in (gotta prevent injuries you know) and then we took pictures of our family's racers.




First up was David, Parker & their friend Danny's (Adrienne's Son) 1/2 K race.

Parker & Danny were SO excited. David, not so much. He was having a grumpy morning. When the race finally began, David seemed to be into it. Then it happened. Melt down. He stopped running and started crying. So, I, did what any loving mother would do.I grab him by the hand & and made him run the rest of the race with me.
Okay, maybe not the MOST loving thing, but I wasn't about to let him quit. He cried the whole way. And I gotta admit, I wanted to cry with him. I hope I didn't just traumatize him!!
Parker was into it the whole way and at the finish line when we stopped, he asked, "Can we do that again?"Each child that participated in the race got a medal. Parker LOVED his. After their race, another group of older kids got to race a 1k, and then it was our turn. I, thankfully, was not nervous at all when we lined up. I kept telling myself that it'll be just like running every other time we ran together. And it was really close! Except for all those other runners.

Running by our kids, right after we started.


This is how far ahead Adrienne got when she started sprinting. I think I need to work on that.


Me, trying to catch my breath. Final time: 33.28 minutes. Not to shabby for my first 5k, eh?