Monday, June 24, 2013

Family Fun Run

Last week I fell in love with running all over again. I took a trip home to visit family, and I knew that I would need to keep running while I was there, so I called up my brother and asked him to run with me while I was there. We put an 8 miler on the books for Father's Day, and I was glad I had a plan to hold myself accountable.

 Katie, Joe, Matt, Me
 (Big thanks to our favorite spectator, my sister Noelle, for taking the picture)
When we set out on our run that morning, I had so many doubts running through my head. I had left my good running shoes at my dad's the day before, it was muggy, and I knew there were so many hills on the route he had planned. It didn't take long though for us to fall into a good rhythm, and I had this amazing energy running through me. We carried on conversations about random stuff with little bits of "wisdom" from my brother mixed in. It was also the first time I really ran in my hometown. I was on the track team briefly in high school before I quit because the only event open was 2 mile, so I decided I had better things to do. It's funny in retrospect that I didn't want to run 2 miles.

The next day, I went on a small group run with my brother, sister-in-law, and fiance. It was so much fun! I think we all had fun...mostly. There were moments of laughter, and maybe a couple of irritated moments, but we stuck together, and we knocked out a quick 3 miles. We laughed as we caused some minor road blocks in our small town, we debated the smell of the local dog food plant, and we waved at all the passing cars. It was one of those runs that is simultaneously relaxing and energizing. 

If you are a veteran runner or just starting out, grab a few friends or family members and head out for a run. Short or long, it doesn't matter. Just get out there and have some healthy fun.

2 comments:

  1. I want to see these runs mapped out. How did you get 8 miles in Butler?

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  2. We did a five mile loop with a three mile loop tacked on the end. We basically ran around the entire perimeter of Butler, and then to the pool and back to Joe's.

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