Hebrews 12:1

Were you wondering if I ran my 5k on May 17? You were? Well, I did.

No pictures from the start, but there were lots of people! I think more than the last time. I'm thinking this because lots of people passed me.

The day was a little on the cold side and quite windy. But I decided to start without the sweatshirt, since I would have to discard it half-way through anyway. The race was on a Rails To Trails path, so it was pretty flat and definitely straight. No getting lost in the woods. Not that I've ever done that, but still. When I was getting closer to the turn-around point, I could see just how many people were in front.

I was pretty proud of myself for not walking at all, though I was tempted. I did pass a couple of people who had started walking. And then they would get a burst of energy and run again and pass me. This happened near the end when this girl (in the dark purple shirt) passed me. The nerve! I tried to kick it in hard, but I think she heard me breathing down her back so she ran faster, too. Oh, well.

As you can see from the picture, my time was 32 minutes and 24 seconds. About a minute slower than last October. But not bad for only training for three weeks prior. I had tried to hydrate myself well that morning and I did too good of a job. During the race, I thought about a side trek into the woods, but decided to just make a run for the porta-potty at the finish line. Good thing there was no line!

And here I am enjoying the fruits of my labor - an orange. No medal this time. The ladies in this race beat me by four minutes or so.

Incidentally, I haven't been out running since. I guess I really do need the motivation of a race to get out there and pound the pavement. I'm looking to do a couple more this summer. Anyone know of any in the area? Preferably one that will give me another cool t-shirt!

School's Out!

I can't believe that Abby's first year of Pre-school is over. This year has flown by! She has really grown and changed from a shy little girl to a confident one. She's learning to share and work in a group. And she's made some good friends.

For the end of the year celebration, all the classes came together for a picnic. The weather did not cooperate, so we had it indoors. They played games and got treats. There was a little mix-up when we first got there, so Abby was not with her classmates. I think I was more upset about this than she was. She just played along and didn't mind a bit.

In mid jump.

"Dunking" a basketball.

One of her BFFs!

We have three months of summer activities before she starts pre-school again in the fall. Now, if it would only warm up!

Annual Zoo Picnic

Last Saturday was our adoption agency's annual picnic at the zoo. We've gone three out of the last four years. The first couple of times, there were other people from our travel group who we met there. This year, however, we didn't see anyone we knew.

Except for Uncle Zhou (Joe), our agency's travel guide in China. Zhou was a "God-send" while we were in China and helped us tremendously in the transition of becoming new parents in a foreign country. He truly loves all the babies and has their best interest at heart. Abby let him hold her for this picture.

My favorite, the polar bears.

This one decided to go for a swim. It was so fun to watch him doing laps and come up and scratch his head on the rock.




Our annual picture by the wolf. I need to do a side-by-side comparisons of the years we've been there to see how much Abby has grown.

Trike-A-Thon

Last Friday, Abby's school sponsoreda Trike-A-Thon that supports St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. But mostly, I think, it was to teach the kids some bicycle safety. They had done several lessons in class leading up to the big day.

We were praying for no rain, but I guess we should have added "warm" to the prayer list. The day was cloudy and a little brisk. We dressed Abby in her winter coat.

She had a blast going round and round the church/school parking lot. One of the teachers said she thought Abby went the most times around. Most kids were done after two laps. Not our little Lance Armstrong. We probably walked a mile just going around behind her.

Here she is getting ready to get off her bike to cross the "road."

One of her teachers is explaining to stop at Railroad Crossings to listen for the train.

It's safe to cross!

I ran home after she was done. Gotta get those miles in before the race this Saturday!

Wordless Wednesday

Look, Mommy! I'm a Porcupine!

for more Wordless Wednesday, go to 5 minutes for mom

Running Again

I haven't posted in a while. Hmmm. This blog thing really goes in spurts for me.

A week or so ago, Billy and I actually had a Date Night. It's been a while! After dinner, we went to the mall and I bought myself some much needed new running shoes. yeah! No more excuses.

The next day was a Ladies Retreat at our local Rec center. What it amounted to was a trade show - everyone displaying their businesses. I signed up for a lot of give-aways. And I actually won a digital photo frame!

But that's not what I wanted to write about.

There was also a booth for the local Rails To Trails organization. We have a nice trail in our town that goes several miles to the next town and they're wanting to expand it. They had fliers for a 5k that they're sponsoring on May 17th. So, I signed up!

I only had three weeks to get back in shape. Not the three months that I trained before. Oh, well. I have been running last week and this hoping to get back into it. We'll see how it goes. I've already put in 7 running miles on the new shoes and they seem to be doing good.

Anyone want to join me?