And we were off! Just like turtles!

Jennifer decided two weeks ago that we should run the Beat the Heat 5k again this year.  I wasn't sure that it was such a great idea since neither one of us had been "training".  I use the term "training" loosely as my "training" basically consists of me slugging through the neighborhood at snail-like speeds for 6 months and then declaring myself "ready".

Jennifer felt like we needed a race ahead of us as a motivator.  So I agreed and we ended up at the Beat the Heat 5k on Saturday evening with our families.

The Beat the Heat is an evening race which is nice.  However it is held in July which makes it not so nice.  It was so hot and humid last year that I declared, "never again"!  Luckily a cold front moved through this weekend and the highs were in the upper 70s/lower 80s.

We started the race at the back of the pack like we normally do.  This race isn't chip-timed and I forgot to look at the clock when we passed it so I know we can take at least 30 seconds or more off of our final time. (Not that it matters but every little bit helps!)  We like to start at the back because, well, everyone is going to pass us anyway.  No need to get trampled by all of the serious runners.

As we were running along during our first mile we were chatting about shopping.  Jennifer had just taken her girls to Hip Chicks to use a gift certificate and then on to Goodwill.  She was telling me all about the pile of clothes she got for her kids for $12 and then we started talking about Kohl's and the latest coupon.

Before we knew it, a mile had passed.  However, it felt like we were going slow so I turned around to make sure we weren't the last people running.  It was all good because there were still a lot of walkers behind us.  We didn't let that get us down though and we kept trudging along.

We finally made it 3.1 miles.  It was our worst time yet.  I believe we added about 4 - 4 1/2 minutes to our previous 5k times but that's o.k. it was all good. At the end of the race they had subs and pizza. And then Dan and I took Peter and Sarah to DQ for Blizzards and Jennifer and Quinn took their kids to Krispy Kreme for donuts.


Yes. It was all good.

All smiles before the race.

Love my sweet family!

Don't even bother looking for us.

Looks at us waving and happy to be done.  I love that you can see my family in this picture too!

And yes, that is a 90 year old man in front of us and an 8 year old boy behind us.