one thing off my bucket list

At this time last year, my 40^th birthday was looming large in front of me and I was looking for things to make me feel like the kid that my brain heart still thinks I should be. So, I decided that sometime during the year in which I turned 40 I really needed to complete a 5k race. Somewhere in my childish, 39 year old brain, I thought that running said race would be a good idea. But, somewhere along the way, my 40-year-old-out-of-shape body told my still-thinks-I-am-a-kid brain to hush and I decided that walking a 5k would be a more realistic goal.

But, I got busy and my daily walks got pushed to the back-burner, so I kinda gave up on the idea of actually achieving the goal I had set for myself. I'd like to play the martyr and say that I sacrificed my goals so that my kids could accomplish goals of their own, but the truth is that I allowed the busyness of life to crowd out the daily walks that I really should have made time for each day.

So, time passes and my 41^st birthday creeps closer and closer and then we go to Disney and walk an average of 10 miles per day and it doesn't hurt me as bad as I thought it would. And then a friend at church … one who is a little older than me … tells me that she has been walking in a 5k a month since she had heart surgery. And then she invites our family to join her in a walk to support missions … a walk that is scheduled before my birthday.

And that is how I came to spend a Saturday morning in March walking in the rain, up and down hills that were described as rolling when the word killer would have been a much better description. And that is why, for the next week, I couldn't stand up without groaning, and possibly moaning, with every step.

Now that I have done one 5k, I could just say … been there, done that, got the t-shirt. But, now that I have done it once, I know that I don't want it to be the last.

Finishing that race, even in the pouring rain and knowing that I would be feeling every hill we had climbed for days to come, felt good … I mean, really good.

Like a feeling that I don't know how to put into words.

Besides being able to mark this goal off of my bucket list, I also had the pleasure of sharing my first time with Lora for her first time. We had a great time talking while we walked … except for the times that I was puffing too hard trying to make it up a hill and she was having to work hard not to run off and leave me. Her 15 year old dancer's legs weren't struggling quite as hard as my 40 year old ones. Somehow, doing it together made it easier and definitely more fun.

I think it is safe to say that this won't be my last 5k. Besides the fact that I actually enjoyed it, now my boys want to get in on the action and Lora has already been looking for our next race. I never realized how many opportunities there are to get off your duff on a Saturday morning and support some cause.

I has occurred to me, that it is slightly possible that those Saturday mornings might be just a little bit easier if I'll get off my duff during the week!

I couldn't resist taking a couple of pictures of the day.  Certainly, this is something we want to remember!

This was pretty much the only sunshine we saw the entire day.

This sign was along the road on the biggest hill ...
I was not amused.

This is a terrible picture, but it does give a little
perspective on the hills.  You can see that Lora
wasn't struggling quite as much as her poor, old Mama!

We were soaking wet and looking a little ragged,
 but happy thankful to have reached the finish line!

Proof that we finished!  Lora and I both placed in our age-groups,
which explains the medals.  I think it is great to have a memento of
our first race, but it was such a small race that I don't think that
it is exactly honest to say that we "won" or anything.