Henry's March

On Saturday morning we participated in Henry's March which was a 5K run benefiting Children's Craniofacial Association. The whole thing was put on by our neighbors, who are also past clients of Aaron's and that we have become good friends with. Their five year old son Henry was born with Apert Syndrome and has had to have several surgeries. They wanted to raise money for other children with similar conditions, which resulted in this march. It was a huge success!

The night before the event I felt a little sick to my stomach, but I was sure that I would be better by morning. When I woke up Saturday morning I was still feeling a little queasy, but really wanted to do the 5K and decided to play it by ear. After arriving at the event, Grace took part in the 100 meter dash they had for kids. She did so well...and you can see by the expression on her face how proud she was of herself! It came time for me to decide if I was going to do the run or not, and by this time I was feeling okay...so I registered, got my number and was ready! Aaron was not planning on running so he and the girls took part in other fun things that were happening at the event (like getting their faces painted.)

I began the race with only one goal in mind: to run the whole thing. I didn't want to walk a 5K...I wanted to genuinely run it (no matter how slow of a run that might be!) Putting my Jr. high P.E. knowledge of "pacing myself" to good use, I started at a slow but steady pace. I was feeling pretty good, but somewhere around three kilometers my nausea started creeping back. I knew I wouldn't be able to continue running with how my stomach was feeling so I slowed to a walk. Drat!...my goal was shot, but it got worse. Just after walking past the 4K marker I had to squat by a tree and throw up my whole breakfast. I was so embarrassed! Luckily there were only a few people who saw, and one girl asked me if I was okay. After a minute or two I got up and finished the race and actually ran the last quarter kilometer (I had to finish with some dignity after that!)

Waiting at the finish line was my cute little family cheering for me. Aaron and the girls ran up to me with me saying "Yea Mommy!" It felt good to have finished even though I didn't accomplish my goal. I guess I'll just have to run another 5K when I'm not feeling sick! I feel much better today, but had kind of a yucky feeling weekend. The nice thing was that I got lots of rest.

As much as I enjoy exercising and things like aerobics and Pilates...I am definitely not a long distance runner. I have a lot of respect for people like my sister-in-law Becky who ran a marathon, and Julyssa who ran a half marathon. That takes a lot of endurance...hats off to you!