Gasparilla 15k

I ran the Gasparilla 15k on Saturday... it was a gorgeous day and it was a great run. My goal was sub 1:30 (hour and half) and my official time was 1:28:19. I am really proud of this one because I really wanted to do a Gasparilla run within Finley's first year. I had set my sights on the half marathon back at the beginning of pregnancy but decided when I signed up, I might not be so ready for that. So I signed up for the 15k which was still a great challenge. I started running regularly a few years ago... mostly for health and weightloss. I was really into running when we got pregnant and I ran up until about 7 months of pregnancy with my Dr's okay. I've been a bit slow getting back into it, mostly just because its hard to fit it all in a day now. And there are certainly times when its hard and I wonder "why do I do this??" but mostly, I have found a love for running, and especially the way it makes me feel. I've done a few races now... a couple half marathons, a couple 10k's and a few 5k's. Though this was my first 15k and I ran with a friend who's son is in "baby school" with Finnie. And my awesome husband and baby girl got up really early to go with us. We had a blast. It's truly a spiritual experience for me. Running next to the water, while the sun rises, with the wheelchair racers passing by on their loop back to the finish... it's inspiring, emotional and fantastically humbling. I'm a mom to the most amazing little girl, wife to most genuine man and friend I've ever met, and I live in a place where many people dream of vacationing even just once. As the leader of the wheelchair 15k racers came by and I clapped and cheered along with the other runners, all these thoughts went through my head as I thanked God for my legs, my health, my family, my life and cried.
That is why I run.

After the Run...Finley and Mommy in our "BondiBands"... check them out online. I found them at the race expo on Friday and the woman selling them not only gave me a free one for Finley, but also trusted me to send her a check because I didn't have cash or check on me and her debit/credit machine went down. Good business and good karma should come her way for trusting in the goodness of people. So check them out at www.bondiband.com.