Window to my Digital Soul

Today, I ran a 5k with my 10 yr old daughter and 13 yr old son. My husband ran the 1k with our 5 yr old daughter and 6 yr old son. This was not my first 5k. Last year I ran this same one and I barely survived. This is the Stone Ridge 5k and it helps to raise money for our local schools. I ran last year only because we need a playground for our new elementary school (my kids have to run at recess..no jungle gym).

Let’s start at the beginning. Last year I ran or rather walked most of the 5k and I would never have made it if it hadn’t been for my brother-in-law who ran with me (he’s in the army so he runs all the time). He pushed me to keep going. I thought I was going to puke when I finished and while I was proud of my accomplishment, I felt like crap!!

This year the 5k comes up again and I decided I was going to try to train for this one and maybe it would be a bit easier to run. My 2 older kids joined me in the training. (You can read my blog post about how I became a EA Sports Active 5k Community Leader.) We did the workout plan from the EA Sports Active 5k Challenge and ran 3x/week. We all were really sick for 2 weeks and we didn’t work out as much during that time. We were just getting back into the swing of it this past week. I was worried it would really mess us up.

This morning at 9am, my daughter, son & I ran our 5k. Here we are before we left the house looking all spiffy in our EA Sports Active t-shirts (Thank you EA Sports).

This year I didn’t run for speed. I wanted to be sure my kids finished and knew that you have to finish what you start. The day was COLD (40 degrees) and pouring rain and they were less than thrilled. But WE DID IT!! We did a slow run the entire time. My kids never complained (and our hands were like ice cubes) and they kept going. I am SOOOO proud of them.

This year was so different. I felt fantastic during the whole run. I was able to keep a steady pace throughout the whole 3.1 miles. We stuck together and encouraged each other to keep going. I even managed to take a few pictures during the race.

As we crossed the finish line, my 13 yr old says to me, “Mom, when can we start training for next year’s 5k?” I knew then that he was hooked.

As I crossed the finish line (about 41 min), I felt so great. I wasn’t tired. I really could have run more. I was so into my running that I didn’t even realize I had a huge blister on my ankle and was bleeding all over my sock & shoe. All day long I have been on this high that I can’t really describe. I feel like I could accomplish anything.

I know that the difference was the training. I felt stronger and I definitely had more endurance. And it was so much fun because the kids and I felt like we were playing a game instead of working out. By nature, I’m not an athlete, I have to work at it. That is the biggest reason I love the EA Sports Active..I don’t feel like I’m working out. My mindset is even different. When I say I have to workout, I dread it. But if I tell myself I have to play the wii, well that just sounds like a whole lotta fun.

I put together this video of our 5k (yes, I was even able to record a video while running my 5k. I haven’t wanted to say this, but running the 5k was kinda easy. I’m surprised at how training can really make a huge difference. I know in my head it does, but it’s the rest of me that had to experience it to believe it.

Here are my 2 younger kids after they finished their 1k. They were so proud of themselves because they ran the whole way (and they had to run uphill and then downhill).

Now for the lession, I didn’t care if my kids ran all the way or if they finished in 30 or 50 minutes. I just wanted my kids to know what it feels like to set a goal for yourself, set a plan to attain that goal and then accomplish the goal. They showed me they can do that even when faced with adversity (rain and cold). I’m so proud of my family. We have decided that next year, all 6 of us are going to train and then run the 5k.

During the last mile of our run, a woman and her trainer were running right behind us. The woman wanted to stop running and walk, but her trainer wasn’t going to let her do that. I heard him say over and over, “look at her shirt and remember who YOU are active for.” I thought that was fantastic and it made me really proud to be wearing this shirt. We got a lot of compliments and questions about the shirts.

I am active for “ME” because I know that if I do not take care of me first, then I am of no use to anyone else. I need to be accountable to “ME”. I need to love “ME”. I need to be sure “ME” is happy.

disclosure: EA Sports sent us the t-shirts for our 5k because I am a Community Leader for my 5k. I contacted EA Sports about becoming a Community Leader because I LOVE the product. I talk a lot about it on my blog but it is because I LOVE the product. They have not compensated me in any way for my past blog posts. I will be receiving the EA Sports Active More Workouts when it comes out next month because I am a 5k Community Leader.

EA Sports Active Community Leader Badge

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