Haulin' Aspen

Last summer, G1 and I ran our first half-marathon together. 13.1 miles (21 km)

Mama-Son bonding time! Yay!

It was held in the hot, dusty hills of a state park outside of Bend, Oregon. 

Beautiful location, low entry fees.

A huge challenge, but so much fun.

                                               

                                                                    The race end site

 
                  One of us was pretty tired afterward.... (and ran it in over 3 hours)

                                               
                                                   ...but feeling triumphant....

                      

                                   An icy stream at the finish to cool the legs in....

I love to jog (off and on since age 10, when I saw this movie and received these shoes as a birthday gift from my dad). I'm slow as molasses, and that's okay. The appeal for me is the individual perseverance required (and the endorphins, of course). What's hard is my all-or-nothing nature. I want to jump in with both feet and start building up miles too fast, and in the past have become discouraged or injured (after the Haulin' Aspen persistent plantar fasciitis put a stop to jogging for the next 8 months).

It's spring again... I'm starting to jog again! My challenge now is to find happiness in small measure so that I can keep it up: short daily jogs that fit into my mornings...getting out of the cozy bed is so difficult, but once I'm up and out, I feel good.