I did it!

Before....
Something made me decide to participate in a 5K walk/run here on post on the 4th. I had never done such a thing before, but Joel was gone and I am always looking for things to do in his absence so I'll have news to tell him. This was really advertised as "stroller friendly;" in fact, my t-shirt says "Running, Walking, Strolling," which is pretty silly. I pictured old-timey people with parasols strolling along the run route, but sadly didn't see any. Maybe next time.

So anyway, I showed up at 7:00 to register with Ava strapped to my chest and Aidan in a stroller. So, I was carrying an extra 12+ pounds and pushing another 50 or so. There were a few other moms with kids, so I wasn't embarrassed thinking about my awful future performance. At 8:30, they shot the gun- the big highlight for Aidan- and I was off... as the last person to start the race. Through the race, Aidan kept me motivated by angrily yelling "GO, mommy! GO!" whenever I slowed to readjust Ava in her carrier or get a drink of water. Just over an hour later, I showed that it was possible to maintain such a pace by being the very last person to finish the race! At least I'm consistent! I seriously blame the crappy stroller I was using... yeah, that's it...

All in all, I was really glad I did it. It wasn't that hard- walking just over 3 miles (or a mere 18,000 steps!) in really nice weather is hardly torture- and I felt proud of myself for doing it. For the next one in September (yes, I'll do it again!!) I'm going to rent the double jogging stroller here on post and try to jog it. Ans as a final plus, my picture was in the paper, with no mention of being the final participant. Hooray!

...and slightly sweatier after: