BEST. RUN. EVER.

I love to run, but I HATE to start a run. I never feel good at first, and sometimes I have a hard time motivating myself to start, even though I know how good I will feel during and after! I was feeling very sluggish tonight, and didn't want to go, so I knew that it was exactly what I needed. We are supposed to run in the half in a few weeks and haven't had a lot of time to get ready this year. It won't be pretty, but we will get it done.

We told Ella the plan and she got very excited. She said "Can I run too? With my feet, not the stroller?" We have been trying to model excercise and activity for her, so we decided that she should run a bit if she wanted to.

Like I said before, she got VERY excited. She ran to her closet to pick out her "running outfit". Her first choice was a very frilly pretty dress. After Jimmie said "Does Mommy wear dresses when she runs?" and she had to say "no", she chose this: (complete with her "running ice cream cone" that we convinced her to leave at home)

We also convinced her to change into leggings instead of a skirt.

She was demonstrating her running in the living room for us.

When we got outside she took off down the sidewalk saying "Come on guys, RUN!" She would run and then all of a sudden say "STOP" followed by "look at the birds" or "you run fast!" It was pretty cool to see her so excited and into something that is so important to us. It makes me think that we must be doing something right in our quest to show her how to take care of herself. She made it three full blocks before we encouraged her to get in the stroller.

For me it was actually a kind of crappy run, I had calf cramps for most of the run (maybe from running on my toes for three blocks to stay with Ella) and had a hard time getting my muscles warmed up. It was sooo worth it though to see Ella having such a good time. I hope we can continue to run together!