3 Miles for Matthew

Today was the culmination of the last 11 weeks of training...the Girls on the Run 5k.  The 2nd time in my life to run a 5k and the 1st official race I've run.  The weather was perfect today!  I was proud to run with the women from the neighborhood, some friends and my loving family.  Bryan came down from Dallas with his girlfriend, Rachel and his dog, Lucy and they ran with us.  They thankfully pushed Alyssa in the stroller, while Darren pushed the boys allowing me to run unencumbered.  I wasn't what you'd call fast (by any means) but I ran the entire 3.14 miles and finished! 

Darren kept me going with periodic words of encouragement throughout the course.  And when I struggled after mile 2, Matthew let out a joyous scream to remind me who I was running for and I remembered how very hard he had to work to breathe not even a month ago.  He's so strong and I want to be half as strong as he is. 

And while we ran, we saw an inspirational mother and daughter.  The mom was obviously a runner and the daughter (around 11y) was looking at her mom (trying to match her stride and form) and her mom kept pushing her to keep on running.  I hope to be that example for my kids too. 

Today was the culmination of my 11 week journey, but the finish line was just the beginning of a whole new race!