What A Difference A Year Makes!

"Do you remember what we were doing last year at this time?" I asked my daughter and son-in-law as we ate grilled hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, and all the other traditional 4th of July cookout cuisine. It took a moment . . . but then the reminiscing began.

On July 4, 2007, we were at the Watermelon 5K Run at Winter Park. It was my first 5K and I'm proud to say I ran the first two miles before slowing down to walk just a short time, then running again and crossing the finish line. Jill stayed right beside me the whole time and Justin, his brother Jon, and Jacob ran far ahead of us. Water and watermelon and t-shirts waited for us after the race.

So what happened to my running agenda? Well, I ran another 5K about three weeks later, this time in our own little hometown of St. Cloud. Jill sat this one out, but Nate joined Justin and Jacob. I kept the same routine -- ran two miles, walked a little, bit and then ran again, encouraged by the guys who came back to run with me until I neared the last stretch. Then it was just me, smiling for the photographer as I crossed that finish line. (Jacob placed third for his age group which was really cool! Justin would have placed, too, but he kinda took a break partway through the race.)

A few days later, I got sick. Nothing to do with the race -- just a very bad cold that stuck around for three weeks. Running has been hit-and-miss ever since. But I'm resolved to run again. Perhaps next month . . .

So this 4th of July, we ate, sat around, people came and people went, and at the end, Jeff, Carol Anne, and I watched Rear Window. A fun day even without watermelon and t-shirts.