4th July Watermelon 5K

I secretly think that running in extreme heat is only for 'real runners' and I'm not a real runner yet :). I do the majority of my training runs very late in the evening or very early in the day and for the last couple of years (since I started running), I have seriously cut back on miles between May and Labor Day. Last year I promised myself I'd sign up for a race in June and took full advantage of the fact that I happened to be in NY to make it happen ;). This year I have been determined to keep up with running (and activity in general) right through summer with a view to starting out the season much stronger than ever before in the Fall.

I ordered 'Run Free - in miles we trust' shirts for the family to benefit the USO - an organization that serves military families...

So happy that Lu is back! She is very excited to get her bib and packet :)

And even happier that the shirt is so cute...

And it's a small :)

Mike is a bit more sedate when he's registering...

There was a watermelon eating contest scheduled after the race. This guy wore his on his head...

And this guy had painted himself blue for some reason...

There were about 4,000 runners which totally blew my mind! I can't believe how many people in Orlando don't use the heat as an excuse! Way to represent - O-Town!!

I've missed my Lu...

Now we are both rocking the sleeveless shirts - how'd that happen?

Today was tough for me and I just wanted to know that I ran the whole thing. I spent most of the race doing endless math to figure out how much longer I had to keep going! I tried to focus on celebrating the day and having an appreciation for the fact that we live in this amazing country where we can run whenever, wherever...and even painted blue with a melon on our head if we want to! And I made it through!!

Happy Birthday America!!