On Running and Trinity

 If you hang out with our family long enough, you'll discover something: we like to run. Autumn has been running for quite a few years and I have been regularly running for a few years now. It's a regular activity around our house, although Autumn and I try and impact family time as much as possible. But even then, the kids are well aware that we run. We rarely run the same events, so one of us almost always has the kids there to cheer one of us. It's not something that I have put much thought into, but I like the idea that what we do makes an impact on our kids. A friend of mine told me that there was a study (yeah, I know, another study) that talked about reading. It turns out (according to this one study) that it wasn't how much you read to your kids that makes them a reader as an adult, but simply how much you read. They were more likely to develop the habit because it was what you as parents did, not what you told them to do. Interesting. Given that, you can imagine how much I enjoyed the fact that Trinity just ran her first mile!

Over Memorial Day, our family and the Kelley family traveled to Redfish Lake in Idaho, near Stanley. Autumn and Jen were running the 10k version of the Redfish Lake Lodge Memorial Run. It was a good reason to get out of town and visit someplace beautiful. If you have never been, the Sawtooth Mountains are as rugged and majestic as a person could want. It sits at ~6000 ft in elevation, so bring your oxygen tanks, but the place is just gorgeous. The weather can be unpredictable and I have heard stories that Stanley is actually the coldest place in the continental US on average. We had good weather though, so I am not complaining!

It turned out that there was a 1 mile kids' race about an hour or so before Autumn and Jen were running. So we brought the girls down to run it. Fun!

Kal and I ran with Ava and Trinity, so it was great daddy-daughter time! Trinity started off near the back of the pack. We have been working on pacing, so this strategy seemed good. I still question the choice of jeans as running attire, but she never complained. About 1/4 mile in, she slowed to a walk to catch her breath. For the next half a mile or so, we jogged a little, walked a little. It worked, although I had to explain a few times that she couldn't ride on my shoulders for the rest of the way. The awesome thing was that once we popped back onto the final 1/4 mile, she started jogging again until the finish! We crossed the finish line together (she wouldn't let me split off like the rest of the parents) and she received her finishers medal and towel. I was so proud, she kept at it and never really stopped. Maybe next time we'll get her some sweats!

So, this is Trinity's first 5k. Autumn pushed her in the jogger when she was about 7 months old. I told you we like to run! This is also my first 5k in Baker (2nd ever).

So yeah, we like to run. I hope our kids like to run. They don't have to, but I hope they do. It's something that Autumn and I love to do. It's a great way to explore new places when you're traveling. It's a great way to burn off stress. It turns out it's a great way to spend time with family too! Cheers!