Our First 5k

 One of my New Year's "Resolutions" was to run a 5k with Analise. She has always loved and done well with the school's running program. I had read about two different color runs in Omaha, but I just couldn't settle on the right date and making it all work.

Then God blessed us with an opportunity in our own back yard. Well, not really....more like down the street.  UNK was offering the first Color Stampede in Kearney. When I found out this, I knew it what just what I wanted. 

Analise and I did some training after school. We'd go up to the closest park and ball fields. She and I would run around the field while playing fetch with Caramel, and the other two would play in the sand pit.

I was excited, and Analise was too, she just didn't know what to expect.

Sunday morning was just right - a little brisk but not windy. We joined 600 runners down at the park. My goal was to land somewhere in the middle of the run. Let Analise walk when she needed to, yet push her as well.

Here we are at the starting line - nice and clean.

 Our first color station - blue. It's just colored cornstarch.

 Running through pink.

 And yellow

 After we finished. Analise only needed a couple breaks of walking. We finished about number 260 with times of 35 minutes. The best part - we were still smiling at the finish. We loved  having Brandon, the girls and Grandma and Grandpa at all the color stations cheering us on.

 We were given two packs of pink powder for the color blast at the end of the run. We missed that part since we wanted to get to church. I know now to take it anyway and do it while we run. This time though, we just shook it on each other.

I learned ALL the color comes out of the clothing. Which is good for the wash, but Analise was sad her shirt wasn't colored anymore. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this time with Analise. I loved talking with her on our practice runs. I loved challenging her a bit and seeing her rise to the challenge. And I loved completing a goal. I think I could run 5ks as a hobby...