Happy Heart Day!

We didn't exactly boycott Valentine's Day here, but we skipped the hubub, for the most part. Cards were homemade, even those which went with kids to school. Instead of big meals out and gifts, we ran a local race. We all rolled out of bed before 6:00 this morning, and headed off to parts northeast. The gang cheered for me as I headed out on the Half Marathon at 8:00. I was finished and waiting to cheer for them when they crossed the finish line of the 5k.

The little pink blur starts a line of three of my racers.
B1 was hanging out next to me at this point, having finished the 5k twenty minutes earlier.

We came home for cleanup and refueling. There's been napping, and much sharing of loving thoughts, as the kids try to blow each other up in a free-for-all game of Halo. We'll be watching last night's Monk & Psych episodes in a little bit, over sandwiches and big mugs of cocoa. A hand or three of Munchkin is also on tap.

It still cost money - $4 for construction paper, glitter & a new bottle of glue, and $145 for five entries in the Run the Reagan Half/10k/5k/1 Mile. Two or three gallons of gas for the trip. But, on the "life energy" scale of value - the number of hours you have to work to earn the money to buy the thing, from Your Money or Your Life - this was a bargain of a Valentine's Day.

Run the Reagan Half & 5k, Unofficial Results

B1 - 5k; 30:21 (new PR for him!)
B2, DD & Dad - 5k; 54:33
Me - Half - 2:07:52 (watch time)
Official race time is 2:09:41 - due to portaloo break around mile 5 or so - Curse the combo of my thimble sized bladder and need for hydration during long runs!

And, a helpful tip I'll share:
If you are ever asked the question "Can you fix apple strudel for dessert?" by a camera-holding relative, don't reply "Really? Apple Strudel?" It is an attempt to snap the photo at the exact moment of the "oodle" in strudel, in order to win a goofiest picture wager with teen. (Note that my daughter looks great, as always. So glad she didn't take after me in the goofy looks dept.)

Unfortunately, this will be the best photo of the day. The rain and drizzle had mostly ended by time the half started, but it was quite misty much of the way. I'm sure the finish line photos will have all of us looking like half-drowned cats.