Bridge Run Success

Well, I did it.

Something for me.

I made plans to go to Charleston and run a 10k race (that's 6.2 miles for you metric-challenged people out there) and I did it. And it felt good.

Everything worked out. Brandon went to Alabama with his buddies for a conference so Ella and I had some girl time together. We stopped in to Columbia so we could give Grammy and Pappy some baby time before we trekked down I-26 towards the coast. Ella slept the whole way (Praise the Lord for THAT!) and we arrived in Mt. Pleasant just in time to eat some pasta dinner with Claire & Chris Eckert, Nan & Eric McGregor, and Mary Johnston. Sooooo fun!

Claire hadn't been feeling well, and was iffy as to whether she'd be able to haul her sick body over the bridge. I thought I was prepared to run it alone because I brought along my new iPod shuffle that PB&J bought me for my birthday. I was sad to realize, however, that I forgot my running earphones! The earbuds constantly fall out of my little ears when I don't sit perfectly still.

So I was not really excited about running 6.2 miles by myself AND with no music. But God had other plans.

My running buddy, Brooke, and her husband had signed up for the race but were not able to make it down to Charleston because of work issues. I had had their race packets and t-shirts picked up, and luckily had their numbers available. Since the race officials were being pretty adamant about not letting "bandits" run the race (read: people who didn't pay the $25 registration fee but who still want to run).

I called my old running buddy, Shannon. She and I used to run in Charleston before I got old and married and had a kid. She hadn't signed up but wanted to run...what a coincidence ;)

So we got to run and take the entire hour it took us to catch up, too! She has a baby girl who is about 2 weeks younger than Ella, so we have lots to talk about. It was wonderful to just enjoy the morning...beautiful running weather, 40,000 people, and the view from the top of the bridge. We weren't worried about a time or anything but finishing without walking...we did so in just over an hour. Not too shabby for some new mamas.

Claire, if you're reading this, I'm going to put a big space right here and will fill it with the picture you're going to send me that we took on your mama's back deck...