Summer has arrived!

Last weekend my family welcomed in Summer with the Spring Lake 5 and an after party at my parents place in Spring Lake Heights. David was the first to ring in the season. Friday night he took 1st place in his heat of the Kids Race. Unfortunately, Steve and I missed it by about 3 minutes, but my Dad (Gramps) was there to be his coach. It turns out, David did not need much coaching. He took off like a bat out of heck - that is after the girl next to him bit the dust! Yeah, that's right...the little girl next to David was being pushed along by her Dad, when all of a sudden she was face down on the concrete with Dad on top. Why do people feel the need to 'push' their children? All the kids earn the same medal no matter how they do. People need to chill. Back to David. He was so cute when he got back to my parents to tell us the news. He was wearing his Spring Lake 5 Kids Race shirt and medal. The smile on his face said it all. We are very proud of him.

Saturday it was the adults turn. We all met at my parents and walked up to Ocean Ave for the race. By all, I mean: Mom, Mrs. Pfennig, Aunt Carol, Uncle Tom, John, Mark, Jen, Kate, Josh, Aunt Judy, Uncle Jack, Jill, Joe, Mike, Laura-Ann, Tony & myself. There were also some non-participants: Dad, Steve, David, Ava, Birthe, Ed and Anna. My Dad, Anna, Birthe and Ed drove up to watch us from the Breakers porch and later on one of the streets. The guys, Kate & Jill ran the 5 miles, the rest of us walked. It was a very warm morning. After the 1st mile, my heels were bleeding. By the 3rd mile I separated from my Mom and Mrs. Pfennig and picked up my speed. At the end, I was exhausted. I finished in 1 hr. 18 min. Not bad for my first try.

Unfortunately, my cousin Mike ended up having a heat stroke and did not finish the race. We could not even find him, until the ambulance he was in called my Dad's cell phone. I could not believe it when I saw him. He looked awful (Sorry Mike). It took him all day to recover and I do not think he really felt better for a few days. I am so glad that he is ok. It was scary.

Aside from that, it was a good day. The after party went well and as always the crowd was a lot of fun. We kicked off the summer!

My plan is to walk 3 times a week so that next year I can finish with a better time. I just have to let my heels heal first ;)