The Undy 5000 race was a big success! Jenny, Brenden, Katy, Eric, and I arrived around 8:15am at White Rock Lake and started the race at 9:15. Over 600 runners and walkers participated, raising over $93,000 to fight colorectal cancer! Despite a starting temperature in the 40s, the sky was clear and the sun bright, so we were quite comfortable by the end of the race. Since I’m sure you’re wondering, no one ran in just their underwear, due at least in part to the cold weather. Most wore sweatpants or leggings with boxers or panties over them and a shirt or jacket on top. Needless to say, it was a weird sight. Here we are in our boxers:

Here’s a picture of Katy and Eric:

Eric and I ran while the girls and Brenden walked. Eric turned in an impressive time of 26.39. RunOn posted the full results here. I was also proud of preggo Jenny for walking the entire 3.1 miles while pushing Brenden and cooking/carrying Jonathan. It wasn’t easy and left her very tired and sore, but she pushed ahead and finished. Great job, love!

I tried ChiRunning, a fairly new (?) approach to running that alters your stride and posture to help you run more efficiently and reduce injury – just what I need. Although I haven’t mastered it yet, the technique allowed me to finish in a PR (personal record) of 28:18 with only minor pain in my leg. I was so happy and grateful to God and the designers of the technique. I ran most of the way with short stretches of walking. When I ran, I ran significantly faster than I normal do. ChiRunning helps you cover more ground per stride with less effort. I hope that by further improving my technique and building my endurance, I might be able to keep up the same pace for an entire 5k or longer.