fitness for the whole family

Last month, I posted about one true way to get into shape: sign-up for a race and buy a cool pair of running shoes.  Today, I am writing to say that my gimmick worked. It’s funny how those bright pink shoes motivated me to get into shape. I finished the half marathon without stopping and had one of the best weekends of my life!

Why was it so amazing? I realized while running the race that this was a special weekend for my family. A weekend where we were making memories. My son is 4 ½, so he’s at that age where he will remember key events in his life and I’m hoping that this was one of them.

Let me set the stage. The race day weekend theme was Star Wars. 3-2-1, go! Wearing a Darth Vader costume, my son took off for his first-ever race. It was a 200m run through the Downtown Disney District in Anaheim. My husband and I ran side-by-side with him. In the last few seconds of the race, my son pulled ahead and won. He was greeted at the finish line with cheers from the fans, a big Star Wars medal was placed on his neck and he earned his first-ever finisher’s t-shirt. He was so happy!

We spent the day enjoying Disneyland theme park and then at 5:30 am the next day, my husband and I were off running a half marathon. We were dressed as Hans Solo and Princess Leia (of course). The 13.1 miles were filled with lots of fun sights and sounds. From Star Wars music to signs to fans and runners dressed in costume, it was a spectacular event! As we raced through the theme parks, storm troopers were riding around the merry-go-round and stars were reflected on the buildings in the wee hours of the morning as we raced through the theme parks. It felt great to feel fit and to complete a long race.

But ultimately, the best part of the whole weekend, wasn’t finishing the race. It was knowing that we had made a great family memory. And beyond that, knowing that the memory revolved around exercise. As a child, I have so many wonderful sports memories. My Dad used to play catch with me every summer day and both of my folks came to cheer me on at all of my basketball games. I want to instill a sense of importance, respect and fun when it comes to sports. I hope that my son finds the sport that he likes best and truly enjoys it.