note to self...

do not ever go running 15 minutes after eating tomato soup and grilled cheese. It was maybe four minutes into last night's run/walk before I got a huge cramp in my side that stuck with me for the entire remaining 26 minutes. Ugh. I thought I was going to die. However, I stuck it out, which made me proud. Last night was way harder than night one...which wouldn't make sense to me other than the tomato soup observation.

On a more positive note, N - my 9 year old, is doing the program with me. I'm so happy and so proud that he is. He's a chunky kid who, although he gets lots of exercise, was cursed with the genes from my side of the family. This means that he'll have to figure out a way to deal with those nasty genes for the rest of his life. It's particularly hard for him because his brother remarkably got the genes from my mother-in-law's family and could blow away in a strong breeze. He could live off milkshakes and candy bars and stay skinnier than one of his younger brother's thighs. Anyway, N, at the tender age of 9, already has horrible body image issues and lacks confidence as a result. It breaks my heart, really. No 9 year old should be ashamed to take his shirt off at the swimming pool and it makes me tear up every time I see him struggle with that. So...back to the positive side. He's running with me and I've discovered that he is probably the BEST cheerleader and motivator on the planet! He's in way better shape than I and he spends most of the 30 minutes running ahead, then turning around while jogging in place to yell "Come on mom, you can do it!" "Don't give up! You're doing great!" or "I'm so proud of you!" Really amazing. I'm glad we're doing this together and our mutual goal is to RUN in the next 5K that his brother runs in. Instead of being spectators, we're going to be participants.