Insane Inflatables Was Nothing but Fun [PICS]

You won't believe who ran with me at Insane Inflatables.

This year's Insane Inflatables a the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds was even more insane than last year. There were brand new obstacles, some which resemble those you see on that Amercian Ninja show (only inflatable-style) and others were just sheer bouncy fun.

I'll admit. I wasn't fully prepared for this run. I didn't train a whole lot but did do some bodacious mountain climbing two weeks before and kept some cardio going after. All I knew Saturday was that I had to run this race. The two kiddos I had with me were so excited, there was one thing I knew for sure. We were gonna run a race that day. And we did.

The crowd was pumped, the inflatables were mostly pumped (I kinda got stuck between one of them that got a little deflated after hundreds of people jumped on them) and I looked at my boss and said "It's the last wave. I gotta run this!" Thankfully, he agreed. The kiddos and I and another guy who runs around the offices here decided we'd take the Insane Inflatable challenge.

We had a blast. We ran, we walked some, we jumped a whole lot and at one point, it was a matter of sheer joy watching my kids play, laugh and try new things. My 8-year-old went through the whole thing like it was just another day at the playground. As soon as we finished, she got into the bouncy house for kids and jumped in there for 20 more minutes. She even talked me into swimming for 2 hours after. I think she may be on her way to a triathlon next and if I'm not careful, she'll talk me into doing that, too.