That's because I didn't know myself. Our local middle school was holding a VERY LOW KEY 5K today, but we had a baseball game scheduled at 9:00 am which meant an 8:15 call time and 8:00 departure. So we had to pass on registering for the 5K.
When word came in at 9:00 pm last night that the games had been postponed due to the field conditions (we've had a lot of rain), I started thinking we could do the 5K. Nicholas wanted to do it, but I told him "we'll see", which usually turns into no.
I stayed up until 1:00 am reading my book and when I switched off my light I said to myself, "yeah that 5K isn't happening." Well my internal clock had another plan and I was awake at 7:00 am. I tossed and turned hoping to just fall back to sleep, but the guilt was weighing heavily on me. Finally at 7:17 I got up and we left the house at 7:33. Impressive!
Nicholas has run a couple of 5Ks before, so I knew he would make it with no problem. The plan was to just send him out on the course and see him in the end. Ella, however, has only done one other 5K and that day she did a LOT of walking. I hoped today to see what she was able to REALLY do.
Like I said, this was a VERY LOW KEY race. There were no chips or timers. We all just lined up near the start line. Ella and I joined the Run/Walkers group near the back. I really didn't care how quickly Ella finished, but I secretly hoped NOT to be the VERY last person finishing.
As soon as the start was announced all the kids (and there were a LOT of kids) took off like a bat out of hell. Even Ella was moving right along. I'm not sure what her pace was (maybe an 11:00 minute mile), but she seemed to be working hard. We were just about .7 miles into the race and Ella started complaining of a side stitch. She even got tears in her eyes. I told her there was no crying, but we could stop and walk.
I went through a few scenarios in my head: She wasn't going to make the whole 3 miles, we'd walk the whole way, she'd be miserable and cry. In order to prevent any of those disasters, I did what any normal person would do. I piggybacked her. I told her she had to tell me when the stitch went away and then she could start running again. Again, I had visions of all the terrible scenarios.
It turns out, all Ella needed was a short break. I carried her about 300 yards and she said she was up to run again.
She was thirsty and we knew the water stop was just up ahead. We walk/ran to the water stop. I knew getting the water in Ella was going to help her to feel better. Remember, we left the house in less than 20 minutes, that meant Ella hadn't even eaten or drank anything. Bad mom!
Ella walked while sipping her water, but was able to start running again at the first mile mark.
Mile 1: 12:46
After the first mile Ella's walk breaks were becoming more frequent. She'd stop to walk and I'd pick out a landmark maybe 200 yards away and tell her that was the point she'd have to start running again. She seemed to be ok with that so we kept with that "technique" through the end of the race.
At just about the 1.5 mile mark we encountered our cheering section (Daddy and Jack). Ella was happy to see her daddy, but said she couldn't really smile for the camera (that's a first).
George let me know Nicholas and his friend Owen has cruised by him and were looking really good. I really didn't have any doubts about Nicholas' capabilities to finish, but I was worried he wouldn't run his own race and either have to run too slow or too fast. It seemed, however, that he and Owen we doing great together.
As soon as we passed Jack and George, Ella got a little bit discouraged because she saw the hill we had to climb. She complained a little to herself, but she never said she didn't want to keep going. We passed a water stop and I asked her if she wanted to stop and she said, "not yet". I guess she wanted to tackle the hill first.
She actually did REALLY good up the hill and before I knew it we were at the 2 mile mark and able to make our turn around and head back to the finish.
Mile 2: 13:58
We passed the same water stop Ella had passed before, and this time she decided to partake.
We continued our, now familiar, walk/run method and headed into the home stretch. At this point I could tell Ella was spent. I asked her what her complaint was and she said it was her legs hurting her. I told her that she was almost there and she just had to push through. We took on longer walk break as we rounded into the 3 mile mark.
Mile 3: 13:33
We were about 500 yards away from the Finish (although we couldn't see it due to a curve in the course) and Ella asked to walk. I told her she couldn't walk that close to the end of race and told her she just had to push through.
Sure enough, she pushed through and crossed the finish line in 41:28, averaging 13:21 per mile.
I can't even begin to tell you how proud I was of her. I was proud of her because, at just 6 years old, she completed a 5K. I was more proud that she pushed through when it wasn't easy and that she never asked to quit and she never gave up on herself! I don't even think she realizes what she did was spectacular, but a lot of the other racers did and so many people congratulated my little girl.
I wish I had more details of Nicholas' race, but he finished WELL ahead of us. Apparently he had given it his all because as soon as he crossed the finish line (in 28:58 mind you) he barfed.
I know Nicholas was a little embarrassed, but I told him that's how he knows he gave it his all. He may not have understood today, but I'm sure he'll look back and say, "remember that time I barfed at the 5K".
I'm proud of Nicholas for giving it his all and now holding a better 5K PR than his mama (hopefully not for long).
I'm so glad it worked out that we were able to attend this 5K. I love experiencing this kind of stuff with my kids and I know it's something they won't soon forget. Congrats to everyone!!!
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