The Katy YMCA holds an annual Turkey Dash each year. It consists of a 1 mile kids race, a 5K (3.1 miles for you non-runners) and a 1 mile family run/walk. It's a lot of fun, and there are lots of games for the kids and bands that play throughout the event as well.
I signed up Sammy for the 1 mile run, after confirming that I could, indeed, run with him. After all, Sammy is 4, and without me there with him, Lord knows if he would have come back! Plus, I didn't want him getting trampled if he fell over. Sammy was really excited, especially after I told him that he would have a race number bib and a chip timer, just like Mommy! Granted, he responded by saying, "You mean like Dowitos?" (Doritos - which he ate after my 25K Relay) Apparently, the child is motivated by food, so I said, "Yes, Sammy, you can have Dowitos after you run!"
I spent two weeks beforehand trying to prime Sammy for his race. The first day I ran with him in the neighborhood, we went about 0.76 miles, and he ran a 16:40 pace. Granted, he walked. A lot. I tried to convince him to run, but it wasn't happening.
The next time we ran, I discovered a strategy. First, I made him hold hands with me. My thinking here is I wanted him to be able to run the 1 mile race holding my hand. That way, if he tripped, or someone accidentally ran into him, I would be able to hold him up and prevent him from falling and skinning his knee. Second, it was a lot harder for him to start walking if Mama was still running and holding his hand. Third, anytime he tried to slow down, I said, "Omigosh, Sammy! There's a monster behind us! He's coming! He's big!" Then I would describe the 'monster' as being purple with stripes, or perhaps orange with green polka dots. Sammy LOVED it! I'm not condoning telling your child a monster is after them, as Lord knows they'll have nightmares, but I think he really got into it, considering he started describing the monster as well. Plus he was smiling. So, his second pacefinder was 0.87 miles at a 14:41 pace. Improvement is nice!
Fast forward to Thanksgiving Day . . . we showed up at the YMCA and picked up our chip timers. The plan was for Sammy and I to run the 1 mile kids race together, then I would run the 5K on my own, and then the entire family would participate in the 1 mile run/walk, with Mike and I running and me pushing the double jogging stroller with both kids in it. We got there early, and ran into a running buddy from my half marathon training. I introduced him to the family, and Chuck and I made plans to stick together during the 5K. I love my half marathon training group - so supportive and everyone is so friendly!
The STARTing line! I'm in the red, look just to the middle left . . . hand behind my ear!
When the buzzer sounded, Sammy and I stepped off with all the kids in the 1 mile race. I have to be honest here and tell you that Sammy whined and screamed during the entire first 1/4 mile. It was terrible. I kept asking him what his problem was, and he was telling me that he couldn't run, and that his feet hurt. I'm embarrassed to say this, but finally I leaned over and said, "Sammy, do you remember those chips I promised you?" He turns to me, eyes wide, and says "Yes?" And I respond, "They don't give them to kids who are screaming!" His eyes get even bigger, and he says, "OK! I can do this." "Yes, you can, Sammy!"
Look for the middle, in the red! Sammy is holding my hand!
From there on out, he was focused. I don't know if he really wanted those chips, or if he just wanted to get done, but he ran hard, and walked shortly. Look out, everybody- here comes Katy's newest Fitizen! So proud of my little man, he ran 1.00 miles at a 14:40 pace. I'm thinking if I would have started training him a month earlier, he would have done better, but overall not too bad for a 4 year old with no training!
Here we are, coming in from the 1 mile run!
Look how proud of himself he is!
After finishing my mile with Sammy, we found Mike and Sophia, and I started to get mentally prepared for the 5K. Believe it or not, this was actually the first 5K race I've ever done! I know, it seems silly, considering I've done longer races than this, but this was my first 5K. I lined up at the start, and luckily my running friend Chuck found me. We quickly developed a race plan, and at the gun we took off. The first 1.5 miles were great! We ran at a 9:30 pace, and we were passing people left and right. I stopped to walk through the water station (always a challenge - cups everywhere, and people stop right in front of you so it can be a bit dangerous to continuously run through these), and then ended up needed to stop at the 2 mile mark as well, as my ankle was killing me. Not sure what was going on there, but Chuck got ahead of me, and stayed ahead for the rest of the race - I could never quite catch up! Chuck finished with an overall pace of 9:30 per mile, and I finished at a total of 30:22, with an overall pace of 9:47.
My goal, going into the race, was to finish under 30 minutes. Despite the fact that I missed it by 22 seconds, I'm not disappointed. I'm still not sure what the issue was with my ankle, but I was extremely close to my goal, and a 9:47 pace is the best I've ever pulled for a 5K. I know, it was my first 5K race, but honestly I run a 5K every Thursday at Luke's Locker in the mornings, so I knew my average timing.
We finished out the morning with the 1 mile family run/walk. To be quite honest, Mike and I were a bit disappointed with this. We had to be at the very back, since we had a jogging stroller. Unfortunately, everyone in front of us was walking. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with walking, but the walkers were strung out across the entire course, so there was no way for us to get around them. Not only that, but the walkers in front of us were mostly family groups, which meant they weren't familiar with running calls. By this, I mean, when we would call, "On your left," meaning move over, a faster person is trying to pass you on the left, they either didn't hear (which is unlikely, considering how loud I can be), or else they didn't understand, as they continued walking and would not move over. It was quite disappointing, and we probably would only participate in the family run/walk again if both the kids were walk/running. No way would we take the jogger!
Our family, before the run/walk 1 miler!
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