I love fun races!

I did an impromptu 5K this weekend. We were supposed to be out of town for a wedding, but my boyfriend’s little man was on day 4 of a fever, so we decided to stay in town and give him time to rest and recoup. There was a little festival in town this weekend that hosts a 5K & 10K on Saturday and then a triathlon and kids’ triathlon on Sunday. I’ll tell you, watching that kids’ triathlon (first year they had that) was absolutely AWESOME!!!  The ages ranged from 5 to 12 and all of them finished with a huge smile on their faces. Pretty cool and inspiring!!

Anyway… I went with my boyfriend’s sister (C) and nephew to run the 5K. We met a group of friends there and I had planned to run with C since we are about the same pace. I knew we’d have fun running together and I just wanted to have fun. I wasn’t out to blow any records out of the water. While we were waiting for the race to start a friend, we’ll call her T, who was with us was telling me it was her first race ever and she had just started doing the Couch to 5K (C25K) program a couple weeks before. (BTW… I HIGHLY recommend this for any new runner or anyone who is getting back into running. It is an awesome, helpful program.) I told her running races is an awesome experience and that first one is intense, but beyond memorable. I guaranteed her that once she finished she’d be asking us when the next one was. LOL

Once the race started I realized right away that I was in trouble. My right side rib pain hit fast and hard. I could feel it on the drive down the night before, but we weren’t even ½ block in when I started to feel the sharp pain. So, I left C to continue on and stepped off the trail to wait for T. I jumped in right beside her and asked if it would be okay if I ran with her. She was happy to have someone with her. Everyone else had started to pick up their pace and that left her behind the pack. She started apologizing, saying she was slow and would walk often, and I told her I was choosing to run with her and would just go with the flow. So, off we went!

I was a youth hockey coach for 15 years and loved it! I only stopped once I moved and had kids. Time just doesn’t allow it. I’m sure I’ll get back into it if any of my kids decide to play down the line. But I’ve noticed that my love of coaching has melded right into my love of running. I helped answer questions my best friend had while she trained for her first half last month and I have run with several of our friends to help pace them, etc. I find it funny because I’m a slow runner (10 minute miles on a good day for short races), but I enjoy it! I may not be the most knowledgeable runner, but I'm more than willing to help if I can.

So, I stayed right by T’s side talking her ear off. LOL I love to run and talk even though I have several friends who tell me from the get go that they do not talk while they run. They all understand that if that’s the case, I’ll talk for both of us! Through the race I told her about my past races, we talked about our kids – well, I talked about mine and she would throw out comments here and there. We smiled and waved at cute little fans cheering us along the way (I'm a bit biased there).

As friends made the turnaround and started coming back toward us from the other direction we would give high fives and cheer them on. I would gear her up for when we were going to run, “See that sign up there? We’re going to run when we get there. I want you to make it to the bottom of that hill up there too. Okay? Ready?” And off we’d go. Then I got tricky and made her run up the hills saying that the faster we got up them, the sooner they’d be over. LOL I was waiting for her to start cursing me out! But she just kept saying okay, I can do this! And she did!!!! The look on her face was priceless when I said, “Hey, see that guy up there on the hill? Once we get to him, we only have one mile left.” She was shocked! She couldn’t believe we were already 2/3 of the way done. She kept thanking me for running with her when in reality I was very happy she let me run with her. I wasn’t in pain, I was out in the beautiful weather and I was having fun!

The finish was awesome! It was the farthest she had run to that point. I told her once we could see the finish line we weren’t going to walk and once we got to “that sign” we were going to run as hard as we could across that finish line. I kept saying, “Run, you’ve got this! Just a few more feet. You’re doing awesome!” And she crossed the finish line to all of those friends (and then some) screaming and jumping and cheering her on with every step. It was awesome!!! As soon as we crossed, she turned around and wrapped me in a big hug and the emotions of what she had just accomplished hit. She just kept saying thank you, telling me she couldn’t have done it. But all of us runners know better… she had it in her all along. Sometimes it just takes someone else by your side to help you realize it. 

That’s the second race in less than a month that I ran with someone to their personal best and felt like it was my best as well. I love running! I love the running community and I love watching those newer runners push themselves and realize that the only thing that was standing in their way of being awesome was the little voice in their heads and not their bodies. It is a fantastic realization, but a constant battle. LOL Anyway… just had to share and leave you with this because it's true.