Sorry I’ve been MIA–It seems I needed a week off from my week off. Two weeks ago was my Spring Break and I enjoyed it so much I needed a recovery week lol!
Anyway, I’m alive 😀
Before I recount any running I’ve been doing, I first want to tell you about someone else who has been running.
MY DAUGHTER ❤
Yep, I signed her up for a local Healthy Kids Running Series that consist of 5 races in the span of 6 weeks (we get Easter weekend off). It’s a 50 yard dasher that’s organized by age groups so my daughter is in the 2-3 year olds (seriously though, how cute is that?). The race is also separated by gender.
I wasn’t sure what approach to take: to hype the race and get her excited or downplay it like it was no big deal. I decided on the former as I didn’t want her to feel pressured or like this was a huge deal and get her nervous.
On Saturday night, I asked her if she wanted to run the next day and she squealed with delight! So of course we went straight to the closet to choose an outfit.
Pink everything ❤
I didn’t mentioned anything about an actual race though. Just kinda kept it low key.
I ran on Sunday morning with my husband (I want to tell you all about this soon!) and when I came home, my daughter asked me her usual, “Mommy all done run?” and I said, “Yep, now it’s your turn!”
Her eyes opened wide as she remembered and she squealed, “YES!!! I run like mommy!!”
My heart soared.
I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from her as she always gets excited about mommy running but she was seriously spazzing about her doing the running. I wanted to share and join in on the excitement but was nervous about making it into too big of a deal. In retrospect, I think I should have prepared her a little more.
pumped.
We arrived at the race location just in time (3 p.m. which is my only major complaint about this series. It’s Phoenix. It’s hot. It was already 90 degrees at 3). Anyway, there were a lot more people/kids than I expected and then after a few minutes of waiting, organizers began grouping kids by age group.
My daughter’s group went first. She was still super pumped at this point as we walked towards the start line. She kept repeating, “I run fast! I run fast!” I knelt down next to her to point her in dad’s direction–who was at the finish line.
Giving her the pep talk—looking fierce. (I love this picture so much.)
After our chat, I started to say my good byes but as soon as she realized that mommy wasn’t running with her, my daughter was not having any of it. Not. At. All.
I tried telling her mommy would run next to her on the sidelines but after the boys had gone and she saw they were solo, she refused to move an inch.
The whistle blew for the girls to go and they were off. Except my daughter. Two girls stumbled over each other and fell and when my daughter saw that, it was over for real.
In tears, she threw herself in my arms and said she wasn’t going. She didn’t want to.
I consoled her and told her it was okay, that we were going to do it together this time. So we did.
We crossed the finish line hearing dad and grandparents cheering loudly and it was then that she lifted her head up and smiled.
She turned to me and said, “Mommy, I ready!”
All I could do was laugh and tell her, “You’ll do it again next time!”
Of course I would’ve liked for her to have run it by herself, but for her first time, her first race, I felt it was a success. She experienced the race atmosphere, which is definitely daunting at any age, and I know that as she acclimates, it’ll become a more familiar environment.
I was so proud of her. I was so proud that at the end she wanted to go back for a do over. Just like mommy and the Phoenix Marathon, we’ll get it next time! We sure will! 🙂
–Were you involved in any athletics when you were young? What was your first sport experience?
–Do you get pre-race jitters?
