A few days before the Bolder Boulder 10K Emma (12 years old) and I had a talk. She was being hard on herself about running the race and really wanted to improve on her time from last year. I know Emma, and I know her mind can be her worst enemy (as it can be for most of us). I told her there were two expectations I had for her with this race:
1. No complaining (she is Shut Up + Run’s offspring, right?)
2. Run a race she could be proud of, whatever this means (meeting a time goal, feeling good the whole race, etc.)
This is not to say she couldn't let me know when she got a cramp or got tired. But it did mean that I didn’t want to spend 6.2 miles hearing about her being miserable. After all, she wanted to do this race. I never told her I expected her to do it or that I cared if she did it or not. You might remember last year we had a tough time for the first half of the race – I guess I wanted it to go a bit better than that and for her to enjoy the day just for the fact that she COULD run, and that we were together.
We got our cave girl costumes on and got ready to go.
At the start Emma said, “I am going to take it one mile at a time. I am not going to think about how much further I have to go.” She ran really strong the first three miles, and said, “I am just having confidence in myself. That is the difference between this year and last year.” YES!
We high-fived our way through the miles, running through sprinklers every chance we got. I hit as many people as possible with my club. I almost did a keg stand at mile 4 (no joke), but I suppose that would make me BMOTY (Bad Mother of the Year). I had to laugh at mile three when I was shooting out snot rockets and Kathy, without missing a running step, carefully took out a Kleenex and blew her nose in the most lady-like way possible. I don’t know why she’s friends with me. It seriously is like Lady and The Tramp.
In the end, we finished in 1:09, five minutes faster than Emma ran last year.
I loved the smile on Emma’s face when I told her that. It’s true that getting the time you hoped for is not everything, it’s just a part of the day. For me, sharing this race with my family and Kathy, enjoying the warm Colorado sun surrounded by runners, drinking a beer at 9:00 a.m., and scaling fences is what it’s all about.
What? I had to do it to get to the porta potty.
More shots from the day: Christmas Card?
Post-run Starbucks visit. I want you to see my manly arm. WTF with that? You should see my hairy armpits too (joke)
Heidi didn’t care too much about the costumes, all she wanted was to eat my club. I think she thought it was a turkey leg.
I think she was just feeling sassy because she got a new tag and collar and no she feels all fancy.
What are your Memorial Day plans? Did you race this weekend?
Do you ever run races with your kids? We run the Bolder Boulder together every year and usually a few 5Ks.
SUAR
