Yes, we are both sporting Saucony Cohesion 6!
This past Saturday darling daughter raced her first 5K. She has done races before but they have been 1-mile runs or a quick 100 meter dash on St. Patrick's Day. This was different and we discussed our plan - start slow and incorporate walk breaks.The event: Na Holo Wahine 5K, "Women Running for Joy and Health"
This is a local run held annually in May. What makes is unique is that it is a women's only race (hence the word wahine which means woman in Hawaiian). The kane (men) are there to support their wahine as spectators or volunteers and yes, wahine may volunteer too. Now that you have learned your two new Hawaiian words, let's move forward!
What I loved about this race and what convinced me to register darling daughter and myself is that there was a Mother-Daughter team category. The rules were simple - start and finish together. This seemed perfect for the two of us! An added bonus - proceeds from the race go to Hale Kau Kau, a local organization dedicated to Feeding the Hungry with Compassion and Aloha. So not only were we running together and promoting fitness, I was informing darling daughter that by doing so we were also helping to feed the hungry. This opened a lot of teachable moments as we talked about what we can do to help those less fortunate, like donate food. How we can show respect and thankfulness for the gifts in our life by not wasting food. It worked lovely that my date night meal on Friday had enough leftovers for darling and daughter and I to have two lunches. We discussed the benefits of eating those leftovers versus throwing them away. She then informed me that the leftovers at her school from lunches go to feed the pigs (except orange peels, milk cartons, and napkins...and yes, the pigs can get the leftover milk).
The course was a figure 8 that started at the finish, looped around back to the finish, and then one more loop before finishing for real. The finish line was at the top of a slight incline and I am so happy that darling daughter didn't park her butt down the first time we passed as she was struggling with the distance. When I told her my fear later she replied, "Why didn't I do that?" and laughed.
All images by Randy Sherman
For the most part, the course was clearly marked and the instructions easy to remember. Turn right, right, right, pass the finish, turn left, left, left, finish. But still once we passed the finish the first time and were on our way to make the second loop I did have some moments of doubt if I was on the right path. There had been so many arrows, etc. and we went through a "naked" path before I was reassured we were where we were suppose to be by seeing another course marshal and then an arrow. Phew!My job was to be the encourager as darling daughter was certain I was killing her and that she couldn't go one step further. She clung to me a couple of times and I felt I had to drag her forward a few steps before she perked up. In all reality, I think she was just toying with me. But I do realize this was a big race for her. She went through her moments of doubt and then got energized. I tried to help her along the way by saying we will walk to this mark and then run to that mark. That didn't work too well for her. I learned it was better to just say when it was time to run and she would run as far as she could and then we would walk again. I tried to encourage her to run slowly when running. She did her best. And I am so very proud of her! Our official time was 49:06.
And it gets better! For a good portion of the second loop another mother-daughter team was near us. We did some leap frog but eventually darling daughter and I were leading the way. At one point I saw the police officer and was sure it was the one I saw earlier near the finish. I told darling daughter that we were close, look at the officer. As we got closer I realized it was the wrong officer. The other mother-daughter team was so discouraged. I apologized profusely and darling daughter announced she always knew it was a different officer as his hat was different. Really? I must pay better attention.
As the finish neared for real the other team was catching up. Darling daughter was struggling up the final hill so I decided to make a call and said, "We can do this! Let's all finish together!" The other mom agreed, the other daughter said she wasn't sure, I said we could do it, the other mom said yes we can and we did. Darling daughter managed to keep on running. All four of us finished together. Dear hubby thought we were racing to the end but I corrected him. We weren't racing each other. We were women/ladies/wahine supporting one another all the way to the end. It wasn't about winning. It was about teamwork and finishing. I thanked the other mom and headed off with darling daughter to get her a much deserved doughnut. I grabbed a banana for myself.
The race was organized by Mary Trotto, an amazing runner, and emceed by Nancy Robberson, another amazing runner who made a point to stress that as women we should support one another, not tear each other down, during the door prizes and awards presentation. Amen! There were awards three deep for age divisions, wheelchair division with the Ainsley's Angels, and Mother-Daughter teams.
The after party had a wonderful assortment of food donated by local organizations and/or individuals and I truly appreciate all the kindness and love generated on this day. I look forward to returning with darling daughter next year.
This event opened up a whole new level of our shared running experiences. I saw what darling daughter was going through and the next day we talked about her emotions. She said she wanted to quit 100 times but she never did. She said she felt like she was going to die but she didn't. And after the race, she said, yes! Let's do this again next year. I told her all those emotions and thoughts she experienced are exactly the same Mommy feels with the marathon. She was shocked! But now she also knows what I feel and that yes, I do go back again, and yes, I do get faster...and so will she. Now I just need to pull all her race data from my logs and get her her very own log book to track her races. How wonderful will that be to have a book of all your races dating back to when you were like three-years old?!
Daily Gratitude: I am thankful for Mary Trotto putting together such an amazing event.
Daily Affirmation: I am a good role model.
