A family affair

This past Saturday I participated in the local Hobo Day 5k, this was to be the BIG ONE for me but as my training has been slower than anticipated I was just happy to put another 5k under my belt toward my goal.

It just so happened that my Mom came to visit and wanted to participate in the 5k, but NO running.  She wanted to walk it.  The morning was cold, but as my Mom and I prepared to leave my two sons (ages 8.5 and 7) decided they wanted to come too.  I was so thrilled, I didn't care about running anymore :)  As we waited for the race to begin, my youngest son decided he wanted to stay back and watch with a few co-workers of mine.  I let him go (as I am sure it was because of my co-worker's cute red headed daughter that he wanted to stay....oh boy!)

We were ready!  My Mom, my son and I heard the horn and took off...we jogged the first block just to get momentum.  We then walked slowly being left behind the crowd.  We enjoyed a nice yet brisk walk in the cool (40 degree) morning air.  My legs hurt a little to start, but they always do when I am trying to run or walk on uneven terrain.  We listened to music and kept track of our time on my Nike+ GPS app.

I continued to check on my son and encourage his participation :)  I was a very proud Mother in this moment!  We rounded mile 1.....slowly saw mile 2 and we were making good time for walking!  The first 5k I did, attempting to jog a block/walk a block until I had to just walk, I finished in 55.02 and that was amazing.  I know that my overall pace has slowly increased with practice.  And as we came close to mile 3, I realized I could beat my last time if I could make it to the end in 10 minutes.  No problem.  We picked up our pace.  My son and I decided to leave Grandma walking and jog/walk the last 6 blocks.  We made our final turn and could see the clock counting down.  He took off, yelling "we can make it Mom..." and I wasn't about to let him down...so I took off after him.  I watched the clock as we came to the finish line....just barely.  I came in at 55.14......but considering we really walked the entire way exept that last bit, not too bad!  We walked my Mom across the line at 57 minutes and we all hugged.

So I didn't "run" the race, I completed the event with my family and now have even more support from them in my ongoing training!  And I told my son that we will beat that time next year and his smile was worth every ache!

Charmaine