Super Proud Mommy and a Recap

Ahh,  I am sitting here, legs up with coffee and still high from this mornings race.

First, let talk training.  Week three is done!

Monday - 2 miles

Tuesday - rest

Wednesday - 10.5 miles on bike at gym

Thursday - unplanned rest day.

Friday - 4 mile run with KB.  Also played basketball and rode bikes with George.

Saturday - Sorta rest day.  This was a crazy busy day with the kids activities and I got nothing done.  However, I didn't stop and hardly sat down.  That has got to count for something, right?

Sunday - Shamrock Shuffle 5k  Three rest days were not in the plan.  I got all my runs in and ran more miles than were scheduled, however, I really need to stay on track with the cross-training.  Not cross-training is how I ended up injured and I can't let this happen again.

Now, you all know that George has been running on and off with me since December.  He has really enjoyed it and kept saying how he wanted to run in a race with me.

I went through some of the upcoming 5k's that I thought he might be ready for and when I suggested the Shamrock Shuffle, he really got excited for it.  He told me he had the perfect shirt for the race.  This cracked me up!

Saturday night, we both laid out our race outfits.  He went to bed excited and fell asleep later than I had hoped for.

I slept great, was up on time and ready to go! I went in to wake George up and he was already up and smiling.  He too, was ready to go!

We ate a nice breakfast and waited for Elaine to get here and the three of us were on our way.

This race started and finished at North Kingstown High School so there was plenty of parking.  We got our numbers and shirts and then ran back to the car to drop the shirts and jackets off.

It was a bright and sunny day but a little colder than I thought it would be.  I was glad that I grab gloves at the last minute.  George chose to keep his sweat jacket and gloves to run and I am glad he did.

We lined up towards the back with Elaine, KB and Mary.  It was so nice to have friends there to cheer George on.

At the start!

There were 501 people participating in this race and I think I heard them say it doubled since last year.  That is pretty cool.

George held onto my hand until we were on the road and the crowd started to break up.  We quickly lost our friends but they had their own races to run.  My sole purpose today was to help and have fun with George.

We ran the first mile with no problems and I could tell he was having fun.  We talked and laughed a little. At the top of a small hill, you could see a sea of people, mostly dressed in green.  George just love that and said it was cool to see it.  I just smiled.  Little things we may take for granted, like the awesomeness of a crowd of runners in front of us, but not my George, he totally took it in and loved it.

This race had two water stops which was cool.  For a 5k, you are lucky with one, right?  We got water and he walk up to the trash can and threw his cup away.  He was concerned about the cups on the side of the road.  I told him not to worry about it and that the awesome volunteers will take care of it.  It's all part of the race and that someday, we will volunteer at one together.

Mile two, we passed a few people but about half way into it, he asked if we could walk.  Of course we can!  I explained to him that the first time I ever did this, I had to walk to.  It's all good, no worries.  Walking didn't last long though and we were running again.

One of the cool things was the people along the course who cheered George on.  Everyone who came close to us, told him, "Way to go!"  I think he was taken aback by that, and didn't always know what to say to these lovely strangers.

Mile three, was by far our slowest.  He did most of his walking here.  I was fine with that. I did not want to discourage him in any way.  I told him we could run, walk, skip and even pretend we are airplanes if that is what we need to do.  He laughed at that, then skipped.  It was cute.

When we rounded the corner and saw the school, he got really excited!  People were cheering and we saw my good friend Jenn who was already finished.  She yelled and cheered for Michael and that really fueled him.  Just a little further and he saw Mr. RWM and Gracie.  He was waving like crazy yelling, "Look, Daddy is here!"  I got a little teary.

Seriously, look at him running into the finish.  My boy is flying!

We had to loop around to the finish.  I told him to just go if he wanted and he took off!  I stayed right behind him, cheering him on.  On the side lines were our friends and family also yelling for him.  It was so awesome to see and hear!

Now, I have always been proud of my kids.  They are kind, smart, super cute, and hard-headed.  They can make me laugh my ass off and then make me mad as hell.  I suppose those of us with kids, all feel the same way.  However, seeing George take an interest in what I do, work hard and then see it through, is my proudest moment to date.  I know there will be more and I know Gracie will make me just as proud and I look forward to all of it.  There are plenty of times I feel like I am messing up as a mom, but today showed me I am doing something right.

Once we got through the finish, we were met by our friends and family.  I also got to meet in person Beth Runs RI.  I so loved meeting her and we got some great pics of all of us.

At the finish!

Me and the girls!

We hung out for a bit and then headed to Gillian's for the after party.  Everyone with a race bib got one free beer.  Nice!  It was so great to talk with our friends and get to know Beth a little better.  Once the place started clearing out, we were able to get a table and eat a super delicious lunch of corn beef and cabbage, shepherds pie, Guinness stew and nachos.  Yes, nachos, what they're not Irish you say?  Who knew?

While George and I were running, he mentioned he wanted to finish in 34 minutes.  Not sure where he got that number, but I was sure we would finish between 35 and 40 minutes.  Our official time, 35:40!  How cool is that!

This was the first time I ran this race.  It was close to home, easy parking, nice course, wonderful volunteers and just all around fun.  We will be back next year for sure!

Did you run a St. Patty's Day race?  Did you dress up?

Run Strong, Think Big! ~ Nicole