Stuffed Turkey 5K - The girls' first time running.

One of my running goals for 2018 was to complete a 5K in under 28 minutes, which is a time I was able to achieve many, many years ago.  Over the summer, I came to the realization that I am not and will never be a speedy runner and so I significantly cut back on speedwork and focused more on increasing my mileage.  I have also come to accept that I do not like organized road races and that's okay.  I don't really have a good explanation other than the beast of my ever-growing anxiety.  I find myself feeling jumpy and caged-in surrounded by crowds, waiting for races to begin.

Despite not fully enjoying road races, I still wanted to challenge myself and see how I would do in a 5K.  Over the summer, Rich ran a 5 mile race while the girls and I completed the walker course, which was 3 miles.  This Stuffed Turkey race was in the back of my mind as a last resort to running a 5K in 2018.  This particular race is not as anxiety inducing because it's on a course I run all the time (it goes right by my neighborhood) and it starts/ends at a school, which is open to runners/spectators.

After the summer race, Rich and I had an agreement that I could run this race solo while he walked with the girls.  But then two of the girls participated in the school's running club this fall and they expressed an interest in actually running the race, not just walking it.  They run at different paces so Rich and I discussed logistics and alternatives.  The only solution we could really come up with was to have him stay with the slowest runner(s).  This way, the girls would be sandwiched between us and once I finished, I could walk/run back to find them.

Unfortunately, I was not completely comfortable with this plan.  The roads are not closed for this race and more than two miles of it take place on traditional New England backroads.  If you live here, you know what I mean.  These are old, narrow cow paths with seemingly meaningless bends and curves.  And, oh yeah, there are zero sidewalks for a mile of the race.  This is also a very small race with only a couple of hundred runners and if you're not running less than a 10 minute mile, you're probably going to find yourself alone on the race course at some point.

Drivers from Massachusetts are often referred to as "massholes" with good reason.

Call me paranoid if you want, but I've lived through a stillbirth.  I know what can happen.

I needed to decide if I was going to run for myself or sacrifice my time and run with the girls.

On Veteran's Day, the girls danced and marched in a small, local parade.  Once the temperature drops below 70, I'm usually always cold but for some reason, even though it was only in the mid-40s, it didn't feel very cold outside to me that day.  I decided to take advantage of this rare internal warmth and run 3 miles of the 5K route.  We've had a rainy, cold fall and I haven't been running outside very much.  Because of this, I don't really know how fast I can run.

I completed the 3 miles in 28:31.  Could I have run it faster?  Maybe.    

I opted to run with the girls because I'm a mom, and that's what moms do.  Plus, it's not like I was going to finish with a PR.

It was only 12 degrees outside on Thanksgiving morning and thankfully this race wasn't on Thanksgiving itself or no one would have been running it.  By race day, the weather was much more cooperative and we all dressed in layers and headed off to the school.

Our game plan was for Rich to stick with Anna and I would run with Emily and Allie.  It's important to note that the girls did not train for this.  Anna and Emily participated in the running club at school this fall, but that only met once a week for 6 weeks.  I think the most they ran/walked on those days was 2 miles.  There was one week I took the girls and a friend over to the bike path for a run so they could get in 2 runs that week.  I had wanted to do that every week but, again, the weather was so gross and they all had homework and dance and blah, blah, time slips away.  About a month ago, the girls started asking if they could run on the treadmill.  They did that twice before this race.

Successful runners set goals and teaching kids to run allows them to set and successfully reach their goals.  Every time I go for a run, I have a goal in mind.  My goals are usually mile based.  So I'll say, "I'm going to run 4 miles today."  If I were to say, "Hey, I'm just going to go out and see how I feel," I probably would not get very far.  Obviously, there are days where I may have a goal but I can't reach that goal because of how I'm feeling (illness, extreme heat, etc.) and that's okay.                        

If you have a goal of completing a 5K and you complete that 5K, you have successfully reached your goal!

Goals:  For races, I usually have a certain finish time as a goal but because this was the girls' first race and they hadn't trained for it, we couldn't really set a time goal.  So we set the goal of running as much as possible.  We also set short term goals as we were running, such as "run until we reach that fire hydrant and then we can walk for 1 minute."

Mile 1:  All five of us started off together and after about a third of a mile, Anna needed to slow down.  A pack of kids ranging in age from 6-7 to 11ish sprinted past us shortly after the start.  I know the girls saw those kids and how much faster they were running and I told them to not try to catch up.  They are sprinting, which is not sustainable, and they will eventually have to walk and we will pass them.  And that's exactly what happened.

Rich stayed behind with Anna while I continued running with Allie and Emily.  There was a group of three older adults who were running near us at a nice, slow, consistent pace.  We kept passing them and then when we would slow down, they would pass us.  I told A and E that we should just run behind them and follow their pace but they didn't want to.

Time - 12:45

Mile 2: We ran/walked the second mile.  At the mile 1 mark, Allie began complaining of a stitch in her side, and then Emily had the same complaint.  We pushed on though.  I will say that I am not an easy coach.  Running sometimes is all about mind over matter and you need to push yourself.  Or you need someone to push you.  Right before the second mile marker, we came upon a water station so the girls took a little break.

Time - 25:11

Mile 3:  This last mile was the toughest one.  It's mostly a slight uphill battle and even though it's not a big hill, when you're tired. it can be tough.  Allie had recovered from the pain in her side and kept running ahead but then stopping and waiting for us to catch up.  At this point, there was a sidewalk and I knew there would be a cop at the end of the road who would help her cross the street back over to the school. I told her to go ahead, that she could finish with a time of 36:00, which would be awesome for her first (untrained) race.  She said she wanted to stay with us.  Later she told me she was afraid she wouldn't be able to find us at the finish.

The Finish: When we did reach the school, I encouraged Allie to run ahead.  She finished in 38 minutes, some seconds.  Emily and I crossed the finish line right over 39 minutes.  We walked back up to the main road to look for Anna and Rich.  About five minutes later, we spotted them.  I grabbed Anna's hand and ran down the school's driveway to the finish line with her.  Her time was 46 minutes and some change.

So here's the thing - these are all awesome times, especially for kids who have not trained!  I'm so proud of them for going out there and pushing themselves.  Anna was born with the most severe form of spina bifida and she finished a 5K with a fantastic time!

The girls are taking a bit of a running break right now, but Emily and Anna plan to join the spring running club, which meets only one day a week.  I've told them that if they can squeeze in another day of running, their next 5K will be easier.

Every time you go out there, it will get easier.