John's first 5K!*

[*John finished at 38:47, so I checked my Garmin after and it was actually about 2.56 mi/4.12K: a pace of about 15:09, which was right what I hoped for]

Last night I loaded the boys and a huge amount of towels, dry clothes, trash bags, and water bottles into the car and the three of us went to a Glow Run!

My expectations were pretty low, because the last time I tried to take them on a one-mile run, it turned into a forced death march... I carried Christopher most of the way and John walked more slowly than humanly possible, with a dour look the whole time.

John wasn't super convinced even last night until I told him we'd probably be running in the rain. Then he was in...

It mostly just sprinkled and was about 68 degrees, which is actually pretty good running conditions.

 

Lately anytime I float the idea of John running a race with me, I always hammer home the idea that you don't have to run fast, you can walk, but YOU CAN'T STOP! So in the car on the way up, we did this a couple times:

Mommy: Are we going to get wet?
John and Christopher: Yes!
Mommy: Are we going to stop?
John and Christopher: No!
Mommy: Are we going to have fun?
John and Christopher: Yes!

 

And that pretty much sums it up... we walked over to the port-a-potty and took care of that. Then we picked up my packet and paid for John. We went back to the car and geared up. We used a borrowed jogging stroller, which is actually the nicest one I had ever used (Thanks Chip and Diane!!). We put on all our glow paraphernalia and then headed back over.

There was a "foam mountain," created by a professional theatrical soap bubble machine. John was into that and coaxed Christopher into it. It mostly just made them very wet. Christopher didn't like it. We didn't do body or shirt paint, all though it was on offer. I also didn't really need to bring our own glow stuff, they had glow necklaces, led flashing wands, and led foam sticks.

We lined up at the back of the starting line. The start took us through the foam. It was mostly a sort of mixed course (dirt/gravel park roads, open field, and sidewalks) through Heritage Park in Simpsonville. Only a couple of gentle grade increases and decrease. We got about 1/4 mile from the start and Christopher started asking when it would be over... but we got into a groove. John and I alternated setting the pace. Running - he would run ahead and I would follow. Walking - he would fall behind and I would do a medium pace (for me) walk. Jogging - we stayed together. We mostly alternated between walking and running, whenever John wanted a change. I had the Garmin set on 1 minute intervals and used that to extend the running bits a little longer sometimes.

John was actually fantastic. He just moved along at whatever rate waving his foam LED stick. He was great at avoiding mud, neither of us fell, and he only "stopped" twice, to pick glow stuff off the ground...

I kept yelling, "You're doing so good," "I can see you," "Don't bump into people," etc.

A couple times he said "You're doing well too, Mommy" and actually patted me on the back once as he passed me...

After the race, we hung out and drank some water - the free cookies were already gone - and then hung around for the kids dance contest. John was hoping to win, and didn't but they played "I like to Move It, Move It," which is HIS song...

Then we headed home. Walking back to the car, John said, "I think I'm pretty proud of myself." I told him he had a right to be!

Christopher also received the award for "most miserable conditions on the trip," since he was wet and cold and bounced and bored in the stroller. He did really great too, and his holding it together meant that I could enjoy the run too!