Saturday, June 25, 2011

Sweating Our Thorns Off - Virtual 5K With My Boy


Sometimes a race doesn’t go as we planned.  Sometimes race day brings unexpected twists.  Sometimes the strategy and goals go out the window.  Usually this is not considered a good thing.  This morning it was a great thing.

For this morning’s ‘Sweat Your Thorns Off’ Virtual 5K, I had planned to give it a real go and see what kind of time I could pull off.  I’ve never run a 5K, so I could combine a strong tempo run with another running first.  As I was finishing my pre-run stretching, I was explaining a virtual-race to my kids.  When I finished explaining, my son asked the last question I would have expected … “Can I run?”.  This is one of those questions that regardless of circumstance or consequence, the answer is simply “Yes”.  Thus, today my son and I did our first Virtual 5K together.  Since I had already printed off my race bib, we made a couple quick adjustments and printed one off for my son.
All smiles prior to any thorn sweating
A quick drink of water and we were off.
Game faces on .... or we need more fiber in our diets
We did not set any land-speed records, and we’re not anticipating any sponsorships based on our results.  The first mile was equal parts run and walk, and the rest was mostly walk with a sprinkling of run thrown in.  The boy was definitely struggling, and around mile 2 I could tell he was regretting his decision to come along, but he never said it out loud, and he kept marching on.  I was having a great time.  Even if there wasn’t a whole lot of running, it was still a ‘run’ with my son, and those are still a rare treat.
I couldn’t talk my daughter in to coming with us, but I have a feeling she’ll come around in the not too distant future.  We put her in charge of race photos, and even let her use the ‘real’ camera, so she was loving life.  She also surprised us by creating a finish-line for us while we were out running.  Boston’s finish line has nothing on ours.
BAA - she is available for finish-line consulting
A great way to start the weekend.  Everything else is just icing on the cake.  A big thank-you to Adam @ 'The Boring Runner' for organizing the race and getting my boy and me out on the road together.

22 comments:

  1. I'm pretty sure this is the most beautiful race report I've ever read. And congrats to your son on his first race!

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  2. This is awesome!! Congrats to your son on his first 5K! I totally love the finish line! Sounds like a really great family effort and day!

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  3. What a wonderful race report! Congrats to the both of you!! :)

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  4. LOVE that you got to run with your son - I'd take that over a PR any day :)

    (and the finish line = awesome!)

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  5. That's so great that you and your son ran together, how special!!

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  6. so cute! what a great memory this will make.

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  7. What a great race! And you didn't have to worry about anyone knocking down you or your son ;) Hopefully this will be the first of many races you two will run together :)

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  8. How CUTE! Looks like you guys had a great time! I love your son's bib....3/4! That's too funny!! :0)

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  9. Love the finish line! So very cool that your kids are getting involved with you running. :)

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  10. Aww...LOVE this race recap. Best ever! :)

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  11. Best SYTO 5K race report yet. By far. Running with your son - how frigging cool is that?! You guys look very fierce in the that pre-race pic.

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  12. So sweet! And I love your son's bib. Best race report I've read all weekend!

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  13. great pics, love the finish line : )

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  14. This is, by far the best race report out there. Check out my results post (whenever the hell I get it done) - I'm going to call it out as the best.

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  15. Most excellent game faces!

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  16. Wow, this was so cool, the chance to run a virtual 5k with your son

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  17. You are the coolest dad ever.
    Love the game face.
    You rock ETR.

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  18. I am a new follower. The Boring Runner led me to your blog. I love the way the whole family ended up being involved in the virtual 5K! Your son is absolutely adorable, and he did a great job! And tell your daughter she did a fabulous job on the finish line and photography! But NEXT time, she's gotta go out there and kick dad and brother's butt!

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  19. This is so awesome. Here I am thinking the sole reason I'll reproduce is to have a bike sherpa to accompany me on my long runs, and here you are telling me that you can bond WHILE running with them and stuff. mind = blown.

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  20. That finish line is amazing and your sons determined face is priceless! Well done everyone!

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  21. What a wonderful race! Yes, there are things FAR more important than PRs. I love that your daughter got into the spirit of things, too.

    My 7 year old did a 2-mile training run with me that went much as yours sounds. Any time he's up to run with me I'll modify my plans. Now, with my teenagers, the times we've raced together, it's me bringing up the rear...but I'm ok with that, too.

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