Luck of the Irish 5K

Got my girl up this morning in time to head out to her 3rd ever 5K.  She will be 8 the week after next, but she was pumped to go.  We ran into a ton of folks she knew and she was ready to rock this race.  I didn't hold any preconceived notions because she tends not to pace well and the course had a few nasty hills.  She took off with her cousins (11 next week) and stuck with him for about a half mile (he was going fast).  I never lost sight of them, but they were ahead of me a ways. 

Sure enough, on the 2nd good hill I saw her grab her side and wave him on looking for me.  I caught up to her and she was super upset.  Panicky even.  Couldn't catch her breath with an awful side stitch.  Then we had tears which was followed by complaining about choking on her snot.  Lovely.  I felt like an awful mom, but I really was just trying to talk her down as I knew she could do it.  I was losing patience when finally she managed to shake the negative self talk and run little bits and pieces with me just before the turn around.

Then I'd say things like "How about we run just to that power pole up there?" and she'd get there and say "That wasn't that far, let's go to the next one!"  So why in the hell couldn't she get to THIS mental place a mile ago?  Ugh!  But I took what I could get.  I just wished we could have skipped the drama.  Once she knew the finish line was close (about 3 blocks away), she took off from me in a full sprint.  That girl is FAST!  I couldn't catch up to her and she ended up finishing ahead of me. 

They were reading off times as we came in, but I didn't catch it exactly.  I think they said 39:something which would be a PR for me - LOL.  It will only be because I was trying to catch her at the end.  They haven't posted the results yet, but I know I could have run more than I did (especially the middle mile).  I think I'll find a nice flat race in April to do alone to get a solid feel for what my "non-kid" PR should be.  My running has come a long way this winter and I'd like to have a more accurate measure of it.  But even with all the drama, I'm glad I shared my run with my daughter today.  I was proud of her for sticking it out.

That speedy nephew of mine?  He rocked a 28:11!!  Took third in the 10 and under age group.  AWESOME!!  I'm so proud of him, but he didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal.  Not sure if he could have placed had his birthday been a week sooner.  LOL  The 11-15 had some speedsters.  My goal is to break 30 min.  I know I can do it if I keep working at it.  Probably just in time to see my kids get too fast for me. 

It was super warm and humid.  The rain rolled in and it stormed hard after we got home.  Then this evening we headed up to school for the annual chili supper/art show/music program.  Sat through 2nd and 5th grade songs and looked at the art projects in between.  Dinner would've been much better had we not needed the a/c on in the cafeteria.  Got a nice long sleeve t-shirt (cotton) with the 5K - not that you could stand to wear it today.  The youth shirts didn't make it in so I have to pick up my daughter's at the Y on Tuesday.

EDIT:  Official Results Are In -  Daughter finished in 40:04 for 8th out of 13 in the 10 and under girls age group.  I came in just behind her at 40:14 for 46/57 in the 30-39 women's runners.  A PR by 1 min 35 sec even with my daughter's drama and a course with some hills (previous PR at Pie Run was on a FLAT course).