I'm sorry, you want me to do WHAT?

That was my reaction when my daughter told me, on May 17th, that she REALLY, REALLY wanted me to run her Girls on the Run 5k the next day.  We'd discussed her race previously and she had assured me that she was fine with me cheering her on since I wouldn't be anywhere near ready for a race by then.  So, to say that her pleas (which were complete with tears) took me by surprise, would be an understatement.

And again, the freaking crazy took over.  It was verbal diarrhea all over again.  I told her that if she really wanted me to do it, I'd run with her.  What the hell was I thinking?  I was just starting week 4 of my 9 week c25k program.  And somehow, she turned on the charm and all of a sudden I was running with her the next morning.

It was a bright and beautiful morning.  We drove to Heritage Landing and I pretty much wanted to throw up in my mouth.  I told Hallie I was excited to run with her.  In reality, I was terrified.  What if I fell?  Or made a fool of myself?  What if I DIED?  (Because I'd never even attempted 5k before, so who knew, it could kill me!)

Seriously though, Girls on the Run is an awesome program.  I'm really glad that my daughter decided to get involved and I hope she does it again next year (when I'll be in much better shape to run with her).  There were 1200 girls and about 800 supporting adults (coaches, parents, etc.) who ran the race this year in our county.  It was an amazing thing to see.

Overall though, the race ended up going better than I anticipated.  We ran some, we walked some...we did it together and that was really cool.  I found myself running more than Hallie did (much to my surprise!), and for the final kilometer, I had to bribe her to finish with the offer of a new Monster High Doll.  Hey, don't judge!  I'm a good mom....and sometimes I resort to "incentives" to get results. 

I made signs for us to hold to cheer Hallie on.  I should have made one that said, "Don't Die, Mom!" but I didn't have time with the short notice and all.

 

You'll notice that my darling daughter looks all lovely and athletic looking as she ran by the camera and headed to the finishing chute. She ran the whole end of the race.  (See, that incentive worked nicely!)  I did not quite have that look.

 

This is me, just after sending my kid into the finisher chute.  Only the girls got to go into that area, so I guess I didn't actually do the whole 5k...but it was close enough!  I believe I was telling my husband that he had better not take my picture at this point.  The red face is status quo for me when I run.  I don't sweat easily, so I get all red first.  I was pretty much exhausted, and wanted to cry with the sheer relief of making it out of that thing alive. 

 

The red face remained for a good, long while...but the exhaustion soon turned into pride.  I was proud of my Hallie for finishing strong, and proud of myself for doing the run with her.  So, although it was not one of my most rational decisions, I have no regrets.  I survived and came out of it with some great memories with my daughter.  I'll take being crazy for that.