Honestly, it was a great weekend. I was like a chicken with my head cut off this weekend…I was in mommy overload – but not in a bad way, just trying to manage it all. The weekend started off better than ever….we had SUN. Yes, Chicago finally broke out of the month long grey (ok, 6 month grey, but who is counting?) and on the agenda on Friday after school was Graham and Morgan’s FUN RUN.
This FUN RUN is an all school (K-5th grade) race of about 400-500 kids. I may have accidentally forgot to mention to Graham that it was a “FUN” run versus a race. I swear, kids are born with that innate competitiveness because Graham woke up on Friday morning and said, “Time to race today mom.” I mean, how cute is that? Jerome and I have tried SO hard not to push sport on the kids. Both Jerome and I grew up as athletes and our parents encouraged but never pushed…and I really think that helped me remain an adult athlete for all these years. ANYWAY…
I show up to the FUN RUN after school to watch the kids…Morgan looked at me…put her hand up and said, “NO THANK YOU MOM.” Seriously. She had on her blue sparkle shoes with charms all over the shoe laces. AWESOME. I love Morgan, she is her own bird and that is what makes her so unique. Morgan told me ahead of time to just let her be and she is going to walk or jog with her 40000 girlfriends. Enough said. I know my place. I waved at her, took a picture and moved on.
For Graham…he did not want me to run with him. In fact, they took off so fast that I am not sure I could have gone from 0 to 60 that fast. But, Graham lined up in the back (they sent off the 5th, 4th and 3rd graders and he is a 3rd grader). I motioned Graham up to the front line – front and center. HE looked so nervous – he had that look and searing focus. He was so focused he didn’t hear me say, “pace yourself.” Yeah, that works well at 9 years old. Not.
The kids starts and I race through the streets of the neighborhoods, the cops are at all the intersections (thank goodness) and I race to the last ½ mile of the race. I see all these little boys turning the corner and I see Graham’s little red hair bobbing up and down – he is suffering like a dog. He looks at me and I am running with him now to help bring him in. HE IS HAULING ASS, we are easily running 6.30pace if not faster. I am talking to him – telling him he is doing great and then a 4th grader pulls up along side Graham. He says to me, “I am so tired mom, I can’t do this.” I didn’t even think…I had the “MOMMY” on one shoulder and the “Athlete/Coach” on the other shoulder. GUESS WHICH ONE WON? Yeah…I wish I could say the MOMMY one, but I screamed, “you cannot quit now…you are going to win the ENTIRE race, Graham!” DIG DIG DIG – look at the finish line – look at all the people up there (It was packed!) and you can do this….the boy surged ahead of Graham. I decided to stop and let Graham sort this one out. AND did he ever. He got pissed that he was passed…and I told him he only has another 45-60” left and push push go go! And, I seriously had a moment b/c he did it. He dug deep – his head swaying back and forth like he is going to collapse any minute and he surges past the older kid and crosses the line in 1st. OH MY GOSH. It was the cutest thing ever. I really didn’t care that he won (but that was cool) I was so stoked he worked so hard and dug deep – I swear, either that is innate or it is not…and he has it. He won!
Here is a picture of Graham – being paraded around the school park after his race. It was so cool and I am so grateful I did not miss it. And, then I went back and cheered for Morgan who finished and had a great time too.
The next morning Graham got up early – this was Saturday morning and I came up from a ride in the basement (it was 5am early) and I had to do a short 3-4 mile T run. Graham begged me to go. I thought…OK….this could go either way but b/c my run was easy I brought him along. We ran 3.5 miles and he did NOT get tired until 24 minutes. WOW. Just so so fun. I was the proud mom all weekend…THEN he went to his travel soccer game and won MVP at that game….just 4 hours later. I swear, that kid will sleep for days now.
ANYWAY….we all love proud mom moments….AND then, after all the craziness of Saturday (games, Brownie Progressive lunch that I hosted, cleaning my house for that, Communion parties until dinnertime) I had my first Triathlon of the season the next morning. Someone asked where we swam…that was cute…the air temp was 40F when we left…trust me, we ain’t swimming in any OW anytime soon here! This was a pool swim (blah) but we have to take what we can get here…and I love this race…..
I traveled with with my friends and athletes: Karen, Jaynie, Emily, Mia and Stacie. The race started at 9am! Lovely! That was a good thing b/c it was 44F degrees when we started. BUT we had sun, so that is all that mattered. Nothing like racing out of the pool into the 44F degrees in my TRI SUIT and racing with that on for the entire race. Ironically, I was never cold.
This is a short race. 500 swim, 14 mile bike, 3-3.5 mile off road run.
I had so much fun. JUST racing again and being with everyone. I was laughing though on the bike…I went for a drink and I was like, “WHERE IS MY DRINKING SYSYTEM???” oh right….Jen has not raced a Triathlon since last JUNE so I totally didn’t even think of that. Of course I had a bottle on my cage, but still. Duh!
I got out of the pool (crack me up) second and onto the bike in first….and rode solo upfront for a long time…that was fun but I was worried I was going to miss a turn. OF course Spring here brings wind but Sunday is was massive. And, smart Jen had a disc!!! Oh! It was 35mph winds…so significant that it reminded me of Kona – for a brief second – but it was cold! We had to really work our butts off on that bike, but it was short, so no big deal. I was riding sideways and zig sagging across the roads – it has been a long time since that has happened.
I felt great! I did not rest for this little Sprint….but I have done this before and gotten 2nd OA – so it just depends on who comes and what heat I am in……if I can race these girls head to head…in a short sprint that matters a ton. Anyway, I felt strong – not super sonic fast – but STRONG..typical April shape for me, but this year I am in much better shape than I was last year at this time. That was encouraging! And, all the core strength really helped me holding that bike up and into those crosswinds with a disc.
I ran solo – I rode solo – and off the front. 2 guys passed me and they were hammering….and I worked hard to keep them in my sight. I came off the bike within 1 minute of the 2nd place guy – (there were fast guys later in the day that started and eventually won)….and I ran well – it was all off road up and down…so fun and different and honestly, hard for me..but I liked that. It was weird to lead that race and never be challenged – I wanted and secretly wished someone was up there with me (female) so we could hammer one another. But, like Jerome says it best, “winning never gets old.” And I do NOT take it for granted – whether it is a 5k or Triathlon – I enjoy it thoroughly. We work hard for our races…so you won’t hear me say, “I wish I ran faster…or rode faster…” when you win, you just shut up, take the win and enjoy it.
So, I crossed the line in 1st and held that for the rest of the day. Racers were on the course from 9am-2.15pm due to the heats of all the swimmers…hundereds and hundreds of triathletes. So, I had to wait until 2.30pm or so when Karen texted me and said I had still won OA. Nice! The girls I went up there with ALL did super as well – as did the kids’ race after our race. Those little kids were in that wind – amazing!
And, when the RD gives you bib #1, you better shut up and put out.
