Let me preface the rest of this by saying that the hubby, kids, and I have been running 5K's together now for several years. Until late last year, my daughter, who is now 13, never had any problem finishing ahead of me. But as I slowly got faster, and she continued her pattern of walking/sprinting, I got closer and closer to her, and at a race last fall, I passed her once, but she was not going to let me beat her and sprinted ahead to finish in front of me.
In April of this year, we ran a 5K together, and I had to slow my pace so she didn't fall behind. It was three miles of whining and begging me to stop and walk, which of course I did for her. (We have told her she doesn't have to run 5K's, but she says she really wants to, so I keep signing her up.) We had 4 5K's in May and the first one we ran together again, with her whining again, but not as much. We managed to run the whole thing and both PR'd. The next race she ran ahead of me the whole time (well, ran/sprinted) and again finished ahead of me by two minutes, both of us earning a new and current PR. The third race of May we ran separately, but it was hot, humid, and hilly, and I stopped to walk too, and she finished ahead of me. Our last 5K together we started together, and I had to stop to tie her shoe in the first mile, and there was a lot more whining and complaining. It was a flat course and I really wanted to PR. She said she was going to just walk and I should go ahead. But I didn't make up the time I had stopped for her, and I missed my PR by 20 seconds.
We started today's race, and right away, I could tell there were going to be problems. I told her I was going to intentionally start a little slower for her, but we could speed up as we got further into the race. Less than a half mile in, she started complaining that her legs hurt and she wanted to walk. Each time she would stop to walk, and I'd keep running, she'd beg me to wait, so I would turn around and wait for her. I tried talking to her, distracting her, encouraging her, but the entire race felt like a terrible mother daughter battle. Hubby later told me I should have just ran my own race and let her walk if she wanted to, but I really felt like people were already looking at me like I was an abusive mother, forcing my child to run.
The last water stop was a quarter mile from the finish, and she told me she was going to stop and get some water, so I kept running. I knew there was no chance at a PR, but I wanted to finish strong. With the finish line in sight, I hear someone running fast through the mud puddles alongside the paved trail we were running on. I looked back and saw my daughter and I thought, oh how sweet, she wanted to catch up with me so we could finish the race together. Oh no - she wanted to beat me. She never even glanced my way as she passed me and kept on sprinting for the finish. I ran faster but didn't catch up and she finished just ahead of me. My official time was 38:16.
As we crossed the finish line, we were handed a finisher's medal:
They had several sponsors with food/beverage including Starbucks and Bruegger's Bagels.
After many of the walkers started finishing, they awarded the fundraising awards, and then, since this was a race to benefit brain cancer research, they called up anyone who was a brain tumor survivor. Several people came up, and most shared a few quick words of their struggle. I was in tears, especially since several of them were children.
I felt guilty about being upset about the race because I'm so blessed to have healthy children. (To be honest, I wasn't as upset about my time as feeling like I was forcing her to run.) I asked her if she had any fun at all, and she said yes, when she finished. I told her that I wanted her to enjoy races during them as well, and if she didn't, that was okay, and she didn't have to do them. She said she wants to race. I suggested that we split up and if she wants to be a run/walker that's fine, but then she said that would be stupid. So I don't think we've quite figured this out yet.
After the survivors were introduced, they told everyone that if they thought they had earned an age group award, they could pick it up at the white tent. We then realized they had also posted results, so you didn't have to go through the line to find out you hadn't placed. Hubby was first in his age group and both kids took third in theirs. I was 7/14 in mine.
So overall, the weather reflected my mood. You can see it in the post race pictures we snapped back at the campground.
That about wraps it up for this race. My next race is the RnR Chicago Half Marathon two weeks from tomorrow. I've got my last long run scheduled for tomorrow. I hope it goes well.
What was your last disappointing race?
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