Runnin' With Cole

I mentioned to my nephew Cole about a month ago that I was going to do a 5K race at the end of May, and he informed me that he was in the running club at school and could run 2 miles.  He seemed interested in running the race with me, but I just didn't mention it again, thinking A) he wouldn't be ready, and B) being 11 years old, he wouldn't remember our conversation.


I was wrong.  He did remember.


Cole called me Thursday night and told me "Aunt Susie, I want to do that race."


After handing the phone over to his mom (my sister, Pam) she  said that yes, he had been talking about the race all week, and on Friday was doing a school wide 5th grader 3 mile run.  She said he could do it if he wanted to, so I signed him up for the race.  And then did not sleep at all Thursday night.  


Early this morning, the sky was really grey after a night of rain, and it was humid out.  We met near the race start--Bud with his bike and my camera, and Pam with Cole and her camera.  He was ready to go--but maybe not too awake yet.  It is, after all, a Saturday and he had to get up early for no good reason!

Before the sweaty race

So the race starts, and I tell Cole once again to stay a bit slow on the first mile, so he has energy to finish the race.  "Uh huh," he says, as he proceeds to run in front of me and quickly out of sight.  I was busy keeping calm and focusing on just putting one foot in front of the other.  I was also very aware of Bud riding his bike on the sidewalk, keeping an eye on me.  I was determined not to walk.  I kept trucking along, a bit slowly, but still moving, and didn't see Cole for awhile.  Then I saw him up ahead, caught up, and saw his mile sprint had worn him out.  He was pooped, but kept moving, alternating running and walking.  I was fully prepared--and hoped--he would blow past me and beat me by minutes, but I finished ahead of him, with just enough time to turn around and see him coming down the street.  I was jumping up and down and yelling and waving, and I must admit I cried a bit to see him running towards the finish line.  I was so proud of him, although I think he may not run another race for a very long time.  I think I broke him.  Oops.  Aunt Susie strikes again!

Little peanut running hard towards the finish line

Anyway, I ran the whole damn thing, which made me very happy.  It was a big mental boost for me, since this is the first race I have run in a very long time.  I have decided to run the 5K Run the Flood Race on June 11th rather than the 7 miler just because I know I will not be ready to do it and would rather see if I can improve my 5K pace.  Then the 5 mile 4th of July race in downtown Cedar Rapids, and slow progression towards the half marathon in November. 


I forgot to shut off my Garmin when I crossed the finish line, so it's not accurate in time.  My printout from the race is as follows:  gun time:  34:28  chip time: 34:05  Pace: 11:06.