my new running partner

I have been making an effort lately to make sure that I devote some quality time to just my 8 year old. She is about to begin that confusing, identity searching phase of tween to teen. I want to make sure that I am on the inside of that process and not just helplessly watching from afar. But at the same time I do not want there to be any less whole family time or neglect my 6 year old. So, yesterday when I put on my running shoes, little S came out of her bedroom after singing High School Musical 3 and Hannah Montana songs at the top of her lungs and pounding on our keyboard and asked to run with me. Now I knew this meant I couldn't go as far or as fast as I usually do (granted, that isn't very far or very fast!) But I thought this would be fun and helped her choose appropriate clothing and shoes for our first running expedition.

She quickly found her track pants and decent socks and her Velcro sneakers. It was only about 55 degrees so I made her bring a zip up sweatshirt too. I decided to start small with just a 1.1 mile loop in our neighborhood. I figured we could run or walk, depending on S's enthusiasm and energy. On a typical day S will have more energy and enthusiasm than I will ever have again. She is wide open and happy. And she will try just about anything, except food that resembles vegetables or meat. Luckily, she eats a lot of fruit and pasta and a multivitamin:) But that is another struggle altogether!

So we walked up our driveway, it is pretty steep. When we got to the mailbox I explained where we would run and S was off without a look back. She ran really fast, then ran slower, then walked, then ran really fast, well, you get the picture. She does not have a concept of pace but she has energy and a will to have fun. We talked about running safety: which side of the road we should be on, what to do when dogs rush at you (luckily they were all behind invisible fences today), and how to make the most of the downhill. She told me about school and how much fun she was having running with me. At one point she stepped on the side of the road and fell and skinned her knee. It only slowed her down for a moment and then she was running up the last hill in front of me. We managed to run the 1.1 miles in 12:56. Not bad for her first 1 mile run. Seeing as how I usually do it in 10:something I was impressed. S loved it! I don't know if it was the actual running or the running with mom. I'd like to believe it was the running with me, of course:)

Anyway, this morning I put my running shoes on again and there S was, asking to come along again. How could I turn her away? I waited another few minutes for her to get ready and this time her father came with us too. He is a runner trying to run 1000 days in a row. You can check out his progress at www.1000daysofrunning.blogspot.com. He has done marathons and just recently a 10 mile local race. I'm pretty sure the slow mile he ran with us does not count toward his streak but it was great to have him along this morning. So we headed out on the same path as yesterday and managed to run the 1.1 miles in 12:28. That is 28 seconds faster than yesterday. S didn't fall today and she only stopped to walk once early on. We are making progress.

Every September I run the Charlottesville 4 Miler. I enjoy running most of the time but I am not a motivated person by nature. I married an extremely motivated man who encourages me to keep running and to try other things to stay healthy. The first 4 miler was 18 months after S was born and it was a great event to focus on to lose that baby weight and get healthy. So this year will be my sixth race. I know other 6 year olds have run it in the past, maybe S will keep up her interest in running and running with me and we can do it together this year. Maybe she'll lose interest soon and move on to something else. Maybe she'll be able to outrun me by weeks end and she'll kick my butt in the race. Who knows what the future will hold for us, but I have enjoyed our first two running dates together and hope there will be many more in the future.