Today was my son's first official race. He participated in a 1 mile run. I was extremely proud of my big 5 yr old boy!!
If you have been following my blog and, I hope you have been. You will remember, not to long ago I ran my first race since before I had my children. The whole experience made my son giddy. He loved cheering everyone on and, watching the runner's finish. He told me at the end of my race that he too wanted to run. I was extremely excited I got to share my love of running with him so of course I said to him, "Sure, that would be awesome!" Since that day he has been practicing running for his first race. During these practices, I have taught him a couple basic tips about running. He learned the correct form, proper clothes to wear, proper shoes, how to pace himself. However after today and, the couple weeks of training, my son taught me some pretty priceless lessons of his own.
The saying "I can do it" can push you further in running and life.
During our practices when Big C was running he would stop and catch his breath I would always ask him do you want to stop and get some water or stop and rest. He would continue to tell me "No, I can do it!" and, sure enough he just got right back in there and did it. Today as well, we start the race and hes pacing himself a little to fast and, I'm thinking hes surely going to burn himself out. I call to him pace yourself...slow down. He yells to me, "I can do it mom!" Wow! If we could all have this "I can do it" attitude wouldn't we all proceed to do what we have been wanting to do in life. We are always so worried about reasons why we can't do something. Making up excuses for reasons not to do things. Big C was definitely not going to let my reasons slow him down any.
Be your own person!
Everyone is different. We are different shapes and, sizes. Not everyone is good at running. Some will run fast with ease, others will need to work hard to get there. Today, Big C did not come in first and, that was ok. We were very proud of him for what he did. He got out there and ran the best race HE could run. Through his practice runs and, this race I have seen him work very hard and, show commitment to his racing. When he finished and, saw other had finished before him he told us, "That boy is older..when I'm his age I will win too!" Hearing him say that brought a huge smile to my face. For him to realize that he knew he couldn't run it perfect the first time and, needed to practice to get there is awesome. He was very proud of himself.
Don't be afraid to make friends!
This one isn't just for running. My son is a social butterfly. He talks to everyone and anyone. I love it about him. He goes right up to people and tells them hi and introduces himself to them. Today, at the race after we finished the mile run, we sat in the stands at the finish line to watch the 5k race. Big C cheered every runner that crossed the line. To our amazement somewhere around the middle cluster of runners a young boy around my sons age crossed the finish line. I was talking to my family and was telling them I couldn't believe a child that age could run a 5k and, finish that well. Big C looked at me and said, "I'm going to go tell him good job!" I just laughed and, said ok. Sure enough he got up and walked down to the finish line and told the little boy good job and, sparked up a conversation with him. What I wouldn't do to have his bravery to just walk up to someone and, tell them that what they just accomplished was amazing. Big C definitely has opened my eyes up to being more comfortable with talking to others especially in a circumstance where there are people who have the same passions as I do.
So what's next for Big C? He is running another fun run in two weeks. He asked if he could do a longer race next. I looked at him with a big smile on my face and said, "Sure, that would be awesome!" We go right back to lesson number 1!!
