Charlie's First Race

So my boy took on his first race of 1k which is .62 miles. My main goal as a father to a 3 year old boy was for him to finish his race. The race took place in downtown Franklin which has a beautiful town square. He started off the race holding his ears as the air horn was quite traumatic for his little ears. His grandmother and aunt drove to Memphis to watch his first race. Surprisingly Charlie did very well and didn't stop the whole way. He needed plenty ofencouragement as his mother and I ran with him. I ran to encourage his run while Shannon ran along the curb videoing and taking some pictures. For the last 1/4 of the race as we headed toward the finish line, Charlie was giving high fives to the fans and a giant hotdog mascot.

I could not believe the little man ran for .62 miles without stopping. He seemed amazed by the police officers that were blocking off traffic and never once said he wanted to stop. At the end of the race he got a ribbon and a nice medal his grandmother purchased for him for his first race. As a dad, it meant more to me than I thought it would as we were approaching the finish line. I was overwhelmed with pride for my little man. While it might not have been a big deal to Charlie, .62 miles was a long way. As soon as we crossed the

finish line I asked Charlie if he would like to run another kid's race one day and he emphatically said, "yes!"

I wonder how long it will be until he starts beating his old man.

Franklin Classic 10K

I'll make this quick because I really want to write about my little boys kid's race in the next post. Never would I have thought this 10k would have turned out like it did today. My lofty goal was to finish in 56 minutes which would be just under 9 minute per mile pace. I was afraid I wouldn't hit this goal and couldn't really imagine going any faster given my training runs. The weather was 49 degrees when I showed up according the race director. No that is not a typo. At mile 2 I was still seeing my breath as I ran this summer morning. I went out way too fast to start the race. After the first mile I was at 8:30 per mile pace and way faster than planned. Mile 2 passed and I was at 8:20. I kept wondering if I could just hang on to this pace, I would be thrilled with my time. I made it to the half way point and still was around 8:20 and felt I still had a lot left in the tank. The last three miles I tried to go a little faster and finish the race stronger than I started. I finished the race on a dead sprint. By looking at the last .2 miles, my pace was under a 6:30 minute mile pace as I sprinted through the large crowd of spectators to the finish line. 3 months ago I finished a 10 mile race at around a 11 minute mile pace after crashing and burning and laying in the street before the finish line. Today I finished at 50 minutes and 12 seconds for an 8:06 per mile pace for the 6.2 mile race. My Garmin watch said it was a little longer since I forgot to stop my watch. I can't tell you how excited I am that, for the first time in over 2 years, I am running at some of my fastest speeds. I had given up on competing like I did my first year until this race ended and all of a sudden I feel I have a renewed since of confidence. I finished the day 223 out of approximately 900 runners. As fun as this was, it was just a small step towards the ultimate goal of 26.2 miles on December 4 for the children of St. Jude. Forget the time for that race. The finish line is all that matters. 1 week of fundraising has resulted in $755 in donations. I am completely overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 669 ft Location: -- Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 09/06/10 Up/Downhill: [+337/-337] Time: 07:30 AM Difficulty: 2.7 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 6.27 miles Time: 0:50:18 Speed: 7.5 mph Pace: 8' 01 /mi Calories: 768 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 31 +0' 30 7.0 -0.4 +13 ft 2 8' 09 +0' 08 7.4 -0.1 -13 ft 3 8' 17 +0' 16 7.2 -0.2 +46 ft 4 8' 07 +0' 06 7.4 -0.1 +10 ft 5 7' 53 -0' 08 7.6 +0.1 -26 ft 6 7' 35 -0' 26 7.9 +0.4 -33 ft end 6' 28 -1' 33 9.3 +1.8 +3 ft Versus average of 8' 01 min/mile

Posted from www.bimactive.com