Midvale 5K

Last year my two sisters convinced me to run the Midvale 5K with them. I am not a fan of running. In fact, I don't enjoy it much at all. I didn't really want to do it, but I knew I wanted to be in better shape. So I talked to Ryan who said he'd love to do it and the four of us, including my dad, signed up. This year my dad (he walked the entire thing in 41 minutes) wanted to do it again. My two sisters said they would, along with another sister of mine (she wanted to walk it with our dad this year). Ryan said he'd do it and that left me...rolling my eyes, hemming and hawing. It was fun last year, but I was in MUCH better shape last year. I had 2-3 months to prepare for it then, this year I'd only have three weeks! I really didn't want to do it, but at the same time, I did want to be part of the experience the rest of my family would be having. And as much as I hate running, I knew I would feel like I accomplished something important. I also knew I wouldn't be able to run the entire thing but that I could do the best I could. So, I agreed to sign up again. And in the process I convinced my 11 year old nephew to sign up with me!

Last Saturday (August 11th) was race day. As promised, Ryan, myself, my three sisters, my dad and my nephew were all there ready to race. My three week training hadn't gone so well and I was still about 3-4 minutes slower than my time last year. But I tried not to focus on that and just tried to enjoy the experience. I figured I wouldn't be able to go as fast with my nephew trying to keep up anyway. This year it was more about helping him succeed then trying to run my fastest race.

We lined up at the starting line and we were off! Tricia, Valerie and Derek (Tricia's husband) were off like lightning. They could run the entire thing so we knew they'd always be in front of us. Pam and Dad were walking the whole thing so we knew they'd always be behind us. That left the three of us (me, Ryan and nephew) somewhere in the middle. We starting with running and we managed to run about 1.1 miles before I had to stop. About half a mile in my nephew was already complaining of a side ache but no matter how many times I asked him if he needed to stop, he said no. He kept running along as best he could. When we'd stop to walk, I would walk at a furious pace (almost as fast as my slow run) and Ryan and nephew would lag a little behind. But then we'd all start running again and I would end up lagging behind them. One thing I did notice though was that my nephew never left Ryan's side. Those two were practically glued together! And he never stopped jabbering either. The entire three miles was non-stop talking. They'd skip, they'd run backwards...they just had a great time together as I would struggle with even being able to breathe.

Once we reached the final stretch we decided to sprint in. I noticed the time on the clock ahead of us and realized I was just about at my time last year so I yelled at them to run faster. My nephew crossed the finish line first at 36:01. Ryan then crossed with me right at his heels and it turns out, we tied at 36:02!

Ryan could have run a lot faster than me and probably finished under 30 minutes. But he is such a great moral support to me by sticking with me and helping me finish. We were both so proud of my nephew though. He did an amazing job for not having trained at all. He only had to ask to stop once to catch his breath and other than that he walked or ran as fast as we did. Everyone in my family did great! After the race we had a big breakfast and just enjoyed our success. It turns out that I finished three seconds ahead of my time last year! It was the fastest I have walked/run 3.1 miles all year long (and in the last 3 weeks I was training). There really is something fulfilling about setting a goal and working hard to achieve it. Maybe I can do this again next year after all!

The three amigos after the race: