3K

My 9 year old daughter is in a running club at school. I'm thrilled! Readers of this blog will know that I count on running as a lifeline to my own sanity, and knowing that she has discovered this lifeline for herself so early makes me ecstatic.
Today her club was running a 3k, and she invited me to come join them.
I pumped up the tires on the jogging stroller, packed it into the jeep with the boy, and off we went.
My daughter's school is ideally located for a running club. It's right on the river.
I was pretty worried that I might embarrass her. I've let my running slide a lot ever since I had my wisdom teeth out at the end of March. It's funny how one little setback like that can completely mess up your program.
It turned out I had nothing to worry about however. We ran a couple of bridges, at an easy 9 year old's pace. In 14 minutes it was all over. I did work up a sweat, but I wasn't really gasping for breath at any point. And running alongside my little girl was an amazing feeling. I was worried she'd be struggling behind her friends, athleticism has never really been her thing. But she was at the front of the pack the whole time. At one point her shoelace came undone, and she fell behind after tying it. But a few easy loping gaits had her past the stragglers and up at the front effortlessly. Not that winning or being first matters. I'm just glad she has a passion for it already.
It also gave me a reason to bust out those new shoes again. This is a good motivator for me. We plan to run together a lot more this year.