Last weekend, my kids and I participated in a local Dash and Splash race. My little Ladybug decided to race at the last minute and rocked her 1/2 mile run and 100 meter swim. At the start of the race, she was so excited to run fast that she took off a little too fast and ended up face down on the concrete but got up and kept running through a scraped up hand and knee and lots of tears. My husband then cleaned up her scrapes and sent her off for her swim. She finished the race with a smile on her face but told me she prefers races where she also gets to ride her bike. I guess she is a little triathlete at heart.
Then it was go time for me and Lovebug. As I mentioned in an earlier post, he committed to completing a 5k every month so he opted to do the adult race which was a 3 mile run and 800 meter swim. He wanted me to pace him on the run and then we were going to try to swim together. Well, his run was nice and consistent. He had told me he was going to run 10 minute miles so that he would have energy for the swim and I just told him ok (knowing that he was going to end up running faster). He held 8:30-8:40 pace with ease, yet towards the end of the 3rd mile he started telling me "my body isn't meant for this", "I have no idea how I'm going to swim after this". I assured him that he would be just fine and that swimming would be like 2nd nature since he swims almost every day. He didn't believe me but kept on going.
Suddenly, his attitude changed. My typically non-competitive little boy was on a mission and had a look of determination in his eyes that I don't typically see. He then looked over at me and said "I'm gonna destroy you in the pool. I'm gonna own you". Yikes! I was in trouble... But, I was also so happy to hear him decide that he was going to finish strong.
We got to the transition area and he quickly removed his socks and shoes and had his cap and goggles on and was running toward the pool while I was still messing with my swim cap. I hurried and stuffed my hair into my swim cap and chased after him. We got in the pool at the same time and were swimming pretty close to one another. I was slightly ahead of him for the first 200. That first 200 was probably the best 200 I ever swam thanks to some help from former Olympic swimmer, Darian Townsend; however, since I had spent years swimming incorrectly, I soon realized that swimming properly is hard!! At around 200 meters, my little Lovebug swam right past me! I tried to catch him but couldn't. I had to switch to breaststroke on and off just to keep him close to me (yes swimmers... my breaststroke is faster than my freestyle and I realize this is a problem). By the time we got to the last 50 meters, Lovebug was still slightly ahead of me. I started kicking harder and trying to pull more water but I still couldn't catch him. I could hear people cheering for him and it made me smile even though I knew I was getting my ass kicked.
We hopped out of the pool and sprinted to the finish and he was so happy that he beat me. I will be hearing about this for a very long time!
Then it was go time for me and Lovebug. As I mentioned in an earlier post, he committed to completing a 5k every month so he opted to do the adult race which was a 3 mile run and 800 meter swim. He wanted me to pace him on the run and then we were going to try to swim together. Well, his run was nice and consistent. He had told me he was going to run 10 minute miles so that he would have energy for the swim and I just told him ok (knowing that he was going to end up running faster). He held 8:30-8:40 pace with ease, yet towards the end of the 3rd mile he started telling me "my body isn't meant for this", "I have no idea how I'm going to swim after this". I assured him that he would be just fine and that swimming would be like 2nd nature since he swims almost every day. He didn't believe me but kept on going.
Suddenly, his attitude changed. My typically non-competitive little boy was on a mission and had a look of determination in his eyes that I don't typically see. He then looked over at me and said "I'm gonna destroy you in the pool. I'm gonna own you". Yikes! I was in trouble... But, I was also so happy to hear him decide that he was going to finish strong.
We got to the transition area and he quickly removed his socks and shoes and had his cap and goggles on and was running toward the pool while I was still messing with my swim cap. I hurried and stuffed my hair into my swim cap and chased after him. We got in the pool at the same time and were swimming pretty close to one another. I was slightly ahead of him for the first 200. That first 200 was probably the best 200 I ever swam thanks to some help from former Olympic swimmer, Darian Townsend; however, since I had spent years swimming incorrectly, I soon realized that swimming properly is hard!! At around 200 meters, my little Lovebug swam right past me! I tried to catch him but couldn't. I had to switch to breaststroke on and off just to keep him close to me (yes swimmers... my breaststroke is faster than my freestyle and I realize this is a problem). By the time we got to the last 50 meters, Lovebug was still slightly ahead of me. I started kicking harder and trying to pull more water but I still couldn't catch him. I could hear people cheering for him and it made me smile even though I knew I was getting my ass kicked.
We hopped out of the pool and sprinted to the finish and he was so happy that he beat me. I will be hearing about this for a very long time!