Life Lessons and "Mom" Moments at the LL Loop

We have a fun run in our community every July. Last year was our first year participating in it. This year the girls were very excited to run again.

I just barely started running again, so I thought a 5k would be a piece of cake. It wasn't that bad but I will say that it stung just a little bit when two boys, 9 (thanks Gabe) and 12, beat me by like five minutes! The course was pretty much uphill, which didn't help one bit. In the end I enjoyed myself and didn't hurt so I'll call it a good run.

 

(me and my running buddies)

When I signed up the girls they were in the top of their age brackets, but when it came time to run they both wanted to run "up" so that they could run with their friends.

They hadn't trained for these distances...Eden 1/2 mile and Maya 1 mile, but I let them do it anyway.
Eden's birthday is in three weeks so she really wasn't that much younger but it made her feel good to know that she was probably the youngest in her group. So here she is at the starting line...

 

When she was about 2/3 done I met her on the course and this is what I saw...

...she was done. She didn't want to do anymore. I gave her a pep talk as we walked and then she said she could finish if I held her hand. So we ran together until the last stretch and then she finished on her own (8th place). This is what she looked like after her race.

This is what Camden looked like during the race.

Then it was Maya's turn. She took off pretty fast and I knew she was going to burn out so I decided to run the second half with her.

When she got to me she stopped and started crying. She said it was too hard and that she just wanted to go home. She really wanted to place in the top three and now she was worried that she was going to come in last place.

I walked with her a little ways and gave her a pep talk..."You can't stop. You have to finish what you started. It doesn't matter if you are last, you just have to finish the race. We will walk until that flag and then we are running again." So we got to the flag and started running. That's when we realized there were still a lot of kids behind her. We ran awhile and then stopped for a breath or two and then got going again. When we were about 100yrds from the finish line, one of the race workers yelled "keep going, your going to place!" Maya heard that and took off! I let her go and rushed back to the sidelines. I got all choked up when they handed her a red ribbon...my girl won 2nd place! (for the girls)

Here she is with her buddies. It was so fun that they all placed.

(before the race)

(after the race)

Maya is so proud of herself and I couldn't be more proud of her. She learned some very important things that day. Things that I hope she will remember for the rest of her life.
~ Always finish what you start.
~ Even when you think you can't go anymore, you really can.
~ Listen to the people who love you, they can help you.
~ You will always have your family to cheer you on.
~ You can do hard things!
It was a great family experience. I had a great "mom" moment and unfortunately those are few and far between so I will take them when I get them.