My little runner!

Mia ran her first race this Easter weekend (4.23.11), a Kids 1 mile bunny hop. I am such a proud mama, I have to say I got quite emotional when she took off and then again once I saw her coming in to finish. On our practice runs the weeks prior, our mile pace was about 9-10 minutes Mia did her race in 8:16. Pretty damn good! and she said she stopped 2 times to walk.

Mia had so much support of family and friends, we made her a sign and had thunder sticks; it's probably safe to say she had the biggest and loudest entourage there. My besties daughter who is a few years older then Mia also ran and stayed with Mia the whole time, she wanted to finish together. It was so sweet.

I just hope she knows how proud I am of her!

A mommy wake up call...

So Mia has decided she would like to start running with me and I couldn't be happier! So we go out and get her some new running shoes (thanks nana & papa) and signed her up for her first "kids" race (1mile) in 2 weeks. On the couple of races that I have done (5k's), I have had the support of my family; nothing is more exciting and rewarding then crossing that finish line with your family there encouraging you to finish and finish strong. This certain feeling just rushes through my body once I see that finish line and even more when I see Anthony, Mia and Bella. I just can't wait for Mia to experience it and feel the family support and encouragement when she crosses that finish line.

Yesterday Mia and I went for our first run together, first we did 1 mile and as we were there stretching I asked her how she felt. This is when the mommy wake up call comes in. It was sooooo HOT... sweat was dripping from both of our faces and she looks at me and says in a tired voice... "is it ok if I don't finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th?" and I respond quickly with "of course!" "did you think I would have gotten mad if you didn't?" at that moment Mia shakes her head yes and I felt ashamed... I mean my own kid thinks if she doesn't finish at the top I will get mad? How could I let this one happen... am I really that hard on her? Ohhhhh man... well I guess I am when it comes to softball... naturally LOL. I immediately assured her that just being out there and crossing the finish line is a proud moment for me. TOTAL mommy wake up call... I want my girls to be afraid of me if they lie, or sneak or when they become teenagers... but certainly not when it comes to achieving a sport or hobby or even academics.

I told her I only want her to give it her best! I now ask my self, how do I reassure her I am always proud of her? I do try tell her all the time all I want is for her to give it her all, no matter what she is doing. Am I a bad mom? I know there are always going to be moments that come up that I will second guess my parenting decissions but this one hit hard and I must find a way for her to know that I am super proud of her no matter what! At the end she smiled and wanted to do one more lap together to finish out 1 1/2 miles for her first run, she said she enjoyed it! The whole time running I just kept telling her I was so proud of her for trying and we had fun racing to the end of the lap... she beat me that little bugger!

A Beautiful Moment...

I have to share the most beautiful moment I had this morning.

Feeling good on my run, jamm'n to the Beastie Boys on my iTouch and thinking how nice it was out... the stars are still shinning bright, the air was still cool and my breathing and stride feels great. I finally came to the "Sea Burger" and the boardwalk, a safe meeting place we usually meet at or make it apart of our route... ya know for all us "Runners" to meet, since it's still dark out and we all have our different paces.

We look out to the ocean and I see the most beautiful horizon... I can't explain it. At this point I am not happy that I didn't run with my phone so I can try to capture the moment; I just take it in mentally. The water crashing, the refreshing smell and the beautiful purple color that was beaming as far as the eye can see. I said to the other runner, "quick, lets get back to our cars to see the sun rise" which were parked at another beach about a 3 more miles down.

Hurrying back, still feeling amazing with my pace and stride all I could think about is getting back to what I hope is going to be a gorgeous sunrise. I think I had my best run today as I got to my truck to grab my phone to hurry up on the sand. I get closer to the water and as you see in the pictures below... it was just beautiful (well the pics don't do it justice)... I sat there by myself for about 15 minutes waiting for this sun to come up. It was sooooo PEACEFUL... standing there all I could think about is how lucky I was to have a good, healthy and fast run and to make it back in time to witness this beautiful moment. I swear a rush, a charge... energy just shot through my body... I definitely had a moment. There wasn't a worry in the world at that time for me, all my stress I was feeling just an hour before were gone.

It made me think... I truly am so thankful for everything and everyone in my life... no matter how hard we have it we are reminded that things could be and some have it worse.

LOL ... I mentioned before "us Runners"... well I like to think I am becoming a "Runner" :)