5k Training

Without giving it too much thought, I signed all four of us Bigley's up for The Color Run.  Don't know what that is?  Check it out here:  http://thecolorrun.com/.  After checking it out, say, "Whoa!  That looks AWESOME!" and then continue reading this. 

So, I got us all registered.  I told Kenny about it and he let me know that he will be mostly walking the entire 5K.  I told the kids about it and they were ecstatic.  Kyler asked, "Is this a race?"  I replied, "Well, yeah, I guess technically, but it's mostly for fun."  He replied back, "It'll be WAY more fun if I WIN."  Oh.  Shiiiiit.  Kyler = Forrest Gump with added brainpower.  The boy is freakishly fast.  And there is no doubt in my mind that he can run the entire race without rest.  When you take into consideration that he will be nine years old by the time this happens, in a foreign-to-him city with thousands of other runners, you might understand why this is slightly concerning.  SOMEBODY (me) is going to have to keep up with him.  I used to love running and I was good at it...half of my lifetime ago, that is.  In the past fifteen years, I can count the number of times I have ran over two blocks (without stopping) on one hand (thrice). 

Let's put this into perspective: I have two months (TWO months) to prepare to keep up with a young boy who sports one percent body fat and runs every single day.  Uh huh.

I'm not too proud to ask for help, so I enlisted the kids in Mommy 5K Training 101.  They proudly accepted the task.  Yesterday was Day 1.  They took me to the Pickrell Trail.  I asked them how it's fair that Kyler was on his bike and Mae was on her roller blades.  Mae said, "Mom, WE can already run.  We're here for YOU, remember?"  Point taken.  So away we went, me in the middle at a steady jogging pace.  About 15 steps in, Mae bladed right over a rock and fell down.  I tripped over her and also fell down, her blade brake stabbing me in the foot.  There was blood (real blood!)  and the kids were all, "Mom, get up and keep going, COME ON!!"  And they really made me run with blood dripping from my foot!  And now they have all of these new rules, like I can't wear flip flops next time and I'm not allowed to carry three bottles of water at one time. They even confiscated my entire pocketful of tootsie rolls and as punishment, ate them in front of me.  Do you have any idea how much that hurt to watch?  Since I quit smoking, tootsie rolls have been my new vice. 

Oh lawdy, what have I signed myself up for?