My little girl remembered the Color Run from last year and has been excited for weeks, as she has accompanied her Daddy to the Color Splash planning meetings and reminded me often “I need new running shoes, Mom!”
After running a mile the week before in a kids race for another fundraising run, I was optimistic she could do that again so I left the jogging stroller at the 1.2 mile part of the course for when I anticipated she would get tired.
We walked/ran 1.5 miles (until pushing an empty stroller and holding my little girl’s hand got to be too much awkward bending for me).
Then I put her in the stroller, much to her protest, until she started yelling “Mom! Faster! I see more color!!!”
We had a lot of fun together. She and I guessed the color that we would be sprayed with at each color station (she was right 4 out of 5 times; I got none right) and our favorite station was where Daddy was, spraying us with pink!!
We ditched the stroller at the end so she could run through the finish and get more color on her own.
My husband was among MANY volunteers that helped make this race a success. Although we travel all over to participate in runs, it was fun to see our friends and neighbors volunteering at the Color Stations. Bonus was that the event was sold out, all 600 spots were full, and the event raised over $14,000 for two organizations that do a lot to help in our community. And it got a whole new group of people excited about being active.
I’ve been running for years and enjoy the stress relief, camaraderie, health benefits and post-run high that running brings. I get emotional thinking of how big of a part of my life running has been. There was the time I broke the school record in track and the friends I made in cross country in high school that I am still close with today. There are the numerous races and only marathon I ran with my family cheering me on, the friends that helped me train and brought me post-race gifts. There was the time I did my first race with my (now) husband, the pride I had when my husband qualified for and then ran the Boston Marathon, my family’s tradition of a Thanksgiving Day Run in costume. And pushing my little girl in her stroller on training runs in all types of weather, until now, she can run on her own. Running is a big part of our family’s life.
At 6 months pregnant, I’m having tailbone pain and I am hanging up my running shoes for now. I’ve shed a couple tears about this, as I will miss the Color Run with my family and friends this summer, my favorite local races and going on casual runs (my Friday morning tradition), pushing my daughter in the stroller. My daughter who know has become my trusty running partner/trainer, is always good for a “faster, mom!!!” even when I am already running my absolute fastest.
But I have realized a couple of things too- like when I had a stress fracture and could not run for a few months- this too shall pass. This is temporary. There are a lot of things I can still do- I can cheer on my family, take photos and be a superfan on the sidelines of the runs they will continue to do. I can still go for walks, go biking and swimming. And rest is something my body (and the baby inside of me) needs. So it’s for a good reason. And listening to my body rather than pushing myself, is the right choice for both of us.
~Angela
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