My Runner Girl

It was a beautiful spring day today.

 Emma had a ton of pent-up energy and wanted to GET OUT. This was just her warm-up before we went running together this afternoon.

She ran up and down the street a few times...

I don't know if her feet ever touched the ground. I love the look of pure joy when a child runs.

Gotta love the running outfit I bought her at Target last fall. This was the first time she was actually able to wear it.  Check out the little girls' size running skirt! Well, it's actually a "skort," so she was able to climb the monkey bars when we stopped at the school track.  I didn't take my camera on our run, so no pix of that.

Go, Emma, go!

Then, before we left, she got excited because she noticed our tulips have bloomed!

Notice she still has the jingle bells and race chip in her shoe from the Jingle Bell 5K?

Jingle Bell Run Recap!

Well, the Jingle Bell 5K 2010 is history now, and the girls both did great! I was Sky's running partner, and Hubs was Emma's. Sky ran the entire way with an official time of 33:12 (and no side stitches!!), and Emma ran the first 2 miles without walking, walked for about 60  seconds, and then ran the rest. Her official time was 37:01.

Peanut butter on toast makes a good pre-run breakfast!

They look sleepy but it really wasn't that early. We left the house at 8:00.

Luke was watching everything and knew we were getting ready to leave him. There were some dogs at the race, but Luke would have stopped running after a mile. Lazy boy!

The girls got a chance to practice a little piano before leaving for the race. Their Christmas recital was today (Sunday). Pictures to follow soon!

They look pretty cold, don't they?

Warming up in McFaddens

Costume contest. I have no idea who won because it was too noisy!

Enjoying some free hot chocolate before running.

Waiting to start. Funny, Santa was there to announce the start, but no one at the front of the line could hear him. It was announced several times. We in the middle were yelling, "GO GO GO!!!" and finally the people at the front heard and crossed the starting line. I've never seen that at a race before. Not that I have much experience! I've never attended a small race before.

Almost ready to start!

The Running Sky!

Pittsburgh, the city of bridges!

Post-race drinks and snacks at McFaddens!  Classic "we did it!" faces.

I am so proud of the girls!! They trained and worked hard to run their longest race ever, so far. Sky said she is ready to train for a half-marathon. I told her, let's take it easy and go for a few more 5K's, maybe a 10K first. Emma was a little disappointed that she had to stop running to walk for a while, but I think she's okay with it now.  How many 9-year-olds can run nonstop for over 30 minutes anyway?

All ready...

...for the Jingle Bell 5K! The girls are sooo

excited about running their first 5K!

Aren't Emma's little size 2's extra-adorable with the time chip? And, is it just me, or do the shoes seem to be mocking us as we gasp for breath during a race?

Good-bye, side stitches!

Sky ran 3 miles with me today!

Next Saturday we are running Jingle Bell 5K together, and she is all ready for it. I posted a couple weeks ago about how she gets cramps, or side stitches, nearly EVERY time she runs lately. It has become very frustrating for her because she loves to run, but the side stitches have been slowing her down (or forcing her to stop at times). She always avoids eating or drinking too close to a run (only very small, controlled sips of water), and that hasn't seemed to help. Today, after only two minutes into our run, she started experiencing the very familiar and annoying side stitch. In the past, all I have known to tell her is to press the area of her cramp with her fingers (I had read that somewhere), and 90% of the time that has not helped. However, today was different, and she was able to get rid of the cramps and stave them off for the rest of the run. SUCCESS!!

Lately, thanks to Brian, I have been trying to get her to focus on her breathing. He recommended teaching her to consciously acquire a breathing pattern of 2-2 or 3-3. I realized I do that naturally - most of the time, it's a 3-3 for me; if I'm running faster or harder it's 2-2.  It has been hard for her to put that knowledge to use, but today she finally got it, and started running with a 3-3 breathing pattern.

At the same time, I got her to concentrate on her running form. I read somewhere recently (I can't remember where so I can't cite the source) that a poor running form can also cause side stitches. When running, the arms should be at the sides and parallel to the ground. I noticed Sky does a lot of crossing her arms in front as she runs. I instructed her to try to keep her arms at her sides and point her thumbs upward - a method I read that helps to keep the arms at the sides. I couldn't believe how quickly and easily she adapted to that form!

After a few minutes, she said the stitches were going away. After 2 miles, she said the stitches were gone, and was going another mile. When we got to the end of our third mile, we stopped running and walked the rest of the way home. She was smiling, beaming, sweaty (despite the 20 degree temp), and very proud of herself.

Well, almost the rest of the way. There is a very steep hill about 1/10 of a mile long to our house. At the bottom of it, she very casually said, "Hey Mom, guess what?"

"What?" I answered.

"I'm going to beat you up the hill." And suddenly high-tailed it.

And yes, she beat me. (Although I have to say she had a head start.)

Jingle Bell 5K

So Hubs, the girls, and I are all registered for the upcoming Jingle Bell 5K. This will be the first 5K race for all of us! I have run 10Ks and a half-marathon, the girls have run the 1-mile Kids' Pittsburgh Race,  but none of us have ever run a 5K! It sounds like fun. This particular race raises money for arthritis research, and everyone attaches jingle bells to their shoelaces for the race.

Sky (12) and Em (9) are accustomed to running a mile or a little more here and there with me, but neither have run the distance of a full 3 miles yet. They have both been faithfully running three times a week now in preparation for the race, and working on their distance. When Em runs, she goes all out (and the little booger is FAST) but poops out after about 3/4 of a mile. It's hard for me to teach her to save her energy to last longer. She does make it past a mile, but not without crying and wailing. (Which cracks me up, because she will NOT QUIT, even though she is very vocal and dramatic about how miserable she is. I worry that people who see us as we pass by are going to think I'm acting like a drill sergeant, but I always tell her she can stop. She never wants to!)

Sky gets the concept of saving her energy to last. Today, she ran 2.23 miles and felt great. She had planned on going 3 miles, but she got a severe cramp and needed to walk. She encounters cramping nearly every time she runs.

I can't figure it out. I don't have this problem, so it is hard for me to relate. I have looked "cramping when running" online, and still can't find anything suspicious. She doesn't gulp down huge amounts of water before running (although she will sip a little to hydrate). She doesn't eat within a half-hour of running. She starts out slowly (either a slow jog or walk) - so she has warmed up before running. Sky is the opposite of Em - she rarely complains - so when she tells me she has a "really bad cramp" I know she has a really bad cramp. Hopefully we can figure this out soon, so she can increase her mileage without too much pain!