Track Meet

We are regulars down at the trail.  When I have my two little "runners" with me, which is quite often, it is a must that we stop at the Pfluger bridge and the boys run across the bridge to the end.  Eli prides himself on being a  fast runner.  He has his fast running shoes he likes to wear, and likes me to watch as he speeds down the bridge, moving his arms side to side, a little bit too hard.
Lately my runs have slowed down A LOT, and usually consists of some walking.  But if someone asks Eli how his walk with Mommy was, he quickly corrects them and says "we were on a run."
So this weekend, I took Eli to participate in his first real run of his own.  The Manzano Mile was going on Saturday at The School for the Deaf hosted by USA Olympian Leo Manzano.  For the kids 9 and under there was the "Future Milers of America" 400 meter event.
I met up with my friend Traci who I have known for 10 years and who I worked with at Pure Austin and who I started my business SIT with.  She has a daughter named Tessa who is 6 months younger than Eli and they really like each other.  Eli was really excited about going to the "race tracks."

They watched patiently from the sidelines as others finished their race (it was an all-comers track-meet).
We got them all fixed up with their race numbers and walked to the staging area where they warmed up for the big race.

As a kid I was painfully shy, never wanted to do anything on my own, and was terrified of having attention on me.  Anytime we would go to a kids concert and they were calling kids up on stage they ALWAYS picked me out of a crowd and I refused to go up. I started making my mom sit in the very back.  I just assumed Eli would have some of my shyness and was anxious when it was time to go to the start line. You just never know with a 3 year old, they can switch moods instantly, and I was nervous he may not want to run anymore or get grumpy. And imagine my anxiety when they announced they didn't want parents on the track with the kids!!!! I ran a few track meets in my day, and I can still remember how nervous I would get when I stepped down onto the track! I immediately started coming up with a plan to have Eli and Tessa hold hands at the start to that they would maybe not be so nervous or intimidated.  As Traci and I were coming up with a game plan, Eli ran right up to the front of the start line like he was a pro.  It just about brought tears to me eyes to see him so motivated and confident to walk right up there by himself surrounded by a ton of bigger kids.  I could not believe it. You can barely seem him, the one in the black shirt, number 350...just waiting for the man to blow the horn to start.

They blew the horn and he was off.  I was running around the track in the grass trying to stay with him, all the while trying to keep my silly maternity jeans from slipping all the way to my ankles, I hate maternity jeans! He ran the whole way around the track!  I was so proud of him!

Here is Eli running to the finish line

And the proud finisher receiving his ribbon.

It is rare these days that I get special time with just Eli, so it was so much fun for me to be able to focus all my attention on him and to do something that we both love so much. I just look forward to more runs with him and hope he develops a love for running like his Momma.