Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Dizzle's first two miler ...

As you may recall, on April 30th, Dizzle is running her first 5K. After her rock star performance, two weeks ago at the VA 529 Kid's Mile, I asked her if she wanted to run a longer race. At first, she was hesitant. But, when I told her we would run/walk the race, she quickly jumped on-board.

Now, I realize that a 5K is a lot longer than a mile. And I know that two weeks isn't ample time to train. But, it gets hot here in Virginia and I decided that a chance at a cooler race with less training was a better option than a guaranteed hot race with decent training (I would feel differently if she was an adult, but she's 5).

Plus, Dizzle has two things working for her ...
  1. She can run for about 15 minutes without stopping.
  2. She has walked more than three miles at a single time on several occasions.
Because of that, I KNOW she can cover the distance. The challenge is convincing her that she's strong enough to run a lot of it. (Dizzle's a bit of a whiner.)

Yesterday, I decided to get an idea of her endurance. So, at the hottest time of day (because I am nice like that), I put Doodle and Dilly in my double stroller and told Dizzle to get her shoes on. She did, and we started running. 4 minutes running, 1 minute walking. I told Dizzle nothing except that she had four minutes until we could walk. No mention of total time or distance.

And it went really well. Sure, she whined at moments (I swear our elderly neighbors thought what I was doing was a form of child abuse. I call it tough love). And she constantly asked how much longer she had to run. But she did it. We covered the two mile route in 25:44.

Afterward, she was tired (obviously), but she recovered quickly and due to the fact that she was singing/talking to me the entire run, I know she will be fine over that final mile. Once we got back inside, I asked Dizzle to show me what two miles looks like. Here's what she gave me ...

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's pride on her face.

29 comments:

Silly Girl Running said...

Rock star kid. Enough said. :)

Silly Girl Running said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rachel said...

Adorable. I can't wait to see the recap of her race!

christa said...

She rocks!

Running Ricig said...

Awesome! I'm sure she'll be great in the race!

Running Librarian said...

she is going to be so proud of herself when she finishes her first 5k!

Jen said...

So cool... I think I am jealous that she has you to train her.

Julia said...

awwww! she is awesome!! way to go dizzle!!

Hannah said...

Ok, our children and their running are lining up so hilariously! My oldest and I are running our first 5k together (Yes. I have never run a 5k) on May 7!

So proud of your sweet oldest daughter! Way to go! Excited to hear how she likes her 5k. And please, pass along tips for K1 a week later!

Beth said...

So cute! You've got a rock-star runner in the making for sure!

amy said...

Absolutely adorable.

ajh said...

She's got it in the bag!

Unknown said...

She's awesome! :)

BigHappyFamily said...

Your girl is awesome! My little girl is too! She kicked butt in a 2 mile race at nearly 8 yo (17 minutes, 52 seconds). She's destined to be a better runner than me, and run through Boston someday.

Shellyrm ~ just a country runner said...

So proud of you! What a great mom. Congrats to Dizzle on a great 2 miler!

Jennifer Spadafora said...

Love your blog! And Dizzle can pretty much run 100x's faster then me! WTG!

Runners Fuel said...

Very awesome!!

Aimee said...

That is so awesome! Yay for Dizzle! I cannot wait till my boys are old enough to run races with us! :)

Rae said...

How fun! I can't wait to get my girl to go running with me.

Running Girl said...

Go Dizzle!!

Anonymous said...

Love her after-run glow!

Zoƫ said...

Itty bitty rockstar like her momma!

Marlene said...

She takes after her Mom obvs!!

Elizabeth said...

love it. so stinkin cute. can’t wait to hear about her big race!

MCM Mama said...

Awesome!!!

kimert said...

She's awesome and her post run glow makes me slightly jealous!

Cory Reese said...

That. Is. Awesome!

Zaneta @ Runner's Luck said...

your kid is great!! She's seriously one tough cookie! She rocked 2 miles!! She ought to have pride on her face! :)

Kristi said...

That's awesome! My almost-5 year old raced a 1k and has been begging to do another race. Maybe I should do a 1 mile with her and just plan to run/walk. Can't wait to hear how your little girl does in a 5k!