A belated Christmas present........................

This past weekend my youngest and I participated in a fifteen mile trail race about three hours north of our home. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth I took note of the fact that she wasn't complaining about going to the race when we had to leave later than expected, AND her boyfriend was unable to go with us for the weekend. It wasn't until we met our friend at the race and she told him she was there because it was my Christmas present that I remembered I had told her I wanted her to run with me for my present in mid- December. Makes me wonder what other things I forget and as a result lose out on?

One of the campgrounds we are members at is only fifteen minutes from the race so we went up there Friday night and hung out in our trailer for the day on Saturday since the race didn't start until 6:30 in the evening. I was so excited to do a nighttime race, just because I had never done one before.

It was cold outside (8 degrees when we started the race, the bank sign said 2 degrees when we drove home after the race), and for some strange reason this added to the excitement for me. Me against the elements I guess. While waiting for the race to start I kept second guessing myself about adding an extra layer, but ended up going with what I normally wear. Good thing too because I was plenty warm, and dripping wet with sweat by race end.

We did the race as a relay, each of us to do 7.5 miles, and I got to go first. As usual, I fell to the back of the pack and got to enjoy the peace and stillness of the woods without interruption. The sky was clear so between the stars and my headlight I had no problem maneuvering the course and staying on track. It was beautiful! The snow was much deeper than anything I had ran on so far this year so just before hitting the seven mile mark I got really tired and ask my angels to carry me for a bit. They did much better than that...They provided a really long downhill that I flew down. At the end of it I recognized the big bulky form in the distance as (my) Mister's winter parka. My youngest and I made the exchange, she took off down the road, and we took off back to the town hall so I could change out of my wet clothes.

I had some idea of when to expect my youngest at the finish line, but more importantly I have a strong intuition when it comes to my kids. I knew that my youngest really was only doing this for me (like I did the para sailing for her) and while I kept hoping she was having a little fun my gut was telling me different. Enough time had passed that (my) Mister was saying she should be coming, but I knew "not yet." Finally I said, "she is almost here" and jumped out to meet her at the finish line. As I was watching to see the headlight turn into her form I heard talking beside and behind me and turned to see her getting out of a van. I was right about her arrival time, but not about the method of arrival.

Since I had placed her in last, the guys on the four wheelers were following close behind her (they did this to make sure everyone made it back to the end of the race) and this bothered her. Finally she told them, "I don't like to be followed" and they back way off. Then the cold made her Ipod stop working and this was not only her distraction device, but her watch and this really sent her spinning out of control. I was right, SHE WAS NOT HAVING FUN! After about four miles she finally came to the conclusion that there was no reason to keep going if it was going to leave her with a bad taste for running/racing in her mind so she let the guys catch up to her and ask, "Can I be done now?"

I can't tell you how proud I was of her for giving the race a go, while at the same time getting that since we run for fun when it isn't fun anymore it is time to call it a day. There are so many things in life in which we have to tough it out no matter what and she is a star at doing this. I think it shows a great deal of inner maturity that she doesn't do this across the board. My poor self-esteem would never had allowed me to "let myself be done" at her age.

We were not in the car two minutes when she was unveiling plans for next years race. She wants to find two more runners so we can have two teams and she and I can do a leg together. Now that REALLY sounds like fun! Any takers?