Eloise the Race Spectator

My baby girl has now spectated her first two races! The first was the Galaxy of Lights 5k at the Botanical Gardens here in Huntsville. They have a beautiful lights display each year and this year they had a race at 6:30 p.m. where runners would run through the lights.  It was so fun!  We wouldn't have been able to run it, but my mom-in-law came to keep Eloise and since it was so nice outside they both came to the race with us. 

I did manage to run this 5k a little faster than Jingle Bell a few weeks ago, and I was a little surprised by that.  I finished in 24:53 and won 3rd in my age group.  Jason finished under 18 minutes again and was the 2nd overall finisher.  It was very dark in spots and I'm not sure if that affected my pace or not towards the end, but my splits were 7:32, 7:59, and 8:16.  I probably started out too fast but I didn't care. I just wanted to see what I could do and how long I could hold whatever pace I could hold.  I was running in a Santa hat so I didn't feel too serious about it.  I saw a few running buddies and got to show off my precious daughter a bit, and that is always fun.

Eloise was great the whole time and we so appreciated Debbie coming to hang with her and us at the race.  To me, having friends and family at a race is what makes it fun.  I was very pleased with my time for where I was in my post baby running, but even if it had been much slower I would have had a wonderful time.

The second race was the Rocket City Marathon and only Jason ran that one.  (I'm still working on getting past 8 miles - whew!).  His training had mostly consisted of high weekly mileage (80s and 90s), and a few 15 and 16 milers, but nothing longer than that.  I'd signed him up a long time ago for the race and so he was just running to enjoy it and see what he could do.  It had been a long time since he'd run a marathon that wasn't tacked on the back of an Ironman.

Jason rode to the race with my mom who was also running, and Eloise and I came later.  I wasn't sure what Jason would be able to do, but I knew what would make him happy and I hoped he would get under 3 hours. Sure enough, I saw my running man come through at 2:51, and I was so excited for him.  He was 13th over all and 2nd in his age group. 

He sees his peeps waiting for him at the finish line!

I look like a total cheeseball here, but I had to include it since it was Eloise's first marathon!

If any of you ran or read about the marathon, you know we had an unseasonably hot day which made it very hard on many of the runners.  My mom and husband had a good day, but both of them are good at handling heat. Me, not so much.  Mom finished in 5:10, felt great and won 2nd place in her age group for her 66th marathon.  I was so very proud of those two and I made them a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup to celebrate their marathon and refuel deliciously. 

It was so fun to have Eloise be a part of our races.  I want her to see what her parents do and I want to find a way to make it fun for her.  If one day she decides she'd like to participate, that would make her mama's heart glad, but really if she finds something she loves, whatever it is, and does that, I will be happy for her.  Until then, I love having her along whether I am running or cheering from the sidelines.