I got beat by my Mom!

Meet my Mom:

If you asked my mom to talk about herself, she would probably just laugh. If you ask her about her hobbies, she would probably say “oh I don’t know. I like walking. I like painting. I like making my kids happy and my grandkids happy.” Not far off, right Mom?

If you ask anyone about my mom, they will tell you see is always happy and always giving. You may have even notice on my blog that she comments under the name “Happy Maker”.  My mom is a happy maker. She is constantly giving of herself. She does just about anything if it means that outcome will make someone happy. Making other people happy makes my mom happy.

BUT……..

My mom RARELY does anything for just herself. I’ve never know her to indulge in quality alone time. She doesn’t spoil herself. She never puts her needs before the needs of anyone.

There are many, many times in my life that I wish my mom would do more for herself. I wish she would treat herself. I wish she would say no to requests because she had made plans for herself that day. She doesn’t. She never will. It’s not who she is, and it wouldn’t make her happy.  When she called me to tell me she registered for the Wicked 10k this year, I almost feel out of my chair.  I was so excited for her. I know if I had requested that she do it with me, she would have signed up as soon as we hung up the phone.  I didn’t ask her to run this 10k. She did it for herself.

When the weather forecast turned nasty for Saturday, I was afraid she wouldn’t show up to the start line. (She hates to be cold). She showed up.  I got a late start heading to the race, so we never meet up at the start line.

The entire time I was out on the course, I was thinking about my mom. Please let her being enjoying herself. I hope my mom isn’t miserable. I hope she finishes and feels proud. When I made the final turn onto the boardwalk and it started to downpour, I started to worry about her. I really hope she didn’t just head back to her car. My poor mom is never going to run another race again. She has to be miserable in this weather.

When I crossed the finish line, I asked Christian if he had seen my mom on the course.  With a huge grin on his face, he told me she had already finished. What? She beat me!

Not only did my mom sign up, show up, and finish this race on her own………….SHE DID AMAZING! My mom, who routinely walks for exercises, has never run. She ran portions of the 10k on Saturday. She showed up on her own. She kicked ass during the race. She crossed the finished line with an amazing time. To say I’m proud of her is an understatement. I’m over the moon excited for her. She deserves her moment of self-pride more than anyone I know. I wish I could have seen her crossing the finish line, but I’m really glad she beat me. Christian said she was grinning from ear to ear (under the scarf she had tied around her head to protect her from the rain).  Mom…you know they take your picture as you cross the finish line 🙂 I can’t wait for those photos!

Since neither of us expected my mom to kick my butt, I didn’t even get to see her after the race. She figured I was done and headed home.

Mom – I hope you hold on to that feeling you had as you crossed the finish line. I even hope you found it addictive. You earned it, and you deserve it!

Chip Time: 1:29:21

Pace: 14:25 min/miles

She finished 220th out of her age group!

This just proves my point that we are so much stronger than we think. We are capable of so much more.

Rematch in 2012…………..(and we have to make sure we actually see each other!)