WIll's first 5k race re-cap

So yesterday Will, my 7 year old, completed his first 5k! I completed it with him making it my first race in almost 2 years. Oh my little boy has got such an ego! He thought that since a few years ago he won a 2k that it would be the same here. I tried and tried to explain to him that this was different, this was longer, and that there were more people in this one. He wouldn't listen. I guess this was just something he had to figure out on his own. He was smack talking some of the other little boys saying how fast he was. And he is! But he's more of a sprinter than a long distance runner. I explained to him before the race that he wanted to start slow and then speed up later, to conserve his energy. No cigar. Sometimes I have issues because Will likes to talk so much and get stuck on a very specific idea and won't get off of it. I think people around us probably think he's annoying but we got some nice comments from the more experienced runners saying they liked his enthusiasm. So the race started and we got about 1/4 mile down the road when Will realized that he had gone too fast. Poor guy got very upset that he could not keep up with the other runners in his group. Then he threw a fit. I could see him but he was ahead of me quite a bit.He had started out at a 10 min mile pace when we had been practicing at a 16 min mile pace. So I caught up to him and he kept saying he had "leg out". Which just meant he was tired and his legs hurt. I guess this is one time I really just had to let him learn from experience. He doesn't want to do the next race with me, though, which is unfortunate. I think he would do fine if he just stayed back with me. His little legs aren't very long LOL. So we walked the rest of the way and he was quite proud that he finished. 59:26 was official time. We celebrated by going to Denny's.

The experience was all in all a good one. And it showed me that I really could still go the distance. I felt wonderful at the end of the race. Although, I could feel a pain flare up starting after my walk on Friday so I didn't really want to go. I'm still in the midst of a pain flare up so I'm not a happy camper right now. But I'll get through it. There's another 5k next week closer to home and I'm going to do it. Hopefully, I won't do too bad of a time. If I can just get in my groove it'll all be fine.