Emma's Big Run

There are those times in parents’ lives where their children do some firsts that you never forget. The first time they smile, laugh, crawl, walk, say your name, go potty on the toilet, ride their bike, etc. We all remember the classic ‘firsts.’ Then there are those times that they do more unconventional firsts. Like the first time they buckle themselves into their car seat, or the first word they sounded out themselves. Then there are the unbelievable ‘firsts.’ With Emma we have had quite a few of these. She constantly blows our minds (Emma’s statement). Granted, she is our child so everything she does we think is pretty cool. But we also keep in check that all parents have kids that are the smartest, best looking, coolest, strongest, most talented, etc. We are teachers… we hear this all the time from parents. It’s good that parents are proud of their children. It helps to balance out the teen years.

But the event that unfolded not that long ago was, simply put, phenomenal. It happened right after the Tri Fusion Kids Club meeting where the children learned about nutrition, transitions, and did a little transition practice and did a race simulation that consisted of a T1, 400 meter bike, T2, and a 150 meter run. It was an opportunity for the kids to have some fun and get some exposure to what a race would look like. Emma loved it and did well. But it wasn’t about what happened at the Kids Club meeting, it’s what happened immediately following.

Many of us decided to go to Twigs for dinner. It was a beautiful night and they have amazing food. I think we have spent quite a few eights there in last few weeks. If you have eaten there, you understand why. As we were loading up Emma’s bike and getting into our cars, Emma says, “I want to run to Twigs.” I think Jessi and I both thought, sure you do, let’s do that some other time :). But she was pretty insistent on doing this. We did not want to squelch her enthusiasm to run, so Jessi got Emma’s shoes all tied up and off she went. We both figured she would make it around the park and decide to get in the car. Jessi and both drove separately (since gas is so cheap) so we followed her around the park in our cars.
Emma eventually got to the end of the park and knew she was not supposed to be running in the street, so she looked perplexed as to what to do. Emma is a ‘severe’ rule follower. Jessi asked her if she wanted to get in the car now and Emma was adamant about continuing to run. Crap, what do we do now? So we directed her to run on the same side that we were driving on and to run along the yards… that did not work because some of the yards you could not run in. So we decided that since she wanted to keep running she could just run next to the curb and we drove right behind here and often next to her.
Jessi continued to give her options to get in the car, run just a little further and stop, you already had a great workout… you name it. It wasn’t that we were trying to sabotage her efforts, but this was a pretty long run and not necessarily on the best roads for a kid that isn’t as tall as a mailbox. It was about 8:00pm too. But Emma would not have any part of it. She kept telling us that, ‘She can do this.’
She just kept running and running on the side of the road with 3 cars following her. There was Jessi in her car, me in mine, and now Tiffany behind me. We really had her covered in case anything happened and there was no way that another car would even get close to her. But cars did eventually start to come behind us. I have no idea what they must have been thinking. Maybe a deer in the road, a lost dog, and injured squirrel? But every car that passed us had to do a double take. Some smiled and some might have been irritated. Think about it… it’s 8:00pm, and there are 3 cars following a little 5 year old girl running down the road. It is a little odd. I wondered what they were thinking. I wondered if they thought this was their cruel and psychotic parents’ idea. Or maybe this was how she earned her dinners. There was no look that I could give back that said, “This was her idea.” Kind of like that sticker we all want that says, “My Child Dressed Themselves.”
As Emma was good into her run, she started to complain about some soreness on her ankle. But she said that she was not going to stop and could ‘push through’ this. Emma would keep saying these things when we asked if she had run far enough. I kept thinking where in the world is she getting this? Part of me wanted her to accomplish her goal, but another wanted her to get in the friggin’ car. But all these things she kept saying… ‘I can do this,’ ‘I don’t want to give up,’ ‘I can push though this,’ all come from watching all the people she knows doing Ironmans, and other triathlons. Parents talk about not letting their kids watch certain TV shows, I never thought about the impact an Ironman has on a child. Let’s get some research on that CPS. Of course this coming from a girl who will no longer drink fruit juice because her dentist said that there is a lot of sugar in it… totally different story. So we could tell that this soreness was bothering here a bit but she would not stop. So we told her she could keep going but we wanted to see it and maybe put a band aid on it. Sure enough she was getting a blister because she was not wearing socks (from the transition lesson at her meeting). So we grabbed some band aids out of the cars and got her off and going again.
It was a little tricky getting her across the busy streets, but there were really only 2, and we handled it pretty well. I honestly felt like we were in a race… a race to keep her going and keep her safe.
There was one time when she asked if we had any water or fluids, and we grabbed her little Gatorade bottle that she had not really drank too much from that she got at her meeting. So she stopped and took a few sips and was off and running.

As we were getting closer, I could see it in her eyes that she was going to make it. You have to remember that she just turned 5 and really has no clue how far anything really is. We were at Brentwood and were going to Twigs. That could have been 10 miles or 1 block to her conception of distance. So I was starting to get really excited for her. Excited that she set a goal, stuck with it, and was going to accomplish it. She never asked how much further it was or complained. She just kept running… and running… and running.
She made the final turn where you could see Twigs 3 blocks away. Her eyes lit up, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s right there Daddy!’ She could not believe that she was almost there. I think she would have run another 2 miles if she had to. But she was so excited that she did it. As she ran to the front doors she had a smile that you could see from the moon. Jessi called the people we were meeting to let them know what was going on so they were all really excited to see Emma too and congratulate her. Jeff Blackwell, owner of Twigs, came down to congratulate Emma too. Jeff is a part of the same triathlon club and is the primary sponsor of it too. So she knows Jeff. Not to mention that we eat at Twigs all the time too. Emma was pretty excited and proud of herself that she did it. But I know that it means so much to her when people tell her what a great job she did. Then again, don’t we all.
The evening ended when we got a dessert that they made for Emma that they wrote ‘Ironman’ in chocolate around the dish. Emma normally does not eat dessert (again, her choice), but after I started eating some of it, she thought she could jump in too.
Being the data guy I am, I was bummed that I did not start my watch when Emma took off. But I figured I could at least drive the course she ran to get an idea as to how far it was. As I was getting closer to the end of the route, my phone rings and it’s Jessi telling me that it was 1.3 miles. She had to drive it too. So though it was 1.3 miles, it was a marathon to Emma.

I know we have a special child. But she is special because of all the great people she has in her life that care about her and are involved in her life. It does take a village… and we have an amazing one.

Thanks to everyone that has been a light in our daughter’s life. She does so much that emulates what she sees all of you do. I am just a little nervous to see what’s next.