Running Time

I took Mackenzie out for a run tonight. I got the moan when I called her to get ready to go. As we approached our starting point, I let her know that today we were going to try to run 15 minutes without stopping (up to this point we've only done 10). She let me know that there was no way she could possibly do that and off we went.

By the end of those 15 minutes, she had run over a mile without stopping for the first time in her life. She was hurting but amazed at what she had just accomplished.

We took a 5 minute walk break. We ended that at the bottom of the biggest hill of the race. She was certain we had only been walking for 3 minutes so I told her she could walk to the top of the hill and then we'd run again. To my surprise, she wanted to run up it. And she kept running and kept running and kept running.

Twenty-two minutes later, she was running across the finish line. She ran that whole route and only stopped once. I was cheering for her as we raced towards the finish. I was incredibly proud of her. She was elated.

I've come to love our little runs together. It's nice to be the encourager for once instead of the one everyone is waiting for at the finish. It's been beautiful weather here lately and being able to be out exercising in it is a gift. Most of all, I get a chunk of undivided conversation time with my only daughter. I get to push her a little and encourage her a lot. I get to hear about her friends and activities. I get to be with her.

On our way home we stopped in to pick up something from a friend who just had her first daughter. It reminded me of when Mackenzie was born and how I just couldn't get enough of her. I actually remember crying once because I was afraid I might miss something while I was in the shower (What can I say? Hormones are crazy things.). I wanted to drink her in.

Tonight as we raced back to the house, I realized that even though she's a lot bigger, I still feel the same way.