Sunday, May 27, 2007

Kep Kep Jikwan

Today was the Johnny Kelley Memorial Race in Hyannis. I ran the 5k with Mr. Pi while Gazelle Boy ran the 10k (where he won his age bracket... again).

I was worried about doing this with Pi, he hadn't really trained and the last time I did a race with him was exactly one year ago where he spent the whole 2 miles whining. So needless to say, I was a little hesitant entering this one with him, but I really wanted to encourage him as well. We had agreed to walk at my pace for 5 minutes and run at his for 3 - so I wore my watch with the interval timer and the goal was a 15 minute mile.

We lined up toward the back and took off - him listening to Green Day on his iPod and me listening to Stevie Wonder on mine. At first he was disappointed we were so far back when I told him, "We'll pass most of these people as we start running."

I don't think he believed me at first - but he did keep pace and there was no whining this time. As we were coming up on the 5 minute mark to our first run, he said, "Count it down like Nina and then say, 'Kep, kep, jikwan.'" (Which is Klingon for "run, run, fat man.") So I said OK and counted "Three, two, one - kep, kep, jikwan."

Sure enough we passed the first group of folks and he held up well for the 3 minutes (which were more at my pace than his). As we started the next walk break, I pointed out that we had past the half mile point... much to his surprise.

He was excited to see the 1 mile mark a little while later and I pointed out to him that we were actually at a 13:45 pace - over a minute faster that our goal. As we turned the corner and had an open view of the ocean, he said, "This is beautiful, I wish I had brought my camera with me." Each time he'd start to fall a little behind, I'd encourage him to keep up. When we passed the 2nd mile marker, I thought he was going to leap with joy.

"I feel so good - I really do," he said as we passed it. As we passed the water stop where the half marathoners turn off the course, we walked through and I told him we were still on a 13:45 pace. The only thing that slowed him down was just after my Nike+ announced there were 400 meters left and his shoe untied. We approached the finish line and he grabbed my hand so we could cross together doing "the Johnny Kelley" - our joined hands upraised as we finished.

Unofficially, we ran it in about 43 minutes and I think he's now hooked. Even though I didn't really push myself, it was a good feeling coaching him through the race. Ironically, if he does use this to amp himself up to run, he'll be smoking me in no time - a day I look forward to with happiness.

8 comments:

Nini said...

WOO WHO!!!!

I'm so proud of Mr. Pi!!!!!

GB said...

That was a great race report! It's so nice of you to have coached Mr. Pi through to the finish. It sounds like a positive experience for both of you. I'm SURE he'll be hooked.

JOJIT said...

Congrats to you & Mr. Pi!!!

Paula Villanova said...

Sounds like one of those runs that feels good and you're glad you've done after it's all over. Nice work for both of you, for Pi an for the coach!

Anonymous said...

Okay then. This is the first time I have ever read Klingon on anyone's blog, and certainly the first time I've ever heard of using a Klingon phrase as a motivational mantra.

You guys win the prize for the most unique and interesting runners on my blog roll.

Denise said...

Way to go Pika and Mr. Pi!!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Are you by chance the "pikagirl" who left the following comment:
Runner's World Forum Link

If so, would you mind contacting us ASAP? If not, kindly disregard this comment.

--
Regards,
Sean Mills
Grantwood Technology LLC
7255 Old Oak Blvd Ste C405
Middleburg Heights OH 44130
Phone: 440-816-4663
Fax: 440-816-5398
support@shoepouch.com