Nearly Naked Mile: PRs for the Little Runners!

Yesterday our family ran the Nearly Naked Mile in Reston for the first time.

This is a terrific race because the majority of the proceeds go to the Medstar Burn Unit, and the objective of the race is for runners to be comfortable in their own skin just like burn victims struggle to do every day of their lives. The race premium was a pair of flannel boxers with a nearly naked running fireman to match the theme.

  We decided to run with the boys and help them achieve personal bests.  Z-Man previously had a time of 8:38 for a mile on the track this summer and Nickel was sporting a 9:59 mile best on the track.  Nickel was less than enthusiastic about his race to start, but Z-Man was raring to go and said that he was going out hard to get a PR.  As the excitement and hype built, both of the boys started to get more excited about running.  Once the elite men's heat ran and they got to see Haitian Olympian, Moise Joseph, take down the mile in 4:32 with little effort, they were ready to go.

  Nickel pronounced that he was ready to strip and run.

We lined up slightly to the back of the open mile (sub-10 minute times), and it was the moment of truth for me.  Was I going to be comfortable in my own skin and take off the tank top or was I going to be afraid and hide  my mid-section?  I overcame my discomfort and decided to go for it.  I was going to rock my mother runner body even though it wasn't completely perfect.  So outfitted in sports bra, arm warmers, running skirt, and compression socks, I was ready to go.

The gun sounded, and the boys took off!  We were honestly a little shocked that they took off so fast, and we had to hustle through the throng of runners to catch up and find them.  They are little so they were easily weaving in and out a making their way up to the faster pace group.

They slowed a little on the first hill.  Hill!  I thought this was supposed to be an easy mile, but think again. It's Reston where there's always a hill or two or three.  The boys kept moving really well and were getting lots of encouragement from the crowd because they were the smallest ones running in this heat.  To my surprise, Nickel started gaining on his older brother at one point, but he couldn't quite hang on.  The highlight of his race was when we turned the last corner and saw the men's winner standing there cheering runners on.    He immediately started clapping and cheering for Nickel which really got him sprinting. As we rounded the bend and saw the finish line, we knew we had PRs for both, but how good would they be.  The boys both put in a hard sprint through the finish.  Z-Man earned himself 8:27, and Nickel crushed his previous record, dropping an 8:40 on the course.  This was an awesome effort by both boys given that this was not an easy mile and certainly not a track race.  So proud of both of them for putting in a great effort yesterday!

I'm sure the Crossfit trainer hates this photo!  The guy was carrying a 75 lb backpack, but it's still funny that Z is passing him at the finish.