CROSS COUNTRY RUNNING

This year Sarah joined the middle school cross country team so that means that all three of my kids are now runners. I really enjoy being on the sidelines, watching the whole process. I am happy and proud of my kids but maybe for different reasons than one would think.


Thomas is the fast runner of the family, the team member that the coach counts on to do well. Of course it makes him happy to do well but what really makes him happy is the act of running. He loves cross country because the races are over three miles long. He really wants to try running a 10K race which is about twice as long as that. When I try to imagine what is making him happy, I think it must be the feel of his body moving so fast and smoothly over the terrain. The feel of being young and strong. To know that his body can run eight miles in practice must be wonderful. I can see it in his eyes, in his smile.


Erin is not a fast runner but I know that she also enjoys the act of running because she has said so. She can run without the pressure of having the coaches push her to beat the other team. When she runs I don't need to count on her winning to praise her because I have no problem seeing good things. I have watched her for 3 years improving. This year I've seen how strong her body has become, the muscles in her legs have become defined. Her form is now that of a strong runner, gone is the exhausted look she had in the beginning. She must feel it too. Inside of her must be that deep satisfaction that comes from hard work. A pride that is too often squelched in teenage girls.


Sarah has only been practicing for three weeks and this is the hardest time for any runner. The aching muscles, the frustration of your body not being as strong or fast as you'd like and the nagging feeling that maybe you just aren't good enough. The only way of overcoming these things is to stick with it. As a parent this is where things get tough. I'm supposed to say encouraging things at a time when she feels so discouraged. Through the tears I just want to tell her to forget it, just quit. In some ways she wants to hear that very thing but we both know that just shouldn't happen. Not now. She needs to meet this challenge. She needs to see it through and hopefully in the end she'll think its worth it. She will see the improvement and feel the strength. As I came to pick her up from practice one day I saw her sprinting the last little bit. When she got into the van she told me how she just loved the feel of zooming along and seeing the ground flying by under her. Its there, that love of running, we'll just hope it survives the pain!