How the middle school running club ruined my dream-

 

I love to run.

 

I grew up running with my father. He was a long distance runner, who completed several marathons (26 miles) and ultra marathons (50 to 100 mile races). Growing up, I admired him and wanted to be like him.

 

When I was in 6th grade, my father encouraged me to run my first race, a 10k (6.2 miles). He helped me train and then ran every step of the race with me. When I entered high school, he signed up to be an assistant coach for my cross country and track teams. He came to every practice and every meet. Most days, he even laced up his shoes and ran with us.

 

Naturally, I wanted to instill this same passion and love for running, in my children. I wanted to coach my kids and run with them at practice. My three oldest children (boys) chose to follow my husband’s passion for football, and forgo running (although they did join the track team to boost their speed- per the football coach’s suggestion).

 

When my oldest daughter started 8th grade, I was very hopeful. This was going to be my opportunity to instill a love of running, in my daughter. When she came home with paperwork announcing the start of the cross country season, I encouraged her (and her little brother!) to join the team. They joined the team and ran everyday after school. They ran in the heat, in the rain and at the meets…. and they hated it. They weren’t very good, and it was too hard and too boring. The season ended with both children vowing to never run again.

Just as I was about to give up on my dream of running with my children, my daughter told me about the middle school running club. A few of her cross country friends were doing it, and she wanted to join them. Even though I couldn’t run with her (it was right during pick up times for my other kids), I was very excited. Everyday I would ask her about her workouts and we would talk about running.

 

Then, a few months ago a friend of mine told me she was planning on running the Rock and Roll Half Marathon with her 12 year old daughter. I eagerly told her that my daughter was a runner, and that she might be interested in running the same half marathon with me. When I got home to ask her, my daughter laughed at me, and emphatically said no.

 

I didn’t give up. I told her that we could run/walk the race together and that I would train with her. I told her that it would be a fun mother/daughter bonding experience. I told her that we could strategize and plan how to run the race as we trained together. She still was not interested. Surprisingly, a week later, she came up to me and said she wanted to run the half marathon. She decided that it might be pretty cool after all.

We paid the entry fee and booked our flights. All we needed to do, was to start running together.

That’s when I found out that she didn’t need me. She had the middle school running club. She ran every Monday through Thursday, with her friends and coaches. On Friday’s, when she didn’t have running club, she chose to run by herself. Maybe I was a little too intense. Maybe she worried that I would run too fast. Whatever the case, she choose to run with the running club instead of me.

 

But I can’t complain, even though we didn’t get to train together, we are still sitting on the airplane together. I am still going to run every step of her first half marathon with her. I guess I should be thankful that the middle school has a running club. They have given my daughter the same gift that my dad gave me.

 

She loves to run.