From the Mouths Of Babes

I overheard a quick exchange between Aaron and PC#2 last night that totally caught my ear. It went like this:

Aaron: So, how was the run this morning?
PC#2: It was hard!

Wait ... did she say it was hard? My gazelle-like girl who has a natural running ability (and we're not sure where that came from!) reported a 4-mile run to be hard?

My logical brain put together those pieces from my own perspective as to why this was her report, but I wanted to hear it from her. So, today, I asked (a) if I heard correctly, and (b) told her I was interested in her experience. She could not have been more matter-of-fact when she said, "Well, it was hot, and I was thirsty before we finished." Period. She had nothing else to say. But, that was enough.

PC#2's consistent running efforts have now spanned, what, a couple of months? And, in that time, she has run quite the gammut of experience from the treadmill to the road to pushing her distance goals to having perfect and perfectly sucky weather conditions. In a very short time, she has quite a bit on which to draw comparisons and conclusions.

Up 'til now, her running experiences have been under pretty ideal conditions. From the weather to the distance, her natural limits haven't really been tested. Well, bring on summer and humidity, and it's a whole new ballgame for her. I'm liking what I'm watching as she's being challenged. I like watching her problem solve in the moment, and, when she can't do that because she lacks experience, I like watching her accept a new way to approach her current problem. I like that she'll accept help in the moment because she's learning better how to take care of herself -- the foundation of advocating for herself. I like that she is accepting that this is, indeed, sometimes very difficult; I also like that she knows that the solution to that difficulty is to problem solve. And, to persevere. I won't lie -- I also like knowing part of why she doesn't entertain the idea of quitting is because she knows that no matter how a run goes, good or bad, her mom is going back out the next scheduled day.

It took me a while to figure this out ... So glad to be there!

The beauty of what I'm watching, too, is that her conclusions are very pure and ones from which countless adults could learn. For instance, how many times have we attempted to do something in the warmer (or hotter!) weather only to struggle and then blame ourselves and our ability?! Speaking for myself: Plenty!! And, isn't it from there that the spiral begins? Man, what was wrong with me today? I could hardly get through that run! I must have been doing something wrong. Actually, I must just not be good at this at all. Everything I've accomplished up to now has been a fluke because I clearly can't keep it up. And, if I can't keep it up, then I've only been lucky up to now. Yeah, it's hot out, but there are a lot of people out there right now, and they are going along just fine. It's me. I suck.

'Been there? Yeah, a few times ...

I could have used the current wisdom of my child a few years ago. It would have saved me a whole lot of self-deprication, mental effort and, likely, tears. I'm thankful to be (mostly!) past all of that. I'm more thankful to have not passed any of that on to her. I want her self-evaluation of everything she does to continue to be pure, to be based on her actual abilities and efforts and not on some random, not-applicable ideal of someone else. Given she reported how her run went yesterday without so much as a look my way to confirm nor deny her opinion, I think we're going the right direction! (Who knew running had so much to offer?! I have to admit I hoped ...)

A run's on the schedule for tomorrow! It's up in the air as to whether or not we will go together because rain is in the forecast (although, let's face it, our forecast has been so laden with lies, there's no telling what's really going to happen!). If it rains, we tag-team the treadmill (bleh). If not, I'll have a route mapped, and we'll hit it! Either way, it'll be done. We'll see you after!

This song is on my GO! St. Louis playlist because it's how I
wanted to feel about myself. After a few listens, though, I told
PC#2 that it's actually how I feel about her. She's that amazing!
(Thank you, Surfing Rainbows Facebook page, for the pic!)